Local Business Interview: Bruce Plotkin, Professional Photographer

Bruce Plotkin’s career as a professional photographer began in the 1980s. He started as freelancer in Manhattan where he shot commercially for big brands. He later transitioned to working with families and couples in the suburbs of New York and Connecticut.

I interviewed him in late last month about his journey as a small business owner and how technology has affected his business over his long career, during which he shot over 1,000 social and life events. He's now semi-retired.

We also spoke about the impact AI tools and software will have on photographers, particularly the thousands of small photographers who capture ordinary life events: weddings, bar mitzvahs, confirmations, graduations, births and even deaths. 

100K Wedding Photographers

According to SLR Lounge, there are roughly 100,000 wedding photographers in the U.S. – a sizable market. Globally, the industry was valued at $21 billion in 2023. And photo-editing SaaS tool Imagen argues AI will change photography – perhaps as much as the introduction of the digital camera. 

The vast majority of Bruce’s Plotkin's later engagements were on the weekends. In the interview, he reflects on the considerable benefits he could have enjoyed had AI tools been available to him earlier in his career. Today’s AI editing and photography tools could have saved him thousands of hours, quite literally. 

Throughout our conversation he talks about the significant impact technology had on the business. From discovering a company called Pictage – launched in 2000 as internet access was becoming widely available – to getting his first digital camera and then integrating more sophisticated software tools, technology dramatically changed the way he worked and engaged with clients.

Pictage & ShootQ

Pictage was one of the only online storage and workflow management systems for photographers in 2000. They used it to host, proof, print and deliver images to clients. It became a backend and workflow system for thousands of professionals. Jason Kiefer founded the company in 2000 for $500,000. In 2006 Pictage took $29 million in private equity money from Apax. It survived 15 years before succumbing to more nimble startup competitors.

Pictage was highly innovative and arguably ahead of its time with its community strategy. The company assembled local user groups of professional photographers, where insiders could exchange ideas, find resources and learn about new technologies. Some of the community members Bruce met 20 years ago remain business associates and friends to this day. 

Plotkin also discusses another software tool he heavily relied upon, ShootQ, which was positioned as a comprehensive client-customer engagement platform and "business management tool for creatives."

The interview, edited down to 22 minutes from over an hour, concludes with discussion about Bruce Plotkin's marketing methods (digital and traditional) and his opinions and perspective about how AI is altering photography and creating greater efficiency for local photographers.

Interview Summary & Highlights

0:02 - 2:46: Plotkin discusses his motivation to become a photographer, his education at design school in LA, his move to New York to become a commercial photographer and setting up his own studio in 1979.

First Digital Experience: Pictage

2:47 - 5:55: Plotkin discusses his early exposure to digital technology through a company (discussed above) called Pictage. He talks at some length about their highly effective offline community strategy.

Software Tools Over the Years

5:56 - 7:07: Plotkin talks about various software applications he worked with over the years, including Pictage, most of which were specific to the photography vertical. But these tools changed the way he presented his images to and interacted with customers.

First Digital Camera

7:08 - 8:38: His first digital cameras were "OK," though disappointing compared to film. Eventually, however, as the cameras improved and gained more megapixels he made the transition from 35MM to all digital photography.

Digital Freedom

8:40 - 10:56: The freedom of digital changed the way he photographed events. He adopted a more "photojournalistic" style and focused less on portraits. He could also shoot thousands of pictures and not worry about costs.

AI's Arrival

10:58 - 14:14: Plotkin discusses how AI tools are changing the way that photographers do time-consuming tasks like editing and color correction, freeing up them for other activities.

Marketing: Traditional & Digital

14:16 - 17:14: Website, print ads, blogging (a "pain in the ass"), SEO and word of mouth (WoM) were his primary methods. He was an admittedly uneven marketer and got a substantial percentage of his leads from WoM. He never worked with a digital agency, although he did have help from consultants to create his websites.

Biggest Technology Impact

17:15 - 21:50: Plotkin believes that the introduction of the digital camera was the single biggest change in the profession – not AI, which he still thinks is a very useful tool but not as transformative. He argues that AI software is primarily useful for editing and won't replace human photographers. If it does, it won't be "photography" anymore.

This is part of our ongoing series of interviews with local business owners and operators.