Business & Professional

ENTREPRENEURS

Joint
Assignment

Five photography studios maintain
independence but band together.

Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News

A

bar mitzvah party guest once
came up to photographer
Murray Goldenberg and said:
"I have the same type of camera you're
using. So, I should be able to get the
same high-quality pictures as you,
right?"
"Not necessarily," Goldenberg answered.
"Remember, it's all in the finger?'
"Another way to explain it," chimed
in photographer Ron Lieberman, "is
to think that anyone who used the
same oils, brushes and canvasses as
Rembrandt could have painted the same
art masterpieces as he did!"
Goldenberg and Lieberman were
describing the difference between
amateur photographers — "part-time
camera people who just record images:'
explained Goldenberg — and the skilled
professionals schooled in the art of cap-
turing images through proper lighting,
posing and the latest technology. It's a
combination that enables the pros to
produce a finished album that will last
for generations to enjoy.
Goldenberg, of Classic Photography
on Northwestern Highway in Southfield,
and Lieberman, of Lieberman
Photography on Orchard Lake Road in
West Bloomfield, are two of five Jewish-
owned photography studios in the com-
munity who have banded together to
form The Five Studios.com .
Other members of the unique orga-
nization are Michael Jonas of Michael
Jonas Photography on Old Stage Road in
Bingham Farms; Les Gorback of Gorback
Studio of Photography on Franklin Road
in Franklin, and David Deutsch of David
M. Deutsch Master of Photography on
Mariah Lane in Commerce.
Goldenberg, who lives in Farmington
Hills and has been a photographer in
the Jewish community for 42 years,
conceived the idea of The Five Studios.
corn and got the group together." We've
all known and respected each other

A28

for a long time and we share the same
photography philosophies, so it was a
good business decision to join together
and share our knowledge," he said. His
partner at Classic Photography is Marty
Abrin of Oak Park.
The five studios still operate indepen-
dently and arrange their own appoint-
ments to photograph weddings, bar and
bat mitzvahs, graduations, anniversary
parties and other events. But they share
their title Web site, Nvo rk to "enhance
their customers' photo knowledge:'
advertise together and pinch hit for
each other in cases of illness or business
overload.
"Mainly, we try to educate people on
the importance of knowing the differ-
ence between professional and amateur
photographers," Goldenberg added.
Clicking on The Five Studios.com
leads to the Web sites of all five indi-
vidually to learn more about their
backgrounds and expertise. Anyone
who books an actual event with one of
them through the Web site will receive
10 additional images for their eventual
event album.
"The sophisticated digital photogra-
phy we all now use has really changed
the industry," observed Jonas, a 31-year
photographer who lives in Bingham
Farms."We use creative lighting and
other techniques to come up with spec-
tacular images.
"And we can flatter people by slim-
ming them down in the final image; a
chubbier person becomes a thinner per-
son. We have many ways of outdoing the
amateur photographer?'
"Film cameras are rare; photography
is now a digital world," added Gorback,
who has been "shooting" for 46 years,
succeeding his father, the late Jack
Gorback, who was a popular photog-
rapher in the Jewish community going
back to 1952."We stun our customers
with gangbuster photos and great album
layouts?'
Mikah McCall of Southfield, who has
been assisting Jonas for three years, says
the photographers in the five studios

Top row: Matt Amster, Lieberman Photography; Les Gorback, Gorback Studio of
Photography; Marty Abrin, Classic Photography, Mikah McCall, Michael A. Jonas

Photography. Middle: Ron Lieberman, Lieberman Photography; Murray Goldenberg,
Classic Photography; David Deutsch, David M. Deutsch Master of Photography.

Front: Michael Jonas, Michael A. Jonas Photography.

really should be referred to as artists
because of the way we light up the faces
of people and use creative backgrounds."
How do the five cope with the bur-
geoning use of small cameras today and
the fact that almost everyone suddenly
pops up to take a picture with a cell
phone?
"About 75 percent of the photos taken
by amateurs with cell phones never
go any further than that phone," Jonas
points out. "They never get printed.
People may show them to others; but cell
phones usually last only a few years, so
the images are lost."
Deutsch, of Commerce, who is assisted
by his wife, Tammi, said: "Our job is to
preserve personal memories for people
and you can't do that with a quick cell-

"

phone shot. The father of one of my cus-
tomers died suddenly a week after the
wedding, and his images in the album
became priceless to the family. The cus-
tomer was very grateful afterward.
"Remember, we spend many hours
with a family at a wedding or a bar or
bat mitzvah; we're with them every step
of the way, making sure we get the per-
fect images of their event. A bride has to
ask herself: Does she want to spend one
of the most important days of her life,
her wedding day, with a certain photog-
rapher, then meet with him or her on the
image selection afterward, then make
sure she gets a high-quality album?"
The only thing missing in the col-
laborative effort by the photographers is
a significant increase in business since