As Film Fades, Owner Shutters Camera Shop

Once upon a time, it was fairly common for a family to go through rolls upon rolls of film taken from last year's vacation, bring them over to the local photo processing store, get the prints, then bring them home. Maybe the family would show the prints off to friends, or put them away in an album to reminisce over at future family reunions.

Sounds like a fairly tale, doesn't it?

With the advent and subsequent mass popularity of digital media, those days have disappeared faster than the images on exposed film.

This has led Lou Seaman, owner of to close up his shop recently after its over 40-year presence on North Park Place.

But, don't cry for Camera One, which Seaman owned for 12 years. It's just part of a changing industry.

"Everything has its time," said Seaman, who has continued Camera One at digitalphotoonline.com, an online-only photo restoration business run from his home in Bedminster. "I'm not upset about it. I don't have that feeling at all."

Still, it's an exit from the business community in Morristown that will be felt by all, said France Delle Donne, with .

"It's always sad to see someone who has been an integral part of the business community leave," she said. "Everyone loses when someone of that reputation leaves. But, we understand his decision was a business one, and we certainly wish him much success with his continuing endeavors."

David Patino agrees. The co-owner of , he laments the loss of Camera One, but has seen the changes that led to the decision for it to close.

"People are more than willing to sacrifice quality for the sheer capture of the moment. Just look at all the blurry photos on Facebook," he said. "How many times have you run into someone and they pull out the cell phone to show you a washed out picture of their baby, dog, etc. ... I can't tell you how many jobs I've lost in the last two-three years because 'our uncle has a camera and he's going to shoot our wedding.' Sometimes this works, and if it does, great. But, just because you own a really nice camera does not make you a photographer."

Seaman said he first saw significant change in the air around 2005. Over the past three years, however, "it became a dramatic tailing off."

Besides selling and servicing cameras and camera equipment, Camera One's bread and butter–like that of most camera shops–had long been the processing of film. However, with many camera users going digital, a steady revenue stream dissolved.

"We have the people who want to print everything, but they are few and far between," Seaman said. "The growing class of customers have been those not doing any printing. They take photos and video with their phones. They are sharing on Facebook, Flickr and doing that for free.

"The end use of the image has changed," he said.

Camera One is not the only shop to see the change. , has been owned and operated in Morristown by the Sandrian family since 1927. They, too, have had to adapt to a changing industry.

Owner Peter Sandrian said he has seen competition vanish region-wide with the changes. "It's our competition, but at the same time, it's a difficult thing for me to see so many go out," he said, noting dealers in Denville, Dover, Mendham and Chester have closed up in recent years. "We really have lost quite a number of people.

"I'd rather have Lou [Seaman] be there than not. I'm sorry to see him go. He's been good," Sandrian said.

Sandrian Camera's early adoption of digital processing has helped the business weather the storm, its owner said. "We've been doing it for 12 or so years," Sandrian said. "We have tried our best to stay up with current technology, new products, large prints, posters, banners, signage."

Sandrian said customer service, competitive pricing and a name that has been in the area for almost a century has helped keep customers coming back.

"I find people are producing beautiful work we can print and put up on their walls. That is what has sustained us," he said. "Things you can do with digital cameras are so diverse and phenomenal. You see the results immediately. It has done away for the most part with the use of film, which used to be a regular cycle–people would buy film, shoot, need more film. It kept us going.

"We're fairly stable, and we work very hard for our customers. It's another reason we're still around," Sandrian said.

Over time, Camera One evolved, with more and more of its work being conducted in the digital realm, which Seaman said made the idea of a physical location make less and less sense.

"The whole point of having a camera store was to sell film and process. The margin on equipment was very thin, thinner with the advent of the Internet," he said. "You had lots of people out there selling for 2, 3 percent over dealer net. There was no competing with that."

Seaman said people wanted to come into his store and "kick the tires," testing equipment there before ultimately buying it online. "I didn't need to maintain a retail location to basically be a showroom for the manufacturers," he said.

Patino acknowledges as much guilt as the next camera buff. "I purchase almost all of my gear online, and I think the average consumer will head to [a big box store] or equivalent online retailer to purchase their equipment," he said.

Seaman said business today is good, more so without the overhead of a physical location. "Everything has its day in the sun. The photo store had a good run," he said.

While Sandrian Camera has been able to roll with the punches–even recently renewing its shop's lease–Seaman said it all comes down to the bottom line.

"It's not just one thing, it's a variety of things, a confluence of a variety of circumstances," he said. "The bottom line is the money. When it does not become worth your while to be there, that's the bottom line. You need to recognize it before it pulls you in and causes trouble.

"Nobody is immune from it. Anything that can be turned into 1's and 0's can be delivered through the Internet," Seaman said.

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