Photography

P

Phil Ackland

KEC Expert
Below is a new section that is going in the Cleaning Manual. Would like some comments from you "shutterbugs." What else might be mentioned (this is not an editioral opportunity) What would you pass on to an interested student? Note: the formating did not come over very well, please ignore that.

PS -- this bit was inspired by Josh and Matt's recent notes on this bbs. I had meant to add Photography and then forgot. Thanx guys.
Phil

Photography
With the advent of consumer priced digital cameras, the ability to conveniently take multiple photographs (even video) of the inside of exhaust systems has become more prevalent. For years photographs of conditions within the exhaust system have had powerful sales ability. To be able to show a customer the realities within their systems and that you had the capacity to correct them could make a sharp cleaner a lot of money.
Today with the convenience of computers and digital photography it is not that difficult to record the before and after of a cleaning experience. This can have particular appeal to larger customers and chain that would like some sort of "proof" that the system was in fact cleaned to a satisfactory level. They will want photos of before and after emailed to them after every cleaning.
If you are going to use this technology, learn all you can about your cameras abilities.
§ Learn to take macros shots
§ Understand "depth of field"
§ You may want to use a tape measure or ruler to establish proportions
§ Use of light
§ You may want to have the time and date stamped onto each photo.
You may want to invest in a software program that will help you catalogue the photos so they can go into a printable (paper) version. Keep the quality of the photos to a minimum to reduce the size of the computer file for sending the pictures over the Internet. This will require some experimentation depending on the caliber of your camera, computer and Internet server.
Create folders in your computer with the name of the customer (specific outlets) and the date of the cleaning (or dates of photos taken).
There are a number of ways to do all this, but a word of caution; you can end up spending a very disproportionate amount of time "playing" with these photos. Better a few telling pictures that show identifiable conditions than sending 50 or 60 photos of basically the same thing. Believe it or not, you customer is not anywhere near as interested in seeing these photos as you may be J
 
Phil Ackland said:
There are a number of ways to do all this, but a word of caution; you can end up spending a very disproportionate amount of time "playing" with these photos. Better a few telling pictures that show identifiable conditions than sending 50 or 60 photos of basically the same thing. Believe it or not, you customer is not anywhere near as interested in seeing these photos as you may be J
Click to expand...


Matt spends a lot of time "playing" with his photos of bare naked metal.

I like to put together an assortment of labeled before and after photos for initial services. I let the customer know that the initial set of pictures will be "special" and require more time to organize than the regular service files that they could have emailed after following services.

This photo section of the training manual may be the most important addition you could make. I'd put it a close 2nd to the grease removal portion of the manual.;) Good work Phil.
 
Sorry for editorializing, but I would take out the stuff about macros and depth of field. We do about 30 jobs a week, so I look at about 300 pictures a week, and very rarely do the cameras today have any kinds of problems with those things. They are point and shoot, and 99% of the time they come out perfect.

Tell them that it is very important to have the time and date. Especially if anything discrepancies arise.

Photos of the roof and kitchen area are important.

Photos of the access panel stickers after you put the access panel back on.

You can use anything in this document, I stole it from Don Pfleiderer anyway so I don't mind if you steal it from me:D

http://greasepolice.org/files/GP_photo_requirements.pdf
 
Appreciate the tips from GP and Don Pfleiderer. Have seen this basic layout before from others. Doubt anyone could claim complete origination. Nevertheless, am happy to credit all for any assistance. We are fast approaching a deadline for the manual. Want it as close as possible for the Phil Ackland School in Louisville on the 8th of Aug. Just now merging the new material to the Power point.

Will expand both manual and PP to reflect suggestions coming in on photography. I agree with a previous thread, photography is very important as a great money maker, protection from lawsuit and confirmation of quality.

As much as I support it, I don't want to lose sight of the importance of getting restaurant management to actually be responsible to check the system out. Either/or, both are good. Now that's editorializing:)
 
Phil Ackland said:
As much as I support it, I don't want to lose sight of the importance of getting restaurant management to actually be responsible to check the system out. Either/or, both are good. Now that's editorializing:)
Click to expand...

That is going to be tough. I think it would be easier to get them to demand it of their cleaning companies as part of the service.
 
No doubt! Didn't say it was easy (never is) but it is their responsibility. With the chain types it is even more true, yet less likely.

The safety of the restaurant is ultimately the responsibility of the owner/management. I think it is best, for the long term direction of the exhaust cleaning industry, to continue to encourage these people to gain more knowledge about what is done by cleaners at their stores. Education and Awareness -- Ultimately will improve this cleaning industry.

That is why I will continue to applaud any of you guys who is continuing to "reach the bar" one way or another. I'll keep trying to do the same. Thanks for all your support.
 
mbryan said:
Sorry for editorializing, but I would take out the stuff about macros and depth of field. We do about 30 jobs a week, so I look at about 300 pictures a week, and very rarely do the cameras today have any kinds of problems with those things. They are point and shoot, and 99% of the time they come out perfect.
Click to expand...

I had no clue what the macros was all about, thought maybe it was something to do with MacIntosh or something.

mbryan said:
Tell them that it is very important to have the time and date. Especially if anything discrepancies arise.
Click to expand...

Some cameras do not time and date stamp. It's a good idea to ask before you buy. Also make sure you're camera has a mic, it makes for better video.:)
 
How do you manage the pictures. Do you take a picture of your dispatch doc. Then you save by crew-it would seem that after two months you would need a full time employee for the photos. We take them and review but we do not save past a month and that even is questionable. Even the photo programs can become overwhelming, even at my young age. Please anyone but Matt – he would send me to HD for a photo frame.:confused: :eek: :D
 
We have a basic system where we have a folder for each customer and we save photos with a date for the name. So in the directory it is easy to locate the customer and then easy to see pictures from each service. It only takes a minute to locate any customer location.
 
You two are the ZEP twins
 
David Saulque said:
How do you manage the pictures
Click to expand...

Through much trial and error and with the help with some other greasers here is what I do.

The date stamp on my camera is yy/mm/dd
My invoice numbers are the same. For instance the job today invoice # was 080731
Because you have more than 1 crew and they probably do more than 1 job per day/night you have to label your crews A, B, C etc. followed by the hash mark and number of job.

For instance: I did 3 jobs yesterday and my crew is (A) So the second job's invoice # was 080730-A2

Makes sense?

Then at the end of the night/day, I bring my SD card in download the pics and drag them to the correct folder labeled "Accountname080730" No need to worry about the crew and job number in the file folder.

It really sounds more complicated and time consuming than it is. It takes all of about 10 minutes from start to finish once you are setup to do it. I also think that the time spent, is well worth it.

Give me a call Dave if you need any help with this, it might be easier to explain over the phone.
 
Ha ha Matt you make me laugh early in morning today!
 
Thanks guys - Matt GO HOME!!!!
 
Macro -- Means taking a tight closeup picture like the date on the suppression link or a small crack in the weld of a duct seam. Basically photos as close as possible to the object.

I have to use it in my investigative work. A cleaner may not really need this ability from a camera, but it merits mention.

Someone stated you should research before you buy. Hopefully this thread will give them food for thought.
 
I have a kodak as well, good camera, but junk software....don't use the software.

All our crews turn in their pictures weekly, usually downloaded on Friday. I spend 5-6 hours a week labeling and sorting pictures, anywhere from 2500 to 3500 pictures weekly. I file them by crew #, Location name, and date cleaned. I refer to our account history and cleaning date when I search for specific photos. We've had our program in place since Feb of this year, and all the files are saved on an external drive. I figure I'll save them for a year and then back them up month to month to clean off the hard drive.
 
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