Book Review: The Accidental Millionaire by Gary Fong

Have you ever read a book or seen a movie and said to yourself: “This is so unbelievable, it must be true!” Well, this book: The Accidental Millionaire: How to Succeed in Life Without Really Trying, by Gary Fong (BenBella Books), contains quite a few “scenes” that fit that description quite well. If you are not familiar with the book’s author, Gary Fong is a well-known photographer, inventor and entrepreneur who has become one of the most recognized names in the photo industry. I really enjoy biographies of people who have gone through great lengths to achieve success, and this autobiography is an excellent example of that.

The book starts with Fong’s early childhood–much of it spent in a haze of hairspray due to his mother’s wig business. When he wasn’t in school or helping his parents with their work (including prepping and delivering newspapers from about 3:30-6:30AM every day of the week during high school), it seems as though young Gary was always contemplating how he could do things a bit better (or just survive). For example, he worked out in his mind how he would survive if his family became homeless, and he tested the theory by spending a whole night until dawn outside his home without his parents’ knowledge…at age 12! He also worked out elaborate ways in his mind and on paper which he could protect his family from potential burglars during the time when they ran a retail store in Los Angeles. When Fong talks about many of the experiences he has had, he gives the reader a good sense of what it was like to be in his shoes at specific times in his life. He also reminds us that there are many who do very difficult jobs every day for very low wages.

Once I started reading the book, I found myself always looking forward to getting back to it, and I was frequently amused and/or stunned by the situations in which Fong found himself–including a shocking story of how one of his mentors helped a bride deal with wedding jitters. And that brings me to the many female heroines in the book. I must admit, I sometimes felt like I was getting a little TMI (too much information), but that didn’t stop me from reading all that Fong had to say about his dealings with girlfriends, assistants and online women with whom he found himself involved in one way or another. Let me sum it up by saying that “As the World of Gary Fong Turns” might be a good title for the 8-part TV mini series!

The book has a small number of black and white photos to help illustrate the events and information Fong covers in the book. One of the photos is of a tiny room in his parents’ home where he started and built his wedding photography business. Another shows a photo layout from 1986 illustrating his Storyboard approach to wedding photography and album layout.

I don’t know Gary Fong very well, but we’ve met on a few occasions over the years, and one event that sticks in my head was a photography trade show in San Diego, CA in 2004 or 2005. He was doing a photo lecture and the room was filled. People appeared to be listening intently at his every word. At the end, he took orders for some of his products, and people could not hand over their cash and credit cards fast enough! I think that Fong has a great sense of knowing what people want and need based on his struggles and experiences throughout his life.

I’m a bit of a garage inventor/product developer (GalleryPouchâ„¢ is one example), and I’m also a longtime portrait and still-life photographer, so I found Fong’s advice regarding how his ideas for software, photo albums and camera gadgets like his popular LightSphere products came to be. While reading the book, I felt almost as though we were having a few drinks and chatting about stories from his life. You don’t need to be a professional photographer or play one on TV to be entertained and learn a lot from the content in this book. I believe that anyone who is building a business or who wants one person’s perspective about how to be successful should seriously consider reading it.

For more information about the book, visit the publisher’s site: benbellabooks.com.

The book is also available here on Amazon.com. Purchasing through our Amazon.com link helps support our publishing efforts.

Exhibition of Thesis Work at School of Visual Arts in NYC: Opening Reception 10/27/2010

I recently had a chance to see the exhibition catalog featuring the thesis work of the 21 graduating students from the MPS Digital Photography Program at the School of Visual Arts. I was blown away by the design and quality of the work (both from an artistic and technical standpoint). An exhibition of the work will be on display from October 20-November 13, 2010 at the SVA Gallery in New York City. The opening reception is Wed. 10/27/2010 from 6-8pm, and is open to the public.

The exhibition catalog is available for preview and purchase on this page at Magcloud.com.

For additional information, including an overview of each student’s work, and to view a gallery of images from the show, visit this page. Also, an article about the show on the VISUAL ARTS Briefs site can be found here. I won’t be able to attend the opening, but I really look forward to seeing the show while it is on exhibit.

Exhibition information for “optic nerve”
October 20-November 13, 2010
Opening Reception: Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 6-8pm
SVA Gallery
209 East 23rd Street
New York City

Comparing the Epson Professional/Graphic Arts Edition with the Standard Epson Driver

After I posted a hands-on review of the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer, a few people left comments asking what the differences are between the Epson Professional or Graphic Arts Edition (a version of the ColorBurst RIP) and the Standard Printer (without the RIP). In this article, I will explain some of the differences as I understand them, and my comments should cover all versions of Epson’s Stylus Pro line (except where indicated), including the Stylus Pro 3800, 3880, 4000, 4800, 4880, 7800, 7880, 9800, 9880, or 11880 (the new Stylus Pro 7890 and Stylus Pro 9890 do not have a Professional/Graphic Arts Edition option listed on Epson’s Professional Imaging website). The new Epson Stylus Pro 4900 will offer an EFI® eXpress RIP option.

The first thing to understand is that the only difference between the Graphic Arts/Professional version and the standard printer is the software. The printers that ship are identical, regardless of which option you choose. The Epson Graphic Arts Edition adds a software application often referred to as the ColorBurst Edition bundle (because it is bundled with the printer as opposed to being sold separately). Most people who do not purchase the ColorBurst Edition bundle use the Standard Epson Driver, which comes on a CD with the printer. However, I recommend downloading the newest driver (and any updates) from Epson.com. It’s also important to note that even if you purchase the Professional/Graphic Arts Edition, you can always use the Epson software (even from print to print). You just have to know how to configure your system so it know whether you are printing from the RIP or the driver.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Some of the advantages of the Epson Professional/Graphic Arts Edition vs. the Standard Epson driver:

1. Ability to extend the maximum print size past the Epson Driver’s 37.4 inch maximum (refers to the Epson Stylus Pro 3880). Prints of 100 inches long (about 3 meters) or more are possible when output from most applications. For the other printers in the Stylus Pro line, the maximum print length with the driver is between about 44 and 90 inches.

2. Ability to get better overall color from PDFs exported from InDesign, Quark XPress, Adobe Illustrator and other applications. Dropping PDFs into the X-Rite Print Queue allows the software to use a lot of behind-the-scenes color intelligence compared with just printing from those applications directly through the Epson driver. This is particularly important for Pantone color matching. The printer you use will also determine what percent of Pantone spot colors you can match since many spot Pantone colors fall outside the printable gamut of many printers.

3. The ColorBurst print queue can hold many completed print projects, making it easier and faster to reprint something compared with the Epson driver and Mac or Windows Operating System queue.

4. You still have the ability to use the standard Epson driver at any time. This is useful for printing at speeds higher than the 720dpi options available in the Professional/Graphic Arts Edition.

5. A hardware linearization can be performed using X-Rite spectrophotometers such as the i1 Pro, as well as the X-Rite ColorMunki.

6. There are quite a few 720dpi environments available for printing with Epson Glossy and Semi-gloss papers. In the Epson driver (at least with the Epson 3880), only the Plain Paper option supports printing lower than 1440 (180dpi and 360dpi). Otherwise, 1440 is the lowest resolution that can be selected with any of the glossy/semi-gloss papers. Although I recommend that most people use 1440 or 2880 for high quality printing, there are times when 720dpi is great to have because it allows for considerably faster print speeds.

Some of the advantages of the Standard Epson driver vs. the Epson Professional/Graphic Arts Edition:

1. Custom profiles can be added and used with the Standard Epson driver (whether you create them, purchase them or download them from a paper manufacturer’s site), but custom profiles cannot be created and installed by the user when using the Professional/Graphic Arts Edition. Only a limited number of papers (generally the Epson branded papers) have custom profiles available in the form of “environments.” Upgrading to one of the other RIP options at ColorBurstRip.com allows you to create custom profiles for any paper.

2. 180dpi and 360dpi printing are available in the Epson Driver under the Plain Paper Media Type setting, allowing for very fast printing, but 720dpi is the minimum resolution available when using the Professional/Graphic Arts Edition (depending on the “environment” you choose, which contains the paper profile and print resolution). 180/360dpi are useful in many cases when you want to do a quick test for alignment or if you are printing something that does not have to print at a very high quality level.

Additional Resources:

Below is a set of specific suggestions for how to prepare PDF files created in Adobe InDesign, Quark XPress, Adobe Illustrator, etc. (thank you to ColorBurst support for these tips)

1. Export PDFs as high quality pdfs using version 1.6 compatibility.
2. Set PDF standard to NONE.
3. Drag and drop the PDF file into the ColorBurst RIP queue.
4. Turn on “Use embedded profiles” in the  “input profiles” section.
5. As with any printing that you might do, all image files that are inside the PDF should have an embedded profile.
6. Print

Pricing and Availability

As of 10/22/2010, the street price for the Stylus Pro 3880 was about $800 for the Standard Edition and $1,100 for the Graphic Arts Edition after a $300 rebate. This is a considerable savings over the original street price just a year ago. The new 17-inch-wide Epson Stylus Pro 4880 was recently introduced, but it does not replace the Stylus Pro 3880, and the street price is yet to be determined (retail price starts at $1,995). If you’d like to check current pricing on the Epson 3880 and help support our site, please consider using one of the links below. We have an affiliate relationship with all of the companies below, and all are Epson Authorized Professional Imaging Resellers. A $300 mail-in rebate applies to purchases of the Stylus Pro 3880 from 8/1/2010-10/31/2010 (download the rebate form here for details).

Check pricing and availability on Adorama.com
Check pricing and availability at B&H