When you focus on a specific market you’re subject to its whims and cycles. In order to weather whatever storms that may batter that particular market you have to be flexible and creative.
Dimpled Rock, a company that specializes in golf course photography, has done just that. We first profiled Dimpled Rock about five years ago in the In Focus eNewsletter as the business was first starting to take off.
With figurative economic storms and literal storms, like Hurricane Sandy, Dimpled Rock’s Gary Kellner says the photography side of the business has been stagnant as of late.
“The general economic conditions at some of the golf clubs have had an impact on our photography. We had also focused our efforts on New England and Sandy pretty much devastated the landscape in a lot of areas. They’re losing trees and having to re-do their bunkers, so they’re not ready to have their courses photographed until they can get them back in shape,” explains Kellner.
However, the print production side has been growing steadily. With its comprehensive imaging program for golf clubs, Dimpled Rock elevates the way golf clubs present themselves and provides them with high-end photography that can be used in a variety of media, both online and in print.
“The clubs are fully engaged in using the prints as awards instead of glass trophies. Now they’re doing really nice framed photographs with plaques on them for club championships and event prizes. That has provided a huge influx of work into our basic production. It’s not just wall art anymore,” says Kellner.
Dimpled Rock typically prints on LexJet Premium Archival Matte Paper and LexJet Sunset Velvet Rag 315g for framed fine art prints, and LexJet Sunset Select Matte Canvas, either framed or gallery wrapped, for canvas reproductions.
“The business is definitely morphing into something more than what we started,” says Kellner. “We’ve been doing some pretty large prints. The biggest one we did recently was eight feet long for someone’s house.”
Dimpled Rock’s value is in the company’s ability to photograph, design and produce an all-encompassing visual program for a golf club.
“I’ve had several projects where I was shooting everything from the golf course to the interiors, including staff, food service, and so forth. They can have everything they need without having to hassle with 15 different people,” says Kellner.
The word about Dimpled Rock is getting around the golf market. Kellner recently photographed Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., for all of the club’s promotional materials leading up to the 2014 PGA Championship.
“We’re in the infancy part of our relationship with the PGA. They’re blown away because they’re not used to getting the quality of files I’m giving them,” says Kellner.