With film, it was simple. You shoot the job, process the film, then place the transparencies in a FedEx box or hand them to a messenger for delivery to your client. They open the box and send you a check for the unpaid balance on the invoice. Life was simple, even if it didn’t always seem like it at the time.
Starting with the ability to scan transparencies and process the images in your studio prior to delivery, things began to change. Questions about sending the original transparencies or just the scans and in what format should they be sent muddied the traditional business model. Photo CDs emerged, and issues of digital formats added to confusion on both sides of the job. SyQuest drives filled FedEx trucks, as photographers and clients frantically phoned one another about what computer peripherals the other had for making the digital copies.
Ruggedized??? You’ve got to be kidding!
Kidding about what?