Photos © 2004 Ingrid S. Krampe, All Rights Reserved

To generate and continue our business growth from a small town in rural Georgia, we have focused on the equestrian market. This geographically broad niche seems to have a generous amount of expendable dollars, as well as an ample interest in images and related art. The most challenging aspect of the business--beyond combining rider, mount, and background in a stylish fashion--is the need to bring a ton of gear on location for postproduction, proofing, editing, and sales. For larger events, we'll bring the Apple G5 along with a 20" Apple Cinema Display and several printers. For smaller events where time may be limited, or in situations that require frequent review and editing between sets, traveling light is the name of the game.

Local artist Katie Cooper needed a marketing shot of two stools she was commissioned to paint for Julia Roberts' newborn twins. The Epson P-2000 provided a quick and easy medium to ensure that we had nailed the shot.

We recently had the opportunity to examine the benefits of the Epson P-2000 Multimedia Storage Viewer in two such situations. The first was a very small assignment that needed to be completed as quickly and effectively as possible. A local artist, Katie Cooper (www.katiecooperart.com) was commissioned to paint stools for actress Julia Roberts' newborn twins--Hazel and Phinnaeus. Before shipping the stools, Cooper wanted a signature marketing shot that showed the fine art work on the stools using the elegant equestrian guest-estate setting (Zion Farms, Rome, Georgia) she calls home. I took several shots, but found it difficult to show off the top of the stools without losing the integrity of the furniture. To complicate the situation further, the stools were only 18" high and needed to be prominent in the shot without losing the background.

I moved around to several locations and finally settled in front of the graceful iron gate that marks the entrance to the
cross-country course. A bucket of grain moved a white horse into my viewfinder and although I felt confident that I had nailed it I needed confirmation from my client.

Downloading the Kingston 1024MB CompactFlash card to the P-2000 was very quick and simple. Once the card is inserted, the unit gives you the option of copying the data, creating an album from the copied data, or browsing the memory card. Because of time constraints I opted to browse the card. Images appeared in groups of 12 and once a photograph was selected it was possible to zoom in and move around the image to examine detail. Clicking the "display" button provided image information, including the file size and other pertinent image-related information.

The P-2000 is small (5.8x3.3x1.2") and weighs less than a pound. Its 3.8" VGA (640x480) LCD screen looked very crisp and clear. According to Epson, this is due to its Epson Photo Fine technology, which features a pixel count of 256 pixels
per-square-inch with three colors (red, green, and blue) per pixel. Reviewing the images was very quick and I left knowing that Cooper was pleased with the results. I also made a copy of the file on the P-2000's 40GB hard drive, which afforded me the peace of mind that I already had a backup of the data. I could have used a laptop for the same results but the P-2000 was faster and more manageable in this type of on-location situation.

Ditto for the next assignment. We were to create corporate identity images for Skynz, a new teen equestrian clothing company. The job involved several amateur teen models, horses, and 14 shots at more than half-a-dozen settings on the same equestrian estate. The key was to work quickly and have the client's approval before moving to the next set. We downloaded each set into a folder, which we labeled numerically, as it was easier than labeling each one using the alphabet display and the four-way ring. At one point an assistant even generated a slide show, complete with transition effects (film, shutter, fade, curtain, blend) and a choice of one of the five different background musical selections. The Epson P-2000 proved to be an effective tool when preliminary approval is required in a fast-paced on-location setting, and the hard disk is a good insurance plan against the possibility of data loss.

In situations that require frequent review and editing between sets, the P-2000 provided a way to get the client's approval between sets.

The P-2000 has several features that we did not take advantage of, including video interface, which allows the unit to be connected to a television monitor or projector, and Direct Print Technology, which enables direct printing to several select Epson printers (Epson Stylus Photo R300, R320, RX600, and PictureMate), without the need of a computer.

If I could make a wish list for the P-2000, I would suggest that it be possible to program the unit to display image numbers during the slide show and that Epson provide a removable cover to protect the LCD screen during transport.