Fashion and advertising insiders in Singapore know the name Derrick Lim. The rest of this vibrant city, those who perhaps don’t know him by face or name, have seen his work. An industry professional for 14 years, Lim has been shooting fashion and advertising throughout Singapore’s busy and fast-paced transformation to the cultural and business heartland of South East Asia.
Epson Stylus Pro 10600
The digital revolution means giving your clients the best in both quality and speed
His success was hard won and achieved from the ground up. He describes his entry into professional photography as a ’slip on a banana peel,’ a slip that has seen his clients fall for his style and professionalism. It’s not just been point and shoot though. He’s spent countless hours in a darkroom developing film and at the same time developing his skills. Now, after hundreds of rolls following the shoot-develop-print model, that humble roll of film is barely to be seen.
Going Digital: Delivering More, Faster and Better
The perception that digital photography is not real photography lingers among some in the field. As both a professional, and a pragmatist, Derrick Lim has been one of those to watch and wait before taking the plunge.
When he did take the plunge, the resultant transition from a non-digital photographic environment to an advanced, color-matching one, was remarkably rapid. He started with the Epson Stylus Pro 7500 in 2001. A few months later, he added a RIP and the Epson Stylus Pro 5500 for smaller format jobs before moving up to the Epson Stylus Pro 9500. Now he uses the Epson Stylus Pro 10600, an advanced version of the Epson Stylus Pro 9500.
"It is my responsibility to produce quality work for the client. For me, quality is crucial and I must be able to represent this to the client. A digital inkjet printout with profiled settings is how to get quality output." Lim says
After installing the Epson Stylus Pro 10600, he was spellbound by Epson UltraChrome Ink, because the term of color stability is very short, allowing him to create his own ICC profile, and maintain more precise color management.
For Lim, the factors in deciding on Epson printers are twofold; he wanted speed and he wanted output capacity. "The large format printer gives you speed. You load up the rolls and it goes and goes. It’s simply a matter of printing it all in one go."
Quality: Keeping Clients Coming Back
But what’s important to remember is that Derrick Lim has not built a reputation for himself through his computer skills or high speed. Clients come to a professional photographer like Lim because they’re ready to spend big money on an important campaign and they expect that the images will be nothing short of perfect.
Embracing technology has not seen Lim relax his standards. The tools of the trade may now include a PC and a printer instead of a film and a darkroom, but the key elements remain. Chief among them is color, an area which has become one of his specialties. "When you’re working on campaigns, color is crucial," he says.
"If a turquoise dress goes green, you have got a serious problem. And if you are doing a shoot for Coca Cola, do you think you’re going to accept anything other than Coca Cola red?" While Derrick Lim may have gone digital, his quality and standards remain very much traditional.
Derrick Lim Photography
Derrick Lim is a photographer and color management consultant who has 14 years experience in the trade. He specializes in fashion and advertising photography, and produces quality pictures for magazines, poster, campaign brochures, and newspapers.
Epson Stylus Pro 10600
