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Pictage Featured on CBS' the Early Show

Torrance, CA - May 15, 2007

Pictage, the nation's leading provider of online wedding photography solutions for professional photographers, played an essential role in the "Wedding in a Week" segment which recently aired on CBS' The Early Show. Teaming with partner photographer Richard Parker, Pictage designed, printed and bound a 40-page wedding album within a remarkable two-day timeframe. The 12"x12" leather album was presented to the newlywed couple live on-the-air.

"Pulling together a high-end wedding from start to finish in just one week was an incredible feat to witness, and an absolute thrill to photograph," said Parker who runs a successful wedding/portrait photography studio, and was chosen by The Early Show to capture the occasion. "Pictage rose to the challenge by producing a beautiful wedding album in less than 48 hours. This is a huge testament to the value Pictage brings to the wedding industry, and why I consider them to be an essential business partner."

Full service album design and production are hallmark offerings of Pictage. In addition to the company’s proprietary online album design software, Pictage member photographers have access to a wide array of innovative album products and complimentary creative design services.

"Wedding in a Week" was presented by renowned wedding planner Colin Cowie, in conjunction with The Early Show. Documenting the ultimate walk down the aisle, the weeklong series presented useful tips and information for planning the perfect wedding.

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage – the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers – has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer’s complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Senior Vice President
(310) 525-1600

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Pictage Unveils Multimedia Community Website

Pictage Consolidates Community Resources and Launches New Website-Including Online Videos and Webinars, Industry News, Interactive Forums and Local Pictage User Group Updates

Torrance, CA - April 11, 2007

Pictage, the nation's leading provider of wedding photography solutions to professional photographers, has launched its all-new Community Website. Focusing on the complete workflow of the professional wedding photographer, the Community Website provides members a productive venue for the exchange of ideas combined with direct access to professional development resources and content. A highlight of this interactive experience is PictageTV - featuring photographer interviews, educational videos, product previews and member-submitted footage. Adding further members-only value to Pictage membership, photographers can also embed PictageTV videos directly on their own websites and blogs.

Additional Pictage Community Website features include:
  • Live webinars presenting top wedding photographers and industry leaders, with topics ranging from the art of photography to the business of owning and running a successful studio business.
  • Online discussions with leading photographers, covering a wide array of relevant topics.
  • An events page with information and behind-the-scenes galleries relating to Pictage member conferences, trade shows and upcoming events.
  • A dedicated Pictage User Group (PUG) section, created to help facilitate communication and education among member photographers at regional levels around the nation.
  • Direct accessibility to the Pictage forums where more than 9,000 photographers share ideas and strategies to keep them on top of the industry.
  • A member gallery for photographers to share their favorite images.

Pictage is continually adding new content is to the site. Member photographers can directly contribute by submitting videos, photos and other content using the following email addresses:

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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Pictage Photographers Crowd American Photo Magazine's List of the Best Wedding Photographers in the World

Torrance, Calif. - March 30, 2007

Pictage, the nation's leading provider of wedding photography solutions to professional photographers, has much to celebrate as its own members garner four out of ten spots on the "Top 10 Wedding Photographers of the World" list presented by American Photo. The authoritative photography news magazine has proclaimed, "it's high time to give these photographic specialists some extra attention" for their multifaceted talent, and features "ten of the best and most influential wedding photographers working today" in the current March/April issue.

One reason Pictage photographers were able to take the Top 10 list by 40 percent is that Pictage provides its members with innovative resources and tools to increase revenues and substantially grow their businesses. When a photographer joins Pictage they are offered exclusive member benefits, including access to proprietary wedding market data and the Pictage Community - where professional photographers trade tips, share ideas, and learn about the latest in photography marketplace trends. Pictage also handles the photographer's back-office work, as well as printing, album design services, image back-up and archiving. These offerings allow photographer's to focus on their creativity, while Pictage handles the rest.

The four Pictage professional photographers that made the list (in order of appearance) are Denis Reggie, Joe Buissink, Christian Oth and David Beckstead. To view the article and complete list of photographers Click Here.

Denis Reggie, hailed "the best of the best" by Harper's Bazaar, is a nationally renowned celebrity and society-wedding photographer based in Atlanta, Georgia. In his 25-year career he has shot hundreds of celebrity weddings including the marriage of Maria Shriver to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Caroline Kennedy to Edwin Schlossberg, and John Kennedy, Jr. to Carolyn Bessette. In 1980, Reggie defined the genre and coined the phrase "wedding photojournalism" which transformed the look of wedding photography throughout the world. His shooting style involves a quiet observation that helps him seek and capture the moments defining each wedding day's story. Reggie was recently appointed 2007 Advisory Panel Chairman for Pictage.

In the past 12 years, Joe Buissink had the humbling opportunity to shoot not one, but two weddings for the family of Annie Leibovitz - America's most famous photographer. He has also shot celebrity weddings for Jessica Simpson, Barry Bonds, and Jennifer Lopez. When it comes to shooting, Beverly Hills-based Buissink doesn't worry about what the customer wants, but rather focuses on exuding his own style of seizing the moment. He believes this is what the customer hired him for in the first place, so why not stay true to his own artistic nature.

New York-based Christian Oth has 10 years past experience as a commercial photographer. His understanding of how to properly market himself in today's competitive world has propelled him to define his unique style. Oth prefers an honest approach, capturing every detail of the bride and groom's wedding day without leaving any part or personality behind. He believes this is the best way to watch the bride and groom's wedding story unfold.

David Beckstead and his wife and business partner, Kassandra, have a studio in the small town of Kettle Falls, Washington. Because of their remote location, the Becksteads thrive off their website to draw business. Beckstead thinks of his wedding photography as art, and it is showcased as such on his website where galleries are listed by form, not content. His unusual angles and use of light and shadow, give him a unique style that clients yearn for on their wedding day. Beckstead cannot stress the importance of having a professional designed website to market yourself.

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Become a Pictage member

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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Pictage Launches New Advisory Committee

Created to help guide the continuing growth of Pictage, 14 leading photographers will collaborate and provide valuable feedback on new membership offerings, product innovations and business-related matters.

Torrance, CA - March 22, 2007

Pictage, the nation's leading provider of wedding photography solutions to professional photographers, is proud to announce the formation of the 2007-2008 Pictage Advisory Panel. Fourteen established members of the Pictage community were chosen to take part in this panel based on their strong leadership and influence in the photography industry and wide-ranging usage of Pictage.

Panel members will meet twice a year to advise on new product ideas, upcoming Pictage events, trade show initiatives, and other important photography marketplace issues. The Panel will also lead supplemental discussions within their own online Pictage Forum located in the Monitored Business & Products section of the Pictage Forum.

"The Advisory Panel will be vital to the growth of Pictage and will serve as a direct link to our membership community," said Jeff Jochum, Pictage Vice President of Marketing & Sales. "The formation of this renowned panel of professionals is one more example of how Pictage provides exclusive benefits to help our member businesses grow."

The formal announcement of the Pictage Advisory Panel, as well as their inaugural meeting, will take place at the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International WPPI Convention and Trade Show this month.

The 2007-2008 Pictage Advisory Panel:

  • Denis Reggie, Advisory Panel Chairman
    Original pioneer of photojournalism and world renown Kennedy family photographer. Hailed "the best of the best" by Harper's Bazaar.
  • Joe Buissink
    Widely acclaimed wedding photographer to celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, and Kelsey Grammer. Also a regular contributor to InStyle Magazine.
  • Mike Colón
    Named "a legend behind the lens" by Nikon and a highly regarded teacher and speaker, for which Rangefinder Magazine says, "His images are beyond the power of speech."
  • Mike Conte
    Owner of Conte Photography, one of the largest photography studios in the Central Pennsylvania region.
  • Jana Curcio
    Founder of Curcio Photography who has been published in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times.
  • Brody Dezember
    Owner of Brody Dezember Photography, Brody is the Pictage PUG Leader in Salt Lake City, Utah.
  • Robert Evans
    Celebrity photographer, most notable for capturing the weddings of Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, and most recently Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.
  • Nathan and Amber Holritz
    Successful husband and wife photography team with Holritz Photography, Nathan and Amber are Pictage PUG Leaders in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
  • Ron and Kathleen Howard
    Co-creators of Howard House Photography, the Howards are well known for their unique style of photojournalism on the beaches of the Island of Martha's Vineyard.
  • David Jay
    Award-winning photographer named one of the top 15 wedding photojournalists in the world by WPJA. He is the founder of OpenSourcePhoto and designer of ShowIt software.
  • Steven Jersic
    Senior Director of Operations / IS for Bella Pictures, an innovative wedding photography service that matches the style of their clients with their many award-winning photographers.
  • Ryan Joseph
    Owner of RJoseph Photographics has been featured in Studio Photography & Design Magazine and shoots weddings around the world.
  • David Salomone
    Operates The Studio Photographers servicing the New York and New Jersey areas and chosen from an exclusive list of photographers to shoot a wedding live for CBS's The Early Show.
  • Don Thompson
    Photographic storyteller who formed D.Bryant Photography in 1998 with his wife Jill. Together they create a casual and relaxed style their clients say is "PHENOMENAL."

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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Pictage Releases Plug-In for Aperture

February 22, 2007

Torrance, CA (PRWeb) February 22, 2007 -- Pictage, Inc., the nation's leading provider of wedding photography solutions to professional photographers, today announced the availability of its much anticipated plug-in for Aperture, Apple's all-in-one post-production tool for serious photographers. Using the new plug-in with Aperture, professional wedding photographers can seamlessly categorize, keyword, enhance, and upload their events directly to Pictage.

"Aperture has been embraced by our members as a breakthrough pro photo workflow product," said Jeff Jochum, Pictage Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "We're thrilled to deliver a plug-in for Aperture that makes uploading events to Pictage seamless, enabling our community to better organize their business and substantially decrease their workflow."

The new plug-in allows the Pictage subscriber community to open and edit their RAW/JPG images for post-production in Aperture. When ready to upload to the Pictage event site, users simply select a menu from within Aperture that allows automatic connection to Pictage's Digital Express Client tool, file conversion (RAW to JPG, if needed) event submission and upload.

Pictage is the industry leader for online image hosting, printing, marketing, and services to professional photographers. Pictage offers back-end production services and a commerce-enabled web presence that allows photographers to sell wedding and portrait photography-related products to brides, grooms, their families and guests.

Pictage is the leader in offering studios a "one-stop-shop" for photo-processing solutions, as well as support for all of their service-related needs. Photographers can choose from a wide range of products to offer clients including: proof and final prints, wedding albums, coffee table books, and photo cards.

Through Pictage, studios are able to save significant time on post-production and sales-related activities per wedding, generate additional revenues from product sales to wedding guests and family, and offer their clients products they may not have otherwise had access to. To date, over 100,000 weddings have been hosted by Pictage.

The plug-in will be available February 22, 2007 from http://www.pictage.com/pro/aperture/index.html.

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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Apax partners invests $29 million in Pictage, Inc., the leading provider of online solutions for professional wedding and portrait photographers

TORRANCE, CA and NEW YORK - March 2, 2006

Pictage, Inc., the nation's leading provider of wedding photography solutions to professional photographers, and Apax Partners, L.P., one of the world's leading private equity investment groups, today announced that funds advised by Apax Partners are investing $29 million to acquire a majority ownership interest in Pictage and provide the company with growth capital.

As the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions and services to professional photographers, Pictage offers back-end production services and a commerce-enabled web presence that allows photographers to sell wedding and portrait photography related products to brides, family and guests. Since its inception in 2000, Pictage has been the innovative leader in offering studios a one-stop-shop photo processing solutions for all their service-related needs and resulting products, including proof and final prints, wedding albums, coffee table books, and photo cards.

In 2006, Pictage introduced the revolutionary Happy Bride Guarantee - effectively removing the bride's uncertainty of working with its photographer partners by underwriting a money-back guarantee that ensures her total satisfaction.

Through Pictage, studios are able to save significant time on post-production and sales-related activities per wedding, generate additional revenues from product sales to wedding guests and family, and offer their clients products to which they may not have otherwise had access. To date, nearly 100,000 weddings have been hosted by Pictage.

Headquartered in Torrance, CA, Pictage was founded by Jason Kiefer, the company's chief executive officer, who commented: Apax Partners is an ideal partner for Pictage as we continue to expand into this exciting market and beyond. The firm possesses an extraordinary track record of investing in technology, digital media and retail, all of which are areas we operate in. We therefore welcome their financial backing as well as the strategic guidance they can provide going forward." He continued, Best of all, this capital gives us the added strength to enhance the products and services we deliver to our dedicated and expanding community of photographers. They're the big winners, here."

Oren Zeev, general partner at Apax Partners, L.P. said: We are excited to join Jason, and the rest of the Pictage management team, in supporting the company's impressive and continued growth. Pictage offers a unique value proposition to photographers, brides and their guests and, as a result, has the leadership position in this rapidly expanding market. We believe that Pictage has unlimited opportunities for increased success. Oren Zeev and Adil Haque, vice president, Apax Partners, L.P. will join the board of Pictage, Inc.

O'Melveny & Myers LLP provided legal counsel to Apax Partners. Jefferies Broadview, a division of Jefferies & Company, Inc., acted as Pictage's financial advisor, with Heller Ehrman, LLP as legal counsel.

About Apax Partners

Apax Partners is one of the world's leading private equity investment groups. It operates across the United States, Europe and Israel and has more than 30 years of investing experience. Funds under the management or advice of Apax Partners total $20 billion around the world. These Funds provide longterm equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. The Funds pursue a multi-stage equity investment strategy, investing in buyouts, growth capital and late-stage.

Apax Partners Funds invest in companies across its global sectors of Tech & Telecom, Retail & Consumer, Media, Healthcare and Financial & Business Services. Apax Partners' investments in the technology and telecom industry include Audible, Jamdat, WiderThan, Midasplayer and Intelsat.

For additional information visit www.apax.com.

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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PICTAGE LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE ONLINE DIRECTORY OF TOP PROFESSIONAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS

New Local Directory on www.pictage.com Gives Engaged Couples a Source for Finding and Reviewing the Highest Quality Professional Photographers Nationwide

  • Quick, easy, free, one-stop source for engaged couples to search for local, professional photographers.
  • Photos from entire past weddings posted online- not just small selection of the best images-help couples easily narrow down the most desirable photographer candidates by really getting to know their work.
  • Pictage.com Directory also available through WeddingChannel.com, so couples easily make this critical selection alongside their other wedding planning and research.

Torrance, CA - June 23, 2004

Pictage, Inc. and WeddingChannel.com are celebrating the joys of married life by reaching their first, official milestone - the launch of the Pictage Local Photographer Directory. With hundreds of photographer studio listings already fully enabled and accessible on the Pictage and WeddingChannel.com web sites, couples across the nation have a convenient and useful new way to find the best professional wedding photographers.

Studio listings offer visitors to Pictage and WeddingChannel.com with studio information, photography style, sample images and multiple albums of the photographer's past work-all in one place, and online! Busy brides-to-be can now extensively research the nation's finest photographers (locally or nationally) easily from the comfort of their own home, checking for originality and consistency of prospective photographers. Studio listings are posted in the Local Photographer Directories on www.pictage.com and WeddingChannel.com. Visitors to either site may browse each Directory for free.

"Much as our online proofing system has already done for viewing wedding images, the Pictage Directory will revolutionize the way brides find their perfect wedding photographer," said Pictage CEO, Jason Kiefer. "The time-consuming process of going to a photographer's studio to view complete samples of their work can now be accomplished in minutes on the Pictage web site. This enables a more perfect match between a photographer's style and the bride's taste."

About WeddingChannel.com:

Los Angeles-based WeddingChannel.com offers couples comprehensive wedding-planning content and tools and one place to view all their gift registries. Nearly $100 million of gifts were purchased in 2003 via WeddingChannel.com's patented registry system that searches 1.5 million registries from its many retail partners, including, Federated Department Stores (Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Bon-Macy's, Burdines-Macy's, Goldsmith's-Macy's, Lazarus-Macy's and Rich's-Macy's), Tiffany & Co., Crate and Barrel, Neiman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), JCPenney and others. WeddingChannel.com publishes WEDDINGBELLS magazine, a national publication with local editions in 10 major U.S. markets.

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact:

For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

For WeddingChannel.com:
Rosanna McCollough
(213) 599-4460

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PICTAGE AND WEDDINGCHANNEL.COM GET HITCHED

Las Vegas, NV - February 23, 2004

Today, Pictage, Inc. and WeddingChannel.com, Inc. announced their new marriage at the annual gathering of the nation's leading wedding and portrait photographers. The multi-year marketing and investment agreement is a win-win-win for couples, guests and photographers. Launching this spring, engaged and newlywed couples will be able to manage and share all of their wedding registries and wedding photos in one place, making their lives much easier. Additionally, the partnership offers guests and family members a one-stop shop to find and purchase wedding gifts and wedding photos, resulting in simple online ordering for them and a reduced cost burden on the newlyweds. Photographers who use Pictage's service will receive a premier listing on WeddingChannel.com for free - a $900 per year value.

With over 2,000 members and growing fast, Pictage is revolutionizing the professional photography business. Pictage's superior processing system streamlines the time-consuming proofing, photo sharing, printing and billing process for photographers, making their jobs and the lives of their clients practically effortless. Essentially, Pictage photographers spend less time on administration and more time building their client base and shooting events, while engaged couples can quickly and inexpensively view, share and order photographs online. Millions of engaged and newlywed couples, as well as their friends and family, already use WeddingChannel.com for wedding planning and gift buying.

"Partnering with the #1 wedding web site gives Pictage an unparalleled ability to market our services and network of photographers to millions of engaged couples, newlyweds and guests," said Jason Kiefer, Pictage's CEO and founder. "This partnership will not only save our photographers money, but it will increase their bookings."

"WeddingChannel's patented registry system is the only place wedding gift buyers can find all the registries of leading retailers such as Macy's, Crate and Barrel, Williams-Sonoma, Bloomingdale's and more. Soon, engaged and newlywed couples will not only be able to only manage and share their gift registries in one place, but manage and share their wedding pictures as well," said Adam Berger, WeddingChannel.com's CEO. " We spent two years researching the industry to conclude Pictage was the best company to back - they really get it."

Once couples have chosen photos they want to share with their family and friends, WeddingChannel.com will add the photo album onto the couple's wedding web site. WeddingChannel has over 1.7 million registries and wedding web sites. Friends of the couple will be able to view the photo album and order reprints of their favorite photos directly.

About WeddingChannel.com:

Los Angeles-based WeddingChannel.com offers couples comprehensive wedding-planning content and tools and one place to view all their gift registries. Nearly $100 million of gifts were purchased in 2003 via WeddingChannel.com's patented registry system that searches 1.5 million registries from its many retail partners, including, Federated Department Stores (Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Bon-Macy's, Burdines-Macy's, Goldsmith's-Macy's, Lazarus-Macy's and Rich's-Macy's), Tiffany & Co., Crate and Barrel, Neiman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), JCPenney and others. WeddingChannel.com publishes WEDDINGBELLS magazine, a national publication with local editions in 10 major U.S. markets.

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact:

For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

For WeddingChannel.com:
Rosanna McCollough
(213) 599-4460

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Pictage Partners with Leader--Leather Craftsmen--to Offer One-Stop Album Solution

Torrance, CA - February 11, 2004

Pictage, Inc., the largest digital lab and online system for proofing, selling and printing professional images in the United States, has partnered with Leather Craftsmen of Farmingdale, New York, to offer turnkey album solutions to photographers nationwide. Leather Craftsmen specializes in custom-made albums.

This new partnership allows Pictage clients to design and order albums online at Pictage, select Leather Craftsmen as their binder and receive the highest-quality bound album without any other involvement. Additionally, the alliance will introduce photographers who currently do not order products from Leather Craftsmen to their fine work, while offering access to Pictage's innovative array of premier Internet proofing and e-commerce services-all in one place.

"We are extremely excited about our partnership with Leather Craftsmen," said Jason Kiefer, President and CEO of Pictage. "As one of the world's finest album companies, Leather Craftsmen shares our ultimate goal of providing customers with the best products in the wedding and event photography market. Our alliance will offer a powerful solution to what is normally considered a time-consuming process for photographers," continued Kiefer.

"Pictage's mantra of allowing photographers to 'focus on their passion rather than the process' is emphatically reinforced by this new partnership," says Michele Celentano, nationally respected photographer and Pictage client. "Although Pictage's service of designing custom albums for photographers is fantastic, the idea that I can now design my own albums and have it sent to a world-class binding organization via the Pictage interface makes my life so much easier!"

Customers interested in Pictage's services, including the new partnership with Leather Craftsmen, should visit: www.pictage.com/new.

About Leather Craftsmen

Founded in 1942 by still active CEO, Morris Schneider, the Company has been proudly producing wedding albums for close to 60 years. With album styles ranging from very traditional through contemporary to completely avant-garde, the Company is able to satisfy the wide range of photographic expressions that exist today. Album styles are hand-crafted, and, with the exception of the 400 series, covered in genuine leather.

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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Pictage Adds Three Wedding Photography Trendsetters as Spokespeople

Internationally Renowned Leaders, Joe Buissink, Bambi Cantrell, and Michele Celentano to Help Promote Pictage's Services to the Professional Photography Community

HERMOSA BEACH, CA - March 8, 2003

Pictage, Inc., the leading provider of comprehensive online solutions for professional event photographers announced it has added Joe Buissink, Bambi Cantrell and Michele Celentano, internationally renowned leaders in photojournalistic wedding photography, as spokespeople. They join industry leaders Gary Fong and Denis Reggie who already act in this capacity and promote Pictage's services to the professional photography community. Pictage's high-quality products warranted the business and now the affiliation of all these photography leaders.

"Our shared vision for the future of event photography as well as Pictage's high-quality products and services led Joe, Bambi and Michele to join our team of spokespeople," said Jason Kiefer, President and CEO of Pictage. "We have top photographers across the country providing product feedback and spreading the word about our revolutionary service. The endorsement of these high-caliber photographers reinforces our direction," continued Kiefer. "We are thrilled to have Joe, Bambi and Michele as part of our team."

"Pictage gives the individual wedding photographer the ability to provide services that only a large company would be able to offer. It provides the exact technology and service my high-profile clientele want without creating significant work for me; they actually reduce the workload for my staff and reduce my production costs," says Joe Buissnik, internationally respected celebrity wedding photographer and author of The Wedding Box.

"Pictage produces the finest prints I have ever seen," states Bambi Cantrell, well-known wedding photographer and author of The Art of Wedding Photography. "They have given me a way to produce high-quality product while giving me innovative and creative options that no one else can offer."

In addition, Michele Celentano said, "Pictage has revolutionized the way photographers handle sales and production. I now have the ability to sell my images to clients all over the world without lifting a finger; imagine never having to card another negative and getting a check from your lab every month." Michele, a highly sought after photographer continued, "Pictage is more than a lab -- they are a full-service sales team working for my business."

About Joe Buissink

Joe Buissink, a Dutch native, is a regular contributor to In Style magazine. Joe has also been profiled by Entertainment Tonight, E!, First Edition on Good Morning New York, and by Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America. Joe has won tremendous admiration from the many celebrities whose weddings he has photographed, including Kelsey Grammer, Hilary Swank & Chad Lowe, Kevin Sorbo, Lucy Lawless, and Brendan Frasier, among others. Joe is based in Beverly Hills, California.

Additional information about Joe Buissick can be found on www.joebuissink.com.

About Bambi Cantrell

As one of America's leading photographers, when shooting a wedding, Bambi Cantrell takes very seriously her responsibility to tell the story of the start of each new family. Her cutting-edge images have appeared in Martha Stewart Living, The Professional Photographer, American Photo, Time , and Ebony magazines, just to name a few. She is one of the country's most sought-after workshop instructors with sponsors including Eastman Kodak, Hasselblad USA, Canon USA and Art Leather Manufacturing.

Her best-selling book, The Art of Wedding Photography published in November 2000 has become one of the top-rated guides for creative wedding imagery and a must have for anyone getting married. Bambi is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Additional information about Bambi Cantrell can be found on www.cantrellportrait.com.

About Michele Celentano

Michele Celentano began her photographic career after graduating from the Germain School of Photography in 1991. She has become one of the most desired wedding photographers in the country today. Michele has an amazing ability to put on film what most people never see, winning the acclaim of her peers. Her contagious energy and enthusiasm along with her love of wedding photography are the key elements of her successful business. Her style of photography is distinctive, on the edge and easily identifiable.

In both 1998 and 2000, Michele won First Place for Wedding Photojournalism at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers convention. She has also been honored with a WPPI Grand Award in the wedding category with a 100-scoring image. She also received two Awards of Excellence and Best Wedding Print of the Year from the Professional Photographers of Greater New York. Michele is based in New York.

Additional information about Michele Celentano can be found on www.michelecelentano.com.

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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Photographer's Vertical Service Provider, Pictage Gets $1.2 Million Series A

Los Angeles, CA - January 19, 2001

Pictage, Inc., the premier digital solution for professional photographers closed a Series A round of funding of $1.2 Million led by the Tech Coast Angels. Seed investor, Allbrook & Co., as well as individual investors affiliated with the University Angels also participated. The Company will use the funds to accelerate product development and nationwide expansion.

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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Pictage Copyright Infringement Stance

Los Angeles, CA - September 25, 2000

Introduction

Professional photographers have built their businesses selling their work on a per print basis. Images are only purchased after the client approves them. Although the cost per image is high compared to the cost to produce it, the increase makes up for the photographer not receiving a significant upfront professional fee. The typical client readily accepts this approach and understands that the large mark-up on prints pays for the value added by the photographer for the creative effort, talent and skill used to produce the images.

Traditionally, event photographers furnish high-quality "proofs" (full set of paper images) to the client for review. Usually the client is allowed to take these images home for a comfortable time period, which is when most of the opportunity and temptation exists to create unauthorized copies.

Background

The United States Government is aware of the value of creative properties, and the need to protect the revenue stream of the artists and craftsmen who create original work. Specifically, this protection comes in the form of Title 17, Chapter 5 of the United States Code, the statutes for copyright infringement. But while this law exists, it is difficult to detect, prosecute and enforce the unauthorized copying of photographs. Additionally, there is no statutory relief provided if the photographer fails to register the copyrighted work with the U.S. Copyright office. Failing this, the only relief available to a photographer for copyright infringement is "actual damages", where the plaintiff has the burden of proof. Since copyright violations are subject to federal law rather than state law, the requirements to recompense a photographer for the actual loss of revenue from an act of copyright infringement are significant.

Copyright Concerns

The rapid proliferation of image copying technologies (flatbed scanners, photo-quality inkjet printers and archival papers, retail copy machines and Internet photo sharing and printing services) means that there are many options readily available to secretly make unauthorized copies of images, and that the threat to a professional photographer's revenue stream has never been greater. The relatively high cost of ordering reprints directly from a photographer combined with the ease of illegally scanning and printing images increases the temptation to make low-cost, unauthorized copies.

There are various options available to photographers to remedy the situation:

  1. The industry can promote and make efforts to increase the knowledge of copyrights to consumers. This effort would be helpful, but the key deterrent to copyright infringement is the reduction of opportunity. This remedy, if effective, would take many years.
  2. The industry could adopt a licensing program similar to ASCAP in the music industry which would charge photo printers a fee and then distribute proceeds to all member photographers evenly. The cost and feasibility of this approach in question as well as the potential success as seen with the propagation of Internet music sharing (Napster) sites.
  3. A photographer can charge a higher professional fee to provide their creative service. However, there is also no implied guarantee of satisfaction for any final purchase decision of images. This approach may not work for price-sensitive clients and does not spread the cost over multiple purchasers but puts more burden on the bride and groom.
  4. Replace traditional proofs with a protected electronic proofing process so that professional photographers can continue to provide the benefits of their creative talent without pricing themselves out of the market.

Electronic Proofing, if done correctly, can help photographers provide a high level of service to their customers while protecting their intellectual capital and revenue stream. The Internet is ideal for this application. The availability of in-home, broadband Internet access has finally made it feasible for photographers to share their work electronically with their client without even needing a studio visit. Clients are able to review images in the comfort of their home, yet the photographers do not have to fear copyright infringement. While the images appear impressive on a computer monitor, security features (used by Pictage) such as low resolution scans, watermarking and disabled right-click (save-as) functionality create deterrents to illegally printing them. As an added benefit, presenting a catalog of images on the Internet allows multiple, potentially remote family members to simultaneously view the entire image selection from anywhere, at any time. This is of obvious benefit to the consumer, since only one viewer at a time can only view the traditional proof book.

Pictage's Approach

Pictage's business is to provide photographers the most advanced solutions to protect their intellectual property. Utilizing digital scanning technology, powerful database functionality, image protection technology and an elegant interface for image viewing and selection, Pictage offers a turn-key solution to copyright infringement concerns as well as an attractive revenue opportunity for the professional photographer. Pictage uses technology to give photographers' control back to their business at a time when technological advances are presenting a huge threat by making it much easier to circumvent the professional photographer.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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Pictage announces key photographer alliances and financing

Los Angeles, CA - June 23, 2000

Pictage, the premier Internet proofing and e-commerce partner for professional event photographers, today announced it has aligned with Gary Fong and Denis Reggie, internationally renowned leaders in photojournalistic wedding photography. In separate arrangements, Fong and Reggie have agreed to promote Pictage's services to the professional photographer community as well as to participate the further development of Pictage's product offerings. Fong will join Pictage's Board of Directors and Reggie will serve as the chairman of Pictage's advisory board.

"The partnerships with Gary and Denis are a fantastic validation of Pictage's product offering and give Pictage the level of industry visibility it needs to be successful nationally", said Jason Kiefer, Pictage's CEO. The company is currently working with a select list of photographers in the Los Angeles market and plans to roll out operations nationally beginning fall 2000.

"Pictage has the perfect solution for wedding photographers-and their timing could not be better!" said Fong. "Pictage allows us to accept orders directly from the friends and family of the couple - greatly increasing our revenue potential".

"Pictage has a beautifully crafted interface that I know my clients will appreciate and I believe that using Pictage will significantly enhance the profitability of my business," said Reggie. "Pictage is the first such solution that I feel comfortable putting my name on."

Pictage, in its first public statement, also announced the closing of its seed round of financing. The Company received $500,000 led by Allbrook & Company, a Minneapolis based investment partnership.

About Gary Fong

With over 17 years experience, Fong is renowned for his Storybook concept of wedding photography and has consistently been rated as one of the country's top wedding photographers. Fong, a technology visionary, created Montage, the industry's only album assembly software, which is used by over 5,500 photographers worldwide. www.storybookweddings.com

About Denis Reggie

Reggie is an internationally renowned celebrity and society-wedding photographer proclaimed "THE great wedding photographer of our day" by Town and Country. He has appeared on the .Oprah Winfrey Show., .The Today Show. and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. His photographs have appeared on covers of countless magazines. Reggie founded the Wedding Photographer's Network that was acquired by The Knot Inc. He is also on the board of Photoalley.com and Photo.net. www.reggienet.com

About Pictage, Inc.

Founded in early 2000, Pictage - the industry leader of online image hosting, printing and sales solutions, and services to professional photographers - has been on a mission to enable its members to focus on their passion by providing everything needed for their business success.

Serving more than 6,000 professional photographers nationwide, Pictage is the photographer's complete, one-stop partner for online viewing, selling, and printing professional images. Its broad range of services and unique products significantly increase revenue, decrease costs and save time for both film and digital shooters, allowing them to focus on their photography and make lasting impressions with clients.

Additional information on Pictage is available at pictage.com.

Media Contact For Pictage:
Jeff Jochum
Vice President of Marketing
(310) 525-1600

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