Though the art of stop-motion photography has been around since the birth of filmmaking, two local businessmen are putting a new twist to it.
Marty Rineer dons a softball team uniform while partner Don Shipp captures his swing on video.
A typical mousepad from a golf tournament will have a photo of a
player's foursome and four pictures
...(more)
Pictures of bowlers decorate one
of the company's mugs.
Marty Rineer, 57, of Neffsville, and Don Shipp, 58, of East Petersburg, signed a contract in January with CaptureAction, a Canadian photography company based in Quebec.
The partnership lets the two sell mugs, calendars, mousepads and deskpads printed with personalized stop-motion photos of a person's golf swing.
"[The pictures] break down the swing moment by moment," Shipp said. "It helps analyze their game and swing position.
"It's personal. It's you."
Both avid golfers, the men instantly saw the value of the product when they signed up to do the company's photography in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.
But they've been going beyond the company's original expectations and expanded to cover other sports such as bowling.
Still, golf is clearly their most lucrative niche so far — since tournaments have up to 140 players. Each item costs about $15 to $20. And companies and charities pay them in advance to take photos in return for advertising space on the mousepad or mug.
A typical mousepad from a golf tournament, for example, will have a photo of a player's foursome and have four pictures at various points in a swing.
All it takes is several seconds of video footage taken from a camcorder and a couple of hours, and they can produce a customized product on the spot. The photos printed on the gifts are taken as freeze frames from the video track.
They have about 20 other golf tournaments booked for this year.
"We're small right now, but we're trying to get out there," Rineer said.
Equipped with a Sony video camcorder, laptop computer and color printer, they believe they can easily use CaptureAction's equipment for other sports.
They've already done a gig at Leisure Lanes Bowling & Golfing Center in Centerville, where they took photos of bowlers' throws.
They said they believe their biggest cash cow will be with children's leagues.
"Kids would love this," said Rineer. "Our real niche is Little League baseball. People would buy these things for their kids."
"We're trying to spin it off in more directions," Shipp said.
Last Tuesday morning, they tested out how well the camera worked with a baseball swing at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
So far so good.
The video was able to capture the windup, swing and follow-through.
The duo hope to expand their new business through word of mouth and the 20 tournaments they already have scheduled. They're still limited by how many jobs they can take since they're the only two employees. If the venture gains traction, they hope to hire more staff to help out.
"Check back with us in a year," Rineer said.
Paul Franz is a Sunday News staff writer. Contact him at pfranz@lnpnews.com or at 295-5063.
