Rangefinder Magazine
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May 2000

First Exposure: by P.J. Heller
Capri Mosaic AlbumsNew Album Bridges Gap BetweenReversible Mounted and Slip-Ins


Gather together any group of photographers and invariably there will be debate about the "best" film emulsion, the "best" format, the "best" camera, the "best" whatever.
Luckily, photographers have a vast assortment of tools and supplies at their disposal to meet their varying needs.

For wedding photographers, that assortment just grew even larger with the introduction of a new style album from one of the largest album manufacturers in the nation.

"We've taken the best of our reversible mounted album and combined those features into a new slip-in album," explained Lori Zucker, vice president of Capri Album Company, Inc., in Mount Vernon, N.Y.

The new Mosaic album, introduced in March at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) show, is designed to "bridge the gap" between the company's high-end reversible mounted albums and less flexible slip-in albums with their fixed format.

At smaller sizes, the image scanned by the Polaroid scanner Reversible Mounted and Slip-Ins does not appear to contain as much detail as the digital image captured by the Nikon D1 (right).

The new albums come in a square format, allowing any of some 200 different mats to be inserted. That feature lets photographers accommodate vertical or horizontal images in sizes from 2x3 inches up to 10x10 inches, different shapes or place multiple images on a page. The albums come bound with gilded pages, just like the more costly reversible mounted books.

"It really bridges the gap (between reversible mounted albums and slip-ins)" noted Zucker, whose father Marvin started the company in 1957 in a lower Manhattan loft. "It does everything."

"The albums give photographers the creative freedom and flexibility to assemble their own books, allowing them to swap out a print, change a mat or do whatever they want to do," she said. "The Mosaic album also gives them the look and elegance of a mounted album with bound and gilded pages."

An added benefit for photographers is the fact that the Mosaic albums are about half the cost of a reversible mounted book, although from the outside they appear nearly identical.

The introduction of the Mosaic album marks the second major product introduction from Capri in as many years. In January 1999, the company unveiled the Gallery collection, its first slip-in album. The product was initially designed to be a low-cost album that studios could offer to parents of the bridal party. The bound albums allowed just one same-size print per page. The album accommodated same-size photos from 4x5 to 10x10.

"It ended up growing into being an alternative for bridal albums as well," Zucker said. "The only drawback to the book is you can only put one print per page and if you shoot rectangular format, you have to turn the book to view horizontal prints."

Even so, she said, "It has its niche in market."

"It's never going to be your biggest seller because it has its limitations," she admitted. "But it serves its purpose for lower priced wedding packages as well as for the parent market.

The Mosaic album, which fits neatly between the company's two offerings, is expected to be the "answer to what a lot of people are looking for," Zucker said.

"Right now in the slip-in market, most of the pages are either sewn in Mylar or raw edges," she said. "Most of the pages are snapped in with a pin or a post or some other device. The Mosaic album comes assembled. You just have to slip in the mats and the photographs."The Mosaic albums can hold 25 pages.

"Everybody has a high-end clientele and everybody has a middle market," she added. "What we're saying is that now you can hit all of your clientele's needs through a single source."

Both the Mosaic and Gallery albums are offered with a vinyl grained cover standard or in a soft leather-like material for an extra $10. An upgrade to a leather cover is also available for an additional charge. Photographers can choose from six color covers: ivory, black, dark blue, wine, green and white.

"If you like the look of a mounted album but are looking for a more economical way to go, the Mosaic offers a whole new opportunity," Zucker said.

Zucker said she had no worries that the new slip-in albums would take away from sales of the company's mounted albums. In fact, she noted, just the opposite has happened, with photographers now requesting more information and sample mounted albums.

With the mounted albums, studios send their photos to Capri and in two to three weeks receive back a completed bound album with gilded pages. Capri also produces flush mounted albums where prints are mounted flush to the edge of the page. Those albums accommodate same size prints from 311ž42 x 5 inches to 16x20 inches.

"We do everything from the spraying, texturing and mounting and then send them back a completed album ready for delivery," Zucker said. "They don't have to do anything.

"People love the mounted albums," she said. "For a lot of people, that's the only way they would ever show off their work.

"If you like the look of a mounted album but are looking for a more economical way to go, the Mosaic offers a whole new opportunity," Zucker said.

(For more information about Capri Albums, call (800) 666-6653 or visit the company's web site at www.caprialbum.com.

P.J. Heller operates Dateline:, a free-lance photojournalism service based in Santa Barbara, Calif. He can be reached via e-mail at pjheller@west.net.