A new photo shop on the block

Alicia Robinson

Hoping to deliver lasting memories to Balboa Peninsula visitors, Jim

Fournier opened a photo studio on the Fun Zone boardwalk this month.

While Fournier is new to photography and the retail business, he’s

a longtime resident of Balboa who has shared local lore and photos of

the community on his website for the last five years.

About 30 years ago, he worked selling photography products, but

Fournier said his most recent job was as a night clerk at a hotel.

He’s only been a serious photographer for about a year.

“I didn’t know I was [a photographer] until I picked up a camera,”

he said.

He sells his photos of Newport Beach scenes -- waves breaking on

the jetty, birds dotting a moonlit sky, boats bobbing in the harbor

and the like -- in a few area stores. His newest venture involves

taking digital photos of people in front of a blank wall in his shop

and using a computer to place them on backgrounds of Fun Zone scenes.

“It’s like a tourist photo,” he said. “It’s fun, a souvenir of

Balboa.”

Customers can choose from 35 different backgrounds and select how

many photos they want on an 8- by 10-inch sheet that Fournier prints

in color on photo paper.

He also sells his own large, matted photos and smaller versions on

cards.

Business is a little slow because tourist season hasn’t hit, but

Fournier expects things to pick up during the summer.

In the meantime, he keeps busy as a notary public and updates to

his website, https://www.TalesOfBalboa.com. Visitors to the site can

check the local weather, which Fournier monitors with a weather

station on the roof of his shop, or they can see what’s happening

around town via several web cameras that snap pictures every 30

seconds.

Others have unsuccessfully tried to run photo shops on the

boardwalk in the past, but Fournier thinks he can survive with the

technology to offer a high-quality photo quickly at a reasonable

price.

While he enjoys having his own business and taking tourist photos,

Fournier said the best thing about his shop is being able to share

his artistic vision with others.

“The gratification of people coming in, and they look at my work

and they say how nice it is and they buy it -- it doesn’t get any

better than that.”