New Barns for Fall Images

While out hunting storms for lightening images I came across two barns I am going to save until the fall colors are abundant.  These are just snap shots so do be too judgmental :)

© Copyright Mark Williams Photography 2012

© Copyright Mark Williams Photography 2012

To CD or NOT to CD

After reading a wonderful article from www.shootsmarter.com (Free membership if interested) by photographer William Innes about how "Shoot and Burn" is bad for the customer as well as the photographer got me thinking about what can happen after you receive you image CD.

So you paid the photographer for the CD of the images he/she photographed of your portraits or wedding.  You are so happy you will have this cd forever.  Plus you can just load the CD onto your computer where they will be safe.  "Oh NO!!! I got a virus and my computer is now junk!" or maybe this scenario "Hun, have you seen the CD of our wedding photographs?"  Did you backup your wedding or portrait photographs ... maybe or I didn't think about doing that.  You try to contact the photographer and you get a message like "I'm sorry the number you dialed is no longer in service."

One more item to consider " We will march right over to the discount drug store and then we will have prints made" The prints being only 29 cents each is a real deal you cannot pass up.  You may end up with a print like the one on the right in this image.

Just think of all the money you DIDN'T spend on the prints/album the photographer would have charged you.
Did you ever think that someday your grandchildren or maybe great great grandchildren may want to know who you were and what you looked like?

The print above has been around for many years and is still in good shape for as old as it is.

One more thing I was thinking.  Wow we had a grand reception and it cost us $20,000 but we really saved when the photographer sold us a CD of images for $500.

Point taken is your full time photographer will use a professional lab to produce your prints for you and you will not get images with that are off color or just plain terrible.  Prints are made to last for years but a CD, according to some testing labs say, the data on a CD will last 2-3 years at the most.
Ref: http://www.audioholics.com/education/audio-formats-technology/cd-and-dvd-longevity-how-long-will-they-last

The Story behind JPEG's  


If you get JPEG's from your photographer and down the road you want to do some of your own adjustments or creative input on your photographs bear this in mind.  JPEG's are compressed and how are they compressed.  As soon as the shutter closes the computer in your camera will compress the image by removing some of the information that it DOESN'T THINK it needs.  Some of that information is color and some other unnecessary information.  You take the JPEG and do some work on it of your own and you save the photograph.  You just lost some more information because the computer again throw out some of the information contained in the image that it doesn't think it needs thus destroying the image bit by bit.  So opening and re-saving a JPEG does more harm than good.  Any good photographer will either use RAW or TIFF format when taking your photographs which are uncompressed files then give you JPEG's for your use.


Video - JPEG deterioration after re-saving many times.


Solutions


The best idea for you when planning on having any type of photograph taken is to purchase prints from the photographer.  If the photographer gives you prints that are not of your satisfaction you have the right to take them back and demand to get them corrected.  Most professional labs will reprint for the photographer any image that is not color correct or has been damaged by the lab at no charge.  If the photographer is at fault then he/she must make the corrections and then resubmit the image for printing which will cost them to have it reprinted.  Most professional photographers will have their computer screen calibrated for correct color and the digital files should match what the lab prints.


If you do get a CD from your photographer it is wise to backup the CD to an off site location.  Somewhere different then your home or computer.  There are many off-site locations on the web but do some research on the site before uploading.

The only other important part is natural disasters like fire or storm damage.  These instances are not your fault or the photographers.  If the photographer is still in business and has archived your images then you are in luck but most photographers will not keep files over a certain amount of time.  It might be wise to have either extra prints made and give to family members to keep.

So the next time you think you saved a lot of money going the cheaper route think again to what could happen in the future with the investment you put into your photographs.

Studio Location Change

I now have a contract with R & L Color Lab for studio use.  The studio is very nice and has all of the amenities for some really grand images.

The studio is located at 2125 West Fifth Ave. Columbus, Ohio 43212

Hanami "Flower Viewing"

I was honored to be asked to photograph over 100 cherry blossom trees located on a business property in Dublin, Ohio.
I was also fortunate to have such great weather to allow the blossoms to come into full bloom before a cold front moved in.
The Japanese celebrate the blossoms with party's and luncheons which they call "Hanami" or "Flower Viewing".
The company I did the photography for will have a luncheon on April 6th in celebration of the blossoms.  They needed the images so they could show the guests how beautiful the grounds are in front of the business.  Here are just some of the images I was able to capture.

First Year Revue of Living Angels Calendar

First Year Production

This was the first year of the Living Angels Calendar.  In my opinion I feel it was a total success.  We,  raised $1200 for the children of A Kid Again.  One important fact we sold 350 calendars which will   help to bring awareness to the public about A Kid Again.

I wished we could have raised more funds but with the idea of not relying on the charity to produce funds we had a pre-sale of the calendar which helped to raise the needed funds for the first batch of calendars to be produced.  Within the first two weeks of the pre-sale we sold 250 calendars.  The reason for such low income from sales was due to how we produced the calendars.  We bought small batches instead one large mass production.  A Kid Again tried to get some sponsors for the project but with no available takers it was left up to me to produce the funds.

Any unsold calendars will be given to A Kid Again so they may give them to some of their supporters as a thank you token for their donation.

Here are some statistics from the website that I feel have some important indicators.

The map shows what states visited the website.  As you can see 27 states were active and there were purchases from 10 of those states and the most being from Ohio.

 
This shows the traffic sources plus (not shown) the bounce rate was 37% and the average time on the site was 3:39 with 484 visitors and 1,339 page views.  Stats were gathered from 08/17/2011 to 12/25/2011.
For a first run calendar these are great and gives some insight as to how many people were interested in what we had to offer.
Note: Bounce rate is the percentage of the people who did not spend any time on the site after they viewed the home page.

 The Next Version

Now is the time to decide how to move on to the next version.  I have asked on Facebook and also produced an questioner on the calendar website, which is totally anonymous,  to find out if we should continue with the calendar.  To my surprise only 6 people responded and (5) saying "Yes" and (1) Saying "No".  What does this mean do people feel it was not worth it or they stay away from polls so they will not hurt someones feelings.

I would like to produce another version but I am also indecisive on the basis that no one wants to say yes or no to the calendar.
I am asking a lot of people involved with the calendar about what type of images we should produce.  No decisions have been made but hope to have a decisive direction for next years version within the next month.

If you could take the time to cast a Yes or No vote it would be helpful.   Go to www.livingangelscalendar.com and you will find the poll on the home page.  Thank you!!

Living Angels Calendar A News Story

 View Video Click HERE

I am honored to have been nominated for the ABC 6 News special On Your Side Community Champions.  A tribute to people in the community who make a difference.

Bob Kendrick news anchor for ABC 6 came to the studio to do an interview with me and two of the angels in the calendar.  He then came to my home to watch me work on the images as I turned the children into angels.  Bob has put together a very touching informative piece which has touched many people.

A special thank you to Bob for doing this segment.  I hope the segment helps with the calendar sales and brings funds for the children to enjoy their adventures but to bring awareness to the public as to what A Kid Again does for children with a life threatening illness and their families.

Family Video Stores

I am pleased to announce Family Video stores will now be selling the Living Angels Calendar.

Starting September 25th Family Video Stores in Columbus, Marysville and Newark will be selling the Living Angels Calendar.  They will give you a free video rental on selected videos when you purchase your copy of the calendar.

Here are the store locations:

Columbus OH 5540 N. HIGH ST 43214 614-841-1771 

Columbus OH 5304 N. HAMILTON RD 43230 614-855-5489

 Marysville OH 332 W 5TH ST 43040 937-644-2749

Newark OH 225 NORTH 21st ST. 43055 740-344-1877

Whitehall OH 3768 E. MAIN ST 43213 614-338-1439

Galloway OH 5370 SULLIVANT AVE 43119 614-853-4970

All proceeds from the calendar sales goes to A Kid Again to help children with a life threatening illness to be.... A Kid Again!