Monday, January 30, 2006

It not what you notice first but second. Part 1

Very often I watch my couples as they go through our albums. Some flip the pages quickly while others flip one page at a time, while still others wait for an explaination for each image.

Most couples are pretty sure of what they like and what they don't. But sometimes the shear volume of choice makes the decision overwhelming.

Here is a few tips on how to determine if a photographer is not just good, but has your best interest at heart.

1. While showing you his or her images do they take pride in their work? Or do they place the book infront of you and say here. Do you get it? At this time of year there are hundreds of couples coming through our door. It would be easy to book appointmnets 1 hour apart and reduce the number of days we see people but then the dicriminating customer would lose out.

2. How many images do you get to see? Last year Marianna and I took over 30,000 photographs. With that volume it would be very easy to select 100 great photos for our books. In fact I have had the hardest time reducing our in studio slideshow down to 2 songs (197 images at 2 seconds each. I want to show more!!! The problem for the customer is not in what is shown but what you don't see.

Part ONE ended

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Sunday, January 29, 2006

Toronto Home Movies.com



Whether it be 8mm transfer to DVD, 16mm film transfer to DVD, or camcorder tapes and VHS to DVD, we can help. The difference with TorontoHomeMovies.com is that we actually involve you in our process of converting your old home movie to DVD. After all, only you can convert your home movies into a story for future generations.

Step 1 - Placing a Film To Video Order

First gather your 16mm and 8mm film. Place them in order from oldest to newest. Using a sticker or writing directly on the box, number the films in the order you wish the films to appear on the final DVD.

Step 2 - Receiving and Check In

You can contact us directly at 888.705.6380 or info@torontohomemovies.com or click on the place your order link at the top of the page. Once you have confirmed the price and the method of payment send your box of film to us at:

TORONTOHOMEMOVIES.COM
3989 CHESSWOOD DR
NORTH YORK ON M3J 2R8

Once a package arrives at TorontoHomeMovie.com we check in the order and confirm the pricing (orders must be prepaid before the process begins).

Step 3 -Custom Editing, Music and Titles

Upon transfering your films a DVD copy will be sent for your review or uploaded to a secured internet location for online viewing (Note: only for deluxe transfer packages) Create detailed instructions regarding editing, music and titles and email instructions for completion.

Step 5 - DVD Creation and Shipping

Upon completion TorontoHomeMovies.com will send the newly created DVD and your original films back to you! The process typically takes 2-4 weeks. Remember, customers in the GTA get FREE SHIPPING!!!

Mention that you read about TorontoHomeMovies.com on Jean's Blog and get a 20% discount!!

Saturday, January 28, 2006

This year we have 3 big changes

Every year we strive to give our customers the latest and the greatest. Either by investing in new equipment (new 24frame panasonic camera) or in our education (NAPP trade show this March in Florida) and finally in the services we provide.

3 Major Changes this year.

1. Our 2006-2008 wedding customers are going to get a much more personal website. We're bring back the wedding day countdown, adding new flash galleries (one for engagement and one for wedding) and the last major change is the addition of an online video player. You friends and family will be able to view your engagement video ONLINE!!

2. Beginning on June 1st 2006 all couple will be able to upgrade their wedding video to HD. High Definition video is way superior in every way to Standard digital video. With the exception that most ocuples do not have an HD television. For those couples that are looking for the absolute best you can upgrade for only $495. call me for more info.

3. Video Adventures.
Over the past 8 years we have met with thousands of couples. When discussing their wedding video engagement shoot nearly all know what they don't what - FAKENESS.

A true engagement walk as we have determined, is an adventure involving the bride and groom captured as they truely are.

Situations that they find interesting, like horse back riding or Ottawa river rafting or maybe even hanging out at Sassafraz in Yorkville for a Sunday brunch.
Introducing a new kind of engagement video- Video Adventures.
  1. Horseback ride along the beach of Lake Erie and through the unique trails of Niagara, Ontario.

  2. Canoe ride in Algonquin park
  3. Day at Wasaga Beach
  4. Sassafraz for sunday brunch followed by walk around Yorkville
  5. Ballon Ride over the Niagara Escarpment
  6. Canada's Wonderland
  7. CNE
  8. racing car rides
  9. NASCAR go carts at Vaughan mills
  10. helecopter rides
  11. skating a city hall at night
  12. niagara falls
  13. cn tower
  14. ontario musuem
  15. toronto zoo
  16. Skiing at BlueMountain
Bridal Party Engagement Walks
  1. night club - partying with friend night on the town with limo
  2. woodbine centre - grease we go together - link sample
  3. Dave & Busters - link vide sample
  4. Guys and Girls woodbridge style - guys playing pool girls having coffe at demetries, group together at colossus upstairs

So as you can see, many changes are definately in the works. Expect more major work on the website this coming week and if you has any thing to add email me anytime at j.marcotte@designergeek.com

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Bye Bye old site - Hello new site!!!

Ok Isaac has nothing to do with our new website. But if I'm going to add a photograph it has to be one of our kids. Remember, if you click on the image it will pop into a larger window.

The site keeps changing!!

Look for a finally digital art gallery to be completed this week. I plan to add another 20-30 photos.

The big news will be the debut of our new customer pages.

You see in the old old site (click here to see the 1996-2002)

We are always changing! In the wedding industry it is not only about taking incredible images. Technology is constantly changing and making our products better.

One of the main reasons we upgraded the 1996-2002 site is that we had many customer tell us they had trouble with our Java Viewer. For those of you who don't speak geek. When the photos played the customers that did not have a program (java plugin) on their computer would not be able to see the images properly.

Another obvious change is the quality of the scans. From 1996-2002 we made over 3000 scans of our favorite images. However they were all low resolution for the internet only. As monitors have improved the poor quality of the scans become more apparent.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

What a sad rainy night.

All 4 customers rescheduled because the rain is turning to ice and causing hundreds of accidents. So I get work on videos that are due, finish some digital photography orders and finally update the blog.

It's been a few days of insanity. 12 customers in 2 days. Even had a few bookings, yea. Great feedback on the digital art gallery.


Today I would like to discuss one of photography's most famous legends Yousuf Karsh.

For 60 years, people world famous in politics, theology, royalty, the arts and sciences, and the military have posed for a "Karsh of Ottawa" portrait. A sitting with Karsh, in fact, has become a meeting between two world-renowned people — the subject and the photographer.

As photographers we are currently in the midst of a digital revolution. It's not the first time new technology had changed the face of photography, however it is the first time the capture medium has been significantly altered in over 100 years. But does the method in which the image is retained change the fact that lighting, composition and talent set the professional artist apart from the inexperienced?

Read what Mr. Karsh had to say.

When one sees the residuum of greatness before one's camera, one must recognize it in a flash. There is a brief moment when all that there is in a man's mind and soul and spirit may be reflected through his eyes, his hands, his attitude. This is the moment to record. This is the elusive "moment of truth".- Yousuf Karsh

Unfortunately too many couples are being duped into risking their "moments of truth" on price and quantity and fail to take into account the long term results of such a poor decision. When you choose who is going to be the person to be intrinsically attached forever to your very special day, it needs to be a person of substance. Not just a guy with a camera.

Here is another great quote I read last night when reviewing some Karsh Portraits. I have probably looked at this book of images 1,00000000 times. I can't explain the feeling of engulfing myself in a absolutely great image. Such as the photograph Mr Karsh took of Winston Churchhill in a mere 2 minutes on December 30, 1941. It inspires.

But above all else it was the interesting people he photographed that made him famous. Here is a great story about one of the most famous American war photographers Edward Steichen.

Steichen was nearing his 90th year. He was still erect and vital, and he walked all the way to his greenhouses of prize-winning delphiniums to greet Mr Karsh. During the photography session Mr. Karsh was accompanied by his wife. The late afternoon was grey and rainy. Mr Karsh's wife remarked, "What a pity it is not a beautiful day." Steichen looked at her with infinite compassion, touched her arm and, half-smiling, said,” Every day of life is a beautiful day" Posted by Picasa

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Visit the New Digital Art gallery!!

Well we finally got the gallery up and running late last night (or should I say early this morning).

Click Here to go to the Digital Art Gallery

Just a few instructions until we fix a few bugs. You need to follow the instructions to see some fantastice digital photographs that have been artistically inhanced.

1. Click on the small icon at the bottom on the left side of the play. The icon looks like a book and is to the left of the magnifying glass

2. Choose photo gallery at the top

That's it.

We will be adding new images here whenever possible so come back to look often.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Hey Guys!@! Our new logo

So what do you think? We got a hit?

Photoshop is a great tool that allows us to edit and man are we good at it. Being members of NAPP has definately helped.

In the old days (film) to create an affect a piece glass called a filter would be attached to the front of a photographers lense. Or, they might add a filter holder in and drop semi transparent slides of gels to create soft edges.

Today, it is the masters of Photoshop that unleash their creativity on the world. Out team here at Excellence has been working with digital images since 1997, when we had an old agfa 2.2 megapixel camera. Since then we have worked with a number of high end cameras and have currently settle on the Canon 1Ds Mark 2. A 16.7 mega pixel power house.

We are FINALLY opening the Digital Art gallery on our site. So please take a moment check out some of our latest masterpieces as produced by Alex, Vitali, Arthur and myself (picuted above. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

I love Starbucks!!!

Ok so I like Starbucks. I think its the fact that everytime I get my grande decaf, the counter person ( I think they call them baristas) I just can't wait to take the first sip.

The only other in my life that gives me the same felling is just before I take the first photo at a wedding. Posted by Picasa

Welcome new Brides and Grooms

First off I want to thank the team of Alex, Stephanie, Vitaly, Yuri, Arthur and Marianna for their very hard work at the Bridal Show this weekend. I had a lot of positive comments from people about the booth and especially your enthusiam.

Now to all the new brides and grooms that have booked since then

THANK YOU.

Without you we could not go on providing the service and products that we create. We would like to remind you that you can email us anytime you have any questions or call if you would like to speak to us or schedule an appointment give Marianna a call at 905 326 9622 anytime.

Monday, January 09, 2006

Another bridal show over :(

First off I would like to congratulate the 6 winners from this weekend's shows. We gave each couple a $3000 digital video package, one per day of each show.

As many of you already know we do not advertise and rely on word of mouth refferals to keep us booked.

If you have any friends getting married and need a photographer and videographer we would really appreciate the good word.





Site update.

We are nearly ready to change the layout(the clors and design) In the meantime we will be uploading brand new photo and video galleries tomorrow. By the end of the week I hope to start posting the brand new couple sites!

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Now this is sammy at 4 and half (future photographer?)

There was some confusion regarding Sammy's age because of the post below. A few people assumed based on the pic below of Sammy's invite that he is only a year and a half old.

Actually Sammy is 4 and a half and Isaac is 20 months old. I'll try not to fill this blog with their images but it will hard.

In the meantime we set up the booth for Canada's Bridal Show this afternoon and will be setting up for the National Bridal show tonight or tomorrow.

If anyone needs tickets or wants the 2 for 1 deal visit the links below.

http://www.canadasbridalshow.com/
http://www.nationalbridalshow.com/

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Introducing Sammy!!!

This is my son Sammy at 9 ot 10 months old. We actually used this image as the photo for his 1 year birthday invitation cards.

Our family has a tradition of having a huge 1st birthday. Sammy's was held at Bellagio banquet hall. And it was large enough that we sent invitations and reply cards.

If you click on the photo you will see some digital editing on the pee pee area. No I didnt make it bigger!!
I took one of the spiders comics from the wall and added over the "area"

HEHHEHEHEHEHHEHEHHEHEHHEHEHHEHEHEHHE

What are those links?

A few people have emailed me asking for information on the links that appear on the left side of the page below the recent post section. The heading is called Jean's Links.

All of those websites are companies in which I am a major parnter or owe outright.

DesignerGeek is Toronto's formost web design company that specializes in create web portals for meduim and large corporations throughout North America. Our signature product is the GeekIMS.

GeekIMS Information Management System

Developed over 3 years, GeekIMS is a highly developed, stable Information Management System. GeekIMS enables you to update your web site as often as you like. Our revolutionary system is search engine-friendly and very easy-to-use. Add, modify or delete web pages to your web site as and when you choose. All updates and amendments are immediately seen by your website visitors . GeekIMS allows a structured editing process and separates the underlying code from the content preventing errors occurring due to the code being mistakenly altered. It also facilitates sites that are quick to load, accessible and will run on any browser.


I will try to update you on the rest of the group over the next few days.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Major changes to the Excellence Photo site!!!!

Spent the night - yeah all night, working on the Excellence Photography website. Most of you won't remember the old Excellence site that for nearly 3 years had the top 3 spots on Google.

Unfortunately since 2002 I have been a little preocupied with DesignerGeek.com, ObjectiveEye.com and TorontoHomeMovies.com.

Well this weekend Marianna visited the Excellence site and well was not impressed.

sooooooooo

I got right to work. In fact I had planned a major overhaul since September. Remember, if you see any spelling mistake or grammatical error please let me know. Give me a few days to get the site finished first.
One of my goals os to go back to an interactive communication between my couples and the viewers of the site. I figure that the more people see our work the more likely they are to be impressed.




You ever notice how when you have a lot to do, more stuff usually piles right on. So to make sure that all my employees are busy I am going to request that all 2006 couples start getting their baby and couple photographs together.

For couples that have ordered a video presentation, I will ask that you contact me for detailed instructions. For all other couples.

- choose 5 baby photos for each of you and 5 couple photos. Number them BP 1 to BP 10 and the couple photos number them CP 1-5
- if you have a specific song thatyou would like us to use let us know BEFORE.
- if we are scanning the photos drop them in our mail slot anytime with a note identifying you!! Please the song
- if you are planning to email us, let me know by email - I am setting up a special section in the new site that will make this a very easy process. YOu will be able to upload right from your browser.

The idea is that we complete as many of the Baby/couple photo montages during the winter as possible. If we have shot your engagement walk we will try to get that done as well.







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Monday, January 02, 2006

Engagement Portraits

The most overlooked part of Wedding Photography today is the Art of The Engagement Portrait

Many couples believe that the only reason to have an Engagement portrait taken is so that they have something to show at the wedding. Other understand that an Engagement collage created by Excellence Photography and designed by Marianna Kogan is an exquisite uniqueness that few if any photographer in the world can match.

But it is only the first encounter and an important step that must occur at least 9 months before your wedding, if time permits. We believe that having your engagement photo taken is like your 1st date. We get to know you both as people and as subjects. Would you let your doctor perform surgury without a pre-examination?

Just as Renoir and Monet spent hours learning about their subject, so too must we spend time with you to learn, listen and create. The only way in which to be extra ordinary is to learn.

Please click here to learn more about Engagment Portraits and see some incredible samples!!






TURN UP YOUR SOUND!!!

Click Here to see more Samples

At the first kiss I felt something melt inside me that hurt in an exquisite way. All my longings, all my dreams and sweet anguish, All the secrets that slept deep within me came awake, Everything was transformed and enchanted, everything made sense.


- Herman Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund

So I am going through the 2 old sites and finding a ton of great pages that most couples have probably not even seen since 2002. Below is a great one on Engagement Portraits. I will try to upload the original photos that went with the page if possible. In the case where I cannot I will put a newer one that looks similar.

Also, in most caes I have updated the links and text




Engagement Portraits




O.k. so you went to a wedding and you saw a beautiful photograph in a frame and everyone was signing the matt. Pretty cool. We began this aroung 8 years ago as a way in which to bring attention to our photography and add that little extra to your engagement presentation. But, why do you think Excellence Photography does Engagement portraits? To make the Wedding Photography better!!



The Engagement photo session is a "get to know you" period. We shoot your Engagement portraits for 3 reasons.

1. To Get to know you better. We not only learn your likes and dislikes- we learn about YOU. Are 4 foot tall and him 6"8. How can we overcome this?

2. So you can get to know us better. We will shoot a number of different types of photographs. Candid (photojournalistic), poses, romantic, sexy (don't tell mom). Once you are back at the studio you will meet with Marianna and she will help you design a collage of images that will suit you like.

3. I know you are all models, but we need to teach you how to work with us.We need this time to teach you how to stand, how pose, how to look and be comfortable in front of the camera. This is the time in which you get to know your photographer. So that on the wedding day he/she is not having to explain what they need and you can concentrate on having an amazing time.

Would you image that 50% of the couples today have someone other than the wedding photographer shoot their engagement portraits. Terrible.

It also helps if each couple take a few minutes and read about make up and how to dress correctly for your Engagement Portrait session - Dress Code

Note: All Engagement Portrait sessions are shot at either G.Ross Lord park in North York or South Beach park in Boca Raton.


"Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs, Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes, Being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers' tears. What is it else? A madness most discreet, A choking gall and a perserving sweet."

Shakespeare
Spent the day at the Museum. They have added a number of new galleries. I especially love the one on Japan. Marianna and I have a special affinite with Japan having visited there just before Sammy was born - about 9 months before. (:

While walking around these artifacts I realized that what we do, capturing the memories and images of couples will someday be cherished as much as these pieces of art.


When we tell people that our images are covered by the Kodak Promise of Excellence, I sometimes think that they do not put enough value into what I just said.



Kodak Promise of Excellence

Wedding Photos You'll Cherish for a Lifetime.

That's the Kodak Promise of Excellence.
Your wedding photographs are timeless reminders of the most important day of your life. In the United States and Canada, make sure they're wonderful by hiring a Kodak Promise of Excellence member photographer. POE members use only the finest Kodak Professional Film and Paper. And, your prints are guaranteed for a lifetime by Kodak. If anything happens to your photographs Kodak guarantees to pay for reprint charges through a Promise of Excellence member professional lab!*
Look for the Kodak logo next to your photographer to be certain he/she is a POE member.


That's right your prints are guaranteed for a lifetime by Kodak!!

So for those people who are reading this blog for the first time and have not met Marianna, Natasha or myself your need to know that we are absolutely fanatical about quality. We know that a) these images that we produce for you represent our vision b) 90% of our business is referals so if we are not proud of the final product then our successful business will quickly become less so c) being the best in ones field is work. We understand this and work hard to ensure that no one of our portraits will ever have to be reprinted. That 300 years from now when they open a new section at the ROM, one of our images will be there, and they look as great as the day you picked it up.

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Sunday, January 01, 2006

My new favorite photo

One of the greatest advantages of digital photography is that it allow me the photographer to complete my vision.

When I took this photograph I had this exact image in mind before I took the shot.

Of course my camera shoots color and for me to make the outside blurry edges I needed to finish my image in Photoshop CS2.

Couple: Antonella and Stephen
Park: Richmond Gardens Posted by Picasa

Bridal Show this weekend and I'm pumped

Wow the new year has just begun and I am already pumped for the bridal show.
See the blog from a few days ago for links to the 2 shows.




The truth is that although we have always been very good at getting referals and marketing per se. I know that I have not put the effort I could to make the booths blow people out of the water. It seemed like a waste of time ( last year we had to turn 56 couples away because we only handled 2 wedding each saturday)

This year we are extending that to 3 weddings for certain weekends as Marianna's Mom Natasha will be shooting with us this year.

So the first thing I have done to improve our presentation is take some of the 20,000 photograph that we have shot in the past year and perpare a slideshow. This will only be shown in the studio for now. But eventually I will add it to the site.

I showed the new presentation to a few of the guys a the studio and they were absolutely blown away. One of the problem with film is that once we no longer have the proofs or the negatives (all our couples usually end up with them) we cannot get convenient access to the images.

With digital photography we archieve the images on DVD, in our File Server and on the main photo



The next time you visit the Excellence Photography site you will notice that I have added a few new catagories.

The first - Jean's Blog - Of course if you are reading this you found my blog.

The second - Digital Art - Coming Soon
Any day now you will be able to view our brand new digital art gallery. Here we will feature Digital and Film wedding photographs that have had additional enhancements.



Happy New Year!!!!!!

To all have a wonderful year and good tidings

- what does tidings mean? did I even spell that right.

Don't you hate saying you've heard a thousand times, then you try to use it yourself and realize you have no idea what the hell your saying.

maybe it has to do with Tide laundry detergent - you know have a good year and clean cloths.

whatever.