Next show is Taylor BC

We are getting ready for the Taylor Show, May 19,20,21. This is the first time shooting this show. We are all pretty excited. I am taking the trailer. I've been cleaning it up and packing it for the show. We are camping on the grounds. I want to get to know the exhibitors better. We like the social aspect of the shows and are getting to know some of the people better.

I am going to rebuild the posing stands they are pretty plain and neutral. I want them to look a bit better.

Not a lot of sales of candids yet but we are getting consistent hits on the website so people are looking. I hope to upgrade my cameras for better low light photos so we can present a better candid. They will also help with the win photos. I'm promoting this company as high quality. So far we consistently have put out a good product. The better cameras will give us a better file to work with and the prints will get better. It's been hard perfecting the various workflows that we use. We have the post show processing going pretty smooth right now. I can get more than 90% of the photos out in less than a week. I want to have the whole show done in less than a week so that's what we are shooting for. I've been teaching Tanya to do the post processing in Photoshop. She is picking it at a great rate. In the future I will have two computers set up to do processing so we eventually will be able to have everything out in a couple of days.

I'm going to try and post more here. I don't know who is looking but I want this whole website thing to become a resource we can offer our customers. I think we can go a long way by promoting our experience and quality and speed.


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Calgary March Show

Last weekend we were in Calgary again for the first of two shows this year. Cheryl had the flu so Tanya and I did the show with just the two of us. It was hectic at times but we did it. Customer service is so important to us that we want everyone to get what they want when they want.

I am looking for one of two more laptops so we can have up to four viewing stations.

Here it is Monday and we have all the photos from the show mailed. There was a couple that had to be redone and they will be mailed tomorrow. We are pretty proud of the fact that we can get all the photos out in a week and are trying to get faster at it.

We have prepared ourselves to be able to email photos to results websites right away so you can get photos of your wins on the web. If you want results photos sent, please let us know at the show and we will send it out that night if we have web access.

We had some interest in coffee cups and mousepads. We're offering them again in Fort St John to see what kind of interest there is. Next show is May long weekend in Taylor(Frt St John)
See you there. Mention the blog and I will email you a free websized copy of your photo.

New Website is up.

Hoo, Hoo, The new website is up. Lookmatters out of Regina did the redesign. I wanted a simple design that was easy to navigate and that's what I got. The website is and will continue to be a major marketing tool for us. We have the site to be able to post pictures for customers to see and so we can send potential customers to see what we do. I try to make initial contact with a potential show via email. It's a soft sell and easily accepted by customers. I mention the website and invite them to see it. That way there really is no obligation to even answer my email. Although I appreciate the recepient to acknowledge the email even if it is just a quick no thank you.

As we grow the business there are things we are going to try. I'm going to shoot some agility this year to see what kind of reaction to our photos we can get. I want to try herding or lure coursing. Tough events to shoot and get photos that show what the sport is all about.

Lots of changes for spring.

We are off to the first Calgary show of 2007. It happens on March 2,3,4. in the Big 4 building.

The new website is coming along. I hope to have it up and running in the next week or two.

I had some problems with my main laptop in December, but I've had windows reinstalled and have also installed and configured all the photo stuff. The viewing stations went over well at the December show. We will be adding one more viewing station this year so we will have 3.

This is a dog show photos blog so here's a headshot from the last show.

I had some coffee mugs and mousepads made with Doggy photos on them. We will be offering them at an introductory price of $ 19.95 each. We will offer this special for Calgary and Fort St John to see what kind of interest we get.

Things have been busy so far this year. I am looking at different ways to ship our photos. The post office managed to mangle a couple of more. There hasn't really been a lot of damage but we really want to get good photos to the customers the first try.

Here's a couple of shots of our studio setup from Calgary.

Calgary December Show

Calgary Show was a success!
This was the first use of the viewing stations. Had lots of comments on how the viewing stations made ordering and viewing so much easier.
I am looking for another laptop or two to increase the viewing stations to 3 or 4.
I posted candids on the viewing stations and on the internet. Lots of people looking and some actually buying. I think candids and ring shots will eventually catch on enough to justify doing them. I made a commitment to do candids at every show this year. I'll do that to give it a good test.
The trip over and back was good but not great. We had snow falling until we reached McBride. It stopped snowing but was overcast all the way to Calgary. Mostly the same on the way back.

I got an email from PG Kennel club on Boxing day. We now have the PG show for 2007. What a great surprise!
We've got to continue providing the best customer service. I had 99 % of the photos out within a week of the Calgary show. I am fine tuning the workflow and getting it faster all the time.

Next show in Calgary - Dec 1,2 & 3

2007 is going to be a good year. We now have five shows to do and maybe a couple of more.
We're off to Calagary on Nov 30th for a show on Dec 1,2 & 3. It's going to be exciting as this is the first time using the new viewing stations. I had some problems setting up the networking and file naming but after help from the software company and lots of trial photos everything looks good.
The viewing stations should help a lot with ordering and customer service.
I'm going to post some photos after the show.

First try at posting a photo

And now at the bottom of the post.