dglickstein

According to the Patriot Act you need to maintain accurate records if you handle over $100,000 in cash per month.

But seriously: if you want to track customers, print invoices, do bank reconciliations and manage your bank account, Quickbooks has put a lot of competitors out of business. I agree with the previous post, spreadsheets won't give you want you need because you'll have to create all of the templates first. I think Microsoft Money has accounting functionality and there is also Peachtree Accounting.

Another thing a good bookkeeping software should help you with is managing customers. It should allow you to track special occasions (like anniversaries or birthdays for a mailing), print labels for a mailing and more. It's an added benefit since you're recording customer information anyway.

I write accounting software for a living (it pays for my expensive lenses), for about 20 years now, so I have a bit of knowledge in this area. Why are you avoiding Quickbooks (trust me, I'm no fan)?

dG

Scott, I agree with Jeff if that is what you will be shooting. There are other heads that will do the same job for much less price. Also, the quick release plates are expensive.

However, I will tell you that I love the B1 head and had no idea until I purchased one. Good luck.

dG

Heather, I almost laughed out a lung!

dG

Thank you for the insight.

dG

Your scanner will scan at the same speed regardless of your computer's speed. The speed of a computer comes into play when it actually receives data from the scanner.

Kind regards,

Derek

I use a Nikon Coolscan 5000 for slides and scan to TIFF with Adobe

RGB 1998. After much effort, my system output (scanner, computer,

printer) all match well and I am happy.

My question is: there is an option in the Coolscan software to save

files to CMYK TIFF and I want to know if anyone does this?

Second question: Do you convert to CMYK before printing or just print

your RGB files?

Thank you in advance.

dG

Ernie,

I hike a lot and the only time I hike is when I am taking photos. There is not enough room for overnight essentials (sleeping bag, tent, food/cooking stuff, etc...) in a regular photo specific backpack.

When I hike for a day and I plan to return the my car, I only use a photo backpack and stuff non-photographic items (mostly food) where ever I can. Note that you will take a photo backpack off too when you stop to shoot.

There are many different styles and types of photo bags and you should make sure you find one that handles your gear, durable and is comfortable to hike with. I also use the Kenesis belt system sometimes.

Good luck,

dG

Joe,

I use wraps (as mentioned above) and Zing pouch bags that hold lens and my EOS 3 bodies. A padded water bottle holder that has insulation works great for long lenes too. With items like these your gear will be very well protected, especially if you stuff items into clothes in your backpack. Good luck.

dG

Peter,

I order from B&H a lot and I get an email with a tracking # link. How did you ship? If you shipped UPS or Fedex you should have that email--I just checked and I have all of those emails.

I also logged on to check my account and everything is marked as "Shipped" so it would be save to assume that if it says "Processing" it has not shipped yet. Also there should be a clickable button to the right of the order if it has shipped allowing you to track it. I notice on a canceled order that there is no button and the Order Status is "Canceled."

I don't know why you do not see tracking numbers on older orders--it may have to do with the shipping method.

Best of luck.

dG

Rod,

Recommending a fast hard drive does not imply you HAD a slow one. As you work with larger files, access speed becomes very important to some people and I was only offering some help with my post.

I hope you're not too cool for school but here's some education:

IDE

Maxtor 7200RPM at 9ms is faster than a Maxtor 5400RPM at 12ms.

SCSI

Maxtor 15K RPM at 3.2ms is faster than a Maxtor 10K RPM hard drive at 4.3ms.

SATA hard drives offer faster transfer rates to CPU than IDE.

I don't know your line of work, but if you are a photographer I'd suggest getting fast equipment, if you're not a photographer than you can settle.

Regardless, best of luck.

dG

Get fast hard drives (yes, more than 1). SATA or SCSI--just say it or spell it to the guy/gal building your new computer.

Hard drive speed is expressed in access time--miliseconds. The lower the number the faster.

Best of luck.

If you have a signed contract that clearly states that deposits are non-refundable, then you have an excellent chance of winning any dispute with the card holder. Document everything; unfortunately, it is very time consuming.

dG

Michele,

If he is famous and has had some press written about him, how about contacting the press, in his neck of the woods, about how he has violated copyrights by copying photos without permission? You have the evidence--it's picture perfect! Good luck.

dG

Michele,

To me it is an obvious copy, and you have every right to be mad. This artist stole from you. I'm angry.

The advice provide above is excellent. What I guess Venecia may have meant, although said very poorly and with a bad tone was that you may spend a lot of effort and money and time only to get nothing from this artist in the end. In this respect you may lose twice.

As others have suggested, I suggest that you speak with a lawyer and find out all of your options. I saw it mentioned that he copied others, may be they should be notified?

Kind regards,

dG

Sorry, three more thoughts:

1. Most companies have in their agreements that you cannot charge more for credit card sales or have a minimum.

2. See if you can get a reduced percentage rate with credit card validation--i.e. card holder zip code or phone number; you will also get a much better rate if you get to see/hold the actual credit card as opposed to receiving it via fax or email--it has to do with fraud prevention.

and,

3. I suggest you have something in your contract with clients that helps protect you against stopped payments with credit cards--I am not sure about this but maybe you should speak with a lawyer.

Again good luck.

dG

You do not need to purchase a terminal or software. You can process credit card charges via a website online. I have used three separate credit card companies for my business over the past ten years and I have learned a lot.

1. All fees are negotiable, shop as many as you can and bargin

2. There is no need to pay excessive sign up fees or buy terminals or software--just need a good Internet connection

3. As someone pointed out, by taking credit cards you run the risk of a customer stopping payment--and every time that happens you get charged a fee, even if you're right and they're wrong. I know a lot of small business owners that have had a lot of grief with this. The process is time consuming at best.

4. Be prepared to pay a per trx. fee, a percentage of the charge, a monthly report fee and maybe one or two others--I was never able to get past all of these fees.

5. Some companies will tell you they need to keep an amount escrow; stay away from companies like these because they will maintain an average percentage of your past six months charges just in case there is a dispute with a card holder and they can't find you--make sure they do not require this up front.

That's all I could think of right now. Good luck and also consider the other comments made above, nothing wrong with check and cash.

dG

You can use the EOS 3 custom functions to set the spot to be the center spot or one of the eye controlled focus points. When doing so, in spot meter mode, you're metering the designated spot.

You mention zooming in, metering and then zooming out--totally unnecessary. Use the focus points or point the camera to the spot you want to meter, hit the star button the back of the camera in the upper right hand corner and it will lock that exposure setting for a bit of time, enough for you to compose the scene. You don't need the eye focus points doing this.

Best of luck, and yes, go shoot lots of pictures. I suggest taking some notes so when you view the results you remember what produced them.

dG

I said I didn't understand the other posts... Hopefully they can elaborate. Who said anything about whining?

1. "So, your argument is based on making a profit... What if the documentarists were working for charity?" Charities have to pay for things too - maybe I missed somethere there?

2. "...in many ways beyond reason, by the media conglomerates like Disney and their ilk, who bribe politicians to keep extending protection so that it never runs out." Not sure I understood the reason for the statement, politicians shouldn't be for sale, but they are, so someone has to buy them...

3. The Dr. King stuff was somewhat clear, but "ironic?" I don't see how.

Why am I explaining myself to you? Any how, it's already written.

Best regards.

dG

I'm slightly confused, is there an objection to ownership? I understand Meryl's post but I am not sure I understand the others. Why should a photographer have to give up his/her ownership of a photo? Am I missing something, and I am seriously asking?

dG

Carl,

You're dead wrong on Viewsonic. I actually own between 15 and 18 Viewsonic monitors so I speak from experience. I work with a quad-monitor display at work (4 Viewsonics that are going to be tossed because Viewsonic won't fix them a SECOND TIME!) and 7 of my employees have dual displays each. I purchased Viewsonic monitors for my company and I won't be purchasing another Viewsonic again. Most of them are model VG175.

How many have you had experience with?

dG

I remember thinking the same thing: is the filter touching the lens? Then it occurred to me that I'd really screw things up if I took the filter off and it had actually touched the lens--so I left the filter on. Good question!

FYI: I love this lens. Some times I don't use it for a while and other times it won't come off my camera and I'm using it as a straight 24 with no tilt or shift.

dG

I have printed borderless on my Epson 2200 on paper size 13" x 19" -- not a roll, single sheet. 13" is the maximum width so 11" x 14" should be no problem.

dG

All I can say is be careful of lesser known name brands, such as Viewsonic--I'm throwing out 2 17" LCDs because they've both been to repair already and have since dropped out of warranty.

I have 2 other Viewsonics that show signs of dying--the company didn't care. I'm replacing them with 4 new LG Electronics 19" LCDs. I have never had an LG LCD, however I hear it's a big company and widely used in Europe. Also comes with 3 year warranty.

Lots of luck.

dG

Michael,

I was in the same boat-I purchased the Nikon 5000 Coolscan and the Epson 2200 and after a few weeks of learning how to handle color-I love it. You will too. I am able to create prints of descent quality up to 13x19.

I recommend that you start with the scanner. Good luck!

Derek