sandiegojoey

November 15, 2009

Thanks everyone, it worked! Here's what I did.

<ol>

<li>For the camera control I downloaded DIYPhotoBits.com Camera Control 4.1 for FREE, and it works great. I'm able to tether my Nikon D3 to my Dell computer running Windows Vista 64bit. I have total control of my camera's features (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance)</li>

<li>I took your advice and downloaded Fastone Image Viewer for FREE and it works great too! I'm able to point the folder that Camera Control is using and it auto-imports with each release of the shutter.</li>

</ol>

Everything is fully automated and controllable via my laptop. I can now set the laptop next to my Sony Snaplab and perform all camera and print functions with a single click of the shutter, and a second click to print. I'll have my lovely assistant (my daughter) handle each cash transaction and viola!

My next quest is to find a way to incorporate custom borders for prints. The Snaplab has a built in feature to add custom borders but it only works when inserting memory media into it, but not when it is being used as a printer connected to a PC.

Thanks to all!

November 15, 2009

Thanks everyone, here's what I came up with:

<ol>

<li>For the camera control I downloaded DIYPhotoBits.com Camera Control 4.1 for FREE, and it works great. I'm able to tether my Nikon D3 to my Dell computer running Windows Vista 64bit. I have total control of my camera's features (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance)</li>

<li>I took your advice and downloaded Fastone Image Viewer for FREE and it works great too! I'm able to point the folder that Camera Control is using and it auto-imports with each release of the shutter.</li>

</ol>

Everything is fully automated and controllable via my laptop. I can now set the laptop next to my Sony Snaplab and perform all camera and print functions with a single click of the shutter, and a second click to print. I'll have my lovely assistant (my daughter) handle each cash transaction and viola!

My next quest is to find a way to incorporate custom borders for prints. The Snaplab has a built in feature to add custom borders but it only works when inserting memory media into it, but not when it is being used as a printer connected to a PC.

If money were not an object I'd be using the Nikon WT-4A wireless tether that comes with Nikon Camera Control and I'd buy Nikon NX2 to run with it for a whopping $1000. So, until then, I'll make do with my free setup.

thanks you guys....Joey

Thanks to all!

November 15, 2009

Thanks everyone, it worked! Here's what I did.

<ol>

<li>For the camera control I downloaded DIYPhotoBits.com Camera Control 4.1 for FREE, and it works great. I'm able to tether my Nikon D3 to my Dell computer running Windows Vista 64bit. I have total control of my camera's features (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance)</li>

<li>I took your advice and downloaded Fastone Image Viewer for FREE and it works great too! I'm able to point the folder that Camera Control is using and it auto-imports with each release of the shutter.</li>

</ol>

Everything is fully automated and controllable via my laptop. I can now set the laptop next to my Sony Snaplab and perform all camera and print functions with a single click of the shutter, and a second click to print. I'll have my lovely assistant (my daughter) handle each cash transaction and viola!

My next quest is to find a way to incorporate custom borders for prints. The Snaplab has a built in feature to add custom borders but it only works when inserting memory media into it, but not when it is being used as a printer connected to a PC.

Thanks to all!

November 15, 2009

Thanks everyone, it worked! Here's what I did.

<ol>

<li>For the camera control I downloaded DIYPhotoBits.com Camera Control 4.1 for FREE, and it works great. I'm able to tether my Nikon D3 to my Dell computer running Windows Vista 64bit. I have total control of my camera's features (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance)</li>

<li>I took your advice and downloaded Fastone Image Viewer for FREE and it works great too! I'm able to point the folder that Camera Control is using and it auto-imports with each release of the shutter.</li>

</ol>

Everything is fully automated and controllable via my laptop. I can now set the laptop next to my Sony Snaplab and perform all camera and print functions with a single click of the shutter, and a second click to print. I'll have my lovely assistant (my daughter) handle each cash transaction and viola!

My next quest is to find a way to incorporate custom borders for prints. The Snaplab has a built in feature to add custom borders but it only works when inserting memory media into it, but not when it is being used as a printer connected to a PC.

Thanks to all!

November 15, 2009

I have a few shopping mall Santa Claus photo shoots coming up. This is the first time I've done something like

this, I usually shoot sports.

<

p>I'll be shooting with a Nikon D3 tethered to a Windows based laptop and sending the photo's to a Sony Snaplab U

P-CR10L printer for immediate sale.

<p

>I've found a free software program to tether my camera to the computer, but I've yet to find a software program th

at will auto-import the images directly into the program for quick printing. I'd prefer a program that integrates a ca

mera control feature with the auto-import feature, but will make do with two separate programs if I have to. I'm co

ntemplating Adobe Lightroom and ExpressDigital Assembly. It's hard to find a comparison between the two. Co

nsidering my workflow, i.e. the need to quickly shoot photo's via the laptop, automatically import, and immediately pr

int, does anyone out there have suggestions or a better workflow for me? Joey��

November 15, 2009

I have a few shopping mall Santa Claus photo shoots coming up. This is the first time I've done something like this, I usually shoot sports.

I'll be shooting with a Nikon D3 tethered to a Windows based laptop and sending the photo's to a Sony Snaplab UP-CR10L printer for immediate sale.

I've found a free software program to tether my camera to the computer, but I've yet to find a software program that will auto-import the images directly into the program for quick printing. I'd prefer a program that integrates a camera control feature with the auto-import feature, but will make do with two separate programs if I have to.

I'm contemplating Adobe Lightroom and ExpressDigital Assembly. It's hard to find a comparison between the two. Considering my workflow, i.e. the need to quickly shoot photo's via the laptop, automatically import, and immediately print, does anyone out there have suggestions or a better workflow for me?

Joey

November 14, 2009

I'm looking for an auto-import program that won't break the bank. I just found a GREAT, and FREE, tethering program to control my Nikon D3 for an upcoming Santa Claus shoot where I'll be taking photo's of kids posing with Santa, printing them on the spot and selling them. (here's the tethering program <a href="mhtml:{D788DB20-370E-4CEB-B46B-BAACDA2B486E}mid://00000009/!x-usc:http://www.diyphotobits.com/2009/10/02/diyphotobits-com-camera-control-4-1-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-4761">http://www.diyphotobits.com/2009/10/02/diyphotobits-com-camera-control-4-1-dog-food/comment-page-1/#comment-4761</a> )

My goal was to create a workflow where I can control the camera from my computer (done), quickly view the photo's, and then send them to my Sony Snaplab to print.

Unfortunately the kink in my workflow is the ability to auto-import the images into an editing program so I can print. I normally use Nikon Transfer, ViewNX, and CaptureNX, but cannot find and auto-import feature so I assume it doesn't exist. I also have Photoshop elements and the same applies, can't find an auto-import feature.

Google searches keep bringing back Adobe Lightroom for $200, which I cannot afford right now. I won't need to edit the photo's, I just need to print them as they come in off of the camera.

Any ideas?

thanks,

Joey

November 14, 2009

Update. No sooner did I post that last note, I fixed one problem. I changed my USB option to PTP and can now release the shutter. I'm now working on a way to view and print photo's.

November 14, 2009

Downloaded this program today to use with my Nikon D3 and cannot get it to work. My camera does not respond to the on-screen shutter command and I cannot release the shutter manually because the moment I plug in my camera to the USB port it goes into PC mode. Anybody know what I'm doing wrong?

November 9, 2009

I'd consider Pete's $50 DIY tether if I were you, check it out here <a href="http://petetek.blogspot.com/2009/05/50-wireless-tethering-solution.html">http://petetek.blogspot.com/2009/05/50-wireless-tethering-solution.html</a>

November 9, 2009

Well, keep an eye on Pete, he's a gadget guru and has designed a $50 DIY wireless tether, but it isn't compatibale with Mac yet. Here it is.... <a href="http://petetek.blogspot.com/2009/05/50-wireless-tethering-solution.html">http://petetek.blogspot.com/2009/05/50-wireless-tethering-solution.html</a>

November 3, 2009

Greg and Aimee, which Snaplab are you referring to, the CR10L or the CR20L? I have been researching these things to death lately and am finally a self described expert, albeit without actual hands on experience. The CR20L is double the price and I'm not sure it's worth it to get matte finish, slightly faster prints, and larger media capacity. Is the matte finish that big a seller?

Here's a great printer comparison chart for the top dye-sublimated printers <a href="mhtml:{D788DB20-370E-4CEB-B46B-BAACDA2B486E}mid://00000092/!x-usc:http://www.imagingspectrum.com/printer-comparison-chart.html">http://www.imagingspectrum.com/printer-comparison-chart.html</a>

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases.

I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales. I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results.

I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases.

I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales. I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results.

I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases.

I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales. I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results.

I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases.

I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales. I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results.

I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases.

I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales. I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results.

I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases.

I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales. I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results.

I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a href="mhtml:{D788DB20-370E-4CEB-B46B-BAACDA2B486E}mid://00000105/!x-usc:http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases. I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales.

I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results. I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info.

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a href="mhtml:{D788DB20-370E-4CEB-B46B-BAACDA2B486E}mid://00000105/!x-usc:http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases. I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales.

I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results. I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info.

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases.

I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales. I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results.

I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info

October 18, 2009

I've really immersed myself in this topic in the past few days. Here's one of the best workflow discussions I've found on the net when it comes to event print sales, it encompasses everything I've already learned, albeit the hard way! <a href="mhtml:{D788DB20-370E-4CEB-B46B-BAACDA2B486E}mid://00000105/!x-usc:http://www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/" target="_blank">www.flickr.com/groups/sonysnaplab/discuss/72157622482463133/</a>

I've found that photography is much like any other retail sales function in that unless a person leaves their home deliberately seeking a photo of themselves, sales are limited to impulse buying. The retail industry has already proven that merchandising and efficiency will get people to make impulse purchases. I've found from experience that the same goes for sporting event print sales.

I've done a dozen or so large events with limited success, enough to cover cost and put a small amount into my pocket. Initially I focused on image quality, number of photo's, and advertisement/ website exposure. I figured that if I can produce a once in a lifetime photo that people will buy. I was getting hundreds, and in some cases thousands of hits/views, but few sales. So, I reduced my price when they didn't sell, and still minimal results. I've since found that although those are necessary parts of the equation, like any other retail business venture it ultimately comes down to sales presentation, merchandising, and impulse buying.

I recently did an international adult softball tournament with another photographer to test our theory. After covering several large events each, we agreed that the key to making money would be point-of-sale presentation and efficiency rather than a cool website with great photo's and great prices. Well unfortunately we were right, and regretfully we were unable to deliver in an efficient way due to limited print capability. We didn't have a printer on site, so the idea was to shoot all day Saturday, edit and print at a local 24-hour photo lab, then sell on Sunday while still shooting the remainder of games. We shot more than 2000 photo's on day one and decided to choose the best 600 to display and print, and the rest would being uploaded to our Snapfish website for sale on the web. We made announcements, handed out flyers and sent emails to the participants to let them know about the websites. To make a long story short, sales were 10:1 between the day of sales and web sales! For every ten dollars in sales we made during the event we only sold $1 worth afterwards on the website. This confirmed what we already knew, only this time we were able to verify the fact that people will purchase the photo's when it's effortless and they're still caught up in the moment. This is when I decided to search for an efficient and cost effective method of printing on site. I scoured the web for weeks, two or more hours a day, and found that the Sony Snaplab is the most viable solution for what we're doing. However, there is very little support, information, or feedback from users available on the net. Most of what I found in various forums was a sentence or two about the snaplab product or event workflow, or a salesperson throwing a bunch of specs at me. I plan on buying one or two of these machines, but haven't settled on a model, and will continue to give feedback in the new forum as I learn more. There is at least one guy in the group, Ted, who has sold a bunch of Snaplabs and seems to have a lot of good info.

October 17, 2009

If you're interested in learning about the new Sony Snaplab printer, good luck! Here's what I've learned so far: You'll be hard pressed to find a forum or blog for this product, I've been searching for a week and found nothing. In fact, you'll be even less likely to find someone who actually uses the product and is willing to communicate with you. At this point I question whether or not the few people I did find are anything more than salespeople who have no practical experience using the product in the field. If anyone out there has actual experience using a Sony Snaplab in the field, and are interested in sharing your experience please let me/us know. Heck, if the product is anything close to what the sales folks say then I'll sell them here in San Diego because clearly there isn't such a person yet. Here's the closest thing I've found to a support or users forum. <a href="http://backstage101.learningcenter.sony.us/discussions/forum/p/forumId/48955/Printing_Digital_Images.htm?webPageId=1000920&webPageId=1000920">http://backstage101.learningcenter.sony.us/discussions/forum/p/forumId/48955/Printing_Digital_Images.htm?webPageId=1000920&webPageId=1000920</a>

Sorry for the negative post...I had to vent....I'm very frustrated with this topic

Joey

October 16, 2009

Aimee, you've got me going on this snaplab thing but I can't seem to get a hold of Ted to get more info, he's always on the phone, I tried 3 times today and was on hold for ever. I'll keep trying, but in the meantime I'm trying to learn more about this product.

I found the following on other sub dye printers in another thread <a href="http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00UiwA">http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00UiwA</a>

October 16, 2009

We're in the same boat and I'm finding it just as difficult to decide as you are. I've been searching like crazy for a company in San Diego that sells the Sony Snaplab so I can check it out. Sony's website isn't very informative, it assumes the customer is already familiar with their product. Check out this post, one of the responses from a person named Aimee seems to have a lot of info, check her name and read her other posts, she has a lot to say on the subject.... <a href="http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00UhUF">http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00UhUF</a>

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