ricki_chester

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<p>2009 UPDATE. (pictage review of sorts) After following in love with the CONCEPT of Pictage in 2006, and trying them twice over a period of two years and leaving both times very frustrated, I had given up completely on the idea. After a few encouraging words from photographers that I trust, I did a little re-dip into Pictage to run some test. Things have certainly changed at Pictage! Wow!!! My prints have looked awesome!! No, really!! This is no small thing. I have been ordering all prints to come directly to me (with Pictage corrections), while also ordering the same images from White House WYSWYG (WHCC has been my favorite for self fulfilling; they are tops for this in my book!), This gave me my 'before' of the image as submitted to Pictage without corrections from a lab I know is capable, consistent and accurate. Then also ordered some 'corrected' from Burrell just to see another Pro labs corrected version for another comparison. The difference is amazing!! AMAZING. Not just finally acceptable but truly noticeably and dramatically BETTER! BETTER! I was just hoping for 'as good as'. I am on month 3 or 4. Now, to be fair, this has not been a great number of print orders or anything. I have only been in a trial mode. But I have spaced them out and sent in at least one order of several (5 or more for the most part) images a month. I have sent a lot of challenging images with high contrast or super saturated color or extreme 'right to the edge' highlights. I can honestly say that each image was really handled very well. WHY am I taking the time to write this? Well, I took the time to say how very unhappy I was during their early days. So I want to be sure to take the time to say how incredibly impressed I am with what they are doing now! Also, I will say the customer service is at a whole new level. MUCH MUCH MUCH better. And I have really tested that too. Previously, I had the gripe that if you wanted a PERSON to just answer your question instead of spending 4 hrs on the very poorly written 'help' areas of the site (with no search features), they seemed to be annoyed with you and direct you back to the 'help' on the site. NO MORE!! I don't know where those people or attitudes are, but both the 'help' and the 'helpers' seem far more ready to HELP you NOT have to spend your time negotiating a service that is suppose to be there to take work off, not put it on.<br>

The things that have NOT changed that still annoy.. the pricing for the photographer still does not populate while you are ordering. You have to figure it out in another area, and hope you did right until your invoice comes through. But the tools to figure it out have improved. <br>

Your customers still have to pay shipping separately from your issued credits (which is a little embarrassing for me and others I know that this makes crazy) And as far as I know (which is for sure limited) this can not be worked around.<br>

BUT so much else has SOOOO dramatically improved that I am officially moving my jobs there this year, so that my clients can finally enjoy that beautiful interface that I have wanted to let them use for so long! And truthfully, from what I have seen so far, I am very excited about it! Thanks Pictage! Pleeeeease keep it up.. we really do need the help out here!</p>

<p>SIDE NOTE FOR OTHER LABS MENTIONED. I want to be sure not to 'diss' the other labs mentioned. The are EXCELLENT at what they do and the service that they offer. They are not claiming to offer the same type and degree of support on the back-end as Pictage. It is a different service entirely. I did not want to leave the impression that they are failing to deliver in any way. If you are self-fulfilling and not looking for image correction you will understand that this is not meant to really 'compare these labs against each other' but be able to see what the Pictage finishing service abilities really are. tx</p>

</p>

<p>2009 UPDATE. (pictage review of sorts) After following in love with the CONCEPT of Pictage in 2006, and trying them twice over a period of two years and leaving both times very frustrated, I had given up completely on the idea. After a few encouraging words from photographers that I trust, I did a little re-dip into Pictage to run some test. Things have certainly changed at Pictage! Wow!!! My prints have looked awesome!! No, really!! This is no small thing. I have been ordering all prints to come directly to me (with Pictage corrections), while also ordering the same images from White House WYSWYG (WHCC has been my favorite for self fulfilling; they are tops for this in my book!), This gave me my 'before' of the image as submitted to Pictage without corrections from a lab I know is capable, consistent and accurate. Then also ordered some 'corrected' from Burrell just to see another Pro labs corrected version for another comparison. The difference is amazing!! AMAZING. Not just finally acceptable but truly noticeably and dramatically BETTER! BETTER! I was just hoping for 'as good as'. I am on month 3 or 4. Now, to be fair, this has not been a great number of print orders or anything. I have only been in a trial mode. But I have spaced them out and sent in at least one order of several (5 or more for the most part) images a month. I have sent a lot of challenging images with high contrast or super saturated color or extreme 'right to the edge' highlights. I can honestly say that each image was really handled very well. WHY am I taking the time to write this? Well, I took the time to say how very unhappy I was during their early days. So I want to be sure to take the time to say how incredibly impressed I am with what they are doing now! Also, I will say the customer service is at a whole new level. MUCH MUCH MUCH better. And I have really tested that too. Previously, I had the gripe that if you wanted a PERSON to just answer your question instead of spending 4 hrs on the very poorly written 'help' areas of the site (with no search features), they seemed to be annoyed with you and direct you back to the 'help' on the site. NO MORE!! I don't know where those people or attitudes are, but both the 'help' and the 'helpers' seem far more ready to HELP you NOT have to spend your time negotiating a service that is suppose to be there to take work off, not put it on.<br>

The things that have NOT changed that still annoy.. the pricing for the photographer still does not populate while you are ordering. You have to figure it out in another area, and hope you did right until your invoice comes through. But the tools to figure it out have improved. <br>

Your customers still have to pay shipping separately from your issued credits (which is a little embarrassing for me and others I know that this makes crazy) And as far as I know (which is for sure limited) this can not be worked around.<br>

BUT so much else has SOOOO dramatically improved that I am officially moving my jobs there this year, so that my clients can finally enjoy that beautiful interface that I have wanted to let them use for so long! And truthfully, from what I have seen so far, I am very excited about it! Thanks Pictage! Pleeeeease keep it up.. we really do need the help out here!</p>

<p>SIDE NOTE FOR OTHER LABS MENTIONED. I want to be sure not to 'diss' the other labs mentioned. The are EXCELLENT at what they do and the service that they offer. They are not claiming to offer the same type and degree of support on the back-end as Pictage. It is a different service entirely. I did not want to leave the impression that they are failing to deliver in any way. If you are self-fulfilling and not looking for image correction you will understand that this is not meant to really 'compare these labs against each other' but be able to see what the Pictage finishing service abilities really are. tx</p>

THAT is the smartest question I've ever seen! Why did I not ask it?? I have been full time weddings for 4+ years. I have

worked 80hour+ weeks for the last three. I take a couple of weeks 'off' well sort of, during the holidays and thats been it.

No.. I am not exaggerating, not even a little. I average only 20-30 weddings per year. That's all I dare! Many people can

do multiple wedding per weekend and have a life.. I'm not one of them! lol If you 'shoot and burn' do little to no post

processing and let the services such as pictage or collages(to a lesser degree) handle your album design and post

processing, you could certainly have a different life than mine! But no ordered image leaves my shop without a total

touchup. And I pull the best 150 or so from each event and do a full edited version of them. I do basic batch corrections

and open each image for a true quality check on the entire collection. (around 1200). I take the top images and do a

custom slideshow for each event and an album design. It may not sound like an extraordinary work load but mix it in with

the bridals, engagement sessions etc. and it quickly turns into a job for 2 or more people. Many do not do custom edits,

blemish removal etc. I can not give up the custom look and high level of quality control. I often wonder if the work that

goes in is even detectable by others/clients but there is no going back for me. I can't see giving a bride an image of

herself that was not even touched up!

I have found ways to incorporate the use of pictage without using their full service printing etc. but of course that cuts out

the speed and leaves you only with the pretty store front. :( But it is not just about the weddings, edits and albums, it is a

full time job getting a business off the ground and carving your market. I spend at least 10 hrs a week working on things

that are not related to my photography directly and that is not enough. I have tried several back-end support solutions but

have yet to find a consistent quality that was even close to what I would expect, never mind affordable. I believe by next

year I will have turned the curve to be able to have an office worker. But until then.. I'm sure glad I no longer have children

;) because I would either be the worse Mother or photographer I know! Here is the link the website..

www.redhousephotographers.com

.

Just left this post on another thread:

Lumapix pro version - saved my life! They do not offer a mac version so I keep a pc just to run this program. Yeah.. it's

that good. Makes it feasible to do custom designs for each client and save designs as templates to tweak later for

favorite spreads etc. Very sophisticated yet short learning curve. Found nothing that compares so far. You can be doing

simple in a few minutes and anything you can do in photoshop in a day or two. Then take your designs into photoshop

for any further desired use of actions etc.

This is the same software mentioned by John Givens above. (Not sure about versions but same company)<div></div>

Lumapix pro version - saved my life! They do not offer a mac version so I keep a pc just to run this program. Yeah.. it's

that good. Makes it feasible to do custom designs for each client and save designs as templates to tweak later for favorite

spreads etc. Very sophisticated yet short learning curve. Found nothing that compares so far. You can be doing simple in

a few minutes and anything you can do in photoshop in a day or two. Then take your designs into photoshop for any

further desired use of actions etc.

http://www.lumapix.com/extreme/ext_overview.shtml<div></div>

I have accounts with all three companies. Much like nikon vs canon. It depends on which features you are talking

about as to which one is best. (if only we can mix and match!) Like an earlier post.. I like smugmug but dislike the

actual name being associated with my company. Its very cute but not the right image for what i need it for. There

seems no way to loose it entirely (even if you customize it out and use your own domain name, it will still show up on

the credit card charges and a couple of other places.. at least at my efforts.) But they have the MUCH APPRECIATED

feature of 'print delay'. This allows you to upload proofs with the ability to re-upload the edited vs upon order.

AWESOME! The viewing windows are huge and look great. Some ability for clients to comment on images etc. but

nowhere near the sophistication of the custom folders of Pictage. Bummer with both pictage and smugmug is you must

use their labs. (Smugmug is currently promising a new pro-lab option yet to be named) Also bummer with both is no pro-

lab print services.. mounting, spray etc.) Smugmug packaging is really not up to par for pros. They tube large prints

which never goes well and ship regular mail. I could go on for days pointing out the differences but in general, pictage

has the features event photographers need for working and communicating with clients, is VERY professional looking but

it is lacking in other areas especially for those who are insanely quality conscious and want to touch up as ordered

themselves (my main issue) You either have to have every images 100% ready to print or pay for premium custom

prints and trust them to do it, have it sent to yourself instead of your client, cross your fingers and pay shipping back

out. I placed a $300 blind test order last year to see how that went.. mixed results. Not consistent. I still way over

stress my edits that I upload there because of that experience. But wow it's a nice store front and the folders alone are

almost worth the entire headache.

Smugmug is somehow more enjoyable to use, cheaper, easier and so progressive and customer service oriented that i

believe one day they will have the pro lab and complete branding options that will make them the easy choice. They are

just not there for me quite yet. But my money is on them being first. ;) I really do not like colleges - but many do. I

cant even explain why but I prepaid for a year and have barely used them at all. It just isnt as sophisticated as i

expected or as it needs to be (less so than smugmug in my opinion) I thought I would love it... your lab or theirs.. pro

services but it is my least favorite and most troublesome (maybe because im mac based and they seem to struggle

with that platform).

What is crazy is that a free service called INSTAPROOFS currently gives me the most control and ease of use. There

viewing windows are too small, they are not as 'up-to-date slick looking' as i wish they were, but other than that they are

actually the best solution ive found. I use all of these companies for different things and they all have nice features and

problem areas but i find myself uploading to www.instaproofs.com the majority of the time. Best to you! Keep the helpful

info coming!! rickichester@gmail.com

Word of caution.. i used a new pk-12 on a d3 with an 85 1.4 a couple of weeks ago.

no problem the first time.. 2nd time my camera locked on f-7 until i took it off. If it

did that the first time, I did not notice. I took it off and tried to go back to normal

shooting. I quickly noticed it was not 'locking in' as normal. It would behave as if it

couldn't get focus lock even though it appeared to be auto focusing fine. So.. when

pressing the shutter perhaps 3 out of 5 times it would not lock or trigger. I changed

lenses again. At first it seemed improved but continued to have serious problems

especially in low light throughout the evening so I switched to a backup d2x and

used the D3 only as a 2nd lens to test it further. Later at home, I pulled it out again

and it was firing off without a hitch. I breathed a sigh of relief and wrote it up to a

bad experience. The next weekend at a 2nd wedding.. it had a few misses during

the day that tipped me off that it was not 100% but not bad enough to give it up and

nothing like the weekend before.. that is until the dark reception. I gave up and put

it up again. I will be sending it in the first chance I get to have it looked at. The

ability to lock in and focus in low light is the beauty of that camera. It was

unbelievable to have it hosed up like that. So.. beware. I realize it could be

unrelated and simply untimely. But it will not be going back on my D3... period.

i am a wedding photographer and shoot with both a d3 and a 5d (also assistants with

nikons). never had any problems. the canons can be a tad warmer but we always white

balance anyway so the desired look is controlled preset before we shoot the event. I believe

you said your friend shot in raw so you should be able to open every image in camera raw at

one time (at least with cs3 cant remember about earlier but probably earlier too) select them

all at once and adjust the first image by either correcting her white balance or just warming

up the entire batch with slider by eye. Of course some images will not like that adjustment

but the batch in general can be equaled up in a matter of seconds.

Instaproofs.com has great customer service, is free with commission base pay, looks

pretty good, sends orders to you by email to fulfill at your lab (WHCC is excellent). Pays

out monthly on time without 'request' for money. Clients seem to be able to navigate

without problems. Easy to learn. Set up and running in about a day. You have the ability

to issue Credit/Gift codes, do mass emails, invites etc. Put music (from a decent library)

behind automatic slideshows. BEST OF ALL you upload downsized versions of your images

for FAST uploads. I do wish the image windows were slightly larger, I wouldn't mind

sizing up a little for that.

I do like Smugmugs ability to control the size of the image available for view.) In general I

wish Instaproof just had a little slicker interface such as pictage or smugmug but I've tried

both Pictage and Smugmug and neither seemed to work for me. I would love to see a pro

version of smugmug (called something other than smugmug;) combined with the features

of Instaproofs and the personal folder options of Pictage. They all have some nice

features.

I actually still have accts with both Pictage and Smugmug but don't use them much

anymore. I have noticed some recent improvements at both though. My biggest concern

at smugmug was that I really didn't like the mix of consumer/pro and just a few lacking

features that made me nuts. I do like the image size on Smugmug and they are adding

new things all the time. I think instaproofs may have a referral program (not sure) if there

is anything in it for you and you try it..