Therese & Sonny!

Therese & Sony's wedding was the last wedding of the year for me. It was a great way to end this wedding season. Sonny and his three kids lived next door to where I grew up. I baby sat his kids when we were all younger! It's so crazy to see them all grown up now.

Sonny met Therese and it was obvious that they had one thing in common. They both have 3 kids! Two boys and 1 girl each! Not only that, but Sonny's daughter is named Jackie (or Jacqueline). And Therese's daughter is named Jackie! And they are about the same age! Isn't that amazing?



















Two thumbs up little one... absolutely adorable.




I decided to experiment a little towards the end of the reception. I took my 100mm macro and took a photo through my 50mm lens. It wasn't easy. The macro had to be focused just right. Then in order to focus the subject on the other side of the lens, I had to move the 50mm closer or further from the macro to focus that lens. I only had a few shots come out. I can't wait to try it again!


This has been wedding announcement #180!

Pic _ _ _ _

Pictage or PickPic. Well, I did it. I stopped using Pictage and started using PickPic. I feel elated, but not ELATED!!!! There is some sense of walking away with my tail between my legs.

First, my PUG people. This is the Pictage User Group that I get together with every month. The good thing is that not everyone there is a Pictage user, so I'l still be seeing everyone every month! How could I not? If it wasn't for this group I wouldn't have some of the closest friends that I have today. I wouldn't have gone to or done some of the things that have grown my business and myself especially as a photographer.

Second, Pictage itself. I really don't want to get into detail all the reasons why I left. They are things that I hear a lot of complaints about amongst photographers and even the general public. I know there are other alternatives to Pictage out there, but they are not as in-depth, complete, and easy to use as Pictage, which is what makes Pictage so popular.

As all my clients are probably aware of by now, I have a new site for my online proofing and sales! It is rephotodesign.net. This site was installed with PickPic. Where do I begin with how great this is?

Although it is PickPic's system, it is really REPhotoDesign's system. All orders, inquiries, payments, customer service, etc, goes through me. The only involvement with PickPic is that I purchased the program from them and they installed it on my server. Unlike Pictage, PickPic has nothing to do with my sales, prints, products, and customer support. That's all on my shoulders now! I think this becomes more apparent since my .net looks just like my website and blog. It's all about branding! What do I want to put the REPhotoDesign name on or associate it with? Pictage was not the answer for me.

One reason why I chose the PickPic system is because they are now owned by the amazing lab that I use for my prints. Integration between the two is coming soon! Which will make things a little easier on my end. Also, my costs have been lowered. So much so that my print prices have been lowered! This is making my clients and guests of weddings happier and is generating more sales for me, which means more income. I love that I get to crop and check orders before they are sent to print. And your prints should be at your door in 3-4 business days!

This winter I will be putting all of my products on .net available for purchase. My clients and guests can pick out their photos for their album, and order their album, right through .net. My canvas prints are already available. I'll have more products on there for my clients to choose from soon. The best thing is that the products are the same products I show in my office!

So it was a tough decision to leave Pictage, but a good one at the same time. I think about what is good for my clients before I think about what works for me. For my business, PickPic is a better option for all.

Check out REPhotoDesign.net! Since you won't have passwords for the events, here are a bunch of screen shots.

Here's what .net looks like after the initial redirect from the splash page. I'm working on a new splash page.


Once into an event you can see the categories. At the top of the list is a link to a slideshow. Before this, guests rarely got to see the slideshow that I make for my clients online and on DVD.


It looks even nicer with a vertical image.


Each category has 30 images per page. It's a very simple clean look with just the image number underneath.


Once you choose an image you can pick an image size. It will even show you and allow you to adjust the crop for every size available. You can make the images black and white and preview that, and add borders. There's an easy to use cart to check your order and check out. And you can save your favorites too! When it's time to do your album, you can just send me the favorites folder.


If anyone is trying to access my events on Pictage, they have been expired. You can find it on .net. The password is the couples last name, something I never publish anywhere.

AND I made changes to the splash page on rephotodesign.com. My promo video was put in! I'm going to be reworking the video this winter. And I may add another section to go to and make the graphics smaller. We'll see what happens!