Client Michelle Moore Interviewed
One of our fabulous portrait clients was interviewed on the Totally Rad Actions blog and she gave us a huge shout! (Thanks, Michelle!)
Read the quick blurb on the TRA blog here.
Listen to the audio interview here: (Colorati mention at about 22 minutes.)
Michelle’s work is highly inspirational! If you haven’t already been acquainted, then please do yourself a favor and check out her blog:
iChat interview with Smitten
No doubt, these are two fun ladies from Georgia that you should take a moment to meet! If you haven’t heard of Smitten Photos, you should do two things immediately:
1) Set your RSS feed reader to their blog
2) Follow them on twitter: @smittenamber | @smittengreta
Watch these girls this year- because they are going places! Though they just completed their first season together, they are stirring things up and show tons of promise sure to inspire.
In this interview we (loosely) talk about:
• Complimentary roles in their studio
• Transition from moonlighting to full time
• Working as a “momtographer”
• How Colorati has changed their business
• Flourishing with Twitter
• Finding your identity in your market
• Advice for new photographers
• Setting expectations with your clients
Enjoy!
iChat with Smitten from Colorati on Vimeo.
iChat interview with Jay Premack
A few months ago, I embarked on a project that got temporarily shelved. Today, I’ve taken that project off the shelf, dusted it off and shined it up.
We would love an opportunity to chat with you (audio or video) about your experience as a Colorati client. It’s very free-form, but we envision a chance to tell your story as a photographer and help encourage others toward success.
If you would like to get involved, let us know and we’ll schedule a short interview at your convenience.
So here is my interview with Jay Premack, a wedding photographer from Washington, DC who has been with Colorati from the very beginning. Jay spent many years as a news photographer and is an amazing visual story teller.
In this video, we discussed:
• Photographers who have a day job and make the transition to full time
• Shooting as a news photographer
• Jay’s approach in shooting a wedding
• Discovering Colorati
• His process of trusting Colorati
• His workflow and philosophy of where to put your energy
• What does Jay do while we’re working on his orders?
• How his level of service has been effected by using our service
• Jay’s book recommendations (A more complete list below with Amazon.com links.)
It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be
by Paul Arden
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
by Al Ries & Jack Trout
The E Myth Revisited
by Michael Gerber
Love Is The Killer App
by Tim Sanders
How To Talk To Anyone
by Leil Lowndes
and
Ishmael
by Daniel Quinn
(Bear with us- we had some network glitches which resulted in some interesting video effects, but we’re working on making the next interviews even better!)
Best of ‘09! Get involved and submit your favorite shots!
Well, another season has gone by! Trust me when I say we have seen some of the finest work in the industry pass through our office. We are proud to serve such an astounding group of creatives!
As you know, our new website is in the making and we are looking for new material to showcase on our site. So gather up your favorite 10-20 shots from the year and place them in a folder with your studio name. Then check out the upload instructions below.
Raw files are preferred since we really want to show off our color and retouching skills.
All submissions must be made by January 27th. PLEASE don’t miss it!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
If you are in, here’s the secret password:
Open up your favorite FTP client (Transmit or Filezilla) and enter the info below:
server: colorati.exavault.com
user: bestof09
pass: scoc5vor
Upload your folder once you’re in and you are done!
By the way, this folder is a blind drop box. Other people’s files are invisible to you and vice-versa.
We’ll let you know if we select your images and get your final approval before the launch.
Thanks so much for your help (and being such an awesome group of people)!
It’s MAMMOTH MEN TIME!!!
The boys are at it again, friends! And already- the shenanigans are in full effect!!!
Tune your RSS readers to the MAMMOTH MEN site for your daily injection of creativity.
We are proud sponsors of this trip and are GIVING AWAY something seriously fun this week- so do stay tuned. (Hint: It’s not photo or Colorati related, but something very fun for your spare time.)
New Clients
Hey gang,
We have been working hard on a plan and making lots of progress! Due in next week are some fabulously talented people who will join our crew and edit your images with the same TLC you’re used to!
In the mean time, we are indeed accepting new clients. If you submitted a contact form and have not yet been contacted, stay tuned- we’ll be in touch shortly. If you’re ready to get started, here is all the info you need:
1) We recommend putting your files on a Western Digital USB “Passport” drive. This is the most efficient way of sending and receiving files.
2) Once you’ve done that, visit our online order form and tell us about each job you’re submitting. You can also request a shipping label. (Please check our twitter stream for daily posts on production schedule: @colorati)
3) Before you close up that package, fill out and include a completed Credit Card Authorization form. We’ll keep it on file for all future orders. CCAuth
Once we get your files, we can pull 20 sample images from the first order and post them for your review. We can dialogue about your preferences and how we can improve. When we are both confident, we’ll proceed and send your final files back when we have completed your order.
As always, we are available by phone or email to help in any way. Be well and be in touch!
Production Status
Hello friends!
Clearly, you’ve been talking about us- we have welcomed many of your friends with open arms!
We can’t thank you enough for the kind words you have said about Colorati services. With the most heartfelt sentiment: Thank You. We recognize referrals as the highest compliment.
The honest truth is this: No human could have possibly projected the sharp increase in orders we received once October began. Though we prepared by adding talented new people to our team, extended shifts and increased caffeine intake, we simply could not keep up with the overwhelming response to our work.
So how do we proceed?
First, let me offer an apology- we told you we could deliver the best quality post production AND the fastest turnaround time in the industry. We stand by our work. And while we are proud of our quality, we have let you down with the speed. For that, I am sorry.
Second, we have temporarily halted new accounts to take care of the clients who have brought us this far. We are focusing all of our energy on completing open orders. ***UPDATE: We are welcoming new clients! However, we still want to set expectations properly. Turnaround times are as posted on Twitter.
Third, while we dust ourselves off and bear down for the remainder of this season, we want to make it very easy for you to check in on our current production status. Look for a daily tweet about our current turnaround time on our Twitter page:
Rest assured, we care deeply about the work we do and are working around the clock to get back to the swift turnaround time you have come to love.
Many, many thanks for your patience, support and most of all the chance to serve you.
Leon Sandoval
Director of Operations
Real world samples: Wedding
Here’s a look at a recent wedding we edited for Emily Steffen who serves the St. Paul/Minneapolis area. When we saw this one come through, we couldn’t resist sharing it with the rest of you. (With Emily’s permission, of course!)
What a fun, unique and colorful wedding!
Below is the before and after comparisons of the images as they appeared out of camera and after our Standard Color Raw processing.
Enjoy!
Photoshop tip: Save your actions!
If you’ve spent any amount of time crafting up your own Photoshop Actions, you’ll want to save those actions to a file on your hard drive. This way you can email them or move them to a new computer.
This video walks you through the process. Enjoy!
by Leon
2 comments
add a comment link to this post email a friend