FAQ: How do you edit a wedding without actually being there? from Colorati on Vimeo.

A lot of people want to know how we can edit a wedding without actually being there. This video explains our process of Image Selection and how we leverage our experience, intuition and your feedback to showcase the best images to tell the story well.

A lot of people ask if we match them up with one technician. It’s a great question and a good idea, but the answer is no- for a very good reason!

A lot of people want to know if their style fits with our Standard Color or Custom Color service. This video breaks down how we determine which service works best for you.

Updating your Raw files with our work is easy with XMPs. This video tutorial walks through the process and explains XMPs.

Links:

Dr. Brown’s Scripts Page

Download: Dr. Brown’s Services for CS5

Download: Dr. Brown’s Services for CS4

iPhone-friendly video link: Using XMPs With Bridge/ACR on Vimeo

In this video I answer a common question, “Are you calibrated to a certain lab?” We take a look at how labs and Colorati are on the same page when it comes to color.

This video answers some common questions about how our service works regarding USB hard drive retrieval, using the order form, and sending in multiple orders at once.

Fair warning- I’m going to get all nostalgic about the “days of yore” in our industry, but I promise I have a point so stick with me!

Let’s rewind to 10 years ago: the ancient year of 2000 BC.

Some photographers had websites. Some even had digital cameras. But most were happily shooting film and meeting potential clients face to face.

DSLRs were insanely expensive for a measly 3 megapixels. The debates of the day were focused on “Film vs Digital” -most in opposition of delivering 3MP images to a client. The quality just wasn’t there yet.

But things changed. Technology evolved. It got better and cheaper. Suddenly we seized the opportunity to “save money” by ditching lab costs associated with film.

Think about it… buying and processing 30-40+ rolls of film was costly!

For example:
40 rolls of pro-grade print film = $200
30 rolls of pro lab 4×6 proofing = $360

(Obviously this is general pricing, but let’s agree that the film and lab cost per wedding was in the neighborhood of about $500-$600.)

Soon every photographer sold off all their film equipment for the hope of running a faster, leaner studio with more creative results.

Enter the conundrum.

For decades photographers had very little creative control over their images. They were at the mercy of their lab. This new opportunity to handle their own images was riveting- the possibilities were literally ENDLESS.

Only problem was, very few photographers had working knowledge of Photoshop or basic image editing mechanics. To this point, a photographer was more of well… a PHOTOGRAPHER.

So they were forced to learn image editing whether they liked it or not.

What most people didn’t realize is that their lab went through extensive measures to deliver the best, most consistent proofs possible. Believe it or not, a straight print from a negative doesn’t look beautiful on its own. It needs further processing just like your Raw files.

Here’s how it worked:

Backstage there were armies of seasoned color professionals working on your images. Their job was to make the very best out of what you captured. Imagine trying to color match 30-40 individual rolls of film for consistent skin tone from beginning to end. What made things even more difficult was that these were likely printed completely out of sequence.

But they delivered anyway. Four or five days later, you could pick up a box of proofs from the lab, begin sequencing prints and stuffing the proof book. That process might take a few hours, but the color work was completely done- and done well.

However, when we all switched, labs didn’t want to touch these Raw files. It just didn’t fit into their workflow. The machines used for printing could print digital files, sure! But only JPEGs, not Raw, which defeated the purpose altogether.

So photographers were forced to learn image editing whether they liked it or not. (Yes, that was a repeat!)

My point is this: No film photographer in his right mind would ever dream of processing and printing their own color film. Yet today, photographers spend on average 20 hours doing wedding post production.

20 hours.

Now you might say, “Oh that’s not me… no way!” Well I dare you to log your hours from start to finish: download to posting on your proofing site.

The real question is, are you paying yourself for this time? What is the average price of your wedding package? Does it include this time? If not, you’re doing delusional math!

Sure your time is “free.” But it also prevents you from finding opportunities to book more events.

How many potential clients could you talk with in 20 hours? How about phone calls, meetings with other wedding vendors, promoting your work on your blog and other marketing channels?

Now am I suggesting everyone stop and send everything to us? No. What I’m suggesting is:

1) Dream about what you want to do with your studio. What are your goals? Is it to spend more time on the computer or more time with your family and friends? Maybe you want to shoot for pay and travel for fun. How about some more of that?

2) Identify the piece of your post production that consumes the most time. Use a free software timer or stopwatch. (Mac|PC) Pause when you’re on the phone, writing emails, checking your Facebook, etc. but chart each piece of your workflow. I guarantee you’ll be surprised.

3) Do the math. What amount of money do you need to take home from each wedding or portrait session to have a sustainable income? Account for ALL your costs and include the hours of time you spend on post production. Pay yourself an hourly wage as if you are an employee. Are you reaching your goal?

And then consider this: a common wedding photographer delivers an average of 700 images to the bride. Having Colorati do your Raw processing would cost about $240.

$240 could open up the opportunity to book two, three, or more events to create more than enough income to cover your costs- and that’s only by sending us ONE event.

Also consider that we process more weddings in two days than most photographers shoot in an entire year. Post production is our profession.

What do you dream about doing with your business? More post production?

Here’s a quick look at getting started with Colorati. It’s so simple- and we like to think of it as a pool party.

Hey everyone!

Here’s the basics of getting started. In this video we walk you through our “pool party” analogy. You can either jump in canonnball style or sit on the edge and dip your toes in the water.

Canonnball style:

If you’re ready to send in an order, we are glad to help you get started. We recommend putting your files on a portable USB or Firewire drive. This is the most efficient way of sending and receiving files. 

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 XMPs via email or put final JPEGs back on your hard drive.

Place your order here.

Dip your toes:

You can submit 10 sample files via FTP at no obligation and no cost. This helps us get the dialogue started in setting up your profile. 

To get information on how to send your test files, simply submit a contact form and look for instructions to follow shortly.

Many thanks for a chance to serve you!

Well… things have changed a bit and we no longer feel it’s the best choice. Why? Two reasons:

1) Out of the box formatting (No longer Mac & PC ready.)
2) Multiple interface options

A house divided
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Here’s the deal: Western Digital is now selling hard drives specifically formatted for your operating system. For the most part, this is a great thing!

However, in our environment it can create some potential hiccups. We are a Mac environment (HFS format) and we can copy data from of a Windows drive (NTFS format) but we can’t copy anything back onto the drive.

Technically, we could but we’d have to reformat your drive to FAT32 which is universal. We prefer not to reformat your drives. It shouldn’t be your only backup, but many times it is and we’ve seen far too many of them come to the rescue.

Drive Interface
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Western Digital Passport drives are USB 2.0 only. Nowadays there are so many options available for multiple interface drives. They have come down in price and it’s a nice feature to have.

Here’s the advantage: speed. In a Macworld speed test with an OWC hard drive, a 1GB copy showdown looked like this:

USB 2.0 1GB file copy: 0:52
FireWire 800 1GB file copy: 0:35

That’s significant when you average between 15-20GB or more per event! Many of you send us us over 30 events a year plus engagement sessions.

So what do we suggest?
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Glad you asked! Remember, the biggest issue we have right now is the formatting straight out of the box. So our recommendations below will be for drives that are Mac and PC ready- no special formatting needed! Interface is secondary.

Having said that, if we could have our pick, it would simply be any drive with FW800/400 and USB 2.0. The following three drives meet both requirements for formatting and interface. There’s also one bonus feature: drive speed. Most portable drives spin at 5400 rpm. These drives are much faster at 7200 rpm.

Multi-Interface options:
A nice choice in the performance AND aesthetics department would be the G-Tech G-Drive mini. At $120 for high performance, multi-interface, and a 3yr warranty, you’re in good shape.

The LaCie Rugged has been around for a long time and has many interface and capacity options. We’ve had great success with this model and it also spins at 7200 rpm. (Starts at $99 for USB only, FW+USB starts at $129.) 3yr warranty.

As mentioned, the OWC Mercury. I’ll admit, it’s not the prettiest drive, but it does perform well in speed tests. Cost: $129, 3yr warranty.

USB Only:

If you want to save a few bucks, you can go with the USB only drives that are under $100.

LaCie has been a long time performer in external drives. Here are just a couple options:

LaCie Rikiki: $74.99, 2yr warranty.

LaCie Petit: $74.90, 2yr warranty.

Afterthoughts:

- 250GB is PLENTY for most orders, even if you are sending 2-3 complete events. Buying any more than that is unnecesary.

- Don’t store files on the drive that you don’t have backed up elsewhere.

- Use this drive exclusively for sending and receiving orders with Colorati. Sensitive files like tax documents, personal photos, etc are best kept on your system at home.

- If you are a Mac user, then the formatting is a non-issue. Also, if you are a PC user and use our Standard Color service but request XMP delivery only, then the formatting is less of an issue since we email your XMPs back to you.

Western Digital is still making awesome, reliable products. However, with the options and pricing that is available today, we think there are some seriously competitive options that may just make things run a little smoother when sending your orders to Colorati.

Hope that helps! Please let us know if there is anything we can do for you.

We had a blast in Vegas and it was fun to see you all sport the Colorati Tees on Tuesday!

I’m very excited to announce our winners!

First prize goes to Shellie Secretan from Canada! She wins her choice of an Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook.

Second prize goes to Maribel Farina from California! She wins a Flip Video Pocket Camera!

Third prize winner is Becky Jeide from Utah! She wins a 1TB Lacie hard drive designed by Neil Poulton!

And our bonus winner is Jake Suarez from Las Vegas! He wins a $99 credit toward any product in the Totally Rad Actions store!

Thanks, everybody who wore our shirt and stickers on Tuesday! Enjoy the prizes and be in touch if there’s anything we can do to help you out this year.

Here’s a shot that just captures Candice’s personality: High Energy! This was shot at the Airhorns party on Sunday night- great way to kick off the week!

The booth turned out nice! I may have shed a tear that I couldn’t take that beautiful white leather couch (not pictured) home to my office. Here’s a shot of our office manager Katie and I.

Jonathan Chan, a happy Colorati client worked the booth harder than I did! Thanks, Jonathan!

Matt and Katie, clients from Australia stopped by to say hello! These two are shaking things up in Australia- you’ve been warned.

These two know how to work it too! They were so busy chatting us up, we hardly got a moment to chat. Guess I’ll have to wait until the get together next month.

Justin Lee rolls deep! He brought his own posse to Vegas. (Also not pictured.)

This part was so fun! We gave away two Flip Cams, tons of iTunes gift cards, TRA gift cards (not pictured), and an iPod Touch!

Kristen Kalp from Essential Imagery rocked the booth in style and hung out with us for a while.

Robert & Kathleen Photographers from Connecticut stopped by to help out too! Don’t they pretty-up the place? Thanks you guys!

Nate & Jac brought their “A-GAME!!!” Nate also brought his new pet iguana (not pictured).

WARNING: Geekfest ahead!
It was a real treat for me to spend a few minutes chatting with Dave Cross, Photoshop expert, trainer & author. Many know that I got my start as a retoucher. Colorati would not be here today if it weren’t for the NAPP forums, publications, seminars, and wealth of online tutorials.

And then there’s the nightlife! Here are some pics of our Office Manager Katie cutting loose at the Pictage party on Tuesday night.

Erin Youngren and Katie keeping it classy!

The Youngrens, Katie and Jackie Wonders!

Parting shot: Colorati client Kevin Weinstein saying good by till next year!

******Many, MANY thanks to all of our other booth buddies (not pictured) who generously gave their time to answer questions at our booth! (Group hug and high fives!)

There are some people in the world who are just remarkable. You know the kind… giving, selfless, kind, considerate and you just feel energized when you’re with them.

It is our pleasure to work with Jeff & Erin Youngren. You may know them from OSP, from the SDPUG, Twitter (@jeffyoungren | @erinyoungren) or any other place photographers can be found.

If you’ve ever wondered how you can take off to say… ASIA for TWO MONTHS while still running a successful San Diego-based business, you best tune in to this one! That’s right, these crazy kids were in SINGAPORE when we did the interview.

We covered so many topics in this interview, it should be pay-per-view! Hear about their roles in business operations, smart outsourcing, and of course how using Colorati has empowered them to take their business to another level.

Our booth is a “NO PRESSURE” zone. No hard selling, no scripts, and no microphones. Just a casual place to stop and ask some questions. We realize TRUST is a big issue and we want you to feel right at home.

We’ve asked some Colorati clients to join us in answering your questions. These are real people who overcame their fears and learned to trust Colorati with their images. Ask them anything about their experience with our service!

Here’s a look at the schedule. If you’re a “super user” and want to download an iCal schedule with reminders, you can grab the file below.

I can’t tell you how much fun we have doing T-Shirt Tuesday. Seriously, it’s like Christmas in March!

Here’s what’s going on: Stop by our booth (#1725) on Monday to pick up an official Colorati T-Shirt. Wear that shirt on Tuesday and you could win some amazing prizes.

There are two ways to enter:

1) Wear your shirt on Tuesday and drop your card by our booth. That enters you into the grand prize drawing where you could win:

• Your choice of either an Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook.

• Flip Video Pocket Cam

• 1TB External Hard drive. (Brand & model to be determined.)

2) You can also snap a picture of yourself sporting our Colorati shirt on the trade show floor and send it to us on Twitter (@colorati). Or by email: info[at]colorati[dot]com.

If we run out of shirts, then you can still enter by putting a Colorati sticker on your trade show badge on Tuesday and drop your card by our booth.

(Yes, you can enter twice! Heck, why not do all three?)

To make it even more fun, we’re giving away loads of prizes every hour on Tuesday! Watch our Twitter stream for shouts about the instant prizes. We are giving away:

• 1 8GB iPod Touch
• 10 iTunes Gift Cards
• 2 Flip Video Pocket Cams
• 3 Totally Rad Actions credits for $99 each

Now there’s only one bit of small print: You can only win one instant prize on Tuesday. We’d love to see you every hour, but it would kind of take the fun out of it for others, right? Otherwise, let’s have fun people! See you in Vegas!

Steve had so much good stuff to say, we could hardly bear to cut anything out! Seriously, give it a spin because he’s a highly inspirational guy with a lot to give.

In this video we talked about Steve’s travels, going to extreme measures to please a client and of course, how Steve uses Colorati to do more of the things that help him thrive.