News notes coming into the 4th of July Weekend

A lot has been going on with RL Charpentier Photography and the Ian Russell gallery.  It’s about time for the latest updates from Prescott.

4 weeks later, I’m still not printing glossy

I’ve been holding back on this story for a while now.  The Z3100 still isn’t printing glossy, and I’m still waiting on a service call.  Tomorrow a service person will be in to work on the HP Z3100.  I’m crossing my fingers that things are improved and not not negatively impacted.  Bottom line for tomorrow.  No printing folks!

The entire process with my 3rd party insurance plan has been written down by me over the past few weeks.  Honestly, it’s been a nightmare as far as getting responses and assistance.  I think the best part is every new person I speak with in the process has no clue as to what my problem is, and I have to re-explain everything.  The service tech who called me yesterday had no idea what the trouble was, and I doubt he’ll be ready to do what’s necessary tomorrow.

What I have learned is the carriage bar is returning an error and fails its testing.  I learned that well over a week ago when I finally got to talk to an HP service person through a third party vendor.  I won’t even get into that whole convoluted process.

The most disappointing part of this story is the lack of urgency and attention to the issue on the part of the 3rd party insurance provider.  This is a business machine, and it has negatively impacted my business in no small way.  Between replacing my print heads, testing with glossies over and over again, and loss of revenue from clients, this situation has cost me more than $2000 in the past month.

The bottom line for me?  Next time, go with the manufacturer’s service plan.

More people photo shoots to come

A tweaked image using only Lightroom 3's develop module. Very different, so thought I'd share.

The experimentation is well under way here when it comes to capturing people.  And I’m still learning, big time.  The great part is I’m having fun!

One of the cool things (in my mind) is all the portable gear I use.  1 580 EX II and 2 430 EXIIs.  There’s all the light power I have.  And you can do a ton with a few portable speedlites.  Often times I’m only using 1 of the Speedlites.  The other night, shooting for RV Country?  1 Speedlite, the 580.  That was it.  And it really did the trick on shots of Bob & Mary!

So, watch for more experimentation, watch for landscapes too, and watch for some new twists on my HDR work (totally unrelated to people shoots).

Pop Rocket’s July Cover

For the month of July you’ll see that Pop Rocket has a shot I did of the Elks Theatre.  Inside, a few more interior images as well.  Can’t wait to see the Elks officially reopen.  People will love the remodel.

Don’t live in the area, but want to see the cover.  Click here to download the PDF file for this month!

4th of July Sale Continues

The 50% off all hanging canvas at the gallery continues!  We’ve got a good bit of inventory that we’d like to move around and out so we can rearrange the gallery once more.  And the 50% sale will end when the 4th ends.  No joking.

So, all canvases by Ian Russell, all canvases by Rob Jamason, and all canvases by me that are on the walls are 50% off.  Also, all loose unframed prints by Ian and I are also 50% off.  It’s a great deal, and in many cases the prices are at cost.  What are you waiting for?

Around the web

This morning I did my usual blog reading and found a couple of fun nuggets:

• Jeff Revell over at Photowalk Pro talked about shooting in RAW this morning.  I’m 100% on board with him.  He noted that “It’s what Ansel Adams would do,” if he were alive today.  I agree with that as well.  But since reading I’ve been cracking up with the thought of a new bumper sticker.  “What Would Ansel Do?”  I don’t know, maybe I’m alone in wanting such a bumper sticker!
• Jason Anderson over at Canonblogger has been going through a ton of changes.  New site layout and design, new features, and over all, just some great updates coming along.  Stop by and pay him a visit.
• Matt K has a story of his illegal HDR photo up this morning.  Worth a read, and a book mark to his site.  If you’re a Lightroom fan like me, subscribe to Matt’s site today.  No regrets there!  🙂  Oh and the moral of his story?  I think it’s talk slow and look casual!
• Finally, Tom Bol has a great post over at Kelby’s site.  I think regular readers know, I love hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, and many other things “outdoorsie.”  Well, Tom is one of those amazing adventure photographers that I’d love to be.  Worth a read!

There’s everything fit to type this morning.  Oh yeah, and the AC is totally out here at the gallery, so I might be heading out early today.  80 degrees in here already and it’s only 9:10 in the morning.  Computers don’t like heat, the printer doesn’t like heat, and if I’m going to be hot I’d rather be sitting in the Granite Dells!  🙂