We set some new monthly records!!
1 - Monthly sales at $13,822.45, beating our previous record of $11,814.31. That is a 14.5% growth in sales from July to August!
2 - Most customers in a month at 3052, up from 2544 in July. This is a 16.6% growth in # of customers.
3 - This is a milestone, not a record, but we went over 10,000 total customers today!
Gotta go...
JD
Friday, August 31, 2007
One shot from today's senior photo session
I don't have much time, but I wanted to post a shot from today's senior photo session. This image shows the original capture on the right, and edited color version in the center, and an edited black and white conversion on the left (which is my favorite). Click on the image to see it larger!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
No time to blog tonight...
I don't have any time for blogging right now, but just a couple of comments anyway:
1- we are on pace to set new records this week for a) highest sales in a week b)most customers in a week.
2- Already set a new record for highest sales in a month, most customers in a month, but will wait until after tomorrow to post results.
The monthly records are already a done deal, but the weekly records depend on tomorrow. We are predicting a slow Friday due to the holiday weekend. Many people have told us they are taking tomorrow off to head out of town and make it a 4 day weekend. On the other hand, the Colorado Springs Hot Air Balloon Classic is this weekend, and it is located two blocks down the street. Balloons set up beginning at about 5:30 am and begin launching at 7:00am. Well over 125 balloons go up in a short period of time, and thousands and thousands of people go to Memorial Park for the event. We could be completely slammed...
I booked two more senior photo sessions for the studio... One of them is tomorrow, one is for mid-September.
We had a discussion with a band that plays different venues, but normally gets paid. His girlfriend teaches yoga and needs some photography done for her brochures, business cards, etc. We are going to work out a trade where I do her photography for free, and he plays our shop for free on a regular basis. We'll see how things shape up...
I emailed Jeff Caylor, as well as Brad Ewing, who are both incredible Christian musicians here in town. Jeff has played our shop twice before, and will be coming back for another date (TBD) in September. He released his first CD this year and it is getting radio play!
Brad is our praise and worship minister at Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel (our church). He is an amazingly talented singer and musician. I have very keen senses (extensive history in quality assurance - I'm a freak for even the most insignificant details). I can always find a mistake in live performances, even by very talented musicians. I have to say, I'm not sure I have ever picked up on a mistake by Brad. In the years we have been going to RMCC with Brad serving as Worship Minister, we have heard him sing hundreds, if not thousands of songs. His voice is soft when it needs to be soft, powerful when he calls on it, and he never misses a note. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am that he has agreed to play at our shop. We are going to speak with him this weekend at church to figure out the details.
I want to thank Jeff and Brad, and their band members, for taking the time to play at Nemo's. Besides the fact that they are incredible and very entertaining to listen to, they bring the message of the gospel through music. They add to the experience that Tracy and I are so committed to, and that is to treat our shop as a personal ministry. You can read through my blog and see my prayer requests that I pass on to all of you as well. I'm happy if we can impact even one person for Christ, but Jeff and Brad will be able to reach many through their God-given talents!
Here is a link to Brad's band Unseen:
http://www.unseenmusic.org/Home.html
and a link to Jeff Caylors site:
http://www.jeffcaylor.com
Well, I spent more time than I have on this post... Gotta run.
JD
1- we are on pace to set new records this week for a) highest sales in a week b)most customers in a week.
2- Already set a new record for highest sales in a month, most customers in a month, but will wait until after tomorrow to post results.
The monthly records are already a done deal, but the weekly records depend on tomorrow. We are predicting a slow Friday due to the holiday weekend. Many people have told us they are taking tomorrow off to head out of town and make it a 4 day weekend. On the other hand, the Colorado Springs Hot Air Balloon Classic is this weekend, and it is located two blocks down the street. Balloons set up beginning at about 5:30 am and begin launching at 7:00am. Well over 125 balloons go up in a short period of time, and thousands and thousands of people go to Memorial Park for the event. We could be completely slammed...
I booked two more senior photo sessions for the studio... One of them is tomorrow, one is for mid-September.
We had a discussion with a band that plays different venues, but normally gets paid. His girlfriend teaches yoga and needs some photography done for her brochures, business cards, etc. We are going to work out a trade where I do her photography for free, and he plays our shop for free on a regular basis. We'll see how things shape up...
I emailed Jeff Caylor, as well as Brad Ewing, who are both incredible Christian musicians here in town. Jeff has played our shop twice before, and will be coming back for another date (TBD) in September. He released his first CD this year and it is getting radio play!
Brad is our praise and worship minister at Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel (our church). He is an amazingly talented singer and musician. I have very keen senses (extensive history in quality assurance - I'm a freak for even the most insignificant details). I can always find a mistake in live performances, even by very talented musicians. I have to say, I'm not sure I have ever picked up on a mistake by Brad. In the years we have been going to RMCC with Brad serving as Worship Minister, we have heard him sing hundreds, if not thousands of songs. His voice is soft when it needs to be soft, powerful when he calls on it, and he never misses a note. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am that he has agreed to play at our shop. We are going to speak with him this weekend at church to figure out the details.
I want to thank Jeff and Brad, and their band members, for taking the time to play at Nemo's. Besides the fact that they are incredible and very entertaining to listen to, they bring the message of the gospel through music. They add to the experience that Tracy and I are so committed to, and that is to treat our shop as a personal ministry. You can read through my blog and see my prayer requests that I pass on to all of you as well. I'm happy if we can impact even one person for Christ, but Jeff and Brad will be able to reach many through their God-given talents!
Here is a link to Brad's band Unseen:
http://www.unseenmusic.org/Home.html
and a link to Jeff Caylors site:
http://www.jeffcaylor.com
Well, I spent more time than I have on this post... Gotta run.
JD
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Scabs for Free!!
The AMA recently built a BMX race track here in town that exactly matches the Olympic BMX track in China for the next summer Olympic Games. I took Josh, Jonah, and Ethan to ride it yesterday. We rode the circuit five or six times and got a good feel for it. I was on my Mountain bike (c'mon, like I'm the only 42 year old guy who doesn't have a BMX bike) and I was catching some air off the jumps, but just a little. I didn't want to get too crazy with it. After an hour or so of riding, Josh asked if I wanted to race the entire track. Of course that is a great idea!! We went to the top of the gates, which is a steep incline to build speed heading into the first series of jumps (if you have ever watched real BMX racers, they keep both wheels on the ground... it is faster than catching air). But are we professional racers?? No, we are just a couple of hacks on mountain bikes. We took off and I let Josh beat me off the gates. He hit the first jump at full speed and caught some air. I hit it even faster than him because I was catching up to him. I hit the first upslope with waaaayyyy more speed than I intended. I shot off the top and went airborne at approx 20mph. I was coming down towards another jump, but I didn't make it to the down slope side. I landed on my front tire at the top of the up slope, just about a foot short of the peak. I proceeded to fly over the handle bars. The funny thing about momentum is that it seems unfazed by 'air friction.' I continued in the same direction, still at about 20 mph straight into the upslope side of the jump. I hit really, really hard, bounced and went airborne again, fell the six feet or so to land in the valley between the next two jump hills. I had enough time to tuck my head and roll/flip through that landing and come up on my feet. The first impact, though, was pretty much earth shattering. How do I know, you ask? Well, because I had earth embedded in my right hand, left knee, left forearm and elbow, and a little in my left cheek (face,not butt). Even though I no longer compete at anything, I still have that drive! I never even slowed down to see how bad I was hurt, or to pay attention to the fact that I had knocked the wind out of myself. I grabbed my bike and tried to take off to catch Josh, but my chain had fallen off. I put it back on quickly and tried to take off again, but couldn't. I noticed that my rear derailleur was bent into the spokes of my back tire. Bummer... I was done for the day. Since I was out of the race, I took a look at all the places I was bleeding. I counted 14 places. Woo Hoo! Look out for the crazy old guy who thinks he's still 25!! Anyway, this brings me back to the title of this blog entry: Scabs for free!! The BMX track is open to the public with no admission costs. In other words, you can go there and get scabs for free, just like me! Oh yeah, shiners are free too...
Here is a quick little shot of where I dug gravel out of my hand. Most of my left leg and shoulder look like that as well, along with a swollen knee, and very sore left shoulder. Oh yeah, and my left cheek bone feels a little bit re-arranged...
So, if you too would like some free scabs, give me a call and I'll take you to the BMX track. I'll have my bike fixed by then and I'll join you!
As for the kids, Jonah didn't feel like riding bikes. He spent the hole time jumping off the dirt hills, and throwing dirt clods at us as we rode by. He came away unscathed. Josh had a great time, but he is much more timid (or smarter) than me. He scared me the way he was catching air on the first jump out of the gates, but he never went down, and he was much more conservative through the rest of the track. He, too, came home unscathed. Ethan, who happens to be a carbon copy of me, is another story. He is only five, but has been riding a two wheeler without training wheels since he was three. He rode the entire BMX circuit over and over and over and over!!! HE was born to ride a bike!! He had such a great time, but he has absolutely no fear, just like me. That means he also got some free scabs. He would wipe out and crash/slide down a 10 foot long down slope. As soon as he got to the bottom, he would jump up and say "No problem, I'm a BMX Guy!" I also saw him take off from the top of a hill several times. He would stand next to his bike and push it off the hill, onto the steep down slope. He would jump in the air at the last second and throw his leg over the seat and land on the bike in mid air half way down the slope. WHAT FIVE YEAR OLD IN THE WORLD DOES THAT??? He also gets going really fast and then stands up on either his seat or his top tube and cruises like that. I keep waiting for him to go down hard, but he never does. Ethan is the most excited about BMX out of all of us. His self proclaimed nick-name is Tony Hawk, or sometimes Taylor Hawk (since his middle name is Taylor). I need to start getting video of him now so ESPN will have footage of him at five for the 2020 X Games.
Gotta run,
JD
Here is a quick little shot of where I dug gravel out of my hand. Most of my left leg and shoulder look like that as well, along with a swollen knee, and very sore left shoulder. Oh yeah, and my left cheek bone feels a little bit re-arranged...
So, if you too would like some free scabs, give me a call and I'll take you to the BMX track. I'll have my bike fixed by then and I'll join you!
As for the kids, Jonah didn't feel like riding bikes. He spent the hole time jumping off the dirt hills, and throwing dirt clods at us as we rode by. He came away unscathed. Josh had a great time, but he is much more timid (or smarter) than me. He scared me the way he was catching air on the first jump out of the gates, but he never went down, and he was much more conservative through the rest of the track. He, too, came home unscathed. Ethan, who happens to be a carbon copy of me, is another story. He is only five, but has been riding a two wheeler without training wheels since he was three. He rode the entire BMX circuit over and over and over and over!!! HE was born to ride a bike!! He had such a great time, but he has absolutely no fear, just like me. That means he also got some free scabs. He would wipe out and crash/slide down a 10 foot long down slope. As soon as he got to the bottom, he would jump up and say "No problem, I'm a BMX Guy!" I also saw him take off from the top of a hill several times. He would stand next to his bike and push it off the hill, onto the steep down slope. He would jump in the air at the last second and throw his leg over the seat and land on the bike in mid air half way down the slope. WHAT FIVE YEAR OLD IN THE WORLD DOES THAT??? He also gets going really fast and then stands up on either his seat or his top tube and cruises like that. I keep waiting for him to go down hard, but he never does. Ethan is the most excited about BMX out of all of us. His self proclaimed nick-name is Tony Hawk, or sometimes Taylor Hawk (since his middle name is Taylor). I need to start getting video of him now so ESPN will have footage of him at five for the 2020 X Games.
Gotta run,
JD
Monday, August 27, 2007
Two new records last week!
We set two new records with 162 customers in one day (Wednesday) and 687 total customers for the week. This beat the one week old records of 150 and 682.
We had an unusually slow Monday last week, with only $405 in sales. If Monday had been up at our typical average, we would have set a new weekly sales record. Maybe this week???
Gotta run,
JD
We had an unusually slow Monday last week, with only $405 in sales. If Monday had been up at our typical average, we would have set a new weekly sales record. Maybe this week???
Gotta run,
JD
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Senior Portrait Sessions
I had two senior portrait sessions this weekend. One was for Chad, and the other for my neice Katie.
Here is a shot from Katie's session, both color and BW. This was shot right around dusk in a city park flower garden near Colorado College. It was lit with two Alien Bees strobes with brolley boxes, powered by a Vagabond II portable power pack.
The light to the right was behind Katie to light the flowers, and to spill light on her hair and arm to give her separation from the background. Click on the images to see them larger...
Here is a shot from Katie's session, both color and BW. This was shot right around dusk in a city park flower garden near Colorado College. It was lit with two Alien Bees strobes with brolley boxes, powered by a Vagabond II portable power pack.
The light to the right was behind Katie to light the flowers, and to spill light on her hair and arm to give her separation from the background. Click on the images to see them larger...
Friday, August 24, 2007
New Studio Shot
Tracy's mom brought her some flowers today to put in vases on the cafe tables.
I decided to use one of them to continue my flower series shots for greeting cards I am going to have printed.
I have been testing myself in the studio by giving myself various challenges. For this shot, I limited myself to one studio light, and 15 minutes.
I created a deep blue 'sky' background in Photoshop and displayed it on my computer monitor. I put the flower in a mug and positioned it in front of the monitor.
I set up one Alien Bee 400 studio light with a 10 degree grid to the left of the flower. I used a small white reflector to the right side of the flower.
I set the camera up on a tripod, with 100mm f2.8 macro lens. I took two
test shots, using the results to adjust aperture and shutter speed so that the flower was properly exposed, and the deep blue color of the monitor was properly exposed.
I took the final 'keeper' 11 minutes into this exercise.
I spent about 20 minutes working with the image in Photoshop to get this:
I decided to use one of them to continue my flower series shots for greeting cards I am going to have printed.
I have been testing myself in the studio by giving myself various challenges. For this shot, I limited myself to one studio light, and 15 minutes.
I created a deep blue 'sky' background in Photoshop and displayed it on my computer monitor. I put the flower in a mug and positioned it in front of the monitor.
I set up one Alien Bee 400 studio light with a 10 degree grid to the left of the flower. I used a small white reflector to the right side of the flower.
I set the camera up on a tripod, with 100mm f2.8 macro lens. I took two
test shots, using the results to adjust aperture and shutter speed so that the flower was properly exposed, and the deep blue color of the monitor was properly exposed.
I took the final 'keeper' 11 minutes into this exercise.
I spent about 20 minutes working with the image in Photoshop to get this:
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