URGENT call for photos

Harryb · May 23, 2005

Baldy wrote:

Okay, here's art for the small mugs (I also did art for the large mugs in a separate gallery). We have 13 mugs and I'm still looking for photos to go with quotes like "When your mouth drops open, click the shutter." But we're finally not in a rush.

Hi Baldy,

I'm shocked that you were able to get Andy's pic of me on a small mug. I haven't been able to fit into a small size myself for years.

Of course you know I never signed a model release for that shot. You have a choice here before I call my lawyer. Either you recompense me with a 500mm/f4 lens (nikon mount of course) or if that's too much I'll settle for a mug.

Gator · May 23, 2005

All beautiful photos! What a great way to promote smugmug and Andy!

Baldy · May 23, 2005

Harryb wrote:

Hi Baldy,

I'm shocked that you were able to get Andy's pic of me on a small mug. I haven't been able to fit into a small size myself for years.

Of course you know I never signed a model release for that shot. You have a choice here before I call my lawyer. Either you recompense me with a 500mm/f4 lens (nikon mount of course) or if that's too much I'll settle for a mug.

rofl

A mug is on its way! Just let me know whether you want 11 ounce or 15 ounce (or both), and any other mugs.

Baldy · May 23, 2005

Okay, two new mugs brings us to 15:

Gator · May 23, 2005

Again more beautiful images!! Way to go all involved!

Gator · May 23, 2005

I want to purchase...
Pardon me if this has already been addressed, but I see several I would love to have! Will they be available and how do we order? I think I may use some for Christmas gifts...:D

Ann McRae · May 23, 2005

Wow! truely awesome!

And they would make wonderful products for the photogs to sell (hint, hint, I'd like a whole set!)

ann

gus · May 23, 2005

Ed...that shot is simply amazing.

Steve Cavigliano · May 23, 2005

Humungus wrote:

Ed...that shot is simply amazing.

It's sickening is what it is Gus :lol :lol That darn Ed

Rubbing our faces in those bear pics and now he brings this one out again, just to torture us......lol

J/K Ed knows that this shot is one of my all time favorites. We've had lots of coyote discussions and this shot comes up everytime....

Watch him come back with a Condor shot (probably tap-dancing

) from the Pinnacles shoot next month

Steve

ehughes · May 23, 2005

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

It's sickening is what it is Gus :lol :lol That darn Ed Rubbing our faces in those bear pics and now he brings this one out again, just to torture us......lol

J/K Ed knows that this shot is one of my all time favorites. We've had lots of coyote discussions and this shot comes up everytime.... Watch him come back with a Condor shot (probably tap-dancing ) from the Pinnacles shoot next month

Steve

Thanks Gus,

Here ya go Steve

Steve Cavigliano · May 23, 2005

ehughes wrote:

Thanks Gus,

Here ya go Steve

See? Didn't I tell you he was a trouble maker

Steve

Baldy · May 23, 2005

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Ed knows that this shot is one of my all time favorites. We've had lots of coyote discussions and this shot comes up everytime....

I showed it to several people this a.m. to test for a reaction and they just gasped and stared. No one had ever seen a coyote do that or knew they did. And it's a beautiful creature. Is it fox or coyote? People just kept talking about it.

ehughes · May 23, 2005

Baldy wrote:

I showed it to several people this a.m. to test for a reaction and they just gasped and stared. No one had ever seen a coyote do that or knew they did. And it's a beautiful creature. Is it fox or coyote? People just kept talking about it.

It's a Coyote, taken in Yosemite Valley right before Christmas 04. If anyone is interestd, I could post the rest of the sequence, but this one is my favorite.

I'm happy to hear that they liked it

Ed

Baldy · May 23, 2005

Gator wrote:

Pardon me if this has already been addressed, but I see several I would love to have! Will they be available and how do we order? I think I may use some for Christmas gifts...:D

Well, I didn't think of that when I rushed into this...

Seems to me it's in the interest of smugmug and the photographers to have this happen, so I set up two galleries with final art, one for small mugs and one for large:

http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery/541252
http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery/549683

The coyote and New York skyline shots are not in the large gallery yet. I may have to adjust the New York skyline a little after seeing a production mug because the blues on ceramic are a little saturated.

You have to use the no-crop option and for reasons too involved to explain, on mugs the no-crop option will look funny (the two white strips are too fat). In fact, with the no-crop option they'll print fine.

So there's only one remaining issue that I can think of: we didn't ask for free shots to sell the mugs at a markup, we asked if we could give them as gifts. Does this give heartburn to the photographers involved?

Currently I mark them up a penny so that I can see how many of which are being ordered, but smugmug makes a markup based on EZ Prints charging us less than our retail. And I have no way to set the shopping cart prices to wholesale.

If we were to sell a lot of mugs and I had to track, report, collect 1099 forms, pay, etc., I'd be in for more work than I bargained for. I don't mind the payment, it's the work.

My guess is sales are going to be fairly small and limited to dgrin friends, so can we just let this go or am I sounding like an evil, lazy cheapskate? :uhoh

(You can respond via PM if you feel more comfortable.)

Thanks,
Baldy

Baldy · May 23, 2005

YIKES! There's no way Tony Benn made three of those quotes. I've gotta go back and check attribution and change the art, but I can't tonight.

Baldy · May 24, 2005

Okay, I fixed the two errant quotes. Harry, that means the two mugs I sent you are no good. I just send another two to replace them.

Andy · May 24, 2005

Baldy wrote:

Well, I didn't think of that when I rushed into this...

Seems to me it's in the interest of smugmug and the photographers to have this happen, so I set up two galleries with final art, one for small mugs and one for large:

http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery/541252
http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery/549683

The coyote and New York skyline shots are not in the large gallery yet. I may have to adjust the New York skyline a little after seeing a production mug because the blues on ceramic are a little saturated.

You have to use the no-crop option and for reasons too involved to explain, on mugs the no-crop option will look funny (the two white strips are too fat). In fact, with the no-crop option they'll print fine.

So there's only one remaining issue that I can think of: we didn't ask for free shots to sell the mugs at a markup, we asked if we could give them as gifts. Does this give heartburn to the photographers involved?

Currently I mark them up a penny so that I can see how many of which are being ordered, but smugmug makes a markup based on EZ Prints charging us less than our retail. And I have no way to set the shopping cart prices to wholesale.

If we were to sell a lot of mugs and I had to track, report, collect 1099 forms, pay, etc., I'd be in for more work than I bargained for. I don't mind the payment, it's the work.

My guess is sales are going to be fairly small and limited to dgrin friends, so can we just let this go or am I sounding like an evil, lazy cheapskate? :uhoh

(You can respond via PM if you feel more comfortable.)

Thanks,
Baldy

baldy, as far as i'm concerned, sell as many as you can and put the little extra something to work at smugmug

even better, maybe take out the staff to a huge dinner in nyc this fall

Gator · May 24, 2005

Had I been chosen, not that I submitted anything, I would feel the same as Andy.

tmlphoto · May 24, 2005

Baldy wrote:

Well, I didn't think of that when I rushed into this...

Seems to me it's in the interest of smugmug and the photographers to have this happen, so I set up two galleries with final art, one for small mugs and one for large:

http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery/541252
http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery/549683

The coyote and New York skyline shots are not in the large gallery yet. I may have to adjust the New York skyline a little after seeing a production mug because the blues on ceramic are a little saturated.

You have to use the no-crop option and for reasons too involved to explain, on mugs the no-crop option will look funny (the two white strips are too fat). In fact, with the no-crop option they'll print fine.

So there's only one remaining issue that I can think of: we didn't ask for free shots to sell the mugs at a markup, we asked if we could give them as gifts. Does this give heartburn to the photographers involved?

Currently I mark them up a penny so that I can see how many of which are being ordered, but smugmug makes a markup based on EZ Prints charging us less than our retail. And I have no way to set the shopping cart prices to wholesale.

If we were to sell a lot of mugs and I had to track, report, collect 1099 forms, pay, etc., I'd be in for more work than I bargained for. I don't mind the payment, it's the work.

My guess is sales are going to be fairly small and limited to dgrin friends, so can we just let this go or am I sounding like an evil, lazy cheapskate? :uhoh

(You can respond via PM if you feel more comfortable.)

Thanks,
Baldy

Ok by me if you want to sell them. I would like a mug. Should I order one or can you send me one?
Thomas

ehughes · May 24, 2005

tmlphoto wrote:

Ok by me if you want to sell them. I would like a mug. Should I order one or can you send me one?
Thomas

Same here, go for it Baldy..

Ed

kudbegud · June 1, 2005

Baldy...
how were the mugs received? did they like them?

Baldy · June 1, 2005

So, update....

1. I got the next test batch back and two things remain to fix. One is the photo tends to bleed on its edge if I get it too close to the handle, so I have to add 1/4" of white there. The other is the blue is too saturated, so shadow areas by Ed's Coyote turn out bluish and Shay's New York Skyline is awash in it. So I need to desaturate the blues a bit.

2. I made up two more mugs with Marc Adamus's shots and will display them here when I'm sure he's passed off on how they're handled. That brings us to 19.

3. O'Reilly, the company that organizes some pretty influencial technology conferences, was at D where we gave these mugs away. They've asked if they can get them for a conference they're doing where they'd need 2,000 mugs... We're considering.

The thing is I think they'd be most appreciated & have the biggest impact at shows with photographers, so we're thinking where best to spend our meager mug budget.

Thanks,
Chris

ian408 · June 2, 2005

For those that may not know. O'Reilly (not the AM talk show host) is on
of the better publishers of technical books. Especially their "nutshell" series.

Of course now, I just look for the O'Reilly brand first and then compare. Most
likely, O'Reilly wins.

Ian

Baldy · June 2, 2005

It's true, for those in the know the O'Reilly brand of computing books is the best there is.

I used to own a chain of technical bookstores and I'd watch customers come to a subject area on the shelf and just pick the O'Reilly titles.

I love the cool covers they use:

0596008767.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Tim O'Reilly is an uber geek, and when he speaks most geeks bow.

dragon300zx · June 2, 2005

I have about 10 O'Reilly's on my book shelfs already. Buy one or two a month lately. Great books.

Baldy · June 21, 2005

Okay, I added 4 more mugs:

This one is a photo and the artist is pretty famous and a new smugmugger. The next batch of mugs will be used at a technical conference so we're experimenting with this mug.

I'm still looking for a shot for the 20th and last mug, to go with the quote, "Photographs are moments eternally flabbergasted." -Shayna Bauchner.

And I'm still adjusting colors for Shay, the coyote shot of Ed Hughes, and Lynma's shot because the mugs oversaturate blues.

Thanks,
Baldy

gus · June 21, 2005

Seamus · June 21, 2005

If these are of any use to you feel free

and

the gallery is herehttp://seamus.smugmug.com/gallery/582408/1/25342262

Shay

Baldy · June 22, 2005

Wow, great shots guys. Many thanks! I'm looking to see if I can find the right quotes to make the pic/quote magic work.

All the best,
Baldy

erich6 · June 23, 2005

Here's one for your consideration.

Erich

URGENT call for photos

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