Introducing ourselves :)

ShootDotEdit

My name is Jared Bauman, one of the owners from ShootDotEdit, and I’m really excited to join on the dgrin forum. We are really excited to have teamed up with SmugMug in the area of professional post production for photographers. Garrett (my partner in ShootDotEdit) and I are both successful professional photographers who understand the drain and woes that come with the entire post production process. ShootDotEdit was created to ease that burden, bring higher and more dependable quality to your post production so that you can focus on the areas of your business that actually produce profit and success.

I’m looking forward to hanging out and hearing all of your thoughts and comments on photography. If anyone has any questions regarding post production (or anything else for that matter , I’d love to help!

Talk to you all soon -

Jared


Oh, and here's our website: http://www.shootdotedit.com

Ham1

ShootDotEdit wrote:

My name is Jared Bauman, one of the owners from ShootDotEdit, and I’m really excited to join on the dgrin forum. We are really excited to have teamed up with SmugMug in the area of professional post production for photographers. Garrett (my partner in ShootDotEdit) and I are both successful professional photographers who understand the drain and woes that come with the entire post production process. ShootDotEdit was created to ease that burden, bring higher and more dependable quality to your post production so that you can focus on the areas of your business that actually produce profit and success.

I’m looking forward to hanging out and hearing all of your thoughts and comments on photography. If anyone has any questions regarding post production (or anything else for that matter , I’d love to help!

Talk to you all soon -

Jared


Oh, and here's our website: http://www.shootdotedit.com

Hey Jared & Garrett,

Thanks for the post! Your company will be a life saver for some photographers out there that simply have lost that work/life balance!

It has been great working with you and look forward to the years to come.

I hope that people will post all their feedback on your company here and we'll all continue to improve!

Here is more info on ShootDotEdit in the SmugMug help pages: http://www.smugmug.com/help/shootdotedit

Thanks,
Markham

kdog

I went to your website, and obnoxious music blared out of my speakers and flash animations started playing. I immediately surfed away. Whether fancy dynamic websites like this are professional or not is a subjective call. However, folks don't generally surf away from static HTML websites with direct and easy to access information. Just something to think about.

Regards,
-joel

RalphAdam

kdog wrote:

I went to your website, and obnoxious music blared out of my speakers and flash animations started playing. I immediately surfed away. Whether fancy dynamic websites like this are professional or not is a subjective call. However, folks don't generally surf away from static HTML websites with direct and easy to access information. Just something to think about.

Regards,
-joel

I agree with Joel--in my view, music and animation should be an opt-in, not an opt-out. We are already bombarded with too much aural and visual noise.

Dan7312

kdog wrote:

I went to your website, and obnoxious music blared out of my speakers and flash animations started playing. I immediately surfed away. Whether fancy dynamic websites like this are professional or not is a subjective call. However, folks don't generally surf away from static HTML websites with direct and easy to access information. Just something to think about.

Regards,
-joel

ShootDotEdit

Dan7312 wrote:

Generally speaking, the website intro has been well received. A lot of photographers personally connect with the graphics and playful representation of a common scene
With that being said, fun graphics and illustrations aren't for everyone. Thats why we put the "skip intro" link, so you can opt out of the opening sequence. I'm sorry you weren't able to get past the intro to enjoy the services we have to offer There's a lot there for the photographer!
Thank you for your input! We've been considering changing out the intro piece and adding something new. Let me know if you have any questions or comments on post production down the road -

Jared

Dan7312

I think you may be missing the point... not everyone has the bandwidth to enjoy a clever flash intro. On my link it's on the order of 10 seconds before the skip button even appears. It would be much better if you had an opt-in for fancy flash graphs, not opt out. BTW, what you are hearing is a very common complaint about sites that require a flash into before entering the main site.

I use FireFox on my system to do testing, but it does not have the flash plugin installed. I can't even access your site with it. There are some places that don't allow plugs regardless of how common they are.

Take a look at a typical SmugMug site that has a slide show on the home page. The slide show is flash, but the site comes up immediatlyeven before the slide show starts playing. Even if you don't have the Flash plugin you can browse a SmugMug site that has a slide show.

ShootDotEdit wrote:

Thats why we put the "skip intro" link, so you can opt out of the opening sequence.
Jared

kdog

ShootDotEdit wrote:

Generally speaking, the website intro has been well received.

Not in this thread it hasn't. Perhaps you haven't been getting unbiased viewpoints. Your site is horribly gimmicky. Are you trying to sell photo services, or show the world what a hip/cool website you can build?

I repeat, I use a Flashblocker on my browser. I don't even see the skip-intro button until I enable flash. So having done that and hitting the skip intro button, I get another ridiculous "Loading..." message and another flurry of flash animations. Fergeddabouddit. I don't have time for that.

You will eventually wake up and lose the flash like most companies do when they come to the realization that they've been lead down the garden path with the expensive and ugly flash site they've been sold. It's a painful pill to swallow, I know. But what do I know. I've only attended several courses on usability engineering and human factors. I'm sure you have much more experience than that.

zooexplorer

with the use of flash.

Sorry, but your site has problems: it looks to gimmicky for me. Note one of you links to your price page is broken. You have to use the back button excessively due to a lack of consistent navigation. The price chart is confusing it took me 3 reads to figure out those were prices in the brackets, no cash symbol. Also do not care for the internal scroll bars they are just a pain. Also typeface choices and sizes could use some help. If your selling to people who have the "eye" make sure the site can stand up to the scrutiny. I would give the site an 6/10 for looks and a 0/10 for function. (Score was 3 out of 10 but the entrapment on the pricing page irritated me)

MarkR

If you do redesign your site, check out webpagesthatsuck.com and use the checklist on the main page of that site. It will help you avoid the more egregious mistakes out there.

WinsomeWorks

ShootDotEdit question about Phase1 edit, uploading and SmugMug gallery
Does anyone know an answer to this question regarding ShootDotEdit services? (I've emailed them, but I see that a lot of the company is attending something out of state today & I realize it could take awhile to hear back). I wanted to try submitting some photos for their basic jpg edit services. (cost= 38 cents each). But there are some (perhaps 20 or less) with which I want to try Phase 1 artistic edits, because I'm sure they'll need it. (I'm not even sure this is enough). However, on the submission form, I don't see a place to tell them which files I want them to go farther & do Phase 1 with. I'm not even sure if it's possible to specify, or if only they will decide this.

Also, I'm not sure whether I have the correct idea about how I'll get my edited files back. I created a ShootDotEdit unlisted gallery in my Other category. If I give them the link, will this work? (will they put my finished files in that gallery?) The instructions for Smug / ShootDotEdit partnershipping are decidedly few... it's mostly guesswork at how we're supposed to do this. I'm guessing I just need to upload from my computer?

P.S. Has anyone used this service, and at which level, and what did you think?

Ham1

WinsomeWorks wrote: »

Does anyone know an answer to this question regarding ShootDotEdit services? (I've emailed them, but I see that a lot of the company is attending something out of state today & I realize it could take awhile to hear back). I wanted to try submitting some photos for their basic jpg edit services. (cost= 38 cents each). But there are some (perhaps 20 or less) with which I want to try Phase 1 artistic edits, because I'm sure they'll need it. (I'm not even sure this is enough). However, on the submission form, I don't see a place to tell them which files I want them to go farther & do Phase 1 with. I'm not even sure if it's possible to specify, or if only they will decide this.

Also, I'm not sure whether I have the correct idea about how I'll get my edited files back. I created a ShootDotEdit unlisted gallery in my Other category. If I give them the link, will this work? (will they put my finished files in that gallery?) The instructions for Smug / ShootDotEdit partnershipping are decidedly few... it's mostly guesswork at how we're supposed to do this. I'm guessing I just need to upload from my computer?

P.S. Has anyone used this service, and at which level, and what did you think?

Sorry for the confusion, I will alert them to this question and have them answer.

As for uploading to them, yes, you can upload from your computer. As for getting your files back, you can be sent a physical copy and/or upload directly back into SmugMug.

If you have a Gallery already titled for them to upload to, just put that in the instructions.

We have used them and love them!

Markham

ShootDotEdit

ShootDotEdit Response
Hi Winsomeworks!

My name is Garrett and I am the COO here at ShootDotEdit. For starters, can we have one of our customer support team members call you to help answer any/all questions? We can do that right now if you would like! Or, feel free to send an email to customercare@shootdotedit.com. In the meanwhile, Let me take a moment to answer your questions, please see my words in RED below:

WinsomeWorks wrote: »

Does anyone know an answer to this question regarding ShootDotEdit services? (I've emailed them, but I see that a lot of the company is attending something out of state today & I realize it could take awhile to hear back). I wanted to try submitting some photos for their basic jpg edit services. (cost= 38 cents each). But there are some (perhaps 20 or less) with which I want to try Phase 1 artistic edits, because I'm sure they'll need it. (I'm not even sure this is enough). However, on the submission form, I don't see a place to tell them which files I want them to go farther & do Phase 1 with. I'm not even sure if it's possible to specify, or if only they will decide this. Yes, it is possible! As you scroll down to the bottom of the job order form, you will see a place for "JOB NOTES", please specify which image numbers you would like us to focus on!

Also, I'm not sure whether I have the correct idea about how I'll get my edited files back. I created a ShootDotEdit unlisted gallery in my Other category. If I give them the link, will this work? (will they put my finished files in that gallery?) The instructions for Smug / ShootDotEdit partnershipping are decidedly few... it's mostly guesswork at how we're supposed to do this. I'm guessing I just need to upload from my computer? Yes, you can use our Web Uploader to send your files. And, yes, we can place your final and complete JPG's right back on your SmugMug Account. Once you are registered with us, you can provide your credentials and specific 'path' (think of this as directions to your house) to the gallery and folder you would like us to place the images j

If you are submitting RAW files, we you can also opt for XMP file delivery only which will allow you receive those yourself and process to JPG, then upload as such.

I hope this helps! Please let us know if we can help in any other way.


Sincerely,

Garrett Delph,
ShootDotEdit, COO/Co-Founder

P.S. Has anyone used this service, and at which level, and what did you think?

WinsomeWorks

ShootDotEdit wrote: »

Hi Winsomeworks!

My name is Garrett and I am the COO here at ShootDotEdit. For starters, can we have one of our customer support team members call you to help answer any/all questions? We can do that right now if you would like! Or, feel free to send an email to customercare@shootdotedit.com. In the meanwhile, Let me take a moment to answer your questions, please see my words in RED below:

Ok, thanks. I think my questions are mostly answered, although I did have some questions that may require taking a look at a few files that are here on SmugMug, and had already emailed those questions this morning to the address you gave. I haven't heard back yet. If a phone call is easier, I'm open to that. I have already registered (last night) through the SmugMug portal. The only part besides my more specific technical questions that wasn't entirely clear is what was meant by "specific 'path'" to my galleries. I'm hoping that simply means a link in my case. If my gallery is unlisted, as I'd like it to be, the general public (even ShootDotEdit, I assume) would not be able to find it by the usual methods. You would need the exact link. So I planned to put that in my submission form but was not sure if that's what was meant by "path".

I'm registered under my name, Anna Lisa Yoder, with the studio name as "WinsomeWorks". If you can find my info that way, I'm open to a call and am on EST. Otherwise, look for my email from this morning. I may have accidentally sent it from my personal email rather than the business email I submitted, but I'm not sure that should matter. Thanks! [ETA: Looks like I sent my email to design@shootdotedit.com because that's where customers are told to send mail... so I'm now forwarding it to customercare. ]

WinsomeWorks

I re-sent my email to customercare yesterday and still haven't heard back from either design or customercare. I don't know if shootdotedit is closed on Saturdays or not. I should get my stuff uploaded soon. Mainly I needed advice on a few samples I sent a link for, so I'd know which type of editing will help those files.