Photomatter News
(Archives Page 7)
(Archives Page 7)
Surprise! Byron Bank features my studio for the month of September
I wasn't expecting this, but my local bank is featuring my studio for the whole month of September.
I have put up a display, and printed out some special offers that you can pick up at their 20th ave,
and Baldwin branch in Jenison. There is also a drawing each Friday for a free studio session.
September 2009 - Print your own "Back to School" Coupon
September 2009 - Print your own "Print Special" Coupon
September 2009 - Photos of the display and bank
_________________________________________________________________________________________
ArtPrize Venue secured - Aug 2009
I was getting worried there - that I would have nowhere to hang my entry, but Biggby Coffee
came through - whew! I sent my entry to a handful of venues, and Steve at Biggby liked mine
enough to squeeze it in...thanks Steve!
August 2009 - My ArtPrize Home page
August 2009 - My ArtPrize Venue
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Registered for ArtPrize - July 2009
A new exciting adventure for me arrived in my home town via the philanthropy of a local families'
love of the arts. ArtPrize is a world wide competition of artists of all kinds; hosted within the city
of Grand Rapids Michigan. It is the largest art competition ever, and the prizes total almost a
half a million dollars. I'm registered, but I need to
secure my own venue. Here is ArtPrize's home page
July 2009 - ArtPrize Home page
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Photomatter stats - July 2009
Somewhere around Christmas 2008 Photomatter got it's 3 millionth page hit! That is in less than
two years. Other interesting bits of Photomatter data are......
in 2007
1600 unique visitors per month (high was 10615 in December)
96,000 page hits per month (high was 557,653 in December)
4410 Page views per month
9 GB of bandwidth per month
average visitor stayed 4 minutes with approximately 20% staying 5-15 minutes
3100 google searches led to Photomatter in 2007
Platform stats: 82.1% Windows 15.4% Macintosh 1.3% Linux
Browser stats: IE=50.8% Firefox=33.8% & Safari=10.6%
in 2008
3500 unique visitors per month (high was 6705 in January)
155,000 page hits per month (high was 339,000 in January)
8865 page views per month
15 GB of bandwidth per month
average visitor stayed 4 minutes with approximately 20% staying 5-15 minutes
15,500 google searches led to Photomatter in 2008
Platform stats: 82% Windows 15.6% Macintosh 1.2% Linux
Browser stats: IE=47.5% Firefox=36.4% & Safari=11.4%
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Photomatter web redesign - June 2009
I have been redesigning the website. I hope you like it. The aim is to have more continuity in the
design for easier navigation. The sitemap is basically chopped into two areas...with Portrait,
and Commercial studios having their own seperate area. Common links should be at the top of all pages. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
BNI office - April 2009
BNI is one of the most successful business networking organizations in the world. After six months as a member
I have begun my term as a vice president of the Top Flight Grandville chapter of BNI on April 1st 2009. If anyone
is interested in becoming a member, or just wants some information on BNI - please don't hesitate to contact me.
Here is a link to our NBI Web site.
April 2009 - BNI Top Flight chapter web site
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Nikon Repair - March 2009
After my "Ice Safari" in Feb 2009 I damaged my D300. Climbing down from a 30 foot cone shaped mound;
I lost my balance and fell on my behind, and smacked my D300 on the ice. I could detect no outward damage, but
the top lcd was flashing "r007" no matter what I did I could not clear this error code. The error code had to do with
the number of images available in the buffer, but was displaying every time I depressed the shutter. The shutter also
refused to trip until I changed the shooting mode from C to S. I finished the day shooting with no other signs of
damage. A couple days later the rear LCD would not power up, yet the camera continued to shoot. I also noticed
that I had a rather large bruise on my thigh. Apparently, I had landed on the camera when I fell. I weigh about 260
pounds. I'm still amazed that nothing cracked, and that the camera continued to work. So, I packaged the
D300 up, and shipped it off to Melville NY to get it repaired. I wrote a detailed explaination of what had occured, and
exactly where the camera body had struck the ground + all the symtoms that happened afterwards. Got a short
"impact damage" estimate a few days later for $225 - $25 of which was shipping and tax. That was March 5th,
and here it is March 17th and the camera is already on it's way back to me. Impressively short time - I think.
The camera is like new - and I can't imagine how they get them so clean. I'm impressed with Nikon service!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Adding Gear
I have always enjoyed good camera gear. Over the years I have had an incredible array of cameras from half
frame 35 mm up to 4x5. However, I have basically shot most of my work on Nikon's cameras. I still have a few
mental favorites from the past like the Zeiss Ikon 6 cm x 9 cm that would fold up so small it fit in my shirt pocket.
A Kodak retina IIIc with Schnieder lenses, original Bronica S with Nikkor lenses, or Exa's with Carl Zeiss lenses -
I could go on and on. My entire film camera collection is years ago gone - all sold on ebay for penneys on the
dollar. With the damage to one of my two main cameras, and the recent 25-30% price increase from Nikon on
a bunch of their gear + the 8K for the D3X - I decided to add to the manufacturing companies that I will use. A
new Canon 5D mark II with an amazing 24-70mm f2.8 prime lens quality zoom have been added to my kit. I am
also writing another review about it - though I doubt it will generate over 3 million page hits like the Nikon D300
review. However, it will contain an avid Nikon professionals "dark side" view about the "other" big manufacturer
of DSLRs. Not a spoiler, but the IQ out of the 5D mark II is simply outstanding...check it out...
February 2009 - Berries so red...hey, where is the short cake
March 2009 - Initial Impressions Review
____________________________________________________________________________________________
An Ice Safari
For 20 years I told my kids to stay off the ice on Lake Michigan. Well, a few weeks ago I was out at the lake on my
day off and I noticed these parallel ridges of ice along the shore. Ignoring my decades of warnings to the kids I
ventured out onto the ice. I got about 400-500 yards off shore, and photographed some amazing ice formations
near the open water. A pair of bald eagles even came to watch this silly venture as I was about a quarter of a mile
off shore. Remember kids, do as I say not as I do. See the ice formations here...slideshow button near top right
February 16th 2009 - Ice formations from Holland to north of Ferrysburg ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Photoshelter Gallery
Photoshelter is a pro photographer stock agency which also offers the service of online
storage of full resolution photos accessible from anywhere in the world.
May 2007 - My Photoshelter Galleries
____________________________________________________________________________________________
I want to help you find the photo you need.
The whole point of stock photography is to find the exact photo you need. If you can not
find the image you need here on Photomatter - then follow this link to access millions of
other stock photos. Over 53,000 buyers purchase, and request photos through.>>>
____________________________________________________________________________________________
I wasn't expecting this, but my local bank is featuring my studio for the whole month of September.
I have put up a display, and printed out some special offers that you can pick up at their 20th ave,
and Baldwin branch in Jenison. There is also a drawing each Friday for a free studio session.
September 2009 - Print your own "Back to School" Coupon
September 2009 - Print your own "Print Special" Coupon
September 2009 - Photos of the display and bank
_________________________________________________________________________________________
ArtPrize Venue secured - Aug 2009
I was getting worried there - that I would have nowhere to hang my entry, but Biggby Coffee
came through - whew! I sent my entry to a handful of venues, and Steve at Biggby liked mine
enough to squeeze it in...thanks Steve!
August 2009 - My ArtPrize Home page
August 2009 - My ArtPrize Venue
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Registered for ArtPrize - July 2009
A new exciting adventure for me arrived in my home town via the philanthropy of a local families'
love of the arts. ArtPrize is a world wide competition of artists of all kinds; hosted within the city
of Grand Rapids Michigan. It is the largest art competition ever, and the prizes total almost a
half a million dollars. I'm registered, but I need to
secure my own venue. Here is ArtPrize's home page
July 2009 - ArtPrize Home page
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Photomatter stats - July 2009
Somewhere around Christmas 2008 Photomatter got it's 3 millionth page hit! That is in less than
two years. Other interesting bits of Photomatter data are......
in 2007
1600 unique visitors per month (high was 10615 in December)
96,000 page hits per month (high was 557,653 in December)
4410 Page views per month
9 GB of bandwidth per month
average visitor stayed 4 minutes with approximately 20% staying 5-15 minutes
3100 google searches led to Photomatter in 2007
Platform stats: 82.1% Windows 15.4% Macintosh 1.3% Linux
Browser stats: IE=50.8% Firefox=33.8% & Safari=10.6%
in 2008
3500 unique visitors per month (high was 6705 in January)
155,000 page hits per month (high was 339,000 in January)
8865 page views per month
15 GB of bandwidth per month
average visitor stayed 4 minutes with approximately 20% staying 5-15 minutes
15,500 google searches led to Photomatter in 2008
Platform stats: 82% Windows 15.6% Macintosh 1.2% Linux
Browser stats: IE=47.5% Firefox=36.4% & Safari=11.4%
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Photomatter web redesign - June 2009
I have been redesigning the website. I hope you like it. The aim is to have more continuity in the
design for easier navigation. The sitemap is basically chopped into two areas...with Portrait,
and Commercial studios having their own seperate area. Common links should be at the top of all pages. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
BNI office - April 2009
BNI is one of the most successful business networking organizations in the world. After six months as a member
I have begun my term as a vice president of the Top Flight Grandville chapter of BNI on April 1st 2009. If anyone
is interested in becoming a member, or just wants some information on BNI - please don't hesitate to contact me.
Here is a link to our NBI Web site.
April 2009 - BNI Top Flight chapter web site
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Nikon Repair - March 2009
After my "Ice Safari" in Feb 2009 I damaged my D300. Climbing down from a 30 foot cone shaped mound;
I lost my balance and fell on my behind, and smacked my D300 on the ice. I could detect no outward damage, but
the top lcd was flashing "r007" no matter what I did I could not clear this error code. The error code had to do with
the number of images available in the buffer, but was displaying every time I depressed the shutter. The shutter also
refused to trip until I changed the shooting mode from C to S. I finished the day shooting with no other signs of
damage. A couple days later the rear LCD would not power up, yet the camera continued to shoot. I also noticed
that I had a rather large bruise on my thigh. Apparently, I had landed on the camera when I fell. I weigh about 260
pounds. I'm still amazed that nothing cracked, and that the camera continued to work. So, I packaged the
D300 up, and shipped it off to Melville NY to get it repaired. I wrote a detailed explaination of what had occured, and
exactly where the camera body had struck the ground + all the symtoms that happened afterwards. Got a short
"impact damage" estimate a few days later for $225 - $25 of which was shipping and tax. That was March 5th,
and here it is March 17th and the camera is already on it's way back to me. Impressively short time - I think.
The camera is like new - and I can't imagine how they get them so clean. I'm impressed with Nikon service!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Adding Gear
I have always enjoyed good camera gear. Over the years I have had an incredible array of cameras from half
frame 35 mm up to 4x5. However, I have basically shot most of my work on Nikon's cameras. I still have a few
mental favorites from the past like the Zeiss Ikon 6 cm x 9 cm that would fold up so small it fit in my shirt pocket.
A Kodak retina IIIc with Schnieder lenses, original Bronica S with Nikkor lenses, or Exa's with Carl Zeiss lenses -
I could go on and on. My entire film camera collection is years ago gone - all sold on ebay for penneys on the
dollar. With the damage to one of my two main cameras, and the recent 25-30% price increase from Nikon on
a bunch of their gear + the 8K for the D3X - I decided to add to the manufacturing companies that I will use. A
new Canon 5D mark II with an amazing 24-70mm f2.8 prime lens quality zoom have been added to my kit. I am
also writing another review about it - though I doubt it will generate over 3 million page hits like the Nikon D300
review. However, it will contain an avid Nikon professionals "dark side" view about the "other" big manufacturer
of DSLRs. Not a spoiler, but the IQ out of the 5D mark II is simply outstanding...check it out...
February 2009 - Berries so red...hey, where is the short cake
March 2009 - Initial Impressions Review
____________________________________________________________________________________________
An Ice Safari
For 20 years I told my kids to stay off the ice on Lake Michigan. Well, a few weeks ago I was out at the lake on my
day off and I noticed these parallel ridges of ice along the shore. Ignoring my decades of warnings to the kids I
ventured out onto the ice. I got about 400-500 yards off shore, and photographed some amazing ice formations
near the open water. A pair of bald eagles even came to watch this silly venture as I was about a quarter of a mile
off shore. Remember kids, do as I say not as I do. See the ice formations here...slideshow button near top right
February 16th 2009 - Ice formations from Holland to north of Ferrysburg ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Photoshelter Gallery
Photoshelter is a pro photographer stock agency which also offers the service of online
storage of full resolution photos accessible from anywhere in the world.
May 2007 - My Photoshelter Galleries
____________________________________________________________________________________________
I want to help you find the photo you need.
The whole point of stock photography is to find the exact photo you need. If you can not
find the image you need here on Photomatter - then follow this link to access millions of
other stock photos. Over 53,000 buyers purchase, and request photos through.>>>
____________________________________________________________________________________________