Real Estate Photography : New Virtual Tour Window

For all of our Commercial Real Estate Customers, we now have our New Virtual Tour Window


The new tour window is more competitive than ever before. We have dropped the enlarge tour and moved to one larger sized window. We have another release planned in the few of months which will integrate flash and be scalable for sizing.

Also notice that we have moved some things around for a nicer look and feel. Marketing Partner Banner Ads (MPBA’s) will no longer cover up part of the custom banner area. MPBA’s are now located in the lower right hand corner of the tour. The size of this area is different than it used to be. You can now use the Affiliate tab in the Builder site to upload 250 by 35 pixel MPBA’s for the classic viewer or upload a larger version for the new viewer. The new viewer maximum MPBA size is 180 by 85 pixels. No other graphic sizes will change for the new viewer.

Nice clean tabs across the top of each tour are provided to give quick and easy access to additional features of the tour without cluttering up the tour itself.

Roll the mouse over some of the tabs and notice that additional features will appear. This again helps keep the tour looking cleaner and more organized.

We have added a new link on the tour near the Owner/Realtor’s photo/graphic that will jump directly to their tour gallery. Tour galleries will get a face lift very soon also.

The classic viewer will continue to be available for those that wish to use it. When Email is clicked next to the tour name on the Builder site you will be prompted for either Classic or New viewer. The tour will display depending on which links are used to link the tour on the website. Default links such as on Realtor.com, Real Tour Vision public website, Builder website, and automated feeds will use the new viewer links. These may take a few days to complete the transition. The Download tour will continue to use the Classic Viewer for now. The Download tour with the new viewer will be released in 2007.

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

From all of us at Brite Idea Photography, have a safe and wonderful Christmas Weekend.

Schedule Soon for a Saturday Wedding

You have about one month left before the 2007 booking season gets crazy… this means that to get a peak date without too much competition you are going to want to get us your contract and initial payment before 1-15-07.

You can certainly book at any time after 1-15-07 but historically the second week in January marks a big rush in inquiries that will last until about March 15th. All wedding dates book on a first come first served basis so you may hear that two, three, four or more people are interested in your wedding date and if that happens whoever commits first gets it :) .

Have a Merry Christmas

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT : Mark Mastalir

During the past summer, we had a great opportunity to have a photo shoot with a local triathlete. As a past bicycle racer, I loved being able to do cool sport shoots like this.

Recently, the UPS store in Menomonie, WI printed up a picture of ours to hang in their lobby spotlighting Mark.

Here is the image they choose.


Congratulations Mark ! Keep up the great training and good luck in the 2007 Ironman.

Studio Update : The roof is being put on

Yippee !!! Finally !!!!

The new roof is going up today. Here are some pictures from the team this morning.

I'll post more as they get closer through out today and tomorrow.

Technology... Got to love it...

My apologies to all of you who have tried to email Amanda or I with our @BriteIdeaPhotography.com email address. I realized tonight that the email was not being relayed to us. This was because of some server settings I changed to prepare for our new website.

If you emailed us anytime in the past 2 days, please resend that email and we'll get it.

Sorry for any confusion...

- D3

5 Destination Wedding Slots open

Are you a bride thinking of a destination wedding in beautiful local? Maybe Italy, France, southern Spain, Mexico, or somewhere else outside of the US.

Give us a call soon! We are only going to be allowing up to 5 Destination Wedding Shoots for 2007.

We have allowed 1 per month in May - September. Once that month is closed, we will not be booking anything outside of the US for that month. (we'll still book for US weddings though) We feel we need to limit this so we are not away from home too much.

If you are planning a destination wedding in 2007, give us call and we'll see how we can help you.

Summer & Fall Session updates

As you can tell, we have been blogging now for just over a month. We've been trying to keep all of you what have been going on here at our home and studio. Did you know that we have people from 8 countries read this daily -that's cool !

In the coming weeks as things slow down (hopefully) I'll be posting collages from all of our sessions. My main concern thus far with our "living newsletter" as been to stay current on what is going on. Now, I'll try and focus on getting more of our actual work out on the web.

Stay tuned....

COMING SOON --- Kid's Flush Mounted Albums

With all of the children and family shoots we did this summer and fall, one thing came ringing true - everyone is tooooooo busy to scrapbook and file their images in albums.

Well, after seeing our new Flush Mounted Albums for our wedding customers, be knew we had to offer this to our family and kids session clients.

An album for a kids session ? Are you serious ?

Absolutely ! We love these so much we are taking our personal photos into these one of a kind, custom designed albums and here's why.

1. They are STUNNING ! You will want to show your friends, family, and everyone that comes over.

2. They tell the story of the time you spent with us. It allows us to take images that by themselves might not be great, but when placed in a storybook, will show the power of our images.

3. They are freakin' cool. Nobody around us (that I know of) even comes close to offering a cool product like them.

We are designing a few new albums right now and once done, I'll publish some pictures you can see what they look like.

Until we meet again.

HALF WAY THERE !!!!

On June 23, 2000, I bought our Saturn SL2 brand spanking new off the lot. While I was there, I had an opportunity to sit down and chat with their head mechanic while he was on his break. He mentioned that with regular maintenance, I could expect (barring a crash) the car to last 400k miles.

Since then, that's been my gauge. Actually, I want to see if I can get 500k out of the car. Early this morning (5:41 AM to be exact) I passed the 200k mark. So, we're half way to our 400k goal. 6.5 years later, this car is great !



Drive Safe.. Pay off your debts... Enjoy the fruits of our good Lord...

Studio Schedule Update

As some of you have found out, the studio will be closed the rest of December & all of January for our major remodeling and renovation. This should give us and our crew adequate time to get the necessary work done (or at least close) without intruding on our sessions.

As for on location and wedding scheduling, we are currently booked through the end of the year. During January, we have all of our Sunday's booked with Bridal Fairs around the area and have only 2 Saturday's left. If you are planning a family or child's winter portrait session, please plan on either Jan 6 or Jan 27.

Also note, we are going to be doing a Winter Wonderland Photo shoot in Feb. If you have ever dreamed of having your family or children's pictures done in the winter, this will be your event. It's going to be a full day of shooting and fun. Watch the blog for more information in the next few weeks. If you want to be notified of the event, please email DBoyce@BriteIdeaPhotography.com with a subject of "Winter Wonderland" and I'll send it too as soon as finish our planning.

For our wedding clients, if you have a date in mind, I would HIGHLY recommend booking before Jan 1 because once we get to the Bridal fairs, the dates go quickly. We will only be shooting 30 weddings in 2007. We need time to balance our family, our church activities, and the attention our brides deserve.

Have a great evening !

Studio Update

Well it was cold day here at the studio but our construction team was working diligently. They tore off the old roof to prepare a way for tomorrow to put the new roof on. We are excited to be making this progress. However, I only wish we had done this 4 months ago, but such is life.

Here is a picture of the studio building with it's roof off. Stop back tomorrow night and I'll show the building with it's new roof on. (or as much as our team gets done since the HIGH for tomorrow is a whopping 14 and windy)

Stay tuned and God Bless...

Studio Update

Well, it's been a busy week here at the Studio. We had the scary roof pieces taken off today. On Monday, we'll have the old roof torn off. (COME BACK MONDAY TO SEE PICTURES)On Tuesday or Wed, depends when the new T-Lock singles arrive, we'll be adding the new roof.

We are working on finishing up the design plans for the new porch / entrance so we can get the building permit next week. Next weekend, we'll be sheet rocking the inside.

If this timetable stays true, by Christmas we'll have all of the inside done.

Well, let's wait and see.

Stop back often to see how things are progressing.

SALE : Bulk Prints for Christmas 50% OFF !!!

1 WEEK ONLY.

50% OFF BULK 4X6, 5X7, AND 8X10 PRINTS

EXPIRES 12.08.2006

The deadline to order prints to get them in time for Christmas is rapidly approaching. That deadline is Friday, Dec 8. To help people with their holiday shopping for gifts and cards, we have issued a sale for 1 week only.

From now until Midnight, CST on Dec 8, our 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10 bulk prints will be 50% OFF. Click Here to go to Pictage and view your event and order.

Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS

God Bless....

- Douglas

HOW TO : Order Prints online with us

Lately, many people have been asking "So, what's it like to order our prints online?" Well, I decided to make a tutorial to show everyone how easy it is to order. It's sooo easy we had a 70 year old grandma order family prints just the other day. Now that's easy !

Once we take your pictures, we'll touch up the images and then upload it to our printer, Pictage. Once there, you will receive an email on how to log into our website to view and order prints. You can also email your friends, family, co-workers, or the President to view your images.

Your email will be similar to this. For privacy sake, I removed their name and email.

STEP 1 : Email to view Images Online


STEP 2 : Your website Homepage




This is your main page. From here, you'll go in to look at your pictures, see your favorite images, as well as invite your friends, family, and co-workers to view and/or order prints directly from the website.

STEP 3 : Order only the pictures you want.




On this page, you will see reminders to order by a holiday as a well as any current promotions we are currently running and their expiration. As you can see, this page is very simple to use and easy to understand. Once you choose a picture, the drop down has a list of all of the possible print sizes and their prices. Nothing is hidden. It's all easy to use and upfront pricing.

STEP 4 : The prints are shipped directly to your home

STEP 5 : Enjoy your prints and rave about how easy it was to your friends. No traveling back to the studio. No endless discussion about print sizes. No pressure to buy pckages you don't want or need.

Enjoy !

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT : Premium Photo Cards

We are excited to announce our NEW Photo Greeting Cards.

Our 5x7 Photo Greeting Cards give you a variety of layout options. These include creative holiday art proof greeting with your personal text signature and a photo of your choosing. Or, simplified cards that highlight your unique photo and personalized text messages.

These are great for "Thank You's" and engagement announcements.

Greeting Cards are printed on one side of our quality Kodak Endura photo paper, and are shipped with blank white 5x7 mailing envelopes

• Cards and include plain white 5x7 envelopes. No return address printing available.
• Additional envelopes can be ordered
  
• Greeting Cards are printed on one side of our quality Kodak Endura photo paper.
• Includes photo of choice and personalized test message / text signature.
• The spelling on Photo Greeting Cards is solely the responsibility of the consumer placing the order, and is not a reason for return. If we catch an obvious mistake at any point prior to shipment, please correct the order. Any questions about spelling should be run through Customer Service.

(image courtesy Pictage.com)

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT : New Sequoia Flush Mount Albums

SEQUOIA™
Flush Mount Album

Like the Giant Sequoia of Northern California, this flush mount album has a majestic beauty and natural longevity all its own. This classic album is characterized by a seamless center and storybook layout that evokes tradition and elegance.

Each album is created from your square, vertical or horizontal professional prints and carefully mounted flush to the page. Additionally, this classic album comes in several sizes and is bound in your choice of genuine leather or metal.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE SEQUOIA ALBUM:

* All of your images carefully mounted on durable hard-backed pages with a beautiful book-style binding, making it a perfect heirloom for customers who prefer a slightly more traditional album style.
* A narrow binding seam that lets you design a variety of cross-page layouts, giving you the freedom to be as creative as you want.
* Customized imprinting and several beautiful cover options including, genuine leather and metal, giving your album a personal touch that customers will appreciate.
* A large selection of album sizes to choose from.

COVER OPTIONS

Black Leather	Camel Leather	Dark Brown Leather	Ivory Leather
White Leather	Light Brown Leather	Burgundy Leather	Red Leather
Navy Blue Leather	Sage Green Leather	Olive Green Leather	Brushed Metal

Our new Flush Mount Album Sample is IN !!!

WOW !!!!!

We ordered our first flush mount album and it is freakin' cool. As you have seen, for 2007, we had LOWERED our rates to shoot a wedding, but also increase our packages to allow an album credit. This album has THICK pages and is over 1" thick.

I wish I had one of these from our wedding! Unfortunately, our wedding photographer never offered us anything other than 4x6 proofs and an option to order some 8x10. He did a good, traditional style, shoot of our wedding, but that was it.

That very reason of not even being offered an album is why in 2007 we are shifting our focus to custom album design for each of our wedding couples. In fact, we are going to be doing engagement albums as well.

An engagement album, why you ask? What would be cooler than pictures of the bride and groom at the wedding from their engagement shoot and to use it as a guest book. We are working on designing our first one of those as well and I'll post pictures once that comes in .

Until then, this is an example of the new albums.



See, that sooooooo much better than a box of 200 proofs that you'll never look at or a DVD that after you watch it once, goes back on the shelf. These are meant laid out and looked at over and over and over again.

If you want to see it in person, stop on by and we'll let you take a gander...

Scary Roof is GONE !!!

For those of you who have been out to the studio this fall, one of the first things you noticed was our scary roof overhang. It was the remnant of the old carport lean-to that we ripped off last fall.

Well, the overhang is gone and a new roof is going in this weekend with the help our local construction company RMU Construction. Ryan at RMU is great ! If you need any remodeling or construction work, please give him a call at 715.440.0188 and tell him Doug sent you and that you read about it on the Brite Idea Blog !

The New Monitor has Arrived !

For the past few months, we have been working on a small 17" monitor to do our photo editing and some client previews. Well, that time is now gone ! Yesterday, our new Dell 24" Flat Screen LCD monitor arrived.





Last picture is courtesy of Dell.com

2007 Wedding Brochure

To all you newly engaged brides out there, here is out new 2007 Wedding Brochure (hot off the presses). If you would like an actual printed copy, please call our home office at 715-772-4599 or email me at DBoyce@BriteIdeaPhotography.com

Outside Cover :

Inside Cover :

New Business Cards

For those of you who are regulars to our Blog and website, you noticed about a month ago our new branding. We are going away from the old Google inspired logo and and printed material with a newer, more modern, black and yellow logo. We are working hard at getting everything to match and promote a unified image.

Now, we are please to introduce our new business cards.


The Front :



The Back.

Please comment on your thoughts about our new design.

Now with the Blog and Business Cards done, off to wrap up the new website.

The Artistes : Part Duex

I now have a picture of both myself and my beautiful bride Amanda. At your upcoming wedding, we will be the ones shooting your grand event.

Enjoy !

Construction is beginning

Yippie !!!

After a ton of delays, we are finaling getting close on building our new studio. We are renovating an old grainery on the farmstead that was the orginal building here over 100 years ago. From the records we've been able to find and research, this building was built in 1901 and they lived in it for 2 years while our home was being built.

We still have some hurdles before full scale building begin, but at least we are able to start cleaning things up to get the project going.

NOTE : All pictures are courtesy Josiah Boyce (age 5)

Holiday Cutoff Dates & Shipping Rates

With the holidays quickly approaching, everyone is asking, "What's the last day I can order so I get my prints by Christmas for gifts?" So I thought I'd add our dates and rates for all of you to help you plan accordingly. Happy Ordering !

Shipping Rates & Policies

Including Important Holiday Shipping Dates

Shipping costs for orders from Pictage.com depend upon the processing and shipping option you choose.

STANDARD: Orders require 2-4 weeks production and ship via ground carrier

STANDARD SHIPPING FEES
Total Web Order Cost ($)	United States	Canada	International
$0 - $24.99	$ 05.95	$ 08.95	$ 21.95
$ 25 - $ 49.99	$ 07.95	$ 10.95	$ 23.95
$ 50 - $ 199.99	$ 10.95	$ 13.95	$ 28.95
$ 200 - $ 499.99	$ 17.95	$ 18.95	$ 34.95
$ 500+	$ 24.95	$ 25.95	$ 44.95

PRIORITY: Orders will receive expedited processing and will ship via priority mail (expected arrival within 5 days)

• Priority shipping fee is an additional $4.95 above Standard Shipping fee
  +
• $ 1.95 per individual final print
• $ 1.95 per photo greeting card order

Shipping Cut-Off Dates - to Guarantee shipping by December 25th

Product	Standard Shipping	Priority Shipping
Final Prints & Photo Greeting Cards	08-Dec	12-Dec
Fine Art Cards	13-Dec
Coffee Table Books	29-Nov
DVD Collage	17-Dec

Our new Proof Magazines are Awesome !

We recently switched our printed proofs over to Pictage's proof magazines. These are great ! We order the 10x13 size with 6 wallet size images on a page. Once our clients see these, 4x6(s) in a box just won't cut it !

Take a Look !

New License Plates are cool

I've always wanted vanity license plates and now we got them !

Happy Thanksgiving

Greetings Blog readers.

Today is Thanksgiving here in the US. It was a great day. We had a high of 55 degrees (normal is like 40), we slept in, and then went over to my wife's greater family for lunch.

Here is a little collage of today.