storeadmin's blog

Writing a Blog for a business can be tough.  Seems like every time I take the time to pound an opinion out the same topics pop back in my mind.  If you have ever taken the time to read my previous Blogs it seems about every year I write one about backing up your data.  And if I am not trying to instill the fear of God in you about losing your files I am trying to convince you that you need to PRINT PICTURES to ensure you never forget those special times in your life.

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, and when Mother Nature gave Hattiesburg Mississippi a Hurricane, Leon Franklin turned it into something sweet.  That's just the way Leon Franklin works, not much anyone or anything could get this gentle man's pulse to raise one point.  I remember my first conversation with Leon back in 2006 like it was yesterday.  He called just before I left to eat lunch with my father, and said he had found us when searching the internet for " Photo Labs."  I must admit I did not think much would come from it, I mean how many other Labs are closer to Franklin’s Photography that could print school pictures for him in the 709 miles that separate us?  Why would he choose Mastercolor?  I am not sure how the stars lined up to pair this business relationship, but it was a match made in heaven.

It seems like each year at this time Mastercolor is faced with the same delima we faced twelve months earlier....how to land more customers.  Each year we ask our customers what services we need to provide to make working with Mastercolor a better option.  We hear opinions from all over the board, some possible, some not so much, but the theme is constant:  "Make digital photography easier for ordering, organizing and storing."

Well it’s that time of year again, time to get out of the cold from winter, the breezy days of early spring, back to the hot days of watching hours upon hours of youth sports each Saturday. I guess I am more fortunate than some of my friends that are splitting their time between three sports, because this year for my youngster it is Lacrosse or bust! It also seems like a product of nature that each spring I find myself standing in a sea of parents and grandparents snapping thousands of images of these budding stars of spring with their high dollar cameras.

This year was particularly painful. I found myself standing beside a father who had a much bigger, more powerful lens, a lens that made my Nikon 28-200 feel just a little inadequate…..yep, I have “lens envy” . Is it not enough that as a photolab owner I have to witness millions of images clicked each weekend only to be deleted and never printed or shared? But now I have to wonder what it would be like to own equipment that big, and ohhh how I would print the images I would captured on all of those Saturday morning games if I owned a 400mm lens. As the season progresses it gets better as I field questions from other parents that know I am in the business, and always the same question…”So now I have all my images on my card, and most are saved to my computer now what do I do?” My answer is the same as I have posted in a dozen or so blogs before: