Photos from Summer Nationals

[Timacheff]

We have begun posting photos from Summer Nationals. Medal ceremonies for all events through July 8 are now up. More action photos and "catch of the day" shots are coming.

[ivlobane]

Serge, how do you feel about fotki.com?

[teacup]

Too bad the winners didn't get the paper bags until after the photos.

[ivlobane]

Also, I just bought a photo and now I have to "wait for professional images" ??? Kind of a bait and switch there, why couldn't I download it immediately?

[ivlobane]

Paper bags??? C'mon there had to be at least one decent looking winner...

[pillow]

We have begun posting photos from Summer Nationals. Medal ceremonies for all events through July 8 are now up. More action photos and "catch of the day" shots are coming.

Why are some team photos showing the individual teams alone (which is the best way to do the photo for keepsake value) and other team events just show the podium with all the teams?--therefore the individual faces are small. And why are there some team photos that just show individual fencers? I believe as in previous years, that showing the entire team together should be the standard way of doing the photo.

[ivlobane]

There are some great photos in there, but I'm not happy with the customer service at all.

You can also go to the above link to download your image(s). The download may not be available immediately, but only after the full-size image is provided by the photographer.

If you have any questions or comments regarding your order, please reply to this email, and we will be happy to help you.

Ok, so now someone has to go back and process this manually? Whats the ETA? I already paid for it, I want to use it now. And in general that website is a mess. Not following any Braun/Apple principles at all.

[teacup]

Paper bags??? C'mon there had to be at least one decent looking winner...

I did write it funnily.

[ivlobane]

Why are some team photos showing the individual teams alone (which is the best way to do the photo for keepsake value) and other team events just show the podium with all the teams?--therefore the individual faces are small. And why are there some team photos that just show individual fencers? I believe as in previous years, that showing the entire team together should be the standard way of doing the photo.

...and there's no tags or search feature to speak of.

[Craig]

Also, I just bought a photo and now I have to "wait for professional images" ??? Kind of a bait and switch there, why couldn't I download it immediately?

The wifi at the venue is nonexistant and uploads from hotel wifi generally leaves a LOT to be desired.

My guess (only an educated guess) is that the uploads are of the smaller, low res versions of the photos and the hi res versions will be put up as soon as FencingPhotos staff gets back to where they have a decent upstream connection.

Serge cares about the quality of his product and is not a "bait and switch" guy.

Craig

[Greybeard]

I second what Craig said. Serge is a quality guy. Now me, on the other hand....

[ivlobane]

The wifi at the venue is nonexistant and uploads from hotel wifi generally leaves a LOT to be desired.

My guess (only an educated guess) is that the uploads are of the smaller, low res versions of the photos and the hi res versions will be put up as soon as FencingPhotos staff gets back to where they have a decent upstream connection.

Serge cares about the quality of his product and is not a "bait and switch" guy.

Craig

I know, it just felt like one from my end. They got back to me and asked for more details, so maybe it will become more robust.

[Timacheff]

Allow me to explain how this works to everyone in a little more detail:

Craig is basically correct: Because there are thousands of images represented online, until someone actually orders a particular image, only a thumbnail exists online (you can enlarge them for viewing, but they're still web resolution). With so many thousands of shots, uploading full-sized images would not be practical -- even if we had the bandwidth online (which no photographer does), it would take a very (prohibitively, like several days) long time to upload all those shots so that any image would be available instantly online in full size.

FYI, if you order a shot that has been ordered before by someone else (which happens quite a bit with medal ceremony shots, for example), then it is available immediately. Otherwise, the lab (Printroom.com, which hosts our ecommerce and online fulfillment) sends me an email and then I upload the full-sized shot. I don't have an internet connection at the venue -- they the Gaylord wanted $900 for a WiFi connection there. And the USFA connection, which is AT&T, is very slow and keeps stalling. So I'm relegated to uploading from the hotel WiFi connection.

IMHO I would say this is more of a procedural, rather than customer service issue. The way it works is stated in the checkout process, and in this case both I and the lab got back to the customer within a short period on the same day regarding his feedback and concerns. We do pride ourselves in customer service and communicating with customers (although sometimes if I'm in a far corner of the Earth it might take a day or so), and Printroom.com is really good about getting back to people. And we guarantee everything completely -- if for any reason someone's not satisfied, they get their money back or the image replaced, no questions, no problems.

As for the rendering of images online, I agree that Printroom.com could make their viewing better and I've told them that. They represent about 35,000 pro photographers who use them for professional online fulfillment services for everything from weddings to Little League. I hope that they will develop better capabilities for viewing; I don't think what they have is terrible, I just think it could be better. But from the reviews I've seen in professional photography publications and from talking to other pro photographers, it's the best system available in general. It's also one of the only ones that lets photographers sell digital downloads (most other labs do not offer that) or do they offer pricing that allows the photographer to keep prices low (as we try to do ... ). In fact, we just lowered our prices. And the digital downloads you get are free-and-clear to be able to reproduce, print, etc. Lots of photographers and labs don't want you doing that and they hold the images hostage. We don't work that way.

As for searching, you can search by last name on world images, and for events you can input the name. But it's not perfect, I agree. That's why I try to keep the organization simple with galleries and not post too many photos so that you can find your shots.

As for the comment about organization, do you mean the home page, or the actual gallery review area? I agree our home page needs some work. The gallery area is controlled by the lab (again, Printroom.com).

Team shots: Normally we do include the full group in team shots. I'm not sure about the comment, but I'll look into it today. It's possible in my post-fencing, post-photography, venue-strained stupor that I missed something while uploading.

Thanks for everyone for your feedback. Keep it coming. We want to keep improving and doing whatever we can to make the system work better, be more convenient, and more accessible. Everything on the Web is always a work in progres and my feeling is that if I ever become satisfied with the way it is, they I probably shouldn't be doing it anymore.

[Timacheff]

Serge, how do you feel about fotki.com?

There are a number of online hosting/sharing photo services, and this is one of them although I don't know them very well. The problem with most is that they don't cater to professional photographers and their unique needs, which is what ours (Printroom.com) is designed to do (I didn't see a pro area on the fotki.com site, for example). The online sharing biz has become very competitive, but the services are far less available (or of any quality) for pro photographers like us who host many thousands of images and need professional services (tech support, financial reporting, tax support, on-site kiosks, etc.). It's a tough business and is one that is still, in my opinion, developing on the web.

[Fencing Mom]

Serge,

Let me say - some of your photos take my breath away. Just wow.

[Timacheff]

Thank you ...

OK, now all medal ceremonies are posted, and we have several "catch-of-the-Day" galleries up as well as the Hall of Fame. More "catch" photos are coming throughout the week as the photographers get caught up with all their images.

As usual, please let me know if anyone sees any misfiled galleries or images.

Thanks

[Timacheff]

Our fulfillment service is experiencing a temporary (and rather unusual) outage of their server that may affect certain galleries, including images from Summer Nationals. The lab expects to have it fixed within a couple of hours.

I apologize for the delay and please check back later today for images.

Serge

[Timacheff]

All of the galleries are now working again. Sorry for the glitch.

Serge

[epeeinacup666]

Wow,I was in three 'Catch of the Day' pix as well as the awards ceremony pix!!!...Thanks,Serge!!!

Best.Summer Nationals.Ever.

[Timacheff]

More photos have been posted from Summer Nationals:

-- A good selection of youth and senior foil events
-- More "Catch of the Day"

... And even more galleries are coming tomorrow (Sunday), including a lot more sabre and epee.

Also, and to repeat, all the medal ceremonies are online. Look under individual weapons for various specific events that may have been shot, and also look under the "Catch of the Day" for a variety of personal/candid images from all events.

Thanks to everyone.