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Posts: 1,153
Is anyone else having problems getting their Toby pics to look good?
I think I would rather send the critter to them.
They keep coming back with too much contrast and just look awful!
Any suggestions?
I keep telling them to NOT do their Inteli-Imaging...but they seem to have just one way of doing them and that is THEIR way!
Has anyone ever used Eckerds? We don't have a Walgreens here in Cartersville....just CVS and Eckerds and of course my favorite (NOT) good old Walmart!
Sorry, I am just getting so frustrated. The little critter is so cute and her pictures don't look anything like her.
I think I will pin her to the form and send her in!!
Not to mention, everytime I drive to town in my gas sucking SUV...to pick up the terrible pictures...I have to drive 18 miles each way.
Any help at this time, would be greatly appreciated!
Nancy
Posts: 3,540Nancy I love your quote! 
I was faced with the exact same problem last year and again this spring. Popped ridiculous money for a 'professional' photographer to photo my bears. Not only were they subjected to a chain smoker (I don't smoke and it took a solid 2 days in front of the ozone generator for my poor real fur bears to come clean again ) The pics when I finally got them were hideous! I thought right, I can do this better, and promptly bought camera and tripod and set out to photograph them.
Unfortunately my only choice for development was good 'ole WalMart, over an hour's drive one way. I hear you on that wasted gas too! My conclusion....I have no idea how, but I think I'm going to start developing and printing my own photos....
Let me know if you come up with a better solution! 
Posts: 8,574Nancy said
I think I will pin her to the form and send her in!!
Honey I have a new address for you, so be sure you get it before you send in your little bear. Now I know it might seem odd to send a bear to Oregon for the Tobys, but that's ok.....you just go ahead and do it and I'll take care of the rest......very good care.......loving care..........
I promise......
:hug:
dilu
Posts: 1,153Oh Deb...thank you, at least I do not feel like I am in the (proverbial) boat alone.
I am going to give it a couple of more trys and see if I cannot overcome this. My daughter says that I need to put them on a CD and take them in for developement, rather than doing it online.
I wonder if that will make any difference.
I have over lightened them to the extent the poor little thing looks anemic and still it comes out awful.
If I can't get them to come out any better, I may start all over again ab ovo!! :pray: OR just forget the whole thing, because I certainly don't want to waste 70.00 with these pictures as representative of this little 'friend'.
Glad you enjoyed the quote...for me, that is so true. Sometimes I go too far and should have stopped earlier.
I learned that the hard way. :dance:
Nancy
Posts: 1,153Oh Dilu...I love you!
Such a funny little gal you are! I can always count on you for a 'cup of cheer' !
I am so mad...this little gal almost went out the window today. I mean, REALLY! Why can't she be more photogenic?
If it keeps up like this, she WILL be on her way to Oregon!!
Nancy
Canna Bear PaintWell, you can't make a worse mistake than I did.
* Tale of woe to follow *
To get photos of a couple of critters that we were considering for the Golden Teddies and TOBYs, I thought to myself 'I'll use the big old traditional 35mm to get those photos and it will look so professional!' Well, it really does. If you use the right film.
So I went to the photo store to get the right film and got talked out of the kind I wanted... 'no no no, that's not what you want! Try this new film, it will give even better results!'. Well, I was running pretty late because my one super-complicated submission took until the very last minute to finish. So I took the photos, got them developed (1-hour because at that point they NEEDED to be mailed!), got to the post office literally 4 minutes before it closed the day they had to be mailed, tore open the prints to choose the best ones to submit... and saw HORRIBLE photos. So in the end I had been talked out of the right film, and used very much the WRONG film and all the colors were way off. Out of six potential critters we had wanted to consider, only two had photos close enough to the critter's actual color to submit to the Golden Teddies. I could have cried. One bear of my mother's that was so special we had been saving him since March came out looking peach and some other completely unidentifiable color, so couldn't be submitted at all.
*End of tale of woe *
Anyway. I have since then gone back to get the RIGHT film (would you believe they tried to talk me into other stuff again?). So I will take photos of our critters (again!) with the good film and probably also the digital camera, hoping that I will actually have very GOOD photos to choose from for the TOBYs. Sheesh. Think the two places will mind if the two critters I submitted to the Golden Teddies will have different photos of them submitted to the TOBYs? ARGH! Can you tell I had to get that off my chest?
Back to you, Nancy, sorry for the hijack there. If you're really stuck finding a good place to print your images, you have enough time to get someone else to print them up for you. Like I said, I'll be taking in digital shots to be printed to a professional photo place, I just burn them onto a CD first and they run them through a special machine they have to print them. They don't add any extra garbage to the image unless you tell them to. So if you're really stuck, talk to me or anybody else that can help, because somebody else could probably get better quality prints made for you and priority mail ship them to you in time for the submission deadline.
Hugs,
Kelly
Posts: 1,153Geez Kelly, You could have cried? I am on the verge of tears just reading your tale of woe!!
I can actually feel what you must have felt!! That is just awful
No, by all means...you didn't hijack me, I loved reading your horror story...it actually lessened my anxiety!! hahaha
When I take photos for ebay, web site, emails etc...they all look great. This is the first time I have ever had them printed. A total nighmare! and to think our work will be judged on these? What if someone does a wonderful job on their entry but doesn't have the capability of taking photos...I guess they would be up the creek. I wonder how many people don't enter because of the photo issue...I mean not everyone can afford to go to a photographer...and these digital cameras are something to reckon with, as far as color is concerned.
I used to have my dolls professionally photographed and found I could do better at home.
I think I need to take up a new hobby...Photography!!!
Thank you for sharing your story...we could probably all put our experiences together and write a blammed book!
Nancy
Hope this makes sense...as I am writing, I am also chatting on line with 2 people...one being my little granddaughter (10)...she keeps sending me links to her Neopets shop and gallery. She did all the HTML herself and it looks fantastic. Dang, I could have had her design my website and saved Grandma a whole heck of a lot of money. :dance:
Past Time BearsNancy, try www.winkflash.com I have tried CVS, Wal Mart, Walgreen's, even some Kodak place and none of them was as good as Winkflash. They also are quick on returning them via mail. Good, good luck, my friend.
Posts: 1,153Oh great Sue ann, thank you ... I will!
Nanc
Posts: 1,153For anyone else having this problem....I just sent my pictures to Winkflash.
I am hopeful they will come back better because they use Fuji developing. I have had wonderful luck with fuji film, their cameras...and now I will be trying their developing.
Will let you know how it turns out.
Oh, and it only costs .99 flat rate shipping, no matter how many your order. That sure is better than almost 6.00 to drive to town and back. Gotta love those SUV's :dance:
To be continued..........................
Posts: 3,540:clap: Oooh, another developer! Thanks for the link, Sue Ann :hug:
I've sent this round off to be developed by WalMart's online digital development, but this Winkflash sounds much more promising. I especially like the fact they use Fuji products.
Tell us what you think when you get the prints Nancy
Posts: 1,153I will Deb...I hope they have a fast turn around time.
They had some other very interesting products. For only 13.99 you can order a calendar with all your pictures. I can just see my grandbabies on that.
Nanc.......
Oh I am so sorry for everyone who's having photo problems! I'm a bit late jumping in here... and also don't know if it would work for the TOBY's or Golden Teddy since I did not read the photo requirements.... but I print all my photos at home now on an Epson printer with their ink and paper. I used to run a mini lab myself (printed those pictures) and I love my Epson printer... it's like I have a mini lab in my office (with NO smelly chemicals!)
One thing I HAVE noticed.... is that the photos (for me anyways) need to look pretty dark on my monitor to print out nicely.
Good luck to EVERYONE who is entering!! :hug:
Past Time BearsUnfortunately, both contests require that the photos be developed professionally . . . no prints from your home computer. 
I have an HP Photosmart printer and it makes fantastic prints - better than ANY of the on-line developers I've tried. Sigh.
I am just as frustrated with the pictures, last year I also had to search around for a professional photographer, paid a fortune and personally I did not think the pictures did the bear any justice in the end.
I will take pictures with my digital camera and then take it to one of the local developing places with one of my prints, I print off at home and see if they can match it, I will also send a small sample of the mohair I have used 1/2" x 1/2" for what it is worth so that they can see I have not gone and played around with the program and "cleaned " up the picture to make the bear appear better looking ( frankly I am not that clever to do that)
:doh:
Lynette
Newcastle, OntarioSue Ann, I have an HP Photosmart printer too, and I love it. I think the pics are almost good enough to fool the judges and I'm tempted to try, if it weren't so expensive to enter.
Hugs,
Brenda
Newcastle, OntarioYou know, last year I had my bunny photographed at the Studio at the big Canadian Superstore my husband manages. We had taken my grandson there, and at the last minute I decided to take my Golden Teddy piece. They did a pretty good job and it only cost me $26.00. I could have wasted a lot more money on film etc. Another friend of mine has also had her bears photographed at the Superstores and has been happy. Has anyone tried making an appointment at say, Walmart or Sears. It would be the same kind of thing. They have all the professional equipment, and I just kept interupting my photographer and telling them exactly what I wanted. I posed it myself etc. You just have to make sure you stand your ground and tell them exactly what you are looking for - full body and head shots. Depending on how long they take to develop them, It's worth a shot. The development at the Superstore only takes overnight.
Hugs,
Brenda
