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Posts: 1,153Wanda, the matte finish is not really 'mattey' as we remember it. It is really very pretty...sort of light satin, I guess would describe it best.
I really don't know tho, if it has to be in a shiny format or not.
I would like to find someplace that just leaves the photos alone. When did they start 'fixing' customers photos?
I didn't know about the CD, that is interesting.
I am fooling around with my Elements 3 trying to do different things, but I don't want to change the picture, just enhance it.
I wonder if that is ok with submitting or do they just want a raw picture? Does anyone know?
Nancy
Nancy,
I think making the quality of the picture is okay ... I would not try to adjust the subject in the photo. In other words, adjusting the contrast/brightness, sharpness, etc. I think would be fine. After all, these things can be done in the dark room when developing film.
Hugs,
Wanda
Jared and Nancy,
I loaded the free Walmart software for enhancing and sending photos via the internet for printing.
By using the software, the Walmart pictures were printed as I had edited them . . . no automatic image intelligence was used. Now I know how to get a better quality print. Even if I adjust them with my PS Elements, I will still use the software to send the photos so that my editing (brightness/contrast, etc) will not be changed. I sent them from work on Friday at 9:15 and they were ready in an hour.
And Nancy, the glossy matte finish as the salesclerk called it, is a lot better than I remembered the old matte finish. There's not that much difference between them. I had been told a few years ago, that the glossy finish gave a much softer appearance for the fur. That is why I was wanting the particular finish. But I am very happy with this one and it was soooo easy.
Hugs,
Wanda
WANDA THAT WHITE BEAR IS ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!!!!! I AM SCREAMING INSIDE MY OWN HEAD, IT'S SO ADORABLE!!!! What a wonderful piece!
Posts: 1,153Wanda...that is so good to know.
How do you get that software from Wally World? Can I download it from home?
I really like the finish that is on the one hour developing, it is sort of a cross between glossy and matte. A soft glossy, so to speak.
I sent two batches of pics to winkflash, but do not have them back yet....so it is good to know that you were happy with your Walmart pictures. Time is getting close and I may have to use Walmart after all.
Your bears are just gorgeous Wanda...Geez, I hope you aren't entering the friends category too! Yikes !!!
Nancy
Nancy & Shelli,
Gee girls ...thanks for the compliments. No this bear is not being entered ... I just haven't gotten anything made for the awards competitions this year. Was going to try, but don't want to rush around and then not make it. Hopefully I'll have something for next year.
The little bear is "Macaroni" and he is bound for a shop as soon as I get three more ready to accompany him.
Nancy, the software is free! Go to your Walmart photo center (I have a Super Walmart) and it should be on the counter. Just pick it up and load onto our computer. If you don't have it there, I'll send you one. Just let me know.
Hugs,
Wanda
Jare Hares & Bears
Nancy -
If the disc is not on the counter just tell one of the associates what you are looking for. Be sure to ask an associate who has a white lab coat on and that it says "One Hour Photo" on it. If they look at you with a blank stare and snap their gum... leave the store, walk to your car, drive home, and log on to www.walmart.com and click the link for photo and you can upload your pictures to an online album for free for 60 days and then order prints. Then if you order prints for send out they will be the glossy prints that we all know and love, it will take a couple of days to get them. You can also order the prints to be ready in one hour and you select the store that you want them printed at... The best way to make sure that you get them to the right store is to select your store based on the store number. If you have a recepit from you last trip to Wal*Mart the store number is listed at the top. The first line underneath the City, State, Zip line has the store number look for ST# 0000, where 0000 is your local store's number. I have posted a picture.
The other great thing is that you can prepay if you like or you can pay when you pick them up.
Jared
Posts: 1,153Thanks you Wanda and Jared...I did the online ordering twice but they came back awful...nothing like what I sent. Way too much contrast.
I will see how they come back from Winkflash and if bad, I will try the disc. Maybe that will make a difference.
I really got a chuckle out of the gum snapping Jared! Boy did you hit that on the nail head.
The last batch I sent in, I called the photo dept and told them I had just placed an on-line order, gave her the trans number and asked her if they would not do their Inteli-imaging. She said they didn't do anything to the photos at all. I told her the last lady I talked to told me that when I ordered on-line again ,to be sure that I clicked the box designating that I did not want any altering....only I never say that box. She basically said, duh...I don't think we do that. so I said, 'well, would you just mark the the order to do no altering for me...she put me on hold and came back and told me the pictures looked just fine. I said, "they are printed already? I just put them in online about 2 minutes ago?' Well no, she said I am looking at them on the computer and they look fine. :doh: I gave up!
I belong to another chat group that includes photography. I found this post rather interesting...others may find it interesting as well.
Walmart is never really a good idea for quality beacause they cut back on cost to make the prices cheaper. So they use crappy equipment, chemicals/ink, and paper. As for drugstores......I am the lead tech at an Eckerds so I can give a recomendation from experience on this. Do not use a kiosk to often. And check the machine digital prints will be printed on and who will do the printing. At my store many people deal only with me because I am the most experienced there with the machine. Right aid and cvs aren't usually a good choice because the equipment usually isn't good and they are manned by the manager on duty usually. But make sure the primary printer used in the lab is digital capable and that they will be printed on it. A photo store that does prints is usually a very good choice. That means a store that specifically sells photo equipment and not a kmart.
File prep is also important. Make sure the file is at the correct proportions for what you want printed. I get that problem often. Someone wants a 4x6 and the file they give me is the wrong size. If I crop it to fit they have white bars on the sides they don't want......but if I print at the proportion they give me something gets cut off. Also make sure the resolution is good with the file since if it is too small res any prints made are going to be blurry. Try all the sharpening you want but it won't fix that. And if you want no color corrections or such made........put that in the special instructions box of the order form/envelope. That's why it's there. You can never be too specific with instructions. Also feel free to ask the techs questions if they aren't busy. It's why we're here.
Nancy
Jare Hares & BearsWalmart is never really a good idea for quality beacause they cut back on cost to make the prices cheaper. So they use crappy equipment, chemicals/ink, and paper.
I would like to know how this person knows this? After all I am just wondering.
Also feel free to ask the techs questions if they aren't busy. It's why we're here.
I also find the ask questions, but "if they aren't busy", to be a load of crap! Guess what I don't care if they are busy, if I have questions I am going to ask. I ask questions I don't care if there are 20 other people waiting. They can wait just like I did. And if the tech gives you the brush off I would call the manager over and ask them. 9 times of of 10 the manager doesn't know but they might be able to get the tech to pay attention to your concerns. A point of excellent customer service is to answer people's questions and address any other concerns they have. I always ask if I can answer any other questions that they might have. But only those seeking to give excellent customer service would go out of their way even if they are busy and have 20 customers waiting.
Posts: 1,153Jared...I think this young man was 'puffin the goods' 
That happens when someone wants everyone to know that they are 'knowledgable' about a certain subject. When he saw my questiion about photo developing, it was his que to jump in and let the world know he was a 'tech' ! So take it with a grain of salt. I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers...so sorry.
I agree about the help...in fact I have found that when you help people with their questions and problems, YOU actually end up learning. That was certainly the case in my antique shop. I learned so much from the questions of my customers.
My pictures came back from Winkflash good enough ( I guess, I really have no idea what quality others submit to the Toby) so I won't have to try the CD from Walmart...otherwise I would have given it one more go. I had heard from someone else NOT to send them in on-line, but to get the CD, it makes a difference.
Nanc.......
Wild Thyme OriginalsI promise there will NO insightful input on this topic from me, as I am horrible with digital photography, and completely unknowledgeable when it comes to either taking the pictures or the process by which they are turned into a piece of paper you can hold in your hand! I've had pics done at Walgreens, Wal Mart, and CVS, and to me, there was really no discernable difference in the finished product. What I have noticed, is that there are difference in the people who do the processing! I think that we also have to understand that many times, even when you explain to someone how important the photo is to you, they are thinking... "A stuffed animal contest, that's crazy!?" They aren't used to having photos brought in for contests or magazine publication. They are accustomed to printing out pictures of the family picnic, or Uncle Ned's 50th Birthday. Lets face it, if the sweater you were wearing at the family reunion is reading a bit more turquoise in the photograph than the lovely shade of aqua that it is when you see it in your closet, it's probably NOT really that big of a deal! So, when we complain that the nose is a bit too "bubble gummy," rather than the soft pinky-beige we picked out... they probably think we are insane! 
When you find a photo tech that you like and is willing to work with you to get that perfect nose color, or fur texture, or whatever.... find out when they work! Slip them a thank you note and a $5.00 Starbucks coffee card when they have given you good service!
My only other bit of advice... DON'T go when they have a sale on photo processing! If you do, you will find that there are 20 people in line to have pictures done! And at least as many who have sent them though on line.... and chances are, that there is someone filling in from the women's sock department to keep up with the excess load.... believe me, she's been told, "Just stand here and every time this light turns green, push this button!" Most of the time you have to be printing 25 or 50 photos to get the discount, so it won't even apply to the 6 photos you are trying to print. And if you are lucky enough to save 50 cents on your print job, it's certainly not worth the agony!
Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Posts: 1,153Oh my gosh, Kim that is so funny...bubble gummy.
My little critters nose in the far pictures looks just fine...but the close one, welllllllllll...it is a bit bubble gummy.
I couldn't have picked a more perfect description.
David looked at it and said, I think the nose looks pinker.
I am so tired of getting pictures printed, I just packed them up and let them go....I'll just pray about it and not worry! :pray:
I really don't think the pictures I sent were that good (photography wise)...I had better pics but they were taken with my Sony and it didn't have the resolutions, so what do you do? Just DO IT !!
You are so right about who helps you. That really does make a big difference. Like Jared said, they should give good customer service at all times.
Thanks Kim, for adding your insight.
Nancy
Jare Hares & BearsNo feathers ruffled. I am just wondering how some one can make that conculison about a place. I am sure that most photo retailers use the same equipment, papers, and chemicals to process the pictures. I am sure that where he works that they use the same stuff that we use at Wal*Mart. So I just sit back and laugh.
And Kim is right it is who processes the pictures. If you have people who know what they are doing your pictures will turn out great.
Wild Thyme OriginalsSomething just occurred to me, and I don't know whether it would really work or not... In my current auction listing, I photographed my bear against sort of a sage green background. When I looked at my pictures the background was brown... and the bear was really not true to color at all-- she was a yellowy cream color rather than almost pure white, ... now, I know that for me this is a camera/lighting issue involving my white balance setting.... and I did correct it using my meager photo editing skills simply by upping the amount of green in the photo... voila... instant improvement. Anyway, obviously, you could take your contest/magazine bear to CVS, or WalMart, leave him there and say, get the photo color to match THIS bear... of course, I doubt that any of us would actually do that! Not me at least! But, I wonder if you gave them a swatch of your background, if that would help... As I said, I concentrated on adjusting the background color and blammo... my bear was her real color. I wonder......
Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Kim,
I used to do exactly that. When I was using film photography I would take a swatch of the fur with me and ask the One Hour Photo Dept at Walmart to please match the color of the fur. And they did!!!
Sometimes all you have to do is ask. I haven't tried that with the digital photos, not sure they can do that, but it might not hurt to ask.
Hugs,
Wanda
Posts: 1,153Kim and Wanda...I think I really messed up, but live and learn. Hubby was pressuring me to get the pics in the mail for fear they wouldn't arrive on time...plus he really didn't like the pics, so I just sent them off. The problem is he is always right on the money, as far as pictures and colors. So, I really don't have a good feeling about this now anyway.
But it is a good experience and I am sure next year I will do things a whole lot different. I do believe this was a learning process.
Is it wrong to show the pictures? Everyone seems to treat it like your entry is a supposed to be a big secret, far be it from me to break tradition
Thank you for your advice, but it is all over with now.
My pictures that came back from Walmart had their matte finish on them and I really liked that. It isn't really matte, it is 'matty-shiny'.
Next year, knowing what I know now, I will start a lot earlier and hopefully will have an elaborate critter to enter as well. I think my little gal is way too simple.
Nancy
Is it wrong to show the pictures? Everyone seems to treat it like your entry is a supposed to be a big secret, far be it from me to break tradition :lol:
I'm laughing at this....
No, I don't think there are any "traditions" or "secrets" about it. For me, personally, it's more superstitious -- not a typical Shelli quality, but one which applies in this case. Kinda like when otherwise intelligent men wear the same unwashed socks for 30 consecutive baseball games, just because, the first time they wore them, the team had a big win!
I like to get my stuff out in the mail and on the road before I share pictures. But I don't think there's anything "wrong" with sharing photos! I do so with special friends behind the scenes even prior to mailing. Just not... publicly. What if I mess up and miss the deadline? OH, the embarrassment of it all, if I've said, "LOOKIE" and then, end up not even submitting the entries! Or something like that... kinda silly, actually.
Hopefully I'll have my stuff mailed out today. So I might even post tonight!
I just realized, by the way, that Monday the 16th -- the TOBY deadline -- is a school holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Anybody know whether mail delivers on that date? It might make a difference to some...
Take care,
Posts: 1,153Yikes, no the mail isn't mailed on MLK day. Good thing you thought about that Shel...it may make a difference for late mailers.
Ok here is my sneek peek and then you can tell what I have been talking about.
I didn't want to be accused of temporizing, if everyone else held back...but now I see it is just Shelli's superstitions. hahahaha
Shelli, superstitious? I dare not imagine.
Nancy
Ok, I posted it but it was so huge, it would have knocked you over....so I deleted it
Jare Hares & BearsKim -
Have you tried to adjust the white balance setting on your camera? I know that changing that has helped with my pictures.
Nancy,
HUSBANDS!!! ....I know they are right sometimes, but not always. You have got to learn to go with your gut feelings about these bear things. After all, YOU are the one creating them. Men are sometimes too logical without the "fuzzy, feely" intuition, if you know what I mean.
I think it is great that you did send in an entry. You got your feet wet and next year will be a lot easier for you. And, you never know, you might just be a contender this year.
Life is a continuous learning process, Lesson One on contest entries is now complete, so learn from this year as to what you would do differently, etc. for next year.
I wish you good luck. There is no greater feeling than having your special piece chosen for nomination.
Hugs,
Wanda
Not too sure about the picture taking for the competitions, I took the photo's using my digital camera, then took the thingy inside , well the camera and that down to the local picture place.I asked him why he could print out the pictures and they would be accepted and why my pictures printed at home would not be. My one question being, did the judges think that I would , use the programs available to touch up the photograph.
Anyway he looked at me and said , well first of all our machines costs $1.5 million,whereas your machine costs $500, also its a laser printer.
I must say I was impressed with the quality of the print, I did think that my pictures looked stunning printed out on my printer , but these did look good, and it was easy. Took an hour to get developed and was not that expensive.
Last year I ran around looking for a photographer, pictures were OK, but colours looked flat, I also had to take the whole spool, and waited about 10 days to get them and it was expensive.
And thats my picture story .
Lynette.
Posts: 1,153:dance: Hahaha Wanda, I know just what you mean. Hubby had to go out of town today so he was up at 3:30...after he left I couldn't sleep, so I decided to get on computer (is there anything else?) and try to learn my new software to edit my website...I got on-line and a message popped up..."hey Nance, what are you doing up so early?" So Eileen and I got all the MEN problems and world problems solved in a few short hours.
I am always one for trying something just to see how far I can go with it...and this is no different. You are absolutely correct that I have learned a lot so far about entries. Next year I will do better.
I will try to post my little gal ...I tried once but she came out to be a whopper.
Lynette, that is just too funny about the price difference...holy smokes, 1.5 Millon? That thing should be able to take x-rays, for that kind of money. 
So did you enter this year...what? what category? post a picture?
Nancy
Yea Nancy, I entered, last minute desicion, after seeing all the comments from here. I entered into the dressed , large bear. Nothing fancy thou, just a bear, and seeing Shelli's stunning ballerina, ermmmmm
Jare Hares & BearsNuts I just gave up on trying to enter...
I have too many other things to do. Mom entered the Golden Teddys and I hope she wins something. (Fingers Crossed)
There was a piece that I was working on for Toy Fair, that I was going to enter, but I am going to use him for next year's Golden Teddys & TOBYs.
Jare Hares & Bears
OK so I did get a chance to enter the TOBYs.
So I am posting a pic of my entry.
