NCVA High Performance Team Pictures.
Well, we weren't able to photograph the Global Challenge as we hoped, but we did get out to photograph the NCVA High Performance Teams.
Here are the five teams we photographed.
Why didn't you attend the 2008 Global Challenge?
Well, as those of you attending the tournament may have noticed, we are not there.
If you are wondering why, the answer is simple enough: no one signed up for pictures.
Recent Billing Problems - SOLVED.
As all of the orders from the season are now processed, I am catching up on all of the paperwork. This includes making sure that all transactions which have been billed (afterall, we do want to be paid for our work! :)
However, unbeknownst to us at the time, a problem occurred during the billing. This problem has now been solved and no action is required on the part of any customer, but I am posting this to be sure the full information on exactly what happened is availble.
This is a copy of an email I sent to all Festival customers this afternoon.
Volleyball Festival Status Update Email.
Recently I sent an email out to all of the Volleyball Festival customers giving a status update. However, when I send emails out to all customers from an event, I invariably get a number of emails bounced back due to bad addresses, spam protection software, etc.
However this time I got zero emails back. Which leads me to suspect my email didn't really go out. So I'm posting it here.
2008 Volleyball Festival orders COMPLETED!
OK, great news.
We've officially set a record. Each year, Festival marks our large, end of season tournament. We typically come back to the office after Festival backlogged with prior tournaments worth of orders to complete and - in our first years of doing Festival - it has taken us up to 12 weeks to get the orders completed.
California Fathers Day picture link updated.
I posted this a few days ago, but with the new entries it has been pushed down the page, so I'm bumping it back to the top:
I know some of you out there have been checking our site for links to the Fathers Day pictures we said we would post.
They are up!
2008 Volleyball Festival ONLINE Requests closed.
To make sure that we don't miss out on any sign ups while we are away from the office, we are closing the online request capability for the 2008 Volleyball Festival.
However, there is still room in the schedule, so be sure to come by the photography booth in the Reno/Sparks Convention Center to sign up!
2008 California Finals Orders Completed!
All orders from the 2008 California Finals tournament have been completed and are now at the lab for printing!
We hope that they will be delivered by the end of next week, but - with the 4th of July holiday - it's likely it will be the week of the 7th of July.
What's New Section Updated.
Just a quick note to say that the What's New section - where we detail improvements/changes to our business and software - has been updated. It's been a year, we thought it was about time.
http://www.vbpics.com/whatsnew
Stop on by if you find that sort of thing interesting!
California Finals Father's Day Pictures.
This year, as we have at each prior California Finals, we offered complimentary Father/Daughter pictures on Father's Day.
This year, however, we are doing something a bit different. Rather than printing each image and bringing them to the tournament, we will instead be posting a link to high resolution files which you will be able to download and print yourself.
Our website will be updated with a link to the pictures shortly after the end of the tournament.
Check back at the end of the week!
A twist on our usual schedule - no photography the first day of the 2008 California Finals.
Our tournament schedule will be a little different this weekend. We will have our booth setup for the entire tournament with staff ready to help you place a photography request for the tournament or order any of the images we have taken from the past three years on our servers.
However, we will not be photographing the first day of the tournament. Why?
We will miss the first day of the California Finals tournament this year due to a scheduling conflict. We will be in Berkeley photographing a wedding on Saturday, June 14th. However, we will be back in action on Sunday the 15th, ready for on court action and our yearly complimentary Father's Day pictures.
Oh, and that wedding IS volleyball related. The bride is the older sister of former Delta Valley standout setter, Holly Jacobus. So, we'll be missing a day of the tournament but "keeping it in the family", so to speak!
See you Sunday!
2008 California Finals ONLINE requests closed.
To make sure that we don't miss out on any requests placed online, we are closing the online requests for this tournament.
However there is still space available, so come on by the booth at the tournament (we're located in the big white tent with the NoDinx booth and the tournament desk) to sign up!
See you this weekend!
2008 Emerald City Classic Orders Completed!
We are also very happy to announce the completion of the 2008 Emerald City Classic orders.
These, too, are at the lab for printing and shipping and should be arriving by the end of next week or the beginning of the week after.
2008 Power League Championships Orders Completed!
We are happy to say that we have completed processing of all orders from the Power League Championships and that they are at the lab for printing and shipping!
Far Westerns Weekend 2 Orders Completed.
We've completed the Far Westerns weekend 2 orders and are preparing them for submission to the lab! They should arrive at the lab on Monday, June 9th for printing and shipping.
On the road ... again.
OK, so we're back on the road again - this time to beautiful Seattle for our yearly pilgrimage to photograph the Emerald City Classic tournament, run by the Washington Volleyball Academy.
We'll be out of the office until the middle of next week, at which time we'll be back into order processing, working on Far Westerns Weekend 2 and then Power League Championships Weekend 1.
Far Westerns Weekend 1 Orders Complete.
OK, so now we're cooking.
After burning not just the midnight oil, but ALL the oil in a massive all nighter, we've pushed through and completed all of the Far Westerns Weekend 1 orders and they are now in to the lab for printing and shipping.
SCVA Weekend 2 Orders Completed.
All orders from SCVA Weekend 2 are now completed and at the lab for printing and shipping!
How's production coming along?
As some of you might have noticed, our delivery times slipped for several of the early, large tournaments this Spring. We apologize for that. Why, you might wonder? Well, for one thing, it's been a pleasantly busier than normal year - more families have ordered so far this Spring than in any prior Spring to date. Additionally, we had seven weeks out of nine in a row on the road photographing tournaments (from the beginning of March to the 1st week of May) which makes production in between very difficult. We're also down one experienced image retoucher compared to last year - he's off pursuing other career goals and we're feeling his lack. Finally, add a few curve balls thrown our way for good measure which provided hiccups in production and - as a result - we're running to keep up.
So, yes, it's definitely taken longer than we wanted to get those early Spring orders processed. But the good news is we're not letting any of that impact our final quality. As you can see from the collages in the posts below, the wait will be worth it - the collages and prints are turning out beautifully and I hope you'll send us an email letting us know how you like them.
With the delivery of Colorado Crossroads Weekend 2 and SCVA Weekend 1 in progress by the lab, we have already turned our attention to SCVA Weekend 2. With a quoted delivery time of 4-6 weeks, we're about 4 1/2 weeks into the delivery cycle. We intend to finish up the processing, retouching and layout of all orders in the next couple of days and have the orders to the lab for printing and shipping to be delivered (we hope) right at about the six week mark.
After that, we'll roll right into the first weekend of Far Westerns and begin processing the images as quickly as possible. While we hope to finish the processing for Far Westerns Weekend 1 in the next few days as well, we are also getting back on to the road to head up to Seattle to photograph the Emerald City Classic.
We'll try and keep the site updated regarding our progress ...
SCVA Weekend 1 Orders Completed and Shipped.
Again, just a status update for those of you waiting for collages - all orders from the SCVA Qualifier Weekend 1 tournament have been completed and are being printed and shipped.
Colorado Crossroads 2 Orders completed and shipped.
Though it was some time back that the orders were completed and sent to the lab for printing and shipping, I wanted to post a note for anyone coming by to check status of the orders.
All Colorado Crossroads Weekend 2 orders have been completed and shipped. (Whew!) Deliveries have begun and you should be receiving your orders shortly.
Far Westerns 2 ONLINE Requests closed.
Well we're headed back up the hill to Reno to get ready for this weekend, so I'm closing off the ONLINE portion of sign ups for photography this weekend.
Far Westerns weekend 1 ONLINE requests closed.
To make sure that we don't miss out on any online sign ups for Far Westerns weekend 1, we are closing our online requests for this weekend.
Crossroads Orders nearing completion.
For those of you waiting on your Crossroads orders, the wait is nearing an end. We are in the final phases of producing your orders prior to sending them in to the lab for printing.
SCVA Weekend 2 Online Requests Closed.
In the interest of not missing any online requests placed after the tournament starts, the online requests for SCVA weekend 2 are now closed.
However you can still sign up at the photography booth in the American Sports Center!
Attending the 2008 Global Challenge? So are we!
Have you been invited to travel to Europe to play in the 2008 Global Challenge? Great! We photograph it. :)
We've created a section for this year's tournament to help answer any questions you may have regarding photography for the tournament and to allow for sign-ups.
SCVA Weekend 1 Online Requests Closed.
We still have room in our schedule for you if you come to our booth at the American Sports Center, but we are closing the online portion of our requests for this weekend to be sure that we don't miss any (our days are long and we won't have internet access there at the facility).
So, if you want to sign up for pictures, come by the booth to do so!
See you there. :)
Introducing our new Inspiration Series!
We are happy to announce the introduction of a new product line.
We are calling it the Inspiration Series, as that is what is intended to do - inspire.
The Inspiration Series is a collection of designs that feature our usual high quality, fully retouched images in very simple, elegant layouts. What is different about this series is that we now have a library of quotes from famous athletes, writers and thinkers. Our quotes are broken into subjects: Sports, Friendship, Inspiration and Coaching/Leadership. When you are designing one of the Inspiration series you will be able to view and select quotes to be displayed with your image.
The images are set against a completely black background so that they stand out clearly and dramatically. The quote is set beneath the image in a easy to see and read typeface.
This allows for an incredible degree of customization - I've been having fun here using the system to choose various images and quotes and the variety of what is possible is really amazing.
Here are a few very quick samples:
A few of the 90 quotes currently available:
"You learn you can do your best even when its hard, even when you're tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage." - Joe Namath
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there." - John Wooden
"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision." - Muhammad Ali
"Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence." - George F. Will
The Inspiration Series is available immediately - we've created the new designs, quote library and added the needed functionality to our viewing and ordering system.
We would really love to hear your thoughts regarding the Inspiration Series. If you have a moment, please fill out this brief survey below:
Southern California Qualifier Confirmed!
If you are one of the many families in Southern California that we usually photograph for, but missed out last season because we didn't photograph the SCVA Junior National Qualifier in 2007, we have some good news!
Atlanta Refunds coming soon.
We were very sorry to have missed out on the Atlanta Big South this year.
We were confirmed, I booked flights (two sets of them - and I wasn't able to get a refund!) and we were ready to head out that way when Mother Nature really threw a curve ball at us.
Between the tornado in downtown Atlanta damaging the Georgia World Congress Center and causing the event to be split over several locations and the major storms throughout our route of travel in the MidWest and the flooding along the lines, and finally the fact that we only had two days to get from Denver to Atlanta ... well, we had to bow out of the tournament this year.
My main concern was the safety of my family - we drive our equipment across the country and the window of time was simply too small when we took into account the weather conditions and flooding occuring.
We really hope to be able to photograph for you next year!
For anyone that signed up, we will be issuing a full refund shortly.
The site's email is back up!
Well after a couple of weeks of trouble, email through the site seems to be functioning properly again.
Colorado Crossroads Weekend 2 Photography Request Update.
As the time for opening ceremonies on Colorado Crossroads Weekend 2 draws closer, I am closing the online sign up ability for this tournament.
We've received quite a few online requests, but we do have room remaining in our schedule, so - if you would like photographs - be sure to come by the booth to sign up TONIGHT! During weekend 1 our schedule for the entire weekend was filled by early the first day of the tournament and there were fewer online requests for that tournament than this one - and we had one extra photographer we don't have this weekend, so we will be filling up more quickly this weekend than last.
We don't want you to miss out, so be sure to come by as soon as possible!
Colorado Crossroads Photography Request Update.
We have closed ONLINE photography requests for Colorado Crossroads weekend 1.
If you would like to have photographs taken, be sure to come by the photography booth at the tournament to place your request.
Come by early - our goal is to have our schedule completely filled before the tournament begins and we don't want you to miss out!
Our Travels.
Are you bored? Have you nothing better to do? Looking for a way to waste a few otherwise pointless and idle minutes?
Well, then have a look at our travel blog!
As a means of keeping in touch and sharing our trip with our family and friends, we're keeping an online journal of our travels this volleyball season.
I can't promise it will be interesting or informative. But, you're welcome to check it out!
Order Status Update: 6 March 2008
As of right now, we're on the road. But all orders from the Presidents Day tournament were completed before we left and a disk of the orders was FedEx'ed to our lab for printing and shipping today.
I expect orders to begin arriving in about a week and a half.
Order Status Update - 29 Feb 2008
Hi everyone!
This is just a quick order status update.
We have quite a few projects going in-house at the moment and we've been practicing our juggling for all we're worth! :)
What follows is the current status of all of our Club Volleyball events/team pictures:
2008 California Kickoff
Processing Fully Completed, All Orders Shipped as of 28 Feb 2008. Expected delivery should be about mid to late next week (orders are shipped from our lab in Wisconsin).
2008 Power League Qualifiers Weekends 1 and 2
Processing Fully Completed, All Orders Shipped as of 28 Feb 2008. Expected delivery should be about mid next week.
Delta Valley VBC Club Pictures
Final Production Stage. We are just finishing the the final preparations for printing of your orders. They should be uploaded to the lab tonight and shipped next week. Expected delivery is about 1 1/2 weeks.
NorCal Select VBC Club Pictures
We're still in the beginning processing stages. We've completed creation of the base team pictures and are now working on the background retouching for all individual athletes. Our goal is to finish production by the end of this weekend so that the orders can be printed and shipped next week. Expected Delivery is about two weeks.
2008 Presidents Day
We're still in the beginning processing stages, but our goal is to finish production by the end of this weekend so that the orders can be printed and shipped next week. Expected Delivery is about two weeks.
California Kickoff: Order Status Update
We've been getting a few calls recently about order statuses for the January California Kickoff tournament.
All orders are completed and ready for printing, however we have been having problems getting the completed files to the lab for printing. Typically, we FTP the files and then they are printed and shipped.
However, for some reason, our FTP connection keeps being disconnected. We will try one more time this afternoon and, if unsuccessful, will overnight a DVD with the files to the lab on Monday for immediate printing.
I apologize for the delay - the images look great and I look forward to hearing from you when you receive them.
Presidents Day: Online Requests Closed - Sign up at the tournament!
To be sure that we do not miss any requests, we are closing our online request facility.
If you would like photographs at the tournament, come by our booth in the San Jose Convention Center to sign up!
Presidents Day: Requests for SAN JOSE still open!
We are still accepting photography requests for the San Jose Convention Center.
If you will be playing there and would like to sign up for pictures, there is still room left on our schedule!
We will be closing our online scheduling ability for the Presidents Day tournament at the end of the business day on Thursday to prevent us from missing any requests while we are out of the office.
See you in San Jose!
Presidents Day: Requests for SANTA CLARA now closed.
At this time we have closed requests for the Santa Clara portion of the Presidents Day tournament.
Don't forget - we have a full event calendar online. So, if we miss you this weekend, take a look when we will next have a chance to photograph for you!
Presidents Day: Online Requests close end of business day Thursday.
Because our access to the internet while at a tournament is questionable and we don't want to miss any requests placed online once we leave for the tournament, we will be closing the online request facility for the Presidents Day tournament at the end of the business day, Thursday.
If you have not yet placed a pre-request for the tournament, but would like to, we recommend you do so!
Presidents Day: There is still time to place a photography request!
The President's Day tournament is drawing near, but there is still time to place an online request for photography!
If you are interested in having photographs of your athlete from this tournament, we recommend placing your request as early as possible - online requests receive first scheduling and photography during the tournament.
Placing a request is very easy - we do not need your team's play schedule to accept your photography request. We can accept your request and then get your schedule information the night before the tournament.
Our booth for viewing and ordering photographs will be setup at the San Jose Convention Center, so be sure to come by to view your images!
2008 Power League Qualifiers & Boys Far Western.
We're headed to San Jose for week one of the Power League Qualifiers - the 17s and 18s team as well as the Boys Far Western.
If you would like to place a request for photography at the tournament, please come by the booth - because we have no guarantee of having the opportunity of checking our email for online requests, we have removed these tournaments from the list.
We hope to see you there!
2008 California Kickoff Update.
Well we're here are at the California Kickoff - where are you?
The 1st day has come to a close - it's been great seeing so many familiar (and new!) faces.
We've taken the time to pull aside just a few (reasonably random) images from the day. We hope you enjoy them!
Ready for the 2008 Club Season? We are!
Whew! It always takes longer than we expect, but we've managed to get the site updated and ready for the 2008 club season. Our event and travel calendar has been posted, online requests have been re-activated and we're really looking forward to this next year!
So, when do you want us to photograph for you?
HELP WANTED.
Well the title sums it up.
We're looking for help this season. We need staff to help us run our booth as well as to photograph volleyball. You don't have to be a photographer to work with us - we do need quite a bit of help at our booth. However, if you are experienced photographing volleyball (or are interested in learning) then we'd be happy to speak with you - we definitely need more photographers!
If you are interested in either, we've put up a fairly extensive Help Wanted section.
Ideally, we are looking for help from people that live near the locations we will be working - San Jose, Sacramento, Reno, Denver, Atlanta and Seattle. Our ideal is:
- People familiar with the sport (not required, but it's handy).
- People reasonably familiar or comfortable with computers (internet browsing).
- Good communication and people skills - you have to LIKE people.
- A hard worker that can pick things up quickly.
- A flexible enough schedule that working a Friday-Sunday or Saturday-Monday schedule isn't a problem.
- People willing to come out for as many weekends as possible throughout the season. (It's very difficult to get new staff to speed every single weekend - it's much better if they can return for at least one or two more tournaments.)
In the past we have employed college volleyball players we knew from club - we'd be happy to continue with that. So, if you are a college player in a city we'll be visiting, or you have a child living or attending school in one of those cities that would like to work a weekend or two for some extra money, we'd be happy to talk with them.
As always, if you have any questions, just drop Micheal a line.
State Championships images up for Nevada Union!
Good news!
We have finished uploading all State Championships images for the Div I match between Nevada Union High School and Lakewood High School.
Additionally, we have posted all images of Nevada Union from the season - from Super 8, Senior Night, Section Finals and State Finals. That's a lot of pictures!
So, to make them more fun to look at, we have pre-designed collages from the images.
Check them out here!
College & Highschool volleyball section updated ...
If you've seen us out at a game of yours recently and are looking for images, chances are this is the section you will be looking for.
We've begun posting some of the images from the season online for families to view and order. If you don't see your team here, give us a nudge and we'll see if we can get them up quickly for you.
Looking for Last Year's Home Page?
OK, so to keep clutter down, we have cleared the home page to make room for 2008's entries.
But we haven't ditched 2007 altogether.
If you are looking for a particular entry from last year, you can still see them.