On May 22, 2008 Dowd Studios was asked by the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint to cover the Senator Obama campaign stop in Tampa. Going there was a completely new experience, as I have never met a Senator up close nor have I ever done photo journalism. Being there was a unique experience, it was the equivilant to seeing Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960's.
We took lots of photos and wrote an article that will appear in an upcoming issue of the newspaper. Go to my MySpace www.myspace.com/dowdstudios to view the pics I took of the event. There are just a few, we took almost 200 photos of the event.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
2008 Mother''s Day Cutest Kid Contest Winner
CONGRATULATIONS to the Ashley Hamrick, her son won the first annual Mother's Day "Cutest Kid" Contest 2008! Her and her son will be given some wonderful prizes, and will have a Photo Shoot from us. That photo will be the Photo Of The Month for Dowd Studios, and will be posted in June 2008!
This contest will take place next year at Mother's day, so get ready for that. We are also having a Father's Day contest. Details will be announced shortly.
Again, CONGRATULATIONS to Ashley Hamrick!
www.dowdstudios.com
This contest will take place next year at Mother's day, so get ready for that. We are also having a Father's Day contest. Details will be announced shortly.
Again, CONGRATULATIONS to Ashley Hamrick!
www.dowdstudios.com
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Web Design Layout
When Dowd Studios designs a web site we still design the page to fit 800x600 monitor resolutions. We do this for a number of reasons, which are:
1. If you design the page for 1024x760 screen resolutions, and the viewer has a 800x600 resolution, your site will appear very very large. It will also create scroll bars at the bottom of the page in which the viewer will have to use to go back and fourth reading your pages. This can be quite a hinderance and a turn off for most users.
2. With a site optimized for industry standard 800x600 when viewing in a higher resolution, the site will look normal but will have space around the site. This is fine, it does not subtract from the validity of your site, it does not hinder the appearance or functionality of the site either, it just has space. Don't worry GOOGLE will not drop you because of this.
3. We go by industry standards, as Flat panel screens and better screens come into play, the 800x600 resolution will fade away. But right now they say that more than 62% of the computer population still has 800x600. If it's above 50% then 800x600 still is the majority. We will design the site around them. Hopefully soon, the higher resolutions will come in, in which we will set our resolution on the site to 1024x720. But realize that there are higher resolutions coming out as more wide screen monitors are emerging.
For some reason, people have a hang up about the borders, it seems to bother people. To show you that the site is ok, set your monitor settings to 800x600 and view your site, you will see there are NO MORE BORDERS. If you want to have your site optimized for 1024x720 we can, but be aware a lot of your customers with smaller resolutions will be calling and saying they DON'T LIKE SCROLLING.
If you are looking to optimize your site, I would say make it for 800x600 until the numbers come down, when the new resolution hits, make it fit that resolution. It's not bad design, it's consious planning to fit the majority.
1. If you design the page for 1024x760 screen resolutions, and the viewer has a 800x600 resolution, your site will appear very very large. It will also create scroll bars at the bottom of the page in which the viewer will have to use to go back and fourth reading your pages. This can be quite a hinderance and a turn off for most users.
2. With a site optimized for industry standard 800x600 when viewing in a higher resolution, the site will look normal but will have space around the site. This is fine, it does not subtract from the validity of your site, it does not hinder the appearance or functionality of the site either, it just has space. Don't worry GOOGLE will not drop you because of this.
3. We go by industry standards, as Flat panel screens and better screens come into play, the 800x600 resolution will fade away. But right now they say that more than 62% of the computer population still has 800x600. If it's above 50% then 800x600 still is the majority. We will design the site around them. Hopefully soon, the higher resolutions will come in, in which we will set our resolution on the site to 1024x720. But realize that there are higher resolutions coming out as more wide screen monitors are emerging.
For some reason, people have a hang up about the borders, it seems to bother people. To show you that the site is ok, set your monitor settings to 800x600 and view your site, you will see there are NO MORE BORDERS. If you want to have your site optimized for 1024x720 we can, but be aware a lot of your customers with smaller resolutions will be calling and saying they DON'T LIKE SCROLLING.
If you are looking to optimize your site, I would say make it for 800x600 until the numbers come down, when the new resolution hits, make it fit that resolution. It's not bad design, it's consious planning to fit the majority.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Customer Reward Program
WE LOVE REPEAT CUSTOMERS! So starting in May 2008 we are launching our new Frequent Photo Club. More details will be given out in May, but how it works is the more photo shoots you do, the more free stuff you get. The more paid referrals you send our way, the more free sittings you get.
It's our way of saying thank you! The program will be FREE to join and you can rack the points up without ever loosing them until you use them.
We are also having a "Frequent Sitting" card, this one will be a paid renewing card that gives you 5 free sittings and 5 discount sittings for a year. Those sittings discounted will be $15.00, a 20.00 savings and the free sittings are a $35.00 savings. In total the savings is $100.00, if you paid full price for 10 sittings it would cost you $350.00. Those sittings can be given to other family members or friends if you choose to give them up.
All these great programs and packages are soon to be at your door step in May 2008. Keep checking back to this blog or our web site for more details.
It's our way of saying thank you! The program will be FREE to join and you can rack the points up without ever loosing them until you use them.
We are also having a "Frequent Sitting" card, this one will be a paid renewing card that gives you 5 free sittings and 5 discount sittings for a year. Those sittings discounted will be $15.00, a 20.00 savings and the free sittings are a $35.00 savings. In total the savings is $100.00, if you paid full price for 10 sittings it would cost you $350.00. Those sittings can be given to other family members or friends if you choose to give them up.
All these great programs and packages are soon to be at your door step in May 2008. Keep checking back to this blog or our web site for more details.
New Specialized Packages
Coming in May, Dowd Studios will launch 2 new packages designed for a specific purpose. Those packages are going to include Baby Steps, which will document the growth of your child through the 1st 12 months of their life. The entire package will be bound in a printed book for you to enjoy.
The other package will be Mommy To be, which will include maternity pictures from 3 to the 9th month. A series of 6 picture poses to express the beauty of pregnancy, from when you start to show till you are about to give birth. Those pictures can be made into 5x7's for framing, or can be made into a bounded print book.
Keep checking back to this blog or our web site for more details. These packages will be a great keepsake for generations to come.
www.dowdstudios.com
The other package will be Mommy To be, which will include maternity pictures from 3 to the 9th month. A series of 6 picture poses to express the beauty of pregnancy, from when you start to show till you are about to give birth. Those pictures can be made into 5x7's for framing, or can be made into a bounded print book.
Keep checking back to this blog or our web site for more details. These packages will be a great keepsake for generations to come.
www.dowdstudios.com
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Dowd Studios Closed ON...
I know that the world has come to a more secular trend, and not identifying with a religion, but Dowd Studios does and I will give off any Religious holiday like Christmas Day, Good Friday and Easter. I will do the same for any one of my employees that have a religion based holiday and with Pay.
On Easter or Christmas day, I will be glad to talk to anyone but I will not talk about work or deals, today is my lords day, and everything can wait till tomorrow.
Dowd Studios will be closed ON:
Good Friday and Easter Sunday | Christmas Day | Haukkanah | Kwanza But we will still be open because the owner does not practice the relgion and will proceed as business as usual except for the first 3 which eveyone gets off with full days pay.
On Easter or Christmas day, I will be glad to talk to anyone but I will not talk about work or deals, today is my lords day, and everything can wait till tomorrow.
Dowd Studios will be closed ON:
Good Friday and Easter Sunday | Christmas Day | Haukkanah | Kwanza But we will still be open because the owner does not practice the relgion and will proceed as business as usual except for the first 3 which eveyone gets off with full days pay.
Modeling and TFP
I have met a lot of fantastic Men and Women models who I would love to work with build and expand their portfolio. To do that I usually do TFP or TFCD. There are a few things that can cause a problem with this.
1. I will take any paid assignments over a TFP/TFCD assignment any day. I must eat, and that money allows me to take my time for free events like a TFP event.
2. Some models find agents, even though you may want to do the shoot, it may not be ok. You must read the contract well and ensure that I can take photos of you. Some times TFP comes to a screaching hault with an agent. If I do know know, or see your contract and break the contract by photographing you, I can be sued for stealing an asset for any shoot done after the contract was signed. If you are a signed model, please send all legal information to me at j.dowd@dowdstudios.com so I can review the case and see if TFP/CD is possible. If it is, lets shoot! I must be concious of your situation as well, this is very important.
1. I will take any paid assignments over a TFP/TFCD assignment any day. I must eat, and that money allows me to take my time for free events like a TFP event.
2. Some models find agents, even though you may want to do the shoot, it may not be ok. You must read the contract well and ensure that I can take photos of you. Some times TFP comes to a screaching hault with an agent. If I do know know, or see your contract and break the contract by photographing you, I can be sued for stealing an asset for any shoot done after the contract was signed. If you are a signed model, please send all legal information to me at j.dowd@dowdstudios.com so I can review the case and see if TFP/CD is possible. If it is, lets shoot! I must be concious of your situation as well, this is very important.
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