Greetings faithful readers,
For a few different reasons, we have found it necessary to spin off the photo part of our blog. We hope that this might help you seperate the photography part of our business from the photo part without having to wade through the posts of the others.
We still plan to show photographs from our weddings, however, but probably more as video rather than just standalone photos. Of course, we reserve the right to change our mind on that. :-)
The new photo blog will be located at http://chrismckennaphotography.wordpress.com - so be sure to bookmark it and visit often.
Thank you for your continued support.
God's Blessings,
Chris.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Videotape Shelf Life?
If you are like most people, you may have boxes and cupboards filled of your home videos. Videos of your childrens birthdays, Christmas mornings, special events, etc.
And if you are like most people you no longer have a VCR to play them. But you don't want to throw them away because of all the special memories contained within them.
Unfortunately, you shouldn't just tuck them away and forget about them either. You see, videotapes has a finite life. Over time, they will detiorate and the captured images will disappear forever.
"But I haven't played them much," you say. It doesn't matter, the oxides on the tape will break down over time regardless of how many, or few, times they have passed over the VCR play heads.
Some industry reports say that the average shelf life is about 15 years, but I beleive that in some cases it is much less. I have seen some videotapes that are reportedly only 5 years old show signs of deterioration.
So what can I do? Simple! Transfer them to DVD. Whether we transfer them, someone else does it or you do it yourself you need to get them off the tapes and onto a digital medium.
And if you are like most people you no longer have a VCR to play them. But you don't want to throw them away because of all the special memories contained within them.
Unfortunately, you shouldn't just tuck them away and forget about them either. You see, videotapes has a finite life. Over time, they will detiorate and the captured images will disappear forever.
"But I haven't played them much," you say. It doesn't matter, the oxides on the tape will break down over time regardless of how many, or few, times they have passed over the VCR play heads.
Some industry reports say that the average shelf life is about 15 years, but I beleive that in some cases it is much less. I have seen some videotapes that are reportedly only 5 years old show signs of deterioration.
So what can I do? Simple! Transfer them to DVD. Whether we transfer them, someone else does it or you do it yourself you need to get them off the tapes and onto a digital medium.
God's blessings,
Chris
Monday, April 6, 2009
Family Portrait Video
The following is a video that we assembled of some of the family portraits that we took of Steve, Lauri and their adorable daughter, Audrey last December (Audrey's Second Christmas). This was a fun photo shoot for us and it was fun for us to assemble the video for them as well. We hope you enjoy it.
And congratulations, Steve & Lauri, on child #2. We look forward to meeting him soon!
God's blessings,
Chris.
You can see more pictures on our website: www.chrismckennaphotography.com
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Don't throw away your old DVD player yet--Blu-Ray & HD DVD Players Still Having Compatibility Issues
Don't throw away your old DVD player yet! Ok, you have HD (high-def) programming on your new 50-inch plasma tv, and the picture is terrific. You love being able to watch Bill O'Reilly in 1080p resolution as well your March Madness basketball games. Great!!! Now what about your DVD movies?
The good news is that the big electronic companies, namely Sony, have developed a format for watching movies in HD. That format is called Blu-Ray (HD-DVD was killed last year in a highly publicized HD format war). The bad news #1 is that your current collection of DVD movies is not Blu-Ray.
Does this mean that you cannot watch those movies anymore? No, it doesn't. You should still be able to watch those standard-definition movies (SD) on those players (check with your player first). They won't be in HD, but the picture will still look fantastic (the promise of ''upconverting" does not mean your SD picture is now HD) and you will be very happy. So you do not have to go out and repurchase all your favorite movies in Blu-Ray, unless you want to (I'm still waiting for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings to be released on Blu-Ray and will repurchase when they are).
Now for the bad news #2 (and to me the most significant problem)--these new players still have compatibility issues with "burned" DVD's.
For everything that these new players do, they won't correctly play your home movies, film transfers, DVD slideshows, and just about everything else that is burned onto a DVD (DVD-R, DVD+R, etc.). The most common problem that I hear is while one can see the video, they can't hear the audio. This is a common symptom of non-compliant units. Last time I heard, only about 40% of the units on the market today are compliant with all standards.
But I bought this new player to watch my home movies in HD, you say. Well, given the fact that most of your content is recorded SD (if even that) and not HD, playing them on a Blu-Ray and HD-DVD player won't make them HD. You can't take a #3 pencil and make it a #2 by using a different pencil sharpener--it just doesn't happen. Likewise, you can't take a VHS tape that was originally recorded in 240 lines of resolution and make it 1080 or 720 by putting it in a new player.
So, if you don't have a Blu-Ray player yet and playing your burned discs on them is important to you (i.e., not having 2 players in your cabinet), wait on that purchase until a few more "electronic generations" have passed. Otherwise, go stimulate the economy and purchase that new player and blu-ray discs and enjoy your new picture quality.
Blessings to you,
Chris.
www.mckennavideo.com
Jessica & Shyenne: Counting Down the Days
Normally, we might post some photos we take of a wedding, engagement, or something otherwise, but this time, I thought that we would post a video of selected photos from an engagement session that we took last Sunday.
We are very excited for Jessica and Shyenne, who will be married later this month. We are excited to help document their day and we hope that they enjoy this video.
Blessings,
Chris
See more photos at www.chrismckennaphotography.com .
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The Cost of Quality
Two experiences this week prompted me to write this blog entry. Ok, two this week and one last week.
A month ago, I had a former customer call me and ask me to substantially discount the cost of an 8mm film to DVD transfer. My response was to give him my generous repeat customer courtesies, but he was looking for something more. He knew about the high quality of our products and services compared to others in the business (that is why he was coming back) but after explaining that we couldn’t match the price for the “other” guy, he informed me that he was going to go to him and give him a shot. Ok.
Last week, he called me back and the first thing he said was that he was wrong to go to this guys and “was going to eat crow.” I asked what was wrong and he wasn’t shy about how bad the film transfer from the "other guy" looked and how there were missing reels of film of DVD (the most important reels by the way). We were happy to help get his transfer right.
Now this week. Another individual called and told me that he had taken his film to the big discount wholesaler (the same one that sells pizza and dog food) and once again I was told how bad that transfer was—not to mention how long it took. He got his money back and decided to have it done right. Once again, we are happy to help out.
And today, an individual called looking for a quote on a 100 CD duplication. I gave him a great quote but he took the opportunity to rip me a new one instead of saying “no thank you” and hanging up. Forget for a moment that he called me, one needs to remember that there is a reason that we that we might, and I repeat might, be more expensive than others—QUALITY.
Yes, there is a cost to quality. I know that we all like the Walmart prices, but let's face it sometimes "you get what you pay for."
In my last story, the individual reminded me that CD’s are dirt cheap. Yes, some CD’s that you buy at the local retailer are dirt cheap, but premium quality CD’s and DVD’s that we use (you can’t buy them in Best Buy) cost more money and I can’t simply eat the difference. Simple. Right? Store labeled media is usually a grade C quality. McKenna Video Services uses A+ quality discs. A cost difference? Absolutely! A difference that you will appreciate when we work on your project.
Second, in terms of the actual work, we work on every project we receive-I work on them. Not some minimum wage clerk that doesn’t have the training, the expertise, the experience and the concern for giving you the best quality possible. I don’t ship your project to Mexico like the big discount warehouse does (and despite what they might say that is where your transfer ends up). And next time you take your project to one of these places ask them what their “in-factory” loss rate is. Last time we checked it was in the neighborhood of 10%. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a huge number, but what if your film or video transfer was one of the 10%? Is it worth the risk of never seeing Grandma doing the hula-hoop again just to save a few dollars?
And as far as 8mm and 16mm film transfer goes there is a difference between the method that we employ vs. the method that others do. We employ a frame-by-frame digital transfer method and not a projection method like the others do. Visit the following page on our website for a side-by-side comparisons (http://www.mckennavideo.com/demos.html http://www.mckennavideo.com/f_docs/film_xfr.html ). The reason that we can’t charge as little as the others is that our transfers are better, complete, timely. Period. The others cannot promise that. And if they do, remember the adage “you get what you pay for”.
Finally, we are a specialty company. The big discount warehouse is not. We don’t spread all our costs among the dog food in aisle 12 and the toilet paper is aisle 3. We don’t sell frozen yogurt and pretzels in the waiting lobby (but if you want some I can probably dig some up). Also, not to take anything away from our friends that work at these places, but most of the clerks that take your order there wouldn’t know the difference between quicktime and realtime, between a replicated DVD and a duplicated CD.
There is a cost of quality!
Who do you want working on your project?
God's blessings,
Chris.
A month ago, I had a former customer call me and ask me to substantially discount the cost of an 8mm film to DVD transfer. My response was to give him my generous repeat customer courtesies, but he was looking for something more. He knew about the high quality of our products and services compared to others in the business (that is why he was coming back) but after explaining that we couldn’t match the price for the “other” guy, he informed me that he was going to go to him and give him a shot. Ok.
Last week, he called me back and the first thing he said was that he was wrong to go to this guys and “was going to eat crow.” I asked what was wrong and he wasn’t shy about how bad the film transfer from the "other guy" looked and how there were missing reels of film of DVD (the most important reels by the way). We were happy to help get his transfer right.
Now this week. Another individual called and told me that he had taken his film to the big discount wholesaler (the same one that sells pizza and dog food) and once again I was told how bad that transfer was—not to mention how long it took. He got his money back and decided to have it done right. Once again, we are happy to help out.
And today, an individual called looking for a quote on a 100 CD duplication. I gave him a great quote but he took the opportunity to rip me a new one instead of saying “no thank you” and hanging up. Forget for a moment that he called me, one needs to remember that there is a reason that we that we might, and I repeat might, be more expensive than others—QUALITY.
Yes, there is a cost to quality. I know that we all like the Walmart prices, but let's face it sometimes "you get what you pay for."
In my last story, the individual reminded me that CD’s are dirt cheap. Yes, some CD’s that you buy at the local retailer are dirt cheap, but premium quality CD’s and DVD’s that we use (you can’t buy them in Best Buy) cost more money and I can’t simply eat the difference. Simple. Right? Store labeled media is usually a grade C quality. McKenna Video Services uses A+ quality discs. A cost difference? Absolutely! A difference that you will appreciate when we work on your project.
Second, in terms of the actual work, we work on every project we receive-I work on them. Not some minimum wage clerk that doesn’t have the training, the expertise, the experience and the concern for giving you the best quality possible. I don’t ship your project to Mexico like the big discount warehouse does (and despite what they might say that is where your transfer ends up). And next time you take your project to one of these places ask them what their “in-factory” loss rate is. Last time we checked it was in the neighborhood of 10%. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a huge number, but what if your film or video transfer was one of the 10%? Is it worth the risk of never seeing Grandma doing the hula-hoop again just to save a few dollars?
And as far as 8mm and 16mm film transfer goes there is a difference between the method that we employ vs. the method that others do. We employ a frame-by-frame digital transfer method and not a projection method like the others do. Visit the following page on our website for a side-by-side comparisons (http://www.mckennavideo.com/demos.html http://www.mckennavideo.com/f_docs/film_xfr.html ). The reason that we can’t charge as little as the others is that our transfers are better, complete, timely. Period. The others cannot promise that. And if they do, remember the adage “you get what you pay for”.
Finally, we are a specialty company. The big discount warehouse is not. We don’t spread all our costs among the dog food in aisle 12 and the toilet paper is aisle 3. We don’t sell frozen yogurt and pretzels in the waiting lobby (but if you want some I can probably dig some up). Also, not to take anything away from our friends that work at these places, but most of the clerks that take your order there wouldn’t know the difference between quicktime and realtime, between a replicated DVD and a duplicated CD.
There is a cost of quality!
Who do you want working on your project?
God's blessings,
Chris.
Monday, March 2, 2009
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