March 16th, 2006 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here Are Some Special CCS Dates to Put on Your Calendar

July 23-25, 2006
CCS will be hosting the Summer Workshops right here in Oklahoma City.

July 23 will be a training day for those who want to arrive early and get some software, photography, or other specialized training.

July 24 and July 25 will be general meetings days with various topics and presentations. Details will be forthcoming shortly.

February 26-27, 2007
The CCS Winter Seminar will take place in Miami Beach, FL at the Eden Roc hotel right smack on the beach. Guest speakers, market-specific presentations and after-hour fun will be on the agenda.

February 28-March 3, 2007
Trip winners in the print-finishing promotion leave straight form Miami Beach to the soft trade winds of Grand Cayman Island for 4 days and three nights. You can get there!

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Nikon’s D 200 Arrives on the Scene: Good Camera for Special Events
Already being referred to as the D2X’s “little brother”, the D 200, instead of being constructed with high-impact plastic, has a magnesium alloy body which is immediately evident as you handle this more heavily weighted camera. It also has …YEAH!…a sync terminal that circumvents the constant need to have a hot shoe adapter with you as an omnipresent appendage to your camera.

But, what is very special about this camera, besides the price ($1699 body only), is the fact that this camera is tailored-made for a special events photography business. At 10.2 MP it is adequate to be used for large groups (bid days, sports, reunions, etc) and at 5 frames per second is more than adequate to be used for action sports or race photography.

It also has a large, 2 1/2” LCD screen on the rear of the camera and flash syncs…another YEAH!…at 1/250th of a second which makes it ideal for outdoor grads or portraiture. It can also be used with an optional WT-3 wireless transmitter which is convenient if you are transmitting images directly to a laptop or an LCD projector for immediate viewing and/or ordering at an event.
Recently, CCS customers Bud and Susan Stagg of Lawrence, KS purchased a D 200 and immediately put it to work. Since the largest part of their business involves outdoor portraiture for composites Bud was eager to find out if it could handle the tough lighting situations that they encounter from time to time. “Using the matrix metering”, says Bud, “the camera did an excellent job in holding the light values in the foreground of the scene without blowing out the strong light in the background. The blacks held their values and the whites weren’t washed out”.

Bud also used the D 200 to capture a group last week at an all-greek review at the University of

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Kansas. The photo (see right, 3000x2400 px / 916 KB) was shot with the
D 200 and with a couple of bare-bulb flash heads. As you can see, the overall range of tones from the whitest whites and the blackest blacks held true. Also, take note of the detail in the black skirts in the front row and the white shirts in the last row. Though obviously well-lit, the overall dynamic range of this camera contributed to the great look of this particular photo. Well done, Bud!

Click here if you’d like to read a detailed review of the Nikon D 200.

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Passes Available for WPPI
Anyone interested in acquiring free admission passes to the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Trade Show need only contact Brian Speers  and request them.

Be sure to include your mailing address. We also have discounted 2-for-1 tickets to the WPPI Convention which includes entrance to most of the programs that will be offered over the five days of the show. If you have never been to WPPI it is one of THE best shows of this type with an excellent trade show and some of the finest speakers in the photographic industry.

Trade show dates are April 9-11 and the show takes place this year at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

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Revisions Made to Sports Plaque
by Blake Whitney

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Revisions have been made to the plaques offered in the sports market. The new plaque, (see right) which is active now, has a larger text field on the Coach and Sponsor Plaques. This change was made to accommodate the longer lines of text entered in the “engraving plate” on the Coach and Sponsor Plaques. The shrinking of text will still occur if too many characters are entered on a line, but this modification should reduce that risk.

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Also, the “engraving plate” has a different look on all the styles of plaques as well. There is more of a gradient shine on the plate (see left), creating the realistic appearance of a metallic plate reflecting light. Changes were also made to the font to create the illusion that the text was engraved on the plate.

We believe these changes create, overall, a more aesthetically pleasing plaque with better usability making the Sports Plaque an important asset in your product offering.

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NEW! 10x14 Statuette Now Available
A new, larger statuette has been added to the PPS, Prom, QuicPics and Race Markets. For those customers of yours who believe bigger is better, you now have the answer. This larger statuette (see right) will most certainly stand out in the purchaser’s home as well as a display item used to attract attention and interest. The 10x14 Statuette costs $21.20 or $31.80 pearlized, if the market allows. See below for comparative sizes.