Every year I make a Christmas card with my family.  It is usually something creative, a composite with the Green Screen up and lights and all.  Last year, my son wanted nothing to do with it, which made it very difficult!  This year he was hamming it up and could not get enough of the camera.

The idea came about with my wife suggesting we should be mannequins in a shop window wearing ugly sweaters.  That idea evolved into an Advertisement for ugly sweaters with us posed like models in those annoying commercials that are all over the TV this time of year.  We had a lot of fun with this one!

WHY I LOVE MPIX

I am a busy guy, I work 40 hours a week at my Full Time job on top of 3+ websites that require video tutorial recordings, oh and I try to maintain a healthy family life. I know quite a bit about juggling time, especially limited time.  However, time always has a way of getting the best of me!

This year I didn’t photograph us for this card until the 7th of December, it was a Saturday.  I didn’t get to work on the composite until late Sunday night.  I finished it around 9 PM and immediately sent my order to Mpix, 60 4×8 cards with envelopes, printed on metallic paper with a lustre coating.  Luckily I had a half off FEDEX shipping coupon via my NAPP membership.  The order was in at roughly 9:30 PM Sunday night.

I received an email from Mpix on Monday that my order was in the mail and I should receive it on Tuesday evening.  My initial reaction to this email was, “I’ll believe it when I see it!”  

Sure enough, Tuesday evening at approximately 6 PM the cards were on my doorstep.  So, let’s look at the time stamps here:

  • Saturday December 7th:  Pictures were taken
  • Sunday December 8th: Photos were composited and ordered
  • Monday December 9th:  Orders left Mpix and were out for delivery via FedEx
  • Tuesday December 10th:  Prints were in hand!
  • Wednesday December 11th:  Cards were stamped, addressed, and in the mail system!

That is awesome turn around time.  I say to Mpix:

I love you Mpix, you saved this guys butt this year.  Thanks for being there for the professional procrastinators!

2013-Xmas-Card

 

Blake Rudis
f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
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