Jean Francois's Blog

Time to move on

2009-07-07T23:01:00.001-04:00

The time has come for me to say goodbye to Blogger. The new Excellence site has all the same functionality x1000. Its a blog, it has custom galleries, I can add stuff like video. Plus the WordPress community is so cool, new things coming out each day.

So if you have happened to visit this page --- please click below to go to my new blog.

http://www.excellencephoto.com/wp

This song keeps going on in my head

2009-05-28T19:45:00.000-04:00

One minute you can never get back.

2009-05-20T08:40:00.000-04:00

Parking Master!!!

Monday video -- heheheh

2009-05-18T08:40:00.002-04:00

Cool video - I used to love rock!!

2009-05-14T22:59:00.002-04:00

This guy remixes popular songs into rock. And he really rocks.

Slowing down on this blog

2009-05-14T22:14:00.001-04:00

I am thinking of using this blog ONLY for my personal stuff. But can't decide. I have 4 years of memories here.

In the meantime -- please check out the new excellence site

http://www.excellencephoto.com/wp

Satisfaction

2009-05-02T16:23:00.003-04:00

Hey guys! I wanted to followup with you all and thankyou so much for rushing my 120 MM negatives to digital order. They came out great and I received the original negatives today. I have already worked with the album company to get the layout and they are now pushing it into production- so according to them I will have it in my possession within my needed timeframe. It never would have happened if you all didnt rush your side for me. I am so grateful and appreciative of your efforts! If I ever run into someone who has a similar need or if we ourselves have a similar need in the future I wouldn't even hesitate to pick up the phone and call you all. Your awesome, professional, and do great work. Thanks again!

Best Regards,

Gary Bohm, President
Bohm & Associates

I have this warm feeling inside me.

Swine Flu FAQ - Best to be informed.

2009-04-28T15:52:00.000-04:00

Swine Flu FAQ

What is swine flu?

Like people, pigs can get influenza (flu), but swine flu viruses aren't the same as human flu viruses. Swine flu doesn't often infect people, and the rare human cases that have occurred in the past have mainly affected people who had direct contact with pigs. But the current swine flu outbreak is different. It's caused by a new swine flu virus that has spread from person to person -- and it's happening among people who haven't had any contact with pigs.

What are swine flu symptoms?

Symptoms of swine flu are like regular flu symptoms and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. Those symptoms can also be caused by many other conditions, and that means that you and your doctor can't know, just based on your symptoms, if you've got swine flu. It takes a lab test to tell whether it's swine flu or some other condition.

If I think I have swine flu, what should I do? When should I see my doctor?

If you have flu symptoms, stay home, and when you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue. Afterward, throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands. That will help prevent your flu from spreading.
If you've got flu symptoms, and you've recently been to a high-risk area like Mexico, CDC officials recommend that you see your doctor. If you have flu symptoms but you haven't been in a high-risk area, you can still see a doctor -- that's your call.
Keep in mind that your doctor will not be able to determine whether you have swine flu, but he or she would take a sample from you and send it to a state health department lab for testing to see if it's swine flu. If your doctor suspects swine flu, he or she would be able to write you a prescription for Tamiflu or Relenza. Those drugs may not be required; U.S. swine flu patients have made a full recovery without it.

How does swine flu spread? Is it airborne?

The new swine flu virus apparently spreads just like regular flu. You could pick up germs directly from an infected person, or by touching an object they recently touched, and then touching your eyes, mouth, or nose, delivering their germs for your own infection. That's why you should make washing your hands a habit, even when you're not ill. Infected people can start spreading flu germs up to a day before symptoms start, and for up to seven days after getting sick, according to the CDC.
The swine flu virus can become airborne if you cough or sneeze without covering your nose and mouth, sending germs into the air.
The U.S. residents infected with swine flu virus had no direct contact with pigs. The CDC says it's likely that the infections represent widely separated cycles of human-to-human infections.

How is swine flu treated?

The new swine flu virus is sensitive to the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza. The CDC recommends those drugs to prevent or treat swine flu; the drugs are most effective when taken within 48 hours of the start of flu symptoms. But not everyone needs those drugs; many of the first people in the U.S. with lab-confirmed swine flu recovered without treatment. The Department of Homeland Security has released 25% of its stockpile of Tamiflu and Relenza to states. Health officials have asked people not to hoard Tamiflu or Relenza.

Is there a vaccine against the new swine flu virus?

No. But the CDC and the World Health Organization are already taking the first steps toward making such a vaccine. That's a lengthy process -- it takes months.

I had a flu vaccine this season. Am I protected against swine flu?

No. This season's flu vaccine wasn't made with the new swine flu virus in mind; no one saw this virus coming ahead of time.
If you were vaccinated against flu last fall or winter, that vaccination will go a long way toward protecting you against certain human flu virus strains. But the new swine flu virus is a whole other problem.

How can I prevent swine flu infection?

The CDC recommends taking these steps:

Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Or use an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
Avoid close contact with sick people.
Avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

Can I still eat pork?

Yes. You can't get swine flu by eating pork, bacon, or other foods that come from pigs.

What else should I be doing?

Keep informed of what's going on in your community. Your state and local health departments may have important information if swine flu develops in your area. For instance, parents might want to consider what they would do if their child's school temporarily closed because of flu. That happened in New York City, where St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens closed for a couple of days after eight students were found to have swine flu. Don't panic, but a little planning wouldn't hurt.

How severe is swine flu?

The severity of cases in the current swine flu outbreak has varied widely. In Mexico, there have been deaths and other severe cases. Early cases in the U.S. have been mild. But that could change. The virus itself could change, either becoming more or less dangerous. Scientists are watching closely to see which way the new swine flu virus is heading -- but health experts warn that flu viruses are notoriously hard to predict, as far as how and when they'll change.

Why has the swine flu infection been deadlier in Mexico than in the U.S.?

It is unclear why U.S. cases have been milder compared to those in Mexico. Among the first 20 reported cases in the U.S., only one patient required hospitalization and that person has fully recovered. CDC researchers are actively investigating to learn more about the differences between the cases in Mexico and those in the U.S.

Have there been previous swine flu oubtreaks?

Yes. There was a swine flu outbreak at Fort Dix, N.J., in 1976 among military recruits. It lasted about a month and then went away as mysteriously as it appeared. As many as 240 people were infected; one died.
The swine flu that spread at Fort Dix was the H1N1 strain. That's the same flu strain that caused the disastrous flu pandemic of 1918-1919, resulting in tens of millions of deaths.
Concern that a new H1N1 pandemic might return in winter 1976 led to a crash program to create a vaccine and vaccinate all Americans against swine flu. That vaccine program ran into all kinds of problems -- not the least of which was public perception that the vaccine caused excessive rates of dangerous reactions. After more than 40 million people were vaccinated, the effort was abandoned.
As it turned out, there was no swine flu epidemic.

I was vaccinated against the 1976 swine flu virus. Am I still protected?

Probably not. The new swine flu virus is different from the 1976 virus. And it's not clear whether a vaccine given more than 30 years ago would still be effective.

How many people have swine flu?

That's a hard question to answer, because the figure is changing so quickly. If you want to keep track of U.S. cases that have been confirmed by lab tests and reported to the CDC, check the CDC's web site. If you're looking for cases in other countries, visit the World Health Organization's web site. And when you hear about large numbers of people who are ill, remember that lab tests may not yet have been done to confirm that they have swine flu. And there may be a little lag time before confirmed cases make it into the official tally.

How serious is the public health threat of a swine flu epidemic?

The U.S. government has declared swine flu to be a public health emergency.
It remains to be seen how severe swine flu will be in the U.S. and elsewhere, but countries worldwide are monitoring the situation closely and preparing for the possibility of a pandemic.
The World Health Organization has not declared swine flu to be a pandemic. The WHO wants to learn more about the virus first and see how severe it is and how deeply it takes root.
But it takes more than a new virus spreading among humans to make a pandemic. The virus has to be able to spread efficiently from one person to another, and transmission has to be sustained over time. In addition, the virus has to spread geographically.

This is just wierd

2009-04-27T19:20:00.001-04:00

Lazy Sunday

2009-04-26T18:14:00.002-04:00

I spend so much time in front of the computer. It's really nice not feeling guilty just looking at stuff for fun. You see. When you work for yourself, or own your own business there is even more pressure than if you have a job and a boss. The difference is that I am responsible to all our employees. If I fail, then they are out of a job. My family suffers and so do my clients.

Anyhow - today I am off!!! Here is a funny video.

Ms Ronald Mcdonald

2009-04-24T19:57:00.002-04:00

I'd buy a Hamburger from her. If I wasn't on a diet.This is kinda weird. Not sure which country, but they dont sell a McGrand at my MC Dees. I watched another few times. Its Japan.

EMBED-Ronald McDonald's Daughter - Watch more free videos

Amazing

2009-04-24T18:10:00.000-04:00

The more I hear Kanye the more I like.

Kanye West ft. Young Jeezy - Amazing from nhh on Vimeo.

Hahhah I love it when my competitors copy me!

2009-04-22T09:28:00.002-04:00

So I was poking around one of the wedding websites looking for a fellow photographers telephone number, when I decided to visit a few of competitors. Understand, that I am really busy. This is the forst time in about 4 years I've done this.

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWO

Everyone has a blog now. Funny thing - most look just like this one!! Theres a saying:

"Imitation is the greatest form of flattery"

Well this blog has now become mainstream. That is one of the reasons I am switching to my new site. It will have all the advantages of this blog +++++++++ plus super search and reference capabilities, plus dirtect uploads for photos and video.

For example: How many times have you looked at a cool shot and wondered?? Where is that taken?? Well now I will label each photo with a tag.

Living in Thornhill

2009-04-22T07:43:00.002-04:00

Living in Thornhill is a sort of likw living in a bubble. This video is a perfect example

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

New Site is coming along.

2009-04-20T15:58:00.003-04:00

Today I really realized how much I rely on the Excellence Photo website. I was meeting with a bride and here lovely mom, when I wanted to show examples of photos I have taken at Mississauga Convention Center. Well, since the site is basically down there is no access to the couples pages. After 10 minutes of fiddling around I found these links.

http://www.excellencephoto.com/2009site/Couples/2009/

http://www.excellencephoto.com/2006site/couples/

By clicking on these links you will be able to click through a bunch of couples website. Later tonight I hope to have the "New" Couples page working on the new site.

This is sooooo true!!

2009-04-17T19:45:00.001-04:00

An old man wearing a VFW hat walked up to the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he’d been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the Marine standing guard and said, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”

The Marine replied, “Sir, President Bush is no longer in office. He doesn’t live here anymore.”

The old man said, “Okay,” and walked away.

The following day, the very same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”

The Marine once again told the veteran, respectfully, “Sir, as I said yesterday, President Bush is no longer in office and doesn’t live here anymore.”

The man thanked him and again walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same Marine, saying “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”

The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, “Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to President Bush. I’ve told you already that he is no longer in office. He’s never coming back. Don’t you understand?”

The old veteran answered him, “Oh, I understand perfectly. It just makes me so happy to hear it — he didn’t attend the funeral of a single Marine killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, you know.”

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, “Sir, see you tomorrow, sir!”

Working on the new site

2009-04-15T20:02:00.002-04:00

So I've decided that since soooooooooooooooooo many people have been asking about the new site, that I would involve you all in the development. When you consider the Excellence site is would be nothing without my couples, it makes sense~!

If you have any suggestion post a comment on the site. As you will notice right away the site is set up as a blog style site. This is likely to mean the end to this particular blog --- boo hoo. I've been posting here since 2005.

Here is the link to the new site.

http://www.excellencephoto.com/wp/

This freaks me out

2009-04-06T22:28:00.001-04:00

Pop Corn téléphone portable micro-ondes
by sassiere

Quality DOES matter

2009-04-06T09:45:00.002-04:00

Oooohhh did I get upset this morning. I stopped in the studio to pick up a computer part, and Aaron (THM Sales Manager) had someone on the phone. (Actually that made me happy as he was 30 minutes early for work - ON A MONDAY!! and Already following up leads)

Anyhow, the lead has 1000 photos to be scanned. We charge about $500 or approx .50 per scan. The customer goes on to explain that this is wayyyyy over priced, she found a company on the internet charging .07 cent or about $70 for the exact same thing.

What upset me was Aaron told OK have a nice day.
What really upset me was that the customer really was not informed and based her decision solely on price. Of course, Aaron's mistake was thinking well we can't compete on price so why bother??

Here is the point of my blog today.

Quality vs Price

Using the above example:

Here is what you get for 0.07 per scan

a low quality 600 dpi scan
NO colour correct
No Cropping
No cleaning
They ship by Canada Post

Here is what you get for .50 cents a scan

a high quality 2400 dpi scan
Professional colour correction of EVERY photo by a dedicated editor
Cropping of EVERY photo by a dedicated editor
Cleaningof EVERY photo by a dediced editor
Guarantees shipping using UPS and Fedex with tracking numbers.

With over 1000 scans a day, I we have already made all the mistakes. (Yea sound bad, but true!) For example. We will never ship Canada Post again unless a customer signs a waiver. Why? Because 3 years ago they "misplaced 13 packages. They all eventually arrived. Last year they only "misplaced 6" and this year -- with a waiver, it took them 5 weeks to deliver Toronto to Edmonton. After 4 weeks a rep from Canada post offered us a lost compensation incurance of $100. I told him if they didnt find the package I would contact every manager and minister and let them know how they had lost one of my customers memories for ever!!

Sorry I'm ranting today.

Long story short. You get what you paid for. If you are a bride and you hire a photographer for $2000 don't expect Excellence Photography. Expect a hack. Expect missing moments, lighting problems, no concept of colour, or composition. Expect the photo on a disk not in order of the day, expect that the quality of the photos will match the $500 camera and $75 lense they bought at Costco. Oh and expect those photo 9 months after your wedding.

Of course, that is if quality is not important to you.

Happy Monday

Have fun!!

2009-03-26T09:41:00.003-04:00

One of the coolest brides I have ever had the pleasure to shoot is Samantha from Ft. Lauderdale Florida.

Her attitude on the day of the wedding can me quickly summed up in one photo.

Everything is amazing, nobody is happy...

2009-03-22T09:43:00.001-04:00

Kinda makes you think. How many things do we take for granted?? How about all those photographers that have never had to meter a shot?

We scanned over 5000 images at THM last week. Everyday people took those photos. You know? They know more about photography than a majority of the digital photographers today.

The reason?

In the old days cameras were manual. You had set the exposure, set the focus and the shutter speed. Imagine you have to change the film every 12 shots!!!!

Bad dreams - can't sleep

2009-03-15T11:02:00.004-04:00

Having a hell of a time sleeping lately. So I find myslef staring at the ceiling. Last night I tried thinking great thoughts and guess what NO nightmares.

It makes sense.

If you go to sleep thinking about your troubles they are much more likely to encroach on you sub conscience.

My theme for last night was: Amazing Events in my life.

Standing on the stage in Scarborough wining Individual Contra Bass for the first time
Wedding day
Both boys being born
Hearing my voice the radio
Being on tv
Performing on the field at Skydome (Toronto), Giants stadium (New Jersey), Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabam and about 50 other stadiums I can t remember - buffalo, Dallas, Allen town, Madison, etc
My first wedding as a photographer.

Memories!!

2009-03-14T12:27:00.002-04:00

When I was growing up there was no such thing as a PlayStation or wii. This is now on my list of toys that I want!!

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?whse=BCCA&topnav=&prodid=10304101&ec=BCCA-EC780-CatHome&pos=21&lang=en-CA#

Boy Im having FUUNN

2009-03-12T13:29:00.003-04:00

I know work is supposed to be -- well work. But today I am having so much fun. I changed the sound that my computer makes to http://funandmagic.com/sounds/frknmail.wav

I know its really childish but each time I finish a photo and export I get one of these sounds

http://www.fart-sounds.net/fart_sound_board.htm

Twitter

2009-03-09T12:30:00.003-04:00

I've been using Twitter to update my site daily for a few months now. Love the new feature I can use with my iphone.

I took this at my gym. It updates on twitter, adds it to my facebook account all at the same time!!