Millers Blog

July 2008 - Posts

• Winners Crowned!

  With thousands upon thousands of beautiful images entered into the Miller’s 2008 Baby & Child Contest, we wondered if we’d ever be able to narrow the entries down and crown just one Grand Prize winner. Well, thanks to you, plus our panel of esteemed judges, the 2008 Baby & Child Contest winners have been named! Each winner has received a studio sample of their image, and we’ll now be giving cash prizes to the families of the winning portraits. Congratulations to this year's winners and thanks to all who participated!    View the Grand Prize Winner below.  To see all winners, click here.    Grand Prize:  $5,000 Winner Stickin’ Together by Photography by Lori   Posted Jul 30 2008, 04:50 PM by Julie Brown with no comments Filed under: Baby child contest

• A Photo Challenge

  "Photo Challenges" seem to be one of the more popular types of things on various photo forums that I read sporadically. With that in mind, I post my own challenge to each of you here.  I'm betting that most of you haven't had a family portrait taken in years.  You spend your time taking the pictures.  Who would you trust to take yours?  When would you have time to do that?  Plus it's probably uncomfortable for you to be on the other side of the camera. Even worse, when you have family and friends together for the holidays or just for fun, you're probably the one behind the camera then too.  You have plenty of pictures of everyone else, probably plenty of pictures of you holding a camera, but not very many (if any) recent photos of yourself simply enjoying life. My challenge, then, is to make an appointment with a competitor in your area and go have a family portrait or other session done.  Will result in memories for you and be a reminder as to how your customers feel going through that process. If not that, give the camera to someone else at the next birthday or holiday and sit there and smile and laugh while they take your picture a few times. Looking back, you'll be glad you did and so will your loved ones.   Posted Jul 30 2008, 10:26 AM by Jason Becking with 2 comment(s)

• Charity Winners - Arkansas and Mississippi/Alabama

  We’ve had an eventful last couple of weekends at Miller’s, attending the Arkansas and Mississippi/Alabama state conventions.  We not only displayed many of our new products, like our new Album covers and LayFlat Albums/Press Books, but also handed out $1,000 donations through the Miller’s $100K Charity Program.  Winners included: Arkansas - Sommer Holden from SoHo Photography: Donating $1,000 to Bethlehem House, Inc. Kelly Bittle from kellysphotography:  Donating $1,000 to the Ronald McDonald House Mississippi & Alabama - Goode Dethero of Goode Dethero Fine Art Photography:  Donating $1,000 to Core 104 FM's T.W.L.O.H.A. Benefit Concert Catch up with us in Louisiana on August 3 & 4.  Stacy Butcher and Marsha Thomas will be in booth #17, registering more winners for the Miller’s $100K!  We look forward to seeing you there.   Posted Jul 24 2008, 05:09 PM by Julie Brown with no comments Filed under: Charity

• New & Improved Lustre Coating!

  Starting on Monday, July 28th, Miller’s will be offering a new and improved Lustre Coating that’s not only environmentally-friendly, but also provides superior protection and visibly enhances the look of your prints.   A few details about the new coating… -          While our current Lustre Coating is water-based, the generic description of our new coating is acrylate polymer (within the same family as Plexiglass). -          The coverage and appearance is similar to lacquer, giving it a much richer, glossier sheen than our current coating. -          The coating will be applied with rollers, resulting in a smooth, clean surface. -          Our new coating offers improved protection against fingerprints, UV rays, and typical over-spraying found in home and office environments. -          With no solvents, our new coating is environmentally-friendly. -          It can be used on metallic paper, providing protection without diffusing the 3D effect of the paper.   FAQ's: Q: What’s the difference in the new Lustre Coating versus the old Lustre Coating? A: While our former Lustre Coating provided good protection, it didn’t visibly enhance the images.  Our new Lustre Coating not only provides superior protection, it also adds a rich, enhanced sheen to your prints.   Q: Can I still get the old Lustre Coating? A: No. Our new Lustre Coating formula will be used on all images printed on July 28th and after.   Q: Can I see a sample? A: We are now offering samples of our new Lustre Coating in our Paper/Texture Kits.  Simply log in to the Customer Area, then click on Resources | Supplies - Billable and purchase one for just $10.  Not only will you receive the Lustre Coating sample, but samples of all of our other textures as well. If you're interested in seeing the Lustre Coating only, please contact Customer Service at custserv@millerslab.com.   Q: Is there a price increase for the new formula? A: No. The new coating is available at current Lustre Coating prices.  To view Lustre Coating pricing, click here.   Posted Jul 24 2008, 11:35 AM by Julie Brown with 40 comment(s) Filed under: Finishing Services

• On our way to Arkansas...

  After a brief pause in the season, our convention team will be back in action starting this weekend at the APPA Convention in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Drop by the Miller’s booth to see Randy Rhue, who’ll be showing off all the new products we recently added to Miller’s Remote Suite.  Randy will also be handing out $2,000 through the Miller’s $100K Charity Program.  Register at the Miller’s booth and if your name is drawn, we’ll give you $1,000 to give to your favorite charity in your own name.  To learn more about the APPA Convention, click here.  We look forward to seeing you Arkansas! Posted Jul 11 2008, 11:47 AM by Julie Brown with no comments Filed under: Conventions

• The I Shoot People Tour

  JB & DeEtte Sallee continue to travel across the U.S. and into Canada for the 27-city I Shoot People Tour, sponsored by Miller’s.  With recent stops in L.A. and San Francisco, they’re now headed back east to Salt Lake City and Denver.    Just an FYI, Miller’s will be dropping in on a few cities with many of our new products, and we’d love to see you!  We’ll be in Kansas City, Saint Louis, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Columbus, Little Rock, Jacksonville, Miami, Atlanta, and Oklahoma City.   Be sure to catch up with them (or us) in a city near you.  To learn more or read about the stops along the way, visit the tour website at www.ishootpeopletour.com.    Posted Jul 09 2008, 05:13 PM by Julie Brown with 4 comment(s)

• WOW…

  With Round 4 of the Miller’s Baby & Child Contest now over, we just had to say thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s online contest.  We were amazed by the high level of participation – 10,648 images entered and close to 3,000,000 votes cast – wow!  Now that Round 4 is complete, all eighty qualifying images are being submitted to our esteemed panel of judges.  Together, our panel of renowned photographers will help determine the winners, including the overall Grand Prize winner of the contest.  This year’s judges include: Tom Bagby of Russellville, Arkansas Cary Garrison of Edmond, Oklahoma Jen Hollis of Mission, Texas Susan Michal of Jacksonville, Florida Heidi Miller of Lewiston, California Jacklyn Patterson of Wewoka, Oklahoma Bryan White of Cumming, Georgia We appreciate this group taking time out of their busy schedules to help us crown this year’s winners!  Take a minute to check out the Baby & Child Contest to see what images have qualified for the Final Round, and stay tuned – Final Round winners will be announced by the end of July.   Posted Jul 02 2008, 10:26 AM by Julie Brown with no comments Filed under: Baby child contest