Making it right

I had a terrific thing happen this week: A client complained about the quality of her prints! I'm thrilled! I'm serious: I'm really stoked!

This may sound odd, or you may think that it's a trick, but it's not: the prints simply weren't good enough. So why am I so pleased?

A little background: when I first got into professional photography, someone asked me, "So you're a photographer: are you cheap?" That's not my first priority. I'm not going to compete on price (although my prices are reasonable, I can't beat Wal-Mart): I am going to compete on quality. I want everything -- everything -- that comes from me to breathe quality.

Every image gets reviewed and enhanced before I release it. We've picked labs that put out top-quality prints. Our albums come from different vendors, all leaders in their field. The slideshows we create are meant to be top-notch.

I know that sounds cliche, but my passion is creating incredible images. Some of them are family heirlooms and treasured memories; I don't take that lightly.

So when my customer called me to complain, it proved to me that she gets it! She knows that I'm not happy until those photos are superb. As it turns out in her case, a bad color setting in the order threw off the colors and exposure of her prints; a replacement order was immediately sent to her.

I'm a happy camper.