At last, the calm after the storm.

Yes, it's beautifully calm here after the high winds, but that's not what the title refers to.  Now that all the ordered canvases and subsequent orders have been completed and delivered, I can relax, at least a bit.

I ordered a canvas yesterday for a woman who sent us a very poor quality shot that she wanted to have printed on a 30 x 20 canvas, and discovered that Cool4Cards our usual printer had upped his price by 49% to £26.00 from £17.49.  I had completed the order before I noticed the price.  This £8.51 extra doesn't seem like a lot but it will cut into our profits quite a bit in future.  For example, we charged £39.95 to sort out the poor photo and get it printed.  This leaves only £13.95 profit for at least 3 hours work for Luke and me.  Not a great profit.

There are several canvas printers on ebay varying from £ 15.99 to £26.99 for 30 x 20, (C4C now being the second highest). The median of seven is £19.99 and the mean is £19.90 (no mode).

We will have to decide on what to do about this unexpected hike in our current suppliers charges.  Possibilities include
1. Change nothing, wait and see if this is just for Christmas business
2. Increase our prices to include the increase in costs
3. Increase our prices to partially include the increase in costs
4. Use a cheaper supplier

In the meantime, until a decision has been reached, the prices on the website will remain the same.  There are possibly another two or three potential orders for canvases of people's own photos - all wanted for Christmas, of course, and we will have to stand by our quoted prices.

Nothing much happening in photography

January has been a dismal month - heavy cloud, rain and wind.  I haven't done much photography other than to take a shot of the castle reflected in a large puddle in front of the church gates.  As this puddle will disappear shortly beneath a coating of tarmac, I put the photo on the back of the February newsletter.  Came out reasonably well, considering it was printed on pale blue paper.

I had hoped for snow to photograph, but nothing here in the village yet.  When we went up to Stanhope yesterday, we could see the Weardale hilltops were well covered, so probably the villages in upper Weardale would also have some snow.  Still February still to come, so maybe there's still a chance.