I love hearing all of the incredibly unique and sweet ways our photographers go the extra mile for their brides. Some stay for more time than they were contracted for. Some manage to print an 11×14 in between the ceremony and reception to display (the guests find this to be quite “magical”). Some deliver “proofs” on iPods. I’ve even heard stories of photographers who have saved the day by sending their assistants out to buy more ice, a new pair of pantyhose for the mother of the bride and even one who “accidentally” (at the request of the bride) knocked a glass of wine on to an all too-revealing Mother of the Bride’s dress.

These stories are what create word of mouth advertising. Going out of your way for your brides takes creativity, drive and effort but it is well worth it when they start telling their friends about your excellent service.

I saw these fun portraits on the Wedding Chicks Blog and thought I would share them with you. PhunkLab is an awesome company you can order from via their store on Etsy (if you’ve never used Etsy before, don’t start until you’ve got some free time on your hands – it’s addictive!). They take an image (I’m thinking, first dance portrait would be fun) and turn them into unique, modern works of art. They’ll design and print for you or you can purchase just the design from them and have it printed here at Fotoworks PRO or from the amazing canvas masters at Simply Canvas.

What ways do you go above and beyond for your brides? Do you add anything extra after the wedding as a “thank you” for them choosing you? Share with our community of PROs by leaving a comment below.

It’s a beautiful day here in Orange County, CA and we hope you’re enjoying your day as much as we are here at Fotoworks Pro.

All the Best,

Katie Johnson

We had a few reports of errors when installing ROES. Softworks, the developer of ROES, has a few troubleshooting tips posted on their website. We gathered the information and posted it here. Please give us detailed feedback of any problems or issues. We will address them immediately.

Mac OS 10.5 Leopard Startup Error ‘Failed to validate certificate’ error
A ‘Failed to validate certificate’ error has shown up on 10.5 systems upgraded from 10.4, particularly on the Core 2 Duo systems that recently got Java 1.6 into Leopard via Software Update.

To resolve these startup errors, using Finder go into Java Preferences (open Finder, select Applications, the Utilities folder, the Java folder, then open Java Preferences.app) and look on the first tab under the Java Application Runtime Settings.

The Java versions loaded will all be listed to the left, and what we have found is that J2SE 1.4.2, the oldest version, is listed first.  Drag and drop the higher Java versions so they display in descending order, starting with Java/J2SE 6 64 bit (if present, otherwise just Java/J2SE 6), then J2SE 6, the 5.0, then 1.4.2.  Once arranged, click Save and ROES should open fine from the shortcut or lab web link.

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Startup Error ‘Illegal Argument Exception’
The Leopard OS and Java updates to it have caused an Illegal Argument Exception error to come up at startup on systems that have run the program before.

The common denominator seems to be the moving of the desktop icon to the dock or into an Applications folder from the desktop.  The safest steps to resolve this are to clear the Temporary Internet Files from Java and delete the shortcuts from the dock or Applications folder to get everything cleared.  To clear the Java Temporary Internet Files, open Finder and go to Applications – Utilities – Java and open Java Preferences.app.  At the bottom of the first tab there will be either a Delete Files button (click and click OK through to clear the applications/applets) or a Settings button (click Settings then Delete Files in the new window).

Windows ROES Launch Errors
We have had a number of reports from different labs seeing this error at startup:

java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.softworks.roes.app.ROESApp

at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(Unknown Source)

at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)

at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)

at com.sun.jnlp.JNLPClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)

at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)

at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)

at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.doLaunchApp(Unknown Source)

at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.run(Unknown Source)

at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

In each case clearing the Temporary Internet Files from Java Control Panel worked, as follows:

Open Windows Control Panel, then double-click Java in the list to get the Java Control Panel
Click Settings… in Temporary Internet Files at the bottom of the General tab
Click Delete Files…
Click OK at the prompt to remove all applets and applications, etc.
Click OK to exit out of Java Control Panel

Start ROES from the lab web site link

Apple 10.4 ROES Launch Issues
Apple released a Java update for the OS X 10.4 operating system this morning.  After performing the update desktop or application shortcuts failed to successfully launch the ROES client.  In our testing no error messages were received, just a couple of bounces of the application icon in the dock followed by zero activity.

Have your customers perform the following steps to correct the problem:

1) Using the Finder go to Applications, Utilities, Java and launch Java Web Start.  This should open the Java Application Cache Viewer window.

2) In the Application Cache Viewer window highlight your labs ROES application.  CTRL-Click on it or select the Application pull down from along the top of the screen and select “Remove Desktop Application”.

3) CTRL-Click on it or select the Application pull down again and select “Create Desktop Application”.  Set the name and location and select OK.

ROES should now be able to launch using the newly created desktop application shortcut.

SoftWorks Systems Team

MAC OS X 10.5 Leopard Compatibility
We have had several reports of startup issues with MAC OS X 10.5 Leopard that came out last Friday.  Apple integrated a later version of Java 1.5, the same base Java that was in 10.4, into Leopard.

We issued an update for the ROES Client when Leopard first became available for a few minor appearance and function issues we found, however the program is working fine from what we have seen.  Our testing involved a fresh install of the OS from the retail DVD, an upgrade from 10.4 using the Apple Developer release via download, and an upgrade from 10.4 using the retail DVD.

The fresh install to a clean disk ROES works fine as each initial attempt was a fresh startup from a web link.  We have uncovered an issue with the upgrade installs when using the shortcuts from 10.4.  It appears that the saved desktop shortcuts do not appear to be linked properly to the older Java cache from 10.4, and clicking them does not start anything.  However, we were able to start ROES using the Java cache window, where the launch of the saved application was treated as a fresh start – downloading the ROES files and then running as normal.  This can be found by going into Finder, selecting Applications, then Utilities, then Java, and opening the Java Web Start app.

Using the Java Web Start to launch ROES appeared to re-link the Java cache, as the old shortcuts worked again after the application had been run once from the cache window.  We will continue to test the ROES Client in OS X 10.5 to look for any other issues.

The ROES Retail applet and ROES Stand Alone Server also are working as expected, for the ROES Stand Alone Server the same method of startup (using Java Web Start) is advised, with the saved shortcut from 10.4 responding again after the initial launch from the application cache.

We have not encountered any OS-level errors like a few reports have mentioned, where the startup fails and generates a report that can be sent to Apple.  If these should still occur launching from Java Web Start, we advise the users to re-install the 10.5 upgrade, as something is failing at the operating system level that shouldn’t.

SoftWorks Systems Team