A Close Shave with a Knife

When I shave my face, I tend to use a well used safety razor, in the last two and a half years it's been the Gilette Fusion. But when I recently went to buy a replacement pack, I was shocked and felt that I didn't really want to pay out such a huge amount of money for a pack of blades I was going to end up throwing away in a few months.

Now, I've used the last razor to the point where it basically stopped removing hair and was just combing the hair on my face. I had to resort to the 'evil' electric razor. I charged it up, thought that this would be the new way that I would be shaving from now on... then I found out exactly why I stopped using the damn thing three years ago. It pulled, it scraped and it missed big patches.

When I went to buy replacement blades for my Fusion, I was left with a dilemma. Should I continue to torture myself with the electric razor, buy the hugely expensive replacements, or grow a beard. The last option was quickly taken away by the fact that my fiance would murder me if I grew a full on beard.

That got me thinking, are all of us man being duped into buying flimsy blades under the impression that simply because it vibrates it will shave our face a hell of a lot better. Is a cut throat razor any better, is there a higher quality of shave waiting out there for me?

What is your opinion? I would honestly like to know. Is it worth shelling out more money on a blade that is really worth it - a man's knife?

Business Update: Make Your Own Canvas

It's with great pleasure that I am able to announce that Lux Imaging is now offering an on-demand canvas printing service. We have offered canvas prints through our photographic service for a long time, but now you can use your own photos to create impressive wall art that is contemporary and very affordable!

The canvas prints start at £40 and we are offering free delivery to South Woodham Ferrers and Dengie addresses. As always, we are fully in support of the local area and this is our way of thanking our local customers for choosing our services.

Hand-made in Germany, our canvas prints cannot be faulted for their quality (some canvas print stands are happy to produce expensive yet shoddy canvasses). Instead, we are extremely vigilant with our quality control, and will only allow the very best prints to go to our customers. We're so proud of our quality that we will sign our name to them.

We are able to accept images from emails, SD, XD CompactFlash, Sony Duo cards, CDs or DVDs. Flash USB drives can also be accepted. We will only accept JPG or PNG files and all images should be shot using the 'hi' or 'good' setting on your camera. Generally, a file of 5MB or more will allow you to print all of our sizes.

With professional grade photographic printing experience, Lux Imaging is the best choice for printing your images to canvas. Don't let your photographs hide away on a CD or allow them to get stuck on your computer - free them to burst out from your walls!

Canvasses, especially large ones, make an excellent feature of any room.

Sal Like Elvis Returns to Zara

Again, the awesome talent that is Sal returned for another night of tight leather outfits and great songs from the King.

The audience were treated to the always brilliant food, and sets that kept going and going as Sal fed from the audience's energy. As always, it was difficult to keep up with him, but I'm sure glad I wasn't the one wearing all that leather. The staff, who worked hard to make the evening go as smoothly as possible, were dragged into dancing on many occasions.

Click here to enter gallery

Introducing: Infinite Wedding Photography

It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce the opening of our new service, Infinite Wedding Photography.

I have spent the last 5 years developing a portfolio of weddings, and after my consultations with couples, I believe that I have packages which are both competitive on price, and offer what today's new couples are looking for.

Our approach to weddings is to make the photographer take a step back from being a 'main attraction' at a wedding, to being more about recording the day as it happens.

Focussing on a reportage style, means that we spend more time photographing your guests having a great time, and the couple enjoying their special day. Because of this style, which has become known as bespoke or environmental, we are able to capture images that would otherwise be missed, and give your wedding a more unique feel, rather than seeming to be staged or posed.

The current line up of products include: Infinite DVD slideshow, Infinite Storybook, Canvas wraps, prints with framing options, and the option to have your entire wedding stylised in Lux Imaging's trademark rich black and white.

Prices start from £340.

I feel so deeply lucky to have the chance to witness so many couples tying the knot, and beginning the next chapter in their lives. More than anything, it is wonderful to see true love in their faces.

As you would guess, with any new venture we have a lot of free space on our wedding calendar - we are able to take late bookings for those unlucky to not have found an available photographer.

Captain Kirk Didn't Believe in the No-Win Situation

Captain Kirk did not believe in the no-win situation. I don't either.

In my experience I have learnt to become a professional problem solver. I can look at situations, scratch my chin, look at it a bit different, squint and come up with a solution. I am highly experienced at thinking on my feet.

It is for this reason that I do not believe in the no-win situation.

There are always two outcomes to a problem:

A Solution

Yes, you guessed right. This is the correction you make to fix the problem, sort out the complaint or rectify the error. You spend the time to see what needs to be done, and simply put in your full effort into ensuring that the problem is laid to rest, the customer is happy and you learn never to make that boo boo again.

And that's important. You must learn from these mistakes. Otherwise, what started out as an excusable human error becomes incompetence. Nobody likes a service that cannot run smoothly and that is run by idiots.

Do the smart thing: fix it, don't repeat it.

An Alternative

Now, this is how we get rid of the no-win situation. Because you can win.

If the solution to the actual problem simply does not exist, if it is not within your physical ability to resolve the situation then it is time to offer the customer, or bring to the table: the alternative.

In the case of a customer, we are talking about gestures of goodwill, complimentary upgrades, money off, anything you can do to make the customer happy in a totally different way. If you have hit a roadblock, then this is the perfect opportunity to offer excellent customer service.

Should the world be falling apart, then you should offer a way to bypass the actual problem. You are faced with a fallen tree in the road, but there is an unbeaten goat track leading off through the trees that leads to the same destination - take the damn goat track!

If you're staff say there is no way out, if you hear your family say that there is nothing you can do - find the alternative.

Try and think of a few no-win situations right now: how did you become Captain Kirk?

Gary King Tribute

Lux Imaging attended the Gary King Night of Swing at Zara in Mayland last night. As always, it was a fantastic show with awesome indian cuisine. Some of the regular posers returned, and only added to the great atmosphere.

Prints of the images from last night are available in 6x4 (£5.00), 9x6 (£7.00) and 12x8 (£10.00). An additional charge of £1.50 will be added for postage and packaging. A number of framing options are available, please speak to us to discuss this.

Gary King Night of Swing

Sal Like Elvis Gallery

The gallery is now ready for viewing by all. You are free to browse the gallery, but if you wish to receive a print then please do email thatsme@luximaging.co.uk choosing either 6x4, 9x6 or 8x12 as your desired size and we will be happy to reply with a price.

Sal is a hugely successful Elvis impersonator, and has had numerous television appearances. His vocal talents do the songs he sings justice, and it is all in the spirit of remembering the King.