One of the most challenging aspects of designing ponds and waterfalls is trying to convey my ideas to my client. Coming up with award-winning pond designs or implementing them using adequate skills and experience is not a problem.

My challenge is getting my client to see what I see. Drawing and painting are not my forte; it is next to impossible for me to draw a rock, not to mention water. The hardest part for me is drawing perspective. Prior to discovering the art of digital design my most common phrase used was, “Just trust me.” Wait till your pond and waterfall is finished, I promise you’ll like it.

Unfortunately, “trust me” are the most common two words spoken by used car salesmen! Thank goodness that most of my clients were referrals from other satisfied customers and already knew what I was capable of creating.

A few years ago, I discovered a computer program called “Photoshop” and realized I could use it to create virtual photos of water features. I learned how to cut an item from one picture and paste it into another. Actually, that was nothing new for me since I did that in third grade. It’s called cut and paste. Only now I’m using a mouse instead of rounded scissors and edible white paste. (I hear the manufactures are adding vitamins to it now.

I started out scanning dozens of photographs into “Photoshop,” which converted them into a digital image capable of being manipulated in hundreds or thousands of ways. The Photoshop program has a large learning curve, especially for someone who is unfamiliar with graphic design techniques, so I started searching for a solution for my pond design department.

DIGITIZING PHOTOS

Microsoft has developed a user-friendly software (small learning curve) for working with photographs.

They can be scanned into the program or digital photos from a digital camera can be downloaded into the program. Then each picture can be enhanced through a variety of processes such as brightness, contrast, blur, tint, etc., all with a simple click of the mouse.

Once the photo is finished, I can then cut out objects from the picture, such as rocks, groups of rocks, plants, or portions of the waterfall and pond. Which I did from several thousand photos of waterfalls and ponds I have constructed over the past 26 years.

I gathered these jpg images into an indexed library. Using this process with pictures from hundreds of my projects, I was able to build a substantial library of objects for pasting into the “before” photo of a client’s yard for a pond design.

Now I can take a digital picture of someone’s yard and download it into Microsoft’s “Digital Image Suite ” program. (This is not an endorsement, it just happens to be the product I use. I do not sell Microsoft products and have no investments in the company) Next, by dragging various items from my library, I can construct a waterfall and pond of any shape, size or configuration onto that picture.

So thanks to the arrival of the digital age, I can construct on paper a virtual image or idea that was in my head. As a result, my clients can see exactly what their pond and waterfall will look like when finished. Now a pond design takes only minutes.

Whether you are building a waterfall and pond for yourself or for a customer a pond design or waterfall design can be a marvelous thing. Simply marvelous! Happy koi, Peace & Joy.

For more details on digital design, read Koi Pond: Digital Masterpieces-Virtual Water Features Part II

TRICKS I’VE LEARNED In creating a pond design digitally, you first need a digital photo of the area (5 Mega pixels min.) Next load it into your digital imaging program. Now you are ready. Many graphic or photo software programs such as PhotoShop and Microsoft’s Digital Image Pro, will let you manipulate an object.

For example, each individual object that is dragged to the work space is surrounded by a “bounding” box with nodes on the sides and corners of the box. By clicking on a corner node and holding down the mouse, you can drag the corner to make the object larger or smaller. By clicking on the side node you can make the object in the box fatter or taller.

With this feature alone you can totally disguise any object, be it a rock or plant, by changing its dimensions. Just by dragging a rock to the work space, copying and pasting it several times, you can change the shape of each copy of the original object. Not only can you make the rock wider, taller, flatter, larger, or smaller, you can also warp the shape, change the color, shade it or tint it.

So with only a handful of rocks on the work space, you could create a veritable rock quarry! By dragging the nodes in a section of pond water, you can make the water fit any size pond by stretching or narrowing it. Need a couple more weirs in your waterfalls? A few more plants in the pond? A cat, a tree, a rock, bench, gazebo, bridge, stream? Just click and drag & paste, it’s that simple.

Right after seeing the virtual photograph of his back yard, a homeowner exclaimed, “Let’s do it.” Not, how much will it cost, just “Let’s do it.” Another client joked, “Wow, this is so beautiful, I think instead of you building the waterfall, I’ll just have this enlarged and pasted on our living room window!”Not only do I charge $350 per pond design photo, I recently increased my construction prices by 30 percent. And since implementing digital pond designs in my bids, my closing ratio on signed contracts has soared from 60% to 80%.

Eight out of ten proposals/contracts come back signed with a deposit check enclosed. Not to mention an additional $350.00 value added, for a digital pond design. Let’s face it: people like to see what they are getting before they hand over their hard earned money.

MAKING THE SALE If you are a contractor or pond builder, constructing ponds and waterfalls for a living, you must ask yourself, “Do I want to increase my income by 15 to 20 percent? If the answer is yes, then you need to start providing your clients with a digital pond design. When I meet with my client for the first time to survey their yard, I ask several important questions:

1. Where do you spend most of your time when you are inside the house? Ninety percent of the time the answer is, the living room.

2. Where do you spend most of your time when you are outside? That answer is usually the patio.

By establishing these facts up front, you can explain that the waterfall and pond location needs to be nearby the place where they spend the majority of their time. For example, outside the living room window or slider and near the patio. If their waterfall and pond are located in the back corner of their property, the only time they will enjoy it is if they make an effort to go out to where it is. Once these issues are settled you now know where to take the picture. It is best to do a pond design in the place where it will end up being built.

The next step is to explain that I take a digital picture of the area and create a virtual photo of the proposed waterfall and pond. In the event the client decides to proceed with the project, I deduct the $350 charge from their contract. If the cost is approached in this way, you will rarely receive a “no” when your prospective client is deciding what to do. In addition, I mention to the client that if they decide to get other bids, they will have the photo which will allow them to compare apples to apples when getting the other bids.

A virtual photo of a digital pond design is to a waterfall and pond builder as is a movie preview trailers is to the motion picture industry. While visiting the Macintosh dealer in San Diego, I was asked to observe the quality of the Power Mac’s processor. The Apple representative played a trailer from the movie “Winged Migration.” This clip was designed to play on the average Windows screen in a 3″ x 3″ window. He played it on the Power Mac’s 23″ screen at “full screen” size. The result of this single visual presentation was my verbal response: “I’ll take it,” not “How much?” ( This is not an endorsement of Apple products. I do not market Apple products, nor do I have investments in the company)Disclaimer: My sales success rate of more than 80 percent is not solely the result of using virtual photos. I have been designing and constructing waterfalls and ponds for over twenty six years, well over 1,900 projects. However, it is obvious that this innovation can greatly enhance the success of any business, no matter how young.

Recently I did a “cut and paste” job of an object that one of my clients recognized her cat in a digital virtual photo displayed on our website. This client called me and couldn’t figure out what her cat was doing at someone else’s pond staring down at the koi fish. She was completely dumbfounded, but like I was saying, you can cut and paste anything anywhere in the digital world.

WHEN CAN I START? Waterfalls and ponds are becoming a common addition to current landscape designs, with the projected future trends being even more promising. The digital age is upon us and we have the perfect product to utilize this technology. So get ready to give your computer a tune-up and let’s get started!Happy Koi, Peace & Joy.

There are many different vintage dolls that can be collected. Of these dolls a vintage Barbie doll is a prize that is looked for by enthusiasts and collectors alike. The vintage Barbie doll is made so that it looks like the early Barbie of the 1950s to the 1960s. While the materials that are used are of the highest safety quality, the style of the doll is to look like the early dolls. In addition to these types of vintage dolls there are ones that have been collected by during this period of time.

Most of the vintage Barbie dolls are Caucasian dolls. They also have the traditional side slanting eyes that were a period feature of the Barbie dolls of that era. The hair of the vintage Barbie dolls are done up in a signature topknot ponytail. The other significant feature that you will find in these dolls is the color of their hair. While most Barbie dolls today have different shades of blonde hair and in varying lengths, the Barbie dolls of yesteryear have only tow colors you can select from.

These are a brunette topknot Barbie doll or a blonde haired Barbie doll. The clothing of the vintage Barbie doll will usually be that of her traditional black and white zebra striped swimsuit. Other dolls from this period of time will have clothes that depict the fashions of those years. Each of these many vintage Barbie dolls is dressed in fabulous clothes. the material which is used are shaped into clothing which is elegant and faithfully follows the styles of the time period on which each of these dolls are based.

While collectors will love to buy a vintage Barbie doll the forty fifth birthday Ken doll is one that is a good collected too. You will find that even though this Ken doll is a reproduction it is still housed in a quality packaging. While you may want to show this vintage Ken off you will need to use a strong support stand as the doll will not stand by itself.

The other thing that you can use with almost all of the vintage Barbie dolls is a booklet. This booklet will show you all of the dolls and accessories which are part of this collection. For the fans of Barbie dolls the vintage Barbie dolls collection is one that should be looked at in order to find the ones you want to have in your collection.

While it used to be enough just have any kind of baby car seat, there now are specific features that every car seat should have. After all, the most important thing in many peopleโ€™s lives is their baby. So why not keep them as safe as possible?

When shopping for a baby car seat, you will find hundreds of thousands of models and brands to choose from. It can be complicated and almost discouraging shopping for one without knowing what to look for. Luckily, there are some specific features that can help you make the right decision.

The first feature to look for is a 5-point harness. Within the market you will find two different kinds of seats, a 3-point harness and a 5-point harness. A 5-point harness is an upgrade and will secure your baby a little better than the 3-point harness. Not only will it secure your baby better, but it will provide more of a protection against ejection.

The next feature that is a must is some kind of head protection. All baby car seats should have some kind of head protection today, but the amount of protection provided depends on the seat. Increased impact will help provide extra safety when it comes to side-impact crashes. One of the better kinds of head protection you will find on the market today is a layer of EPS foam or something similar.

You will see that most car seats have a metal locking clip on them. The reason for this is to ensure that the seatbelt holding the seat in place does not loosen during the car ride. The problem is that many parents do not know how to properly use this clip. If you can find a car seat with a built-in locking clip, it is much easier to use and will provide a tight grip keeping your child safe.

Speaking of clips, a two-piece chest clip is much safer than a one-piece clip that is found on most generic baby car seats. A two-piece will help minimize the possibility of ejection during a crash when it is used properly. Having a two-piece clip also makes it harder for the baby to reach their chest, thus eliminating the chance of them loosening it.

The last thing you will want to look at prior to purchasing your car seat is what kind of seatbelt system your car has. Some car seats have several different seatbelt installation options while others have just what your car has to offer. Therefore, know what system your car has so that you can look for a car seat that is compatible with that system.