“Alien Ears” Ruining Your Photos?

alien ears

How many times have you had an otherwise good photo portrait ruined because your subjects ears glowed like something from Star Trek?

This is caused by having a light source behind your subject’s head that illuminates the backs of their ears.  Since this tissue is very thin and translucent, the ears appear to glow.  In extreme cases they can even look like they are separate from the head.

If you’re good with Photoshop or some other photo editing software, they you can “fix it in the mix”.

A simpler, quicker, and fool proof fix is to affix small pieces of gaffers tape to the backs of the subjects ears before shooting.  This will allow you to have a strong light source from behind, but now the ears won’t glow.

Gaffers tape is safe for short term skin exposure and can be removed without leaving sticky residue behind.

TheTapeworks.com is your “go to” site for gaffers tape, ProCell batteries, tie line, extension cords and lots more “satisfaction guaranteed” production expendables.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Need Quick Drying Paint? Try Gaffers Tape!

Last minute touch up painting on a stage or set can be a big problem. Being forced to take the time for paint to dry can bring an entire production to a screeching halt.

Using a hair dryer to dry paint can lead to blistering and discoloration and waiting for something to air dry so that it can be touched can seem like it takes an eternity.

Gaffers tape to the rescue?

Think of the twenty available colors of gaffers tape as “dry paint”. You can quickly cover an area needing paint with tape and it can be instantly handled. Color matching is easy and gaffers tape can be cut to whatever size you need to complete the repair.

Once your work is finished, the tape can be removed without damaging the underlying surface or leaving messy adhesive residue.

Oh, and I almost forgot “no messy brushes to clean“!

TheTapeworks.com is your “go to” site for gaffers tape, ProCell batteries, tie line, extension cords and lots more “satisfaction guaranteed” production expendables.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

UPS Steps Up Its Game

In an obvious attempt to take on new services by Amazon and the US Postal Service, UPS is now offering Saturday delivery at regular ground shipping rates on Saturdays.

Now that Amazon is operating its own fleet of delivery vans, UPS has lost a considerable amount of business to this new service.

Expanded delivery service by the Post Office, including Saturday and even Sunday delivery of parcels and first class mail has also eaten into UPS’s share of the parcel delivery business.

As of now, this service is available in only about 40 municipal areas, but, if successful, don’t be surprised if it is rolled out on a nationwide basis.

This means that you can now include Saturdays when counting the number of days before your ground shipment is delivered.

Not only are ground rates now offered for this service, there is no longer an additional fee for Saturday service.

Our order takers can help you understand when you should expect to see your order.

TheTapeworks.com is your “go to” site for gaffers tape, ProCell batteries, tie line, extension cords and lots more “satisfaction guaranteed” production expendables.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Go Big Or Go Home!

We’ve been big on duct tape for years (decades really), but a recent gift from one of our suppliers completely redefines what a “big ” roll of duct tape is.

Thank you, Electro Tape!

We’re not sure how long this roll is, but it easily weighs 15 pounds and we know that it would make even MacGyver swoon.

It even came with its own display stand.

It will be on display for a limited time in our office, and while tickets are free, you’ll need to schedule your 15 minute viewing time at least a week in advance.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

The Internet Is Forever

When doing a little research on gaffers tape, I googled “gaffers tape tips”.

To my amazement, a video I posted to YouTube in 2013 popped up in the top position.

No, there are not a lot of gaffers tape tips videos generated, but it still surprised me that something I had done almost 7 years ago would still return such high search results.

Click here and take a look at my “2013 self”.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Gaffers Tape On Facebook

We’ve been more than a little surprised at how much mention gaffers tape gets on Facebook. There are multiple groups, mostly made of those in the audio visual and entertainment industries who post the best and worst (okay, they are almost all “worst”) examples of doing things like gaffing cables to the floor and making repairs.

If you want a little comic relief before/after you spend thirty minutes taping your show down, check out some of these groups:

AV Disasters

AV Install Nightmares

Just Gaff It

Gaff Tape Network

Maybe you know about some others. Share them with us and we’ll pass them along.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

New ProCell Video

As part of the introduction of ProCell Intense industrial batteries, ProCell has released a new video proclaiming the improved performance of latest version of this battery line.

Watch the video here and let us know what you think.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

We’re Not Saying It’s counterfeit, But…..

Counterfeits are a big problem, especially in e-commerce. Items manufactured in China and branded with designer labels lead to billions in lost sales for legitimate manufacturers.

“Fake” gaffers tape may not actually be counterfeit, but once you’ve bought a roll of it off of Ebay or Alibaba, you might be tempted to call it that.

Tape that is sold as gaffers tape but that is not made with woven cotton cloth is not real gaffers tape. If it is sold that way, then it is similar to other counterfeit goods.

Tape that has a low quality organic adhesive may not be fake tape, but after you finish cleaning the adhesive residue off your cables and your stage floor, you can be forgiven if you feel like you have been sold a fake.

There are lots of tapes that look like gaffers tape and which perform a lot of the tasks that gaffers tape is used for are out there. If you want to make sure you get the real thing, stick with well known manufacturers names and make your purchase from trusted vendors.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Why is 5% The Magic Number?

5% discount from thetapeworks.com

We like discounts. Who doesn’t ?

Many years ago we started offering a 5% discount on orders that roughly matched the cost of a case of gaffers tape. Get a whole case and get 5% off.

The discount was based on the cost of gaffers tape, but applied to any mix of products. The cost of a roll of gaffers tape has increased several times since then, but the discount has remained the same in order to insure that if you got a case of tape you got the discount.

What we did not realize at the time was how often that 5% savings roughly matched up to the shipping cost. That was not our intention, but it had a nice synergy of its own.

Obviously that does not apply to every order, since the cost of shipping to a North Carolina address is much less than an address in Arizona, but on average it has continued to be true.

Yes, we do not offer free shipping, but if you place a $300 (or more) order then you might just get “free” shipping anyway.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Do You Ever Say “Gaffa”

Red Gaffers Tape From TheTapeworks.com

One of the things that surprised me when I looked at our Google search results was how often someone searched for “gaffa tape”.

We’ve been selling gaffers tape for almost 30 years, and I have been using it my entire professional life. Thousands of shows with hundreds of different techs, and I don’t think that I have ever heard anyone use the term “gaffa”.

No idea if this is a regional thing, something that is specific to one subset of the production industry or just the way some people say gaffer, but with a soft (very soft?) “r”.

Gaffa, gaff, gaffer or gaffer. If it’s tape, we’ve got it, no matter how you say it.

TheTapeworks.com
Voice 866-386-8335
Fax 800-327-6651
Email sales@harrisonbros.com

Harrison Bros. Inc.
47 North Chatham Pkwy.
Chapel Hill, NC 27517