Quick Hit Monday; If Ashton's Getting Into Weddings, I'm Getting Into Acting; New Canon 5D Mk II Video; and Much More

Good morning everybody,
Well, we arrived safe and sound in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - and we were exhausted. Too many early morning wake-up calls these last few days, but we are happy to be here. Actually were staying ust down the road a bit in San Jose with out friends, Kent and Sarah Smith whom I have mentioned many times before. San Jose is about 20 minutes outside of Cabo, and not near as touristy or rowdy as Cabo San Lucas. It is just beautiful here, and a perfect place to relax and write a book.

We get off the plane, get the bags to the curb where Kent and Sarah were planning to meet us - they arrived just minutes earlier. As I came out of the terminal, there was Kent pointing a camera at me - his new Canon 5D Mark II that he had just picked up the day before. Yep, we finally have one in our hands - you can bet we will be playing with that puppy all week. I'll keep you posted about our findings. By the way, Kent is a video junkie, so look for the video side of things to maybe get some coverage this week.

I've got lots of stuff for our quick hit Monday today so let's get right to it…

If Ashton's Getting Into Weddings, I'm Getting Into Acting
So have you seen the latest Nikon ad on TV? Here is the YouTube link. It shows Ashton Cutcher shooting a wedding. I think if Ashton is going to get into wedding photography I'm planning to get into acting ;~) I think interesting to note, as many photographers are lamenting the fact that there wedding sales are dying on the vine, I think that this is one of the reasons for that being. The ad makes it look easy for anyone to get some great photographs, even the little five year old kid who manages a shot or two in the commercial.

Folks, if we want to be successful in our wedding photography businesses, it demands that we are constantly differentiating ourselves from the competition. We can do that most easily by enhancing the lighting we use which is a big part of what we try to cover here at DigitalProTalk.com.

We can also differentiate our images by understanding what good composition is all about. I covered this topic in last Tuesday's post and I have another in tomorrow's Post, so stay tuned.

The new cameras make it easy to get a well exposed image, but wedding photography is more than just snapshots. It's not how many pictures you take on a job it's about how many “moments” you capture for your client on a job and that's what we are about here at DigitalProTalk.com.

Heading Over to Matt's Place
Over the Thanksgiving holiday break, I had a chance to visit some of my fellow bloggers websites. One of my favorites is Matt Adcock's Flash Flavor site. Here is the link. Every time I stop by for a visit, Matt's got some new cool stuff going on. I invite you to make a visit too, scroll through several of his recent posts, and enjoy the show - great images, great technique, and inspirational photography.

Another Canon 5D Mark II Video from Vincent Laforet
Okay gang, if you missed the first Canon 5D Mark II video, Reverie, Vincent posted, it was a real treat [link]. Well, he's just posted a second - I caught it over at Photography Bay - and it's a knockout too. Here is the link.

What I noticed this time around, is the style in which he shot this video. I think the best way to describe it would be that they are still images with motion.
Think of creating a wonderfully artistic composition, subject position is perfect, composition is right on, colors are great, and everything comes together to make a wonderful single image. What Vincent has done this time around, is take these still images and brings them to life with about five seconds of motion thrown in.

As I watched his second video a second and third time, that was what I was seeing. I think these five-second video snippets offer very unique and exciting possibilities for a totally different concept in photographing a wedding. I don't want to go into too much more detail yet because my brain is just racing with some ideas. Let me come back to this in some future post, but in the meantime enjoy Vincent's second video. Here is the link to the second video.

In addition to the video posted, Photography Bay has another link to a new review of the Canon 5D Mark II. So, if you are a Canon shooter, head over to Photography Bay and check it out.

What’s Jim Up To
Over the weekend, I stopped over at fellow Cincinnati blogger, Jim Talkington's site ProPhotoLife. Jim is another great resource for any photographer wanting to hone their skills in this profession. He covers a vast array of topics in his posts and each read is always a treat.


The problem for me is that every time I visit Jim's site, I end up spending about 30 minutes seeing what he's been up to the last week or so. His content is always rich, informative, and on topic for any photographer wanting to enhance their skills in photography. Head on over and check it out, you won't be disappointed. Here is the link.

Hey everybody, that's it for me today. Once again this post went way too long but, I hope you enjoy the content and had a good read. The week is shaping up to be a great week for DigitalProTalk readers, so I hope you enjoy the posts.

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow for another edition of Technique Tuesday. I'm going to be walking through some more famous London landmarks as I discuss composition, rules of thirds, vanishing point, and directional pointers. It's a fun tutorial and I think you'll enjoy it, so I'll see you tomorrow. Adios, -- David