Quick Hit Monday: DWUC Grand Prize Winners Announced! Las Vegas and Hawaii Added To DWUC Tour; Three Great Wedding Sites

Good Morning Everybody,
Today DigitalProTalk comes to you from the beautiful hills of Lexington Kentucky - Horse Farm Capital of the world. Well, at least we get a chance to see a few of the beautiful farms on the drive down on Saturday. We had a great time Saturday evening visiting, sharing ideas and a few old memories, enjoying a delicious meal, laughing and enjoying a wonderful glass of wine or two with our good friends and outstanding photographers Tim and Bev Walden whom I mentioned in Friday's post. THANKS again guys, it was such a terrific evening.
Today Michael and Tina Timmons are presenting the program on creativity at our KPPA meeting. Michael was the top dog photographer at the Mideast states regional print competition which the KPPA hosted in January. I have to tell you, their work is stunning and unbelievable. I'm looking forward to sitting in on his program today.

We've got a couple cool things to cover in today's quick hit Monday so let's get right to it.

DWUC Grand Prize Winners Announced!
Well, we've randomly selected our grand prize winners from our Digital WakeUp Call Tour. Boy, were they surprised. It was kind of funny -- when I made a personal call to both of our winners, neither one wanted to believe that it was actually me making the phone call to them. They both assumed a personal friend was playing a joke. Once we got over that minor hurdle, I had quite the time convincing them that they were indeed our grand prize winners. I must tell you, it's a nice phone call to make. It brought me as much satisfaction to call someone telling them that they have won over $7000 worth of prizes as it would have been to have actually been the winner myself.

Our winner for the first quarter of the tour was Judy Crookston who owns Crookston Photography in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. She does a great job in her portrait and wedding photography -- just check out the link to her website right here. Congratulations Judy!

Our winner for the second quarter of the DWUC tour was Blanca Duran. She and her husband, Alex own Blanca Duran Photography in Houston, Texas. Blanca has only been in business two years but she has very some nice examples of her photography on her website. Here is the link to her site and her blog right here. Congratulations Blanca!

Again, Congratulations to both winners!! I know both of you still may not believe your good fortune. The grand prizes will start arriving from our terrific sponsors, Canon, Westcott, Quantum, Nik, Delkin, Graphic Authority, Expoimaging, Animoto, Triple Scoop Music, More Photos. A BIG thank you for making the grand prize a reality and ladies, ENJOY!!

Hey gang, we still have two grand prizes to award during the second half of the Digital WakeUp Call Tour. Plan to be there and you might end up a second half grand prize winner yourself. Want a refresher course on what we're giving away? Here is the link to the Digital WakeUp Call Grand Prizes right here. My sincere thanks, once again, for the wonderful generosity my sponsors have shown in putting this unbelievable list of prizes together for the tour.

It's official -- Las Vegas, Nevada and Honolulu, Hawaii Added to the DWUC Tour.
That's right, we just added Las Vegas on November 16, 2009 Honolulu, Hawaii November 18, 2009 to our tour lineup. We recieved several requests to add these locations. Then as I discovered a few photographers from Las Vegas and Hawaii actually flew or made the very long drive to other venues to attend the Digital WakeUp Call tour.

To those photographers I say, "Hey guys, the second time to attend is on me." The cities have been added to the Digital WakeUp Call tour website. We are still in the process of booking the hotels but here is the link so you can reserve your space.

Three Great Wedding Sites
I recently made a random call to my buddy, Jay Sandifer whom I had gotten to know during my Digital WakeUp Call tour in 2006. One thing led to another, and before long we were talking wedding photography again. After we hung up from our phone conversation I received an e-mail from Jay listing several different wedding websites. I have to tell you -- three of them blew me away. Very inspirational!

First, check out Emily Inc’s site right here. Emily has a great eye for the spontaneous action and a wonderful sense of timing when she is capturing those beautiful images on the wedding day.

Okay, now check out Wirken Photography’s site right here. The thing that struck me about Tyler and Becca’s images were the wonderful sense of composition that they manage to bring into so many of their beautiful, images. So many of their images are just a wonderful, in-depth story in themselves. Wirken Photography was also chosen as one of the best wedding studios on the Knot.

The studio has also been nominated as One of the Best in Kansas City. I just perused his blog and the site one more time and again each image is a wonderful feast for the eyes. Head on over and take a peek for yourself.

Okay, now allow me point you towards a real crowd pleaser. The wedding photography presented at Chris+Lynn Photographers is simply amazing! Every one of their images captures your eye. Here is the link to their site.

Take a look at one of their wedding albums too. Hit the “Featured” tab and then scroll to “Wedding Album: Vancouver". Now let the story begin. The colors themselves are a memorable visual feast for the senses. Now let me further excite you to one of the coolest image presentations I've seen anywhere. Hit “About Us” -> “Check Us Out” then click on “YOU+ME – VISION. Now hold your hand under your jaw as you view the show. Each image has its own sense of the third dimension captured right there before your eyes on your computer screen.

Pick and choose your favorites from the three sites I’ve mentioned above. Don't forget to check out their blogs too - more great images. I think the images are amazing, the compositions-tantalizing, and Chris+Lynn’s media presentation -- just awesome! Folks, take at least 10 minutes of your time today and check out these sites. They are a reservoir of ideas and creativity that could easily spark everyone's imagination and makes a trip to these three oasis of imagination worth every minute spent there.

Hey gang, that's it for me today. We are out the door early to catch the start of Michael and Tina's program. Don't forget to check in for tomorrow's technique Tuesday and a brief recap of the happenings here in, Kentucky.
See you then, -- David