Quick Hit Monday: Let's Have Some Fun At Mardi Gras 2010; Top 10 Wedding Photogs In The UK; Optical Storage-RIP; Detail, Detail, and More Detail

Good Morning Everybody,

We wrapped my Master Class last Friday, packed the bags on Saturday for the last leg of my Digital WakeUp Call tour, and hit the road on Sunday.  Can you believe it - only 10 cities to go! We made the 8 1/2 hour very picturesque drive down to Raleigh, North Carolina yesterday arriving about 8:00 p.m. and we are ready to go again tonight.

I brought the Master Class images with me and hope to get a show posted over the next couple of days.  I'm planning to mix in a little video too - it should be fun.  And speaking of video, be sure to check out tomorrow's post. Yes, it is ready to go and looks very cool.

Hey, enough already - let's get on with today's post.

Come On Down To Mardi Gras In February 5-7, 2010
I got an email from my buddy, Ralph Romaguera, last week about this great idea he is putting together for next year's Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans.  He wants to put together a float of photography friends every year. 

Ralph has been heavily involved in Mardi Gras for many years in his home town of New Orleans, even being King of the crewe last year. He has informally put together these Mardi Gras extravaganzas for photographers the last three or four years. I've been invited each year and wasn't able to attend because of schedule conflicts.

That is not the case for 2010 - LaDawn and I are both planning to be there. Ralph wants me to offer a formal invitation to all of you. Why not plan to "pass a good time" with LaDawn and I and several other party-going, celebration happy photogs for a very special few days in the great city of New Orleans.

Here is the link for all the info right here. Check the Texas School Mardi Gras link and Ralph's link to get all the Mardi Gras information, costs, agenda, etc.  Leave a message in the "Comments" section if you would like to attend.  Hope to see you there - it should be a blast!

Congrats!  To One Of England's Top Wedding Photogs

I just got news that fellow blogging buddy, and great wedding photographer, Crash Taylor, from England was just  being named one of the Top 10 Winter Wedding Photographers. [link]. 

I've pointed you to Crash's site many times for his very interesting series of interviews he features with wedding photogs from around the world. Here is the link to Crash's interviews right here, and his outstanding wedding photography right here. 

Look for Crash to do an interview for us here at DPT once both of our schedules settle down - should be pretty cool.

Optical Storage:RIP

Yep, that was the title of the story I read over at the ZNet blog right here. What, no more CD's, DVDs, Blu-Ray disks?  Hey gang, I'm not going to over react on this piece.  Things change and I think for the better mostly. I point you to this article because as we move up to higher powered, more mega-pixeled cameras, our storage needs are going to change.

I had one photog point me towards a $3,500 tape backup system, but that's not practical for the smaller studios. I admit, I'm a bit paranoid about backup at my studio with everything on DVDs and duplicated on 2 sets of hard drives going back to 2000.

When I shoot a job now, it's usually 40-50 gigs of data I need to back up to something very permanent. Backing up that much data to DVD's takes lots of time.  Is Blu-Ray the answer - for me, not at $25/disk! So what is the answer?  We are sticking with DVDs at this point, reconsidering shooting strategies to reduce job storage, and keeping an eye on storage options and the price of those options.

Thanks to fellow blogger, Jeff Revell, where I first saw the story.

More Detail Than You Could Ever Need

And speaking of Jeff Revell, you've got to check out his tutorial on how to get the maximum detail out of the shadows [link].  Jeff's PhotoWalkPro Blog is one of the best out there and I always like to make the visit when I get a chance.

Anyway, check out Jeff's 5 minute tutorial right here - you'll pick up lots of nice Lightroom tips and tricks along the way.

Hey gang that's it for me today.  LaDawn has already headed down to set the room for tonight.  We have over 200 excited photographers registered for tonight's program.  Hey, if you are a DigitalProTalk reader, come on up and say HI.  Hope to see lots of smiling faces this evening at the program.

And, by the way, be sure to check back tomorrow for a Technique Tuesday double-header video segment - one of my favorites to date. See you soon,  -David