Technique Tuesday: Time To Light Up Your Life; Looking For Volunteers; and My New SUNSPOTZ Introduced Today!

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Today's post is going up a little later than usual today because of yesterday's late afternoon post. Sometimes things just happen that way. We wrapped our staff meetings yesterday and dug into some client work that has to be completed before we hit the road again next Monday.

Yesterday I mentioned that our KPPA Webcast [link] was available on a 4 hour DVD.  There was some confusion about it being audio only – ABSOLUTELY NOT!  It is the complete visual Keynote/PowerPoint presentation led by each presenter.  It’s like you are in the same room with them as you view it on your computer. Way cool, and way full of information – all info right here.

I think I've got a pretty cool lighting tutorial for you today. It's kind of special, too. I'm going to give you a peek at a very small section of my CBTL2010 [link] tour presentation on lighting. And, I'm also announcing my newly designed SUNSPOTZ [link] outdoor reflector. Let’s get right to it…

It’s Time To Light Up Your Life

The technique I'm discussing today is something we've just begun to use routinely around my studio.  This tutorial shows one of the easiest way to control light outdoors. I have been a HUGE fan of off camera flash outdoors as you know from all the posts I do on the subject

The problem with using off camera flash outdoors on a bright day is the fact that it's difficult for me to shoot at wider apertures when I need to. Here is the problem. I am limited to the camera’s top shutter speed of say 1/400 second even when “cheating the sync”. But at ISO 100-200 that still means I need to use an aperture of somewhere around F 8 or F 11 to obtain the proper exposure for the shot.

That smaller aperture brings the background into too sharp of focus for me in a most of the instances. So, what's the solution? The solution, is reflectors.

Hit the PLAY button below to see how we are using my super silver/black reflectors to transform our outdoor portrait and wedding images.

Announcing My New SUNSPOTZ Reflector!

Pretty cool technique, wasn't it? It's really a nice way to obtain some great directional light on your subject. You saw me introducing my new SUNSPOTZ [link] in the video. I've been working with my good friends at Westcott on this product for months.

My specifications were that one side needed to be black and the other side needed to a super silver reflecting surface. The first few prototypes just did not fill the bill. The silver side just was not reflective enough - back to the drawing board over and over. Finally we got it right - black on one side and really, really super silver on the other side. They finally arrived last week!

So today I'm announcing that we are making my SUNSPOTZ available at the Digital Resource Center at the special introductory price of only $45 [link]. That's the best price you'll find anywhere on the internet too for a 42 inch reflector built to my specifications. We're even throwing in a copy of today's tutorial so you can have it on hand for ready reference. Bundle the SUNSPOTZ with a few other educational items and the price is even better. Check them out right here and have fun.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. It's back to Lightroom 3 for me and some more wedding editing.

Oh, I almost forgot. LaDawn is again looking for volunteers to help out with room set up and registrations, etc. for our CBTL2010 tour  Everyone who has helped so far has said it was great fun.  Remember if you can help out - goodies abound and I’ll even pick up the refreshments at the hotel lounge afterwards.

She is looking for help in Washington, Philadelphia, Newark, and Ontario, CA.  Drop her a note at LaDawn@ziser.com if you would like to be part of the fun.

How about I see everybody same time, same place for another installment of "The One That Got Away".

See ya' then, - David