I Have Not Fallen Off The Face Of The Earth, I Promise;~)

I'm afraid most of you think I have fallen off the face of the earth these days but I have to tell you - that certainly is not the case ;~)  We've been visiting and exploring San Jose del Cabo at the end of the Mexican Baja peninsula for the months of May and June working on several projects remotely.  WE head back home next Monday and jump right into a very busy summer.

The sunrises (like the one above) sunsets, beaches and coast-lines are breath-taking and really easy on the eyes.  Don't you just love technology allowing me to work, with a little bit of play, from all over the world!!

I have to admit, after spending time putting the newsletter together yesterday, I discovered that I was missing writing. That promoted me to get something up today.  LaDawn suggests that I just do a Image of the Day post just to keep things moving here at DigitalProTalk.com. – hence today’s pretty cool image.

I just may give that tactic a try over the next few weeks and see if that helps my “writer’s block” subside a bit:~)

As I said above, I just sent out my Digital Newsletter but figured that if you are not on the list you missed some important info I shared with our newsletter readers.

Four BIG things are happening that I need to tell you about today.

They include:

1. An impressive Speed-light Webcast with Michael Mowbray. [link]
2. Vincent LaForet's video workshops - the hottest lecture tour happening right now. [link]
3. PPN's upcoming "Hands On Posing/Shooting" Summer Seminar.[link]
4. And my upcoming Master Class in Barcelona in the Fall (maybe my last one). [link]

It’s a different world out there these days with too many “photographers” thinking they can learn it all on the internet, but if you are like me and want a more rounded and immersive educational experience I sure  hope you’ll check out the posts below describing each of the items above in greater detail and take advantage of these more up close and personal learning opportunities.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  Check back now and then as I continue to fire things up around here and get back into the blogging “groove”.  Lot’s happening in the these next few months and I’ll do me best to keep you posted.

All the Best, David

Every Now and Then…. You've Got To Do Something A Little Crazy

Good Morning Everybody,

I decided to break the above post and this post into two separate posts because speaks to one of the more crazy things I’ve done in my life. Please do not attempt this at home ;~)  Anyway, just read on and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Every Now and Then…. You've Got To Do Something A Little Crazy

Many of you reading this post probably don't have any idea as to St. Maarten's other claim to fame.  But it’s the coolest thing of all to do on a visit to this luscious Caribbean paradise. St. Maarten is home to one of the most exciting airports in the world - at least for St. Maarten beach goers. 

Why? Because of the location of the Princess Juliana International Airport on the small island, the runway is a little shorter than usual compared to a large metropolitan airport.  That means that when the jets make their landing into St. Maarten's they must approach the runway at a very low altitude and very close to the heads of the beach lovers.  

We headed out to Sunset Beach to check out this usual airport phenomenon.  The place was jammed packed with other thrill seekers.  LaDawn and I made our way into the Sunset Beach Bar and Restaurant, found ourselves a comfy seat with a good view, ordered mahi-mahi burgers and beer, listened to the steel drum players and Reggae Island music with cameras in-hand we prepared to watch and see this spectacular show!

The landing times of the larger planes is common knowledge with all the servers and they are even posted on a surfboard chalkboard.  We were do for the landing of the very large KLM jet in just about 30 minutes. Watching the smaller planes land was interesting but not spectacular.  

It’s Showtime! 

About the time our food arrived, LaDawn spotted a large jet in the distance.  It looked to be the KLM jet.  As I watched the distant horizon I could easily see the large jet make a sweepingly big left hand turn and line up nose first with the airport runway.  It was heading right towards us. This was looking to be a pretty exciting event.

The jet’s distance to the airport was several seconds away and that added appreciably to the experience.  You could see the jet’s size gradually grow larger on the horizon.  Yes, it was getting closer, much closer!  You could hear the roar of the jet engines amplifying as the jumbo jet grew even larger and MUCH closer to the beach.

Everyone was waiting in excited anticipation.  It didn't take but another moment to reach that climatic moment as the giant KLM jumbo jet blew across the heads of the multitudes on the beach. 

WOW! That plane was close to the ground.  As it sped overhead rapidly losing altitude, it seemed to just miss the chain link fence surrounding the airport and then touched down just a few hundred yards from the awestruck and cheering crowd.  It was pretty cool!

Now Its Time To Really Get Crazy – Really Crazy! 

Seeing the planes land right over your head was the fun part. Now let me tell you about really dumb things people do at the same beach.  OK, it's cool be on the beach and watch the big jets land.  But these same jets use the same runway for take off too. 

They taxi out the same runway, make the left hand U-turn at the same chain link fence, and lineup for take off.  But this time with engines pointed at the crowd of crazy onlookers ready to kick in the powerful jet engines at full throttle for the take off.

You see where I'm going with this. Yes, people do chose to STAND behind the fence directly in the path of the jet’s exhaust.  Warning signs are everywhere alerting the more daring (crazy) folks of the possible impending danger of being “fried” by the jet’s exhaust.  Still hundreds of would be observers line up behind the jet on the beach side of the fence to watch (feel) the full brunt of the jumbo jet’s take off.

There it was rolling towards the fence ready to stage it's takeoff - the large jumbo KLM jet we watched land just an hour or so ago.  It made the turn at the end of the runway and aligned itself with the asphalt pavement. 

The curious (crazy) crowds began to gather along the fence only about 50 or so yards from the jet engines.  

I too made my way, not so close but at least to the beach which was still about 100 yards from the exhausts.  I felt I was at a safer distance but standing there for just a few seconds I knew I might be in trouble since I could plainly feel the heat of the idling jet engines.  I decided to move a greater distance away.  

And then it happened!  The pilot got the signal from the control tower that all was good for take off. In just a few seconds all H-LL broke loose.  The pilot roared the huge engines to full throttle and the gases screened viciously at the unwitting crowd.

Everything happening at lightning speed – I quickly forgot any photographs I wanted of the take off.  Everyone was being pelting with what seemed like a machine gun of BB's. The tiny black projectiles were targeting the crowd relentlessly,  I heard screams everywhere, "OH SH-----T !!! OH SH-----T !!!  OH SH---------T !!! As everyone tried to dive for the safety of the beach.  It was pandemonium x10.

Yes, yours truly was part of that pandemonium.  Finally with the jet was further down the runway and the pain and confusion subsided.  Everyone was shocked, amazed, and fortunately unharmed by the experience.  The black pellets, pebbles and sand dropped from our clothes thankful leaving no ugly stains.

I totally missed shooting the experience because I was diving for cover too but check out the You-Tube video below which really gives you a good idea of the craziness.  It’s short but it’s a “hoot” and captures the exact feeling of the insanity ;~)

I found LaDawn in the fray or more correctly she found me.  She had wondered into the perimeter of the danger zone and thought she was filming the entire event.  She too was caught by surprise of the power of the jet engines at take off and was diving for cover herself.  A quick check of her video verified the experience.  The footage looked like it was from the Blair Witch Project or the Charles Manson Helter Skelter movie – it was total chaos in motion ;~).  

To call the experience a BLAST would be an understatement ;~) But I have to say watching the planes land and take off (at a safe distance) is the absolute best "cheap thrill" a person can have on St. Maarten’s.

DAZNOTE:   Turns out that this was more than just another jumbo jet landing at St. Maarten’s airport.  We saw news crews with video cameras rolling during the landing event.  What was the occasion?  We learned from our taxi driver back to the ship that the King and Queen of the Netherlands was onboard that KLM jet.  A nice surprise ending to a great and crazy experience.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today.  We’ve had some crazy times down here in St. Maarten’s but the memories will certainly be worth it.

Adios for now, David

A Most Beautiful Day

Good Morning Everybody,

I know I've been offline for the last few days but crossing the Atlantic will do that to you;~). After eight days at sea. The cruise, with the exception of bad weather the first few days, was soon forgotten as we sailed into the warmer waters of the Caribbean seas. 

Our first day of full and glorious sunshine was coupled with the calmest seas and most beautiful skies you could only imagine.  I spent a good deal of the day just photographing the changing seascape - it was an exciting visual experience many times throughout the day.

A Most Beautiful Day

Let me share a few of these beautiful views, from somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, of November 10, 2013 with you.

Photo 1.  This image was captured the morning about 6:30 a.m. just after sunrise and shows how the day first presented itself to all the passengers aboard the Celebrity Eclipse.  The soft warm colors of the new day was an early promise of even better views to come. 

Photo 2.   A few hours later about 8:00 a.m. a glance at the horizon showed the calming seas with the first of many beautiful white clouds against the rich blue skies. After a pretty stormy first few days there was something about those very soft waves that carried the mode of the entire day.

Photos 3 & 4. By 11:00 a.m. the waves had settled into an even more gentle nature.  That coupled with the clouds breaking up into even smaller versions of their previous selves made for a hauntingly provocative view of the sea. Here are a few views of that late morning beauty.

Photo 5. Two and a half hours later about 1:30 p.m. the sky took on a completely different look.  The light was doing something different with how the rays hit the particles of moisture hanging in the air.  This is probably my favorite view of the day. 

The seas were so calm they mirrored the white clouds of the sky in a very unusual and almost eerie way. The almost monochromatic view was just as it appeared – no post production of any kind was done to this photograph. 

Looking out over the watery vista seemed to be a view into an almost surreal world of water and sky.  I, for one, was transfixed with its tranquility, beauty, and mystery.

Photos 6, 7, 8, & 9. The day continued with it’s constant visual surprises well into the early evening climaxing into a spectacular sunset that LaDawn and I would soon not be forget.  I bet most of the passengers,  equipped with any camera at hand we're shooting away.  The others just looked on in inspired amazement of the spectacular beauty ending one of the most visually exciting days any of us had ever experienced at sea.   Please enjoy the following series of sunset images which transpired over a very short 12 minute time span. 

5:41:17 p.m.

5:45:27 p.m.

5:45:39 p.m.

5:53:13 p.m.

The cinematic display of light and color was without equal most places in the world on November 10, 2013.  What a joy it was to be part of the pallet of colors, shapes, and form painted by the best artist of all.

Afterthoughts:

Cruising memories are mostly the result of fabulous on board entertainment, exciting shore excursions, good food, and making new friends.  But the unfolding of the day of November 10, 2013 from sun up to sundown was the best and most exciting visual feast for the eyes, heart, and soul many of us will never forget. These images capture a small part of that excitement but the real experience is etched in our hearts and souls for that day will not soon be forgotten.

David

Today I’m Celebrating the 44th Anniversary of My 21st Birthday! Last History Recap

Good Morning Everybody,

Today is a BIG day in my life – it’s one of those “milestone birthdays”.  I’ll give you a hint – I just received my Medicare Card in the mail.  Yep, I’m celebrating the 44th anniversary of my 21st birthday today;~) Now the good news is that I sure don’t feel that old and thankfully, many folks tell me I don’t look my age.  I guess that is some consolation ;~)  So, what does LaDawn get me for my birthday – A TANDEM SKYDIVING ADVENTURE!!! Uhmmm…. I wonder if there’s a new life insurance policy floating around here somewhere? OK, just kidding LaDawn ;~)

So for today’s post I thought I would recap the DAVID A. ZISER PHOTOGRAPHY history posts I’ve been running the last few weeks.  I promise this is my last post reminiscing about the good old days.  But, like I said earlier, I hope these posts offer some insights into my growth and success in this business to the new and aspiring photographers considering this profession as their own.

That said, let me lead off today’s post with a photograph that we just stumbled upon over the weekend.  It’s a class photo of my very first class I ever took.  That was way back in 1979, and my first instructor was the legendary Monte Zucker.  That was quite the class. Click on the image for a larger view. Pictured here is my good friend, John Miele who went on to become the youngest PPA President ever.  Also pictured are my Aussie buddies talented photographer Robert Piccoli and Michael Warshall, current owner of NuLab Professional Imaging in Australia.  Michael and I still stay in touch.

You’ll also see Monte with his wife, yes, his wife Sandy in the front row. David Bentley, still a good friend is pictured in the back row. Eva, standing next to Michael eventually went on to marry Mark Roberts, owner of Art Leather, the largest wedding album manufacturer at the time. And, I can’t forget Gerhard Bakker, a major influence for all photographers at the time.  I’ve linked up where I could so check out the links for the rest of the stories. If you know any of the other photographers in this image not mentioned please drop me a comment.

The Life and Times of DAVID A. ZISER PHOTOGRAPHY

OK gang, I promise this is the last look  back on the life and times of DAVID A. ZISER PHOTOGRAPHY.  Here is the recap of all the links I’ve been running the last few weeks all gathered in one place should you ever want to visit them again.  Enjoy!

The Brief History Of Ziser Photography & Many Thank You’s To All Who Helped Me Reach This Milestone. [link]

50 Years Later: Celebrating Life, Photography and Friendships!  [link]

50 Years Later: A Grand Celebration & A Peek Down Memory Lane   [link]

Why not take a peek back in time with me in my WayBack Machine and smile at the images from my humble beginnings:

The Violinist: [link] Taken 45 years ago at age 20.

Budding Photographer: [link]

WayBack Machine #2: [link] Images taken in 1978 – the beginning of my studio career, age 30.

Oldie But A Goodie Wedding Image: [link] Image probably around 1980.

WayBack Machine #3: [link]

Engagement Sessions ‘80’s Style: [link]

WayBack Machine #5: [link]

WayBack Machine #6: [link]

And finally my life philosophy of why I got started in photography and what this wonderful profession means to me.

A Visit By A Friend – ASP THESIS 1988

Part 1: Life Is Too Darn Short To NOT Do What You What To Do With Your Life!   [link]

Part 2: Seeing The Magic Happen For The First Time - Amazing! And Time For Commitment! [link]

Part 3: Sameness Kills Enthusiasm! [link]

Part 4: Developing Your Own Distinct Style [link]

Part 5: Questions Seeking Answers  [link]

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  And starting today, I’m only looking forward to see what's next over the distant mountain ridge – greater challenges, beautiful travels, new friends, new memories to try and remember ;~) and many more sunrises and sunsets.

Have a great one everybody.

See ya’ soon!

-David

Announcing My 2013 Kelby Photo Walk – Salzburg, Austria!

It’s official – Scott Kelby just announced his 6th Annual Worldwide Photo Walk and I’m happy to say that I’ve just set up my Photo Walk over the weekend! Last year since we were traveling in Italy, we did our Photo Walk in Rome, Italy -  in the rain and had a great turn out.  I hear Scott’s going to be there this year – hope he has better weather ;~)  Nevertheless, we had a great time – you can take a peek at some of my images right here.

This year we’re going to be in Eastern Europe traveling from Croatia up to Austria on Photo Walk Day - October 5, 2013.

So this year, I’ve planned have my walk for Salzburg, Austria and I can’t wait.  I did a quick image search of Salzburg  [link] and was blown away by the rich history and beautiful surrounds of the city – what a great location for a Photo walk.  You can register for my Salzburg, Austria Photo Walk right here. Hope to see a few of you there!

Here is a quick rundown of what I have planned for our Photo Walk.  It may seem a bit ambitious but all the sites are fairly close together.  If we do run over a bit, it will just make the stop at the bier garden more refreshing ;~)

We’ll meet at the entrance to Mirabell Palace Gardens above and then proceed to Mozart’s Residence in Tanzmeisterhaus.  Then it’s over too the very photogenic St. Sebastian Church & Cemetery.   Then its up and onto Kapuzinerkloster Monastery for a fantastic view of this famed city.

Then we’ll trek down the medieval road Steingasse. The most notable person to live here was Joseph Mohr in who lived in house #9 where he wrote the lyrics to the Christmas song 'Silent Night'.  Then It’s on to Mozart Square. The square is dominated by the statue of Mozart by Ludwig Schwanthaler, ceremoniously unveiled on September 5, 1842 in the presence of Mozart's sons.  Next its on to Residenz Square & Fountain. Residence Square is an especially magnificent forecourt between the archiepiscopal residences in the heart of Salzburg's Old City.

Then it’s on to the New Residenz followed just down the street to the Old Residenz Palace.  We’ll then push on to one of the walk’s highlights, Salzburg Cathedral. Salzburg's Cathedral is probably the city's most significant piece of church architecture and its ecclesiastical center. With its magnificent façade and mighty dome it represents the most impressive early Baroque edifice north of the Alps. 

Next it’s on to our second last stop, Kapitelplatz. Chapter Square is a place of concentrated activity in Salzburg's Old City: people playing a game of chess with oversized chess pieces, a number of colorful sales booths and "Sphaera," a work of art by Stephan Balkenhol, fill the square with life. And we’ll finish up and refresh at StieglKeller Beer Hall & Restaurant. A little way up Mönchsberg is a Salzburg classic, the StieglKeller Beer Hall, complete with a beer garden overlooking the city.  Stiegl has been brewing beer in Salzburg since 1492. It sounds like the perfect place to share our images, tell stories, and enjoy the scenery.

Does that sound like a great walk or what?  I sure hope you can join me. Remember, you can register for my Photo Walk right here. I promise everyone a great time!

See ya’ there!

-David

Questions Seeking Answers: A Visit With A Friend - Part 5

Good Morning Everybody,

Sorry for the lengthy delay in getting this last section up.  I‘ve been working overtime on next year’s PhotoPro Expo and we just had to get a few things nailed down last week.  I’ll give you a few more details this week. That said, time to get moving with my last installment of “A Visit By A friend.”  Here we go… 

Questions Seeking Answers :  A Visit With A Friend - Part 5

“When making our photographs for our clients we are not just using the hardware tools of cameras, lenses, rolls of film, and filters. We must also use our compositional tools of light, color, detail, form, shape, depth, balance and perspective as well. We constantly need to be squeezing that thing we call our brain to get those creative juices flowing.

“By knowing that every time we are behind the camera we will be giving 110% helps keep our minds fresh, sharp, alive, and keeps our creativity fresh and exhilarating.

“Just as we exercise our bodies to keep them in shape, we need to exercise our mind to keep it operating at peak performance as well.”

He paused for a moment as if rolling this imaginary precious gem around in his hands and then he continued.

“Another facet, of the wedding jewel, often overlooked, and yet still one of the most important are the candids. Candids are some of the most important photographs we make on a wedding day. It is through the candids that the bride and groom can ‘visit’ with their families and friends and relive their wedding over and over again.

“Candids need to capture the fun and the excitement of the day for the clients. They need to be spontaneous and emotional, capturing the peak excitement when it happens. Maybe the groom gives grandma a big hug and kiss at the reception. This is a moment that grandma is going to remember weeks after the wedding. We need to capture that moment.

“Candids aren’t always happy. There can be tearful candids too. The bride and groom saying goodbye to mom and dad at the end of the evening, tears coming down their faces, tears of happiness, tears of joy - all of these things need to be included as part of our candid coverage. These candids are the memories!

“To me, all of these things together - the love, the romance, the anticipation, the excitement and the spontaneity are the essence of what we need to capture in our photography. It’s these tangibles and intangibles taken together that takes the uncut gem and transforms it into a beautiful jewel - the images that become the bride and groom’s wedding album.

“This same philosophy holds true with all types of photography. In portrait photography as well, I want to show feelings of the people involved.

“A photographer must always be searching for and using any design elements in his composition in order to create drama, excitement, and emotion in his photograph. The image has to grab the person looking at it, and not let them go. A photograph needs to capture feeling and emotion and give it back to the viewer.”

He paused again and we didn’t even look at each other. He put his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands thinking. Then he began again. “We can never tell ourselves that we know it all, that there is nothing else to learn. There are a million hallways that we can walk down, and a million doorways that we can open. We must constantly strive to improve our photography, to make it better, to take it just a step further, and try to push the limit - all of us need to be pushing the boundaries out together.

“We constantly need to be sharing with our fellow professionals, giving them the insights that we have gained in our own professional experience and letting them continue to pass these new ideas with their own improvements on to others. There can be no secrets. There is no greater joy in the world than to give something to someone else, then have them give it back to you in their new and improved version. Then we can pass it on to another to have it change and improve again. This cycle can do nothing but improve our photography and our profession. That needs to be the goal of everyone.

“Our profession offers a very valuable place to grow both personally and professionally. Our profession gives us a wonderful opportunity to enjoy our lives and also be able to touch other peoples lives. It is a way for us to share ourselves with other people. That is exactly what we do when we give our personal photographic interpretation to a particular wedding, Bar Mitzvah, portrait or a commercial illustration, or whatever it happens to be. We are giving a part of ourselves to someone else for them to enjoy.

“As we give, we grow, and as we grow we can receive. What we receive allows us to grow even more and to give again. What a wonderful living cycle. It what makes this profession such a wonderful profession in which to live our lives.”

And I wondered as I left him enjoying his morning if he sees more than leaves when he looks at a tree, more than clouds in the sky, more than feathers on the birds in his backyard. I hope his life through his viewfinder constantly teaches him to look beyond the outlines to the essence within. I hope this photographer is doubly blessed. Once with a career that is exciting and vital and again with the special vision to see more in life than most people ever will. I know he will help them try.

Perhaps we will talk again.

“Questions, always questions - questions seeking answers. When these questions come from within, so must the answers. With honest answers, not excuses, comes commitment - commitment to oneself. I  hope I always keep asking questions and never stop seeking answers.”

David A. Ziser - 1988

Submitted for fulfillment of requirements for:

American Society of Photographers Fellowship Degree

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  Tomorrow I’ll post a directory of all the posts I’ve made over the last two weeks.  Thanks for letting me share with you my retrospective of Ziser Photography.  It’s been and continues to be a great ride!

See ya’ tomorrow,  David

Developing Your Own Distinct Style: A Visit With A Friend - Part 4

Good Morning Everybody,

I hope everyone else in the world is having the same wonderful weather we’re having here in the Midwest – it’s just been beautiful for the last week!  Unbelievable, for this time of year!.  Things are really hopping again – what’s new, right. 

I just talked to Harry Benson, the super famous photographer who has photographed nearly every celebrity in the world from Michael Jackson to the iconic photos of the Beatles back in the Sixties.  The good news… Harry is going to be one of our headline speakers at PhotoPro Expo 2014.  A BIG THANK YOU to Canon USA for helping to make it happen.

I’m working hard to get the website ready to go in a few days so I’ll kick you some more details later this week.  You won’t believe the exciting line up of speakers for next year!  AMAZING!!!!

Anyway, let’s get on with today’s post.  It’s the second last installment of my series – A Visit By A Friend – my Fellowship paper for my ASP Fellowship Degree.  Hope you have enjoyed the posts so far.  Let’s get to part 4. 

Developing Your Own Distinct Style:  A Visit With A friend - Part 4

I took a moment to take another deep breath of spring and as I did I heard an entire chorus of blue jays, finches, and starlings join in the symphony. What a beautiful day it was!

I could see my friend again enjoying it as well. After a few minutes of thinking, he said, “Everyone of us can nurture our creative resources and can acquire technical expertise to make images that are exciting and completely different from what we are so used to seeing around us, and that doesn’t just mean weddings. Every area of photography benefits from an exciting difference in style and presentation.”

“You know,” he said, “sometimes just looking at the situation a little differently, from a different perspective, can open up an entire multitude of creative possibilities.

“I’ve noticed my own style of photography changing and maturing over the last few years. I like to experiment with alternative, non smiling, expressions on my subject’s faces, expressions that don’t detract from the image but enhance the entire composition. I enjoy using what I call design lines in my composition. These are the design elements that lead to, enhance, and balance the subject in the overall composition. I enjoy the dramatic perspectives and ‘background to subject’ relationships I can get with various wide angle and telephoto lenses.

“For instance, how do we normally see the wedding party groups photographed at a wedding? More than likely they are lined up on the steps in the sanctuary - pretty boring isn’t it. That’s what everybody does. But how about if we back up, maybe use a wide angle lens and take in the entire grandeur of the church. We could even use a slower shutter speed to increase the detail of the beautiful surroundings even more and make this new background part of our overall composition. We can balance the grouping to pivot on our main compositional element, say the groom. Think how much more interesting this would be compared with the tired alternative. This approach would also work with the groom or bride individually and with the couple as well.

“Scene setting photographs are another series of images generally completely overlooked by wedding photographers, but what better way to individualize the coverage for your client. I call these images architectural pictorials. They may be wide angle views of the stain glass windows or organ pipes, close ups of the different architectural nuances of the location, whatever. All of these images can come together to individualize this particular wedding for this particular couple.

“Again, beautiful outdoor pictorials are some of the most stunning images we can capture for our clients. The opportunity to create beautiful pictorials unfortunately does not always happen on the wedding day because the weather is not right or the time of day is not right, or there is no time, whatever it might be. But if we take a different approach we can still guarantee these photographs for our clients as part of their wedding photography.

“We are not constrained to do these photographs on the wedding day, are we? Of course not. As I said earlier, the wedding takes place when one person proposes and the other accepts. The feelings they have for each other are there for the entire engagement, wedding, and hopefully for the rest of their lives together. Why not do these photographs when the time, weather, lighting, etc. are perfect for the desired effect. Why limit ourselves as creative artists to the time constraints of the wedding day for such photography.

Lets photograph the love, romance, and excitement of the wedding on that day. Lets capture the wedding fantasy when we have the time to find the dramatic surroundings and use our creative ability and technical expertise to create an image for our clients that is powerful, exciting, and romantic.

_______________________________________________________________

Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  Be sure to check back in tomorrow for the last installment of “A Visit By A Friend.”   The title: “Questions Seeking Answers.”

Have a great one and I’ll see you then,  David

Sameness Kills Enthusiasm! A Visit By A Friend - Part 3

Good Morning Everybody,

Things are pretty calm around here in DigitalProTalk-land with one exception, my 3 year old Sony Vaio laptop is acting very strange with messages saying it can’t boot up.  I thought I had solved the problem but after inserting a SDHC card from another photographer it did the same thing. 

With Photoshop World only 5 weeks away, I really didn’t want to get a brand new computer.  But considering we hit the road for my Budapest Master Class (Still a few seats left BTW) right after PSW and follow that up with two months of travel throughout Eastern Europe, I may not have a choice.

DAZNOTE: BTW, did you see the latest deal happening at the Photoshop World sight – they’re giving away a one year subscription to Adobe Cloud – that includes ALL the Adobe programs for FREE for one year.  AND, if you register now, you’ll save an additional $100!  Hey gang, that sounds like money in your pocket.  Check it out right here.

I saw a deal on a Windows 8 Touch Smart screen HP Envy i7 with 12gig memory, and 1T hard drive that looked pretty good – price only $850 at Costco – uhmmmmm….  The reviews look pretty good, anyone with personal experience on this machine?

Anyway, enough of my minor inconveniences, let’s get on with today’s post.

Sameness Kills Enthusiasm!  A Visit By A Friend Part 3

“There are two losers when this happens. One, of course, is ourselves, the other is the client.

“There is no greater personal or professional injustice than to compromise the client because we don’t like what we are doing - because we lost our enthusiasm. It is a disservice to our profession as well to have a client call a photographer for a particular service, the photographer to take the assignment, and then only give the assignment 50 - 60% of his effort.

“Photographers not committed to their clients are also not committed to this profession and should change jobs!

“But, in all fairness to some of these photographers, hopefully they recognize the problem and will select a different hallway of possibilities to rekindle their enthusiasm. I certainly hope so.”

The ducks had spotted the surplus seeds the squirrel and birds were inadvertently dropping from the feeder and wandered over to partake of the new menu items.

The wind had picked up a bit and the sun was brighter and slightly higher in the sky. I couldn’t help but smile as I noticed that in this more brisk breeze one old tree had assumed the role of conductor. One of its branches, missing nearly all its leaves, swayed more quickly when compared to the other trees with their leaf laden branches. It appeared our new conductor was enjoining the rest to follow his tempo. Our visual orchestra was now playing a completely different, and still thoroughly fascinating, symphony of colors, shades, and motion for our eyes.

We both paused to enjoy the new morning rhapsody and after a few moments I asked, “If this difference is the secret, then how do you apply that thinking to something like wedding photography which all looks pretty much alike?”

“You know,” he said, “Maybe they do seem the same on the surface. Sure, everyone gets ready before hand, then they have the ceremony, and then on to the reception. But a photographer feeling this way misses most of what the wedding is all about.”

I think the wedding begins,” he continued, “when one person proposes marriage to the other, and the other accepts. Now their fantasy begins. The good news is spread from family to family and friend to friend and everyone is really getting excited. The planning revs up faster and faster as they approach the big day. The attendants are asked. The gowns, tuxedos, flowers, and locations of ceremony and reception are selected. The showers and parties are given. The excitement is building.

“It’s these feelings of love, romance, anticipation, and excitement which this couple and their families have been sharing in the preceding months, and climaxing on their wedding day that make each wedding different! It’s these feelings that WE, the wedding photographer, have been given the responsibility to capture. “If we see all weddings as the same, it will be evident in our photography.

“I believe that if my client chooses me for a particular assignment, they are selecting me because of the difference in my work when compared to the alternatives. They prefer my style, or more specifically, my way of visual photographic interpretation.

“This belief gives me the motivation for what I do. I feel that I am there to do more than just capture the people, places and events of the day. These are the tangible aspects of the wedding that everyone can see. It is my responsibility to capture the love and romance the couple feels toward each other, and the warm feelings among all the families and friends. It is my responsibility to capture all the fun, excitement, and spontaneity of the day as well. All these things are the intangibles associated with the affair that must be made part of the photographic interpretation.

“To do that effectively, I must, on every assignment make the very best possible use of my creative ability and technical expertise without compromise.

“A wedding or any other photographic commitment we make is like having an uncut gem placed before us. It is up to us to work our photographic magic on it - to cut and polish it to its highest point of perfection within our current capabilities.

“A wedding is a particularly multi faceted gem to carve and polish. One facet is the opportunity to make beautiful portraits of a bride on her wedding day. They can be low key, medium key or hi-key and we can range the expressions from soft and demur to happy and exuberant.

We have that same opportunity with the groom. We need to give the groom equal billing in our photography as well. He is so often the forgotten element. Why do so many photographers miss this opportunity to create beautiful images for the groom and his family?

“Another facet of the wedding is how we show all the support people involved in the wedding. We need to make photographs of the bride with her mother and father, the maid of honor, brothers and sisters, flower girls and ring bearers, special friends - all the people that help make her day special. When we take these photographs, we want something more than everyone looking into the camera smiling. That’s is ok but let’s also take this opportunity to let this series of photographs capture the feelings and emotions between the people involved.

“Showing the bride with the little ring bearer looking at the groom’s ring is a good example. This photograph could easily capture a special moment between the bride and groom and that little person.

“If we can capture the real feelings between our clients in our photography and our clients experience these emotions again when they view our photographs, then we have captured something very special, lasting, and important for them.”

As I sat listening I realized two things: First, in his wedding photography he was actually becoming part of the wedding himself. He, too, was a friend of the couple and their families on their day. This rapport he was able to create with his clients allowed his camera to get closer and record the feelings he was talking about.

Secondly, he was one with the camera. The hardware was simply an extension of himself. As he got to know his new friends, it was easy for him to see their honest expressions and their real feelings, and he, as the camera, was ready.

Food For Thought

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  Still thinking about that HP computer ;~)

Have a great rest of the day and I’ll see you bright and early for A Visit By A friend Part 4 tomorrow.

-David

Announcing my 2010 Success Collection! http://digitalprotalk.blogspot.com/2010/05/announcing-my-2010-digital-wakeup-call.html

Seeing The Magic Happen For The First Time - Amazing! And Time For Commitment!

Good Morning Everybody,

I’m back again today with Part 2 of my ASP Thesis: A Visit By A Friend.  This section covers my early days as I first began to develop my interest in photography, how I transitioned from Engineering, and finally made my full commitment to photography. Hope you enjoy the read.  -David

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Seeing The Magic Happen For The First Time - Amazing!  A Visit By A Friend – Part 2

The breeze had slowed quite a bit as he talked, and a squirrel joined two birds at the feeder. He continued, “You know, I still remember my first big thrill in photography. My dad had experimented with photography as a young man and I thought I should give it a try too. So a friend and I, both of us fifteen years old, decided to try to print our own pictures from negatives we found in our families’ photograph albums. Our ‘reference manuals’ were 1939 Ansco and Kodak booklets that I had found with my dad’s old photo supplies. These obviously were not the most recent editions currently available - it was 1964 but the basic information was still the same.

“I ventured down to my local camera store and purchased a quart can of Dektol developer and a 25 sheet pack of 2 ½ x 3 ½ Velox printing paper. That evening, long after the sun had set, we set up our ‘lab’ in my friend’s kitchen with ‘Tupperware trays’ and the chemicals we purchased earlier in the day.

“With lights out, we carefully placed a negative, they were quite large prior to 1964 - no instamatics at that time you know, onto a piece of our precious printing paper. We ‘critically’ timed the exposure by quickly switching the room lights on and off - what precision - and placed this still white piece of paper into our special elixir to watch the magic happen. The seconds seemed like hours but finally the faint ghosting of an image started to appear. Our hearts were racing. The positive image continued to build and about a minute later it looked great. As our ‘manuals’ had instructed, we moved the print into our diluted ‘Heinz vinegar’ shortstop for a few seconds and then into the fix. We hit the light soon after and looked with astonishment and amazement at our first print!

“My adventure continued as I continued to experiment. My first ‘enlarger’ was a ‘Kenner Give-a-Show’ projector that I ‘borrowed’ from my sister. I just cut out ‘Mickey Mouse’ from the cartoon panel strip and taped a favorite negative in Mickey’s place. It worked. Adding an aperture card to the front of the lens even improved the sharpness,” he chuckled, and then said, “My experimenting continued and so did my enthusiasm.”

As I listened, I knew his background was not in photography because I had seen his Physics degree and Engineering degree hanging on the wall in his home. So I asked him how and when he made the transition into photography.

He answered, “You know, all through college I studied to be an engineer but always used photography to pay the tuition, rent, and buy the books.During my college days, I was also involved in yearbook photography and custom lab work with the two biggest school operations in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio.

“For three years after graduation I worked as an engineer. I spent the following four years working for myself as an engineering consultant throughout the state of Ohio. During this period I always had a lingering love of photography. Near the end of 1978 I was involved in a large consulting project which was just reaching completion. Within that same time period, working as a part time professional wedding photographer my assignments were increasing to the point where I needed to reconsider my part time status as a photographer. In October of that year, after a great deal of consideration, I decided to make a career change. 1979 was my first year as a full time professional photographer.”

I  Finally Made A Real Commitment To My Future

He continued more emphatically now, “I was talking about my future - my investment of time and effort in myself. This decision meant much more than just deciding to go ‘full time’. It also had to be my commitment for my studio and to all my clients that we would constantly and energetically strive to produce the finest photography and best service available…. without compromise!

“When I started, we offered primarily wedding photography and four years later added Bar Mitzvahs to our repertoire. To this day our photography is 90% Weddings/Bar Mitzvahs and 10% Portraits.

“Regardless of what we did, I only wanted to offer the best for our clients! We have never strayed from that concept.”

“How did you prepare yourself for that commitment?” I asked.

“I knew the basics of photography,” he answered, “After all, I had been involved in it for fourteen years in one capacity or another. But since I had made my commitment, I knew that I was going to have to improve my images. My current photographs did not ‘sing’ to me. They were just the ordinary images you see everyday.

“I felt I needed something new and some additional input, so in 1979 I started attending every single seminar, workshop, and convention that I could. I would listen to the best photographers in the field and study what they were teaching, and learn what they were doing. I relentlessly pursued this course of action and methodically monitored my results.

“There was one pitfall to this strategy though. Copying the masters only makes you a master copier. That is not what I wanted for myself. I wanted a blending of their style and technique with my own creativity in order to produce a style entirely my own. I wasn’t looking for the recipe to make their soup. I was looking at their ingredient list, maybe varying some of the amounts, and adding a few of my own spices. The final broth would be my own!

‘It’s the Difference that Makes the Difference!!!’

“This whole thought process and action helped me distill one of my basic tenants about this profession which, simply stated, is this: ‘It’s the Difference that Makes the Difference!!!’

“I wanted my work to be different from the other photographers in my area, as well as those which I had the wonderful opportunity to study with. I didn’t want to be a copy of my teachers any more than I wanted to copy what everyone was doing locally. I wanted this difference to be the reason my potential clients called me. I wanted my clients to know what this difference was. I wanted this difference to be the reason for my anticipated photographic success.

“Think about this for just a moment. Sameness is boring, stagnant, not growing. Sameness breeds frustration, mediocrity, and eventually contempt for what one is doing. Look at how many photographers don’t photograph weddings anymore and proudly proclaim it. Such a proclamation is simply an admission that they were failing to grow in their wedding photography.

“There are two losers when this happens. One, of course, is ourselves, the other is the client!

End of Part 2: Food For thought!

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  Plan to stop by tomorrow where I’ll be kicking it up a notch in the next installment  -  my ASP Thesis.

See you then,

-David

Announcing my 2010 Success Collection! http://digitalprotalk.blogspot.com/2010/05/announcing-my-2010-digital-wakeup-call.html