Are You Going To Your Customers Or Are You Waiting For Them To Come To You?

Good Morning Everybody,

Just Chillin’ Wednesday turned out to be pretty fillin’ Wednesday instead. We were out the door fairly early and headed up to La Jolla for a quick walk around the galleries and the beaches – normal tourist stuff.

We then headed up the road to Torrey Pines State Park for a quick peek.  Then it hit me – we were so close to Del Mar – and the Del Mar race track. The track was built by Bing Crosby, Pat O’Brien, and Jimmy Durante in 1937 – here is the history of the track right here. Hey, Sea Biscuit raced here! I decided to take my little Filly to the afternoon races!

 I have to say, even being a Kentucky boy, I haven’t been to a horse race – I know hard to believe – that’s what the  people said at the Del Mar track too.  But, before you knew it, LaDawn and I were in the swing of things – watching the houses parade around the paddock before the race, checking out the odds, and placing our bets.

I’ll tell you, it turned out to be a great day and a lot cheaper than Las Vegas for a good time.  And, we came home a whopping $15 richer for our efforts!

Anyway, time to get on with today’s Business Day Thursday – here we go…

Are You Going To Your Customers Or Are You Waiting For Them To Come To You?

One of my favorite things to do at DigitalProTalk is to post the Business Day Thursday episodes. In ongoing conversations with my staff, we discuss how we can improve polices and practices  to reach out to our own customers more effectively. Missed opportunities may happen but we need to minimize them.  Golden opportunities should never be missed.

How many golden opportunities do we let pass us by on a weekly basis? I think too many.  Why, because we are not disciplined enough to play like the BIG boys.

Hit the “Read More…” link below for the rest of the story.

Recently I was just taking a break from my regular day-to-day activities at the studio. I had pushed my chair away from the desk I was just relaxing for a minute. It wasn't 90 seconds later until I heard my Outlook alert telling that I had new mail.

When I checked, it was from Tiger Direct - one of the largest computer equipment resellers on the net. Interestingly enough, I always go and check their latest weekly specials. I do the same for Micro Center and Amazon too.

Now many of you might think that this is just nasty spam filtering through my spam filter and why would anybody want to even look at those e-mails. Well, what can I say -  I'm a sucker for a good deal and have them listed as friendly sites. Just recently, for instance, Micro Center was offering a 2 Terabyte Western Digital My Book $179.  "What a deal," I thought and purchased two of them.

Anyway, the whole process got me thinking. How many of us in our own small businesses are regularly reaching out to our clients letting them know about our "weekly" specials. Of course, we have to have weekly specials to begin with and most of us don't because we are so "old school."  

Folks, "old school" doesn't cut it any more.  There should be no problem at all for us to set up our own "weekly specials" - 1/2 price on children's specials; monthly birthday specials, holiday promotional specials, baby specials, you get the idea.

It's even easier to get the word out to your clients if you just work at it.  If we could become as disciplined (automated) as some of these big retailers, I bet we could raise our level of inquiries and business substantially. Imagine this -- we rigorously collect the e-mails of our current clients, their family members, and any regular inquiries that may call the studio.

Then we put those email addresses to work for us by regularly notifying our clients of any weekly, monthly or promotional specials.  This is a "piece of cake" with an easy e-mailed newsletter.  One of the best and least expensive newsletter campaigns can be set up at Marathon Press where they make eMail Marketing easy.  Here is the link right here. 

For only $.015/email you can't afford not to be doing this in your studio.  By the way, here is an earlier article I did on a similar topic entitled, Business Day Thursday: Out Of Sight, Out of Mind, Out of Business! right here.

Even if you only have a handful of clients, this is the time to start.  Your list will build and your business will grow.  Just add the discipline to your weekly routine and you've just added a little more high octane fuel to your business plan.  

Hey everybody, that wraps it for me today.  We've only got a few more days in San Diego and are working on enjoying every minute.  Remember my 30-minute-only-working-on-the-blog promise to LaDawn – so I'm out of here.  See ya' tomorrow.  -David

"The Warm Surrounds Of Love"

"The Warm Surrounds Of Love"
©David A. Ziser

Don't you just love my titles.  My brain gets a little numb now and then, but I still love this image.  For this shot, I simply moved the bride around to the small balcony overlook and framed her within the surrounding elements in the background of the ceiling. Once again, all the lines and framing elements keep your eye locked right on the bride.  Illumination is supplied by my Z-Ray light to avoid casting nasty shadows on the surrounding walls.  Check out more Z-Ray lighting info right here from last week's post.  Camera specs; Canon 5D Mark II fitted with Sigma 12-24mm lens at 24mm, F5.6 at 1/30 second handheld, ISO 2000.  Enjoy!  -David

Just Chillin' Wednesday

Good Morning Everybody,

  Turns out yesterday was “Just Chillin’ Tuesday – After taking our normal morning constitution around most of downtown San Diego, we watched the official announcement of the BMW Oracle Racing Trimaran launch  complete wit h Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle and Harrison Ford, of Millennium Falcon fame.

DAZNote: The Wikipedia reads of both gentleman’s bio’s linked above are quite fascinating. 

After the long morning walk, sitting in the sun for two hours, a wonderful lunch at the Prada restaurant in Balboa Park (along with an adult beverage or two) and a quick trip to see the wonderful Ansel Adams display at the Museum of Photographic Arts, we were wiped out. We headed back to the hotel and took the rest of the day off – Whew!

Today, though, we are fired up again and heading out to enjoy our San Diego aventures.

Digital Resource Center Updates:

Don't forget, my "Let My Light Shine On" webinar goes live next Wednesday at 8P.M. EDT. I know that makes it kind of late for many of our international listeners.

But remember, this time around, the $29 registration cost includes a FREE download for all those registered.  That means if you register and can't be with us live for the webinar, you still will be able to hear and see all the good info when the  time is convenient to your schedule. I’ll have the download available within 24 hours of the broadcast.

Pricing after Wednesday's broadcast will be $39 at the Digital Resource Center.  So save yourself $10 and register before next Wednesday. Here is the registration link right here.

Also, the Zumbrella Special ends this weekend too so don’t miss the super deal on my new “shoot thru” Zumbrella and 2 1/2 hours of training that goes with it.  Here is the link to the Zumbrella Special right here . By the way, you can see my Zumbrella in action in my “Love Lines” tutorial right here.

Hey gang, I almost forgot.  I talked with the good folks at Kelby Training a day or so ago asking about when my next training video might go live.  They tell me in just about two weeks or even less.  This video was taped  in Cincy.  I'll let you know when you can tune in.

On we go with Just Chillin' Wednesday

Yep, that's what I'm up to today.  I was just chillin' a bit earlier and found these little tidbits I thought you might enjoy.

Deke's Top 40 Photoshop Features List

America likes it's lists, and another Photoshop guru, Deke McClelland, will be publishing his Top 40 favorite Photoshop features. Deke plans to share one of his favorite techniques every Tuesday on the lynda.com blog. You should find his first five available right now.  Here is the Deke link right here.

Mark Hamburg Returns To Adobe!

I'll tell you, from the scoop I pick up from my blogging buddies and others in the industry, Mark Hamburg was one of the main heartbeats getting Lightroom up and running.  In fact, he is the first one listed in the Lightroom credits. It was quite a surprise when Mark decided to give his life's adventures a different direction  by heading over to Microsoft about a year ago.  Anyway, he's back.  That should give Lightroom even more "sizzle" in upcoming releases.  You can read the entire story over at the ever popular and informative blog by John Nack right here.

Makes Me Want To Wait For  For A Rainy Day

Alright, I was digging deep for this one, but every now and then I make the length journey though all my Google Reader bookmarks and come up with a gem or two.  I think this post fits the bill.  Here it is - How To Make Realistic Dew right here. 

OK, OK, I know this isn't a technique you will use every day, but the processes demonstrated might give you some ideas that might be helpful in your other projects.  Hey, learning is learning, and learning is good.

The A-Z Photoshop Plug-in List

One of my favorite, favorite sites to visit on occasion is Smashing Magazine . Wow, do they have good tips, techniques and information available on their site.  Here is their latest list of 40 Free Photoshop plug-ins.  Not all of them are winners, but there are a few gems in the list, and heck, they're free.  Have fun with the browse right here.

And Last But Not Least - Photo Twitterers

Just when you thought you had a few minutes of free time to yourself - something pops up to rob you of those few precious moments of just doing nothing.  This is that kind of "something". Yes, you too can follow over 100 Tweeters and jam pack every corner of brain with more photo input that anyone ever thought possible. 

All joking aside, there are good Tweets to be found in the post by our blogging buddies at Photoprenuer.com right here.  Hey, while you are there check out they're book too.

Hey gang, that's a wrap for today.  We are heading up to La Jolla today to see what’s up.  See ya' tomorrow for another business building episode of Business Day Thursday.  See ya' then.  -David

"Bathed In The Light"

"Bathed In The Light"
©David A. Ziser

Here is another image from last week’s photo assignment. It was captured using completely natural light flooding in from the window.  I adjusted the exposure to wash out much of the exterior elements so that the viewer's eye would be focused totally on the bride.  Your eye can't leave the composition easily because of all the framing elements of the window surrounding the bride. I especially love the high key, airiness look of the image too.  Yes, a little Lightroom  extras added to this one.  Camera specs; Canon 5D Mark II fitted with 24-70mm lens at 24mm, F5.6 @ 1/60 second, ISO 800. 

Enjoy!  -David

Technique Tuesday: 24 Images, 24 Stories

Good Morning Everybody,

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day for LaDawn and I in San Diego.  We just toured around the city and had a nice visit and an excellent lunch at the famous Hotel Del Coronado .

Today is when we get a little excitement around here.  It seems BMW Oracle racing team is announcing the launch of their brand new Trimaran - about the biggest racing yacht in the world – we are looking at it right outside our Hilton hotel window. 

This thing is gigantic – the catamaran is 90 feet long!  BMW Oracle Racing's trimaran is capable of sailing 2 to 2 1/2 times the speed of the wind. It’s mast is as high as a 16-story building and the mainsail is twice the size of a Boeing 747's wing.

The boat's three hulls would cover the diamond on a major league baseball field, and are just shorter than an NBA court. Check out this image by Billy Black, one of the top photogs of these kind of ships.  By the way, you can check out more of Billy Black’s images right  here.

The Alinghi Catamaran, BMW Oracle’s arch-rivals, represent the pinnacle of contemporary multi hull design. Both are gearing up for the World cup races.  The drama builds.

At the Hotel Del Coronado yesterday while having lunch, I spotted something on the horizon that looked like it was a lighthouse. The only thing  was – it was moving.  I took a quick shot of it with my 18-200mm IS lens them zoomed the image.  There it was – the BMW logo. The huge mast dominated the horizon. 

Anyway, Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle and Harrison Ford of Indiana Jones fame are announcing the launch of the new BMW Oracle racing yacht this morning at 11:00 AM.  They’re expecting about 4000 people to show up. Heck, LaDawn and I may join in the crowd.

I asked them if they needed a photographer yesterday when we walked by – they said I had to talk to Larry (Ellison). I asked if he was around, but was told, Not this morning. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

OK, everybody time to get on with today’s very interesting Technique Tuesday.  Here we go.

24 Images, 24 Stories

Hey gang, I'm putting a different spin on my Technique Tuesday today. But don't worry,  I think you are going to thoroughly enjoy it.  About a month ago, I did an interview with Dave Warner  at LensFlare35.  If you missed it, you can check it out right here.

Here is the really cool part.  Dave had me send him more than 2 dozen of my images for me to critique.  Here is what happened.  He got them posted and then I went through each image giving the back story and exposure information on each one of them.

I'll tell you, when you watch the video, it becomes a 30 minute class on lighting and composition.  I invite you to take a peek right here.  Enjoy!

While you guys and girls are watching the show, LaDawn and I are heading out to explore a bit more of our San Diego  surrounds.  I'll plan to see everybody tomorrow for Just Chillin' Wednesday.  See ya' then,  -David

30,000 Feet And Beyond

"30,000 Feet And Beyond"
©David A. Ziser

I captured this image just as we were descending for our landing into San Diego in the early evening on Saturday.  I have to say, I love viewing the mountains and mist out of a plane window.  I’m always fascinated by how the mountains gently recede into the distance and then completely from view. Camera specs; Canon 50D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 130mm, F8 @ 1/3200 second, ISO 800.  Enjoy!  -David

p.s. Before I’m called on the carpet for my camera settings, I let the “exposure” chips fall where they lie as it was not even a consideration in the fleeting moments I had to make the shot.  -David

Quick Hit Monday: News At Nik, Nikon, and Some Super Cool Canon 5D Video Stuff

Relaxing in San Diego - to blog or not to blog - that is the question.  OK, just kidding - but I promised LaDawn that  I would spend only 30 minutes a day blogging.  We  arrived safe and sound on Saturday evening. Switched hotels on Sunday – that’s another story.  Finally got settled in, grabbed an "adult" beverage and enjoyed the sun setting over the ocean.  Ahh, life is good.

I gave my buddies a call at NIK Software last week and we are planning a trip to their world headquarters sometime this week.  I'll tell you, they make the best and most useful plug-ins going for both Photoshop and Light room. I can't wait to see behind the scenes. This sounds like a story down the road to me. I'll keep you posted.

Hey gang, I've got a couple of goodies for you on today's Quick Hit Monday so let's get right to it.

Quick Hit Monday: News At Nik, Nikon, and Some Super Cool Canon 5D Video Stuff

News At Nik -

OK, I know I just mentioned NIK Software, but I just received their news letter right before we headed out last week and I thought I would share it with you - lots of goodies in this one. Here is the link. 

First of all check out all the FREE webinar archive [link] NIK has available. This is the first time I've seen it - pretty cool stuff.  Even LaDawn, who is not a Photoshop fan, found the NIK tutorials easy and very informative. Also, don't miss some great deals NIK has on their software products - free software, great deals, and more - definitely the sale of the summer at NIK [link].

Nice photo they used to lead off the newsletter too;~)

News At Nikon

OK, hold on to your hats - you won't believe this one.  I got the lead from my ace #1 assistant and all around nice guy, Nicholas V.  Here is the deal - read the press release on Nikon's new CoolPix S1000pj camera right here.  Yep, you are reading it right - it's got a built in projector built right into the camera!    I'm blown away - What's next in this wonderful, great, digital world of ours?

Oh, by the way, did you see the other features too - New Skin Softening, In-Camera Red-Eye Fix™, Face-Priority AF, and I love this one - Smile Timer, Blink Proof and Blink Warning.  I can't wait to get these features on my Canon 5D Mark II!

Super Cool Canon 5D Mark II Video Stuff

OK gang, I'm wrapping with this one today. Prepare to hold onto your seat after you hit the PLAY button below! I always like scanning the Imaging Insider for new things - always a fun browse -  and this time I stumbled onto this great link to tons of Canon 5D Mark II videos over at Cinema5D.com [link]. WOW - almost 800 of them and in hi-def! Just click on "Shot on 5D" and enjoy. Folks, these are not your ordinary home movie videos.  These babies will knock-your-socks-off so go check them out.  I'm wrapping with one of my favs - enjoy!

UBERLIFE - trailer from Jovan Todorovic on Vimeo.</p>

Hey gang, on that rambunctious note, I'm out of here to enjoy a bit more of this great city.  See everybody tomorrow for a really cool Technique Tuesday.  See ya' then, -David

"A Walk In The Park"

"A Walk In The Park"
©David A. Ziser

This is an image I almost skipped by as I was browsing through the set.  But I kept coming back to it.  What was it that had caught my eye?  Then I noticed it.  Look how the long sidewalk directly behind the couple cuts right through them leading your eye directly to them.  Now notice how the steps leading down from the Pavilion in the distance lead your eye right back to the couple.  Light is powered in from the left from my radio controlled off-camera flash at full power. It's all the leading lines, the rich colors, and the easy,natural feel and setting that make me like this image.  Camera specs; Canon 40D fitted with 10-22mm lens at 14mm, F11 @ 1/250 second, ISO 200. 

Enjoy!  -David

You Light Up My Life Friday: Controlling The Contrast Of The Scene

Good Morning Everybody,

Whew! One more day and we are on our way to San Diego for a week.  I'll tell you, LaDawn and I are both looking forward to the break.  I've still have several projects to complete, a family portrait this evening, but that should make it “clear sailing” for next week.

A few things happening around here - I got an email from a blogger who runs a fairly large photo blog.  No names yet please.  He asked me to be a contributor to a new wedding blog he is in the process of putting together - can't tell you that name either yet.  OK, now I've got you guessing, you will have to wait till we get back from San Diego for the rest of the story - all good, so stay tuned.

Just a quick reminder, The Zumbrella Special that I've got running on the blog - 1 Zumbrella (the best shoot thru umbrella on the planet;~) together with last month's 97 minute Location, Lighting, Lenses, and Composition webinar presentation and my Shooting at the Speed of Light DVD has been extended until we return from San Diego. The entire bundle - Zumbrella and 2 1/2 hours of training is priced at only $59.95 ($123 value), at least for one more week.  Here is the link to all the info.

The new "Let My Light Shine On" webinar is quickly filling. We are covering lots of outdoor lighting techniques so it will be a great presentation packed with a ton of information. And, hey worldwide listeners, you even get a free download of the webinar too so you can listen to it any time you want.  Here is the link to register.

Hey gang, I've got a winner of a post today so how about we get on with Light Up My Life Friday.  Here we go.

Light Up My Life Friday: Controlling The Contrast Of The Scene

My little Z-Ray light, just a Brinkmann high intensity flashlight [link], is one of my favorite lighting sources to "play" with.  I love the small cone of light it throws on the subject giving me that "George Hurrell" look to my wedding portraits.  Here is a link to about 21,000 "George Hurrell" images right here - kind of a nice browse.  It gives you an idea as to what I mean by George's lighting look.

Anyway, the Brinkmann cost me about $29 on-line but others have told me they have picked one up for $19 at Wal-Mart - what a deal.  I think any bright flashlight would work, I just like the Brinkmann.

Figure 1.

Here is the deal though.  Some people have commented that they tend to over expose the highlights with the Brinkmann.  That means that they are getting too much contrast in the scene when shooting with the Brinkmann light. That got me thinking - what's happening?.  How can we control the contrast of the scene when using continuous light sources, or any light sources for that matter when making our shots? Well, it’s a pretty simple fix.

Hit the "Read More..." link below for the rest of the story.

Remember, the Brinkmann is a continuous output light source.  The Inverse Square Law  tells us that the the brightness of the light on the subject is inversely related to the distance that the light source is to the subject. 

OK, what am I talking about ?  At ten feet away, the Brinkmann will give me an exposure of F4 at 1/6 second at ISO 800.  Check out the first image in Figure 1 - those were the settings for image above.  Notice how dark the shadows are in the shot.  That's because the ambient light was not bright enough to fill the shadows much.  No problem, in my opinion – I find it still to be an exciting shot.

Now look at the image below - Figure 2 – which I posted two days ago entitled, "Cityscape". It was taken at F5.6 @ 1/8 at ISO 1600.  It too has little detail in the shadows - again not much light to fill the shadows  because of the late night shoot.  In both of these images, my assistant was holding my Z-Ray about 10 feet from the subject.

Figure 2.

Now let's take a look at the last image. It's exposure was made at F5.6 @1/10 second at ISO 800. My Z-Ray was only about 5-6 feet away from the subject, hence the substantially increased exposure on this shot. 

In fact if you do the calculations - F5.6 allows half the light to the sensor as F4.0.  That coupled the fact that the shutter speed was 1/10 second in this third image instead of 1/6 second, as shown in the first image, means that the third image was made with my Z-Ray 4x brighter than it was when making the first image. Why? Because it was closer.

That follows the Inverse Square Law exactly - halving the distance of the light source to the subject increases the brightness of the light 4x.  Or said another way, doubling the distance of the light source to the subject reduces the light brightness to 1/4 its original brightness.

In our third image - Figure 3 - though, notice the shadows have some detail in them.  The reason for this is because the ambient light at the hotel where the image were created was quite a bit brighter than the ambient light in the late night outdoor shoots.

Figure 3.

So you ask, "Can the contrast - the brightness of the highlights to the shadows - be reduced any more? Can I get even more detail into the shadow areas of the shot?"  The answer can be made in two ways.  The first would be to increase the amount of ambient light in the scene.  That may not be an easy solution in a hotel if all the lights are at full brightness already.

So what is the next possibility? Folks, this next sentence will change your lives;~).  Here we go.

Back up the Z-Ray to 10 feet away!  What happens? Well, now with the Z-Ray light intensity reduced on the subject by - how much? Remember the Inverse Square Law - the intensity of the light would be decreased to 1/4 it's original intensity.  That would necessitate an increase in exposure to say F4.0 at 1/5 second to get the proper exposure on the bride - better grab the tripod.  Check out Figure 4 below.

Figure 4.

Since the ambient light doesn't change at all, the increased exposure would do two things:

1. Bring a lot more detail into the shadow areas of the scene.

2. Reduce the contrast of the portrait because the shadow areas are much brighter now and closer to the brightness of the highlights.  Check out the Figure 4 to see an example of this effect.

Z-Note:  I used Lightroom to give me the image you see in the forth example.  I'm not cheating,  I'm "dramatizing" the effect of the exposure change.  Still you get the idea.

So the bottom line is this.  If you are over-exposing the highlights and getting a way too contrasty look in your images when using your Z-Ray (or any other light source for that matter), simply increase it's distance to the subject (or reduce it's output). 

If you want a more dramatic result - read that as a more contrasty image, then move your light source closer to the subject.  The ambient light will remain the same, but the highlights will now need a faster exposure so as to not be over-exposed but the shadows will now go much darker thus increasing the contrast of the scene. 

The bottom line is this - just use the working distance along with your exposure adjustments to control the contrast of the image when using any continuous light source to illuminate the subject.

Hey gang, I hope that gave you a pretty good idea on how you can control the contrast of the scene with a continuous light source or any light source for that matter.  Remember, it's always about the ratio of the main light source with the ambient that controls your contrast in these situations.  Hope this explanation has helped.

Hey gang, that's it for today. We got bags to pack, planes to catch, and places to go.  See ya' next week in beautiful San Diego! You know, I hear the pixels are even happier in San Diego because of that famed great weather they have along the beaches - can't wait.  Adios everybody, -David

"The Morning's Warm Glow"

"The Morning's Warm Glow"
©David A. Ziser

This image was made during our Scott Kelby Photo Walk I hosted last month in Cincinnati.  We were out  early in the morning  just as the morning light was starting to reach out and touch the day.  I love how I caught the soft light coming through the rails casting it's soft warmth on the railing.  Notice too how we still see the cool tones of the night's goodbye still wrapping the steps. I'm not sure how the light got such a soft vignette as seen here, but it sure looks sweet.  Camera specs: Canon 50D fitted with 18-200 mm lens at 160mm, F5.6 @ 1/1000 second, ISO 400.  Enjoy!  -David

It’s Winner's Day Thursday - And The Winner Is...

Good Afternoon Everybody,

We had a great shoot yesterday. The weather even cooperated and the rain held off while we where outside - clean living I suppose;~)  Hey, let's get right to today's post.

I have to admit, this one almost fell through the cracks around here at Digital ProTalk.  I announced a contest weeks (months) ago (May 28, 2009) in my post entitled, "Business Day Thursday: Booking Weddings, How About Booking 5 Bonuses To Seal The Deal?"  Only problem was - I forgot to announce the winner.

Well folks today is the day.  We had lots of great suggestions - not quite 20, but who's counting?  I've summarized them here after the jump. Hit the "Read More..." link below for all the great suggestions and the winner.  Good ideas, thanks for sharing.

Here we go...

Eric Cameron suggested -

If you book with me now we will throw in a free DVD with video snippets and stills taken from our camera that can shoot both HD Video and High Resolution Stills.

Randy Gresham -

Suggested giving them a digital picture frame loaded with some of their images as incentive to book now not crazy expensive , but probably appreciated

MDKauffmann said -

Many album companies (specifically Tuscany) are printing "guest books". Cost runs under $50. Full images on one side of the page, same image ghosted on the other side for people to sign.  "If you book today, I'll throw in a guest book with the images from your engagement."

Amancay said -

PhotoBook-esque set-up at the reception... with or without immediate print options!

Photobby suggested lots of things -

I like to throw in one or two of these as surprise thank yous when I deliver the prints after the event...
An album (clear sleeve 3 ring) with selected 4x6 watermarked prints
"On-line sharing" CD of small (400x300) images for social networking sites
Engagement session is a easy adder
Discount of printed invites or thank you notes with an image from the engagement/wedding.
Small quick-time sideshow set to "their song" for i-pod, i-phone etc. (my website enables me to offer this as a free download)
Most of these are low capital - cost is mostly my time.  Items that don't work for everyone, but can be custom tailored to each client. Non-digital folks like the print album. Full bore, no paper, live-on-the-network clients love the i-pod video slide show.

Pol suggested -

How about a complimentary bridal shower / kitchen tea shoot? It is often something the bride likes to look back on, but seldom has any decent photos of.

Another item that they might like for a bonus is a Christmas tree decoration with their photo on the ornament. Something like that can become an heirloom.

SDesigns said...

Couples may not be into large prints so much anymore, but grandparents still love to have a framed picture of their grand kids. An 8x10 or 5x7 with an inexpensive frame still looks very nice and creates an opportunity for B and G to include their favorite relatives or friends.
Jim suggested -

With the booking of a top-tier session, think about throwing in either:
A) A trash-the-dress shoot for the truly adventurous bride (these images are hard to get since the not too many brides want to kill their $??k dress. But talk about cool images for your portfolio...)
B) A post-wedding shoot of the bride in a few "exotic" locations around town. The dress lives on and you get more print sales (if you're not on a shoot-and-burn business model).
Dan said...

I know that when my wife & I were first married the first thing she wanted to do in our new home was to put up portraits in the hall of all our family members (both sides). For booking the top package why not offer the engagement shoot & a family portrait of each side of the family.

You might also shoot portraits of family members that don't have siblings, grandmas, grandpas & the like. You might have to pitch the idea a bit; but I think most brides once they gave it some thought would think it's a great idea.

Ivan Makarov suggested -

A pack of business cards with their favorite image on it or/and a PDF sideshow. I always over deliver - give them something at the end which they didn't expect. That leaves a good memory.

Here's Looking at You! Photography suggested -

A Signature or Sign In board. No one does signatures anymore! I have found this popular with high school senior parties and weddings. A smaller print in a larger frame with double mat. Say 8 x 10 of their best engagement photo (a good way to get this business) in a 16 x 20 frame and get signatures at the reception on the mat of the family and friends. It's something nostalgic and it does not get thrown away. Maybe tucked away over time, but never thrown out with the bathwater, so to speak!!

Caitlin said -

I really love doing Press products with my lab--throwing in some nice custom designed Thank You cards, Save The Date cards, or even Holiday cards (if the wedding is close enough)is great, and different. A lot of my brides don't think about doing those with their images, and really love this idea--also another fun way to get my portraits, designs, and logo out there!

Carole said -

I'm offering a variety of choices at different price levels, so each client can pick something if they book quickly enough. At the same time, this lets them see some of the other things that I offer, without me having to point them out myself. : )

Kevin Halliburton suggested -

Throw in a guest photo booth at the reception where you can put one of your back-up bodies to work for free, letting all of the guests shoot wacky candids of themselves as a gift to the bride and groom. Add a small erasable white board that guests can use to scribble a message to the couple as part of the photo. It would give the guests something to do while you wrap up the formals and the couple will end up with a very personal and fun photo registry of smiles and warm wishes from their friends.
Added bonus for you - Give the couple a free small print of the shots but also set up a slide show of the photo booth creations at the reception and give guest the opportunity to purchase low cost prints of their own shots as mementos.

Elizabeth Ashley Riddle said -

I do not include print credits in my packages, so I offer a gift certificate towards the purchase of prints or an album if they book within the week. I also offer three copies of a custom twelve month photo calendar of their best images if they book during the initial consultation. These calendars are great because they aren't super expensive and clients just go crazy over them.  Also, I always create an Animoto video of their photo sessions and send it to them as a surprise after the wedding with a hand-written thank you note. I include the disk and thank you note in a 5x7 tri-fold pocket folio, and I always include a 5x7 from their wedding for free. I wrap all of this up with a polka dot ribbon and deliver it in a custom bag. This always leaves my customers very happy.

Ty Mattheu suggested -

Why not offer to cover the cost and labor of creating and submitting newspaper wedding announcement for up to three newspapers. Not too much money, but an item off their checklist.

Ty added - In my experience, its hard to avoid this, but its worth mentioning. I think its important to ask first for the business WITHOUT the incentive to sign today. My close should reflect on the value of my product -- "now that we've fleshed out your idea of the perfect wedding, let's get started today on setting aside some dates..." not immediately go to the freebies "you like my work, and I'd like to work with you. If we get started today, I'll throw in the engagement session." I think that going to the giveaway too quickly reflects poorly on the value proposition you worked so hard to establish in the presentation. Just a thought.

Tim said...

I offer a complimentary engagement session if booked within a week of the initial meeting.  I offer all of the e-session images for use for table settings, gifts (coasters, cards, etc.), invites, etc.  Engagement sessions are great because it helps me get comfortable with the couple as well as gives them some time to get comfortable in front of the camera.

Frank Wilson said...

I would like to think I booked three weddings this week, based on the reactions from my clients, when I introduced the gift registry to them. I use my gift cards in my bridal gift registry. When I book, or try to book the client, I ask them to include me on their gift registry and to let their guest know that. When a guest registers with me, there is a $50 minimum, I will send my client a confirmation that $50 has been applied to their account from Mr. or Mrs. John Doe. Mr. or Mrs. John Doe would get a $50 gift card from Frank Wilson Photography for a portrait session or maybe images from the wedding. It's a win-win situation. Mr. or Mrs. John Doe gets credited for a gift to the bride and groom and in turn, they get a gift also. The bride and groom has $50 less to pay on their account or apply it to a package upgrade. How about that for a $3.00 piece of plastic. Better than getting a toaster or some ugly sheets. 
Hey gang, some great ideas here - worth giving a try for your upcoming bookings.

And the winner is.... drum roll please....  ???

All the way from Australia, its Pol from White Forge Photos with her suggestion about photography the bridal shower or wedding tea for the client.  I like the idea because all you would need to schedule would be about and hour so much time required.

The peripheral benefit of this shot is the fact that you get to meet and greet the bride's best friends and family - probably another wedding somewhere in the crowd and you get to them first.  Congrats! Pol.  Drop me a email at david@ ziser.com and I'll get your $50 B&H gift card in the mail.

My thanks to all those who took the time to participate by leaving your suggestions for the benefit of our readers.  I received lots of good ideas that should benefit anyone and everyone in their businesses. Just take one or two of these ideas and adapt them to your own business plan.

Hey folks, that's it for me again today.  I'm still going a mile a minute trying to get some posts in the bank for next week.  I promised LaDawn no more that 30 minutes a day blogging on our vacation next week so it’s back to the keyboard.  Adios,  -David

"Cityscape"

"Cityscape" 
©David A. Ziser

How about one more image from last week's class.  This was one of the final images I captured at our evening shoot.  I used my trusty Z-Ray high powered flashlight to illuminate the couple.  The high ISO and very low shutter speed brought up the detail in the city below.  This is one of my signature images we make at every wedding when shooting at Drees Pavilion, one of our most popular wedding reception venues in town. Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark II fitted with 24-105mm IS lens at 93mm, F5.6 @ 1/8 second handheld, ISO 1600.  Enjoy!  -David

"Let My Light Shine On; Creating The Outdoor Bridal Portrait" – A New Webinar Announced

Here Yea, Hear Yea, "Let My Light Shine On - Creating the Outdoor Bridal Image" to be broadcast on August 19, 2009 at 8:00 P.M. EDT.  [link to register] That's right, you guys and girls wanted a later broadcast so this time around I'm giving it a try.

These webinars have been so popular, I thought we could sneak one more in before we hit the road for my Digital WakeUp Call tour.  

Here are a few comments from the last webinar:

"I have gained more practical knowledge from you in the past two months than from any other source in the past two years." -Brian B.

"I am SO appreciative of his incredibly detailed and affordable seminars and workshops." -Nathan R.

"Your amazing photographs gave me ideas for my own pictures."  -Aga Z. from Poland

Thanks everybody.  OK, time to gear up for the next one coming up in two weeks!  Here is the low down:

"Let My Light Shine On - Outdoor Wedding Photography"

Take your outdoor photography to the next level!  Not shooting weddings, no problem - everything I'll discuss will work for any of your outdoor photographic assignments.
Here are the 5 main points I'll discuss:
1. Lighting Using Off-Camera Flash.
2. Exposure Made Easy.
3. Adding Dramatic Lighting Effects.
4. Changing Up The Background.
5. Making Your Subjects Look Beautiful!

Many of you also want the opportunity to listen to a rebroadcast of the show.  This time I'm doing better than that, the registration price includes a complimentary download of the program. Now you'll be able to listen to it whenever you want! I'll plan to notify all registrants within 24 hours of the show to give download instructions. Pretty cool, eh?  Here is the link to register for the program.

Because it worked so well last time, I'll have Damien standing by again to answer questions as they arise and also forward questions to me as needed. 

You can also REGISTER directly right here.
Please note: Time is 8:00P.M. EDT (Daylight Savings) or 3:00 A.M. GMT
I will also be giving away $200 worth of Door Prizes before we wrap the program. 

Hope to "see" you there.

Portrait Day Wednesday - Last Episode; Delivery The Final Product

Good Morning Everybody,

We are off and running again today.  My newsletter goes out later today - you can register over in the right hand column.  And, I leave shortly to spend the day shooting some Technique Tuesdays posts and a few other materials for some other "irons in the fire" going on.  It should be fun, I'm looking forward to a wonderful day.  I hope to have an image or two to share with you later this week and next week as well.

Lot's going on today - check out the August Webinar announcement - I've already started pulling the images for the program.  It should be pretty exciting - here is the quick link for the program description and to register.   

Yes folks, can you believe it? The final episode of Portrait Day Wednesday. And yes, we are going to complete it today. Just look at those happy faces out there.

Over the last several months I tried put together a complete series literally walking you through how we book a portrait, shoot a portrait, and sell portrait. The 16 episode series is consolidated at the end of this post with all the links to the past articles for your convenience. That should make it easy for you to go back and review all the others.

I hope this resource in itself will be beneficial for your own business building strategies in your own studios. Anyway, let's get on with today's post.

It's a lengthy post, so hit the "Read More ..." link below for the rest of the story.

Here we go...

It’s Show Time - Delivering The Finished Product

After finalizing a client's order as we discussed a few weeks ago, the next step is for me to meet with my staff and go over all aspects of the order including any mounting and framing necessary to complete the order.

Once everything is printed, it needs to be packaged for delivery. If a client has ordered what we call studio prints – a print that is not mounted – they are placed in their own protective plastic sleeve, wrapped in decorative tissue, then placed into a presentation box. Marathon Press has some great delivery options in their BellaGrafica line [link].  Their presentation boxes and bags  really add some pizazz when delivering your finished product.

Images ordered in our “Masters” and “Signature” line are mounted on our acid free mount board. I choose a two ply for 8 x 10 and smaller prints and at least a three ply on 11” x 14” up to 20” x 24” prints. Pacific Mount [link] has my preferred selections in mount board availability.  It also comes in a “self-stick” version which we prefer for ease of use. All of our 20” x 24” and larger signature prints are mounted and stretched on canvas.

The large majority of our prints are delivered to our clients carefully, impeccably, and beautifully framed. Our clients receive a 20% allowance off the cost of their frames if we do the framing for them. We handle the same high-quality frames as any other quality framer in our area so the client can shop with us and enjoy a 20% savings. By the way, who better to "ice the cake than the baker" anyway.

When the order is complete we give a call to the client and make an appointment for them to pick up their finished portraits. This is where we do things a bit differently than most studios.  The client's order is not simply wrapped, boxed, and ready to go.  When our clients arrive to pick up their portraits we present their finished portraits beautifully displayed in our studio.

Our clients are used to entering our studio and seeing our regular sample displays.  This time though they enter our studio and see are all their beautiful images on display. They are pleasantly surprised because they are seeing them how they will be displayed in their own home. It's a wonderful surprise for the client and I think they thoroughly enjoy it.

Depending on the size of the prints ordered, I many times personally offer to hang the portraits in their home.  It's just a little added service that we provide and many of our clients take us up on this opportunity. In any event, I think the offer adds a little sizzle to the delivery and just enhances the entire delivery process that much more.  I think that clients enjoy the added personal touch and I think it's reflected in their expressions of gratitude on delivery day.

Remember, be sure to give them a stack of 100 business cards with your favorite image and your contact information.  We've discussed the entire business card promotion back in my post right here.  Once more the client is surprised and elated because we have exceeded their expectations.

We help our clients to the car with the portraits and say our goodbyes. I love it when a plan comes together. From our first telephone conversation to our first meeting in person through the portrait session itself then through the selection process and on the final delivery – it's all in how you respect your client that sets you apart from so many other studios. It's great to have the best steak in town but you must sizzle it better than anybody else to keep your clients coming back year after year.

Here is a listing of the previous 15 posts on the subject. I think by reading and rereading these posts you have a wonderful resource in building your own family portrait business. Thanks for hanging in here the last several months and reading these posts. It's been fun putting them together for you and I hope you found them useful, helpful, and beneficial to your bottom line.

Article Links

01. How To Book, Shoot And Sell A Portrait - First In A Series

02. Booking The Portrait Appointment

03. The Consultation - Part 1

04. The Consultation - Part 2

05. The Clothing Conference - Or How To Your Clients Look Good For Their Portrait

06. What Do You Charge For The Portrait?

07. Where To Shoot The Portrait - At Home, Outside At Home or The Park

08. Shooting The Family Portrait

09. Posing A Good Looking Group

10. 9 Steps For Shooting Portraits In Sunlight

11. Divide And Conquer

12. Wrapping the Shoot and Moving Onto Workflow

13. Prepare To Be An Order Maker, Not An Order Taker

14. It's Showtime

15. Making The Presntation

On that note folks, I'm out of here. We've got a big day  shooting on location several videos for my Technique Tuesday posts and a lot of other projects I've got up my sleeve. I'll plan to see everybody here tomorrow for business day Thursday. Make it a great day, – David.

"Dancing In The Hallways"

"Dancing In The Hallways"
©David A. Ziser

Here is another image made during my Digital Master Class last week. I like the shot because of how I used the elements of the architecture to frame up the couple. Seems like a theme in these last few posts. These "elements" are really called "interior frames" of the composition and work very effectively to subconsciously bring the viewer's attention to the subject. Lighting was accomplished with my assistant holding my radio controlled Quantum flash at 1/4 power behind the subject. Camera Specs; Canon 50D fitted with 10-22mm lens at 17mm, F5.6 @ 1/50 second handheld, ISO 1600. Enjoy! -David

Technique Tuesday – It's Before And After Time; Love Is Blue

Good Morning Everybody,
I mentioned my new webinar coming up August 19, 2009. I'm putting the finishing touches on it right now. Tomorrow I'll have all the details posted so be sure to check back - I promise, it will another great presentation jammed pack with a ton of information. OK, on with today's Technique Tuesday...

It's Before And After Time; Love Is Blue
A few weeks ago I posted an image entitled, “Love Is Blue.” I mentioned a couple of embellishments I'd added to the photograph. As a result of my comments I received a number of a emails requesting that I do a “before and after” tutorial on this particular image. Well, you're wish is my command;~)

I'll show you the natural setting, (before), in which I captured the image. I'll walk you through what I saw in my "mind's eye" for my finished result. And, then I'll walk you through the all the steps I took to accomplish that result,(after).

This image was made right outside the church during a daylong workshop I did in Chicago recently. I really wanted to add a sense of the “dramatic” to this particular image and I thought I'd do it with color. I remember this sky not being all that exciting – you know, kind of grayish, clouds not too exciting and actually quite dull. I knew my main challenge was to really, really “pop” the sky. The final result is a combination of three elements:

1 – Lighting technique.
2 – Lightroom technique.
3 – Photoshop technique.

Combining these three resources resulted in the photograph that I thought was strikingly different than your normal wedding image. Hit the PLAY button below to see how I pulled it off. Enjoy the show!



Hey gang, that's it for me today. LaDawn and I are planning to head out of town for a week of R&R in San Diego on Saturday. We are trying to get as many projects off our plate as possible before we jump on a jet plane.

One more quick item, I've extended the Zumbrella special [link] till midnight, August 16, 2009. We are still working out the issues with international shipping so I thought I'd extend the special because of this inconvenience to our DPT readers.

Anyway, plan to check back again tomorrow for the wrap up episode of Portrait Day Wednesday – Delivering the Finished Product. See ya' then, -David

"Balcony Beauty"

"Balcony Beauty"
©David A. Ziser

OK, the title may be a little weak today, but I still love the image. During last week's Master Class, St. Xavier Church was kind enough to open up the church balcony to us for photographs. This was one of my favorite images from the balcony shoot. Notice how I positioned the bride within the interior frame of the architecture of the ceiling. The lines and the framing draw and hold the viewer's eye right on the subject. The surrounding colors blend nicely with the subject too. Balancing the flash with ambient results in a nice image. Camera specs; Canon 5D Mark II fitted with 24-105mm IS lens at 24mm, F 5.6 @ 1/40 second, ISO 1600. Enjoy! -David

Quick Hit Monday: Good Color; Wireless Shooting; Watermarking Made Easy; More Mini Z-Rays; And A Giggle Or Two

Good Morning Everybody,
We wrapped a great Digital Master Class again last week. Whew, was it busy for all of us around here. This week we have a lot of projects on the front burner, albums to design, images to fine tune, DVD's to burn, hotels to book...... I'm announcing a new webinar on Wednesday so stay turned - I think you are going to love it.

I'm also hooking up with my models from last week this Wednesday and we are planning to spend the day shooting some brand new content for my Technique Tuesday episodes and a few more projects planned down the road. Stay tuned on these too.

I mentioned in my last Friday post entitled, "What I Learned...". I received an email or two asking if that means it's going to be a better class than this past class? Hey gang, the last class was a great class so the answer to the question is NO - it's going to be DIFFERENT class.

All our classes continue to receive "RAVE" reviews from nearly everyone that attends. Why is that? I think it's because for as many years as I been conducting my Digital Master Class, it continues to morph to accommodate the current group of attendees.

It's time to change it up again and that's the plan for October. More hands on shooting, more portfolio shooting for students, more individual attention to each attendee, less class time on album design, photoshop and lightroom techniques and lots of additional renovation in the works. Of course, that means modifying and changing the course content to accommodate the added time spent on shooting. No problem, I'm going to give it a try so stay tuned. It will be another "knock your socks" off week of living, learning, and loving photography!

Remember, you can still sign up at the old price of $895 until Friday of this week. Then the price increases to $995 to accommodate several thousand dollars of additional costs. Regardless of the cost increase, this class still is the best value on the planet when you consider a 100 page course workbook included, class CD included, one-on-one time with my staff for all who ask included, and two fun dinner evenings at our home/studio walking you through "Studio Life" at David A. Ziser Photography.

Anyway, give Jennifer a call at 800.292.2994 if you want to be counted in for October.

OK, time to get "cookin'" with another Quick Hit Monday. Here we go.

Good Color; Wireless Shooting; Watermarking Made Easy; More Mini Z-Rays; And A Giggle Or Two
Color Monitor Calibration: If you missed it, my buddy, RC over at Layersmagazine.com had a nice video on the elusive task of making your color look good. He uses the same gear I use - the Spyder 3 Elite - so give it peak right here - definitely worth the trip.

Wireless Shooting On The Cheap: Blogging buddy, Jeff Revel, just picked up his new Eye-Fi Pro card. The is the new card by the company of the same name that that has wireless shooting built right in.. I just picked up the same card myself about two weeks ago. Jeff gives you the low down on how it works. Here is the link to the story right here.

Watermarking In Lightroom: Here is a great article on how to watermark your images using Lightroom and Morgrify right here. Jim Goldstein, is an extremely talented landscape photographer - just check out the rest of his site. He also keeps it coming with solid content for his blog - always worth the trip.

Somebody Stole My Mini Z-Ray: Well not really, but DIYPhotography.net has a fun piece on how to do light painting with the new LED lights on the market. Step by step fun for the entire family. Here is the link right here.

And Now A Giggle Or Two
OK, wedding photographers if you haven't seen the wedding couple dancing down the aisle on YouTube lately, you must not be connected to the web because this video has been causing splitting laughs everywhere - including the national news like in the New York Times. Here is the link to the story and the YouTube video right here.

But wait, there's more. Now check out the "Dancin' Down The Aisles Of Divorce Court" right here. Both are worth a Monday morning giggle.

Hey gang, that's it for me today, I'm heading down the road to Louisville, KY. I'm a board member of KPPA's ( Kentucky's Professional Photographers Association) and we have a meeting putting the final plans on the Fall meeting and next years' state convention. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to mention that I'm doing a day long program for KPPA on August 17, 2009 in Lexington, KY. Here is the link to all the info. Hope to see you there.

Have a good one, everybody. See ya' tomorrow for another Technique Tuesday episode. Adios, -David