PhotoPro Expo 2017 Kicks Off It's Best Photo Conference EVER At The BEST Black Friday PRICE Ever - ONLY $119.99!

Hi Gang, You’ve got yo check this out!

PhotoPro Expo 2017 Kicks Off It's Best Photo Conference EVER At The BEST Black Friday PRICE Ever - ONLY $119.99 with PROMO CODE PPE17BF  - only till Midnight Monday!

I can't believe it - PHOTOPRO EXPO 2017 is right around the corner January 26-30. That's only 8 weeks away and has our best line-up ever! Just check out all the famous faces below. Click here for all the conference details

For the next few DAYS you can register for ONLY $119.99 with PROMO CODE PPE17BF - on-line registration only.  That's our special Black Friday pricing and our BEST price ever!

USE PROMO CODE PPE17BF

to get special $119.99 pricing!

I'm really going to get into trouble with the PHOTOPRO EXPO accounting team for pricing the show so low - so grab it while you can before they make me change it back to the regular price of $159 ;~) 

You really don't want to miss this year's show!

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Hey Gang,

That's it for me today. Happy Turkey Day to everybody and I hope to see you soon.

Adios for now,

David

Perfectly Clear BIG BUNDLE At Best Price Ever!

Hey Gang, I just had my good friends over at Perfectly Clear reach out to me and asked me to tell you about their latest SUPER DEAL.  For $99 this new deal even includes the "Kitchen Sink" - metaphorically speaking of course ;~)

This time around you can pick up the latest version of one of my favorite pieces of image enhancing software along with a ton of additional goodies.  Check out the full list below:

1.  Perfectly Clear Complete V2

2.  Perfect Eyes

3.  Perfect Skin

4.  LUCiD Desktop for a Friend

5.  A Guide to Perfect Portraits Book

6.  72 Essays on Photography Book

7.  Upgrade to Perfectly Clear Complete Version 3

8.  A $485 value for just $99

9.  $1 Donation to Southeastern Guide Dogs

10. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

With the added functionality of SKIN and EYE enhancement now available at a touch-of-the-button in both Lightroom and Photoshop, it's a no-brainer to pick it up at the rock bottom price - I mean it. PLEASE check it out now right here so you can see how cool this software is. You won't be disappointed!

• One Click and Exposure, Density and Contrast are perfect!

• One Click and your subject's Eyes look fabulous!

• One Click and your subject's Skin is Hollywood flawless!
• Get all the details and demos RIGHT HERE!

Another COOL thing about this deal is that some of it is going to the dogs - to the Seeing Eye Dogs that is.  That's right - with each order Perfectly Clear with donate $1.00 to the Southeastern Guide Dogs.

I sure hope you will check it out RIGHT HERE!

”Colors of Norway”

”Colors of Norway”
©David A. Ziser

While traveling through Norway a few years ago on a wonderful ocean cruise we stopped at the fascinating and beautiful city of Alesund, Norway. On a cloudy, rainy morning and after departing the ship LaDawn and I explored the city on foot eventually finding our way to the Aksla View Point overlooking the city below.

The geometric layout of the city from that vantage point really facinated me.  There were so many colors repeated and so many shapes and details also repeated that all combined into a certain photographic rhythm that I found fascinating.

After a little post-production in Lightroom and Photoshop to enhance the colors and details, I had the result I wanted.  To me it looks like a photo-realistic painting of the city more than a photograph – I like it.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with Tamron 28-300 VR lens at  84mm, F8.0 at 1/400 second, ISO 800.

Enjoy!  -David

Back In The Saddle Again & One Way Cool Website!

Hi Gang,

I promised I would get back on the bloging wagon again so today I’ve climbed back in the saddle and off we go.  I have to tell the reason for the slowdown was really because of all the traveling LaDawn and I have been doing over the past 4 years. I appreciate all the calls and emails to LaDawn concerning my health. I’m feeling GREAT!

We have been traveling for up to 7 months of the year enjoying the world’s wonderful sights, sounds and experiences.  That’s our Spain itinerary from 2014 – what a trip that was!  I know that sounds like a lot of time traveling and lots of folks think we’re crazy for being gone so long and often, but we LOVE it!

OK you ask, “Why so much travel? Are still shooting any more?” To that I answer a resounding,YES! But, in all honesty, a lot less wedding/portrait photography.  I’m still shooting for my VIP clients – now what does that mean? I’ve been in this business for many years and have built up a great many loyal clients. 

LaDawn likes to say that my “client reach” is not very broad but it is very deep as I have been photographing the same families for many, many years and they are still calling me for weddings and important events – a good thing!

As you become closer to that magic age of Medicare, and dare I say retirement, you wonder how it’s going to change your life. Well, I could never get used to the idea of a complete retirement because as a self-employed business owner I always have an iron-or-two still in the fire.

Yes, I was still shooting for many past clients – all the Bar/Bat Mitzvah kids I have photographed over the pass twenty plus years are now getting married.  Yep, the image on the right - I photographed her Bat Mitvah many years earlier.

I along with our good friend Randy Fraley, took up the responsibilities of producing PhotoPro Expo, the biggest, best and most successful photography convention in the midwest! We’ve got great plans for 2017 – I’ll keep you posted.

So like I said earlier, I figure I’ll always have an-iron-in-the-fire till the day I die.  That’s all good – it keeps the mind and body active.  And I have to tell you that I love it all.  Add to that all the travel and we still have a pretty full schedule for our lives. So that said, let’s get back to work.

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Exporting JPEGS but What Compression Ratio – Oh My!

OK, before I share some of our photographic travel experiences with you – I’ve taken over 150,000 photos over the last four years and have enjoyed each press of the shutter.

Over these next several weeks I’d like to share with you some of our stories, our images, and our experiences these past few years but before I begin I want to tell you about a very cool website I stumbled across the other day.

So how many of you guys and girls out there really know or care about what the optimum compression ratio is to use when you export JPEGs? Well… I run into that same delemma myself.  I’m working on a task and  need to export 400 images over to my client for a small project. The images won’t be any larger than 20x10.  Exporting at FULL RES can give me a folder that could easily be over a GIG in size.  That sure won’t work for my DropBox account.

So, just how far can I crunch those JPEGs down and still have them look acceptable? After doing some extensive search the answer I can up with was 50% at 240dpi. Yep, 50% at 240dpi – that’s a BIG crunch of the pixels you say.  But I say, “How do they look after that kind of crunch?”  The answer to me is “Just fine!”.

OK, how did I reach that conclusion? Check this super informative post over at Jeffrey Friedl’s Blog [link]  Ahhh.. the website therin lies the solution.  To be honest, I have never seen a more thorough explanation of what so many of us take for granted.

Jeffrey’s interactive DEMO – I pulled the image above from that DEMO - showing how JPEG compression affects the final image is unsurpassed in it’s presentation.  You simply mouse over the compression settings on his DEMO images and see the result of that compression setting in real time – amazing! Again, check it out right here – way cool info! Also, don’t miss his Resources at the bottom of the post.

Another very good source of info on the subject can be found at Graeme Cookson’s website Shutha – Free Training For Professionals right here.  He goes into even more explanation about the result of compression on your image.  Between both sites you should be able to come to your own best solution for crunching your JPEGs - depending on your application.  Enjoy the read – DAZ.

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Hey gang, I’m going to let that be it for tady.  I really wanted to let this post be more of an intro as to what I plan to post over the next several weeks.  Although the posts will be  more photo-centric, I plan to spin them with my own photograpgic backstory including the where’s, why’s, and how’s of all the images.  I hope you enjoy the journey.

All the Best,

“Back In The Saddle Again” David

I’m Firing Up My Blog Again!

Good Morning Everybody!

I'm planning to fire up my blog  DigitalProTalk.com again, maybe not on a daily basis but on a weekly at the very least.

Why, you ask? As you know LaDawn and I have been traveling quite extensively for the past few years - heck, on our last trip to Europe just over a month ago I logged 22,231 images!!!  The image below was taken after a rainstorm.  That’s the Stout’s Hill Manor House in Uley, England, our home for 10 days – fabulous!

I'd like to share some of these images with you along with my thought processes behind the images, and the technical details as well. So please stay tuned ;~)

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Expiring Tonight! - The BEST BIG DEAL BUNDLE Ever!

Hey Gang, this is the last time you are going to hear me talk about the BIG DEAL BUNDLE [link].  So far, thank to all who picked up the super deal. The BIG DEAL has raised over $20,000 for the three charities it supports - that's like FANTASTIC! 

Why not jump on the bandwagon yourself and pick up this fabulous collection of all things photographic and it’s Only $99 for $3000 worth of training, plug-ins, brushes, videos, eBooks, etc. from the top trainers in the country right here!.

Remember, the DEAL EXPIRES tonight so don't miss it. Not only do you help three deserving charities, you also get the best collection of photographic resources available anywhere! You've got to check it out right here!

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Expiring In 2 Days - Perfectly Clear's $99 Steal of a Deal Summer Sale!

Hey Folks, also if you haven't checked out Perfectly Clear [link] yet (only $99 for two more days), you are in for a BIG surprise when you do! Perfectly Clear has evolved from a quick one-click Image Enhancement tool into a post-production powerhouse for fashion, wedding and portrait photographers everywhere!

When Perfectly Clear was introduced over 5 years ago it was priced at $249 then reduced to $149 and now it’s ONLY$99 for two more days! The first version basically fined tuned color and contrast - hey, it was great for a wedding/portrait photographer like myself.

But now with the added functionality of SKIN and EYE enhancement now available at a touch-of-the-button in both Lightroom and Photoshop, it's a no-brainer to pick it up at the rock bottom price - I mean it. PLEASE check it out all the DEMOS right here so you can see how cool this software is. You won't be disappointed!

• One Click and Exposure, Density and Contrast are perfect!

• One Click and your subject's Eyes look fabulous!

• One Click and your subject's Skin is Hollywood flawless!

• Get all the details and demos RIGHT HERE!

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Hey Gang, that's it for me today. 

Please keep and eye on DigitalProTalk.com over the next few days.  I'll have some of my new photos up by the end of the week. Hope to see you soon.

Adios for now,

David

Our Great 4th of July Celebration Just Got Better!

Good Morning Everybody!

On Sunday morning we blasted off from good ol’ KY and headed to Las Vegas for a little fun in the sun.  Some folks said we were crazy for leaving our mid-80’s temps in NKY and heading into the 107 temps of Las Vegas – hey, it’s Vegas!

We  settled into our fabulous suite at our favorite hotel – the Elara on the Strip. Check out the view from our living room window above – awesome!

Turns out Sunday is the BIG 50th anniversary celebration at Caesar's Palace complete with Robbie Knievil, the Red Bull Air Force skydiving team, terrific entertainment, and a great fireworks display – LaDawn and I were in the center of all the excitement. In fact, I was even interviewed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and appeared in the paper the next day – my 15 minutes of fame – haha.

Today we’re heading over to the the Bellagio for the Yousef Karsh display.  Karsh was always one of my favorite portrait photographers so it will be fun to see the exhibit.

But the real story is how our July 4th just got better – see below! 

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The BIG DEAL Extended For One More Week!

Many of you know that a few weeks ago I became involved with the best deal to come along in years for photographers everywhere.  It’s called the BIG DEAL [link] – Only $99 for $3000 worth of training, plug-ins, brushes, videos, eBooks, etc. from the top trainers in the country.

The BIG DEAL, which so far has raised $1000’s for the three charities was scheduled to end yesterday but I just got word it’s being extended for another week. That’s GREAT NEWS in case you missed it. Not only do you help three deserving charities, you also get the best collection of photographic resources available anywhere! You’ve got to check it out right here!

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Perfectly Clear $99 Summer Sale!

OK, now things get even better! Last week, I’m contacted from my good friends at Perfectly Clear – I’ve known Brad, the owner of Perfectly Clear for a number of years and I’ve watched how this wonderful piece of software have matured into into one of the BEST post-production tools available for photographers anywhere:

• One Click and Exposure, Density and Contrast are perfect!
• One Click and your subject’s Eyes look fabulous!
• One Click and your subject’s Skin is Hollywood flawless!
• More Info Right Here

Over the years Perfectly Clear has made giant steps to being an indispensable resource to all of us in photography.

And now the GREAT NEWS!  Perfectly Clear’s Summer Sale [link] is happening NOW!  This sale only happens once a year so don’t miss the opportunity to grab Perfectly Clear Complete for only $99 [link] – that’s 1/3 off the regular price of $149!

The SALE ends in just 10 days so don’t miss it! You can order it right here!

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Hey Gang, that’s it for me today.  LaDawn and I are heading over to Bellagio shortly to take in the Karsh Exhibit and the rest of the Vegas attractions. It’s a little warm – only 105 degrees today but it’s a DRY heat, right – lol.

See everybody later,

David

Good Morning Everybody! What’s The BIG DEAL?

Hi Gang,

Yep, I’m back with some great news! 

First of all a quick update. LaDawn and I have been traveling down the long European rivers and high seas for the last two months. We started with a wonderful, tulip-filled week in Amsterdam. Then we traveled from Amsterdam to Budapest on a wonderful 2-week  river cruise, spent a few days in Budapest, then flew over to the Cotswold’s in England for 10 more days of spring flowers, amazing rolling scenic hillsides and quaint rustic villages.

We then drove  to Southampton and boarded the beautiful Celebrity Eclipse for a two week ocean cruise through the Baltic including, Estonia, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm up to St. Petersburg, Russia. It was quite the trip and I’d love to share some stories and images with you in these upcoming weeks.

But first I have to tell what’s happening right now!  While on our cruise I received an email from my good friends Mia McCormick and R.C. Conception about a hugh opportunity they were putting together for photographers everywhere.  It’s called The Big Deal 2016 [link].  I was involved in last year’s project and it rocked the socks off everyone who participated and raised as I recall about $80,000 for charity. I told Mia and RC to count me in again this year.

Well, I have to tell you, this year’s Big Deal really blows past last year’s deal – only $99 for $3000 worth of videos, presets, eBooks, Software, and much more! Mia tells me they have 25 of the top photographers and trainers – Joe McNally, Peter Hurley, Rick Sammon, Matt Kloskowski, Tamara Lackey, yours truly and many more - involved in this year’s offereing.

This bundle is evenly balanced with a wide range of training on Photography, Post Processing, Design and Video and the training comes from some of the icons in this industry.  These are people who’ve made this their life’s work and they are passionate about teaching it.   Plus there’s enough training included to keep you busy until next year.

The software included this year is just outstanding. Think of it this way….  While Lightroom and Photoshop are invaluable tools - photographers out there working in the space swear by the sheer speed of Photo Mechanic. That’s a $150 dollar tool you’ll immediately add to your arsenal in the Big Deal.  Add in Clarity and ParticleShop - and great images will come easy.

I read through the contents of the entire pachage and was blown away by everything included!  There are hours upon hours of video training videos, 100’s of presets and special brushes for Lightroom and Photoshop, software offerings from some of the top vendors, plus so much more! 

Once again this year’s BIG DEAL raises money for three very special charities and I think that’s great!  Not only do you pick up a fabulous $3000 collection of educational resources, post-production shortcuts, and FREE software and discounts for only $99, you also get to help those in need. You really have to check it out [link]!

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today. I know a lot of folks are sad to see me fall off the grid a bit but I have to say that life could not be better.  LaDawn and I continue to travel extensively around the world, photograph a few special events and we miss you all.  I promise I’ll try to get a post or two up about our recent travels.

All the best everybody,

David

PhotoPro Expo 2016 Price Reduced To $129 For Digital Pro Talk Readers

I want this year's show to be the best ever! Below is a price exclusive for all my DigitalProTalk and Digital Newsletter readers! I hope to see you there! -David

PhotoPro Expo 2016 happens February 4 - 8, 2016 

Now only $129 (reg $179) now thru next week.

Use PROMO CODE PPEDPT16

Last chance for this extra low price!

Scroll to bottom of page for convention location.

And Trade Show is SOLD OUT! It’s one of our BIGGEST EVER!

We've got nearly 100 booths,  14 FREE Programs, and "LIVE" Model Shoots in the Trade show too!

Get your FREE Trade Show Pass below!

25 Speakers, 4 Fabulous Days, I Fantastic Opportunity!

Greg Heisler: Over 50 Time Magazine Covers!

Joel Grimes: Master of the Dynamic Image!

Clay Blackmore: One the best trainers today!

Kirk Voclain: Success is his middle name!

Matt Kloskowski: Legendary Trainer and Photographer!

  Dave Cross: Photoshop Guru Extraordinaire!

Judy  Host: Master of Natural Lighting!

Plus 17 More Speakers - LIVE Model Shoots - Huge Trade Show - Giant Lighting Clinic - Parties     

& much more!

Register Now

PLUS –> I’m Announcing TWO FREE WEBCASTS

That's right, PhotoPro Expo 2016 is hosting 2 FREE webcasts.

Image Competition is fun and a great learning experience. There is no better way to improve your photography than being part of print judging process.  Our two webcasts allow you to be part of the action.

Click on the button below for all the details and to register for the webcasts.

We done this every year and it's been a great hit with folks who can't make it to the show.

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Meet the Experts and Learn the Latest Industry Secrets

Hey Gang, Our 2016 PhotoPro Expo promises to be the best ever! 25 superb top-of-their-field speakers scheduled for presentations are some of the the best on the planet. I'm excited!  

- Learn  new secrets to create great photographs including macro, landscape, and aerial (drone) photography, and so much more.  Learn Exciting Lighting, Lightroom, and Photoshop Techniques. Boost your profits with tips from our marketing experts. 

- Rub elbows with the best trainers in the business, make new friends, and with 3 parties, enjoy the best hospitality of any convention anywhere!

Check out the full PHOTOPRO EXPO website right here!

BONUS Programs:

Monday Post-Conference Program

All Day With Legendary Joel Grimes

Watch, listen, and learn as Joel walks you through his creative process from start to finish on Monday February 8, 2016. Joel is both a Master Artist and Master technician and is able to combine both talents into some of the most exciting images you have ever seen.

Monday, February 8th  9:00 am - 4:00 pm

$99 Add'l cost - REGISTER HERE!

Thursday Pre-Conference Programs

Half The Day With Dave Cross

Get up to speed with the latest features of Adobe Photoshop. See all the latest, greatest features, tips, and tricks.

Thursday, February 4th  9:00 am - 12:30 pm

$49 Add'l cost - REGISTER HERE!

Half The Day With CLAY BLACKMORE

WOW! Spend a "Hands On" high energy afternoon shooting with Clay Blackmore. Clay will show you how to create exciting portraits with his fresh and very energetic approach.

Thursday, February 4th  1:30 pm - 5:00 pm

$49 Add'l cost - REGISTER HERE!

Do you have workshops?  Boy, do we have workshops!

- 38 presentations in all - many with "LIVE" stage demonstrations.

- 8 mini programs in our Expo Theater on the Trade Show floor.

- 6 LIVE sessions with trainers at the Westcott Mardi Gras Model Shootout!

- Midnight At The Oasis 8-bay Lighting Clinic featuring 8 instructors showcasing 8 styles of shooting styles. Additional chg. All proceeds to benefit PPN Charities!

- PLUS Portfolio Reviews & Business Reviews!

4-Day VIP Pass

$129 (reg $179) till Sunday midnight  12/27/15

Use PROMO CODE PPEDPT16

Last chance for this extra low price!

Register Now!

Click On Image Below to download your FREE Trade Show Pass!

The Expo Trade Show is SOLD OUT!

With nearly 100 Booths, 14 FREE programs, & "LIVE" Model Shoots!