Technique Tuesday: Extreme Digital Design With Special Guest Michael Sheasby – CEO LumaPix

Good Morning Everybody,

This is the second day for us at Texas School.  Once again, they have quite a crowd here – with instructors, staff, and vendors – almost 1,100 people from 40 states and 4 countries worldwide! We kicked off the day yesterday with the class starting at 8:30 a.m.  We spent most of the time in class reviewing lighting and composition.  Then we gave the class a crack at trying some of the lighting techniques I discussed earlier in the day – all good stuff.

After we wrapped the class time it was off to the Cowboy Dance Club for a barbeque dinner and a little dancin’ Texas style.  The party went to 11:00 p.m. and most everybody was back at the hotel by midnight.

For the instructors it’s a long day because we’re the ones that have to get up extra bright and early, and get ready for the next day’s class and, for some of us, even get a blog post out :~)  Anyway… it’s all good fun.

Today we are on location all day, then dinner this evening. No that is not the end of the day.  After that, in Texas School tradition, there’s another party that kick’s off at 9:00 and goes to 1:00 a.m. Wednesday morning.  Next year, I want to be a student  at Texas School!  I don’t want to lead you onto believing that we’re having a ton of fun here or anything like that - so I better get on with today’s Technique Tuesday.  Here we go…

Extreme Digital Design With Special Guest Michael Sheasby – CEO LumaPix

Last Thursday I think we had one of our best webcasts featuring Michael Sheasby along with myself and our Chief of Design, LaDawn.  Michael is  Cofounder and CEO of LumaPix, the absolute best design and collage software available anywhere!  Michael was gracious enough to spend a little over 90 minutes with all those tuned in showing us the latest features in the newly released LumaPix V5.

We had photographers attending from nearly all 50 states including Hawaii and from 10 countries around the world including Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Angola, Italy, England, Israel, Mexico, Canada, and Germany! It was truly an international event!  My thanks to all who participated and especially to Michael and LaDawn who made it such a well rounded webcast.

Here are a few comments from the attendees:

A GREAT WEBINAR! … Thanks, I enjoyed the Webinar.  already have 5v and love it. …  It is definitely a BIG time saver!!!!!! … Thanks for a great webinar!  It’s a FABULOUS piece of software that has saved me a TON of time…..Anyway, you get the idea. Why not hit the PLAY button below and enjoy the show one more time.

Oh, BTW, we’ve got some special offers on LumaPix for anyone interested – like how you can get LumaPix for only $99 – that’s right, $99.  But you’ll have to call LaDawn at 800.292.2994 or email her at ladawn@ziser.com for details.  If you love what you see, please give her a call.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  It’s a really long day – of course that’s including party #2 this evening. So, I better get moving.  Boy…. do I love my job ;~)

Have a great one, and I might see you tomorrow but probably not too early (depending on how this evening goes.)

-David

FREE Extreme Digital Design Webcast Today & Door Prizes!

Good Late Morning Everybody,

First of all, just a quick reminder – we've got our Extreme Digital Design webcast at four o'clock this afternoon EST and I sure hope everyone can be there.

REGISTER for FREE Right Here!

Another quick note, I want to thank everybody for other comments on my Tuesdays post – the best lens for wedding photography in my review of Tamron's 28 – 300 mm VC lens. I'm going to keep testing the lens in the next couple of weeks and keep you posted of any newer findings. So far, it's my favorite lens on my 5D Mark III for everyday shooting and I'm having the best time ever shooting this camera/lens combo.

FREE Extreme Digital Design Webcast Today! Here Are The Details

My special guest is Cofounders and CEO of LumaPix, Mr. Mike Sheasby – and also a good friend for many years. Mike and I will be discussing the latest, greatest features of the newest release of LumaPix 5.0 – the absolute best design/collaging software on the planet earth.

We've been using LumaPix V5 here at the studio since it was released a few weeks ago and I have to tell you – it is one powerful update. Mike and I will spend some time discussing some of the most important new features and just how those features can help wedding and portrait photographers advance their business, client communications, and client excitement to a brand new level.

After that, Michael promises to give you an eye-popping, jaw-dropping demo of all those new features and even a few not yet released – I can’t wait! Once again, I promise that you will be amazed! We’ll wrap the webcast taking questions from the audience and discussing more ways LumaPix can help make you money. We’re both looking forward to a very lively discussion.

I watched the development of LumaPix over the last eight years and this is, by far, the most exciting release yet. Remember, registration for the webcast is FREE!!! We have plenty of seats left so you can join all the fun right here. Remember, 4 PM EST – you won't want to miss this program!

LaDawn will be riding “shotgun” monitoring questions from our web audience. I’ll be following questions on Twitter. Just tweet your questions to @digitalprotalk and include #lumapixdesign. Michael and I will answer as many questions as best we can during the webcast time period. Once again, here is the link to register right here. FREE Webcast: Thursday April 26, 2012 at 4:00pm. EST.

YES, Door Prizes Too!

Wait, there’s more!!! ;~) We’ll also be giving away nearly $600 in door prizes during the webcast and winners must be present to win. Prizes will include a full version of LumaPix:FotoFusion Extreme ($299 value) [link], my Captured By The Light 5-DVD seminar ($89 value), Divine Design Collection ($149 value) [link], and a copy of my Captured By The Light book ($54 value) [link].

See You There!  David

FREE Digital Design Webcast: Introducing LumaPix:FotoFusion 5 with CEO, Michael Sheasby

Good Afternoon Everybody,

BIG NEWS TODAY!!  Yesterday I had a very pleasant phone conversation with my good friend, Michael Sheasby; Co-Founder and CEO of LumaPix.  The good news is that Mike has agreed to be my guest and do another webcast in which we will showcase all the latest features, shortcuts, secrets, and business building tools of the new LumaPix V5. 

Mike, myself, and LaDawn are just now designing the presentation and I promise it will be jammed packed with current info and easy solutions to Extreme Digital Design for Photographers that want to showcase their images in the most exciting ways possible! I’ll keep you posted as all our topics develop.

At Michael’s last guest appearance we had nearly 1100 registrations and had viewers from 26 countries around the world tuned in!  From the constant flow of “LIVE” comments, and those that tweeted and emailed it was evident that everyone was blown away by that webcast!

Great Praise For Last Webcast!

“Fantastic webinar!”  Twitter

“This software is incredible!”…Twitter

“Fabulous session”…Twitter

And a few more from the webcast,  “Wow! Amazing!” from Virginia, “Thank You, Wonderful webcast!” from Israel, “Woohoo Thank You” from Ohio, and “Thanks to all at Ziser.com” from Australia.

Michael Is The BEST at DEMOing The Powers Of LumaPix’s Design Abilities!

He has some of the fastest keyboarding fingers I have ever seen demonstrating all the latest, greatest features of LumaPix.  It will be quite a treat seeing him work his magic during the FREE webcast on Thursday April 26, 2012 at 4:00pm. EST.

MARK YOUR Calendars NOW!

April 26, 2012  4:00 P.M. EST

Need to know what time that is in your part of the world – please click here.

 

Unbelievable NEW Features!

Mike and I have been friends for as long as the LumaPix has been established. For those of you that don’t know – LUMAPIX:Fotofusion is, hands down, the fastest digital design software for photographers on the planet!  LumaPix:FotoFusion, has always been a great piece of software, but amazingly it just got a whole lot better! 

The NEW features are unbelievable not just from a design standpoint but from a marketing standpoint too.  Now you can upload your album designs to the “Cloud” where your client can share them with family and friends almost instantaneously.  Your clients have the ability to then interact with you on the final design.  It’s is an unbelievable new feature and there are many more that will also blow you away – you need to see the seminar! 

Even if you’re not sure about being able to make it, register anyway to hold your seat. LaDawn will be riding “shotgun” monitoring questions from our web audience.  I’ll be following questions on Twitter.  Just tweet your questions to @digitalprotalk and include #lumapixdesign.  Michael and I will answer as many questions as best we can during the webcast time period.  Once again, here is the link to register right here. FREE Webcast: Thursday April 26, 2012 at 4:00pm. EST.

YES, Door Prizes Too!

Wait, there’s more!!! ;~) We’ll also be giving away nearly $600 in door prizes during the webcast and winners must be present to win.  Prizes will include a full version of LumaPix:FotoFusion Extreme ($299 value) [link], my Captured By The Light 5-DVD seminar ($89 value), Divine Design Collection ($149 value) [link], and a copy of my Captured By The Light book ($54 value) [link].

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  Don’t forget to register for the webcast.  It WILL be a sellout and you don’t want to miss this wonderful opportunity!

I’ll plan on seeing everyone tomorrow for another edition of Business Day Thursday.

See ya’ then, David

A Huge Success! Digital Design, Now Easier Than Ever: Re-Broadcast

Good Afternoon Everybody,

WOW!  We hit it out of the park yesterday with our Digital Design webcast.  We had nearly 1100 registers and had viewers from 26 countries around the world tuned in!  Here is just a quick sampling: Australia, Panama, Brazil, Trinidad, Romania, Portugal, Japan, New Zealand, Israel, Italy, Hungary, and China just to name about half of the countries represented – unbelievable!

Praise For Our Digital Design Webcast!

From the “LIVE” comments, and those tweeted and emailed it’s sure seemed everyone was blown away by yesterday’s webcast!

“Fantastic webinar!”  Twitter

“This software is incredible!”…Twitter

“Fabulous session”…Twitter

And a few more from the webcast,  “Wow! Amazing!” from Virginia, “Thank You, Wonderful webcast!” from Israel, “Woohoo Thank You” from Ohio, and “Thanks to all at Ziser.com” from Australia.

My personal thanks also to Michael Sheasby, LaDawn, Jennifer, and Damien for being part of our fantastic event!  But mostly my thanks to all of you who turned in for the broadcast – Thank You!

And The Winners Are…

At every webcast, we always give away about $1,000 worth of door prizes.  Yesterday was no exception. Are winners were…

The Summer Success Collection [link]: Lars Anderson from Denmark.

My Captured by the Light Book [link]: Linda Fox from Alaska and Sandy Ashley from Alabama.

Devine Design Collection [link]: Marla Glassman from Ohio.

LumaPix:FotoFusion Extreme [link]: Frederick Gary from New York.

Watch It One More Time! Or Many More Times!

This hugely popular webcast featured the new release of LumaPix for the MAC. Now MAC users can enjoy the same easy, fast, digital design that PC users have enjoyed for years.

Anyway, I know there were lots of folks a little disappointed that they couldn’t attend yesterday’s “LIVE” webcast so today I’m offering you the second best option – an opportunity to view the webcast in it’s entirety and for those that want to review the presentation again….here you go!

Michael "razzle-dazzled" the audience with his thorough knowledge of the interface throughout his MAC demo - hey, he invented it, right - he should be the best!

LaDawn showed the "sensitive" side of the Lumapix showcasing how she uses her Divine Designs to create beautiful projects that any client would love. 

I wrapped with a quick lesson on the profit building potential of LumaPix showing features mostly overlooked by most LumaPix users. These features open up a vast opportunity to market your photography more effectively than ever!

I hope that if you missed yesterday's program, that you’ll hit the PLAY button and enjoy the show.  If you heard the program yesterday, then hit the PLAY button again and catch what you missed ;~)

 

How To Get The Lowest Prices Ever On Lumapix: MOST IMPORTANT!

Near the end of the the presentation around 1:56:00 into the webcast, I tell you how to purchase LumaPix for only $99 - it's a $300 program.  Scrub the PLAY slider ahead and don't miss seeing how you can pick up LumaPix at the lowest prices ever.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  The length of these webcasts make it a pretty time consuming process to get it posted the next day, but I really wanted to have it ready for weekend viewing.

Be cool, dry, and safe in what ever part of the world you’re in and I’ll plan to see you again next Monday.

Have a great weekend everybody.

-David

Digital Design Webcast Today At 3:00 p.m.

Good Afternoon Everybody,

We have everything ready to go for this afternoon’s Digital Design webcast with our special guest, Michael Sheasby – President and Co-founder of LumaPix.  I’ll open the doors about 2:30 p.m. EST. Michael and I did a quick run through on Tuesday so all should be good to go today.  Remember, there is no charge to attend the program.  You can probably still get in the webcast room even though we are near capacity.

The highlight of the show is that LumaPix:FotoFusion now works on a MAC, a feature clamored for the last few years.  Well “clamor no more”  - Michael will be doing his entire demo on a MAC.

I’m really looking forward to this webcast.  I’ll begin discussing a bit of LumaPix’s history and how they revolutionized album design around 2003.  That’s when we jumped on board and life has never been the same – because we got our lives back!

Michael will follow-up with some “razzle-dazzle” demos and be answering  questions along the way.  Damien Tepe will be my wing-man again on this webcast monitoring questions from our studio audience.  I’ll be following questions on Twitter.  Remember, just tweet your questions to @digitalprotalk and include #lumapixdesign.  Michael and I will answer as best we can during the webcast time period.

LaDawn will take over for a short while demo-ing how we set up our own “Divine Designs” using various resources like her “Swirls and Twirls” to really give our projects a unique look.

I’ll wrap with some pretty cool ways to have LumaPix:FotoFusion boost you profits, too, and who doesn’t want to do that.

Wait, there’s more!!! ;~) We’ll also be giving away about $1000 in door prizes during the webcast and winners must be present to win.  Prizes will include a full version of LumaPix:FotoFusion Extreme ($299 value) [link], my Summer Success Collection ($600 value) [link], Divine Design Collection ($150 value) [link], and a copy of my Captured By The Light book ($54 value) [link].

During the program and for the next few days, we’ve lowered ALL our Lumapix product bundles down to TOUR pricing in honor of the MAC version being released.  These are quite simply the lowest of the year!  You can check out the specials right here for the PC and here for the MAC.

In case you’re not able to attend the webcast in person you can still catch it on the re-broadcast.  You’ll miss out on the door prizes but you still get a chance to get all the good information.  I’ll try my best to get the re-broadcast up as soon as possible.

Anyway gang, that’s it for me today.  I’ve got to get to make-up and wardrobe so I look good for today’s broadcast ;~) Hope to see you there!

Until tomorrow,

Adios, David

Business Day Thursday: Make Yourself Famous Fast! Here’s An Amazing Way To Promote Your Business! & New Contest Announced!

Good Morning Everybody,

I can’t believe it, I sent out an email yesterday about our brand new FREE Digital Design Webcast and we have nearly 800 signed up already!  Wow!  Yep, looks like it’s going to be a sellout.  I’ve also talked with Michael Sheasby about covering some real sizzle points on LumaPix – it’s shaping up to be a great program.  Hope you can make it!

Hey gang, I am super excited about my post today. I’ve spent half the day putting it together for you so I hope you like it.  I going to tell you about a web site that I stumbled on yesterday and had me engrossed for two hours checking out all it’s cool features.  The more I played around on the site the more excited I got.  Let’s get right to it because today’s post really ROCKS!!!!

Make Yourself Famous Fast: Here’s An Amazing Way To Promote Your Business!

OK, here’s the back story. I was checking emails late yesterday afternoon and saw I had several new folks following me on Twitter.  I always check out the followers to see if I want to follow back.  The qualifier for me – don’t tell me what you had for lunch, it’s all about rich content.

I checked out several of John Lasurdo tweets and liked what I saw.  The one that got me fired up the most was the link to this really cool site Issuu.com [link].  A quick trip over, 30 minutes of checking it out and I was hooked – and hooked in a big way!  My brain began churning with all kinds of ideas on how a photographer could use this service in their business.  The more I thought about it, the more ideas kept popping into my head.  And, you want to know the best news – it’s FREE!!  Let me tell you what I came up with in that short time last evening

The Wonderment Of Issuu – A Few Of My Suggestions

• Promoting and marketing your business
• Sizzling your blog and website
• Client proofing
• Company newsletters
• Studio guides like clothing suggestions for photo shoots
• PowerPoint presentations for training
• Downloading documents like contracts, portrait suggestions, wedding shoot sheets, and other studio forms
• And the list goes on and on!

OK, I Was Stoked - Had to Give It A Try

My first thought was getting a wedding album up to see what it looked like on Issuu.com.  It was way cool!!  It took me a grand total of less than 30 minutes to get my first “wedding album e-book” published – and it looked great! Check it out below – what do you think?

Open publication - Free publishing - More album

 

Next I thought,”How about a Bar Mitzvah Album?” 30 minutes later it was online too. Over the course of the next few hours, I had uploaded 4 albums, 1 PowerPoint Presentation, and 1 DOC file wedding article. Here’s what my Issuu library looks like now.

 

But here is the “LIVE” embedded version where you can browse all my publications to date.  Just click away and enjoy!

 

Issuu will let you upload a nice variety of file formats including PDF, DOC, PPT, ODT, WPD, SXW, RTF, ODP, and SXI which is what makes it so versatile for a photography business. Maximum file size is 100 megs and up to 500 pages, making all my uploads well within the document requirements.

Embed It In Your Blog and watch in Full Screen Mode – Very Cool Viewing Experience!

You’ve got a few choices when viewing your uploaded albums.  You can easily link to them with the link associated with each album.  For instance, here is a link to a Black & White wedding album I uploaded.  It was a special collection of images that the bride’s mother loved.  Check it out right here.

OK, David, Just How Are You Doing It?  LumaPix Is Our Secret Weapon.

Next Thursday we have our Digital Design Webcast happening right here at DigitalProTalk – one more time, here is the link to register.  I’ll give you the specifics then.  But let me give you a general overview today.

You’ve heard me say it a million times – LumaPix has been our secret weapon for fast, easy album design around here for nearly 8 years.  LumaPIx:FotoFusion literally redeemed us from Photoshop purgatory years ago.

LumaPix also has one very powerful, little known feature built in to the software – it let’s you save out your album design as a PDF file – PDF file like Issuu wants to see when uploading.  Also LumaPix let’s you save out your double page spreads as separate pages which Issuu can now display properly.  Here are the LumaPix settings I used to export my albums to a PDF.

DAZNOTE: Issuu likes to see a normal “Page 1”  We design our Designer albums – the “coffee table” albums with a double page spread opening.  Be sure to change the first double page spread to a single album page or cover sheet so LumaPix doesn’t split it.

Or you could change that first page to a single page before exporting, otherwise Lumapix will split that page and all your pages will be offset by one page upon uploading to Issuu.  This sounds more complicated than it is – I’ll go into more detail in next week’s webcast.

Anyway, this combination of LumaPix PDF export and Issuu PDF upload makes the magic happen!  Both programs were made for each other perfectly.  And its this combo that really opens up the doors for powerful marketing and promotions for your studio.

We’ve got special pricing on all our LumaPix MAC [link] and PC [link]bundles over at our Digital Resource Center right here.  You may want to pick up your copy before next week’s Digital Design Webcast.

Issuu Offers A Very Compelling Viewing Experience!

Just look how great these albums look on my blog.  Go ahead and play around with some of the viewing options in Issuu. 

You can display the album pages in full screen view as shown above or as thumbnails below and navigate to any part of the album you desire.  If you look at the full screen view above, you’ll also see opt to print or email the page too.

Check out the entire “LIVE” Bar Mitzvah album below – it’s fun to just page through it and enjoy the entire day again. Be sure to view it in full screen mode.

Open publication - Free publishing - More album

 

Kicking In Your Marketing Afterburners

Do you know the power of possibilities with Issuu? Everything you turn into and album, you upload to Issuu.  You can set up different bookshelves for each category of images.  You could have one for weddings, families, high school seniors – whatever.  What a fabulous way for your potential clients to preview a large body of your work!

Don’t stop there either.  Anything you have as a DOC file you can upload into Issuu. Think studio guides like clothing suggestions for photo shoots, documents like contracts, portrait suggestions, wedding shoot sheets, other studio forms – the list goes on and on!  Here is a DOC file I shot up to Issuu this morning. 

The article is a few years old but that’s besides the point – it’s still easy to get the info up there.  I’ve even set this document to be downloaded if you would like to keep it.  There’s some good suggestions in it.

Anyway, you get the idea and after playing around on Issuu’s site, I’m sure you get a lot more ideas too. 

How About A Little Contest

I’ve thrown tons of ideas up here for you guys and girls today.  I’m looking for 20 more different ideas to share with our DPT readers.  If we get 20 different unique ideas, I’ll award the winner my Summer Success Collection (on sale now for $59 - $500 value)

Post your suggestions in the Comments section following this blog post please – please NOT on Facebook because those posts sometimes end up in my spam folder.  Anyway, I’d love to see what you come up with.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  I’ve spent the entire morning getting this post up, but I’ve sure been having a great time learning the ins and outs of Issuu too.  I sure hope you get as excited about it as I am. And, don’t forget to send in some suggestions – let’s see what our creative DigitalProTalk readers come up with.

On that note gang, I’ve got to get back to my real job.  I’ll see you tomorrow for a short post. 

Have a great rest of the day,

David

Quick Hit Monday: Eye-Fi, Amazon, Flickr – Best Friends; Photoshop On The iPad; iPad Lighting; My Exciting Lighting Kit at B&H; Design Road Show; and a Little Humor

Good Morning Everybody,

Man oh man, we needed the break and have really been enjoying the last few days in California. Friday we were up bright and early and took the 3 hour Napa Valley Wine Train trip up through the valley. The scenery was stunning and the food more delicious than ever – definitely a must do if you are in the area.

We stayed the weekend in Rohnert Park, CA - just a short drive from Sonoma Wine Country. We spent Saturday in Sonoma and Sunday in Napa - so many wines, so little time;~). The visit to Domaine Caneros [link] was the highlight of our Sunday travels. Domaine Caneros is the home of some of the finest champagnes in the world, and I have to say, they tasted mighty good.

We finally landed in San Jose, world headquarters for Adobe, by early evening, got settled in and watched the the Oakland Raiders beat Green Bay in overtime - LaDawn is quite the football fan. She is so good at the calls, I always say that when the refs go to the review the instant replays, they are really calling LaDawn to see what she saw. She is ALWAYS RIGHT on the calls.

Today it's over to Google for my program at 3:00 p.m. It will be cool to see the Googleplex again and catch up with our friend, Mike who arranged the presentation for today.

That's kind of the line up for today. We've head back home on Thursday and are just going to cruise the area and enjoy the sights and other good things to be found in the area. Blog posts may be coming in kind of late and may be short and sweet but I'll still plan to get something up each day. I promised LaDawn more time for us this week - probably good idea after all her hard work on our tour ;~)

My quick hits today are all over the place today so let's get right to them.

Eye-Fi, Amazon, and Flickr Are Best Friends

Recently I picked up Canon's new G12 camera with the intent of giving the Eye-Fi cards a try. These are the memory cards with the wi-fi built in so you can easily transmit your images to your computer or Flickr account without any other gear.

Way cool I thought. I still haven't given it a try yet, but with this recent announcement from Amazon, I will be on my way shortly. Here is the deal. Head over to Amazon [link] and pick up one of the new Eye-Fi 8gig Pro X2 cards and Amazon will buy your Flickr Pro account for one year. That's a pretty good deal if you ask me. I'm ordering my Eye-Fi card today.

Oh, you camera doesn't take a SDHC card, no problem. Pick up the SDHC-MMC Adapter [link] that let's you use the Eye-Fi card in your regular compact flash card cameras, for example your Canon 7D. That's my plan this week. I give you more details once I receive the card and adapter.

Adobe Photoshop On The iPad

Yep, that's what I've heard. Rumors have it Adobe is working on just such a project and showed some preliminary features of the app recently. Here is the link. I actually think this is a good idea. Thanks to 1001 Noisy Cameras for the heads up on the news.

With the iPad’s ability to upload RAW files so quickly and it's ability to share those same files so easily, Photoshop would be a very cool app to have sitting on this cool little tablet.

Adobe is just a few blocks up from our hotel. I just may head up there this week and take a peek in their window and see what I can find out. Sounds like another job for Snoop, the Newshound;~)

Even More Uses For Your iPad - Studio Lighting

I can't believe folks go to this amount of effort to make a video but this video at FStoppers.com right here is pretty funny to watch. It shows how Jesse Rosten used $4500 worth of iPads on a commercial shoot. I think I still would have opted for a few flashes through my Zumbrellas. Hey, all in good humor - check it out link.

Want To See Exactly What Lighting Gear I Use For All My Shooting?

You can find out right here. That's right, after three years in the making, and 100's of emails later from me, B&H, and lots of photographers wanting to know, B&H has introduced the Ziser Exciting Lighting Kit [link].  It is the complete combination of all the Quantum gear, flash heads, batteries, radio transmitters & receivers together with monopod and umbrella adapter all in one package!

I'm really honored that put the Exciting Lighting kit together because it shows that lighting does not have to be complicated to obtain a great result. Nor does the lighting need to break the bank either. I always said, "It's always about the light and how to use the light that makes for a beautiful image."

You see the results I post here at DPT all the time  - most are done with my Exciting Lighting kit. Once again, check it out right here. Now you want to know how to use it, right? Then spend $25 bucks at Kelby Training and watch any of my 6 on-line videos which will show you how easy it all comes together.

My thanks to B&H for putting the entire Ziser Exciting Lighting Kit together.

Graphic Authority In California This Week

Graphic Authority was one of tour sponsors for our just competed CBTL2010 tour. I've known Charlie Moser for a few years and think his company puts out a great product.

Graphic Authority is giving 4 hands on seminars in California this week kicking it off in Irvine, CA today. It’s called the Graphic Authority Design Road Show [link].  A lot of the folks attending have called it one of the best hands on training sessions they have attended. You can find out more about the GA tour right here.

And Now, Totally Unrelated To Photography

We just finished the mid-term elections. Some folks were elated and some were not. It spite of the outcome and regardless of where you stood on the issues, there was plenty to smile about as one followed the news. I love this link to the top 100 signs seen at the rally to Restore Insanity or Fear sponsored by the Comedy Channel.

Hey, it's Monday and a good "giggle" is a good way to start off the week – ENJOY!

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. I'll have got to spend some time preparing for tomorrow’s Technique Tuesday. I'm just not sure what it's going to be. Check back and see ;~). Hope to see ya' then.

Have a good one everybody, David

FREE WEBCAST ANNOUNCED: Rocket Speed Digital Design With LumaPix: Fotofusion Wednesday October 27, 2010

FREE WEBCAST ANNOUNCED: Rocket Speed Digital Design With LumaPix: Fotofusion Wednesday October 27, 2010

This is one webcast you won't want to miss! Mark your calendar for Wednesday, October 27, 2010 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Click the image or secure link HERE to register. Maximum capacity is 1,000  so register early to guarantee your seat.

Earlier this year I held two webcasts featuring Lumapix - over 10,000 photographers and digital designers from around the world saw the program!

This time I'm changing up the presentation to show the latest features and the fastest LumaPix design techniques that will surely change your digital design lives.

I'll also show you how you can save $200 off the normal $299 selling price. That's right, I'll show you how to get LumaPix for only $99!!!  Will it work on a Mac??  It just might, you'll have to tune in and see.

If you've lived on a desert island for the last six years, you may not know that LumaPix:Fotofusion is the fastest collage/digital design software on the planet earth.  It blows Photoshop and InDesign away with its speed and ease of use.

I can "auto collage" a 20 image design in approximately 1 second with LumaPix.  I can do an entire album in 3 seconds. Yes, its speed is that unbelievable! A simple one page project takes no time at all.  And, the cool thing is, once you design a project you can easily save it out as a template and use it over and over.

Plan on stopping by and watching the program "Live" on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. EDT. I promise you an eye-popping, jaw-dropping presentation. And, I'll even save you $200!

Hope to see you there, David

Technique Tuesday: Brides and Grooms Around London - Part 2 –Updated; My Webcast Tonight!

Good Morning Everybody,

Whew! These early morning wake up calls, (6:00am) come just a bit to early in the day for me. Heck, I'm a wedding photographer - 6 o'clock only comes once a day for me;~)

We had a great shoot yesterday and we wrap up today. We worked in complete portable fashion using up to three lights – two off camera strobes, and occasionally my on camera flash for additional fill.  I also slowed down the shutter (dragged the shutter) to pick up the ambient light. I used the 18-200mm IS lens for just about all the photographs.  We had to work quickly the range of focal length with this lens really helped the situation.

We were able to shoot tethered into my Mac Book Pro which really worked well for the client. If we needed to adjust the scene at all, it was a quick fix saving lots of time on the shoot. Plus, it was fun for me to be trying out tethered capture. More on that later.

Maybe I'll do a breakdown on the shoot in a future post if you are interested.

And,don’t forget – my Peachpit Photo Club webcast happens this evening – 8:00 p.m. EDT!  Here is the link to for the info right here.  Hope to see you there.

We've got to be on the road early again this morning so why don't we get on with today's post. Here we go.

Brides and Grooms Around London - Part 2 -Updated

I mentioned last week that these two posts are a couple of my favorite Technique Tuesday’s I’ve posted out of the over 120 videos posted to DigitalProTalk.com. Why? Because both are really good exercises in learning to see, compositionally at least, when designing your images.

Yes, I did say designing your images. Any kind of photography is more that just running and gunning to get the shot. It's more that just capturing peak photojournalistic action. Many times we need to survey the scene and determine how it best supports the the image we have in our mind's eye. Painters have been designing their images for years - putting all the elements exactly where they desire them to be placed. That's true from the Renaissance painters all the way through time to the modern painters of today.

Some of the wedding photography these days really has little regard for exacting design and reflects a static approach to the subject. I hope this week's tutorial and last week's both reposted in their newly reformulated Hi-Def glory really show you how to see differently.

Just give it a little practice and you just may find a completely new and exciting way to look at the locations you will find yourself shooting in. Maybe a better way to say it is that we are not finding the moment as much as defining the moment and the space in which that moment takes place.

Hey, that's what makes photography so much fun. Hope you enjoy. Hit the PLAY button below and see what I'm talking about.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. Like I said earlier, we are on the road very early today so we've got to get scooting. Everybody have a terrific rest of the day and I'll see you tomorrow for What's Up Wednesday: My Impressions of Sigma's 8-16mm super wide angle lens.

See ya' then, -David

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

“Live” Webcast and Webcast Deals Going Away Soon

Hey everybody,  I just wanted to give you a quick reminder about Tuesday’s 2 1/2 hour webcast “Fast and Easy Digital Design – Part 2” is “live” here at DigitalProTalk but only until Monday. 

Click on the image or the link to the post right here. Scroll down and enjoy the show.

Also don’t forget, we’ve got some tremendous deals at my Digital Resource Center on some of the best training resources available [link].  And, most importantly, you can still get your copy of LumaPix:FotoFusion Extreme for only $99 bundled!

Oh, by the way –  you can still place your order and put it on our 3 payment E-Z Pay plan. If you call the studio at 800.292.2994 today or over the weekend, just leave a message and one of our team members will call you back on Monday to process your order.

And lastly, NIK Software has 15% off all their software and Graphic Authority has a 30% off deal too for everyone that views my webcast.  Their discount codes come up a few times during the webcast.  They will expire on Monday at midnight so don’t miss out!

One more time, here is the link to the entire 2 1/2 webcast and our webcast deals right here.

Wednesday: "Fast and Easy Digital Design - Part 2" A Big Hit and Is Now “Live” On-Line!; Lumapix For $99 Bundled; and More

Good Morning Everybody,

WOW!  Two for two - another big crowd, lots of excitement, over $1,200 in door prizes given away, and some great information.  Everybody loved it!

Here are a few comments about yesterday's presentation.  My sincere thanks to everyone for their very kind remarks.

“Great job David... yay! clap, clap, clap.” Gene L. - Bothell, WA

“Thank you! Really enjoyed the webcast---looking forward to the next one!!!” Rita O. - Frankton, IN

“Thanks David! Great webinar!!!” Lisa P. - Washington, IL

“Thank you Mr. Ziser for sharing your knowledge with us.” Kim B. - Lake Havasu City, AZ

“Great webcast. So much information! Thanks!!!” Greg M. - Belvidere, IL

“Thank you so much, this has been great!” Debbie S. – Olney, MD

“Thank you very much for a great show David!” Peter C. - Aalborg, Denmark

“Awesome as ever. Love this programs versatility!” Kristin R. – Beaverton, OR

Some Great Webcast Deals!

In the program, I mentioned some great Webcast specials we have running at our Digital Resource Center right now [link].  The BIG hit of the show - how to get Lumapix: FotoFusion, a $299 program, for only $99 and both Webcasts for FREE! Here is how it works.

We are also including both webcasts with the BIG PICTURE PLUS [link] bundle. What a deal! Make it a phone order, say you want to use “E-Z Pay” and spread the cost over 3 easy payments. This deal won't last forever - you can check it out right here.

Fast and Easy Design – Parts 1 & 2 Now Available!

For those who missed the show - Good news!  Many of you have requested making the two presentations available at our Digital Resource Center. I love the idea.  These two presentations contain a wealth of information for anyone doing digital design work can incorporate into their projects right away.  Remember, much of what I covered was not software dependent. So regardless of your software tools the information is fresh and up to date.

If you happen to be a Lumapix:FotoFusion user, you will be "blown away" by my DEMOS.  I really rolled up my sleeves and climbed under the Lumapix hood to point out several advanced features missed by many users.

"Fast And Easy Digital Design" – Parts 1 & 2 are now available on DVD! A 2-DVD set of the two webcasts - 5 hours of solid learning opportunity is now available and shipping over at our Digital Resource Center.  Here is the link.

The cost of the 2-DVD is only $39 but remember, both webcasts are included with the BIG PICTURE [link].

Once again, my thanks to my webcast team at DigitalProTalk.com, all the sponsors who supported the program with over $1,200 in door prizes, and all of you who made the program such a success.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  We have a plane to catch in just a few hours.  We are heading to Boston and Maine for the next week for a little R&R and really looking forward to the visit. 

How about I see everybody tomorrow for a pretty cool Business Day Thursday. It’s about a really exciting way to display and sell your images.

Hope to see you then.

-David

"You Take My Breath Away"

"You Take My Breath Away"
©David A. Ziser

Once again, because of the topic of today's post, I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite album page collages.  We put this together for a client a few years ago and I still love it.  I think each image looks good on it's own, but when combined as they are on this page, it really shows the feeling this young couple have for each other.  My favorite aspect of this collage is the B&W background image.  It is just a faint close up of the groom gently touching his bride's face.  What a warm feeling this brings to the entire collage.  Cameras specs were the same for most of these images - Nikon D1x (at the time), 80-200mm lens at 170mm, F 3.2 @ 1/320 second, ISO 500.  Enjoy!  -David

Webcast Tuesday: Fast and Easy Digital Design - Part 2

Good Morning Everybody,

Today is the day, our second Webcast airs today at 2:00 p.m. EDT (GMT 6:00 p.m.). We've got a "full house" so I'll plan on opening the doors about 1:30 p.m. EDT so everyone can get settled in.

I've tweaked the presentation and worked up some very cool Lumapix:FotoFusion demos over the weekend for today's presentation. Every time I get mousing around in LumaPix, I'm always amazed at what it can do.  You are going to be blown away with today's program!

I know, I know - many of you are saying you won't be able to make it because of the scheduled time or a previous commitment so I'm planning to do what we did for Part 1 a few weeks ago.  I'm hoping to have the presentation posted in it's Hi Def entirety here at DPT by tomorrow - that is, of course that all of our ducks stay in a row ;~)

Many have asked us too if we would make both presentations available through our Digital Resource Center.  Heck, I think that's a great idea, nearly 5 hours of training on Design Concepts, How To Use Design In Your Marketing, and In-Depth Design Tutorials. I've got the team working on it.  Stay tuned.

One more thing - since this is a continuation of the Part 1 Design program which aired two weeks ago, we are going to extend the Webcast Specials for a little longer at our Digital Resource Center.  You can see what's "cookin" right here. The best deal is the $99 Lumapix:FotoFusion Extreme ($299 retail) bundle pricing.

Here are just a few projects I'll be covering today:

Puzzle pages - Fun split image combos:

Senior Proof Books:

Easy portfolio design:

A few fun projects:

Template design:

Fine Art Presentations:

I hope to see you there!

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Hey gang, That's it for me today.  We’ll get back to our normal Technique Tuesday schedule next week.

Things are beginning to get "hoppin" around here as we gear up for this afternoon's program.  And, on top of that, we are heading to Boston, Mass and Maine tomorrow for a little R&R. I'm hoping to get some great shoots - I hear Acadia National Park is a "must see" !

So, check back tomorrow for Webcast Rerun Wednesday if you miss the program today. 

Everybody have a great one and I'll see you then!

-David