I’m Still Alive and Well – I Promise!

Good Morning Everybody,

From the emails and phone calls we've been receiving at the studio over the last few weeks, folks having been wondering whether or not I've fallen off the face of the earth or even worse ;~) Well, let the rumor mill subside - I am indeed still alive and well – and maybe a few travel pounds less light than when we left for Eastern Europe September 8, 2013 ;~) 

I've got lots to fill you in on but let me give you a quick update today and I'll plan to stop by again in the upcoming days to fill in some details and tell you about some cool things happening around  DigitalProTalk.

My last post was several weeks ago [link].  We returned to the States after making the Atlantic crossing from England, visited a few friends in Florida, and then headed home after our two and half months traveling through Europe landing back home November 18, 2013.  During those thousands of miles of travel I made several thousands of photographs – about 29,000 but more on that later.

Home For The Holidays – Not Quite!

We were only home for ten days but were thrown into the Holiday rush getting last minute orders out for clients and just plain getting ready for the quickly approaching holidays. Then the day after Thanksgiving, we headed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for a three week stay enjoying the warm weather, beautiful sunrises (like the one below) and gorgeous sunsets and a few more thousand photos. Like I mentioned above, more on the photographs later.

We landed back in town 3 days before Christmas and then were immediately caught up in the rush of the holidays - all this while working like crazy on our upcoming convention, PhotoPro Expo 2014.  Needless to say, it's been crazy, busy around here. But, I am still alive and well ;~)

Happy New Year! And Off To Imaging USA Convention

We were actually home for 18 days and then it was off to Imaging USA Convention being held in Phoenix , AZ this year.  My buddy, Ralph Romaguera has been  President of the Professional Photographers of America this past year and we wanted to give him our full support and any help where needed.

We just returned last week from the Imaging USA Convention  where we had a great time visiting friends and making many new ones; exploring the trade show from front-to-back and back-to-front; and having the wonderful opportunity to hang out with the legendary singer and photographer Kenny Rogers and his mentor, acclaimed photographer and Ansel Adams assistant, John Sexton. 

You heard me right – Kenny Rogers was awarded the Honorary Master Of Photography Degree from Professional Photographers of America.  If you didn’t know it before – Kenny is quite an acclaimed photographer in his own right. He has published three books on the subject and is producing a fourth as we speak. I own his first, “Your Friends and Mine.” [link]  It is really well done – very similar in stile of Karsh portraits.

Anyway, since my good friend Ralph is president of PPA this year, he included us in all the special activities, including hanging with Kenny and John….pretty cool.  I have to tell you, both men were true down to earth gentlemen. Their work was exceptional. The experience was a real pleasure.

I have to tell you too – in addition to the good times we were having, I was humbled by the fact that I was to receive a very high honor myself at the Awards Ceremony.  Turns out I received the Helen B. Yancy Award for distinguished service to the industry. Turns out I was only the seventh person ever to receive this award.  It was very exciting as well as quite humbling. Per usual… LaDawn looked fabulous on our way to the Awards Banquet ;~)

But now the partying and good times have come to a screeching halt as we are fully ramped-up in getting PhotoPro Expo 2014 ready for launch February 6th.

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On that note gang, I’m out of here.  Hope you enjoyed the latest update and a few images from our travels.  Tomorrow I want to give you an update on the PhotoPro Expo 2014 Convention and a very cool Print Competition Webcast coming up.  You can get a lot of info about the webcast right here. Just scroll down a bit to see the registration links. This is areal educational experience and one not to be missed.

But for now, I’ve got to scoot and get back to work. LaDawn and I have been working non-stop to make this the biggest show ever and it’s shaping up to be just that.

I promise, you’ll be hearing from me several times these next few weeks so please stay tuned.

All the best,  David

My Favorite Images From My Photoshop World Wedding Shootout

Good Morning West Coasters; Good Afternoon East Coasters,

We had a great day  at my pre-conference wedding shootout yesterday. I feel honored that my shootout books up quickly at Photoshop World. It also seems that the number of attendees keep getting larger and larger. LaDawn did a quick headcount yesterday and reported we had 56 in the room. That's quite a crowd for a location shoot but, it was a great group of photographers and I think they really enjoyed the six-hour session.

At the shootouts, my approach is not so much to have the bride and groom run through a series of poses. It's more about teaching the lighting techniques and the demonstrating the elements of compositional elements I like to bring to my photography. Another thing I pointed out to the group was the fact that each session is different from the previous session because of the evolution and new techniques I might be bringing to my shooting routines.

Yesterday was no exception. Since I've been working with Canon's new 600EX-RT speedlights, they figured heavily in the yesterday's demonstration. Don't get me wrong – I'm not saying you need to rush out and buy new strobes. As you know, I've been a BIG fan of Quantum strobes for a number of years and certainly plan to keep the Quantum strobes in my lighting arsenal.

But, the wonderful portability and flexibility of the new Canon speed lights allows for a very easy on-location set up, especially at a class like my shootout. So, that being said all the images that I will be featuring today could've been produced with any other number of strobes. But, as I’ve said, all these images were produced with the three Canon's 600EX-RT speedlights that I had in my camera bag. Let's move through a few of my favorites from yesterday session.

Photograph 1:

Take a look at the image below. It's a very soft, gentle image of the bride and groom enjoying a moment together. You can clearly see the direction of light on this image. But, this image was illuminated with my on-camera flash. To get the direction the light I was seeking, I rotated the flash head  to the left and bounced it’s light off my Sunspotz silver reflector which was being held by one of the classmates.

The photons from the flash traveled to the reflector, illuminating it and making it my new light source. Now the photons were coming from an off-camera direction which gave me the wonderful dimensional lighting that I'm always seeking.

Photograph 2:

I love this simple, elegant photograph the bride standing in the front of the church. I used my super wide Sigma 12 – 24 mm lens for this image. The wonderful architecture of the sanctuary in this church really lends itself to wide-angle lenses.

Lighting was achieved by firing my off-camera flash through my Zumbrella. I balanced the ambient light with the flash exposure to get the total balance I wanted in this photograph. Once again, because of the wonderful direction the light on the scene, we get those beautiful highlights resting next to the shadows to give us the detail, depth, and dimension that only using an off-camera flash can achieve.

Photograph 3:

Although this image below is a variation on the theme of the photograph above, it is still one of my favorite photographs from yesterday’s pre-con session. The beautiful profile view sadly is mostly lost on today’s photographers. But, I think it still adds a very interesting, dramatic look to any wedding coverage.

Look how the light caresses the subject's face and, since is coming in from slightly behind the subject, it also illuminates the veil that the bride is wearing. Also, since the light is coming from slightly behind the bride, the lighting does a great job to separate her from the background and emphasizes her figure even more emphatically in the composition. Once again – a classic and beautiful photograph of our bride.

Photograph 4:

As we were working in the church throughout the afternoon, I noticed that the sunlight coming through the stained-glass windows began illuminating the mosaic in the front of the sanctuary. The soft colors were quite intriguing to me and I thought they would offer a beautiful background for a simple portrait of my bride.

I used a long lens – 200mm - to really magnify the space behind the bride and the colors being cast by the stained-glass window. Firing a single Canon's 600EX-RT speed light through my Zumbrella, I was able to illuminate the bride beautifully balancing the soft textures, tones, and colors in the background against her gorgeous figure.

Photograph 5:

About 4:30 PM we had to wrap our shooting inside the church and move outside into that wonderful Las Vegas near 100 degree desert sun. The church is located across the street for Mandalay Bay which means that Mandalay Bay can serve as a unique background for the image below.  Again, by using a long lens – 200mm – I was able to really magnify the size of the Mandalay Bay in the background, in proportion to my subject in the foreground.

When working outdoors, the problem we are always faced with is the fact that if I want to use a larger aperture I also need to use a very fast shutter speed. But, since a native sync speed of my Canon 5D Mark III is only a 200th of a second, using a faster shutter speed generally is not an option. But, in this case that was no problem. Since I was using the Canon speed lights I was able to engage the hi speed flash sync option on the strobe unit. That meant that I now had the option of using any shutter speed I wanted to make my exposure. This image was taken at 1/400th of a second, well above the native sync speed of the Canon 5D Mark III.

With my Canon speed light coming in from camera left at about the same position as inside the church, I was able to create the loop lighting which I love on my subjects and, because I was using the high speed flash sync function of the speed light, I was able to use a wider aperture than normal, F5.6 for this image. Careful adjusting of the shutter speed controlled the density of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in the background and gave me a very different, an almost fashion look, to this bridal portrait

Figure 6:

Here's another one of my favorite photographs from yesterday pre-con session. Let's consider the situation. We’re working outdoors in the raw Las Vegas sun and we’re trying to create a beautiful bridal portraits in the middle of the desert in downtown Las Vegas.

The secret to making the city disappear is to establish a very low camera position for the photograph. I was actually laying on the ground my ear nearly on the pavement to get the vantage point I wanted for this photograph.  From that very low vantage point many of the distractions in the background almost disappear. There was a construction crane on the right-hand side of the photograph which took me only two minutes to remedy and Photoshop. With a little more time I could easily clone the green shrubbery along the horizon line and eliminate all the distractions.

Although I could've used off-camera flash and hi speed flash sync to illuminate my bride for this image, I chose instead to use my inexpensive Sunspotz reflector to bounce the sun’s light back into the bride's face. Notice that the sun is backlighting the bride too. That means I can easily have one of my classmates grab my Sunspotz reflector, take up the same position as he would have if using my off-camera flash, and turn the reflector into a light source by grabbing the sun’s rays and bouncing them back onto the bride's face.

Remember, what I'm looking for in just about all my images is a beautiful loop lighting pattern on my subject’s face. Those illuminating photons can be coming from anything – an off-camera flash, a window, a studio strobe, my mini flashlights (Love Lightz) or any other light source. In this instance I chose my main light source to be a reflector full of the sun's rays directed back towards my subject. Since the photons have the same direction in all of these examples listed above, the lighting pattern on the subject's face is going to be the same regardless of light source used. Sure, the size of the light source comes into play but, when working with small head sizes like we have, even the size of a light source would not make a dramatic difference in the final result.

Figure 7:

This is the last image I captured yesterday before we climbed aboard the bus and headed back to the hotel. I asked my class assistant to grab me one of the Canon speed lights. He grabbed the speed light, flipped it on,  and quickly took up the proper position to give me the loop lighting pattern I wanted on the groom's face. Once again, notice that the sun is coming from the left side of the groom and also behind my subject.

The sun created a nice accent light on the back of my subject. The key light was created with my Canon 600EX-RT speedlight coming in from camera left. Once again, I was firing the strobe using a high-speed sync feature of the speed light. Remember, the class was on the bus waiting for me but I was able to pull off this photograph very quickly because of the versatility and functionality of these little lighting jewels.

Compositionally and using color as an compositional element I think this image works quite well for a quick photograph of the groom. We have the deep, rich blue sky behind our subject and we have the impact of the graphic lines of the superstructure above his head.  Careful positioning of him between the two palm trees finishes the composition. It was a great wrap up image for yesterday shoot.

As I said earlier, my classes are not about trying to create as many different poses as possible. My classes always revolve around lighting and composition. I think those are two of the most important aspects, techniques and differentiating factors that we can bring to our photography.  As I said yesterday there's too many photographers out there running and gunning to grab any photograph they can. The excitement and the challenge comes from knowing how to use your equipment and how to compose and light to enhance and flatter our subjects for the best photograph. It lets us take our photography to the next level because then it becomes a thinking person's game. And, having all those compositional elements and lighting techniques come together helps us create imagery that is far more striking for both ourselves and our clients. Remember… It is the Difference that makes a Difference!

p.s. - You can see a full listing of all the gear I used in yesterday’s session right here.

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If you're here at Photoshop World, please come on up and say HI. I'll see what I can do to get another post up tomorrow. It might not be a Business Day Thursday post - it may be a quick update on what's been going on around here so please stay tuned. Have a great rest of the day and I hope to see you soon.

Adios, David

Join Me For My One Day Shootout In The Big Easy – New Orleans This Friday!

Hey, speaking of New Orleans, why don’t you plan on joining me for my daylong model shoot out this Friday. I have to tell you, because it’s a very small group - only about 6 – 7 people so far, it's going to be a great experience for all those attending. I'm really looking forward to working with photographers one-on-one during my class. Why not see if you can work it into your schedule and come on by.

We'll be meeting at the  Westin Hotel at Canal Place. The plan is to spend a few hours in the morning reviewing the lighting and compositional concepts behind my photography. Then we’ll shoot on location most of the afternoon. We’ll wrap back at the hotel reviewing all the images of the day. I hear they have some great locations lined up for us in the French Quarter and some other nearby other architectural sites as well.

Another cool thing about this class is that I'll give everybody a copy of everything I take. If you shoot the overall views while I'm shooting the main photographs, you have a great learning experience and photo reference at your disposal.

The easiest way to reserve your space now for my Friday class is to give LaDawn a call at 800.292.2994 and have her reserve your space. Or, shoot her a quick email at LaDawn@ziser.com for the details.  The cost is only $99 – what a deal! Why not call her now and reserve your space. I look forward to seeing you in New Orleans on Friday.

Technique Tuesday on Wednesday: Creating Cool Slide Shows Part 2: Organizing and Presenting the Show

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Check out all the happenings going on today – it’s one busy day!

Sales & Marketing Webcast Happening At 3:30 p.m. EST

We've got a big day today with a special Sales and Marketing webcast with my good friend, Charles Lewis and his son Todd. This is going to be a 90 minute presentation that kicks off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.  That’s 12:30 p.m. on the west coast. I sure hope you'll be able to join us. You can get all the webcast details and register right here.

Brand New Creative Design Tour Kicks Off This Sunday In Atlanta, GA

Don't forget to check out the newly introduced Creative Design Tour with Judy Host. I love the new concept of this  28 city tour. The seminar is going to be hands-on which means that you can actually follow along on your laptop computer.

We don't see many seminars like this happening around the country so I think this is going to be really worthwhile event.  And when it lands in Cincinnati, Ohio, I plan to be there. I sure hope you'll try to make it one of the 28 cities too. You can read my personal invitation to attend the Creative Design Tour on my blog post today right here.

Or, you can go directly to the Creative Design Tour website right here and get all the information, dates, and registration. When registering, please remember, to use PROMO CODE DPT12CDT and register for only $89!  That saves you $40 off the regular registration price – pretty good!  There are other promo codes circulating on the Internet but the Promo Code for my DigitalProTalk readers gets you the best price you'll find anywhere! Remember… use PROMO CODE DPT12CDT to save $40!

Anyway, check it out and I hope to see you there.

Technique Tuesday on Wednesday: Creating Cool Slide Shows Part 2:  Organizing and Presenting The Show

Last week, as part my new wedding series, I ran “Creating Cool Slide Shows Part 1” on how to create compelling slideshows. In today's post I'm offering Part Two.  Today’s video walks you through all the rest of the steps on just how to get the entire show – images and music – completely organized from start to finish and show the final presentation to your clients.  I left nothing out so the video runs just a little long.  It’s worth the “watch” so be sure to find the time to view in it’s entirety.

I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience to watch both of them all the way through. And, I hope with a few of the insights I'm sharing with you on both of these videos, that you too will be able to create compelling slideshows for your clients. Anyway, without much further ado let me present this week's video tutorial. Enjoy! – David

p.s. Hey gang, when recording the intro for the show, the background noise was pretty noisy.  I didn’t have time to re-record the intro so I just did the best I could at reducing it in Camtasia.  It sounds a little funky but I sill think you’ll enjoy the video.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. I've got a few loose ends to tie up for our webcast at 3:30 p.m. EST this afternoon so, in the meantime enjoy the video tutorial above and  I'll plan to see you online later this afternoon. 

Have a great rest of the day.

– David

My Personal Invitation To Attend The Creative Design Tour Starting This Sunday!

Hi Everybody,

Yes, today is a special day for one of my special invitations!

Today I get to tell you about one of the most interesting and exciting seminar series happening in 2012. This year is another year shaping up to be a "Tours Galore" year.  How do you separate the "wheat from the chaff"?   Who out there provides a first class seminar experience for the attendees? Let me tell you about one of the god seminars coming your way next week.  It's the 28 city Creative Design Tour  hosted "LIVE" and in person by Judy Host.

The brand new Creative Design Tour kicks off in Atlanta, GA this coming Sunday, July 22, 2012 at the very classy W Hotel in downtown Atlanta.

Here's why I'm recommending this tour.  First off, it's a completely different type of a presentation - it's HANDS ON!  Yes, bring your computers!  The Tour Workbook is included for you to follow along.  I need to mention that Judy is giving away lots of door prizes too ;~)

This tour is being backed by my good friend and tour producer, Jeff Medford.  Over the years Jeff and I have had many discussions about how to bring the best value to the seminar experience for all seminar attendees. Earlier this year he produced Clay Blackmore's very successful seminar series. It received RAVE reviews from all that attended.  That's why I know this tour will be one of the best as well. 

Jeff was also very gracious to offer my Digital Newsletter and DigitalProTalk blog readers not the regular $129 price but the absolute BEST PRICE ANYWHERE - only $89!  This is the best price you'll find anywhere on the web for this tour!  Use PROMO CODE DPT12CDT when registering [link] to get the special $89 price.

Here's A Sample Of What You Will Learn:

1. The 7 Photoshop Tools needed for Creative Design
2. The 8 Design Elements available to you
3. How to Blend and Combine Elements

Learn how to design artistic client pieces efficiently and easily...Tap into Endless Possibilities for your own creations... Use these techniques for portrait art, photo albums, gallery wraps, marketing cards, or anything else you can dream of.

You can find all the information right here.

The "Creative Design Tour" kicks off this coming Sunday, July 22, in Atlanta so don't wait to register - register now! The tour is traveling to 28 cities around the country.  Hey, if one of the stops is not right next door, just grab a friend or two and make the drive to the nearest city.  I promise you, it will be worth the trip!  You can find all the info and register right here.

So please check out this brand new seminar experience - the CREATIVE DESIGN TOUR coming your way right here, and be sure to use the PROMO CODE DPT12CDT  to register for only $89! This is the BEST PROMO PRICE anywhere on the web for this tour! Guaranteed!

I've already got my tickets for the Cincinnati, OH stop. I hope to see you there!

-David

Quick Hit Monday On Tuesday: 3 Webcast Re-Broadcasts Coming Your Way!

Good Afternoon Everybody,

We got in pretty Sunday night from our PhotoPro Network Summer School and got a pretty slow start on today having been going nonstop for the last three days in Louisville, Kentucky.We had a great time.  Let me give you a quick recap below.

PhotoPro Network Summer School 2012 Recap

We had a great crowd this past weekend at our PhotoPro Network Summer School. We had photographers from six states attending, including my good friend, Frank Wilson and his friend Derrick, traveling all the way from Jackson Mississippi – nearly 600 miles away. Turns out Frank won the award for most miles traveled to get there and took home one of the door prizes for his efforts  – Way to go Frank and Derrick!

Missed Opportunity For Many

It still amazes me that more photographers don't take advantage of some of these wonderful learning opportunities taking place around the country. For 2 1/2 days of terrific photographic inspiration and instruction, at a cost of only $89, you would think that people would be “chomping at the bit” to attend.

Unfortunately, I think too many people think they can get their education free from the Internet. But in doing so, you really miss out on the personal interaction with instructors, the inspiration that every instructor brings to the program, and most importantly, the camaraderie among all the photographers that attend and participate at these kinds of photographic events. Anyway, sorry to be on my soapbox, but I've been going to seminars and workshops for many, many years  and I just don't see any better way to learn than the up-close-and-personal interaction with the guest instructors.

Print competition was a great hit!

This year we had over 60 photographs submitted in our Digital Image Review.  We broadcast the image competition LIVE so look for rebroadcast here at DigitalProTalk probably within the next week. Once again, I don't think there's any better way to learn how to improve your photography than by participating in a digital image competition and hearing the judge's comments. Not only does it change your image perspective, allow you to gain many new insights from qualified judges and become inspired by the other photographers’ creativity that you see.  Watch for the re-broadcast….coming soon!

By the way, this summer's winner  was a print entitled "Dancing In The Rain" by Jason Higdon. Jason took home an onOne Perfect Photo Suite 6.0 for his efforts. Way to go Jason!

Inspiring Landscape Program By Jim Goldstein

After the print competition wrapped, we went LIVE with Jim Goldstein's outstanding landscape program. This presentation had everyone inspired and mesmerized for the entire 90 minute program. I've known Jim’s work for a number of years and am constantly amazed by how beautiful it is.

What was most amazing about his presentation this past Friday were images from a new project he's been working on. The new project has him photographing star trails over the desert. The images he presented were absolutely amazing. I populated part of the post with a the few of the audience favorites.

I asked Jim if we could re-broadcast this webcast as well and he was very gracious to oblige. So, look for that post, as well. I can't wait for you to see his wonderful images, listen to his inspiring presentation, and just be enthralled for the entire 90 minute presentation.

Social Media Made Simple! 

At nine o'clock Saturday morning we all re-convened in the large meeting room for A.J. Wood’s fabulous Social  Media Marketing program. A.J/ was our special guest last year and was such a hit we asked him to be part of this year’s, via the internet,  program too.

A.J. phoned in his enthusiastic, super informative  presentation on social media marketing. Last year when A.J. gave his program Google+ and Pinterest weren't even on anybody's radar yet. This year's presentation was a complete revamp of last year's presentation with heavy emphasis on Facebook's new features and great information on how to get the best use out of Google+ and Pinterest.

I ask A.J. if he would mind if we could rerun his webcast at a later date and he was again so gracious to oblige. Stay tuned, A.J.’s Social Media webcast will also be posted within the next couple weeks. It's another presentation you won't want to miss.

Speed Lighting with Nicholas and Eric

After A.J. completed his program, my good friends Nicholas Viltrakis and Eric Cameron put on a razzle-dazzle presentation  showing the very practical and creative side of speed-lighting. The audience loved their program. They are fun, knowledgeable, sharing tips and techniques for the everyday photographer as well as reviewing nearly a hundred creative images.

Fashion Photographer Extraordinaire!

Another one of the programs that was an audience favorite was the Fashion/Lifestyle presentation by Lou Freeman – Lou is short for Louise, BTW.  She has worked with the best of the best in the fashion industry – the best clients, models, and projects.  She had a long run at Playboy Magazine shooting 597 assignments for them over her long tenure with the magazine.

Lou’s program gave us a taste of that kind of world – a world many would like to aspire too.  Like wedding photography, she says that photography niche has gone through many changes too.  Regardless, her program was about her images and the back story surrounding those images – amazing work!

 

In the second half of her program we set up a LIVE photo-shoot with her beautiful model, Tamara, and Lou shoot tethered into Lightroom 4 giving the audience the instant gratification they wanted as Lou worked her fashion magic with Tamara. 

BTW, Lou will be presenting again at our much larger PhotoPro Expo 2013 next year – details to come.

Everyone Loved The Summer Shootout!

One of the highlights of our summer conference is our Summer Shootout. We have four of our top instructors come together for the event on Saturday evening. We divide all of the attendees into four groups. Each group gets to spend about 30 minutes with each of the instructors.  Each instructor shares their talents, creativity, and knowledge with each of the four groups. After 30 minutes the groups rotate onto the next photographer and so everybody's has a chance to sample the talents and inspiration of all four of our world-class trainers.

Not only do the instructors demonstrate great lighting and composition but, many will even give the class an opportunity to shoot the models using the lighting set ups so everyone that participates gets a chance – to add images to their portfolio. This is Ty and Shannon Fisher’s group you see in the photo on the right.

It's amazing what our trainers find to use as backgrounds. Lou Freeman, one of the favorite instructors at this year's summer event, found a back wall of the hotel that was kind of secluded. That wall contained wall decor that looked to me like sea urchins.

Lou knew right away that she had found the perfect place for her training sessions. In her mind she had visualized already how these compositional elements would play into the background and how she could add her own creative touch with special lighting to capture some very unusual images. One of her favorites, straight out-of-the-camera is featured below.

It was definitely a long day Saturday with many arriving about 8:30 a.m to get a front row seat. We wrapped at 11:00 p.m. just after a few appetizers the Summer Shootout  review from all the instructors sharing their favorite images. PhotoPro Network supplied the appetizers and refreshments and I think everybody really appreciated the treat.  Like I say, where can you find such a deal for only $89? The answer would be right here at PhotoPro Network;~)

After a fairly late night Friday and a very long day Saturday, we all reconvened back at the meeting room at 9:00 a.m. sharp Sunday morning. Jason Lykins was our special guest for the Sunday morning program. He wowed the audience by revealing the dark magic of Adobe's newly released Photoshop CS6.

I also presented a short 90 minute program on all the latest, greatest features of Lightroom 4. The audience really enjoyed the “Geek technique” portion of the Sunday presentations.

The New Young Guns Take Us Home 

After a short break for lunch, Ty and Shannon Fischer, two talented photographers  from Springfield, Ohio took the reins and had the audience locked to their seats until they completed their program at 4:30 in the afternoon. 

Ty and Shannon are cut from the cloth of that new breed photographer – early-to-mid 30s – creating contemporary images, growing their business yearly by double digit percentages, and are really making their mark in the world of photography.  They've been in business for five years and just opened their second studio location only two weeks ago. They've grown their operation into a quite successful enterprise by using all the best promotional marketing techniques available and also producing some outstanding imagery.  With so many people complaining about their dollar averages going down the drain, it's programs like Ty and Shannon's that are not to be missed.

After congratulating the both of them on a great job, Ty makes the comment back to me. He says, “We've just been learning from all you guys and the other great photographers whose programs we attended and are just putting into practice what they teach.” “Why invent the wheel,” he says. Once again a vote or why we should all attend these programs whenever possible.

Even though the days were long and many of us did not get to much sleep, it was a great weekend. On both Friday and Saturday evening after all the programming wrapped, you could still catch a couple of dozen people in the hotel lounge continuing to share their ideas with each other, but even more importantly, it was also about making new friends. The whole experience of a weekend like this is a wonderful  learning and growing experience that every photographer can benefit from.  I sure hope to see everybody again next year.

Secrets of Telephone and E-mail Sales Technique. – How To Become A Booking Wiz In Only 48 Hours!

Hey gang, that's going to be our topic of discussion at Wednesday’s webcast coming up tomorrow at 3:30 EST.  Charles Lewis and I have been friends for a many, many years. In fact, he's the one who gave me the “kick in the pants” I needed many years ago to get my business pointed in the right direction.

I've recently presented a couple of webinars and interviews with him for his web audience and he offered to return the favor for my DigitalProTalk readers. I sure didn't want to pass up the opportunity so we scheduled our sales and marketing webcast for Wednesday, July 17th – tomorrow. It should be quite a lively event with a lot of good information. Here is the registration link to all the info.

I think most of you should have received an e-mail and an invitation to attend – it's free! But, if you haven't you can hit the link right here  and get all the information for Wednesday's program. We're planning a 90 minute webcast and will be taking questions from the LIVE listening audience. I'm really looking forward to hearing Chuck's program, I hope you'll join me.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today. How about I see everybody again tomorrow for another episode of our ongoing wedding series. I've actually got a few episodes in the works so stay tuned. It's turning into a much bigger project than I had anticipated but I think you really enjoy it.

Everybody have a great rest of the day and I'll see you soon, David

Quick Hit Monday: Great Photo Education Ops; Canvass Wrap Actions; Landscape Techniques; & More!

Good Afternoon Everybody,

I have to tell you - writing my new book and keeping the blog going has become quite the challenge as of late.  Both of those commitments and the fact that we are in the absolute busiest busiest part of the year with events every weekend since the end of May has certainly strained my resources on time around here. Thanks for hanging in there with me - I appreciate it.

In spite of the lack of time, I've managed to find enough time to get about 20,000 words of the book "on paper" so far.  I'm still managing my 2000 words/day goal too.  The cool thing about all the effort is that the more I write, the more good ideas I come up to incorporate into the book - and that's a good thing.  Anyway, I'm still pounding away at the keyboard and hope to have the very rough first draft completed by the end of the month.  Once I get that wrapped, I start putting the "spit and polish" on it and I’ll begin sharing some excepts with you guys too.  We're getting closer - stay tuned!!

Hey gang, time is short today and it's getting late in the day, so let's get right too Quick Hit Monday.  Here we go.

PhotoPro Network Summer School Coming Your Way!!!

Let me tell you about the coolest thing happening this summer right here in the Midwest.  It's our just announced PPN Summer School.  If you are anywhere - like within 300 miles of Louisville, KY - you need to check out the unbelievable learning opportunity!!! 

We're covering the gamut from Small Flash Photography, Weddings, Fashion, Lifestyle, High School Seniors, Landscape Photography, Photoshop CS6, Lightroom 4, Portfolio Development, Social Media Marketing, Brand Building, HOT SHOTS! Digital Image Competition & Review, and much more!  12 exiting photography sessions and 10 unbelievable speakers for only $89 for two days!  Plan to come on down and be part of the excitement.

This year we've got some great web-casts on Landscape photography and social media marketing.  We've got our Hot Shots! Image competition and our Saturday evening shoot out too!  YES, there will be prizes too!!! You can get all the info right here.

Explosive Wedding Photography: How About A great Time In Florida

OK, gang, I'm stoked about this announcement too.  My good friends and two very talented photographers, Nickolas and Eric, are presenting a solid weekend of instruction at the end of this month in Orlando, Florida.  Here is the quick blurb about what's happening:

Explosive Wedding Photography: June 29, 30, July 1, 2012

We know that times are tough for photographers, the market is flooded and profits are down. However, we are not willing to let that ruin our dream of enriching people's lives though photography. With that in mind, Nicholas and Eric will show you all of the tips, tricks, and effective shortcuts to starting your business, maximizing your time and profits, and to gain explosive growth in a tough economy!  You will also get an opportunity to produce some portfolio-quality images under the guidance of Nicholas, Eric and their coaches. The Workshop will include:

* Lighting shortcuts, * Client management, * Free Effective Marketing,  * Editing workflow, * Multi-Purpose Posing, * Photographing in less than ideal surroundings, * Psychology of the Client, * How to remember it all!

This will be a three-day seminar that is both fun and capable of increasing your revenue 200%! We will be spraying the lucky attendees with lighting, planning, customer, and post-processing workflow magic bullets that will put time back in your day and money in your wallet.

There's one part theory - one part model shootout - and one part creativity!

Those were the BIG news items for today. Let me leave you with a few Quick Hit Monday Links and then I've got to go.  Enjoy!! -David

Canvass Wrap Actions - Indispensable!!!

This is about the best free action set I've seen lately.  We had an image going through the studio a few weeks ago that needed canvass mounting with the canvass wrap.  I could have “fussed” with the image in Photoshop for far too long so hit the "NET" to see if I could find an easier way to set up my image for ordering.  Time to HIT THIS LINK RIGHT HERE!! This link will give you, count them, 5 actions that help you prepare your image for printing so your next canvass wrap comes out perfect!  I prefer the Mirror Wrap.  These are indispensable actions - and they are FREE!  Enjoy!

Composing Dynamic Landscape Images: [link]

Utterly beautiful landscape photograph and a good description on how to achieve an outstanding result.  A great read!!!  DAZ

How To Use a Light Meter in Photography:  [link]

I’m not a big light meter user since I use the light-meter built into the camera, but I think this is a very instructive video tutorial by top photographer, Mathew Jordon Smith, on the subject.  He makes a very good case on why and when to use a light meter.  It’s short and sweet and loaded with good info.
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Hey gang, that’s got to be it for me today.  I’m still way behind the “eight ball” and need to get back to the book. 

Have a great rest of the day and I hope to see you tomorrow for a late afternoon Technique Tuesday.

See ya’ then, David

Inspiration & Education: How To Kick It Up A Notch!

Good Late Afternoon/Early Evening Everybody,

I sure hope the weather is as wonderful in your part of the world as it is here today in the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio area. Were hitting mid-60s with blue skies and white puffy clouds – sure a far cry from last week’s tornadoes. You can almost smell Spring in the air.  I'm going to make this post short and sweet because it's getting late in the day and I need to organized my equipment for my Bar Mitzvah temple shoot tomorrow.

How To Photograph Anyone - Clay Blackmore Announces New Tour

That's right, my good friend Clay Blackmore has recently announced his new "How To Photograph Anyone" tour kicking off March 24 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Clay I have been friends for a long, long time and I'm more than happy to help spread the word about his tour.

You know, in this day and age wedding photography looks pretty much the same. Clay will show you the tools and give you the techniques he uses.  Believe me, his program will take your photography to a brand-new level. Clay's programs have also always been informative, entertaining,  and just the right message at the right time for photographers. If your photography needs a little freshening up for 2012 I highly recommend you check out Clay's tour right here.

Use PROMO CODE DPT12 and Save!

I asked Clay if he could give our DigitalProTalk readers a special deal for attending and he was more than happy to oblige. Be sure to use promo code DPT12 and you'll receive $14 off the regular $69 price – your cost only $55 – the best price you’ll find anywhere on the internet! That makes four and half hours with my good friend, Clay Blackmore, a steal of a deal and a wonderful way to spend an evening. Once again, you can find all the information right here.

Photo Pro Expo Image Extraordinaire

As you know, we wrapped our PhotoPro Expo about a month ago. It was a huge success and we’re already planning for next year. One of the highlights of the show  was our Westcott Fantasy Model Shootout.

I haven't found enough time to look at all the images submitted but I did receive an e-mail from David Steagall who sent me one of the most amazing image composites from that model shoot-out. 

I think it shows a level of creativity one can attain when they put their hearts and souls into a shoot. There were about 1 million photographers, O.K. maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, gathered around the Westcott booth trying to capture an image or two of our great-looking models.  David took it to a brand-new level, spent some time getting his best shot, worked in Photoshop, and produced one of the most striking images I think I've seen from that shoot.

Congrats to David for producing such an remarkable image. You can catch more of David’s work right here.

Featured Wedding Photographer Of The Week

For the next several weeks I plan to make this section a special part of our DigitalProTalk blog.  Unlike many of our readers, I spend a lot of time on the web scouring the Internet for great images, great stories, great photographers whose work I share with you, our DPT readers.

A few weeks ago, while in Las Vegas I met a photographer at the PictoBooks Album booth. I was browsing through the images in one of the albums and I was blown away by the outstanding quality and creativity of the work I was seeing before my eyes. 

I made a comment to the gentleman standing in the booth about the albums.  He humbly informed me that he had taken all the photographs. I took one more look at the images and was mesmerized by the composition, the color and the impact each photograph presented. Dan Doke introduced himself as a photographer who had captured those images.

I had heard Dan's name many times in the past and knew he was a talented photographer but I never had a chance to meet him personally. This was a special moment when I got to shake the hand of one of the most talented photographers in the field. Dan hails from the New England area and is one of the most successful and sought after photographers in the area. This week, Dan, I'm naming you Wedding Photographer of the Week at DigitalProTalk.

I invite all of our readers to head over to Dan's site right here and explore all the wonderful imagery he has on display. It is truly amazing to behold. Don't just check the wedding link either check all the other links he has on this site including the Dance link, Portrait link, and the Editorial link and I think you too will be inspired to raise your photography to a much higher level.

It's always such a joy for me to get a chance to view such amazing images and I hope this new addition to DigitalProTalk will do the same for you.  I have several great photographers in mind whose work I plan to feature. So stay tuned and prepare to be inspired.

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Hey gang that's it for me today. It's about the end of the day and I still have a few more errands to run before I call it quits.  The sun is still shining, there's a slight breeze in the air, and I went to enjoy the last minutes of day light. Everybody have a wonderful rest of the day and I'll plan to see you soon.

– David

Quick Hit Monday: Off And Running At WPPI! & More Photoshop Freebies

Good Morning Everybody,

First off today, I want to thank everyone for the very nice remarks about my weekend post and all the CONGRATS! to Elizabeth – she sure deserves it and her Dad (me) really appreciates it.

Hey gang, I’m coming at you today from that little town in the middle of the desert where the lights are bright all night and alarm clocks are never set – Las Vegas.  Yep, we landed before noon on Saturday, checked in, and relaxed the rest of the day reserving our energy for four days of convention excitement at WPPI, the largest photographic convention and trade show in the USA!

We hit the trail early yesterday and wrapped last night taking in about 15 programs in all!  Yes, it was a super busy day – the iPhone went dead, and so did my iPad. And then my pen almost ran out of ink.  You get the picture – I was scribbling notes like a madman.

Zack An Jody Great Bring Down The House!

The programming was awesome with my good buddies Zack and Jody Gray packing the house with about 800 strong for the first program of the day.  This young couple really has their act together when it comes to running a business – check out their website, follow their blog, and soak up everything they have to say when ever you get a chance.  OH, BTW, it looks like they will be coming to next year’s PhotoPro Expo – great news for all of us in the Midwest.

Kevin Kubota – Rockin’ On!

I’ve never seen Kevin Kubota speak before but was well aware of his reputation as a photographer and Photoshop/Lightroom guru.  Kevin was also rockin’ the MGM ballrooms with a packed house and showing off his easy to understand lighting techniques.  Kevin's book, the Lighting Notebook spent some time at the top of the charts over at Amazon, too.

At the end of Kevin’s program we ran into our friends Jeff Medford and Ross of “Get In Motion” tour fame.  They were showing off the new trailer for Kevin’s just released How To Photoshop Anyone DVD.  It is a “hoot”.  Give it a peek below.

The guys were gracious enough to give me a copy for review.  I can’t wait to watch it – stay tuned.  I hope to have an update after we get back from the convention.  OH, BTW, you may just see Kevin at next year’s PPExpo as well ;~)

Nobody Photographs Babies Like Jessica!

I would have to say the highlight of yesterday’s programing was Jessica Vogel’s program on how to photograph babies.  Never before have I seen a program so full of useful and practical content that any photographer could use to build their baby business.

Jessica hails from the small town of Shelbyville, KY which is about an hour from anywhere.  In spite of her rural location it’s easy to see why her business is so successful.  She has the goods – talent, creativity, great photography, and an authentic, genuine way of connecting with people.

LaDawn and I both agreed that the room in which she packed house with about 350 attendees was way too small – they were waiting in line to get into the room to see her program.  Small problem, not one person left her program till the very end and that’s an accomplishment for any speaker!

More Photoshop Freebies Coming Your Way!

Hey gang, I’m keeping it short and sweet in the Photoshop Freebies department today.  Programming starts in just a few and we’ve got to hit the road.  Still enjoy a few of these gems today.

1. Photoshop CS6 Can Magically Move Around Any Object In Your Photos [link]: A cool peak at one of most powerful features in CS6 – Amazing!

2. Unlimited In Photoshop Training [link]: This link will keep you busy for a while ;~)

3.  40+ Free and Premium Business Card PSD Templates [link]: Just the ticket to freshen up your brand image.
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On that note, we’re out of here.  Plan to check in tomorrow.  I’m not sure what’s exactly going to land on the blog, but I’ll try to keep it interesting ;~)

See you then, David