”Surf City”

”Surf City”
©David A. Ziser

I made this image a few days after a long 90  minute walk down the beach.  My final destination was a little beach restaurant named Zipper’s.  It’s quite popular with the surfers that make their annual pilgrimage to San Jose del Cabo for the fine surfing ways.  In fact, this weekend is the annual Los Cabos Open of Surf competition [link] with takes place right at the world famous Zipper’s beach.

Just as I was making my way from the beach up to the restaurant, I had to pause briefly for this “surfer dude” to pass by.  The moment was perfect as he passed right in front of Zipper’s.  His long stride, the perfect horizontal position of the surf boards balanced on his head, and all the Cabo colors in the background made for a strong composition.

Yes, I did tweak the image substantially. And yes, the image was made on my iPhone 6+ phone – my favorite phone of all time ;~) The first image tweak was made in an App named Dynamic Light – it’s a kind of cool instant HRD app.  After dialing in the effect I wanted – basically a super saturated contrasty effect, I saved out the image and reopened the image in a second App called Painteresque. This second app results in some of the most unusual and painterly images I have ever seen.  I prefer the Painteresque2 setting.  It is just so much fun to play with.

A final tweak of colors and contrasts in Lightroom CC gave me the final result I was looking for.

I know some of you may be thinking that I’ve gone over to the “dark side” of camera phone photography - but not true. The technical excellence built into these little jewels is amazing. For me it’s all about the finished image – a final rendering of color, contrasts, composition, color harmony, imagination, and creativity that pleases the viewer.  I think this image does just that!

Camera specs: Apple iPhone 6+  at 4.5 mm, F2.2 at 1/3000 second, ISO 32. 

Enjoy! David

”Salamanca Splendor”

”Salamanca Splendor”
©David A. Ziser

One of the most beautiful sights in Salamanca, Spain is the stunning brilliance of Plaza Mayor at night.  This is the largest Plaza in the city, built in the early and mid 1700’s captures all the beauty of times gone by.  It is a very active gathering place for locals and tourist alike.  The square has an energetic vibe all day and through the late evening hours.

This image was captured using the panorama setting on my iPhone 5.  Say what you want about today’s camera phone technology, it is still a visual treat to see the result these camera phones are capable of producing.

DAZNOTE: The image of the St. Charles Bridge in the post below was also made on my iPhone as we sat at a café last year in Prague.  That image graces our 2014 calendar - 12x12 cover.

I upload my iPhone images via Microsoft’s Skydrive and then copy them into my iPhone folder for this year’s travels.  All images are imported into Lightroom 5 where I can add minor tweaks as needed. This image was slightly corrected for lens distortion, tweaked with the Vibrancy setting, and lastly I reduced the slight bit of noise.  I really enjoy the result.

Camera specs: iPhone5 fitted with at 4.2mm (35mm equivalent on 35mm DSLR), F2.4 at 1/120 second, ISO 1200.  Enjoy!  -David

“Prague - The Royal Jewel Of Central Europe”

”Prague - The Royal Jewel Of Central Europe”
©David A. Ziser

This is one of my favorite images I made during our visit to Prague. And when I brought up the camera specs, I had forgotten that I had captured it with my iPhone 5 ;~)  Although the city today is pretty much “westernized” Prague’s deep and rich history, historic and beautiful architecture, and fun energetic atmosphere definitely makes it “must see” city that should be on every travelers itinerary.

This image was made from a riverside café after our day long tour of the castle and cathedral grounds at the top of the hill.  We Midwesterners love our fall colors and even though we are missing all the Fall color back home, there is no shortage of it during our travels through Europe.

It’s the interplay of the Fall colors of the tree on the left with the rich blue sky above that appeals to me in this image.  The late afternoon sun just “kisses” the building, the Charles Bridge tower and the bridge itself to add the final touch of beauty to this image.

Camera specs:  iPhone 5 at F2.4 at 1/570 second, 4.13mm (33mm 35mm equivalent).  Enjoy!  -David

”Top Of The Day, To You”

”Top Of The Day, To You”
©David A. Ziser

Like I say in today’s post below – Austria has to be about the most beautiful place on earth!  This image was made on my iPhone 5 – can you believe it?!?  Yes, this is exactly what the view looked like as I pulled over to the side of the road to make this image.

We took a short drive up the mountain earlier today till we could go no further up the road.  The view was magnificent! Although I had my Canon 5D Mark III with me, I chose to make this image with my iPhone – what can I say, I like the panorama feature ;~)

Compositionally I like how the mountains sweep across the landscape framed by the sky above and the trees below just dipping into the valley on the right of the image.  I tweaked the image slightly in Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS6 to clean up the foreground and adjust the tonal range of the image.  The view was just breathtaking!

Camera specs: Taken with my iPhone 5 with lens at 4.12mm, 1/1200 second, F2.4, ISO 50 . Enjoy!  -David

Quick Hit Monday: Print Competitions; Wedding Photography; Photoshop Freebies & More!

Good Early Morning Everybody,

I sure hope everyone had a great weekend. LaDawn and I got a chance to hang out with many good friends we haven't seen in a long time over the weekend. It was truly a blessing to revisit and was a nice break from our, too often, chaotic rush. The break didn't last long though. We are utterly swamped these next two days trying to get the last of our projects completed before we leave for Cabo, Mexico on Wednesday morning.

Join The Fun – Print Competition Coming Your Way!

One of the big things I spent a lot of time on over the weekend was organizing our online HOT SHOTS Print Competition & Review coming up on Thursday, December 8, 2011. I sure hope you got a chance to read my complete post on it over the weekend. [link]

The print competition is being hosted by PhotoPro Network and gives all the photographers in our association a chance to submit their images to see how they might fare in our full-fledged print competition coming up in February at our PhotoPro Expo.  We've opened up the competition to all photographers around the world. You can submit up to six digital images for the very small entry fee of only $25. And, the good news is that you have a chance to win up to $1000 in prizes. Those prizes include software from NIK software, OnOne software, Graphic Authority, and many more.

We're limiting the number of total prints submitted to only 200 to be sure that we can get them all judged in our allotted two hours. You can do the math – with a limited number of entries you have a great chance to win some of our great prizes.

In addition to the print competition, we also have arranged to do a Worldwide Webcast of the competition and critique of those images. The webcast is FREE and open to everyone. Were all set with our three-judge panel of experts to judge the prints on December 8 and we already have a few entries with my quick announcement on Friday.

I'll be moderating the webcast from San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico; the three print judges and print moderator will be near Lexington Kentucky: Our tech support person is in Atlanta, GA and I'll have my staff standing by to monitor everything at my studio in the Greater Cincinnati area.

So, I hope you'll be able to join us by both entering your prints into the competition and also following along during the webcast. Oh, one more thing – even if you can't tune into the webcast, you will be instantly notified of your image scores via text and e-mail. It's all part of the new technology that we are test driving during our HOT SHOTS Print Competition & Review. It should be very informative as well as great fun. You can get all the information right here.

Update on PhotoPro Expo 2012

I am so stoked that our PhotoPro Expo 2012 Convention is coming together so well. Today I'm working with a web developer to put the finishing touches on the website and it should be live by the end of today.

Once I know everything is ready to go, I'll amend this post later today to show the new link. I sure hope you'll check it out, and I sure hope you'll consider joining us here in the greater Cincinnati area on Super Bowl weekend, that’s February 2nd through the 5th.

We are so excited to bringing to the Expo 16 world-class speakers including Scott Kelby, Jerry Ghionis, Sarah Petty, Kirk Voclain, Joel Grimes, Vincent Laforet, and nine others which should make it one of the top photographic convention destinations for next year. As I said, I’ll give you the update to the link as soon as I know everything is working smoothly. I sure hope you'll check it out and join me in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area for this outstanding opportunity to learn form the best.

Quick Hit Monday – Here We Go!

Those were two of the most important tips I wanted to get out to you today but, I think it's now time we get to our Quick Hit Monday. I've scoured the Internet looking for the most scintillating links to include in today's post. They cover wedding photography, inspirational photography,  Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials and freebies, and even a few iPad centric links for you too. Let's get right to it.

Photography At It’s Best

Anna Kuperberg’s Best Piece of Advice Ever for Wedding Photographers: [link]

Anna Kuperberg is an extremely talented wedding photographer. In this post she gives some concrete advice on how to capture great images at your next wedding. If you're a beginner ready to explore photographing weddings, you don't want to miss this post.

Extreme Architecture: [link]

Along those same lines, check out these architectural images as well. If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I'm a big fan of line, shape, and form when it comes to composing my images. That's one thing that really turned me on about this post – all the elements that make a great image represented in this series of images. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

Tiny gadgets: World’s Smallest Functional Digital Camera: [link]

OK, it could be said that I am sort of a gadget freak. That's why I like this post about the world's smallest functioning digital camera. In my early days of photography, I was always interested in small cameras and owned one of those very small 16mm cameras of many years past. If you're kind of a geek freak like me, check out this post… just kind of fun.

When Too Much Photography is Barely Enough: 126 Amazing Links:  [link]

Just when you thought I was giving you way too many links to check out, this link right here will keep you busy through the New Year.  126 amazing photography links and many of them are pretty cool. Take your time and enjoy the browse.

Photoshop Tutorials and Freebies

How to Replace a Face in Photoshop in 6 Easy Steps: [link]

When I first looked at this tutorial, I thought another “head swap” tutorial. But then as I reviewed it more closely, I noticed that this tutorial was going into much greater depth in using some techniques for face alignment that I had never even thought of. That's why I'm including it in today's post. If your wedding or portrait photographer looking for a better way to do your “head swaps” then this post is for you.

Use the Black & White filter in Photoshop: [link]

I'm a huge fan of black and white and always enjoy a post that shows me how to obtain a better result. This is a great post that explores that topic.

Craft Great Black & White Images in Lightroom: [link]

And, since I'm a huge Lightroom fan, I'm also interested in how I can achieve the best black-and-white image result in Lightroom. This tutorial will give you some good insights into how to make your black-and-white images better in Adobe's great software.

15 Photoshop Effects To Add Life to Your Photos: [link]

Everybody wants their images to look their best. This post shows you 15 ways in which you can enhance your images in many creative ways. It's worth a look.

Weekly Freebies: Flourishes and Ornaments: [link]

Now on to the Photoshop Freebie section.  This is one of my favorite links that I found over the weekend. LaDawn's put together a great collection of swirls and twirls for use in the LumaPix:PhotoFusion software [link]. The swirls and twirls featured in this post looks like were going to have to convert them for use in LumaPix as well. There are some really good enhancements – check it out.

Ultimate Collection of 220 Free High Quality Fabric Textures: [link]

On that same thinking - LaDawn loves using textures in her LumaPix:: FotoFusion software projects and this is one of the best collection of fabric textures I've seen in a long time. It's a definite download for us.

Top 20 Creatively Designed Grunge Fonts: [link]

I'm not huge font family – it's like, just how many fonts do you really need. But every now and then I'll read about a new set of fonts that looks quite interesting. I think these fonts fill the bill. One should check them out right here – their free.

40 GIMP Photo Manipulation Tutorials for Designers: [link]

With all the evidence of our Nation’s economic down turn, and Adobe's new upgrade policy on its future releases of Photoshop as outlined in Scott Kelby’s open letter to Adobe [link], you just might want to check out the open source image manipulation software – GIMP.

I been following the development of GIMP for several years and it has really matured into a very robust product. Many of you may not even know what I'm talking about but check out these photo-manipulation tutorials right here using, not Photoshop,  but GIMP which is free.  More GIMP tutorials right here.

iPhone/iPad Anybody

7 iPhone and iPad Apps For Business That Have Just Been Made free: [link]

The world is a big fan of Apple's iPhone and about 30 million people  are huge fans of the iPad. That said let me point you to seven iPhone and iPad apps that went from costing money to free overnight. These apps are not photography centric but business centric and I think there's a few gems in the listing. You can check them out right here.

Turn Your iPad Into A Flash Drive and Awesome File Manager! [link]

And for the iPad geeks out there, I thought this was an extremely interesting post.

16 Incredible iPad Apps For Any Photographer: [link]

I think there is an amazing number of iPad apps available for photographers. My favorite to date has been NIK Software's Snapseed. But, check out these additional 16 photo apps for your iPad. These look kind of fun.

_______________________________________________________

Hey everybody, that's it for me today. We are utterly swamped and it is going to be one full day. I still plan to get a brand-new Technique Tuesday online sometime tomorrow.

I hope things are good in your part of the world and that you were able to share many blessings with family and friends over the weekend. Have a great rest of the day. I'll plan to see everybody again tomorrow, same time - same station here at DigitalProTalk.

See you then, – David

Quick Hit Monday: Baseball Blues; Furries Everywhere; Wedding Photography Tips; Inspiration; & Photoshop Freebies

Good Afternoon Everybody,

I’m writing this as we are driving back to Kentucky after a wonderful weekend. We've been on a 730 mile round road trip since Friday and it's been a lot of fun.  Hotel rooms were at a premium in Pittsburgh this past weekend with the Boston Red Socks in town playing the Pirates. 

Ball Game Blues In Pittsburgh

I think our hotel was Red Socks headquarters with fans everywhere shouting and cheering for their team. At are hotel you could see it was – to paraphrase - Casey At The Bat… “There was no joy in Mudville — as the mighty Red Socks had lost by 2 runs both Friday and Saturday night. 

The good news for the Socks fans and for those who stuck around was their Sunday win over the Pirates.  I have to tell you, it was fun visiting and chatting with the Socks fans the two days we were at the hotel - they ARE enthusiastic fans.  I sure wish we had a little of that in Cincinnati for our mostly winning Reds.

The Furries Were In Town Too – Yikes!!!

The other event that had the city booked up was the Furries Convention taking place in downtown Pittsburgh [link]. OK, it's officially called the AnthroCon Convention [link], but it still comes down to over 4,500 folks hitting town dressed up as animals - think amusement park mascots - wandering he streets of Pittsburgh and surrounds. 

It's quite the site and Pittsburgh has been the host city for 6 six years in a row for this national convention. You know – I guess it’s what makes the world go ‘round.

Visiting With Old An Old Friend

Although the original intent was to visit a good friend who had moved to Pittsburgh a number of years ago and be part of her 50th birthday celebration, when I realized my good buddy Terry Deglau was only another hour away, we gave Terry a call to see if we could stop by and visit.  He gladly obliged and we had a great time reminiscing over a long and enjoyable lunch on Saturday.

Terry is from a family who ran a studio for over 75 years in the Pittsburgh area.  He told us it was his grandfather that started the business.  Terry left the family business to go to work for Eastman Kodak Company and was with them for 20 years.  During that time Terry was very supportive for many years of my early growing photographic and teaching career.  Since his leaving Kodak, we have always tried to stay in touch.

Because of the experience in his family's 75 year old photography business and his many years at Eastman Kodak, he has become a wealth of photographic information.  I encouraged Terry to start a blog many months ago which he did. Here is the link to his blog – A Creative Mind Is A Moving Target again right here.  He contributes to it on a weekly basis with stories and experiences that you simply won't read anywhere else.

I like to think that Terry, as he continues to write his blog, will become one of our indispensable photographic historians.  I sure hope so.  We all get so wrapped up in the "here and now" we easily lose sight of those whose shoulders the rest of us stand on for our continued success.  THANKS Terry for all your doing - "live long and prosper," and continue blogging as I look forward to your posts. And, good to see you again.  Until the next time Terry, All our best,  David.

Hey gang, I've got the rest of the posts devised into sections for your easy reference.  Lots of good information today, so please take time to enjoy the reads.

Wedding Photography Links You Need to Read

Every week I try to present a few good links helpful to our wedding photographers reading this blog.  This week I found a slew of them that are full of information and advice that is practical, informative, and important to your successful business building.  Every one is a great read.

1. 10 Common Compositions In Wedding Photography – Great! [link]
2. Wedding Photography Tips : How To Photograph People [link]
3. 5 Fastest Ways To Fail At Wedding Photography – Must Read [link]
4. What I Learned from Jasmine Star – Always good advice [link]

Inspirational Photography and Design

Quick Hit Monday has become my favorite day for offering you links to posts that offer photographic, technical, and compositional inspiration to help you get your week started off on the right foot.  Sometimes the links are a bit eclectic but they are the kinds of things that tickle my fancy and I hope you enjoy them too.  Here is this week's list - Enjoy!

1. 140 Great HDR Images [link]
2. 40 Random High Quality Photo Worth Seeing [link]
3. Fascination Digital Works Of Art [link]
4. iPhone Photography – pretty cool images [link]

Photography News, Tips, and Techniques

It's been quite a week with me finding lots of great instructional content for your reading pleasure….Enjoy.

Some News You Can Use

1. Doug Box’s Flash Photography: On- and Off- Camera Techniques for Digital Photographers [link]
2. Digital photography trumping film for good? [link]
3. A "Baker's Dozen" of Studio Lighting Tips Added to My Flagship iPad App: 24/7 Photo Buffet [link]

 A Few Photo Tips

1. Understanding the Factors that Affect Depth of Field [link]
2. Tips To Reduce Noise In Your Images [link]

Photoshop Tutorials, Techniques, and Freebies

Once again gang, here is this weeks list of links to my favorite tutorials, techniques, and freebies.  Over the last several weeks there have been quite a few links that I've posted at DPT.  I'm trying to figure how to categorize all these links for future reference - stay tuned.  In the mean time, enjoy this week's offerings.

Tutorials & Techniques

1. Photo Restoration – very good [link]
2. High-Pass Filter vs. Unsharp Mask Sharpening [link]

The Photoshop Freebies

1. 51 High Quality Texture Packs [link]
2. 25 Free Brushes and Patterns [link]
3. 60 Fresh High Quality PSD Files and Templates [link]

_____________________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today.  We've got a lighter week than usual around here, I think I said that last Monday as well, and we are really looking forward to a stress free work week.  How about I see everyone back here tomorrow for another Technique Tuesday. 

See ya' tomorrow,  David

Quick Hit Monday: Tantalizing Photography; Photoshop Galore; and iPad Nirvana

Good Morning Everybody,

After the Blogger outage last Thursday and Friday which sure made getting the post up last week a bit more difficult – LaDawn and I settled into a fairly easy weekend.

Probably the highlight of the weekend, besides meeting Vivian the new baby daughter of my Ace #1 Assistant Nicolas Viltrakis and wife Terri, was seeing Cirque du Soleil’s show OVO on Sunday evening.  LaDawn and I are both huge Cirque fans having seen just about every show playing in Las Vegas.  It’s nice to have one come to town right in your own back yard.  “O” playing at the Bellagio is still our all time favorite but OVO was very entertaining with fun exciting costumes.

I’m spending this week catching up on a few projects and loose ends and finalizing plans for my Kelby Training DVD shoots next week.  My next training videos will focus (no pun intended) on Engagement Portraits and Composition. I’ve completed both the outlines for the shooting schedule. I’m just wondering how we’re going to get everything edited down to just two 2 hour training sessions ;~)

Hey  gang, I’ve got some pretty tantalizing reads for you on today’s Quick Hit Monday so why don’t we jump right in.  Here we go…

In The Photography Department

1. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but while in Banff last month we attended a wonderful program by two fresh new wedding photographers – David and Quin Cheung.  They were entertaining, funny, and very informative.  Just for the fun of it, head over to their site and check out their exciting wedding photography – you’ll love it!  Here is the link right here.

2. Last week while visiting After Dark in Cincinnati, I ran into Neil Van Neikerk, author of the best selling “On Camera Flash”.  We had previously met at WPPI so it was a nice surprise to get a chance to visit again.  During our quick visit he showed me his latest camera he was shooting with – a Fuji X100.  I’ll tell ya’, it was one interesting camera – a rangefinder camera that look’s like an old Leica rangefinder camera of years ago.

Apparently it was quite a hit at Photokina last year and is in very short supply right now – even B&H has been out of stock.  Anyway, Neil allowed me take a few shots and I was really impressed.  I even took a few at 3200.  The images looked great.  Is this my next wedding camera?  We’ll have to see on that one, but the camera sure looks like it could be a possible addition.  Want to read more on it – here is a link to a recent review right here.

3. Creative Wedding Photography Option for Those on a Budget [link].  This is a very interesting article reflecting the trends in today’s wedding client but I really liked the images accompanying the article.  Give it a peek right here.

4. My buddy and long time friend, Terry Deglau, recently started a blog entitled “A Creative Mind Is A Moving Target” and is brain dumping his vast amounts of knowledge into weekly posts.  One of my recent favorites is “Sometimes Slow is Better” where he has a very thorough discussion on slow shutter exposure photography. You’ll get a kick out of reading Terry’s posts – check it out right here.

5. National Geographic just released a new iPad app that  is receiving “rave” reviews.  It’s called “50 Places Of A Lifetime”.  You can check out some of the amazing images and download the app right here.  Even with all the traveling we do, most of these locations have been off our radar.  Yes, I’m planning to down load the app;~)

6. And a few more inspiring images from nature can be found right here in this post entitled “41 Most Refreshing Pictures: Sweetness Of Nature”.  Hey, we all need a little Monday morning inspiration don’t we – check it out.

7. Danger!  Danger!  Will Robinson! I almost linked you to the article below but upon verifying the link, my Norton Antivirus software immediately notified me of a virus attack. DON’T check out this article “35 Useful Digital Photography Tips And Tutorials” at Tripwire Magazine – sorry, no link provided.

I really work on keeping the links I post here at DPT safe for all our readers and haven’t seen anything like this for quite a while.  This kind of stuff really irks me though – a promise of good content only to have the well meaning visitor be hit with a virus. Please be forewarned of other sites like TripWire out there playing the same game.

But now on to more fun stuff.

Photoshop, Photoshop, and More Photoshop – 7 Hot and Helpful Links For You

This part of Quick Hit Monday is turning into a weekly feature, most because of all the cool content available.  Each week I’ll try to nab the best links for the Portrait/Wedding Photographer.  I’ll also toss in something that goes beyond portraits and wedding just because the links contain such interesting content.  I hope you enjoy them. 

1. 15 Photoshop Cheat Sheets That Will Make Your Task Easier [link]

2. How To Repair Scratched and Damaged Photographs or Scans [link]

3. How to Soften Skin in Photoshop For Portraits [link]

4. Best Photoshop Tutorials [link]

5. 40 Tutorials Poster Design to Improve Your Skill and Creativity [link]

6. 25+ Nature Inspired Unique & Exceptional Photoshop Tutorials [link]

7. Out Of Bounds Attention Grabbing Photo Manipulations [link]

Don’t Stop, There’s More! On The iPad That Is

I almost ran these series of links last week but just ran out of space.  Heck, I’m out of space this week too but I’m running them anyway for all my iPad geek buds out there.  Enjoy the reads.

1. How Much Would the iPad 2 Cost If It Were Made in the U.S.? About $1,140 [link] 

2. The Coolest Thing Anyone’s Done With iPhone Camera+ [link] 

The quality is getting better all the time.  I hear rumors of an 8 MP in the iPhone 5

3.  What Happens When Sixth Sense meets an iPad? [link] 

Way cool video – DAZ

4. Next iPad to Offer 3D Display? [link] 

5. iPad 2 Vs. Asus EEE Pad Transformer (video) [link] 

6. Pro HDR for iPhone and iPod Touch [link] 

7. The Always Up-to-Date Guide to Jailbreaking Your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad [iOS 4.3.3] [link] 

____________________________________________________

Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  I’ve got to get back to my real job. How about I see you tomorrow for another episode of Technique Tuesday: You Won’t Believe Your Eyes!  It will be a good one – I promise.

See ya’ then.  -David

Quick Hit Monday: Imaging USA Off to a Great Start; Top 100 iPhone/iPad Apps; Photoshop Tuts and Tips; and 200 Windows Shortcuts

Good Morning Everybody,

We landed in San Antonio on Friday and spent Saturday hanging with my brother who made the trip from Austin.  We don’t see each other often so it was good to get together. What I love about this convention is the fact that you get to catch up with all your friends you’ve made over the years from around the country. I’m enjoying the many HI’s and HELLO’s from the minute we hit the Marriott lobby.

PPA Charities Party Kicks Off The Convention.

Saturday evening was Imaging USA’s Charities Auction hosted by Texas School the largest annual week long get together of photographers in the country.  About 1200 photogs get together to learn from over 53 instructors conducting 35 classes. 

My class was sold out the day registration opened but there are still a lot a great classes waiting for you to check out.  Here is the link right here.  Here’s a photo of me with co-instructor Sam Puc.  Every one was having a great time at the party.  PPA Charities raised over $100,000 last year – WOW!

OK, who is that crazy monster with Sam and I? It’s the Ukandu monster.  Sam has just launched her Ukandu monster marketing campaign and I grabbed the opportunity to get my photo with Sam and the monster. Sam gave me a quick overview of Ukandu – marketing muscle for only $20 bucks per campaign -  but it’s best you check it out right it.

Another fun thing that happened was meeting the Grand Prize winners of our Digital WakeUp Call 2009 tour.  Blanca and Alex, owners of Blanca-Duran Photography, came up and said Hi. They continue to be so enthusiastic and bubbling about winning our $7500 grand prize – it was a nice visit. Check out their website and blog right here – some nice images.

Yesterday was the start of the Imaging USA Convention in San Antonio and things certainly began with a bang.

Top 100 iPhone/iPad Apps

I love the TOP 10 lists many bloggers post each year. Heck, I'm doing the same thing this week. One of my favorite sites to visit on occasion is Terry White's Top App site [link]. I don't know where he finds the time to research all the apps he ferrets each week but I'm glad he does.

If you are an iPad/iPhone/iPod app junkie you will love his Top 100 apps list of 2010 right here. I still need to review the list to see if I've missed anything. It's a fun read and he's got quite a few gems on his list.

Now A Few Photoshop Whiz-bang Tuts and Tips

Cool Senior Illustrations

Last week I stumbled on some pretty cool Photoshop tutorials. The first one can be found at TemplatePhotoshop.com. My good buddies at ACI Labs sponsor a Video of the Week and this one is quite well done on how to apply makeup in Photoshop.

What I loved about the tutorial is the very cool high school illustration pieces he was producing. I thought Woody Walters idea was one of the most original new product ideas I have seen recently. Check out the tutorial right here.

Adding Skies, Any Skies To Your Image

OK, I have to admit - I saw this in an email I received last week from Gavin Phillips pitching how easy it was to add skies and clouds to any image. I watched the video and liked what I saw. Gavin's multitude of skies can really change the look of an image dramatically. Check it out right here.

Histograms And Photoshop

PSDTUTS [link] has a nice series on understanding histograms and how you can get your best exposure.  Photoshop Basix, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak includes 25 short video tutorials, around 5 – 10 minutes in length that will teach you all the fundamentals of working with Photoshop.

This is Part 5 of the series.  The topic - What Does a Histogram Tell Us will explain the Histogram panel; specifically the Shadow/Highlights and Levels adjustments. This is a nice “gold nugget” find on the web – check it out right here.

200 Windows 7 Shortcuts All For Free!

Sorry MAC fans this is for PC users only ;~)  I get weekly updates from PC World about what’s happening in the world of computers.  Many times there are some nice treasures in their e-newsletter.  I thought this article could be helpful to lots of our DPT readers, hence the post. 

This 43-page guide covers not only the OS, but also apps like Calculator, WordPad, Windows Media Player, and Internet Explorer. It's arguably the most comprehensive keyboard-shortcut guide I've ever seen. You can download it right here.

___________________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today. We've got a full day so we need to hit the road. Don't forget, if you are reading this in San Antonio, plan to stop by at my program tomorrow and say "HI".

Adios, David

Quick Hit Monday: Good Deals Brewing; Maybe A Problem With The New iPad OS Upgrade; A Cool iPad/iPhone/iPod App; Photo Links Galore; and More!

Good Morning Everybody,

We made it back safe and sound late Saturday and got right into the holiday swing of things. With the snow falling on Sunday, it made it kind of easy. Hey, Cabo was great but Christmas time is still my favorite time of the year and our home and the studio prove the point with 9 Christmas trees  already in place.

Anyway, it looks like it's shaping up to be a busy week around here so why don't we get right on with today's post. Here we go...

Holidays All Around, and Good Deals Too Starting Wednesday!

That's right, this coming Wednesday we are beginning our first holiday sale at DPT. LaDawn and Jennifer have been putting the finishing touches on several holiday specials. I have to say, you are going to like what you see. Be sure to check back Wednesday for all the details.

On The Fun Side For The Holidays

Last week I stumbled across a new iPhone/iPad app that I love. It's Bill Atkinson's PhotoCard app. Bill Atkinson is both a MAC guru and fantastic nature photographer. In fact we used Bill's profiles when we started printing everything inkjet on my first Epson 9600 printer.

Anyway, back to the app. The light version is free with the full version costing only $4.99. The lite PhotoCard version works great as I've been using my own images instead of Bill's - sorry Bill. The app is soooo.... easy to use. Pick an image, fine tune it if needed, add the recipient's address - I been sending a few cards to my daughter Elizabeth during our trip - add a stamp and you are ready to go. Just hit send.

It's a great way to share your travels with friends and family. But  more than that, I think it has a place in my studio on the business side of things, too. Here's why. With the iPad it's really easy to send an uploaded image to a client, but if you've uploaded the RAW files to your iPad as I do while shooting a wedding, it's that Hi-Res file that they receive - not a good thing.

With the PhotoCard app, the image is downsized and sent as a Jpeg attachment - pretty cool. Now I have even a better and fun way to interact with my clients and vendor buddies. you can check the PhotoCard out right here.

Problems With iPad Upgrade - Maybe

Hey gang, you all know I'm an iPad fanatic. And, I was really looking forward to downloading the latest greatest version of OS 4.2. Luckily I haven't yet. I love the fact that you can use the Delkin Card reader to easily upload my flash cards into the iPad.

I blogged about it right here months ago. Here is the link to the post. Fellow blogging buddy and Adobe guru, Terry White did the same thing right here and posted a video too. OK, that all well and good. I was anticipating no problem with the latest OS version. Well, there seems to be a problem with the latest OS version not working with the Delkin card reader.

I recently received a note from Amanda Spillman, one of our loyal DPT readers. Here is an excerpt from her note, "After I upgraded I can no longer import jpegs or RAW images using my Delkin card reader. I attempted to download the same card I had last imported before upgrading & it says there isn't enough power to support my device. Which I had no issues before with importing images using that card reader previously. Wanted to see if it was just me or if there were others having the same problem. Thanks."

Anybody having any of these same issues? Not being able to get images from flash cards from a wedding shoot would be a huge deficit for me and many others who use our iPads to add a large amount of image sizzle to the wedding day with impromptu iPad slide shows. I'll keep you posted on anything I find out.

Geek Squad Report - Windows 7 Not Letting You Hook Up To A Wireless Network?

After our long drive to Cabo two weeks ago, I mentioned the computer issues Kent and I were having connecting our Windows 7 machines to his network. It was pretty frustrating for about two days especially if you are trying to get a blog post up.

I don't know if anyone else has had the same problem, but if you have, here is the solution that worked for us thanks to a post by Microsoft moderator, Novak Wu.

"This issue can occur by incorrect DNS settings. I suggest you perform the following steps to troubleshoot the issue.

1. Click "Start", input "NCPA.CPL" (without quotation marks) and press Enter.

2. Right click on the connection that you use for the local connection, and then click "Properties".

3. Click to select "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)", and then click "Properties".

4. In the Internet Protocol window, let's change the "Preferred DNS server" to 208.67.222.222

5. Click 'OK' twice to complete the modification.

If the issue persists, please repeat the steps and change the "Preferred DNS server" to 208.67.220.220."

Thanks a bunch Novak. That did the trick for us!!

Just For Fun - Some Photography Links You Might Enjoy

It's getting close to the end of the year and several sites are posting some of their "Best of" links. Let me share a couple of gems with you today.

First off how about heading over to Tiffinbox.org to see what Master Twitter king, Seshu, has posted. (Seshu tweets like crazy and it's good information too.). Anyway, he’s got a pretty cool blog going called Tiffinbox.org right here. It's an interesting collection of posts by photographers for photographers. Check it out right here.

The second link list is over at LifeHacker, always a good read. His post, "The Most Popular Tips, Tricks, and Hacks of 2010" looks to have some fun things listed. You can find them listed right here. Enjoy!

Now To Get You In The Mood For The Holidays

Have you seen any of the "flash crowd" videos over at YouTube. Many are quite interesting. One of the first I saw was when several hundred people staged a "flash crowd" at Grand Central Station [link]. The large group showed up and milled around the station until the precise predetermined moment - at that moment they just froze in motion with the other commuters continuing on to their connections. It was quite interesting to see the visual result.

Anyway, this "flash crowd" video is pretty darn amazing. All I'll tell you is that it takes place at a mall during Christmas season. Hit the PLAY button below and get into the spirit. It's quite fun.

______________________________________________________

Hey gang,that's it for me today. The snow is falling, the cider is warming on the stove, and presents are ready for wrapping. Oh.... you mean after two weeks of being away from the studio, I've got real work to do? OK, warm cider and presents tomorrow then ;~)

Have a good one everybody. See ya' tomorrow for another episode of Technique Tuesday.

David

Quick Hit Monday: New Webcast Tuesday; Unlikely Fashion Shoots; Fun Videos; and More

Good Morning Everybody,

We finally landed back home about 7:30 p.m 5 hours late thanks to a cancelled flight. What a long travel day. But, like they say, there’s no place like home.  We had time to recharge over the weekend and even the weather cooperated and cooled things off just a bit here in the Midwest.

We are super busy this week, in fact I'm on the job shooting at 8:00 a.m. this morning and again tomorrow morning, too. It's actually a commercial shoot for a book publishing company. We'll be working with small children and their teachers showing how the publisher's textbooks are used in the classroom curriculum.

We are going totally portable for the shoot because of the locale. I'm also planning to shoot tethered into my laptop so the client and design team can catch a first hand peek as to how the shoot is coming together. I'll give you a further update tomorrow.

I'm pressed for time so let's get right on with today's post. Here we go...

My Peachpit Program Is Tomorrow! Prizes, Print Critiques, and More

That's right tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. EDT, that's 5:00 p.m. PDT, you can here my FREE 60 minute program entitled, "Make Your Lighting Exciting" at Peachpit's Photo Club. Here is the link right here to register. In that quick 60 minutes I plan to fly through some quick, easy lighting techniques that raises the bar on the typical wedding photography lighting being used these days. I hope to see you there.

Two Ways To Shoot Vacation Photos

I'll tell you, I had a nice "giggle" over the weekend. I was getting caught up on some of my blog reading and, as usual, headed over to visit uber blogger, Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider blog [link]. What a surprise it was to read that he had just returned from a 9 day vacation to Spain with family and famous photographer Joe McNally and Scott returned with NO photographs!

I guess what made me giggle was the fact that we also had just returned from an 8 day vacation to the New England area loaded down with nearly 2,500 images. And, I had just done a post last Friday [link] on how we handle our vacation shooting.

Hey, whatever makes the vacation work. I applaud Scott for giving his shooting time over to family and friends for the duration of the vacation. Maybe a lesson in there somewhere.

A Cool Fashion Shoot With The Unlikeliest Camera Of All

During my web surfing over the weekend, I found this pretty cool site called FStoppers.com which features lots of videos featuring behind the scenes shoots on all kinds of subjects. The one I'm going to point you to is their utterly fascinating behinds the scenes fashion shoot.

They hire the model and make up artists, setup the lights, placed the camera on a tripod and shot away. They even hire a retoucher to do the final enhancement of the images. The video is about 10 minutes long but worth every second just to see how they approach each different shoot with the model.

Oh, the camera they used - an Apple iPhone!!! Definitely worth the watch. Here is the link.

Flash Card Removal The Easy Way

Does it ever bug you as a PC user that when you need to remove your flash cards, you always have to stop the drive before you can safely remove the cards? It's always kind of a pain. Anyway, I subscribe to PC World's weekly newsletter and they had a quick shortcut on how to remove the flash cards much more quickly.

Here is the text of their instruction:

...The key to making quick removal safe is to ensure that Windows isn't writing to the card without your knowledge; if the operating system behaves itself, you can eject the card whenever you want without corrupting your data. To adjust your settings, first right-click the memory card in Windows Explorer, choose Properties, click the Hardware tab, select the memory card reader, and choose Properties; then click the Policies tab (you may have to click the ‘Change settings' button before Policies shows up), and choose Optimize for quick removal. Henceforth, you won't need Safely Remove Hardware

They had several other Windows tips and tricks right here. Enjoy PC users.

And Just To Get Your Week Off To A Fun Start

Check out these three links - there is a giggle in here somewhere.

High Flying iPhone

First, check out this high flying video [link] created by attaching an iPhone to three helium balloons and sending the iPhone aloft while attached to a kite wheel - pretty funny. Hey, there's even a capanion video showing how they put together the entire project.

Underwater 5D Mk II Video

Secondly, don't miss this video right here. It's pretty cool Canon 5D Mark II video shot underwater. Via the Imaging Insider. Aren't you glad you can shoot video with your DSLR?

Make You iPad A Second Monitor

And lastly for all you PC/iPad users - now you can use your iPad as a second wireless monitor for your PC with a new app called MAXIVISTA. Here is the link to the story and video right here.  Thanks to uber news blogger, the Imaging Insider for the story. Oh, and here is the link to the app right here. Don't say I don't point you toward some of the most scintillating links anywhere on the web ;~)

For Sale: Epson 9880 Printer

That’s right gang, since installing our Canon iPF 8100 inkjet printer, our trusty 44 inch wide carriage Epson 9880 – nearly new inkjet printer - hardly gets any use  around my studio any more.  It is about a year old in EXCELLENT condition, with “low miles” on it and comes with about $1,000 worth of ink. I’ll even thrown in a roll of paper or two.

LaDawn is handling the the sale of the printer, if you’re interested, email her at ladawn@ziser.com.  She’s looking at the first interested individual willing to pay $3,500. 

_____________________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today. We are on the road bright and early. I'll let you know how the first of the shoot went tomorrow. Don't forget to join me tomorrow for another info packed Technique Tuesday.

I'll see you then, -David