"Light And Airy"

"Light And Airy"
©David A. Ziser

Here is another image I just love mostly because it feels just like the title implies. This image was made in my early digital days when I was just getting the feel of the gear. The bride was beautiful and I really liked her very soft expression.

As I look at this image again, I find I like how she seems to be moving out of the frame creating the negative space to her right.  It makes the viewer’s eye want to “chase” here to that part of the frame drawing your attention to her even more.

The bride was illuminated with regular studio strobe shooting through a Westcott Halo light modifier - my favorite, by the way. I decided to convert the image to B&W and really push the mid-tones quite a bit lighter with Photoshop – This was a pre-Lightroom image ;~)

The bride's look, the curves of the veil, it’s delicate highlights, and the way she is holding the veil all complimented the high key look of the final image.

Camera specs; Fuji S-1 fitted with 24-135mm Tamron lens, F8.0 @ 1/90 second, ISO 320. Enjoy! -David

Lighting: A Look Back At A Little Industry History

Good Morning Everybody,

Today marks our last day in Las Vegas.  Tomorrow we hop the plane back home to Cincinnati, OH landing in the early evening.  We have had a great time in Las Vegas on this visit.

Yesterday was kind of an “off day” but I never quite figure out what I mean by that.  I was up fairly early, worked on the blog for a couple of hours, checked in with my Executive Director at PhotoPro Network, reviewed a book for Focal Press, caught up on over 500 emails, and was at a stopping point about 4:00 p.m. Yep, that’s how my “day offs” go ;~)  Anyway, I’m not really griping – it really did feel good to have the “day off” and work on the things I really enjoy doing.

A Look Back At A Little Industry History

Later in the day we caught up with my good friend, Tom Waltz, president and CEO of F.J.Westcott.  I think Tom and I are “cut from the same cloth” as they say because we really enjoy just hanging out, talking about the trends in the industry, and reminiscing about old memories and friends.

In our conversation over dinner at one of my favorite restaurants here in Las Vegas, Piero’s, Tom shared a bit of Westcott’s history with LaDawn and I.  Westcott’s beginning go all the way back to 1899.  Tom’s grandfather was in charge of the company by the early 1900’s.  Westcott, one of the industry’s leading manufacturers of lighting modifiers, began as a manufacture of umbrellas.

Golf Umbrellas and Byron Nelson

Here’s what I didn’t know.  The company eventually segued into the manufacturer of golf umbrellas in the early 1940’s.  It was Tom’s grandfather who asked a young up and coming pro to work as the head golf pro for a golf club he was working with.  That golf pro – Byron Nelson, one of the all time great names in golf!

Byron told Tom’s grandfather that he really wanted to be a traveling pro, eventually gave up his club pro position and went on to win 11 consecutive tournaments and 18 total tournaments in 1945! Because of Byron’s success on the golf circuit, Westcott (under the name of Haas Jordon) and the PGA became synonymous names in the sport.  Tom’s brother continues to run that part of the business.

F.J.Westcott Makes The Move Into Photography

Tom was always interested in photography even working in a local camera store in Toledo, Ohio while growing up. He continued that interest in photography and his path eventually crossed with another of the industry icons, John Shirilla, who was president of the Photogenic Machine Company (now shortened to Photogenic), the leading studio lighting manufacturer at the time.

John had an idea for a new light modifier and showed it to Tom asking him if his company could manufacture it.  That was back in 1984.  It was kind of a folding umbrella with a special diffusional panel attached to it. Tom thought that he could and worked out the rest of the manufacturing details. The rest is history – the Westcott Halo received it patent, Patent # 4,633, 374, on December 30, 1986 [link] with both Tom and John listed as the inventors on the patent and Westcott as the assignee.

Time To Tell The World About The New Halo

It was shortly before the patent was issued that John and I got together and he asked me to try out his (and Tom’s ) new light modifier. I was teaching one of my first week-long classes at Tri-Angle Institute in Pittsburgh and was glad to give it a try.

The rest is history and I fell in love with the Halo and started using in all my portrait and wedding sessions from that point on – even today. My speaking career was just beginning to take off and I began telling the world, even the photographers in Australia and New Zealand, about this great new light modifier.

That’s also about the time John introduced me to Tom.  We hit it off immediately and have stayed close friends ever since. I still continue to do my booth demos at the Westcott booth every time we are both at the same show which is quite often.

A New Umbrella Is Born

Because of my friendship with Tom I was continuing to “bug” him about a special collapsible umbrella I wanted him to manufacture for me. I wanted a collapsible shoot-through umbrella but I wanted my umbrella to use the special and more translucent Halo fabric instead of the fabric Westcott used in their collapsible umbrella.  I started “bugging” Tom about it in 2006 and continued every year until Tom finally relented in January 2009.

We ran several prototypes before I approved the final design. That final design became the best selling collapsible umbrella on the market even hailed by Scott Kelby receiving his high praise on his 2009 Holiday Gift Guide that year.  Yes, the Zumbrella [link] was born and 2009 was the year of the Zumbrella!

Why Go To Conventions? – This Is Why

If you’ve been following my blog all week you know I’ve been touting the benefits of being at a convention in person.  LaDawn and my visit with Tom and his wife Judy is another one of the strongest reasons to attend these types of events.

It’s not just about making new friends, which we have really enjoyed this trip.  It’s just as important to hook up with your old friends and acquaintances too. It is the reconnecting with friends that  brings the added richness to the entire convention experience.  Anyone who has been coming to these events as long as Tom and I will tell you the very same thing. That’s why it’s important to be part of the bigger picture. These added benefits, that add a richness to one’s life, you simply can’t enjoy if you only stay in front of a computer! These are truly the unadvertised benefits of attendance!!

LaDawn, Judy, Tom, and I wrapped our evening by seeing the hot show, Beatles LOVE Production at the Mirage last evening.  It was a wonderful evening with friends filled with laughs, a fabulous show, good food and great memories.  THANKS Tom and Judy! I hope your present and future holds the same terrific experiences.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  Hoped you enjoyed a little peek into this great profession’s industry history.  It was fun for me to look back, too.

Now LaDawn and I are taking the rest of the day off – for real!  Have an amazing weekend and I’ll see you back in Cincy on Monday.

See you on the flip side,  -David

Fast Break Friday: FREE Kelby Training; Faster Editing In Lightroom; New Slide Shows From Animoto; and My Business Is Going to the Dogs

Good Morning Everybody,

First off I want to confess a BIG WHOOPS with yesterday's announcement of our "Captured By The Light 2010" tour coming up [link]. I made the big announcement but then forgot to give you the secret promo code to save you $20 off the registration fee. I’ve since made the corrections. Anyway, be sure to use the promo code below when registering to save the $20!

Use Promo Code CBLDPT10

Save $20!

I have to tell you, I'm pretty excited about all the VALUE we were able to build into this seminar. Everybody walking through the door gets Kelby Training FREE for one month.

Wow! You get the best on-line training available anywhere for one month just for registering. That's worth $24.95 right there! I've always tried to give our attendees the most value packed experience possible and I think "Captured By The Light 2010" is about the best ever!

After yesterday's super long post and launching the "Captured By The Light 2010” tour, we are all "fried" around here. That means today, I'm taking it kind of easy. Hope you don't mind ;~)

Just a quick note about the tour, I've already received a note or two from a few folks mentioning that we are not making it back to their city. Unfortunately, there are just not enough days in the week or months left in the year to hit all 60 cities like we did last year.

I know the 20 city schedule would disappoint some of our friends, but don't despair, 2011 is right around the corner. Let's see how things go in the fall and you may just see us in a few more locations in the Spring of 2011. LaDawn is going to kill me when she reads this;~)

My Quick Hit Monday post got set aside because of our Photo Walk recap. So why don't I share a few things I had planned to write about last Monday. Here we go....

Fast Break Friday:

Rocket Speed Editing In Lightroom:

I caught this post at fellow blogger, Gavin Seim's blog a few weeks ago. Here is the link right here. Gavin has some good tips up his sleeve when it comes to editing large numbers of images like we as wedding photographers deal with every day.

Gavin moves at a about a million miles an hour with all the projects he has going on. That probably explains why he developed his rocket speed editing techniques. We certainly are going to give them a try at my studio.

Best Little Cable In The World

On Wednesday of this week I did a post on shooting tethered [link]. I mentioned the the weakest link of the entire experience was the fact that the USB cable sticking out of the camera was an accident waiting to happen.

My thanks to those that commented about a possible solution to the problem. I checked them out and have to say, the USB cable offered by USBFirewire.com suggested by Robbie really filled the bill for me [link]. It is a left handed cable that plugs into the camera – Nikon or Canon, does a quick right hand turn, and drops quickly out of the way letting you attach the active extension cables. I've ordered mine today and can't wait to see how it solves my small problem. Thanks Robbie!

Animoto Announces Slower Slide Shows For Wedding Photographers

I've been a fan of Animoto since their beta days several years ago. They continue to enhance and improve their product. Their latest offering is their Elegance collection. Their are several templates you can choose from. The nice thing is that the tempo of the slide show is much softer than the M-TV style of years past.

Now I have to admit, I liked the M-TV fast, upbeat presentation, but it certainly was not everyone's cup of tea. These new shows fit the bill very well for any wedding/portrait photographer. Just think of it as the softer side of Animoto. Check it out right here.

My Business Is Going To The Dogs

Case #1:

I don't know what it is, but I've talked to two of my photographer buddies lately and both were telling me how they had begun shooting pet portraits - and they are loving' it! I just talked with my friend, Michael yesterday and he was telling me about a gig he did at a local pet store.

He set up his lights and camera, tethered his camera to his computer via Lightroom 3, attached a printer and was off to the races. As he shot, the images downloaded to his laptop where the client could view them instantly and select their favorite. He set up a few print packages in Lightroom 3, took their order, and printed them out on the spot. He hit 30 sales in 6 hours - not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Case #2

During a phone call with another buddy, Craig a few days ago he told me how his pet business has really taken off. I asked him what he was doing differently. He tells me that he is using his regular "people backgrounds" (my choice of words) for all his pet photographs and his clients are going ga-ga over the images. Craig’s images are simply beautiful – no kidding.

He sent me a link to a slideshow he has on-line. Here is the link right here. Check it out - great idea and beautiful photography. It will put a smile on your Friday face today ;~)

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. With the CBTL tour launched, I’m spending this weekend gearing up for my "live" Friday Photo School  presentation next week in Chicago, Il.

We've really had our thinking caps on for a brand new presentation idea. If I can eliminate all the kinks to the process it’s sure to add a sizzle factor or two to the presentation. It should be a kick. Be sure to check it out right here.

Everybody have a great weekend and I'll see ya' on Monday.

Adios, David

"Lily Grace"

"Lily Grace"
©David A. Ziser
This image is from a recent portrait shoot.  The baby was only 6 weeks old, and as I mentioned to the parents, portraits shoots of very young babies is always a process ;~)  We shot for about an hour and I captured some very nice images.  For these shoots, it’s never just about the photography- more importantly, for me at least, it’s the finished treatment I’m able to give them in Photoshop.  The original lighting was rather flat but with the help of Lightroom and Photoshop, I was able to contour the lighting just where I wanted it. With about 10 minutes of image enhancement, I was able to transform a nice image into a striking portrait of Lily Grace.  After the shoot, we printed the image and framed it up for the client and presented it to them just as you see it here before they left.  Talk about building client expectations for the rest of the images from the shoot - they can’t wait to see the final selections! Camera specs:  Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 170mm, F 14 @ 1/125 second, ISO 640.  Quantum T5d bare bulb through my Zumbrella camera left. Enjoy!  -David

"Precious Moments"

"Precious Moments"
©David A. Ziser

I made this image yesterday evening. The baby was only two months old and this was his first official portrait.  Photographing babies at this age is always a process.  The baby can be smiling, crying, fussing and a lot more. We got a great series of images from the shoot.  This image is one of my favorites.  The soft expressions on mom and dad's faces speak to the fragile young babe they hold in their arms.  I like the direct look on the baby's face too.  I thought the composition came together well.  I took the image into Lightroom to control the densities of the image.  My intent was to focus the viewer's attention on the baby by increasing the tonal values on the baby's face and decreasing the values on mom and dad's faces.  I actually discussed this Lightroom technique months ago here at DPT in my Technique Tuesday episode entitled, "Painting With Lightroom 2."  Here is the link. Anyway, the client's loved the finished results, I can't wait for them to see the rest of the images from the shoot.  Camera specs; Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at90mm, F8.0 @1/80 second, ISO 800.  Enjoy!  -David

Fill 'er Up With Some Fill Light

On the photography side of Technique Tuesday, check out this great article on fill light over at Lighting Essentials. This is information every wedding/portrait photographer should know. Here is the lighting link right here.

But, Will It Work for Wedding Photography?

Preparation
Originally uploaded by mwreeve

OK, I wasn't going to blog this because "everybody" reads the "Strobist" or at least probably should. Mr. Hobbie does put some fun in photography and that's why I'm giving you a "heads up" on his post on the "El Cheapo" fog machine and how he uses it to add "dramatics" to his back lighting. It seems he found a really inexpensive fog machine at Home Depot or Target for $20. He then blows the smoke in the path of his background light to get a really cool lighting effects. Check out the Smoke machine article right here - kind of fun. Also, check the comments in his post update for more info from his readers. I'm already getting some ideas for wedding shots.

Snapfactory Lighting Videos

And finally, SnapFactory had these really nice "YouTube" lighting videos posted. For someone just getting involved in more sophisticated light, I thought they would be useful. Enjoy the videos. By the way, Snapfactory has several resources over at their Blog. You can check them all out right here. Or just go to all the videos right here.