Quick Hit Monday: Hey, It's Christmastime - Let's Help Scott's Kids; Images Fading Quicker Than You Think!

Good Morning Everybody,

How many Days till Christmas - Yikes!!!  Hey, it's all good though. This year LaDawn and I are trying to slow things down a bit and make a conscientious effort to enjoy family, friends, and the holidays more this Christmas season. Sometimes old habits are hard to break, but we're going to give it our best shot. Hope you can enjoy them a bit, too.

Anyway, on with Quick Hit Monday. I've got a few things to tell you about so let's get right to it.

Let's Help Scott's Kids

For all loyal readers of Scott Kelby's blog, you know that over the past several months he has been involved in a fundraising effort for the "Spring of Hope Kenya" orphanage. They are finally up and running. Here is the latest info on Scott's wonderful effort right here.

Well, guess what - we all can help too. I received an email from Scott last week mentioning his new line of fashion T-shirts, and coffee mugs for off-camera flash shooters. 

Is Scott's new fashion line more impressive than Versace, Gucci or Armani? As one popular Alaskan ex-governor was heard to say, “You Betcha'"  Why, because 100% percent of the profits benefit "Spring Of Hope" orphanage.

Here is the link to Scott's T-shirt fashion outlet and story right here. For only a couple of bucks what better way to say you care about your lighting and Scott's kids in Kenya and just in time for holiday gift-giving.  I'm ordering mine today.

Are Your CD and DVD Data Fading Faster That You Think?
This past Saturday I did a guest appearance on a local radio show. More on that later. Anyway, the subject of the "Shoot and Burn" wedding photographers came up, as it always does, and I got thinking about how long those CDs/DVDs will last.

At my studio, we deliver an archival museum quality photo album to our clients. It will last over two hundred years if properly cared for. How long will the CDs/DVDs last that are currently being delivered to bride's and grooms? My quick guess is not too long.

Here's why.  Most photogs are not looking to the latest, greatest longest lived CDs/DVDs when archiving the images for delivery to their clients. Some are of course, but many are not.

Over the weekend I received an email from one of my vendors mentioning that Taiyo Yuden, one of the top CD/DVD producers of quality recording disc media had joined forces with JVC.  Taiyo Yuden is the brand of discs we use exclusively here at my studio.  We purchase their discs with the guaranteed 100 year life.

I did a little research and this is what I found out over at DigitalFAQ.com. "Japanese media makers have been hit hard by the economy in recent years. TY discs were once re-branded under Panasonic, Sony, Fuji, JVC, Verbatim and several other brands. But those companies cut costs by going with cheaper (and as you know, inferior) discs from the likes of Ritek and CMC, out of Taiwan. --- (Verbatim excluded, of course, they just don't use TY discs anymore -- their MCC discs are generally superior anyhow!)”

Here is the link to their CD/DVD longevity discussion right here.

Uhmmm, kind of scary isn't it? For years, back in the film days, we were all concerned about how long a photographic print would last. In the late 60’s, just  a little over 40 years ago, it wasn't much longer than 30 years of longevity - not very long. 

In the late 60's, as more and more photographers were transitioning to color, lots of photo labs were offering brand new color processing services - only one problem with some of the cheaper labs offering cheap prices.  They were cutting out the "image stabilization" step from the color process to save some bucks.  That's the final step in the process that gave the new color prints at least some kind of limited longevity.  Without that step, the prints were destined to fade even more quickly.

One of my photographic mentors observed, "We are going to have a entire generation of lost imagery because of so many photogs "going for the cheap" for their color processing.  Doesn't sound like things have changed much over the years.

Are we in the "same boat" today?  Folks, that's the problem we have with cheap CDs and DVDs - the data is fading FAST - like in 3-5 years and certainly under 10 years! Check out this article over at Auphanonline.com right here.  Here is a quick excerpt from their post.

"Most people buy recordable media based solely on price thinking that all recordable media are the same and most packaging do not include shelf life as a selling point.  Thus, the consumer has no idea that their precious data on the disc will degrade within 5 years.” 

So gang, do you know how long your CDs and DVDs will last that you are delivering to your clients?  Maybe a lot less time than you think! Are we in for another lost generation of wedding imagery? Let's hope not!

Hey gang, that's it for me today.  LaDawn and I are putting the final touches on our Christmas trees and getting the house decorations up today - that last warmish day this week before the colder weather sets in tonight.

I'll plan to see everybody for another episode of Technique Tuesday tomorrow.

See ya' then.  -David

"Always Aim For The Clouds"

"Always Aim For The Clouds" 
©David A. Ziser

This a paraphrase of a quote I heard in the 2nd grade and it has never left me.  The original quote I heard was, “Always aim for the stars and your arrow will travel much further that if aimed at an object on the same level with yourself.” Still not exactly W. Clement Stone’s original quote but close enough.  You know, I’ve always held those words close to my heart and have always tried to aim for the stars, clouds, or moon in my life’s endeavors. Call me the perpetual optimist, but that’s how I felt when I viewed the Mexico sky at 32,000 feet this past Wednesday while heading home. So many times we just don’t reach high enough in life and we end up settling for second best far too often. I love what W. Somerset Maugham said so many years ago, “It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 80mm, F8.0 @1/320 second, ISO 320.  Enjoy!  -David

Favorite Things Friday’s - My 2000 DPT Post!

Good Afternoon Everybody,

I knew I was getting close but today is the day.  Yep, it’s my 2000th post here at DigitalProTalk.com! That means to date at DigitalProTalk that you can read over 1.4 million words on  Photography, Lighting, Photoshop, Lightroom, Business Building, Sales, and Marketing – and most ALL of it is original content!

You can view over 500 “Image of The Day” posts most with all the EXIF data and back story of each shot.

You can also view over 100 video tutorials on Lighting, Lightroom, Photography, and Photoshop posted over these last 24+ months.

So how many words is that? Well, if you had to read Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” in high school - as I did – and it was a long read totaling over 560,000 words, then DPT to date is well over twice as long.

In those early days, it was tough to get the posts up on a daily basis.  Even today, many times, even when time is short, I always managed to get the posts up many times to the consternation of my blog editor. 

And my blog editor? – Well, a GREAT BIG thanks goes to LaDawn who proofs nearly all the posts, correcting my miss-wording or miss-spellings along the way hopefully making things easier for you to read and understand each day.

It’s been quite a literary journey. I owe another giant thank you to my uber-blogging buddy, Scott Kelby, who encouraged me to give blogging a try more than two years ago.  Scott also gave me the most important piece of advice for blogging success, “If you don’t feed the MONSTER it will die.”  Thanks Scott for all your wisdom, advice and support along the journey.

It was Scott who emailed me early one Sunday morning after 18 months of “5-day a week” non-stop blogging and asked, “So, are you ready to write your book yet?” I was shocked at the prospect, but answered a cautious … Yes. 

And the latest news - “Captured By The Light” was wrapped by Kelby Media yesterday and was shipped early yesterday evening to Peachpit Press for printing and publication!

Lastly, I want to thank all of you loyal DPT readers – 1.6 million visitors from over 198 countries worldwide and over 7000 strong nearly everyday! If you keep reading, sharing the blog and information, making your comments… I’ll keep writing!

Thanks everybody.  See ya’ on Monday with blog post #2001, David

"Evening Glow"

"In The Evening Glow"
©David A. Ziser

Here is another portrait I made at the beach in Mexico last week.  Chasing the last rays of the sun is always a challenge and always fun.  You’ve got to get the shot as the sun is setting and the exposure is constantly changing.  I think it’s the “thrill of the chase’ in getting the shot that I love. For this image I positioned my subject in front of the rock formations you see in the background.  I thought they did a good job of leading the viewer’s eyes to our lovely subject.  Light is coming in from camera-right from my off-camera flash. I balanced the exposure specifically to just reveal enough of the setting sun’s color to add a sense of the “dramatic” to the portrait.  I also needed to add a little fill light from my on-camera flash – 580 EXII - to soften the shadows just a bit.  The finished result turns out to be quite a nice dramatic portrait of this beautiful lady.  Camera specs; Canon 7D fitted with Canon 18-200mm IS lens at 18mm, F5.6 @ 1/20 second, manually set and handheld,  ISO 400. Enjoy!  -David

Business Day Thursday: It’s Time For You To Say Thank You

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Wow! What a stay we had in San Jose del Cabo. But, you know what, there’s still no place like home – even though it took us 17 hours to make the “round robin” trip.  The weather was brisk and refreshing 22 degrees with fluffy white clouds and rich blue skies. Heck, a lot like Cabo with only a 60+ degree temperature difference ;~)

We lifted off from the Cabo airport yesterday about 5:15 p.m.  The weather, as usual, was perfect.  I opted for a window seat on the right side of the plane hoping that some of the sunset would wash over the mountains to my right.

It seemed like a good plan at the time, but the cloud cover changed the sights I was to behold at 32,000 feet.  What happened instead was that as the sun was setting, there was a beautiful wash of warm colors on the clouds at the bottom part of the scene.  Higher in the frame, the rich blue colors were preserved and that combination of colors and textures presented an image of ethereal beauty.

About a half an hour later, the evening light made it’s final plunge below the horizon bearing it’s final remnants of rich saturated colors.  LaDawn grabbed that last image of the beautiful evening rainbow of colors.

One day I’ll publish a book of images taken at 30,000 feet.  The abstract design and colors are always impressive.

Anyway, on with today’s post.

It’s Time For You To Say “Thank You”

'Tis the season and most of us are wrapped up in the holiday rush of getting orders delivered, handling last minute client requests, and just trying to get through our own personal holiday rush.

Unfortunately the holiday rush gives us very little time to do much else than just barely meeting all the holiday deliveries.

But isn’t it just those deliveries that are hopefully building our business success?  Maybe a “Thank You” should be made to each and every person we made a deliver to this year.

Maybe we should expand those “Thank You’s” to include great past clients and upcoming future 2010 clients, too!  Wait, there’s even more “Thank You’s” waiting in the wings that should be delivered – offered to our vendor friends who also support and recommend business.  Yes, there are lots of “Thank You’s” we should be making and this is the best time of the year to do it.

You’re thinking about now the I’m crazy – but, I’m not.  You just need the method to do it.  And, that’s the easy part.

When LaDawn and I packed for Cabo, we packed with us 300 Holiday and Christmas cards that we planned to address and send to all the business friends, personal friends and family I mentioned above.  Each card to each client – past, present, or future; each vendor buddy, everyone that was supportive of my business success, had a special hand written holiday wish to each of our special “friends.”

Sure this takes a lot of time to do – about three full morning’s worth. But you know, every bit of that time was worth it because of the customer/vendor good will it creates for the studio. And for businesses our size, the hand written holiday wish is not a very big time burden given the positive result it creates.

Hey, you obviously don’t have to make a trip to Mexico to get the job done either.  We start refining our holiday card list in early October reviewing all our client list, updating our vendor contacts, and checking our studio calendar for anyone that may have “fallen through the cracks.”

My staff reviews the list and once they sign off on it, it get’s kicked up to me for final corrections and additions.  Now we are good to go.

The labels generated and the cards are sorted to be sure everyone receives the appropriate holiday wish.  This year LaDawn volunteered to add the personal message and sign each card since we had some time off. We will  mail all the cards on Friday, plenty of time for holiday delivery.

And that’s about it.  Total time invested – about 20 hours. Good will benefit to the studio – priceless!!!

Hey everybody, that’s it for me today.  The “red-eye” back last night has us pretty much “draggin’” for the day.  We’ll check in with staff, get the status report and be fired up and ready to go tomorrow.

Tomorrow I’m starting a new series, ”My Favorite Things” …..in photography that is.  I’m planning on covering favorite lenses, cameras, even camera settings.  It should be a fun and informative series.  I hope you’ll join me.  So until tomorrow, have a great one and I’ll see you then.

One more Adios,  David

"Grand Cabo Sunset”

"Grand Cabo Sunset”
©David A. Ziser

I captured this image last Sunday evening from the beautiful Westin Hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  As usual, nature presented itself in all it’s glory at the end of the day.  One of the very exciting things for me, while in Cabo, is the fact that sunsets happen like this fairly regularly.  But more than that, the sunset “cinematic experience” lasts for 45 – 60 minutes depending on cloud structure and other atmospheric conditions – always an incredibly beautiful sight.  Anyway, this image is actually composed of seven images (handheld)capturing the full panorama of the hotel overlook. I love how PS4 stitches panoramas – they always look great. Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 18mm, F5.6 @ 1/80 second, ISO 200.  Enjoy!  -David

Cabo Colors Wednesday: And The Winners Are…

Good Morning Everybody,

Today we pack the bags and head back north, albeit a long and very convoluted, taxing route home.  We leave Cabo at 5:00 p.m. to Las Angeles then a 4 hour layover, and then on the red-eye to Atlanta with a 2 hour layover and finally back to Cincy landing about 10:30 a.m. – Whew! Sounds like we’re going to need an adult beverage or two for the trip home ;~)

We’ve got a lot cookin’ today – let me tell you all about it.  I asked our friends Kent and Sarah Smith if they would mind doing another Technique Tuesday before we left and they gladly obliged.  The topic – How To Stay Ever “Current” For Your Clients – It’s More That Just Keeping Up With The Passing Fads.”  It should be a good one – I’ll keep you posted as to when it will air.

Also, I promised to announce our last two Grand Prize winners from my DWUC tour. Check out that story below.  And lastly I want to discuss creativity and the art of seeing color today.  Check out that  article below too. 

OK, gang, let’s get right to it.

And The Winners Are…

I have to tell you, when I gave Stephen and Lawrence a call yesterday to let them know they had won, they didn’t even believe it was me calling. I loved making those four Grand Prize calls to our tour winners.  But, I think they enjoyed receiving my call even more.

Lawrence “Eddie” Price hails from Pittsboro, NC. He retied from the teaching profession as a principal after 30 years.  He has been enjoying photography for a lot of years but after retiring 2 years ago turned his attention to photography full time. I love his gallery of art prints.  You can view them right here.

Stephen Gruebert hails from St. Louis, MO. Steve has been running a successful studio in the St. Louis area for a number of years.  He offers his clients a wide ranging photographic style both in the portrait and wedding areas. Check out his website right here and I bet you pick up some good ideas you can use in your shooting too.

Hey guys, a great BIG CONGRATULATIONS to both of you.  The goodies should be arriving soon.  Hey, just think of it as Christmas coming early this year!

My thanks to all the DWUC sponsors who were so generous with the over $250,000 dollars worth of door prizes and grand prizes we gave away over the course of the DWUC tour helping to make it one of the exciting seminar experiences for everyone that attended.

By the way, stay tuned for further information about my Digital WakeUp Call Tour multi-DVD set to be available after the first of the year. There was so much more information I wanted to include in the DWUC Tour presentation and now I have an opportunity to do just that. 

The DWUC DVD will include TWO FULL HOURS of additional content making a great resource for all those who attended and even more so for those who were not able to attend.   More info to follow later.

Learning To See Color

Every time we come to San Jose del Cabo to visit our friends Kent and Sarah – the visit is usually reserved for the week after Thanksgiving when the weather is perfect in that part of the world. The highlight of our trip are the photo walks we take together.

It’s a kick to come back at the end of the day and review everyone’s images.  This year was no different.  Sure, you can always grab a great sunrise or sunset which are always spectacular, but I like to take a different view of my surrounds.

My eye leads me to interpret the simple surrounds of an easy walk down Finistera Lane, the street where we stay, in bright and bold colors.  Maybe it’s the “Mexican” in me that makes that happen – OK, just kidding.  Nevertheless, the colors are always so vibrant and beautiful in the Cabo area.  Whether it colors of the building, art, blankets, clothes, or even simple souvenirs color predominates the scene.

That’s why I look for color in the simple surrounds of our walks.  Sure, Lightroom is my friend in this artistic endeavor, but still, no problem.  For me it’s all part of the creative process. Let me show you what I mean in these next three images. The subject matter in each image is utter simplicity – it is the vibrant colors themselves that truly make the shot.

In my first image below I simply photographed the top on one of the houses in the neighborhood, Granted, it was a pretty fancy house in the neighborhood as evidenced by it’s unique roof-scape.

I was intrigues by all the shapes, both rectangular and triangular. But now let’s take it a step further.  Look at the three simple colors represented here – white, blue, and a small touch of red.

The blue and white colors alone define the shape of the structure, but now notice how the small rectangular red color echoes the other shapes in the scene.  This small bit of “renegade” red in the scene really becomes the predominant color in the scene – you can’t take your eye off of it once you spot it.  It’s this color play that makes the shot for me.

Now let’s look at the next image of the red rectangles.  The object shown here is nothing more that part on an opening in a wall of a car garage??? Pretty simple, isn’t it?

Once again, what makes the shot work here? It’s the two predominate colors of red and yellow in the scene. It’s the boldness of the colors that really make the shot interesting.  OK, Lightroom had a little bit to do with the final result of this image.  But before you cry “foul”, remember that our digital tools are just as much part of our digital pallet available to us these days as the artist’s paints and brushes.

The finished result is still a striking combination of intense color presented in a simple “rule of thirds” composition. Nevertheless, it’s still the colors that make the shot come alive.

And now on to our third color-play image.  Once again, super simple subject matter – the corner of a condo against the blue sky. Once again I have the “captured “ blue color working for me.

This image is composed of only two colors with many shades of the orange/yellow color defining the shapes of the structure. Sure, we can see that it’s veranda of some kind, but to my eyes, “Who cares?”  I love the “captured “ blue in the shot – it has no way to escape it’s other primary colored surrounds.

Another aspect of the composition that makes this shot work is the placement of the strong blue color into the bottom right side of the scene or as I like to say, “…on nodal point #4 of the composition.”

Now just take a moment and review each of these images again. No beautiful sunsets, no sweeping vistas – just a simple presentation of color that catches the eye and imagination of the viewer hopefully as much as it did for the photographer taking the photographs.

So treat yourself on a walk today or this weekend and not only capture the obvious beautiful scenic's, but also look for the details, the colors, the small compositional elements and have some FUN!

Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  Everybody have a great rest of the day.  Congrats to our winners, Stephen and Eddie once again. And remember to keep your pixels colorful.  See ya’ in Cincy tomorrow.  Adios everybody,  -David

"All Clear For Landing”

"All Clear For Landing”
©David A. Ziser

This image was captured on Sunday evening as we were enjoying one of the always beautiful sunsets in this part of the world. LaDawn noticed the sea gulls that had just made their appearance and called out to Sarah and I to try to capture a shot. The moment was fleeting, but I grabbed my camera, racked out the lens to it’s fullest extent and grabbed the two shots.  This one was the “winner”.  In the other shot, the bird's’ wings were in a downward flapping position.  But in this shot the sea gulls were on a perfect guide path into the sunset.  I love how the “lines” work in this shot.  Notice the V-shapes created by the clouds with the mountains.  Notice too how the line up of the sea gulls follow the same V-shape of the composition.  Did I plan it that way?  I didn’t have too, Mother Nature took care of the entire shot for me – just lucky that I was in the right place at the right time.  Camera specs; Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 200mm, F5.6 @ 1/250 second,  ISO 500.  No enhancement on this image as presented!

Enjoy!  -David

Technique Tuesday: Fun At The Beach

Good Morning Everybody,

One more day in beautiful Jan Jose del Cabo and then back home late tomorrow. Looks a “rude awaking” to the Cincy weather when we return too – 18 degrees and snow, but heck, who cares?  It just means that Christmas season is in the air. 

It will be good to get back and get back in the swing of things with the holidays right around the corner.

But how can I prolong the warm summerlike weather that we have here in Cabo? Simple, with today’s Technique Tuesday ;~) So, here we go.

Fun At The Beach

Today’s Technique Tuesday was on it’s way to being about 2 days long.  I had lots of images and lots of techniques I pulled together for my beach shoot last week so, for your viewing pleasure,  I decided to split the shoot into a few different episodes.

Today’s episode was interesting in how it came together.  We had just started getting some ideas for shooting.  The sun was on it’s way down but there was not a cloud in the sky anywhere.

As I surveyed the surrounds, the rocks above looked promising for my shooting location. The sun was quite bright behind the rocks and gave me a “hotspot” in which I would place my subject.  That was the start of things.

The cool thing about this tutorial is that you literary get to see how the shot comes together – step by step.  First I find the location, then I have to wrestle with the light, then I need to get a flattering pose from my subject – all one step at a time.

The next part of the image making process involved utilizing the digital tools at my disposal – Lightroom and Photoshop.  Just when I thought I was finished with the image I got another idea on how I might enhance it even more.  Again, step by step, I walk you through the process until I obtain the finished image, a result that I’m proud and pleased to share. 

To see all the steps come together, hit the PLAY button below and enjoy the show in this week’s episode entitled, “Fun At The Beach.” 

Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  We are going to take one more stroll around the beautiful surrounds today and reluctantly get ready to head back home tomorrow. 

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow. Wednesday is the day I announce the 2 Grand Prize winners from my recently wrapped DWUC tour.

I’ll plan to see everybody tomorrow for one more visit from Cabo before we jump on the plane late tomorrow afternoon.  See ya’ then,  -David

"Ocean Beauty"

"Ocean Beauty"
©David A. Ziser

This is an image I captured on the beach last week while in Cabo, Mexico. Our beautiful model, Greta, is a friend of Kent and Sarah's and she did a great job as our beach beauty subject.  I choose to use my off-camera flash coming in from camera-right in order to create more contrast on my subject which I thought accentuated the contrasting tones of the surf behind her. That lighting direction also gave me the beautiful and flattering loop lighting pattern on my subject’s face. Notice too how I have the slight S-Curve of the surf working through the image too. I tweaked "Vibrancy" ever so slightly in Lightroom 2.6RC which kicked the blue water tones up just a notch, added a slight "squarish" vignette, and enhanced the image in Photoshop ever so slightly.  I love the finished portrait - it's simple, elegant, natural, fun, and a lovely image of my beautiful subject. Camera specs; Canon 7D fitted with Canon 200mm F2.0 lens (what a lens), F8.0 @1/320 second (cheating the sync), ISO 200. Enjoy!  -David

Quick Hit Monday: I’m Still Working Hard In Cabo; Video Camera Shooting Stills & Painting With Light

Good Morning Everybody,

Are we back in good Ol’ KY yet – well… not yet. We decided to extend our stay here in Cabo thru Wednesday, grab the “red eye” back home and throw ourselves into the Holiday rush on Thursday – Ahhh… what a wonderful thought.

And even though we are spending a few more days down in the land of sun and fun, I want you to know that I am not shirking my blogging duties. Just know that I make myself completely oblivious to so much happening around me just to get the posts up each day for our dear DPT readers.  It’s a sacrifice but each of you guys and girls are worth it  ;~)

HOT OFF THE PRESSES !!! – The last two major door prize winners from my Digital WakeUp Call Tour will be announced this coming Wednesday!  Want to know what those two lucky people are going to win – here is the link to the list of prizes worth over $7000.  You may be one lucky photogs if you attended my DWUC tour and are selected as one of the two winners.  Be sure to check back Wednesday to see if you won!!!

Hey gang, it’s kind of an easy read today so let’s get right to Quick Hit Monday – here we go.

TIME Magazine Cover Shot With Video Camera

That’s right, TIME magazine's recent issue, “Goodbye To The Decade From Hell,” [link], the cover image of the baby crying was shot with the super sophisticated RED video camera. Be sure to check out the behind the scenes video of the shoot too – it’s part of the link above.

Time claims it was the first magazine to use video to shoot a “still” cover shot.  PDN says otherwise – here is the link to their article sighting several more instances of a video camera being used to shoot the cover shot.

Folks, here is the thing for me.  So many photogs aren’t even interested with the digital capabilities of the new DSLRs on the market. That sense of complacency may just lead videographers to “eating our lunch” one day.

Sure, the fancy, dancy RED One video camera is sophisticated and expensive. It caused quite a stir at the NAB convention – people were lined up just to get into the RED booth!!!

I don’t want to make this an entire post about the RED One camera, but the specs on the camera are very fascinating to read – 12 meg capture at 12 bit RAW makes it a force to be reckoned with.  Here is the link to the RED Digital Cinema site right here – check it out – very interesting reading.

Now Some Real World Insights Into The New DSLRs With Video

Hot on the heels of the last article, I want to point you towards a very informative post I found over at DPReview right here entitled, “A Beginner’s Guide To HD Video.”  It’s listed as a beginner's guide but the info is more that most of us know about the technology, especially those of us new to video.

Topics include depth of field and exposure, video resolutions, capture formats, and lots more.  Like I said, it says beginner’s guide but its a great resource for anyone owning or wanting to own one of the new video equipped DSLR’s on the market.  It’s an easy, worthwhile read.

Painting With Light – Basic Tools Of The Trade

Many of you have read my posts on my mini Z-ray and the fun we’ve been having painting with light on my wedding images recently [link]. Hey, I just a small fish in the very big “painting with light” pond. 

DIYPhotography.net has a great post on the subject right here.  The post includes lot’s of examples and videos on the subject. Don’t forget to check out the comments section too – lots more info and examples on the subject.

But what do you need to pull if off?  Well, back to DIYPhotography.net for yet another post right here, entitled, “Painting With Light – The Tools Of The Trade.”  This post is unique because of the range of light sources discussed and the lighting effect produced by each lighting tool. Lots more great examples, too.

Be fore-warned, if you start following these links you will be spending about a week killing time, feeling like a kid in the candy store – not such a bad thing either.  Have fun with this one.

Hey gang, on that note, I’m out of here.  I’m going to try to post another Technique Tuesday tomorrow . I plan to share the beach shoot I’ve been talking about. I just hope we don’t have any major problems with upload speed again.  It should be a good one – see ya’ then!  Adios, -David

"Beach Dancer"

"Beach Dancer" 
©David A. Ziser

I made this image yesterday at the beach in Cabo Mexico.  The sun was just starting to set giving me some nice reflections off the water.  I loved the rich blue color of the ocean behind my subject. Illumination came from my Quantum flash coming in from camera right giving me the very flattering loop lighting pattern on our subject.  The shadows were a bit dark so I softened them slightly with my on-camera flash giving me a much more pleasing contrast. Compositionally, I also like how the S-curve of the waves leads the viewer’s eye from bottom left to the top right corner of the image easily captivating your mind’s eye back to the subject  Don’t forget to check back next Tuesday for my Technique Tuesday telling the rest of the story.  Camera specs; Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 110mm, F10 @ 1/250 second, ISO 200. 

Enjoy!  -David

Inspiration Friday: Art For Art’s Sake

Good Morning Everybody,

Yesterday the Cabo Geek Squad, myself and my buddy Kent, pulled out some new camera gear and headed to the beach.  We got some great stuff – I’m planning to use some of the images, one of which is featured in today’s “Image of the Day” post above,  for another episode of Technique Tuesday which will air next week – stay tuned.

Every Thursday evening the town of San Jose del Cabo hosts an Art Walk of all the galleries in the town.  Casa Dahlia [link] was featuring the work of artist/photographer Roberta Booth [link]. That’s me with Roberta with some of her photographic art pieces in the background.

Roberta images were wonderful abstracts, like the one entitled, “Flashpoint” featured here, that seemed to be taken from smaller parts of photographs she had made. The end result was an image with a subtle and not so subtle blending of tones and colors that was very beautiful. A perfect lead in for inspiration Friday, don’t you think?

Inspiration Friday: Art For Art’s Sake

You know, occasionally I run across a web site, video, or photograph that I find very exciting and yes, inspirational.  Many times these items have nothing to do with photography. It is the shear beauty or emotional impact  one feels when experiencing these videos or images make them a joy to behold.

I’m a firm believer in the fact that when one sees an extremely artistic expression, one’s own creative juices get a jolt too.  The videos I’m pointing you today are absolutely mesmerizing and a joy to watch.

VIDEO #1

The first is one I actually posted well over a year ago.  It is the most fascinating exhibition of dance I have ever seen.  It is a visual masterpiece and a joy to watch.  It’s amazing to me that something like this can even be choreographed, but then I think of the amazing opening of the Chinese Olympics in 2008.  Anyway, give the video a peek right here and see if you don’t agree with me.

VIDEO #2

My buddy, Kent Smith, pointed me to this next video.  You may have seen it on YouTube since it has received about 10,000,000 hits. Hey, that’s still not anywhere near Susan Boyle’s 100,000,000 hits [video ink], but this video is about the MOST original artistic expression I have ever seen.

Kseniya Simonova is a sand animator from Ukraine and tells her story in a most usual manner. She uses flowing sand on a backlit glass panel or pallet to tell an evolving and emotional story of the U.S.S.R’s fight against the 3rd Reich in WWII. 

The poetic motions coupled with the amazing, almost moving images and story she is able to conjure from the flowing sand will keep you transfixed for it’s 5-6 minute duration.  A very worth while viewing experience.  Here is the video ink right here.

VIDEO #3

Lastly, check out this video over at one of my favorite story telling sites – Media Storm.  Here is the video link right here. It is not just the story here that is a pleasure to watch, but also the creative and imaginative use of the almost 3-D imagery makes this video fun and uplifting.

I guess the thought I’m left with after watching this video is that sometimes people, mostly children don’t even know they don’t have much material possession.  Why?  Because for many, they live in the moment and many times those moments are rich in life and joy.  Maybe there’s a lesson here for all of us to learn.

Hey folks, I hope you enjoyed the posts today.  Think of it as a “dessert only” post – just fun, relaxing, uplifting, and inspiring.  I enjoyed putting the collection together for you and I hope you take a short break and enjoy them this weekend.

On that note, I’m out of here.  We’ve got the weekend off and are just going to chill for the rest of out time down here.  See everybody on Monday – that is if I can get my pixels out of the sunshine and off the sandy beach by then ;~)  Have a great weekend everybody.  See ya’ Monday,  David

"The Beauty Of Sainte-Chapelle"

"The Beauty Of Sainte-Chapelle" 
©David A. Ziser

I made this image while we were touring France a few years ago.  La Sainte-Chapelle in Paris is one of the most beautiful church interiors I have ever seen.  Point the camera anywhere, and it seems you capture a stunningly beautiful image.  The color contrasts, the soaring architecture, the rich detail of the stain glass windows leaves one breathless when standing in the astounding magnificence of this location. I chose a very wide angle lens, pointed the camera towards the ceiling, opted for a very symmetrical composition, and fired away.  Camera specs: Canon 5D fitted with Sigma 12-24mm lens at 12mm, F4.5 @ 1/4 second 9handheld), ISO 1600.  Enjoy!  -David

Business Day Thursday: Is Your Business Ready For Success?

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Ahhh!  Another beautiful day in Cabo. I can’t believe how quickly the time is flying by down here in the land of sea and sun. It’s been a great--- much needed break from a very busy year. 

Kent and I are going to try to put together another Technique Tuesday before we leave - maybe something “beachie.”  I’ll keep you posted as things develop.

Anyway, let get right to today’s post.

Is Your Business Ready For Success?

I’ve just started reading a book by Andy Sernovitz entitled, “Word Of Mouth Marketing.”  I have to tell you, it a nice read brimming with common sense ideas anyone can use in their business – large or small.

One sentence I picked up on was, “Success comes not from what you advertise, but from what you deliver.” He goes on to stress that a company’s worth is determined by the sales/service experience your customer has with you.  If they like you, they spread the word.  If they don’t, they still spread the word.

The word that is spread is super important to your business too.  In the old pre-internet days, the reality was that if a wedding photographer did a crummy job on a bride’s wedding, no big deal.  There was always a new crop of unsuspecting bride’s attending next year’s bridal shows he/she could book for the following year.

That isn’t to say that word of mouth was unimportant back then.  It was vitally important.  Heck, it’s how I built my business over the years.  Today, though, word of mouth remarks – good or bad – can really affect your business.

Why?  Because today those words live forever on the Internet, on forums, Facebook, and so many bridal sites.  That’s why it’s increasingly important to have your “word of mouth” advertising be the best and most positive it can be.

How do you ensure that the good word get’s out?  You strive deliberately and diligently to provide your client with the best product and service you can. 

How do you gage your success? One simple way is with a simple customer feedback – something as simple as a customer service questionnaire is a good place to start.  This feedback is important for you to know in order for you to enhance and maybe improve what you are doing well. Even negative feedback is important for you.   Now you know where to make any mid course corrections that need to be corrected in your weak customer service areas.

It’s amazing to me how many business people want to keep their heads in the sand about how well or poorly they serve their clients.  It’s almost as though they don’t want to know how they are doing.  Why, because in many cases, they are just doing enough to get by and they want to avoid the truth. Or maybe they just care.

That’s too bad – how you can ever improve your customer service with that kind of mentality?  In today’s digital age the stories of bad customer service live on forever, it could be disastrous if you chose to run your business without any kind of customer feedback.

So, suck it up and constantly strive to do the job right.  Always give it your best.  Institute any kind of customer feedback survey so you know where you stand.  And then stand tall knowing your client is getting the best you can deliver and is willing to tell the world about it!  Now your business is ready for success!!!

Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  We’ve got just a few more days to relax around here and are going to make the most of it.  Stop back tomorrow for another episode of “Inspiration Friday.”  See ya’ then.  Adios,  -David

"The Perfect Setting"

"The Perfect Setting" 
©David A. Ziser

When ever I shoot a wedding, it’s important for me to show the “space” in which the party is being held.  I like this shot because the moment captured is during the reception itself.  If you look closely you can see one of the guests conversing with the bridal couple in the distance.  The colors of this space really make this shot come alive too. I chose to focus on the wedding cake in this shot.  The use of the wide angle lens accentuates the convergence of the lines in the ceiling drawing the viewer’s eye directly into the scene – a perfect setting.  Camera specs; Canon 5D fitted with 12-24mm Sigma lens at 13mm, F5.0 @ 1/8 second (handheld), ISO 1600.  Enjoy!  -David

Shootin’ Solution Wednesday

Good Afternoon Everybody,

We arose to a beautiful sunrise here in Cabo this morning - which many times, is pretty much the norm around here this time of year.  Kind of makes you glad to be alive, especially when the weather back in good ol’ KY is in the 30’s this morning. Photo curtsey of LaDawn, by the way.

Hey gang, sorry for the very late post yesterday – that’s why today’s post is going up later than usual too.  Technique Tuesdays always take a little time to put together especially when I have to drop in so many images for the video.  That wasn’t the problem with yesterday’s post though. 

It was the 12kb/sec upload speed together with the fact that I was kicked off-line 4 times while trying to get the video fully uploaded – a bit of a “pulling out your hair” day blog-wise that is.  Anyway… it finally went up and our DPT readers seemed to really enjoy it judging from all the positive response.

We might even try to pull off another TTues with Kent and Sarah while we’re visiting in Cabo.  It was a good time for everybody and I think their little finger can be twisted to do it again so stay tuned.

Anyway, on with today’s post.

Shootin’ Solution Wednesday: Fixing The Background One More Time

Over these last few Wednesday’s I’ve discussed some lighting challenges we’ve had this fall with trying to get good outdoor shots in some “not so good” outdoor locations. 

Here are the links to the two previous articles:

1. Making The Day Wednesday: Making A Background Out Of No Background

2. Lighting Challenge Wedding Wednesday

Don’t get me wrong, the locations would have been great if there were just a few leaves on the trees.  I want to hit the topic one more time today.

I like to mix things up a bit when shooting outdoors.  That means I like to bring a little background variety into the group shots if I can.  I had some good shots of the bride and groom with their parents as illustrated in the second link above, and some nice images of the bride and groom around the lake which was shown in the first link.

I found another location that I thought might work for the shot of the guys – the sunlit leaves on a small patch of trees in the background.  The problem was the brightness of the leaves in this case.  Here is my first test shot of the set up.

I’ll make the test shots while we are setting up for the shot just to save some time.  The shot shows me what issues I need to deal with to pull off a good photograph.

I planned to position the guys in a small shady spot I found.  Why?  So I could then light the group from camera left and create my ever present “direction of light” on the scene.  Too fast of a shutter speed and the shadows would have gone quite dark.  That wouldn’t be a big problem though – I could always use my on-camera flash as a “fill light” to control the shadow densities. Too slow of a shutter speed and I would really wash out the background.

Anyway, here is how I handled this particular lighting challenge:

1.  I choose the longest lens in the gear bag so I can compress the background as I did in the example below.  I used my Canon 70-300mm IS DO lens at 200mm.

2.  I set the camera at a low ISO – ISO 100 and the fastest syncing shutter speed – 1/200 second. My aperture was F6.3. At these settings the trees in the background were quite bright.  We’ll fix that in a second.

3.  The shadows were going too dark so I added some on-camera flash fill by turning on my on-camera flash and dialing it down about 2 stops – just enough to open up the shadows.  I’m starting to get what I want now. I just need to fix the density of the background.

4.  I needed to fix the background. Look how it overpowers the guys in this shot. I could have struggled with getting it “right in the camera” but that would have taken much longer than my quick “Lightroom fix” that I planned to use.

I knew all I needed to do was add a little “Fill Light” is Lightroom as show here.  That softened up the shadows and the contrasts even more.

5.  The easiest fix of all – are you ready?  What’s way TOO bright here?  It’s the “yellows” right? The easy fix – head over to the yellow channel in the Develop module and drag the Luminosity slider all the way to the left, and PRESTO! – the intensity of the yellows is reduced substantially improving the shot.

Pretty simple wasn’t it?

So here is Ziser Shooting Rule #15 for this kind of situation. 

“If you can get it right in the camera in a matter of minutes, go for it.  But, if you know you can fix it faster in Lightroom or Photoshop later, don’t waste your time losing precious minutes during your shoot.”

Hey gang, that’s it for me today. We are heading out exploring the Baja surrounds today.  Let’s plan on getting together tomorrow for another episode of Business Day Thursday.  See ya’ then.  Adios from Cabo, -David

"Let’s Party On"

"Let’s Party On" 
©David A. Ziser

OK, time for a wedding image today.  I know it’s been a while, so here we go.  This image is one of the unusual wedding candids I try to pull off at every wedding.  I call it the “Pole-Cam” shot.  I place the Sigma fisheye lens on my camera which is locked onto a monopod.  Just as the action starts to peek, I press the shutter release with the camera’s self timer at ten seconds.  At about six seconds, I raise the camera over the heads of the partiers and call to them to look up at the camera.  By the time they get the message, all faces are looking skyward just as the flash fires getting a great candid for the bride. Hey, it’s always about creating something a little different for the client.  Just remember not to shoot your toes when making this shot;~) Camera specs; Canon 40D fitted with 8mm Sigma Fisheye, F6.3 @ 1/60 second, ISO 800.  Enjoy!  -David

Technique Tuesday: Taking The Perfect Portrait Every Time

Good Morning Everybody,

We had a pretty easy day in Cabo yesterday and are looking forward to the same relaxing time today.  Now a good time for me down here is usually “geeking” around with my buddy Kent on some new camera or tech gear. 

He’s borrowed a brand new 200mm F2.0 lens from our Canon rep and picked up Canon’s new ultra-wide (and ultra expensive) TS-E 17mm F/4L swing tilt lens. As LaDawn says, “Boys with their toys.”  You can watch a nice demo of it at B&H right here.  I’ll keep you posted as to any vacation observations we may have on these two lens.

Hey gang, I’ve got a great Technique Tuesday for you today.  You’re going to love it.  Here we go…

Getting The Perfect Portrait – And Perfect Expression Every Time

After arriving in Cabo on Sunday and getting settled in we headed out to dinner with our buddies, Kent and Sarah Smith.  I’ve mentioned many time before that Kent and Sara run a very successful studio in Columbus, Ohio [link] specializing in high school seniors and family portraits.

I’ve always said that if you get a chance to see them speak, definitely DON’T MISS THEIR PROGRAM.  You will get that opportunity at the Professional Photographers of America Imaging USA convention being held in Nashville, TN January 10-12 [link] and also at SPA – Senior Photographers Association January 4-6, 210 in San Diego [link].

Anyway, we were having dinner Sunday when I brought up the idea of them being my guests for this week’s Technique Tuesday episode.  We kicked around a few topics and settled on today’s very innovative topic.

One reason for Kent and Sarah’s success is their ability to capture the perfect shot every time – everybody looking into the camera, smiling, and looking great, even when the group includes several small children.  You want to see how they do it?  Sit back and relax and hit the PLAY button below and enjoy the show.

Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  If you liked the lesson today, drop me a note in the comments section below and maybe I’ll be able to talk Kent and Sarah in to doing another Technique Tuesday for DPT.

Are those ocean waves I hear calling in the distance – it must be and the sound is ticklin’ all my beach pixels so I’m out of here.  See ya’ tomorrow with another Shootin’ Solution Wednesday. Adios, David