Happy Thanksgiving

Good Morning Everybody,
Just as today's image implies, I wish each and everyone of you, our readers, a very restful and peaceful day. For our worldwide readers, I wish you the same warm regards our Thanksgiving Day wish implies to us today here in the states.

I came across the little slide show over at JerryGay.com entitled " The Rule of Life." I think it sends the right message on life's simple, yet important set of priorities. I invite you to take a look at "The Rule of Life" right here. That's it for today everybody - the warmest regards to each and every one of you on this Thursday, November 22, 2007. --David

"To the Point"
© David A. Ziser

I made this image while in Scotland last November. I enjoy the color harmony, contrasting directions of the image's lines, and the overall symmetry of the scene. Camera specs: Canon 5D fitted with 24-105mm lens at 45mm;F4 @ 1/20 second, ISO 200. Enjoy! --David

Wednesday - What Are the Turkeys Thinking About Today?

Good Afternoon Everybody,
Another late post today - but I see the light at the end of the tunnel and hope it is not a freight train - we made it through the Thanksgiving Day rush with "flying colors" thanks to my team's efforts and especially LaDawn, my wife, who was keeping the same long hours as me. We have one more shoot today and a delivery and then on to a Thanksgiving Day dinner with LaDawn's family - man, am I looking forward to it. So on with some quick items, and them we are hitting the road northbound.

Slow Down, You Move to Fast - High Speed Photography

Here is your science project for the long weekend - not really, but I think the sound trigger device discussed over at DoItYourselfPhotograpy was quite interesting. I was into that kind of stuff in my younger days - it's that "geekiness" coming through again. I still love those early 1940's images created by HAROLD E. "DOC" EDGERTON (1903-1990).

Anyway, I was going to post this days ago, but let it slide. Then it came around again and I became more interested in it. Here's the deal - you can build a sound trigger to fire your flash at the very instant the trigger hears the sound of a gunshot, dropped light bulb, bursting balloon - whatever. Check out some images made with the sound trigger right here. And for more on the subject, there is a nice piece over at PhotoCritic right here.

Seen With a Different Kind on Eye - College Photographer of the Year

This year's images from best of the best college photographers are posted right here. The images are quite fascinating. Especially the portrait images - here is the link. Anyway, keep an open mind and enjoy the best images from the top college shooters out there.

If You Need Protection, This Is the Best There Is!

Call me crazy, but I think this item is one of the best to come along in years. It's called Invisible Shield. I read about it over at fellow bloggers - Ryan Goodman and Chris Lea site - CameraPorn.net. This stuff "bullet proof" protects any of the new handheld electronics out there, and it's only about $12 bucks per item.

Here is what they say over at the Invisible Shield site, "The invisibleSHIELD™ is the premier name in handheld device protection. Made from a urethane film originally used to protect the leading edges of military helicopter blades, the invisibleSHIELD is clear, durable, and virtually scratch-proof. The invisibleSHIELD is precision cut to fit your Canon EOS 30D, giving it perfectly contoured protection that other screen protectors can’t match. Check it out right here at the CameraPorn site (no naked ladies here, only naked cameras and lens) right here, or go straight to the Invisible Shield's site right here - pretty cool product.

Aurthur Murray Is Not to Blame for This First Dance

You are a wedding photographer, you have seen it all - or so you think. Here is a short 2 minute "giggle" to get you a smilin' for the holiday. Enjoy! Everybody - see ya for a short post tomorrow. --David

"Eyes of Love"
© David A. Ziser

This image is from a session I did last week. In fact, I posted one of the images for that session last week. It was entitled "With A Twinkle In His Eyes". While I edited the images for the client I came across this image that I liked even better. I love the direct, almost confident look the child is giving the viewer as he is being held by his mother. The image is a great example of "chiaroscuro" - the interplay of highlights and shadows. It is one of my favorite portrait studies of a child. The original image looked nothing like the final result. Check out the rest of the story below. Camera specs: Canon 40D fitted with 24-105mm IS lens at 82mm; F9 @ 1/160 second at ISO 200. Enjoy! --David

Technique Tuesday

Good Afternoon Everybody,
I was in meetings all morning with clients and staff so the post is up a little later today. No problem, we got lots of good info and it's Technique Tuesday so let's get to it...

The Making of "Eyes of Love"

I selected our image post today to be part of our Technique Tuesday segment mostly because the original did not look much like the final resulting image. But, I really love the finished portrait. Give the short video a look for the whole story and techniques used. Enjoy! --David

Shooting the Falls But Not in a Barrel

Last Friday, I posted an image in which I discussed how I photographed a waterfall - hand held - at 1/2 second. Here is the link to that image. Now if you would like to know the correct procedure to do it with a little nicer result, check out this article over at AlexWisePhotography. Alex has some very nice images and thoroughly describes how to get it consistent every time. I love this kind of imagery - I just wish I took more time to do it. Good info here, here is the link to the "Waterfall" article.

Pretty Cool Site Over at David Tejada's Blog

This fellow has a ton of good info over at his site. David is a annual report photographer who claims that the F-stops here. He's has been popping up over the net on blogs like the Strobist to name a few. His written and video tutorials cover a wealth of information on everything from how to shoot a cover shot portrait - the current post - to how to build a cheap ring light. Again, many well documented leaning opportunities here. Here is the link to his latest "Cover Shot" posting.

Rule of Thirds, Leading Lines, Forground Interest - Compositional Info Galore!

Taking a picture is one thing, creating something interesting just about every time is both an art and a craft. We need to constantly hone both of these skills. Over at fellow blogger, Fotonomy there is a great series of articles on composition. Here are the individual links to each lesson.

1. Rule of Thirds


2. Leading Lines


3. Foreground Interest


4. Symmetry


5. Straight Horizon


6. Change of Perspective


7. Simplicity

Hey Gang, that's about it for today. Hope you enjoyed Technique Tuesday - remember, if you have any ideas you would like to see posted, I will be happy to oblidge - if possible. Hey, it's one day closer to "Turkey Day" - have a good one! --David

"Veiled Beauty"
© David A. Ziser

I made this image a few weeks ago during a wedding. It is a simple "available light" image. I wanted to capture the bride's natural beauty with the window light streaming in ever so softly on her face, but I also wanted her to be soft as well. I focused sharply on the veil, let the bride's profile go softly out of focus, and got the result I wanted. Camera specs: Canon 40D fitted with 24-105mm lens set to 75mm; F4 @ 1/20 second at ISO1600. Enjoy! --David

Good Morning Everybody,

Good Morning Everybody,
Three days till Thanksgiving, and boy will I be thankful - we finally get a break from the craziness. We are in the middle of our holiday rush heading into what I call the "eye of the hurricane." That's when all Thanksgiving Day orders are delivered, Christmas orders are in final production and we are in a "Calm" till everything starts pouring back in from framers, album binders, labs, etc. So the eye of the storm is within site, but we are in the high speed winds all this week. But, as they say, it's good to be busy.

What else is happening - well, we got a nice little mention over at the Strobist on his Saturday Speed Links about my double-duty back light technique we discussed on last week's Technique Tuesday - a high five to Mr. Hobbie, thanks for the notice. So how about even more scilltilating stories for today.

Mea Culpas are in Order for Today

I ran a very special story on Friday entitled "Food For Thought for the Wedding Photographer" but forgot to insert the links. SORRY!! It's a good story and I invite you to give it a look. Here is the link to the "Food For Thought for the Wedding Photographer" article from Friday.

Tell Me True, Fill Light

FILL LIGHT -- It's more than a light coming in at a stop or two less from the direction of the camera. I thought this was a great read about what Fill Light really is and how it should be correctly used in our photography. I have been guilty myself about just turning down my on camera flash a bit (I'm still using a main light to create a direction of light) just to fill the shadows as occasionally needed when making a portrait/wedding image. But, that "little" light source sometimes adds some "specularity" to the skin depending on the "shininess" of the subject's complexion. This is usually the best we can do in a fast paced wedding situation, but I really liked how Michael Ray over at ProfessionalPhotography101 talked about how the fill light is only about filling the shadows without adding anything of its own. Give it a read right here at ProfessionalPhotography101 - good basic stuff we sometimes forget.

My Lens is Better Than Your Lens

So you are in a delemma - you want to yourself another lens but can't quite make up your mind. You ask yourself, "What's everybody else using?" Well folks, I have the answer for you right here. Our friends over at DigitalPhotographySchool ran a poll on just what lenses photographers are using.

Here are the results of their poll. Now you know what your next lens needs to be. Here is the link to the DigitalPhotographySchool poll. Don't forget to scroll to the bottom of the page for more related links on the same subject. By the way, my order of preference on the Canon side is 1. 17-85mm IS lens; 2. 24-105mm; 3. 50mm F1.4; 4. 70-200mm IS and finally 10-22mm.

Lightroom, CS3, Bridge Updates

Just in case you have been living in a hole near the center of the earth or a cave in the middle of the jungle, or an igloo in Antarctica.... you probably already have gotten the news that Adobe just release updates for CS3, Bridge, and LightRoom. I just saw a mention over at Terry White's Blog. He's got all the links and what's new in each upgrade. Go check out Terry's upgrade article out right here.

Real Blast From the Past

I remember Lotus 1-2-3, IBM's XT computer, the first space walk, Disney in Japan, Hooters opening in Florida, Flashdance, and Return of the Jedi. Yes, all of these happenings in 1983. But who can remember this piece of ground breaking news that same year? Watch this 60 second video for the ground breaking news: Here is a hint - CPU at a 5 MHz clock rate and had 512 KB or 1 MB RAM - all that for only $21,000 in 2007 dollars. Enjoy the video. That's it for today, Gang - have a great one. --David