"Extreme Racer"

 

"Extreme Racer"
©David A. Ziser

OK, I'm posting this image just for fun today. A few years ago I was hired to photograph a Bar Mitzvah for one of my favorite clients.  The theme was the Winter Olympics.  As I mention later in today's post, I have that same assignment next week for another client - actually the cousin of the young boy featured in this shot. I needed to create 8 - 4x8 foot banners to display at the Bar Mitzvah Party Saturday evening. The challenge this time around was that we couldn't go to Vancouver to get the images as we did 4 years ago.    The only problem we had then was that we had horrible weather and little time to shoot.  Take a look at the "skier" - the Bar Mitzvah boy - in this shot. Is he really flying off the cliff?  Not really. Look again. He had just fallen in the snow and was actually getting back up into a standing.  As he maneuvered his way back to a standing position, I took several photographs.  This intermediate position closely corresponds to the body position of an extreme skier flying off a cliff.  A trip to iStockPhoto.com for the cliff shot and a little Photoshop and "Presto", I have my extreme skier shot. Camera specs; Nikon D1x fitted with a Tamron 24-135mm lens at 80mm, F7.1 @ 1/250 second, ISO 400. 

Enjoy!  -David

Are There Too Many Wedding Photographers Shooting Wedding These Days: Food For Thought Friday

Good Afternoon Everybody,

A couple of days ago, I saw a Skribit suggestion come across asking, "Are there too many wedding photographers out there shooting weddings these days?" What a thought provoking question? 

I decided to really tackle this question and have been on the phone with  industry people, labs, album companies, and photographers for most of the day.  My findings and my conclusions could fill several pages of this blog so the plan is to break it into several posts. I really want to get your opinions and create some active feedback in the comment section below.

Today I'm posting some of the more SHOCKING comments I heard in my interviews.  What's your reaction - be part of the conversation - it's important!!!

Most thought provoking comments so far:

• “The wedding profession is going through its biggest disruption ever!”

• "The market is just inundated with new photographers."

• "Out of 300 weddings photographed at a very popular wedding venue, only 5-6 photographers showed up more that once!"

• "There are mass quantities of mediocre "Crap" out there these days masquerading as wedding photography!"

• "Budgets are half what they used to be."

• "It's impossible to survive as a wedding photographer only these days!"

• "Wedding photography is broke!"

• "Male + Over 50 = No work!"

• "It's no longer about a photographer's reputation, it's all IMAGE - it's all about being hip and cool."

Kind of a wake-up call for the industry, isn't it? What I read here speaks to the "death-knell" of wedding photography as we've known it.  What are your thoughts?

I'm going to pick this up again next week. It looks like "gloom and doom" but I promise a peek at a somewhat silver lining over the next few days.  I can't wait to see and hear your thoughts, impressions, and realities as you face this upcoming year. PLEASE POST your comments below.

__________________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today. I've got a huge project I'm working on over the weekend for one of our best clients and it looks like it's going to be kind of fun to put together.

We need to produce 8 banners 4 ft x8 ft with an Olympic theme for a big Bar Mitzvah I’m photographing next weekend.  I'll share with you some of the challenges and results of the project next week.

Everybody have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday, all the pixels willin',

-David

"On Top Of The World"

"On Top Of The World"
©David A. Ziser

I posted this image quite a while ago but am revisiting it again today complete with back-story and EXIF data.  I forget exactly where I made the shot, but it was somewhere on the West Coast near La Jolla - I believe Torrey Pines.  Wow, what a great location.  The geography, the sea and sky, the moon-like setting all combined for an exciting place to shoot.  I had originally positioned the bride and groom up on one of the ridges but the wind was so strong, it looked like both of them were going to be blown away.  To solve the problem, I asked both to work their way, with the help of my assistant, into the valley.  The wind was substantially reduced where they were positioned so the shot was much more manageable.  I had my assistant get behind the couple with his flash on FULL power - it was triggered with my on camera transmitter. I adjusted the camera to the best setting to capture the setting sun on the horizon and still pick up detail in the surrounds.  To bad we didn't have digital back then.  Shooting RAW and working the HDR angle could have been pretty cool.  Anyway, the shot is still one of my favorites. Camera specs; Hasselblad 500CM fitted with 30mm Distagon fisheye, F8.0 @ 1/500 second, Kodak Vericolor 400 film. Enjoy!  -David

Business Day Thursday: Announce New Products And Spread The Word

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Hope everybody got a chance to view yesterday’s video.  Heck, it took me most of the day to get it together, hence yesterday’s and today’s late post. But it was still fun putting it together and I hoped you enjoyed it. 

I visited with Kent and Sarah late yesterday evening and they have agreed to present their entire program “LIVE” - all 90 minutes of it - right here on DigitalProTalk.  Folks, that's like a BIG WOW!!! We are working on scheduling it right now.  It looking like early March might fit our schedules - I will definitely keep you posted.

More good news - I spoke with Peachpit two days ago about the latest on my wedding book, "Captured by the Light: The Essential Guide to Creating Extraordinary Wedding Photography."  Here's the latest folks.  They tell me it should be on the bookshelves - Barnes and Noble and Amazon by the second week in February - YAAAAH!!!

You can also pre-order a personally signed copy of the book at the Digital Resource Center right here.

OK, time to get on with today's post.

Announce New Products And Spread The World

Two weeks ago I asked you to think about developing new products for your 2010 season.  So, how many of you have done just that? Hey, I know most of you haven't so get that "fire burning under your behind" and get to it.

The point is this.  It's more that just creating new products for your studio. It's about creating studio "BUZZ" and new product announcements do just that.  The whole process makes people notice you AGAIN.

Too many small business owners just sit and wait for the phone to ring.  You've certainly heard me say that previously many, many times.  We've just got to become more pro-active in promoting our businesses in the this economy.

And, here is the deal - it's not brain surgery - just do it. It's easy and cheap and works for any size business you run. 

Here is my 5 Step Plan for getting noticed in 2010.

1. Develop 5 new, snazzy, head-turning products for your studio - metal (real metal) prints [link] - we saw lots at IMAGING USA, canvas wraps, presentations on Kodak's Metallic paper - here's 3 - you get the idea.  

2. Collect all the email addresses of all your vendor buddies in your town and surrounding areas. Wait, not just your buddies - make it all the vendors in your surrounding areas.  Now collect the e-mails of all your past, current, and upcoming clients.  Add to your growing list all the names of all the attendees of any bridal shows in which you have been involved.

3. Sign up with Constant Contact, Marathon Press, or any of the several email houses available so you can get the word out. Then upload your list.  BTW, I like Marathon Press for smaller lists and Constant Contact if your list numbers in the thousands. And, Constant Contact is currently offering a 60 day free trial.

4. Create a newsletter - it's really easy to do.  All the services have templates in which you just type in your text.  No big deal.  You should be able to get one together in just a few hours.

5. Send It!  Why 5 products?  So you can send 5 newsletters for 5 times the advertising effect.  Remember, part of the "BUZZ" is created by how creative you are with your product design and presentation. But, the rest of the "BUZZ" is the result of the message you send to all those on your list.  The message is the fact that your are a business on the move, always innovating, always excited about your products, and thrilled to share the news with your clients.

I promise you, you will "turn some heads" and get people talking.  And, since now 5 months later, you are in the habit of doing your newsletter, the next 7 months should be a "piece of cake."

__________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today. Keep movin', keep rockin', and keep smilin'. 

See ya' tomorrow,  -David

"The Eiffel"

"The Eiffel"
©David A. Ziser

Here is one of the last images I posted very early on at DigitalProTalk without the back-story or EXIF data.  The image was made on a trip to Paris, France about 3 years ago.  We had just finished visiting The Louvre and planned to walk over to the Eiffel Tower just a few miles away.  We got a late start so when we arrived at the Eiffel Tower it was quite dark.  I have to say the view looking up at the Eiffel Tower was quite impressive. Interestingly enough, here in Cincinnati, Ohio we have an amusement park, Kings Island, which features a 1/3 replica of the Eiffel Tower.  Seeing The Eiffel Tower in person was quite the experience.  I was armed with My Canon 5D fitted with my 12-24mm Sigma.  I stood directly under the iron latticed tower and pointed my camera upward.  The view with the wide angle lens was amazing - offering a completely different way of viewing this historic landmark. Camera Specs; Canon 5D fitted with 12-24mm Sigma At 12mm, F4.5 @ 1/6 second (handheld) ISO 1600.  Enjoy!  -David

Technique Tuesday On Wednesday: A Few Minutes With Two Marketing Masters

Good afternoon everybody,

We got in late last night from our road trip arriving to 4 inches of snow on the ground - a winter wonderland everywhere. I happen to be a guy that loves the snow and seeing it all around was a sight to see this morning.

We took one final breeze through the Imaging USA convention trying to find that one last great deal and then headed to our good friends, Kent and Sarah Smith's program.

The room was packed with about 900 cheering people ready to here these two marketing geniuses share their secrets.  Kent asked me to take a few pictures for blogs and such.  I did more that that.  I shot video clips as well.  This morning I began reviewing what I had shot to see if I had anything worth viewing.

The more I viewed the clips, the more I liked what I saw.  I've spent a good part of the day putting them together into a short synopsis of Kent and Sarah's 90 minute program.  What resulted was a peek into some great ideas that you can easily use to bump up your bottom line for 2010.

A Few Minutes With Two Marketing Masters, Kent And Sarah Smith

All the footage was shot with my Canon 7D camera, mostly handheld, using only the microphone built into the camera. Hey, this video is not going to win any awards, but all together, the presentation is jammed packed with insights and ideas that give you a solid helping of good information we all can use in our businesses. Hit the PLAY button below and enjoy the show.

Some good stuff there, don't you think? At the end of the 90 minute program, Kent and Sarah offered their complete marketing kit.  It was a BIG hit with the attendees.  If you want a further peek into the rest of their marketing secrets, you can find that information right here.

Update:  I've asked Kent and Sarah about presenting the entire program here at DigitalProTalk in the form of a Webinar. Well, my "people" will talk with their “people” so hopefully we can pull it off - I'll keep you posted.

____________________________________________________

Hey gang, That's it for me today.  I'm running late and have a shoot in about an hour.  Look for the promised Technique Tuesday next week.  Plan on checking back again tomorrow for another episode of Business Day Thursday. 

See ya' then, -David

"Man Of The Year"

"Man Of The Year"
©David A. Ziser

Here is one more image from my film days.  I remember walking into this location and being so intrigued by the architectural features, particularly the ceiling lines.  They seemed to offer the perfect "compositional pointers" for my shot. The previous sentence gives you some insight as to how I create a shot.  I survey the surrounds first, see where the lines lead, and then place my subject into the the image where all the lines seem to intersect. You can easily see that in this image. All the ceiling lines and even the banister all lead directly to the groom.  He is positioned in the bottom right quadrant of the image, and presto, we've got a pretty strong portrait. Lighting is coming in from camera left - a Metz CT-1 triggered with Quantum radio system. Camera specs; Hasselblad 500CM fitted with 40mm Distagon lens, F5.6 @ 1/125 second, Kodak Vericolor 400 film.  Enjoy!  -David

Technique Tuesday: Stop The Presses, Check Out These Portfolios!

Good Morning Everybody,

Today is our third day at Imaging USA - and we still haven't made it all the way through the trade show floor.  Hopefully we can finish the job today.

I was hoping to have more to report for you today but yesterday had me in meetings for most of the day and I didn't get a chance to take in as much of the trade-show as I’d hoped. I plan to remedy that today. Anyway, I think you will like what I've got in store for today's post.

Another reason for missing a good part of the trade show time was the fact that I was attending the ASP Fellowship Luncheon. Those holding the degree of "Fellow" - there are only 104 living members - are invited to the luncheon.  I received the honor from the Professional Photographers Association in 1988.

One becomes a "Fellow" by going through a rigorous application process with includes a submission, a portfolio, of the applicant's top 25 images produced during their career.  We had 44 attend the luncheon yesterday and it was good to catch up with many old friends.

This year we welcomed three new "Fellows" to our group. They were Barry Rankin, Michael Timmons, and Joe Campanellie.  Each had stunning images in their portfolio submissions.

I was thrilled to see my buddy, Barry Rankin, receive his "Fellowship Degree".  Barry and I have known each other for many years.  Not only is Barry a great portrait and high school senior photographer, his passion is sports photography. Just ask him about his Michigan football game experiences - he can tell you hours of stories.

Barry has also photographed a number of celebrities over the years too from President Clinton to Bill Cosby - more stories there too.  You can check out more of Barry's work right here.

Michael Timmons, another Michigan photographer [link] was also inducted into the hallowed halls of ASP Fellowship.  I met Michael for the first time at our state's summer meeting last year.  Five of us were to go out and shoot for 2 hours, edit our best images, and present them to the meeting attendees later in the evening. 

Michael's images "blew" everybody else's images away.  His creative use of line, shape, color, composition, and a Photoshop tweak or two resulted in a great series of images. Michael's portfolio submission was astounding.  You can see more of Michael's work right here.  Be sure to hit the "Scenic" button on his website. - Enjoy!

The third photographer to receive his "Fellowship" degree was of Joe Campanellie.  Joe hails from Maryland and operates one of the top portrait studios in the area [link]. 

His portfolio submissions featured his wildlife photography - it is truly unbelievable, beautiful imagery. Here is the link right here - definitely worth the visit.

Want to see lots more great photography?  Be sure to check out the ASP website right here. After navigating to the sight, take some time to view several of the on line galleries right here.  It is truly a trip down inspiration lane.

_______________________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today, I'll plan to get the Technique Tuesday that I had planned for today up tomorrow.  You won't want to miss it.  It's entitled, "Shoot More Than Eyeliner and Shoes On The Wedding Day".  I think you'll enjoy it.

So until tomorrow,

Areverderchi everybody,  -David

"Sea Mist's Embrace"

"Sea Mist's Embrace"
©David A. Ziser

Here is another image I posted in the early days of the DPT blog, again without the back story and exposure info.  I only have a few of these images to review.  Once complete, our DPT readers will have all the info on all the images ever posted at DigitalProTalk.  By the way, that's over 625 images.  Anyway, this image was made in La Jolla, California back in my film days while I was teaching a week long class.  I have to say, I love teaching on the west coast - the geography and the locations can be breathtaking.  I was shooting with my fisheye lens and loved how it contoured the water's edge for this image.  I remember nearly slipping into the ocean because of the very slick algae growing on the rocks where I was trying to capture the shot. Notice how all the lines lead right up to the bride and groom.  The choice of lens was a big reason.  With the couple positioned in the top right quadrant of the image, I achieved a nice visual balance in the scene that resulted in a pretty cool wedding image. The touch of backlighting on the couple completed my composition. Camera specs; Hasselblad 500CM camera fitted with 30mm Distagon Fisheye lens, F5.6 @ 1/250 second, Kodak Vericolor 400 film. Enjoy!  -David

Quick Hit Monday: Moving To Fine Art Photography, iPhone Photography, Easy Learning, and More

Good Morning Everybody,

We left Florida on Saturday and headed north to Nashville.  The weather forecasts had us worried a bit and as we headed into Tennessee on Sunday morning, you could see the remnants from the nasty ice/snow that had blown through a few days earlier.

For one short stretch of highway, the trees continued to be encrusted with ice - a beautiful sight, but I sure would not have been wanting to drive through that storm.

Anyway, we finally landed in Nashville, got settled into our hotel room, and immediately hit the convention floor.  This year's Imaging USA convention is taking place at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, a cavernous place that looks like it holds about a million people ;~)  For all the bad weather, the place was packed with some estimates putting the attendance at around 10,000 - WOW!

Our first stop was to the Canon Booth.  I haven't mentioned it yet, but I recently purchased Canon's ImagePROGRAF iPF8100 ink-jet printer which is to be delivered after our return.  All I hear are great things about this printer and the canvass prints we showed at last year's DWUC tour were amazingly beautiful.

 In 2010, I'm exploring the possibilities of landscape and fine art photography into my business and the Canon printer should easily fill the bill in producing the images.  By the way, that's me with Peter Tvarkunas of Canon's Professional Services standing in front of the printer. I promise  more news on this move in the near future.

For this week's Quick Hit Monday, I'm going to make it short and sweet.  We want to get back to the trade show floor and and check out all the new cool stuff.  So here we go with a few interesting things to check out.

iPhone and More

Last Tuesday I posted an image from my iPhone entitled, "Nuuanu Pali Lookout" [link]. Don't worry, That won't be the norm around here but it was a nice shot and I wanted to see what kind of reactions it would get. Thanks for all the nice comments, by the way.

Anyway, the iPhone post raised my curiosity about what kind of imagery was being produced by the iPhone.  Turns out there's an entire site dedicated to iPhone photography called iPhoneography.com.  Here is the link right here.  Turns out the site is pretty cool - lots of images and lots of apps reviewed that we iPhone geeks might find interesting.  Check it out, it's kind of fun.

And while we're on the topic of the iPhone - have you seen this yet? Yes, a steadicam for your iPhone. It's called the Steadicam Smoothee from Tiffen [link] and was just announced last week. Over at Amazon, there showing the Tiffen Steadicam Merlin for only $799 - I can't wait to see the price on the Smoothee. Let's just say I not holding my breath on this one.  It still amazes me though that there is a market for this kind of thing - maybe I'm missing something here.

Learning Is Easier Than Ever

As we head into the new year, one thing I encourage each and everyone one of you to do is learn something new. There are so many resources available to us, it sure makes it easy to do just that.

Here are two that fill the bill.  The folks at DataColor [link] have some great tips on printing from Lightroom and Photoshop.  Maybe you don't do your own printing but armed with some solid info on the subject, you just may want to give it a try in the future.

DataColor's site includes not just articles but some good videos, too.  And, wait there's more. You can even download 6 free Photoshop actions right here. The "Anti-Noise" one looks pretty interesting to me. Hey, they're all free!

Another great learning resource can be found over at DigitalPhotoPro [link] - lots of solid articles on photography technique like Dialing In Skin Tone and Exposing For RAW. Hey, it's worth the trip - check it out.

And Even More Training Coming To A City Near You

Yesterday, I ran into my buddy Sandy Puc and we had a nice visit. Sandy is one of the most ambitious trainers on the circuit these days. For the last two years she has toured the county with two very successful tours - "Bellies To Babies" and last year "Tots To Teens".

In two weeks she heads out on her 52 city tour entitled "Passion For Profit - Families".  Check it out right here.  Sam always puts on a great program - I plan to be there myself.  Maybe I'll see you there.

________________________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today.  We are heading out to check out all the things we missed yesterday.  Check back tomorrow and I let you in on some of the more interesting items I found at the show.

See ya' tomorrow,  -David

"Somewhere In Time"

"Somewhere In Time"
©David A. Ziser

Here is another image I posted at the beginning of DPT without the details of the shot.  Let me say, this is one of my all time favorite images.  When Matt Adcock over at Flashflavor saw it, he asked me to do a guest post on the shot. It was a very in-depth description of the shot, complete with the very interesting back-story.  You can give it a read right here. Quick cut to Camera specs; Hasselblad 500 CM fitted with 40mm Distagon lens, F8.0 @ 1/500 second, Kodak Vericolor 400 film.  Enjoy!  -David

Inspiration Friday - 2010

Good Morning Everybody,

Here we are - at the end of the first full week of 2010.  I hope your year is off to a great start.  I spent most of the week - Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday with some of the favorite posts from DigitalProTalk.

Friday has many times been "Inspiration Friday" around here so I  thought I would finish out the week with some really inspirational photography for you to look at.  You know part of getting a good start is being fired up enough to make it over the first "hump" of the New Year. It's good to get a little "creative traction" and get our "brain juices" flowing.

Let me point you towards 10 sites featuring some great images to do just that.  Hope you enjoy the links.  Here we go...

1 - Susan Stripling [link] - Beautiful, dramatic photography, great use of light, great expressions in her candids.

2 - Flickr's "Inspirational Wedding Pool" [link] is always a great place to pick up some good ideas for the new year.

3 - Seven more great sites [link] that I posted way back in 2008 - still a great list to refer back to and gather a little inspiration.

4 - Two more great sites right here [link] - a little different view but still wonderful images.

5 - And lastly, a listing of inspirational quotes on marriage [link].  Hey, if you want to be in the wedding photography business, you need to resonate with what's taking place on that special day.  I think these quotes are definitely worth the read for any wedding photographer who wants to get their head and their heart around what so many of us really enjoy doing.

Hey gang, that's it for me today.  We are out early today catching up with friends in the area.  Everybody have a great weekend and I'll see you next week.  LaDawn and I will be in Nashville at Imaging USA and hope to see lots of you there.  Be sure to come up and say "HI".

See ya' in chilly Nashville,  -David

"Haystack Rock - Cannon Beach, Oregon"

"Haystack Rock - Cannon Beach, Oregon"
©David A. Ziser

How often does one see a vista like this?  Well, I guess if you live in Oregon and travel over to Canon Beach, you can see it every day.  This is one of the coolest, and easily accessible places for capturing some great images.  I visited Canon beach a number of years ago, and then a few years ago, we had the opportunity to be there again.  The vistas are breathtaking and exploring the environs with your camera will reward you with some great results.  This is just a "quick" shot I made as we were walking toward the "famous" Haystack Rock. Granted, I did tweak the tones and in Photoshop, but heck, Ansel Adams tweaked his "tones" with burning, dodging, and development. It's the visual result that counts.  Camera specs: Canon 20D fitted with 17-85mm lens at 17mm, F 18 @ 1/640 second, ISO 800.  Enjoy!  -David

Business Day Thursday: My Top 10 Favorite Business Building Tips

Good Morning Everybody,

How about one more Top Ten list today.  Everyone makes their New Year's resolutions and we all have the best intentions of keeping them.  The same thing should be true about our businesses.

On New Year's Day I posted 10 initiatives to get you started on the new year. Thanks to all for the very nice comments that you posted.  By the way, here is the link again to the New Year's Day "Make It A Perfect 10" right here. Over the New Year's weekend break, I took some time to go back and review all my Business Day Thursday posts.  I grabbed the ones that I thought were most pertinent to "business building."

Hit the "Read More..." link below to see my Top 10 Business Building Tips.

I ended up with lots more than ten so I then began the process of refining my selection.  The process was not easy. But, after re-reading and reviewing my list, I settled on these 10 posts.

Remember, these posts are not based on any number of page views, comments, or anything objective.  They are instead my distillation of the 10 most salient Business Day Thursday posts that I believe could be the most beneficial to any photographer - "aspiring professional" all the way to "seasoned pro."

Three of my selections are from posts where I announced a contest.  I wanted to get input from our other DigitalProTalk readers too.  The challenge resulted in some great bonus ideas from my readers.  I've noted those posts below so be sure to read the "Comments" sections of those posts too.

My Top 10 Business Building Tips From 2009

#1 - Don’t Stumble, Fumble, or Fall Before Crossing the Finish Line During Your Sales Presentation

#2 - 20 Ways To Appreciate Your Customer

#3 - Booking Weddings, How About Booking 5 Bonuses To Seal The Deal?

       Contest Post- Read "Comments" for even more ideas.

#4 - 12 Ways To Keep Your Clients Coming Back For More

       Contest Post - Read "Comments" for even more ideas.

#5 - Appointment Nirvana

#6 - The Bunny Rabbit Approach To Marketing

#7 - Are You Too Busy For Success?

#8 - Nudge It Up A Notch Selling and New Contest Announced

      Contest Post- Read "Comments" for even more ideas.

#9 - Stop Putting Gag Order On Your Sales! Part 1

#10 - Is Your Business Ready For Success?

There you have it gang.  I hope you enjoy the bonus re-read of these articles and can bring these suggestions to profitable fruition for your businesses this year.

On that note, everybody, I'm out of here.  See everybody again tomorrow assuming Daytona Beach makes it through it's Spring "thaw" ;~)

Adios, -David

"Rhapsody In Blue"

"Rhapsody In Blue"
©David A. Ziser

Here is another image I post way early on my DPT blog without any of the back-story.  It is still one of my favorites. The setting was so unusual.  I asked the couple to carefully work their way to the middle of the stream which was actually easier than it looks.  It was a "muggy" day and the moisture was just hanging in the air.  I asked my assistant to position himself and my Quantum flash behind the couple about 12 feet. The flash was set to full power and fired by the transmitter attached to my camera. I adjusted the shutter speed to just pick up the surrounds of the setting underexposing it slightly.  The flash fired, it also highlighted some of the mist hanging in the air adding a dramatic touch to the lighting and the image. I love the finished result.  Camera specs; Fuji S-1 fitted with Tamron 24-135mm lens at 39mm, F5.6 @ 1/16 second, ISO 800.  Enjoy!  -David

Photo FAVS Wednesday: High ISOs - A New Way To Think About Shooting

Good Morning Everybody,

Brrrrrr!!!! We woke up to 27 degrees in sunny downtown Daytona Beach today - Heck, I asked the front desk what time the ski slopes opened today;~)  Regardless, it's still good to be in sunny Florida for the next couple of days.

So did you get a chance to work your way through the 10 Technique Tuesdays I posted yesterday - lots of great information available. Anyway, let's get right to today's Photo FAVS post.

High ISOs - A New Way To Think About Shooting

Hit the “Read More…” link below for the whole story.

My High ISO Journey

Many of you know that I am a high ISO "speed freak" when it comes to shooting. It probably goes back to my early college days when I was working my way through school as a school photographer.

The fastest film we had at the time was Kodak Tri-X film rated at 400 ISO.  New developers were hitting the scene back then - Accufine and Diafine to name two.  Diafine developer could push Tri-X up to 3200 ISO - unheard of back then.  The problem was that the negative did not print that well at that high ISO. 

I stumbled upon a different high ISO solution back in those late 60's.  My favorite film/developer combo was Kodak Tri-X film processed in Edwal's FG7 developer diluted with a 9% Sodium Sulfite solution.  That gave me a very useable shooting speed of 1600 ISO - perfect for the football and basketball games I was assigned to photograph back in those days.  OK, am I losing everybody  - just hang in here with me a bit longer.

Everybody who saw my shots were pretty impressed with the results - fine grain, nice detail in the shadows, and good looking prints- from the "kid" photographer.  I was just 21 years old.

Anyway, that quest for high ISO shooting continued as I was building my fledgling photography business.  I remember when Kodak introduced their brand new high ISO Vericolor 400 film - WOW! 400 ISO in 1988. I even got to "beta test" it back then. As a footnote, one of those "test prints" went on to be the highest scoring print of the Mid-East Print Competition and I was named "Photographer of the Year." Boy, it sure changed how we shot weddings.

The film evolution continued with Kodak introducing their 1000 ISO film and finally settling in on their Kodak Vericolor 800 ISO formulation.  This film became my only choice for shooting weddings in the years leading up to my switching to "digital" in 2000.

On To Digital

As I migrated to digital very early in the last decade. Sorry, couldn't resist.  I was curious about the new high ISO settings I found on the new digital cameras.  I began testing them - 800 ISO on my then Fuji S-1, 1600 ISO on my Nikon D1x. 

Was there a problem? Not as far as I was concerned.  Heck, I felt they looked as good, maybe better than I was getting out of my high speed color films.  Picture Code had just introduced their beta of Noise Ninja and it seemed to work magic on any noise I was seeing.  I was hooked.

Now look how far we’ve come! Canon and Nikon both just recently introducing cameras that shoot 6-figure ISOs - UNBELIEVABLE!!!

So are these new "speed freak" cameras going to change how we shoot weddings?  Well, they should, but maybe not in all the ways you might consider.  It's more that just pointing the camera at a low light subject and taking the picture.  Heck, a tripod will let you do the same thing. 

These low light cameras open up all kinds of new possibilities for all shooters.  If you use flash, the high ISO settings will let you use much less "flash power" giving you many more flashes per charge.  Even now, shooting at 800 or 1600 ISO routinely for me at a wedding, I can make the 4 AA's in my Canon 580 EX2's last all day.  It's only going to get better.

Another benefit of the new high ISOs means "slower" glass will work in the same shooting situation. That should put a few bucks back into the back pocket for a lot of photographers. Now we will be able to shoot at F4 instead of F2.0 to obtain the same result. Think about it - the high ISO cameras should really expand the lens choices we can use on any job.

More On The High ISO Upside

I foresee a lot of photographers, now armed with these new high ISO cameras just shooting away without any regard to "contrast control" or "direction of light."   I suspect we all will capture some great low light images but I think the other side of the coin – quality and well lit images, is going to suffer.

I like a post I found at Matt Adcock's Flashflavor site.  Matt appreciates that the quality of light does not have to suffer when applying the use of the new high ISO cameras.  Check out his post right here where he describes how he uses his off-camera flash in low light conditions to add the "polish" of directional lighting on his shots.  Here is the link right here.

This past November, Matt followed up the post with another by his buddy Dave from DQ studios.  This is a great article - you can give it a read right here.  You can see there are lots of possibilities available to us. 

The main point I want to make today is the fact that lots more LIGHTING DOORS open up if we understand the full ramifications of these high ISO cameras.  It's more than just shooting in low light situations.  It's also about how these low light situations coupled with creative use of low power off camera flash can add vitality and polish to our imagery.  Once again, it will be the "difference that makes the difference" for those of us who will embrace the far  reaching implications high ISO cameras bring to the mix.

Here is one more link to check out.  It's at DigitalPhotoPro right here.  They hit on some of the points I've mentioned and provide a listing of all the high ISO cameras.  It's a nice reference article.

Hey, just my 2 cents worth.

____________________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today.  Have a great one and hopefully a warm one and I'll plan to see you same time, same place tomorrow.

See ya' then,  -David

"Nuuanu Pali Lookout"

"Nuuanu Pali Lookout"
©David A. Ziser

This image was captured at the windiest peak in Oahu a few months ago, Nuuanu Pali Lookout.  I was there with my kids years ago and we nearly got blown off the mountain.  I wanted to send my daughter a picture of the same spot we stood on years ago.  Sure, I had the big gear with me, but my iPhone made it easier to transfer the shot to her.  I was surprised by the image I obtained.  The lighting, colors and topography of the scene made for a great image. Don't get the wrong idea here - iPhone photos are not the norm here at DPT, but, you know what - a good image is a good image - even if you can't enlarge it much past a 4x6 ;~) Camera specs: Apple iPhone, 3.9mm lens, F2.8, Shutter speed unknown, ISO 70. Enjoy!  -David

Technique Tuesday: Top 10 Technique Tuesdays For 2009

Good Morning Everybody,

Well, we landed in Atlanta last evening after a magnificent drive through the mountains watching one of the most beautiful sunsets ever.  I think the colors lasted for over an hour.  Those kinds of evenings sure make our road trips worth it.

We stayed with my good buddy, Denis Reggie.  Denis is one of the best and most successful wedding photographers I know and we've known each other over 23 years. Mr. Reggie is the person who coined the term "wedding photojournalism" many years ago and has been a major influence in our profession for the past several years.

Plan to catch Denis' programs at all the major conventions this year. He always fires up the crowds and definitely gets you thinking about how to shoot your images and run your business. In fact he will be at Imaging USA next week.  If you want to delve deeper you might want to invest in a few days with Denis at his in studio programs. You can get more info on Denis' upcoming in studio programs right here.

Hope you enjoy the re-read of yesterday's Top 10 most popular posts.  For me it was fun to look back over the posts too. But now on to the really good stuff.  My Technique Tuesday episodes have been favorite posts for quite a while.

Today, I thought I would re-visit the most popular episodes with you.  Just hit the titles below and enjoy all 10 shows.  I think you'll enjoy them again.

Rank   Views      Title

#1       89,335     Technique Tuesday: Recession Flash - Poor Man's Lighting Set Up

#2       82,461     Gear Bag Friday - Double Blast Video Week - The Video Tour Of My Gear Bag

#3       69,485     Technique Tuesday: Love Lines – Another “Live” Wedding Shoot!

#4       48,843     Technique Tuesday: “I’ve Seen The Light”

#5       48,207     Technique Tuesday: How Slow Can You Go - Shooting Slow Shutter Speed - Handheld

#6       45,825     Technique Tuesday: Lightroom Lighting

#7       41,066     Lightroom 2 In Reverse Part 2 - Rapid Fire Retouching

#8       40,614     Technique Tuesday: Using My Mini-Z-Ray For Great Portraits

#9       40,426     Technique Tuesday: Lightroom 2 In Reverse - Part 1

#10      37,969    Technique Tuesday: Learning To See The Leading Lines

Hey gang, that's it for me today,  we are heading down to Florida and will be spending the next few days in the land of chilly "sun and fun."  See ya' tomorrow for another episode of my Photo FAVS Wednesday.  Adios,  David

"The Dance Of A Lifetime"

"The Dance Of A Lifetime"
©David A. Ziser

This image ran in the early days of my blog before I was adding the back-story and EXIF information.  That's why I'm re-visiting it again today.  It is still one of my all time favorite wedding shots.  And the bride and groom, two children later, continue to be favorite clients of mine.  I remember taking this image like it was yesterday.  The floor was dappled with all these colors and I thought it would be great if I could capture some of the colors as they fell on the bride's dress.  The decor lighting was pretty bright so I was able to get by with a reasonably fast shutter speed and ISO to make it happen. I knew that my flash coming from behind them would freeze the action of their dancing.  I took several images, but I felt this one was the best. I was in the right place at the right time and caught the bride just as the groom "dipped" her on the final note of the song. Camera specs; Nikon D1x fitted with 24-135mm Tamron lens, F5.6 @ 1/50 second, ISO 400.  Enjoy!  -David

Quick Hit Monday: Top Ten Posts For 2009

Good Morning Everybody,

The 4th of January, the new year has begun and this year holds lots of promise for all of us. There's lots of new stuff happening here at DigitalProTalk this year.  Look for more training coming your way, more podcasts - working on the video version, more webinars, more guest bloggers, more business tips, and lots more of solid content that you've come to expect from me on DigitalProTalk.

I hope over this past year you have enjoyed the range of content I've tried to post.  My thanks to Syl Arena who said, "David Ziser ...… he posts more original content about photography than any other single person I know." [link].  Thanks Syl. 

I hope you guys and girls feel the same way. DPT has become a labor of love over these last 2 1/2 years.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, "If you keep reading, I'll keep writing."

My thanks too, to my fellow bloggers who keep me on their radar and point their readers to the list of scintillating stories I try to provide.  My thanks go to Scott Kelby over at Photoshop Insider [link], 1001 Noisy Cameras [link], Matt Adcock over at Flash Flavor [link], Kerry Garrison over at CameraDojo [link], and the Imaging Insider [link] just to name a few.  Thanks to all other fellow bloggers too who enjoy the content of DPT and share it with their readers too. I hope you share and pass it on to your friends in photography as well.

In case you missed a few of the more popular posts, I've list the TOP 10 for 2009 below. Just click on the TITLE and Enjoy!

#1 - Portrait Day Wednesday: Wrapping the Shoot and Moving Onto Workflow

#2 - Soapbox Friday -- Are We Doing Ourselves And our Clients A Disservice If We Deliver Wedding Images On A DVD?

#3 - Soap Box Friday: Great Digital Argument #1 - PC vs. Mac. Let The Wars Begin

#4 - Quick Hit Monday: "Digital WakeUp Call - A New Dawn" Launches Today

#5 - Wednesday: So Is It Worth It To Shoot RAW?

#6 - Portrait Day Wednesday - What Do You Charge For The Portrait

#7 - Technique Tuesday: Live Shoot At The Wedding Reception & A New Podcast

#8 - Food For Thought Friday: Are You A What If Person? Maybe It's Time To Change Your Thinking

#9 - Food For Thought Friday - Are You Stealing Your Material?

#10 - Trash The Dress Or Trash The Photographer Friday

Hey gang, that's it for me today.  You won't believe it but we are heading south to Florida in just a few hours from now. I'll be blogging from the road for the next week.  We end up at Imaging USA convention next week in Nashville so I hope to see some of our DPT readers there. Please stop and say HI!!

Oh, I almost forgot - be sure to tune in tomorrow for the TOP 10 Technique Tuesdays of 2009. Lots of good info all in one place.

See ya' then,  -David