I was at the local Urban Outfitters before Christmas, and I picked one these cameras up for my daughter. It's the camera marketed by Superheadz that's a replacement for the much sought-after Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim (VUWS) camera. With a 22mm lens, this camera is much wider in the field of view than any other cheap point and shoot. It's got a cult following now, too. Unfortunately the VUWS

"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

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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

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"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

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

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In early December I purchased a Gakken-flex kit from a Flickr contact (mijonju) in Japan. The Gakken-flex, for those that must never have looked online, is a 35mm twin-lens reflex plastic camera kit. It's a shame that there are no equivalent US magazines like that of Gakken's Otona no kagaku (?????) magazine. However, the US-based MAKE Magazine is now selling many Gakken kits online, including

"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

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

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