DigitalProTalk.com: 3,000th Post Today!

Good Morning Everybody,

And welcome to my 3000th post at DigitalProTalk.com. Yes, it's true, today DigitalProTalk.com is 3000 posts old. That's quite a milestone and I have all of you, my loyal DigitalProTalk.com readers, to thank for giving me the incentive to post 5 days a week for these last 4 1/2 years.

Since starting this blog around September of 2007 DigitalProTalk.com now averages about 350,000 page views a month with its 3.3 million readers coming from 205 countries worldwide!  The countries leading in readership are the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Spain, and Italy in that order.

Again, when I look at the analytics it just boggles my mind. I'm both humbled and grateful with the readers who have shared time with me at DigitalProTalk.com.

Let me give you more a few more statistics that DigitalProTalk.com has logged. The average daily postings totaling over 1500 words each day brings the total words that I blogged to just a little over 1.6 million. That many words would fill 2 copies of the Bible, both Old and New Testament or 3 copies of Leo Tolstoy's epic novel, War and Peace

There have been over 200 video tutorials posted on everything from lighting, photography, light room, Photoshop, and business building tips.

To give you a little hint on how to find all of them just enter Technique Tuesday in the search box in the top left corner of this blog.

Among these 3000 posts are over 200 Business Day Thursday posts. These posts are always targeted to photographers, from aspiring professional to seasoned pro, and focus on success tips that can help you continue to grow your business.

There have also been over 1000 “image of the day” posts. It is sometimes challenging to find an image five days a week. With each image I attempt to post the back story, what I was thinking as I was making that image, the technical details involved, and any pertinent lighting details as well. Nearly all the images have been posted with the pertinent excerpt data as well.

The easy way to explore the over 1000 images is to just search © David A. Ziser and just about all of them should pop since I include this copyright information with each photograph.

Other ways to search content on my blog is by exploring the topics listing in the right-hand column. You may have to scroll down just a bit to see them.

One thing I like about my blog is that there is no easy way to find any specific point of information. It is very much akin to my CD and DVD collection. Those collections to are neither organized or alphabetical which makes it a nice surprise when I find a CD or DVD selection that really intrigues me. I guess a different way of saying this is that, even for the occasional reader,  DigitalProTalk.com is full of surprises.

Another way to enjoy DigitalProTalk.com is to just browse through the post titles also included in the right column of the blog. Just pick any year, and then any month and then read through the titles. I'm sure you'll find something there that you like.

I've been thinking about changing DigitalProTalk.com header to read more simply:

DigitalProTalk – Stop on by, you'll always learn something here.

I think that says it all.  So in closing, let me say once again THANK YOU!! to all of my DigitalProTalk.com readers. Thank you to LaDawn for allowing me to continue to take the time to post/research daily. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'll keep writing if you'll keep reading;~)

I'll see you again bright and early on Monday morning, all the pixels willing. Have a great weekend everybody.

– David

Quick Hit Monday: Model Shoot-Out Coming!; Cool Photography; & Photoshop Goodies, Tutorials, and Freebies

Good Morning Everybody,

Ever have one of those days where you just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I hate to say it, but my entire weekend felt that way ;~) The BIG project for me is to push out the marketing for our upcoming PhotoPro Expo 2012 by the end of this week. 

Let me share with you one of our convention highlights.  It is like way cool.  If you've attended Photoshop World over the last few years, you've experienced the model shoot-out.  It is really fun.  Four bays completely propped and jammed packed with Westcott lighting and great looking exotic models.  Check out the video below to see what I mean - like I said, WAY COOL!. 

Anyway, my good friends at Westcott have agreed to do the same thing for our PhotoPro Expo 2012 convention!  I can't wait.  And, hey gang, that's just for starters.  I'll keep you posted as all the plans to come together. Remember, use promo code PPEDAZ12 to save $100 off registration.

On To Quick Hit Monday:

For today's Quick Hit Monday post I've gathered some very interesting and informative links for you.  I hope you enjoy them.. Let's get right to it.  Here we go...

On Photography:

I didn't find much on wedding photography this past week but did discover some great links with some terrific photography.

1. Photography Tips From Damian McGillicuddy: A very detailed de-construction of a great fashion shoot. [link]

2. Robert Seale Featured in Digital SLR Magazine:  Some very cool sports photography. [link]

3. 40 Realistic Examples of Levitation Photography: Hey, just for fun - makes me wonder how they were done ;~) [link]

4. The Ten Most Expensive Photographs: After last week's post on the most expensive photograph ever sold, I thought you may be interested in the rest of the Top 10 list of expensive images. [link]

Gadgets – Gear On The Cheap:

Super Cheap DSLR Remotes:  Photographers are three things and the first of those is CHEAP - me included.  That's why I liked this link to cheap DSLR remotes.  Uhmmm, remote cameras in front of church during weddings? [link]

Photoshop Lessons, Goodies & Freebies:

This is my favorite section to collect and pull together each week.  I can't believe all the good information available on line.  Check out these links - a treasure trove of Photoshop resources!

Cool Tutorials:

1 . 5 Incredible Methods to Enhance Your Designs with Light: A wonderful set of lighting tutorials to get great lighting on your Photoshop project. [link]

2. How to play Photoshop Actions on Multiple Images with Batch Editing: I needed to see this again.  It's one of those things you don't do every day.  So seeing the process once again was a good refresher.[link]

3. 30 Worth Learning Text Effect Tutorials in Photoshop: I'm not a big TEXT guy, but the processes described in these tutorials are fascinating to see. [link]

4. 25+ Water Effect Photoshop Tutorials and Brushes: I wish I had known about these techniques for some of my past projects. [link]

5. 30 Rare Outstanding Collections of Photoshop Tutorials: Some of these tutorials are really "off the wall" but following and understanding them will really broaden your knowledge of Photoshop. [link]

Some Great Freebies:

1. 30 Free Vector Graphics for Your Daily Needs:  A great set of useful Photoshop freebies. [link]

2. Free Tile-able and Seamless Pattern Sets:  More FREE stuff. [link]

3. 450+ Free Unique Photoshop Brushes:  I'm such a BRUSH junkie. [link]

4. Free Graphic Design Software Reviews and An Amazing Showcase:  OK, GIMP has been receiving a lot of play lately.  But now it also has a working version of "Content Aware Fill".  GIMP is FREE - Amazing!!! [link]

Wrapping With A Little Inspiration:

Stunning Photo Manipulations Inspired by Nature: I'm always amazed at what the digital artists can pull off in Photoshop. [link]

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Hey gang, that's it for me today.  I've got to get back to my real job.  I hope you'll join me tomorrow for another episode of Technique Tuesday.   

Hope to see tomorrow, David