Technique Tuesday: PhotoPro Expo Only 4 Weeks Away! & No Flash Pizzazz

Good Morning Everybody,

Welcome to a brand new year at DigitalProTalk.  Today I’m hailing to you from sunny, yet a bit chilly, Orlando, Florida. That’s right, after the holidays LaDawn and I head south for a little recharge before we launch big time into the new year. We have a few friends in the area, including my son, Aaron, who we plan on catching up with this week.

Still Working Hard Though

Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m still working hard every day – the BIGGEST item on my plate being our PhotoPro Expo with is now only four weeks away!  We have photographers attending from 22 states around the country, including Canada, so this is going to be a truly international event.  And, one of the best learning experiences happening  in the Midwest for 2012!

I sure hope you plan to attend. Our room block is filling fast at the 4-star Marriott on the river so if you’re planning to come by, be sure to book your room right away before they sell out.  Hit the link to the right for all the info.

Over the next few weeks I’ll keep you posted about all the special activities we have planned for the convention. I think you’ll be amazed!

No Flash Pizzazz! Or How To Make Wedding?Portrait Images Exciting Without Flash!

There, I said it.  Can you believe it? Ziser talking about getting great wedding images without using a flash.  I know my mantra at DigitalProTalk is nearly always about off-camera flash, creating highlights next to shadows, going for the loop lighting pattern – you know the speech.

But, all joking (and preaching) aside, I know you can still create some terrific images with nature’s own wonderful light.  I think the secret to creating outstanding images without flash, particularly wedding and portrait images lies in the fact that you as the creator of the image have a decent sense of color, composition, timing, and lighting skills.

In today’s lesson I’ll walk you through about two dozen images discussing why I think these images stand on their own without any use of extraneous additive lighting.  In this tutorial you’ll get a peek as to how I compose my images, what I’m seeing in the camera before pressing the shutter button, and how I utilize all the elements of the scene to get exciting images without secondary light sources.

Why not hit the PLAY button and enjoy the show.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today. I’ve got a few hours of work to complete before we head to Ormond Beach, Florida to spend the day with my son, Aaron.

Have a great rest of the day and I’ll see you tomorrow, same time, same station.

Adios, –David

"The Future of America”

"The Future of America”
© David A. Ziser

OK, part of the future anyway ;~)  This image is actually a combination of three images that I made at separate times last year. As a Christmas gift, I took LaDawn and her three kids, along with their significant others, to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We all had a great time but, being the only photographer on the trip, it fell to me to do the family portrait. We got the locations scouted, the clothing coordinated, and headed to the beach. During the session I made LaDawn VERY happy with a great series of portrait images of everyone.

Eight months later we were in Florida to visit two kids. LaDawn had the idea of including them in the family portrait session that we had done with her children earlier in the year. The plan for the 2nd and 3rd shoot was to have my kids, wear the same type of casual clothing so that I could easily add them to the earlier portrait of the other five kids photographed eight months earlier.

This image is actually the subject of my Technique Tuesday for tomorrow. There was an extensive amount of Photoshop that had to be done just to extend  the background to include my two kids in the photograph.  I'll get into greater depth about that tomorrow.

Lighting was quite simple – all natural light in all three cases. I had to be sure to have a soft natural light which you see coming in from the right and it had to be from the same direction for all three images.

As a family portrait, I think this image has a wonderful sense of rhythm and good feeling about it. The positioning of each one of the subjects individually complements the entire family group when taken as a whole.

Anyway, I think we are very lucky parents to have such a great family portrait of our combined families. LaDawn spent the weekend framing up the portraits which will hang in our small media room on the second floor of our home. They’ll look great!

Camera specs - Image 1 (Joshua, Kristen, Bob, Lindsay & Zak): Canon 7D fitted with Canon 100mm macro IS lens IS lens at 3.2 @1/500 of a second, ISO 200.

Image 2 (Aaron): Canon 7D fitted with 18–200mm IS lens at 80mm, F9.0 @ 1/250 of a second, ISO 500.

Image 3 (Elizabeth): Canon 7D fitted with 18–200mm IS lens at 70mm, F8.0 @ 1/250 of a second, ISO 500.

Enjoy! – David

"The Soft Curves Of Beauty "

"The Soft Curves Of Beauty "
© David A. Ziser

This is one of my favorite images I captured in Tampa a few weeks ago.  It is a totally natural light image - no flash allowed.  Sometimes the light is just perfect so forget the flash and take advantage of that beautiful soft light.

Not only did I have wonderfully naturally occurring light, I also had a fabulous location to work.  I love the soft curved lines of the railing.  It was a perfect compositional element for leading the viewer’s eye to my beautiful bride.

Next, one of the important ingredients of this image is the very pleasing background behind the bride.  I had to use "Live View" on my Canon 7D because I was reaching out over the railing so that I could frame up the background where I wanted it.  Many times you will have most of the ingredients of a great image but something will be missing to bring it all together.  That was not the case here.

Look at how all the lines in this image, including the lines of the bride, are leaning AND leading your eye to the right side of the image.  Placing the bride at nodal point #3 was the perfect position for her in this composition.  Add a pleasing expression and we have a very nice bridal portrait.

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 200mm, F11 @ 1/100 second, ISO 800.  Enjoy!  -David

"Thoughts Of You"

"Thoughts Of You"
© David A. Ziser

Here is another image I captured at the beautiful Jacuzzi Winery on Tuesday.  The class was working with Megan, our lovely model.  They were outside and asked her to sit in the window and just look back at the camera.

I’m sure their photograph looked good but I wanted to see what it looked like from the opposite side.  I circled around and went inside to see what the shot looked like from that vantage point.  This was the image I saw – a beautifully lit profile of Megan. Look at the gorgeous loop lighting on her face.  The natural lighting sculpts her features perfectly giving us a very simple, easy portrait of this lovely young lady.

Compositionally, I positioned her head carefully between the boards  the “interior frame” of the wooden shutter behind her in order to frame her even more effectively for this photograph.  Her head is positioned at nodal point #4 of both the “exterior AND interior frame” of the composition.

I also like the very warm colors and how they contrast with the rich blue color of her top.  You know, when you look at this image, it is a simple/pleasing portrait.  It’s all natural lighting, easy pose, and simple composition that all comes together for a very beautiful and flattering image of Megan.

Camera specs:  Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 110m, F5.6 @ 1/200 second, ISO 320.  Enjoy!  -David

"Napa Valley Beauty"

"Napa Valley Beauty"
© David A. Ziser

This image was taken yesterday during my Napa Experience Workshop.  The light had changed quite a bit while we were shooting in the afternoon.  The original location down this walkway was now flooded with light which was overpowering the beautiful natural light coming in form the left hand side.

The easy solution was to photograph our model from the other direction.  That gave us the added benefit of have that strong, bright light which was steaming in now from behind the subject create a beautiful accent light on our portrait.

I love it when a portrait comes together.  This image was the product of just the natural light on the scene, but when you find the direction of light, and position your subject to that beautiful soft light, you get a great result!

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 100mm, F5.6 @ 1/80 second, ISO 400.  Enjoy!  -David