Sports in Action

This past June the gym my daughter has attended for 4 years closed their doors (in part to the economy). On her last day we were told we could photograph and watch their final practice. This image is of my baby girl, leaping off the balance beam (onto a cushy mat). I just love her grace and style! Fly Baby, Fly!!

Be sure to head on over to www.iheartfaces.com to check out all of the beautiful face entries this week!

Happy Birthday America

Meet Lilly

(Thanks to Leanne for the following write up.)

The Douglas family proudly introduces the newest member of the family. Lilly is our brand new baby sugar glider. She is between 8 and 12 weeks old. Most people don't know what these cute little critters are, so I'll tell you. She is a marsupial, (NOT a rodent) sort of a cross between a koala bear and a flying squirrel. Fully grown she will only be about 5" long not including her tail.

Lilly will be spending the next two days alone in her cage....de-stressing from her long trip and getting used to the smells and sounds of her new home. After that, we will all be loving her MANY hours a day so that she will bond with her new family and come to trust and love us. We plan to take her everywhere with us once she is fully trained. We have small travel pouches that we can carry like a purse to keep her with us but safe and secure.

Everyone (maybe not me so much....I really wanted a dog) is so excited to finally have a pet.

Class of 2009!

Congratulations Amy! You Rock. 

JJ Heller

Meet JJ Heller. She and her husband David filled in and lead our church in worship this past Sunday. It is always great to support and welcome Christian artists to our church. JJ and David sang several songs (a few originals) and I feel in love with them. You can visit JJ's website and and give them a listen. You may just like what you hear.  

David Ziser's Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009

For those of you who don't know David Ziser, he is a popular photography instructor at Photoshop World and Kelby Training, a daily blogger (Digital Talk Pro), and a leader in wedding and event photography. David has taught tens of thousands around the world, and he's ready to teach you.  

On March 30, 2009 (in Jacksonville, FL), David Ziser's "Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009 - A New Dawn" will be kicking off a 58 city tour. (Link Here) I am sure he is coming to a city near you!

Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009 - A New Dawn will focus on 3 areas:

1. Master You Lighting - Master Your Market

David will present an intensive session on creative lighting and exciting composition.  Considered by many to be a "master of lighting", David will demonstrate just how easily and quickly you can light your images beautifully and dramatically, making them stand out from the crowd.  Watch how he uses on-camera flash, off-camera flash, filtered flash, bounce flash, and many other lighting techniques to create images that really rise above the crowd in a wedding market that has been diluted with so much flat, one dimensional photography.

In This Lighting and Photography Segment David Will Show You:

• 32 ways to make the best use of your on-camera and off-camera flash for creative and dramatic effects;
  
• Composition - the secret ingredient of a great photograph; lens selection and camera settings for the best possible results with your gear;
  
• How to get the best results out of the new ISO cameras;
  
• And lastly, how the new video capabilities of these new cameras can transform your product offerings.
  

 

Don't shoot weddings - no problem. David's techniques work equally well for the portrait and senior photographer seeking to differentiate their creative look and style from the "rest of the pack." 

2.  "Magic Bullet" Techniques to Make Your Production Headaches Disappear.

Are you tired of hearing the term "workflow-this" and "workflow-that" everywhere? Well, it's about time we move beyond mundane digital production processes and open our eyes to new, streamlined methods of running our digital studios efficiently, effectively, and profitably.  David will be discussing 5 major software "Magic Bullets" in the course of his presentation.

• Lightroom 2.0 - 5 Wedding/Portrait specific techniques guaranteed to shorten your time at the computer and make your images sing.
  
• How to use other software "magic bullets" to add pizzazz to your wedding/portrait images and make digital workflow nearly effortless, highly efficient, and fun. 
  
• David will discuss and demonstrate one today's software best kept secrets.  He will show you how to design an album with only one mouse click and then "fine-tune" it to perfection with only a few more clicks.
  
• He will discuss album design - good and bad, but concentrating mostly on how to make your albums become a reflection of your studio's identity.
  

3. Making Your Business More Profitable

Whether you are a seasoned pro, or part time professional, or just getting started in your business, David will point you to creative, profit building strategies for growing your business.  Digital has changed the rules for many photographers.  David will discuss and suggest how "digital" opens doors to new possibilities for all of us wanting to grow our business.

He will share with you his very successful marketing strategies that have enabled his studio to reach the best clients in his market and deliver his highly profitable and most beautiful products ever.

David's discussion will include 20 new products and solid marketing ideas to increase your sales using today's digital technologies.  These products and marketing ideas are targeted to today's customers and work for any photographer - aspiring pro to seasoned professional - and will add substantially to your bottom line.

David made a special offer for the folks who read DannyDouglas.com. Enter code (ZDDDWC09) to get in for $59 – a savings of $20. That’s an incredible deal considering that you’ll go home with materials worth $250 more than you paid to get in:

• Tour Handbook including: program notes, photography, marketing and more
  
• 2 Hour DVD with extended program content
  
• $100 Rebate from American Color Imaging
  
• 1 year membership to WPPI and Rangefinder magazine, a $99 value
  
• FREE 3 month membership to DigitalProTalkPlus.com, a $45 value
  
• FREE 3 month subscription to PPA Magazine, a $15 value
  
• FREE PPA Indemnification (no-fault) insurance for all new PPA members, a $50 value
  
• Over $2,500 in door prizes awarded each evening
  
• And a chance to win 1 of 4 Grand Prizes worth over $5,000
  

Bonus For Canon Shooters: David is a Canon shooter too. His demos are based on Canon gear.

Dude, the economy is tight! Don't worry, I may be able to get you in for free!

Just enter the "Exciting Light" contest on Flickr. 

DEADLINE: APRIL 15TH (yep, that April 15th, but this is a lot less painful than taxes).

The Digital WakeUp Call - A New Dawn tour is about exciting lighting and a lot more. The lucky reader selected by me who submits the most "Exciting Lighting" image made with portable flashes wins the free. Pretty easy, so enter today.

How to Enter...

1. You will need a Ficker Account. It's free to join and easy to use.

2. Join the Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009 - A New Dawn Group 

3. Upload no more than 3 of your photos that represent "Exciting Light" (remember to use a portable flash or two) to your Flickr account.

4. Then tag your photos with "DWC2009" (How to tag).  

5. Once the images are on your Flickr account and tagged, just "Send to Group" (it a link about you image). And select The Digital Wake Up Call Tour 2009 - A New Dawn Group.  Please, no more than three entries per person. 

6. Then promise to share and tell all your family, friends, strangers about www.DannyDouglas.com

Selection Process:

On or about the evening of April 15th, I will figure out a way to decide the winner. Remember, this is about exciting lighting, this is the key for my decision.  I will notify the winner by email shortly after my decision has been made. Good luck!

 

Snow Day

Last night a storm rolled through our area and dumped between 5" to 9" inches of snow (Snow drifts were a little higher). We also lost power in the middle of the night for a few "chilly" hours. When we woke up, this is what we saw...

Then I saw this. Could Spring be far behind?

UPDATE: My follower blogger, Puna, was smart enough to actually measure the snowfall! So, the un-official official total of snow fall is 10 INCHES!! Check out Puna's blog here. Thanks meteorologist Puna!