Hellooooo Vegas!

It’s that time of year again to join up in the madness that is the WPPI 2010 Convention!  But this year is special: it’s WPPI’s 30th anniversary and with an expected record attendance of over 13,000 photographers from around the world, this promises be a crazy week you’ll never forget

If you’re here for WPPI would love to connect and grab a hug   Here’s some places we’ll be guaranteed to be found hanging out:

Sunday 11am-1pm – DQ Studios MasterClass – For Love, money and art the DQ Way.  Room #203 (Sold out – but free hugs in the hallway after class )

Sunday night: Airhorns and lasers partee!

Monday-Wednesday – (10am-4pm M&T 10am-3pm W). WPPI Tradeshow QuiKeys Booth #1250

QuiKeys Tradeshow Bonus round: With a bunch of our friends, we’ve set up a cool “Speaker’s Corner” right by our booth where amazing photographers will be sharing their imagery and stories. Here’s a schedule of some of the people who’ll be by the booth:

Speaker’s Schedule

Monday March 8
John Mireles – 11:00 AM
Concept & Fashion

Joe Photo – 12:00
Changing with the Wedding Market

Catherine Hall – 1:00 PM
Starting Strong

Tamara Lackey – 2:00
Children’s Portraits

Tuesday March 9
Jennifer Dery 11:00 AM
Pricing Destination Weddings

Dave Quin 12:00 PM
Cutting Edge Weddings

Greg Gibson 2:00 PM
Recent Work from a Top Ten Wedding Photographer

Suzi Q. Varin 3:00
Delicious Wedding Photography

Wednesday March 10
Marcus Bell 11:00 AM
New Work from One of the Best Wedding Photographers Ever to Walk the Planet

Tony Bisson 1:00
Killer Album Design

It’s like a mini-convention within the convention!  I think I overheard there may be milk and cookies too …. just sayin.  I’ll be twittering updates, special guest appearances and some crazy surprises so be sure to follow me on twitter to receive the latest awesome on all things WPPI.

Super-Duper Bonus Round:

We’ve joined forces with WPPI and lots of other cool companies to create a HUGE Scavenger Hunt Giveaway!  With over $50,000 in prizes (including four full QuiKeys Pro systems!?!?!) it’s worth getting a group of 4 friends together and chasing after the jackpot!  Click here for details and sign up to win big.

If you’re at WPPI, don’t be a stranger and introduce yourself! With more parties and events than hairs on my neighbor’s dog’s head, I’m hoping to run into bunches of old friends and making plenty of new ones.

See you in Vegas!!

Honest: it’s not just the cappuccino levels in my body causing this crazy behavior; there’s meaning in the madness

I remember reading a sign in a machine shop which read:

“Pick any 2 of the following: Fast. Perfect. Cheap.”

My preference is for perfect and fast. I’m not eager to sacrifice quality for speed, and this choice can be clearly seen in the productivity tools I choose to purchase and create in business and in life.

I’ve recently been pondering on the “Why?” in my quest for maximizing my productivity. It’s been a good exercise in getting to the root of my motivations and a great reminder of what matters most. Below are some thoughts on why productivity tools matter so much to me.

Reason #1: Time.

Time is a non-renewable resource. No matter how much we try we can’t jam more hours into our day or more days into our week. We’re all in the same boat of having to fit our increasingly busy lives into the same 24 hours. So why wouldn’t we want to find ways to be more productive?

Reason #2: Profitability.

We’ve all heard the saying, “Time is money.” Althought I don’t agree wholeheartedly with this notion, I believe a business will have a competitive advantage (read: profitability advantage) if they can increase their productivity.

Whether in the service, sales or product industry, businesses strive to streamline every fiber of their being for this very reason. For example, if Business “A” produces 50 widgets a day which can be sold for $5/each and Business “B” produces 100 widgets a day with the same selling price and resources, which business would you choose to invest in?

It’s easy to see why businesses invest so much money in the fastest and smartest people and tools when profitability matters.

Reason #3: Enjoyment.

Sometimes tools make the mundane more fun and that’s enough reason to justify a tool/toy/software purchase.

Not surprisingly, I’m a fan of David Allen’s GTD (Getting Things Done) productivity ideas. One piece of advice that initially sounded strange to me was in the purchase of a labeler to label your folders. His theory was having a neatly organized folder system made you more likely to use it and stay organized.

Reluctantly, I bought a labeler and labeled all my files. Surprisingly I found his advice works! I find it faster to file and find documents in a system that is clearly and professionally labeled versus trying to decifer my horrible handwriting and perhaps not filing it in the first place … which is where I was before adopting the labeler.

Of course it’s tough to quantify the “enjoyment factor,” so be reasonable and realistic with the effort you use to research and money you invest in your tools. $20 for a labeler wasn’t too much of a stretch. $4000 for a slightly faster computer …. more-so.

Reason #4: Freedom.

We’re finite beings and have limited resources of time, money, energy and passion. More time, money and less anxiety in your life gives you choices to pour yourself into projects and people that matter most.

Whether it’s chasing after a new business idea, investing time in your family and friends, or giving back to the world at large, having the freedom to release your energy on things of your heart is a wonderful way to live with purpose.

Cool, but what now?

Before finding productivity tools that matter, find out what truly matters to you. There’s no use in chasing after more time, money and happiness if you haven’t clearly thought-out your passions in life and what you’ll do with yourself when you aren’t tied down to today’s todo list.

Here’s 3 simple steps to get you started:

1. Write down 3 lists of goals: (a) personal, (b) family and (c) business.

2. Prioritize the above all in one mega-list.

3. Share the top 3 with the closest person to you.

For those of you who have business or life-partners, it might be eye-opening to do this on your own and then come together to share your thoughts with each other.

Productivity and You.

I hope this sheds some light on my seeming obsession with productivity. Honest: it’s not as unhealthy as it looks … but a means to an end of creating the freedom to pursue what matters most to me ….

Would love to hear your thoughts. Agree? Disagree? If there’s enough interest, I’ll be starting a Productivity category for this blog where I’ll share my productivity tools, tips and techniques in photography and beyond. Would love to hear from those who attended yesterday’s productivity webinar too.

Whoever you are, hit me up in the comments to weigh in. Feedback good and bad is truly appreciated

Thanks for reading friend.

Three years ago QuiKeys was launched with the sole function of super-fast Photoshop retouching.

Three years ago Lightroom didn’t exist and our album design plug-in was just a pipe-dream.

Today, QuiKeys solves all the photographer’s digital imaging workflow problem with plug-ins for Lightroom, Photoshop and Album Design.

Hard to believe our little workflow secret-weapon has turned into the industry’s most powerful and complete workflow tool in three short years.

And what a ride it’s been! It’s amazing to look back and see how QuiKeys has grown with the needs of digital photographers everywhere. From its inception to its current amazingly flexible and powerful state, we’re glad to be able to share our tools and tips with creative photographers like us

Happy birthday QuiKeys!

As a “Thank you!” for your support through the years, we’ll be doing our first public webinar:

Office Productivity: 4 steps to the Paperless Office.

Admittedly it doesn’t sound terribly sexy, but going paperless last year reduced my office work by 3 weeks and gave me more of my life and sanity back!

Strange but true.

The webinar will be a slice of our uber-geek hit presentation at Mystic5, so if you missed it, it’s your chance to simplify your office paperwork AND become an organized, efficiency super-hero.

There’s limited seating, so sign up in the widget below or email me at d(at)dqstudios.com to reserve your spot. It’s first come first serve, but hope to see you there

When: Tuesday, February 16th at 12 noon GMT (-7).

Super duper bonus: it’s free!

More QuiKeys birthday goodies coming up via Twitter, Facebook and this blog really soon …

You asked for it, you got it!

So glad to announce our next YinYang Workshop with our favorite partner in crime: Huy Nguyen

For all the YinYang goodness and to find out how to bring YY4 to a city near you, check the website here.

The news continues to come in and quake-ravaged Haiti needs our help.  I’m not skilled as a doctor or rescue specialist, but if you’re like me, you’re wanting to make a difference.

Next Wednesday, join us for fwforum’s Mentor Marathon for Haiti. Give to Haiti and spend time online with some amazing photographers:

7 am – 10 am : Sergio + Critsey Rowe
10 am – NOON : DQ Studios
NOON – 2 pm : David Murray
2 pm – 4 pm : Tyler Wirken
4 pm – 6pm : Ben Chrisman + Anna Kuperberg
6 pm – 8 pm : JVS
8 pm – 10 pm : Brooks Whittington

100% of proceeds go to your choice of charity, and you’ll be able to request critique or ask any questions of the photographers above.

If you’re wanting a critique of your work during our allotted time, just comment below and we’ll connect to get things moving. First come first serve.

Special thanks to Huy for creating the community that is fwforum and for spearheading this a community-driven effort.

Details and info on getting codes for the online webinar can be found here.

See you Wednesday!

I’ve heard only great things about this legendary workshop.

Yes: it’s held in cold and snowy Mystic, Connecticut. Yes: you’ll likely wanna bring your scarf and mitts.

Why go?

More intimate than the big conventions, and allowing everyone to see every speaker is a great start.  Now look at this year’s lineup and the bargain price and you’ll know why it’s bound to be the best Mystic Workshop yet.

We’re honored to have been asked to speak along side industry giants and friends (Joe McNally? Really??) and, to be honest, I’m selfishly looking forward to learning from the amazing speakers!

If you’re looking for a great opportunity of learning and community, look no further than Mystic5

Big shout out to Walter for having the vision and courage to create this beast.

To find out about the many amazing speakers and to sign up, check out the Mystic5 site here.

See you at Mystic5!

Nikon D700 + 105mm f2 @ISO1250, f2.2 & 1/100. Off-camera flash: Nikon SB900 triggered via Quantum FW10w Transceivers

Yesterday I was talking with a marketing director of a flash company about flash needs in the 21st Century.  We all know we love balancing and, at times, overpowering sun with flash.  But how about lighting with off-camera flash in low-light/high-ISO surroundings?

There’s lots of relatively high-powered flashes made for bright shooting and overpowering dark scenes.  What’s lacking is a professional strobe with *really* low-powered output for accenting low-light environments.

“We’re not in Kansas anymore …”

Today’s camera technology is simply amazing.  We can shoot at 6400ISO with image-stabilized lenses, allowing us to get shots which were impossible even a few short years ago.

Ironically, this post has come up because I believe, now more than ever, the ability to shape and mold your flash in *all* circumstances will help set you apart from the competition.

There’s a lot of ground to cover when dealing with flash, so let’s narrow the scope for the sake of this discussion.  I’m not talking about adding a widget and bouncing your on-camera flash against a wall or ceiling.  I’m talking about going a level beyond and wirelessly triggering well-placed off-camera flashes. Accent instead of over-powering ambient light.

For this post, I’m talking about dark venues. Really dark venues.  Take, for example, last weekend’s reception venue with an ambient light reading of 3200ISO, 1/80 and f2.  When I say “low-powered flash” I mean having to add a 3-stop neutral density gel to a Nikon SB900 or Canon 580EXII manually set to 1/128 power to balance the fore-mentioned low light levels and still having to shoot at 1600ISO and f2.

Ugly light notice: In an effort to show a fair comparison of images with and without flash, the images for this post were sucked out of RAW via PhotoMechanic’s “Extract JPEG” feature.  For the uninitiated, this means there was no WB, toning, contrast, exposure or other adjustments made at all to these images.  This is as SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) as it gets!  Photoshop was only used to run our logo/resizing droplet.  All images have their EXIF info intact and were taken from this past weekend’s wedding so there’s no cherry picking from a billion weddings either.  The funky ambient light is brought to you by a mixture of tungsten and sodium vapor overhead lights.

If you’re still here, you must be either (a) a photographer interested in bettering your lighting craft, (b) crazy or (c) both.

Welcome to my world and thanks for joining me in the Crazy Photographer category! Now let’s get down to bizness …

Lighting with style: 5 Reasons to use off-camera Flash at Receptions:

ambient:

with flash:

5. Variety in imagery. Adding flash to your arsenal allows you to create more variety in your coverage.  I want to note that more variety doesn’t mean adding light for the sake of it in the same way it wouldn’t mean giving your clients duplicate images to look at for the sake of upping the numbers.  No two situations will be alike, so really assessing your surroundings and adding the right amount, color and quality of light to balance the room is key to making great lit imagery.  Moment, composition and expression are as important as ever if your image is going to have impact.

4. Add Drama & Focus.  Most receptions we shoot are dim and quite flatly lit or, worse, lit with mixed light sources.  Yes: I’ve seen and shot some amazingly lit venues, but those are few and far between, and even in these scenes I’ll often choose to add flash to mold and move your eye to where I want it.    Think of well-placed off-camera flashes as in-camera dodge and burn: use your flash to dodge and guide your viewer.  Another great side effect: slightly underexposing ambient and accenting with flash can help minimize distracting backgrounds, people and clutter.

ambient:

with flash:

3. Uncle Bob can’t see (or use) your light. We’ve shot weddings where a guest pulled out the latest DSLR with an 85 f1.2 and another with a 300 f2.8.  Serious lens-envy material!  No matter how good the camera and glass, Uncle Bob can’t vision what you’re doing with your flashes.  Being able to surprise your clients with imagery they literally couldn’t see with their own eyes is one of the most gratifying parts of the job. For us, judicious use of off-camera flash has become an essential tool to this end.

2. No post-processing needed (or “Look Ma: No hands!”). There’s nothing quite like the feeling when you nail a great image straight out of camera.  It’s like that feeling when you hit your best golf stroke or perform that perfect solo on the keys (not that I’d know what either of these feels like … heh heh).  While I’m a believer in finishing images in post with Lightroom and Photoshop, all images in this post had absolutely *no* post-processing applied to show that adding the right flash-light to your shooting workflow can take hours off your post-shoot time in front of your computer.

ambient:

with flash:

1. Because other’s don’t. There’s lots of reasons *not* to use flash: ” My camera shoots at ISO 2000000!”  “My pics are good enough without it.”  Or, to be honest, many may say, “It’s too much work” or “I don’t know how.”  All these reasons make it easier for those who DO choose to push beyond their comfort zone and use off-camera flash to stand out from the pack. Thankfully with the great choices of tools  and teachers we have in our industry there’s little stopping us from experimenting and getting comfy with off-camera flash.

ambient:

with flash:

Our ultimate goal has always been to give our clients unique and better imagery than anyone else will or can.  Of course we take the ambient-light shots, but why stop there?  Take the time to learn your flash rig and you may be surprised to see what develops.

—-

So now what?  Through lots of hard work, testing, and trial and error, we’ve managed to tame our existing flashes to do our bidding.  But I’m hoping that a flash company comes along and fills this niche of a super-low-light pro-flash, making it unnecessary for us to tape umpteen ND and warming gels in the quest to get just-the-right pop of flash.  So what’s my ideal low-light flash?  I’m glad you asked   Here’s my wishlist:

+ Runs off 2 or 4 AA batteries (lithium batteries ok if it doesn’t sacrifice recycle time and can keep the size down)

+ Small & light form factor with tilt/swivel zoom head

+ Manual power down to 6400ISO & f2 at 15″

+ Super-fast recycle time

+ Hotshoe/auto mode and 1/8″ miniphone sync-in

+ Bonus: wireless iTTL (Nikon) and/or eTTL (Canon) receiver

Pretty much a mini-SB900 or 580EXII would fit the bill. And, for any flash companies reading, just to sweeten the pot: I’ll even volunteer to test prototypes for FREE!

Crafting light is a passion of mine, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic.  Agree or disagree?  What’s keeping you from lighting at weddings?  Or, if you’re already lighting your receptions, I’d love to see what you’re doing too.

Cheers and happy flashing

Specifically for couples who work in this challenging yet rewarding industry together, the goals of One Workshop are simple: to equip and encourage us as couples to grow successful businesses … without sacrificing the ones we love the most.

It’s never as easy as it looks, and nobody’s perfect, but we feel blessed to be able to share how we’ve come to where we are today with a lot of hard work, respect, love and even more grace

At only $499 per couple, you can tell it’s not a get-rich-scheme for anyone involved.  It’s something that’s dear to all of us and definitely worthwhile in more than just money-sense.

We’d love for you to come join us and our friends for One Workshop.  You’ll never regret investing in each other

In love,

dq

Nikon D700 24-70mm @ 26mm  .  ISO250  1/250  f5.6

Thanks to all the Ninja’s that came out for our first-ever Ninja Workshop!

We were honored with all the Ninjas in attendance ranging from full-time College students to seasoned pros.  We know we gave it all we had and glad to hear the great feedback from the one-day of crazy learning and fun

Special thanks to Laura for sharing the behind the scenes pics below!

We found ourselves in a typically pedestrian college lecture room and loved demonstrating simple lighting techniques which allow us to quickly create dramatic images in un-dramatic surroundings. From this:

To this:

Nikon D700 70-200mm @155mm  .  ISO400  1/250  f7.1

and this:

Nikon D700  24-70mm @38mm  .  1/250  f5

Gelling our flash (full CTO) also allowed us to incorporate the ceiling lights into dramatic affect as seen in the top-most image too.

Walking outside gave us a chance to shoot in shade with our Quantum T5Dr’s.

Nikon D700  24-70mm @34mm  .  ISO400  1/250  f2.8  .  Light: Quantum T5Dr w/ Quantum Softbox

I can’t emphasizing how much we love having shoot-position control of both wireless TTL and manual modes with the new Quantum Pilots and Quantum lights!

How would any DQ workshop be complete without shooting in full-out notacloudinthesky sun?

Nikon D700  24-70mm @48mm  .  ISO100  1/250  f16

YIKES it was HOT and sunny out!!  Great to be able to balance the sun at 8ft with our Quantums!

Super-thanks to our ridiculously-good-looking models and uber-friends Ken & Cherie!!  Thanks for flying in from NYC and hangin with us in Vancouver!  it was AWESOMENESS to spend time with you guys

Does that Ken guy look familiar?  He’s also known as the Renaissance (Album) man himself, but should *really* be called “Party in a Box”

Thanks to our sponsors for making it happen: Renaissance Albums, Quantum Lighting, and Carol & the gang at Beau Photo for putting it all together.  Nothing like working with great people and products to pull of an amazing workshop.

Ninja’s-in-training: Thanks for coming out and joining us!!  Can’t wait to see what y’all do with your new-found knowledge and QuiKlips too!!

In Love,

dq

09 . 07 . 27   .  Vancouver  .  BC  .  Canada

Mark your calendar and get thee to the awesomest Ninja workshop this side of Yang.

“Float like a butterfly … sting like a bee.  Light like a Ninja ~ show them what they can’t see.”

Special thanks to all our sponsors for making it happen!

More info and signup here.

PS: Thank our sponsors and don’t get used to the pricing … it’s as close to free as we get