In addition to a series of live shoots on each DVD, it looks like Mike Larson covers a lot of other gems of hard won knowledge about how to succeed in this difficult business – growing your business, client relations, business charts, branding, and use of social media to get more clients (in addition to technical information on photographic lighting techniques).

Here are the 4 DVDs and their content – If anyone wants to buy me 1 of them or the entire set, I would be most grateful. I need all the photo advice I can get.

DVD 1: Rise Above The Crowd!
Enhance Your Leadership Skills & Reputation As A Photographer.
Including 6 live shoots

From Startup to Success
The Most Influential Image
Studio Lounge
Leadership
Worst Light Of The Day
Integrity, Respect, Timing
Team Approach
Client Relations
Brand Yourself
Freedom For Yourself
Fun With Customers

DVD 2: Be A Successful Photographer!
Develop Your Own Style Of Shooting To Success.
Including 4 live shoots

Innovation
Directing
Camera Toss
Mike´s Bag Of Gear
Twitter, Facebook, Blogging
Old New Media
Relationship & Influence
Avoid Postproduction
Efficient Selling
Pricing
Rim Light
Cooperation

DVD 3: Shoot Right The First Time
Make That Your Goal! Use Mike Larson’s Magic Tricks To Land The Big Jobs.
Including 6 live shoots

Time Savers
Practice Sessions
Lighting Set-Ups
Shooting Style
Manipulate Light
Style And Vision
Posing
Camera Settings & Techniques
Create Masterpieces
Swatt The Light
Getting Clients
Popping Images
Assistants
Scenarios
Lead Your Clients.

DVD 4: Become Successful As Quickly As Mike Larson -
Mike Shares His Greatest Secrets With You.
Including 9 live shoots

Customer Evangelists
Mike´s Studio
Client Treatment
Growth Principals
Referal Based Business
Learn Fast
Move The Sun
Goals
Time & Profit
On Or In Your Business
Outsourcing
Exposure
Shooting Techniques
Business Charts

It is funny – I have never bought a good tripod in all that time, favoring the $50 to $100 models that weigh about 12 pounds and move with the wind when you are outdoors. I actually hated all of them, but accepted the shoddy build quality as a necessary evil for my budget. Now that I think about it, I have probably spent around $500 on tripods over 10 years, which seems ridiculous in retrospect. I never got any pleasure from using them, and threw them all away, usually in pieces. Now that I am playing more with video and getting more requests for tabletop work, I am looking at some high quality ball heads. The Swiss made Foba Suberballs look amazing. The M2 looks like a tank, but probably glides like a plane, and weighs a solid pound. It is rated for 26 pounds of camera. I am thinking it might be time to buy something built to last for a change.

Want to buy me one? Check BH PHOTO. Any M2 will do!

The possibility of 3d photography is inspiring though. Somewhat maddening in fact. I have been searching the internet for sample images of 3d television and 3d photography, unfortunately there is no way to see any of this without lenticular hardware for glasses-free viewing, or some 3D glasses. Either way, I need to come up with some 3d projects if I am ever going to justify the cost of this $3500 + gift.
If you want to help launch my 3D photography series, you can grab this lens for me at Adorama. Thanks for your support!

I have a very bad habit of slinging my old Promaster strap over one shoulder instead of around my neck. It isn’t a good idea. The super-elasticky band was intended for neck comfort, not strap security (it provides neither). And my shoulders are droopy, so the camera tends to slide off my shoulder.

The Sun Sniper Pro is a shoulder sling camera strap which fits across the chest, leaving your camera free at your side or behind you instead of pouding up and down on your chest when you are carrying other gear. I tried the original Sniper Strap on at Photo Plus 2009, and it was very comfortable. I tested it with a Nikon d100 (with a battery pack and a 180 2.8 lens) and it felt….weightless. The shoulder padding was excellent. Hard to describe, but there is a huge difference in comfort between a neck strap and a shoulder sling strap. The weight distribution makes a big difference, but I also felt more freedom of movement in having the camera floating at my side. And I felt cooler – It is nice having the camera out of the way until you need it. I see people with neck straps now and they look more…..desperate for a shot. Like they might miss it unless their camera is 3 inches away from their face.

So the Sniper Pro is an update to the older strap I tried last year. I presume it has gotten better, as the price went up. The Pro strap has an embedded steel cable and an improved ball bearing, which will probably make the camera even smoother to control when shooting. If you want to send me a Sun Sniper Pro for the holidays, I would greatly appreciate it. The only place they seem to be in stock is Midwest Photo Exchange.

It feels great to be dialed in on a monitor and a printer, but generally sucks going through the motions of setting it up properly. Using a color reference checker/chart/card has always been the easy part of securing accurate color during a shoot, and I am surprised how few people use this method when doing any type of project. In fact, after a couple of recent 2:30 am photo processing sessions of outdoor fall portraiture in mixed overcast/strong sunlight/high saturation backgrounds, I would probably have saved myself 3 hours of frustration had the photographer been using a color reference.

I like clever implementations of old ideas, and the SpyderCUBE delivers on originality in color reference options. It replaces the boring, 2d card format of standard color reference cards for a weird looking resin based cube. The cube allows you to measure data for white, grey, shadow black, spectral highlights, and absolute black. Its shape allows you to measure these based on light from multiple sources and angles, a function of its 3D shape. This would be a very cool gift for a photographer, and it definitely fits in a stocking. You can grab me one of these direct from Datacolor.