PSguitarsm

Signature Guitar Raffle Update
First, thanks to everybody who graciously bought raffle tickets for the Schecter Diamond Series electric guitar, signed by all the Photoshop Guys at NAPP (shown above), which we’re raffling off as our final fund-raiser for the Springs of Hope Kenya Orphange (here’s the link to a short video with details). Just wanted to let you guys know, you can still buy raffle tickets up until January 3rd, 2010 at 12:00 midnight EST (we pick the winner on Monday the 4th).  Anyway, raffle tickets are just $25 each—buy as many as you like (and your odds are way better than Powerball lotto, where they’re like one in 195,249,054) and  here even if you don’t win the guitar, there’s a guaranteed winner in Kenya under the age of 12, and that’s an amazing consolation prize for all of us. Here’s the link to do something great today!

This Week’s Photoshop User TV’s Episode
I forgot to mention last Tuesday that another episode of Photoshop User TV came out, and here we are the following Tuesday, and sometime today another episode comes out (that’s the good/bad thing about being a weekly show). I’m not going to be posting all the episodes here on the blog, but you can watch them over at Photoshop User TV (link).

A New DVD Series from Photoshop Hall of Famer John Paul Caponigro
JP has just announced a new series of DVDs called R/Evolution, and two of these new titles are available for pre-order (from Acme Education) and they both sound really intriguing. Here’s how they describe them:

(1) Fine Art Digital Printing
Make your digital prints the very best quality possible. Achieve this by learning all the components and aspects of a printing system: substrate, ink, printer, driver/RIP, profile, ink limit, print speed, viewing light, environment, and presentation. Learn what each component contributes to print quality and how they all work together to ensure your prints are as good as they can get.

(2) XDR: Extending Dynamic Range – HDR
Always the detail you want in the shadows and highlights. Extend the dynamic range in all of your images. Unlike yesterday, with today’s technology, you only need to make sacrifices if you want to. Many people think that HDR and merging images are synonymous when in fact it is one technique amid a range of possible options. It’s not only what we do at capture but what we do after. This array of choices for extending the dynamic range spans the gamut from simple to complex. By learning a variety of techniques and understanding how they work, it will make it easier for you to choose the technique that is most appropriate.

You can pre-order these titles, at their Pre-order price of $59.95 each, with free S&H, direct from Acme at this link (the price goes up to $69.95 once it ships). Here’s the link.

RC Concepcion Snags PhotoFocus.com’s Pick for “Picture of the Year”
A big congratulations to our own RC Concepcion whose amazing mother/daughter portrait (or should I say mommy ballerina/baby ballerina portrait) of his daughter Sabie posed with her mom Jenn, was picked by PhotoFocus.com as their “Picture of the Year.” It’s just such a magical shot (I featured it here on the blog just after RC took it earlier this year), and you’ve just got to see it for yourself (here’s the link). Way to go RC!

The Tom Tom GPS Navigation App for the iPhone Totally Rocks!
Last week Terry White posted an article on his new iPhone App site (BestAppSite.com), about how Tom Tom was running a special deal on their iPhone GPS Navigation App (only $49.95) so I went ahead and bought it, and during my NFL shoot in St. Louis on Sunday, I used the Tom Tom to get me from the airport, to the stadium, and back. I have to say—it rocked. It was even better than I expected. It gave spoken turn-by-turn directions, it had a large easy to read map (including lane assist), and all-in-all I was really impressed from top to bottom. The Tom Tom deal is only good until the end of the year (then it goes back up to $69.95), so get it while it’s hot (you can buy one of these as a last minute Christmas Gift by buying an Apple iTunes Gift Card for $50). Here’s the link to Terry’s review of the Tom Tom App, and to his end of year deal post.

Want Some Cool Photo Presentation Ideas?
Then have I got a cool site for you. It’s called CoolPhotoIdeas.com, and this site it packed with lots of clever ideas of how to display your work. You’ll totally dig it.

That’s it for today, folks
Remember, tomorrow is “No Guest Blog” Wednesday (see the post below), but make sure you’re here Thursday for some Christmas spirit. :)