Tuesday News Stuff
> Learn Concert Photography Live at Photoshop World
One of the coolest pre-conference workshops we’ve ever held during the Photoshop World Conference is the Real World Concert Photography workshop, taught by two pro-concert photographers, and kick-butt instructors: Alan Hess and Scott Diussa.
This workshop was a huge hit back in Vegas—-so much so that we’re bringing it back for Orlando (on March 23rd), but it’s limited to just 40 participants (the photo above was taken during the workshop in Vegas, during the “Live Shoot” portion of the class) where you get to practice shooting with a live band.
For more info, or to sign up, click right here.
> 50 Free Fonts (this is not a scam)
Braddo (my knickname for Brad Moore), turned me on to this site that has links to 50 actually fairly cool fonts. I went there myself and snagged half a dozen or so, and I have to tell you—-there’s some totally great stuff there. Here’s the link.
> My Dallas “Photoshop for Photographers” Seminar will be sold out later today
It actually had sold out last week, but we were able to expand the room so now we can accommodate the nearly 700 photographers who’ll be joining me there on Friday. As of this morning, we have just a handful of seats left, and we’ll be sold out by tonight, so if you’re thinking of going, you can grab one of those remaining seats right here. (If you read this blog, make sure you come up and say “hi.”).
> Have you Entered Adorama’s Ultimate iPhone Photo Contest Yet?
They have so many prizes that if you don’t win something, you’re just not tryin’. Here’s the link with all the details.
> This is just a really cool song
This has nothing to do with Photoshop, and I’m not quite certain how I even came across this song, but it’s really cool. It’s by the band “Porcupine Tree” and the song is called “The Sound of Muzak.” Here’s a link to the song on iTunes, so you can hear a free 30-second preview. Give it a listen and see what you think (by the way—the recording quality is great).
> Apple’s Tablet on Wednesday?
Apple will be announcing something on Wednesday (hopefully, it will be the rumored tablet, or Apple’s stock will drop down to like $3), which is my guest blog day, so I won’t have a post here until Thursday. However, if my head explodes with excitement (which I feel is likely), I’ll be sharing my total freak out over on twitter at http://twitter.com/ScottKelby
> That’s it for today!
Hey, thanks to everybody who wished me well during my sick-day on Friday. I feel much better now, and I’m back to work (well, back to writing a book, and the occasional stop by the office to tape a show or do a meeting). Hope you guys have a really great Tuesday!
Hmm. Shooting tethered to the tablet… Could come in handy.
Also maybe this instead of an Epson P7000.
Google “The Sound of Muzak”, the first link is the entire song in great quailty.
Pretty good song, thanks for the heads up.
Three years ago a few other companies were laughing about the IPhone (not to mention any names) and look now! I bet they are really in worry mode right now. The ITab will be another landslide (or whatever Apple calls it).
PS: Music is great! I got the Supertramp “Crime of the Century” for Christmas at work. One of my employees got it for me. Her dad is an old party buddy of mine and he told her which one to buy. It brought back some memories. Man we are getting old fast!
Scott, i have to say, you truly have great taste for music! If you like that, let me know if you like “Arriving Somewhere but Not Here” from the album Deadwing.
I digress…
Random, but excellent mention of Porcupine Tree! Their music is fantastic, and while I agree that Arriving Somewhere But Not Here is also a great song, The Start Of Something Beautiful is my favorite, also on Deadwing. Sound of Muzak is my favorite from the In Absentia album, though. Hooray for little-known bands…
Tuesday Stuff Response:
Learn Concert Photography Live at Photoshop World – will this be happening in Vegas 2010?
Porcupine Tree song The Sound of Muzak is not bad. If you like Porcupine Tree I hope you have checked out the The All-American Rejects, When the World Comes Down
New apple stuff – will want it. Hope the price makes sense
Speaking of fonts, I just released my new Iron Grunge font today. check out http://www.grunge-font.com
Yes I have entered Adorama’s Ultimate iPhone Photo Contest
“Learn Concert Photography Live at Photoshop World – will this be happening in Vegas 2010?”
If Scott continues to have fun and wants Alan and me to do it again! We sure do have fun and so far the people who have signed up have, too! Rock on!
Tablet Weddnesday!!!! I’m glued to my computer tomorrow morning!!! This could change the future of print media forever….we’ll see…
The Sound of Musak ain’t bad but IMHO, not the best of the album In Absentia. Listen to Blackest Eyes. (BTW, Gavin Harrison, the drummer, is a beast !).
Apple Tablet ?!? WTF ? Insane !
There have been some leaks now about the apple tablet. One of the more interesting things is the idea that the tablet is based on the iphone software meaning that content can run on either.
The head of McGraw-Hill confirmed that their textbooks will be on the Apple Tablet and it will be an iPhone OS based machine. Here is the money quote :
“Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they’ll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while. And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now is we have a consortium of e-books. We have 95% of our materials in e-book format. So now with the tablet you’re going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is just going to be terrific.”
As someone who has written books (with color photos) I am very excited to see how this plays out. I am sure that the folks at Peachpit (Scotts publisher) and Wiley (my publisher) will be watching what happens tomorrow. If Apple really have a device that folks will use to read on, it can change the publishing world.
As for the concert pre con. It will be a blast. I have no idea if we be doing it in Vegas later this year since right now I am fully focused on making sure that the Orlando one goes well. I have taken all the input I have received from the Vegas 2009 class and took that into account when writing up the class notes for the Orlando class, and Scott Diussa and I are tweaking the presentation to make it the best possible class.
This is one of those things that you will not find anywhere else other than Photoshop World. Seriously, I can tell you what to do and even show you what to do but being able to go from the class room to a live concert shoot and then back to the classroom just isn’t happening anywhere else.
The world is changing fast. Newspapers have been on the sharp decline for sometime now. I believe this is the beginning of the end for the magazine as we know it.
Learning concert photography at a conference is very interesting. I hope the organizers can also simulate poor light, pushing fans, spilled drinks and uptight security staff. That may give the attendees a real look into concert photography.
Especially, the poor lighting. I hope the people eager to learn are not disappointed when going into a real world situation. Stage lights vary in quality from venue to venue. Without a photo pass there is no way for people to either a) get their “professional” cameras in the door or b) get decent photos because of light and lens constraints.
I am going to answer this here because it is a question that comes up every time we post about he pre con.
The idea behind the concert pre con is to give the attendees the tools needed to shoot in low light / live performance situations. This does not mean that we pick the worse lighting conditions and make it tough for them to succeed but instead we try to make it realistic enough for them to to understand the difficulties and we try to help solve any problems they might have.
Scott and I have shot shows ranging from the small bar acts in dimly lit rooms to major touring acts that have enough lights to illuminate small cities. We cover it all and have fun doing it.
We know that folks need photo passes to shoot big shows and we discuss how to go about getting one, and the best way to behave when you do get into the photo pit.
We also cover the post processing in Photoshop, Lightroom and Nikon NX. And since Nikon Professional services is a sponsor we even have loaner gear for those folks who want to try something new.
Shoot enough shows and someone will spill a drink on you, or bump into you, or the security will make your shoot miserable, we could do that but instead we we try to let you succeed. We want the attendees to be able to shoot in a concert or low light situation and feel confident and most importantly we want everyone to have a blast doing it.
I agree with Alan here and understand your point as well. What this opportunity gives a student is a controlled environment in which to learn something that is not that easy to do without a lot of trial and error. I don’t know of anywhere else where someone can learn how to shoot a concert in a classroom situation and then actually have a well lit, controlled environment in which to shoot in than this opportunity at Photoshop World.
It’s much harder to simulate a large venue, professionally lit concert than it is to simulate a small poorly lit club situation. If you can do well in a “big” situation then you will have a much better appreciation for how hard it is to shoot in a smaller, not as ideal situation.
Besides, this is a fun event as well. Why not learn something, take some great images and get the old adrenaline flowing?
Greg, it looks like you and I share something besides photography in common. I see you play the guitar and I have as well for 25+ years. I used to teach guitar for a solid ten of those years, too. When I see a beginning guitar student come to a first lesson with a real piece of s**t guitar it is very frustrating. I just know that they will probably battle with this instrument and eventually give up because it isn’t fun for them at all. If they are at least presented with the tools to succeed then they will have an appreciation for what works and what doesn’t. If their guitar is “good” and stays relatively in-tune then they will learn faster and be more enthusiastic. They will still “pay their dues” eventually… but at least they may move forward enough to have a chance to experience that.
I see this pre-con as the same thing. Just like Alan said, “This does not mean that we pick the worse lighting conditions and make it tough for them to succeed but instead we try to make it realistic enough for them to to understand the difficulties and we try to help solve any problems they might have.” I think that giving each person that chance to succeed will provide them with a more positive and forward thinking approach to their photography.
So, do you want to join us? It’ll be a great time and we’d love to see you there! Maybe Alan and I will just add in a section where we throw beer on students and push them around as well… hmmm… Alan, we need to talk!
Scott
What an awesome collection of fonts, I’m already using league gothic for my logo. Keep up the resources. Muz!
Thanks for linking to my post that lists 50 free fonts. I appreciate it.