The third installment of my popular “Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it” series for Kelby Training Online went live this week at Kelby Training Online, and if you can check it out right here.

As always in this series, I do everything from scratch, starting with an empty studio, and taking you through all the steps, from setting up the backgrounds and lighting, then going into the live shoot itself, and then finally through the full editing and retouching process to create our final image.

Hope you guys enjoy the final installment of this three-part series (though I will be adding a new series of segments this spring).

There’s a bunch of training news that’s been stacking up, so I’ll quickly get right through it all in one post:

(1) My Dallas Seminar is Sold Out!
We have nearly 700 photographers registered for my “Photoshop for Photographers” seminar in Dallas tomorrow, so we are sold out (even after expanding the room). I’m really looking forward to seeing everybody, and if you read this blog, make sure you stop by and say hi!

(2) My Next Tour Stop: Washington DC on Monday, March 1st
I love DC (plus I get to hang out with Jeff Revell), and I’ll be there 1st of March with my seminar, so I hope you’ll come and spend the day with me. I’d sign up early, and reserve your seat. Here’s the link.

(3) Jim Smelzer’s “Senior Portraits Outdoors” Class Now Online
Jim’s other two classes on Senior Portraiture have just absolutely kicked butt, and I’m thrilled to let you know we just posted his new one this week (By the way—we post a new class every week now at Kelby Training Online). Here’s the link to his class (Jim is an absolutely fantastic teacher, and people are just lovin’ his stuff!).

(4) I’m Teaching At Professional Imaging 2010 in the Netherlands
I’m heading to Holland again, and I can’t wait! This time it’s to do the Keynote presentation, and a series of classes at the Professional Imaging 2010 event, Sponsored by Adobe, at the Nieuwegeins Business Center, Nieuwegein, Utrecht, NL on March 7-9, 2010. Here’s the link with details about the conference (by the way: I presented there a few years ago, and this is without a doubt one of the best run, best attended events I’ve ever been to anywhere!!!!).

(5) Want a kick-butt Lightroom Production Tip?
Although I’m doing a class at Photoshop World called “Lightroom Killer Tips” I came up with this tip after I finished the workbook for the class, so I did it on this week’s episode of Photoshop User TV. It’s really handy (hey, even Matt had to comment on it), so if you’ve got a sec, check out this week’s episode right here.

(6) Our “Photoshop 20th Anniversary Party is Sold Out”
We had seating for over a thousand people for the Photoshop Party of the Year, but those seats are now long gone as we’re sold out in advance. However, we’re looking at all sorts of ways to webcast, simulcast, podcast, and everything cast the event so no matter where you are in the world, you can join in the fun (and the tips), and it should be an incredible night, celebrating an amazing milestone, and I’ll have more details soon, but for now, keep the evening of Feb. 18th free, cause we’re going party like it’s….wait…that’s doesn’t work. Well, you know what I meant.

That’s it for now. Lots more to share soon. Hope to see you in person at one of these events, or online!

All right you guys—I convinced the crew here to give absolutely the best deal, hands-down, in the history of Kelby Training Online for “This Weekend Only.”

Only $149 for a full year—every trainer, every class (including my new Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it classes), the whole ball of wax. That’s it. Period. No, you can’t combine it with any other discounts, or anything else—just $149 for an entire year (that’s less than $3 a week!).

As usual, this “This Weekend Only” special deal expires at 12:00 midnight EST on this Sunday Night.

>> Here’s the SPECIAL LINK to get this deal (you have to use this link). <<

There ya go! This would make an awesome Holiday Gift for…well….anybody!

P.S. If you just want to look at all the classes, and see what we offer, click this link instead.

The 2nd online class in my three-part series called “Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it” went up live last week at Kelby Training Online, and this one shows how to shoot and retouch a beauty-style headshot like the one you see below left (in-house we call it the “Oil of Olay” look).

I show how to create the exact same beauty-style head shot that I took which wound up being featured in FJ Westcott’s 2009 lighting catalog (seen below), and you see the entire process from start-to-finish including setting up all the lighting, the shoot itself, and the retouching in Photoshop afterward.

I just got incredible feedback from the first one in this series, and I hope you’ll give this 2nd one a look now that it’s live. Here’s a link to the online class.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably remember a post I did back in May of last year called “My Day with Jay” and it was about a remarkable day of learning I had walking the streets of New York City for a few hours with a true living legend of photography: Jay Maisel. (Here’s the link in case you missed it).

Here are some comments I got from that post:

“Thanks for sharing your amazing experience. I wish I also had got a chance to walk with him and learn from him.”

“I can only echo everyone else’s comments (thanks for sharing about your experience with Jay–what a master!) and requests (please, pretty please, share a bit more about how to shoot in the city while being unobtrusive)!

“As with some of the other posts, How do you shoot people? I, too, and afraid that I will get in trouble.”

“I’d love to take pictures of people in the street but I am afraid of it…”.

“As some other mentioned before are there any helpful tips and tricks on shooting on the street? It sounds always so easy but mostly I am “scared”or feel uncomfortable shooting people on the street.”

There were many other comments because people have so many questions about this stuff, and of course Jay is arguably the master of this genre. That’s why on Wednesday I flew up to New York City, with a Kelby Training video crew (and Brad Moore, who took the production photo above), to create Your Day with Jay—an online class for Kelby Training Online. It was even more amazing than my first walk with him.

My goal was just to be there to keep things moving; to prompt him with the same kind of questions I thought you guys might have, and basically let Jay do all the talking.

Just like on “My Day With Jay,” Your Day with Jay starts out at Jay’s studio in Manhattan, and then we headed down through the streets around his neighborhood, his camera in hand, then we caught a subway to 42nd street; we shot a little in Times Square, then headed down 42nd street to Bryant Park, and ended up at Jay’s favorite local restaurant for lunch and more conversation, which included an impromptu shoot of our waitress and the owner. We wrapped at Jay’s studio with a personal tour, and commentary on some of his favorite pieces, along with even more learning.

It was truly an amazing day packed with wisdom, insightful comments, humor, and humility. I learned more about photography than I have in years (including an eye-opening revelation about my frustrations with my own photography), and I think by letting Jay just be Jay, we came away with something really special. It’s real. Not rehearsed. The shots he took happened as they happened. The situations. The people. The challenges. You see how he deals with all of it–you see it, hear it, experience it all firsthand like you’re walking right alongside him.

It was part roving class. Part documentary. Part creative thinking class. Part photography master class. And parts will even bring a tear to your eye.

Although a lot of this class is devoted to teaching you to how to shoot people in the street (and he answers all those lingering questions), he covers so much more than that, on so many levels, and he covers so many different photography topics. I’m so glad I was there, and I’m so glad that now you’ll get to be there, too.

I’ll let you know when Jay’s class “goes live” on Kelby Training Online (there’s still lots of video editing and production work to be done), but when it does, I promise you—-you’ll have a day you’ll never forget.

Professional Food Photography with Joe Glyda Now Online
We just had an online class “go live” this week that I’m particularly excited about; it’s Joe Glyda’s class on Professional Food Photography. Joe is a terrific teacher (if you’ve ever caught Joe during one of his sessions at Photoshop World you know what I mean), and he’s got some really great techniques in his new class. Here’s the link with all the details (NOTE: If you’re not a Kelby Training Online subscriber, you can still watch the first couple of segments by following that link). ALSO: I did a quick little video from the production set of Joe’s class to give some background on the class and what he’s teaching, and you can watch that short clip right here.

Next Stop For My Lightroom 2 Live Tour: Detroit
Well, it’s actually Livonia, Michigan, so it’s the greater Detroit area, but it’s going to be a great day (I take you all the through my actual workflow from start to finish), and I hope you can join me for my first Lightroom event in Michigan ever! Here’s the link for more details or to reserve your seat (it’s only $99—or $79 is you’re a NAPP member).

Model Releases for Photographers Class Now Online
Jack and Ed are back with a fantastic online class on when and why you need to have model releases, what they need to cover, and a host of things you’ve probably never considered, but if you shoot portraits of anybody—you’ll definitely need to know. Absolutely invaluable info! Here’s the link to view the lessons.

McNally’s Next Off-Camera Lighting Tour Stop is Washington DC
That’s right—the same one-day Off-Camera Flash workshop that Joe McNally sold out in San Francisco weeks early, is now headed to Washington DC on Friday, October 23rd. People are still talking about Joe’s San Francisco workshop, and I hope you’ll be able to snag one of the available spots for his day there (seating is limited, and filled on a first-come, first-served basis). Here’s the link for more info.

Next Stop For the Photoshop Down & Dirty Tricks Tour is Houston, Texas!
Brilliant Photoshop trainer and author of the “Photoshop WOW” book series Jack Davis is taking our Photoshop Down & Dirty One Day Workshop to Houston, Texas on Wednesday, September 23rd for a day of nothing but the hottest Photoshop special effects. Here’s the link for all the details (by the way; Jack totally rocks, and it was his original WOW! book series that got me hooked on Photoshop special effects. If you get a chance to learn from Jack in person—don’t miss it!).

What’s Coming Up Next in Online Classes
We’re welcoming a new photographer to our online teaching faculty when James (Jim) Schmelzer’s first online class goes live next week on creating Senior Portraits. I’ve been a fan of Jim’s teachings for a few years now (I have at least two of his DVDs on lighting), and I thought so much of his style and delivery, that I asked him to share his lightning and posing techniques in a series of online classes, and his first one just hits it right out of the park! If you’re into the growing Senior Portrait market, you’ve gotta see his class when it goes live next week at Kelby Training Online.

I know a lot of you have been asking about when my first “Light it, Shoot it, Retouch It” online class will be available at Kelby Training Online and the good news is; it’s set to follow the week after Jim’s class, so it won’t be long now. I’ve done three of these Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it, classes, and after the first one goes live, we’ll be working on finishing the 2nd and 3rd classes. I’ll let you guys know as soon as it’s up and running.

New Training DVDs Now Available
Everybody likes to learn a different way; some of our students like to learn online; some through books, some in live seminars, and some like to own DVDs of the classes themselves and the good news is; some of our most popular classes are now available as DVDs, including Moose Peterson’s very popular Yosemite Big Game Photography class, and Matt Kloskowski’s popular “Mastering Layers in Photoshop CS4″ class. You can find both (and all our other DVDs) right here.

That’s it for this Kelby Training Update. I’ll let you know when the new stuff goes live!

If you’ve ever wanted to work lighter, faster, and more effectively lugging around less gear, don’t miss Joe McNally’s just released online class at Kelby Training Online on how to get studio-quality lighting on location with just one light.

Here’s the list of segments in the class (which is already getting rave reviews!!!!).

So I’m in the middle of shooting the third in my new series of classes for Kelby Training Online called “Light It; Shoot It; Retouch It!” (I shot the image you see above during the class), and I go to Twitter while I’m on the set, and write, “Hey, I’m taping this class right now. Anybody got any suggestions?”

By the way, my “Light It; Shoot It; Retouch It” series is a new idea where I start with an empty studio, we (Brad and I) put together the whole lighting rig from scratch, explaining everything,  (I mean everything) as we go, then we do the shoot live (and you see everything explained there, too), and then finally once I get the shots I’m looking for, I take the images first over to Lightroom for editing, then to Photoshop for the final retouch You see the whole thing, every step, from start to finish.

Anyway, I did get some great suggestions and because of some of the ideas I got right then and there on Twitter, I was able to address something I hadn’t planned on (which was great). One of the request I got that day was to talk about how we do the make-up for shooting under studio lighting. Well, I was lucky enough to have our favorite local make-up artist there as part of the shoot, the wonderful Shelly Giard, and I was able to get her to do a cameo in the class where she explains her technique, and even shows part of it. It was awesome and it was straight from those suggestions off Twitter (you can follow me on Twitter by clicking right here).

I learned a while back how incredibly helpful it is to have a make-up artist involved for important shoots, and when you’ve found a good one—they are worth their weight in gold (and Shelly certainly is that—-we use her pretty much exclusively for all our Kelby Training classes, including Joe McNally’s classes). I’ve been also fortunate to work with some great Make-Up Artists up the Detroit area for some of my book projects including Lynn Golovich, Tammy Pore, and Renata Stojcevskia, (a fantastic MUA!).

Anyway, I thought you guys would like to know that your ideas make a big difference, and being able to get that type of instant feedback from Twitter makes everything I do that much more timely, and I wind up covering things I often hadn’t thought of.

I haven’t done an update in a few weeks on some of the new classes we’ve posted on Kelby Training Online, and we’ve got some really great ones I wanted to share, including:

How to Clean your DSLR Sensor (with Laurie Excell). (view lessons)

Copyright Registration with Jack Reznicki and Attorney Ed Greenberg. (view lessons)

This next one has been up for a few weeks, but I haven’t mentioned it, and it’s a really cool class.

Successful Pre-Production for Location Shooting, with Richard Riley. (view lessons)

Also, I’ve been working on my own new series of online classes called:

“Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it”

…where I take you from an empty studio, all the way through the lighting set-up, through the live shoot (and the process of getting the shot), and then taking those shots into Lightroom and Photoshop for the final edits and retouching. You see everything from beginning to end—nothing’s left out.

I’ll be launching three of these (two of these I’ve just wrapped filming, and the third is set to film on Tuesday), and each one focuses on just one particular look—one particular lighting set-up, and one finished image. I am really, really excited about how these are coming out, and if they’re well received I’ll be adding more looks to this studio series.

We’ve also added a unique class from Dave Cross on GridIron Flow, along with:

• The Canon EOS 5D and 5D Mark II with Rick Sammon view lessons
• The Canon 40D and 50D with Rick Sammon view lessons

Plus, we’ve got new classes coming from David Ziser, Joe McNally, and we’ve got a couple of brand new instructors coming on board which we’ll be announcing in the next week or so. Lots of great stuff coming gang!!! More details very soon!

If you’re registered to walk in one of our Photo Walks around the world, as a special bonus we’re giving you a FREE one-month subscription to our highly acclaimed online Photography, Photoshop, and Lightroom training, from Kelby Training Online.

You’ll be learning from industry icons like Joe McNally, Moose Peterson, Myself, Jack Davis, Bert Monroy, Matt Kloskowski, Dan Margulis, Katrin Eismann, Rick Sammon, Dave Cross, Vincent Versace, Eddie Tapp, John Paul Caponegro, David Ziser, and a host of the most talented, gifted, and giving instructors in the world today.

When you log-in to your Photo Walk page, you’ll find the code to redeem your free month, and how to access your free training.

We’ve never done anything like this before, but we wanted to do something special for you guys, and we thought with all the photos you’ll have to process after the walk, having access to all this online training (accessible any where in the world), might really be helpful.

Thanks again to everyone walking, to our sponsors, and to our leaders. You guys rock!