Photoshop Insider

I did an on location portrait shoot this past Sunday with New York Yankees Second Baseman, Miguel Cairo. The shoot took about one hour, and was done using one Nikon SB 800 flash along with my “Location Lighting Set-up” (the one B&H Photo has put together for me) with its Lastolite Diffusers, stands, and one reflector. I was lucky enough to get Corey Barker (the Photoshop Lad) to assist me at the shoot, so we had the whole thing wrapped up in around 45 minutes start-to-finish. Here’s one of my favorites (there’s a couple of more photos, so scroll down a little further).

He spends his career on the other side of the fence, so I thought it might be cool to shoot him sitting up in the stands (the view he usually sees of the spectators). I like how clean and simple the look is, and I especially like all the numbers on the seats—it just adds something. You can’t tell from this photo, but Corey is acting as a VAL (Voice Activated Lightstand) just to the right of Miguel, one seat over–just out of frame. (Scroll down for one more photo, and below that for the Thursday News Update post).

I had a media pass to shoot the game (Yankees vs. Pirates), and I was in the photo pit, next to the Yankee’s dugout, near first base, which came in handy later in the game where I got this shot of Miguel standing on first base (he still has his batting helmet on). The shot was taken with a Nikon D2X, in high-speed Crop Mode, with a Nikon 200mm F/2 and a Nikon 1/4 tele-extender. The color version looks great, but when I converted it to Black and White I fell in love with it (and luckily, so did Miguel).

I shot alongside some great sports photographers, including shooters from Upper Deck Trading Cards, and AP Sports. I’ll post some more shots from the game (I got loads of shots of Miguel, as I was on assignment shooting him, but I also got shots of everyone from Derek Jeter, to Arod, to former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani who was there to throw out the first pitch, to Yankee’s Hall of Famer Yogi Berra). It was a beautiful day to shoot a ball game!

The couple of weeks before Photoshop World are incredibly hectic, but I did grab a few minutes to share some news with ya:

• Popular Photography did an in-depth review of Nikon’s D40X and their comments on the low noise are really amazing for an intro-level DSLR. Read the whole review by clicking here.

• While we’re talking about Nikon, C|Net.com had an article about a plant in Thailand that builds Nikon cameras and lens, and it had some really fascinating facts in it, including the fact that each month this one factory builds, “…about 100,000 [Nikon] D80 cameras, 80,000 D40 cameras, 90,000 D40x cameras and 230,000 lenses.” That’s pretty staggering for 30 days, eh?

• Moose Peterson sent me this link to a Web site with a short tribute to Monte Zucker, and it contains a wonderful, and true story, about how Monte was able to charge $30,000 for a wedding shoot. It’ll put a smile on your face, and give you a little more insight into this amazing man.

• OK, so last week on Moose’s News Blog he was raving about the new Gitzo 3540XLS tripod, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that if Moose says something rocks—it must really rock. So…I got mine this week, and OH MY GOD this tripod is amazing!!!! (in other words; once again, Moose was right). The construction is absolutely rock solid; the new leg locking mechanism is so right on the money, that I can’t believe somebody didn’t come up with this sooner, and the light weight of the tripod makes this, literally, the tripod of my dreams. Congrats to Gitzo for raising the bar on tripods!!!! Here’s a link to it on B&H Photo just in case you want to treat yourself to something really special.

• Congratulations go out to Ben Willmore, whose NAPP produced one-seminar in LA last week drew more than 1,000 attendees, and also to Bert Monroy, whose NAPP produced Photoshop Creative Tour also drew more than 1,000 attendees in Washington D.C. Congrats to them both, and to NAPP seminar team for all their hard work. If you want to see when Ben, or Bert, or Me, or Dave Cross, or Taz are coming to your town, go to PhotoshopSeminars.com (of course, NAPP members get a big discount on this one-day events!).

• Next week we’re going a special episode of Photoshop TV, Live from Adobe’s special CS3 Launch Event in New York City. Dave, Matt and I will be shooting this episode from the event, and it will include insight and interviews with some of the key players behind this history-making launch, plus we’ll have the scoop on all the new CS3 stuff, including the details of what’s in Photoshop Extended Edition. Keep an eye out for this next week!

• Good news: My Location Lighting Kit is back in stock at B&H Photo (it had been sold out, and I was getting lots of emails about its availability), but they’ve got them back in stock now and ready to ship (here’s the link to it on B&H Photo). Also, I’m producing a video that I’ll have up next week to show exactly how to use the system, how to set-it up, etc. You’ll be amazing at how easy it is. I’ll post here in the blog when it’s up and running.

I’m excited to announce that “Big Electric Cat” (Click on the photo for a larger version. ) featuring [L to R] NAPP’s own Felix Nelson on Bass, Scott Kelby on Keyboards, and Kalebra Kelby on Lead Vocals, along with drummer Scott Stahley and Lead Guitarist Tony Llanes, are back (by overwhelming demand) for a in-concert appearance during the Photoshop World attendee party held at Jillian’s Nightclub in Boston, on the first night of the conference, April 4th. The band (originally formed as part of our “Photoshop Rocks” keynote theme back in 2003, who appeared during both the San Diego and Tampa Photoshop World keynote presentations), will perform a set featuring songs from Evanescence, to No Doubt, to Mother’s Finest (among others).

I found this very cute post over at Alan Hess’ Weblog, and it’s one of those “You Know You’re a [fill in the blank]” type of things you see on the Web, but this one really hits home. You’ll be reading it, and nodding your head the whole time. Check it out by clicking here.

I’m on an email list from PhotoJojo.com (a very cool site) and today they had a story about George Lange’s photography “flipbook” and they were raving about his work, so I went to check it out. They were right on the money. His people photography is just brilliant, and his presentation is cute, clever, sometimes funny, sometimes weird, but always interesting. Even the music is interesting, and the way it’s all put together makes you watch it again and again. In short; you gotta see this guy’s stuff: Click here to watch his online flipbook.

It’s a leisurely 10:53 am on the East Coast, and here’s what’s goin’ on:

• Check out this online article about the ethics of “Photoshopping” Real Estate Listings. Apparently, this is more common than you might think. Here’s the link.

• Here’s another cool retouching site and this one is mostly celebrity retouching, so it’s even more interesting than usual. It’s called FluidEffect, and it’s got both retouching and compositing sections. Besides being just fascinating, these are great learning tools because you can see exactly what was done, what can be done, and where it’s been overdone at some sites. Here’s the link.

• Adobe has added a number of cool new special interest sessions to Photoshop World, including a “Developer’s Kitchen” to help Photoshop plug-in developers (and potential developers) get the help they need. Adobe is also hosting a special “Birds of a Feather” meeting for Medical and Scientific Research Professionals, where Adobe will show “Photoshop CS3 Extended developed specifically for customers who use Photoshop for image analysis, visualization and communication.” Plus, Adobe has created an “Adobe Plug-in Pavilion” on the Tech Expo Show Floor, open both days, where attendees can see firsthand some of the amazing new plug-ins developed for Photoshop. For more info, visit the PhotoshopWorld home page.

• For those that have asked “Why isn’t there a Lightroom pre-conference workshop at Photoshop World?” actually, there is. It’s just hiding under the name “Photoshop Soup2Nuts.” If you’re going to Photoshop World, Soup2Nuts is a hands-on Lightroom workshop, and the instructors are a who’s who of Camera Raw, Photoshop and Lightroom, and includes the man who wrote much of all three—Thomas Knoll, making his first Photoshop World appearance as an instructor. Wild stuff! For more on the Workshop, visit the special Soup2Nuts site. To nab one of the remaining spots, go to PhotoshopWorld.com

• I don’t know if you’ve been checking out the latest round of photos posted on renown wildlife photographer Moose Peterson’s blog, but there is just some amazing stuff there. If you haven’t been in a few weeks, check it out (his eagle shots are just amazing!).

• We’re coming to the end of the “2007 Photoshop Hall of Fame” nominating period, so if you’ve got a person you think should be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, you can nominate them by going to Photoshop Hall of Fame.com and clicking the Submit Nominees link.

• What happens when a Canadian goes to Texas? See for yourself, as Houston has apparently taken my Photoshop TV co-host Dave Cross in as their “native son.” I don’t know who Dave knows in Houston, but I hope he introduces me. Soon. Check it out at Dave’s blog.

I’m pretty darn excited to announce that I’m kicking off a Nationwide U.S. Lightroom tour, starting next month, where I’ll be teaching “The New Digital Photography Workflow” using Lightroom and Photoshop. If you’re a pro photographer, or a serious shooter, then this day was designed from the ground-up for you, and you’re going to see everything done step-by-step, from start to finish. I begin each seminar with a live in-class portrait shoot, using a full studio lighting set-up (you’ll get all the details), and I take you through each step from initial shoot, through sorting, developing, presenting the proofs to the client, and even outputting the final prints live in class. The tour is sponsored by Adobe, Westcott, and Epson, and is produced by NAPP. We’re adding more cities, but the first cities, dates, and a full class schedule is now online at PhotoshopSeminars.com I hope to see you on one of my stops, because this day will change the way you work with Photoshop and digital photographey from that day forward. You’re going to learn a lot, and we’re going to have a blast! See you there. (Note: don’t miss the Friday wrap-up post, which follows this post below).

It’s Friday, and well…it’s Friday! :-)• My buddy Jeff Revell turned me on to this before/after retouching site (called “DigitalRETOUCH”), and it uses a very clever Flash-based method for showing the before and after retouches, color correction and shaping. The image you see on screen is the “after’ photo, then you drag a scrubber bar below the photo to the right and as you drag the “before” image is revealed (so you can pause anytime for a split/screen view). Note: before you visit the site, be forewarned there are some fashion photos that contain nudity. Not just nudity, but bare nudie, naked, nakedness). Now that you know; here’s the link.

•When Dave Cross teaches a Photoshop session, the average size of the class is around 600 people, but for a intimate group of just 20 lucky people, you’ll not only get to spend the day’s learning Dave’s latest Photoshop for photographers techniques; you’ll get to start each day (and end each day at sunset) shooting right alongside Dave in some of the most stunning landscape locales in the West; Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. This workshop, sponsored by NAPP and produced by the Great American Photography Workshops (GAPW), is coming up next month (April 18-22, 2007) and if you act quickly you can snag one of the few remaining spots for a Photoshop and photography experience like no other. Plus, they’ll be plenty of opportunities to make Canadian jokes, and you’ll probably see a Canadian shirt or two as well (by the way; Dave’s “Photoshop TV Canada Shirt auction for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital raised over $212.00). To register, or for more info, visit GAPW’s Web Site right away.

•Our good friend, and Photoshop Hall-of-Famer, Jack Davis has just released a set of FREE (that’s F-R-double-E free) set of Lightroom Presets, courtesy of OnOne Software (who also developed Jack’s Frame and Edge effects set). You can download these “WOW!” presets by clicking here.

• Speaking of Lightroom (like that smooth segue?), if you’re a Metadata template freak (and you know who you are), then check out this free Web-based Metadata template maker for Lightroom, called Jeffrey’s Metadata-Panel Builder. It’s pretty cool (ya know, in a metadata template kind of cool way).