Photoshop Insider

I say “unknown” because I had forgotten I had taken it, and hadn’t run across it until yesterday while searching through my Yosemite photos for something else (the only reason I found it at all, is because immediately before I shoot a pano, I shoot a shot of my hand holding up my index finger, then immediately after the last shot of the pano, I shoot my hand holding up two fingers. So, while I was scrolling through the photos in Lightroom, I saw “my finger” and I was like “Hey, a pano!”).

The pano is made up of eight vertical photos, switched together using Photoshop CS3’s Photomerge automation (Scroll down to the next post to see the eight photos that made-up the pano above). Photoshop switched the pano together first time without a hitch–all I had to do was click OK, and then crop it a tiny bit afterward to make it straight, since I didn’t use a pano nodal point attachment on my tripod—I just shot it with my regular ol’ ballhead. The final version is over 83 inches wide.

Here’s the eight photos (shown here in Adobe Lightroom), that make up the pano shown in the previous post.

P.S. If you’re looking for the Monday News Report, you can get it in person today at the Innsbrook Island Golf Course, ’cause I’m taking a day off!! That’s right baby, I’m chasin’ the little white ball around today with my brother Jeff, Matt, Felix, and some friends from the office. So…..we’ll see you tomorrow for the full Monday News Report, which will be titled something along the lines of “Tuesday News Report.” See ya then. Oh yeah: FORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just want to thank everyone who attended the kick-off of my nationwide Lightroom Tour Live this past Wednesday at the Los Angeles Convention Center (all 800 of you!). I met so many wonderful people, I learned a lot, I saw some old friends and made some new ones. I posted a few photos above (taken by my buddy Dave Moser—you can click on them for a larger view. The top photo was taken during the live bridal shoot that starts the day, then we take those live shots into Lightroom and follow a step-by-step workflow that ends with the final prints coming off an Epson Stylus Pro 3800 right there in the class). Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all for spending the day with me—I really had a blast and greatly appreciate the wonderful support.

The next stop on my Lightroom Tour is at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center on May 21st, but our seating is much more limited than it was in Los Angeles, so if you’d like to join me, sign up today at PhotoshopSeminars.com. I hope to see you in Boston!

Note: I just saw a comment posted here on my blog, with a link to a review of my seminar at ChromaticSoul, written by one of the attendees. Here’s the direct link.

Now for some Friday news:

• If you’re into video Podcasts, I was just turned on to one that really speaks to the tech-freak deep inside us all. It’s USA Today’s “Talking Tech.” This free weekly show and is hosted by tech guru Jefferson Graham (who happens to be a Photoshop fan), and Ed Baig, who do a great job of keeping you (us, we, me, etc.) up on all the latest tech gear without getting “tech geeky” at all. What I like best about the show is their format; it’s casual (the current episode was filmed outside an Apple store), fun, and refreshingly “plain English” for a tech show. Plus, their shows are short, sweet, and right to the point. Definitely check it out (you can watch right from within Apple’s iTunes [for PC and Mac], and you can subscribe and get it downloaded weekly for free. Highly recommended. Click here for the link).
• Here’s another photo retouching site (this one from Russia), that features before/after retouching shots, and as always I just find these so interesting. It’s great way to see what is being done in retouching, what can be done, and each retoucher definitely has his/her own style, and that makes it all the more interesting. This one’s called Touch of Glamor, and here’s the link.
• Last week I mentioned that my Photoshop TV co-host Dave Cross has a Photoshop training class coming up at the Digital Technology Centre in Sarasota, Florida on May 19th, and now my other co-host Matt Kloskowski, is bringing a day of hands-on training on Photoshop Layers for Digital Photographers. These are very intimate classes (which means at some point, Matt will probably take his shirt off), so if you want to attend, follow this link to snag one of the few available seats (these classes are limited to 18 participants), for either Dave or Matt’s workshop. By the way; I’ve taught the Digital Technology Centre, and it is an absolute first-class operation, and they always have the very best instructors (and of course, if you’ve ever caught Dave or Matt live, you know you’re in for something very special from these two gifted Photoshop instructors).
• The photography blog “Pixelated Image” (from photographer David duChemin) did a mini-review of my new Lightroom Book, after reading just the first chapter, and although it includes what is certainly not the most flattering comments about my somewhat different sense of humor, he does a great job of really capturing the flavor of the book, and how it’s put together. Follow this link to read it online. While you’re there be sure to check out this wonderful photography here).By the way; he does have a point about my humor—you either like it, or you hate it. Thankfully I get hundreds of very kind letters from people who totally get my sense of humor, but if you don’t like my style of humor, then apparently you really, really, really don’t like it (and generally want to see me dead).Here’s the thing: the whole book does NOT contain this humor; it’s pretty much contained to just two places: (1) The book’s 3-page introduction, and (2) The opening page of each chapter. That’s it. The rest of the book (as I mention in the introduction), is step-by-step (Step One: do this, Step two: do that), so there’s not really a lot of opportunities to inject any other stuff. I do keep it light and conversational, but again; my “stream of consciousness” style of humor (as my Editor and friend Chris Main likes to call it) is pretty much confined to those two places, so out of a 416 page book, it’s three pages for the intro, and then 1 page each for 10 or 11 chapters (so we’re talking 14 pages of fun, 406 pages of Step one, step two, and so on).Now, here’s something else you might find helpful; we know (from publishing so many books), that the vast majority of people skip over a book’s introduction, and jump right to the first chapter. That’s particularly bad for me (and my readers), because that’s where I explain how to use the book, where to download the accompanying practice files, and lots of other stuff that they need to know to make the most of the book. So, to trick people into reading the introduction, I usually disguise it as something else (like, in this book for example, I call it the “Unexpected Q&A Section” so people read it, thinking it’s not the Introduction. Since it’s not step-by-step, I have fun with it, and I do include some, well….off the wall stuff, but along with it, are valuable instructions on how to make the most of the book.

  So, yes—in each book I try and trick people into reading my introduction (sometimes referred to as “my non-introduction introductions”), but it’s only to help my readers get more out of the book. Plus, as an author, after you’ve written 402 pages of Step one, Step two, and so on, even I need a break to say something silly, and hopefully make you smile a little while you’re learning.

• I found this link on Anne Marie Conception’s excellent “Design Geek” email newsletter, and it’s to a site who has designed a really nice looking set of CS3 replacement icons for you to download. Also on Anne Marie’s newsletter, was a link to a really cool Flash-based graphic showing all the icons for all the new Adobe products, and it’s just so darn cool.You’ve got to check it out (it only takes a moment).
• My buddy Terry White’s excellent Tech Blog has moved to new digs: get on board at his new address: terrywhite.com/techblog

OK, this was designed to be a report from Gate 69, Airside E, but they started boarding my flight to LAX earlier than I expected, so this is now “News from Row 11, Seat C” (hey, it’s an aisle seat with an empty seat beside me—I’m not complaining).

• Interesting tidbit about how popular Lightroom is becoming: On Amazon.com’s list of bestselling software titles, Adobe Lightroom ranks as the #3 seller (the Photoshop CS3 upgrade is #4, and the Photoshop Elements 5.0 is #6). Pretty amazing when you think about it. I know one thing; Lightroom is crazy popular in LA, as my Lightroom seminar tomorrow now has nearly 800 people signed up in advance. If you’re out that way, and want to come out and catch the day, you can register at the door. (Next stop: Boston. Here’s the details).
• Video and Photoshop guru Richard Harrington has just released the third edition of this landmark book “Photoshop for Video.” I got my hands on a copy yesterday, and it is without a doubt the most comprehensive book I’ve ever seen on the topic. Rich teaches a number of sessions on the Video Track at Photoshop World, and I can tell you he’s as engaging as a writer as he when he’s training live, so if you’re into learning more about Photoshop for Video, then absolutely pick up a copy (here’s a link).
• I’ve talked a number of times about how cool (and very unusual) it is for a company the size and scope of Adobe to be hosting public blogs for their product managers and engineers. I love those blogs, because they give you an insight in Adobe, and a peek behind their walls, that you just don’t get about anywhere else. Well, they’ve taken things up a notch, as John Loiacono (Adobe’s Senior VP of their Creative Solutions Business Unit, better known as “Johnny L” to anyone who’s caught his fascinating and fun keynote presentations at Photoshop Las Vegas last year, or in Boston earlier this year), who has his own Adobe Blog (it’s now part of my daily blog visit list), and he’s posted a blurb about CS3’s buzz in the marketplace, and the eco system and community that has sprung up around Photoshop (he also talks about his experiences at Photoshop World, which is cool (For me, anyway). His blog, and his latest post, are definitely worth checking out, but beyond this one post; my hats off to Adobe for opening this direct pipeline to their customers, and to Johnny L himself for taking the time to address us all directly.
• We posted some more photos from Photoshop World Boston, and you can check them out by clicking here.
• I saw this on Dave Cross’ blog, and I had to pass it on—it seems that Dave has found an online printing service (called Printing XXL) that will print a free poster-sized print for you just for trying their service (which Dave just did). It doesn’t appear that there are any strings attached (which is cool), except that once you see your photos at poster sized, you’ll probably be hooked. Here’s the link to Dave’s blog for more details.That’s it for my report from Seat 11C. I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll have some photos to post from the event (my buddy Dave Moser is with me, and as always he brought his camera). If you’re coming to my seminar tomorrow and you’re a reader of my blog, be sure to stop me and say “hi.”

Good Morning everybody! I’m just finishing off some work today, then I’m off to LA at the “crack of dawn” to kick off my nationwide Lightroom tour, but until then here’s what’s goin’ on:

• The “Photoshop Guys” are holding their first photography contest, and it’s called “The Photoshop TV Shopping Spree at B&H Photo,” and here’s the scoop: we fly the winner to New York City, put you up in some semi-swanky hotel, and then it’s over to B&H Photo in Manhattan for a $1,000 Shopping Spree on us! For more details, check out last week’s episode of Photoshop TV (hopefully, later today I’ll be posting a full-length version of our contest announcement from B&H, where we show you some of the cool things you can buy with that $1,000! Look back here later today for the link).
• My buddy Matt “Rockin’ the Houseski” Kloskowski has a Photoshop and Photography workshop coming up with the Great American Photo Workshops (GAPW for Short), and he’s taking a group of 20 students out to the Banff (I am so jealous!) on June 13 - 17, 2007. It’s filling up fast, so if you want to learn Matt’s digital photography workflow, and shoot in some of the most beautiful scenery in North American, sign up soon (’cause once it’s full, it’s full!). Get the full info at GAPW’s Web site (click on the Event’s button and you’ll find Matt’s workshop).
• Jason Moore, over at the Photoshop and Photography Blogroll, just got my new Lightroom Book and posted a mini-review. You can check it out here.
• If you’d like some better-looking icons for the new Creative Suite (hey, I’m not saying that the current icons are really, really lame, but…ya know…), you can find some really nice ones by clicking here.
• There’s an in-depth review, complete with high-res photos, of Canon’s recently announced EOS-1D Mark III DSLR over at Rob Galbraith.com. He goes into great detail in the review, but what caught my eye was a pull quote from the review posted on the Online Photographer (one of my favorite photography blogs), from Rob which read, “Trying to write something meaningful on every aspect of the EOS-1D Mark III is impossible, because there’s just too much that’s new.”
• Today’s “What the Duck”comic is really cute. Just go check it out.
• There’s an interesting post on the technology blog “Tech.Blorge.com” called “Adobe says you will not Photoshop images.” The article is about a page on Adobe’s site that gives Adobe’s guidelines for legal use of the trademarked name and product names. It’s not something the public would probably go looking for, but for media and people who report on Adobe and “Adobe Photoshop-related issues” it’s very helpful. The link to it is on Tech.Blorge.com.
• If you’re wondering whether or not to upgrade to Photoshop CS3 (I mean, “Adobe Photoshop CS3″) CreativePro.com has posted an online review from Ben Long, and you can read it by clicking here.
• If you’ve posted photos to the Web, and then pulled your hair out because the colors look all washed out when you viewed them online, check out this article from Nelson’s Weblog (not related to the amazing Felix Nelson). It tells of his Web-color troubles, and then the simple fix in Photoshop for getting the color right. Worth a read if you’ve ever struggled with this. Click here for the post.
  

At my Lightroom Live Tour (which kicks off in LA next Wednesday), I’m going to be doing three live studio shoots in the classroom, so I needed a full studio set-up (softboxes, stands, background, etc.) for those shoots.

I usually use strobes for my studio work, but last month (when I did that two-day hands-on Lightroom workshop at the Digital Technology Centre in Sarasota, Florida), I got a chance to try a continuous light source, because they had Westcott SpiderLites, and I was so impressed that when I put this tour together, I called B&H Photo to buy a SpiderLite system for the tour. Well, they put me in touch with David Piazza over at Westcott, and with their help we put together a three-light system to my specs, with three different size softboxes, stands, two TD-5 SpiderLites and a smaller TD-3 SpiderLite, along with a pop-up Westcott Illuminator background.

In preparation for the tour Matt, Dave, Corey and I set up the entire SpiderLite kit in NAPP Headquarters yesterday, and I have to tell you, we were all blown away. Once you work with continuous light, and can clearly see the shadows and light patterns as you reposition the lights, you just fall in love. Plus, the quality of the light (it looks like daylight), is just amazing, and best of all; they’re not “hot” lights. They’re absolutely cool (since they’re based on specially designed banks of flourescent lights). Really just amazing.

For me, another bonus of using SpiderLites is; you don’t have to sync with strobes, so there’s no wireless remotes necessary, or sync speed issues, or adjustments to make in the camera to work with flash, becuase…it’s not a flash (you shoot just light you would in natural light). So, on the breaks between sessions I can let any of my students who brought their camera to the seminar, just walk up and take shots, because the lighting is just “on.” No flash issues, no syncing issues, they can just walk up and shoot. If you’re coming to my tour on Wednesday, you’ll see what I mean, and then you’ll want this link to Westcott’s site, or to B&H Photo to pick up one of their TD-5 SpiderLite kits (they’ve got two light kits, three light kits, or individual TD-5 units which are only around $365 for the light itself, plus you need the five blubs (around $95) and a Westcott softbox, which attach directly to the light without having to buy a speedring, and a stand. B&H has a full kit like that for $499, but I think the softbox is too small—get the next size softbox up—like a 2′ by 3′).

Anyway, I’m delighted to announce that Westcott has now come on as an official sponsor of my Lightroom Live Tour, and I just couldn’t be more tickled to have them be a part of this new tour, and to be using their lighting in my seminar. (My thanks to Dave and everyone at Westcott for their support).

I just learned yesterday that our special bonus episode of Adobe Photoshop TV, which we taped live at Adobe’s CS3 launch event in New York City, has been download more than 890,000 times so far. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, click here to watch it online. Thanks to our friends at Adobe Systems, especially Addy Roff and Cari Gushiken, who helped make our CS3 Launch Show happen.

Lots of Lightroom stuff today:

• I did a little video clip to give readers some insights into my new Lightroom book (what makes it different, the format, etc.) and the cool thing is my Web dept. embedded the video right within a static banner so you can watch it right on the same page (it works cooler than it sounds). So, to watch it, go to PlanetPhotoshop.com, then you’ll see the square banner on the right side of the page, and it has a button on it called “Watch Video Intro.” Click that button, and you don’t go to a different page—the video clip plays right there. Check it out.
• Saw this post in the Canon digital photography forum, about a NAPP member who just got his first issue of “Darkroom” (our new magazine for Adobe Lightroom users). Read his post here.
• The Los Angeles stop for my new Lightroom Tour was sold out, but yesterday we contacted the LA Convention Center, and they were able to move us to a larger room, so we can now comfortably accommodate more people. We’ll have nearly 700 people for the seminar, which just gives you an idea of how popular Lightroom has become, even though version 1.0 is just over a month or so old. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone there! (By the way, the next steop for my Lightroom Tour is in Boston, Mass. For details, or to register, click here.)
• I’ve been getting emails all week from people who have received my new Lightroom book from Amazon.com, which is big relief to me (thanks to everybody for being so patient). Anyway, as an author, I can tell you there is nothing authors want more than to get our books in the hands of readers, so I can tell you all those emails really made my day.

It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means? OK, I’m not sure either, but in the meantime, here’s some news:

• There’s only 12 day’s left to pick up Adobe Lightroom at Adobe’s special introductory price of $199 (US). On May 1st, it moves up to it’s normal price of $299. You can buy it direct from Adobe by clicking here, or from our friends of B&H Photo.
• NAPP’s own Corey Barker “The Photoshop Lad’ (who writes the daily Photoshop Blog at PlanetPhotoshop.com), has a really nice video tutorial on a highlight portrait effect that’s pretty slick. I’ve seen a number of different takes on this technique, but I think Corey has nailed it. Check it out right here.
• Adobe released some free updates yesterday for Camera Raw 4, and the Adobe DNG Converter. You can download them right here (for Macintosh), or here (for Windows).
• Moose Peterson brought this article to my attention (from the Pro Photo Business Blog), and it’s worth a read (even if you disagree with it). It’s called “The Death of Vertical Photos” and it’s about how the days of widespread use of shooting in Portrait mode may be numbered, because of the way today’s Web designers feel photos are best displayed on the Web. At first, I completely dismissed this article, but then I realized how many times recently I’ve purposely shot portraits in landscape mode knowing that the photos would be displayed here in my blog. Anyway, it’s food for thought, and worth a read (just for the record, although the writer makes a good point, I think his scenario is a long way off [perhaps never], for a variety of reasons). Check it out here.
• Terry White has just posted a special “Inside Adobe” Creative Suite Video Podcast episode that covers all the products in the Creative Suite 3 Design Premium. This episode is 1 hour 16 minutes long and covers Bridge, Version Cue, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, Device Central and Acrobat 8 Professional. Highly recommended!
• Got a minute to see some beautiful photography? (OK, that’s a trick question; of course you’ve got a minute to see some beautiful photography). I ran across this site from photographer Andy Biggs, and I just was really taken with some of his photography, especially his African Landscape gallery. Click here to check out some of his work.
• My buddy, and Photoshop TV co-host, Dave Cross is teaching a one-day Photoshop hands-on seminar at the Digital Technology Centre in Sarasota, and it looks really cool, as the day starts with a “How to Shoot for Photoshop” live shoot, and then takes you through the whole process, and ends with Dave’s “Finishing Touches.” Seating is limited (as you might guess), so click here to find out more info or to snag one of the few seats available.
• Adobe quietly released some new technology on the Adobe Labs site that is really pretty darn handy. It’s a new Help system called “knowhow” which lives within your applications, and it’s very well designed, very interactive, and I wish I had thought of it first. When you click this link, make sure you watch the little demo just to see how cool this thing really is.