Photoshop Insider

Well, I’m back from my GAPW Workshop in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and I had just an absolutely wonderful experience. I met so many great people, and I learned as much as I taught, in no small part to sharing the teaching duties with Nikon’s amazing Bill Fortney (pictured with me above; photo by Chuck Summers). Bill is just an amazing photographer, a gifted instructor, and is one of those guys who can’t wait to share his hard-earned knowledge with his students (I filled pages with notes from his lectures). It was just a enlightening, laugh-filled, and inspiring workshop all the way around.

That was, of course, until I found out that my older brother Jeff, who was out visiting friends in Denver, got really ill, and was not only in the hospital, but was facing emergency surgery. Well, I was on the next flight out that night to Denver (Bill was gracious enough to fill in for me on the last day of the workshop), and thanks to the prayers of many friends (including some of the wonderful students in the workshop), my brother was not only able to avoid the surgery, but I was able to fly with him back home yesterday, and he’s feeling just great now, and totally back in the game. So….thanks to all who “sent one up” for him, and as you can tell….it worked!

So, today I’m just getting back in the saddle, and tomorrow I’ll have my regular news update, and some cool new things to share (including some photos from Tennessee and surprisingly enough, Denver), but I did want to let you all know what’s up, and why I missed the last couple of posts (including the big news that Adobe officially shipped CS3, which would have been big news a day or so ago). See you all tomorrow!

This was taken first thing this morning (click for larger version) at my photo workshop in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains (in about 33° chilly weather—brrrrrrr) in an old fashioned Grist Mill in Cades Cove. This really nice guy (named Kevin) was working in the Grist Mill and was nice enough to pose long enough for me a click off a few shots (he even let me move him into some decent light). I’ll post some more shots from this morning, but I had to fly out tonight (it’s a long story) so I’ll miss tomorrow’s shoots (rats!). Had an amazing time teaching at the GAPW workshop, and had some absolute first-rate photographers in my class as well. I taught quite a bit; met some really wonderful people, and made some great new friends. I guess that’s what these workshops are really all about—learning, laughing, and making new friends. Not a bad way to spend a few days. Thanks to GAPW for allowing me to be one of their instructors—I had an absolute blast!!!!

P.S. Did anyone notice I finally spelled “Smoky” right?

Amazon.com has just launched a brand new Adobe CS3 Online Store, and they’re featuring a special free “new features of Photoshop CS3″ video clip I did for them, you can watch right there on the site. Check it out by clicking here (It wouldn’t hurt if you bought some books while you’re there. Hey, I just sayin’….).

Here’s an 11-photo pano I shot at yesterday’s dawn shoot (It’s the low res version, but you can click on the photo for a larger view). We were hoping for more atmospheric effects (fog), and some clouds, but neither really showed up, so it was just a nice morning to be shooting, minus the really good light. Late yesterday afternoon before our sunset shoot, I showed the class how to set up their cameras for shooting panos, and how to make sure that Photoshop would not only stitch them together perfectly, but blend the colors and edges so it was seamless. The pano shown here stitched together on the first try (using Photoshop CS3’s PhotoMerge). I’ll post a few more later today, but we’re heading out for our dawn shoot now (it’s kinda chilly out there this morning!). Have a great day everybody!

Now that my new Lightroom book is hitting stores, I put together a short video clip describing the book, what makes it different, and what it’s all about it. You can watch it right here (well, right below. You knew what I meant, right? Anyway, just click the little Play button on the bottom left and the video starts. ).

OK, I’m at the airport; here’s some quick news:

• Last week, at Photoshop World, Strata released some new 3D plug-ins for Photoshop CS3, and they are pretty slick. Click here for more info.
• How fast is Photoshop really running on your computer? Take the Photoshop Speed Test.
• The first review of my new Lightroom Book is out. The review, by T. Michael Testi, is over at Blog Critics.
• Got three minutes? Then check out this short “Masters of Photography” video clip on YouTube, which is photography set to music.
• Our “Live from Photoshop World” episode of Photoshop TV is now online at PhotoshopTV.com, featuring some cool tutorials, and the sights and sounds of Photoshop World Boston.
• I finally installed my AppleTV, and I have to say—it totally lives up to its hype. It was simple to set-up, incredibly well-designed, and just plain fun.
• Great article from Sean McCormack on Lightroom-News.com on how to add navigation links to photo galleries you create in Adobe Lightroom. If you create Web photo galleries in Lightroom, you’re going to want to check this out for sure.

Ya know that GAPW (Great American Photo Workshops) Workshop I keep talking about to the Great Smokie Mountains? Well, it’s today! Well, I’m flying out today anyway, and I’m meeting up with my students tonight for four days of shooting (and when the light’s harsh; Lightroom, and Photoshop) in some just beautiful locales (and it looks like the weather might even cooperate, too, with highs in the mid 60s). Renown landscape photographer Bill Fortney is shooting along with me (that’s Bill’s photo above), so I know I’m going to have a blast!!!!! I’ll be doing some posts (and with any luck, posting some photos), so keep an eye on the blog this week). Also, later today I hope to post some news, so keep an eye peeled right here. I’ve got another GAPW workshop coming up this fall in Montana’s spectacular Glacier National Park. If you’d like to join me, click here for the full details and/or to reserve your spots (I’d sign up soon—today’s workshop has been sold out for months!).

Welcome to the new home for my Photoshop Insider Blog, which incorporates both ScottKelby.com and my former Blogger.com blog into one site. This new blog has lots of nice new features (easier navigation, more info, categories, the opportunity for larger sized photos) and for me it makes posting much easier and efficient). Thanks to my in-house Web guru Fred Maya who hooked me up with this new set-up (click on that down facing-arrow at the bottom of the photo at the top of this site to expand the image area. Pretty cool, eh? That’s more Fred stuff.). So…here goes:

• Terry White’s Tech Blog has a write up on the recent Photoshop World, complete with comments from some attendees. Click here to check it out.
• I’m teaching another week-long hands-on workshop this summer at the wonderful Santa Fe Workshops, out in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The workshop is called “Super Charged Photoshop and the Bridge for Photographers,” but of course, we’ll also be working with Lightroom this year. I’ll have more on the workshop tomorrow, but for now, you can find out more by going to the Santa Fe Workshops site.
• The amazing Laurie Excell (AKA: The Equipment Lady, and head of NAPP’s Photo Gear Desk”) has a new blog, and if you like great photography, great advice, and a the latest scoop on the all the latest gear, you might as well add it to your daily rounds. You can jump there now by clicking here.
• Photoshop World instructor, and renown digital artist Fay Sirkis is teaching an in-depth five-day “Beginner Photo Painting” workshop (April 16 - 20, 2007) at the Lepp Institute, out in beautiful Los Osos, California. If you’ve ever caught Fay’s standing-room-only sessions at Photoshop World, you know what an amazing week this will be. For more info, visit the Lepp Institute’s site.

Well, I’m still recovering from last week’s Photoshop World up in Boston! I had an absolute blast—met SO many great people—I learned a lot (I actually got to sit in on some sessions), plus I got to play a set with my band “Big Electric Cat” at Jillian’s nightclub across the street from Fenway. What an amazing week! Well, now it’s this week, and here’s what’s up:

• This kid can shoot! I ran across this site (called LensEvny) of a Photoshop World attendee (he had a blog post about Photoshop World), but it was his photography that really caught my attention (one of his shots is shown above). He’s got a couple of great shots he took on at Boston’s Holocaust Memorial (I really like the one on the right), but take a moment to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Next page” link twice, to check out some of his other photos. I have to say—this kid can shoot! (I say “kid,” he just turned 21 last week, so he’s not really a kid, but ya know—at my age–anyone his age is a kid). Check it out here.

• We posted some photos from Photoshop World: you can see them by clicking here, but we’ll be posting lots more later today, so check back tomorrow, too!

• The Photoshop Site “Designorati” has posted some on-scene photos from Photoshop World in an online gallery. Check it out right here.

• Our friend (and photograper extrodinairre), Vincent Versace (the namesake of oPhotoshop World’s prestigious “Vincent Versace Award for Digital Photographic Excellence,” —one of the highest artistic honors awarded in our industry), has just released a training DVD on Nikon’s Capture NX, called “Unleashing the Raw Power of Capture NX. Check it out right here.

• An article on AppleInsider today quotes investment research firm PiperJaffray who had researchers on hand at Photoshop World in Boston last week, interviewing attendees and getting the feel for how Adobe customers are reacting to CS3. The title of the article is: “Interest in Adobe CS3 booms, Photoshop World Sells Out,” and in the AppleInsider article (by Katie Marsal) it says, “Creative professionals, eager for a glimpse of the new Adobe suites in action, flocked in herds to the Boston, Mass.-based Photoshop conference earlier this week, selling out the show for the first time in its history. Read the full article here.

• Andrew Rodney (AKA: The Digital Dog), has posted a great photo gallery of shots taken at the Lightoom Pre-Conference Workshop at Photoshop World (known as “Photoshop Soup2Nuts”). Check it out by clicking here.

• If you use Photoshop Elements 5 (or have a friend or family member that does), Adobe posted a free update that fixes all sorts of little stuff. Click here to jump to the free update download page.

• Hey, there’s more news: scroll down to the read the next post.

Have a great Monday everybody!!!

My Lightroom book is finally (finally!) hitting books stores this week. Peachpit had copies for sale at Photoshop World last week, and although Amazon.com sent out an auto-email saying it wouldn’t be in stock until June, it was just one of those crazy “email bot things” and they’ll actually have it any day now (I guess they’re working on sending out a “it’s on its way” bot email maybe as soon as today). So, thanks to everybody who pre-ordered the book (we had record-breaking pre-orders). If you haven’t seen the book yet, you can get a cool interactive look at the layout and feel by going to this site, and checking out this really slick Flash-based look inside the book (a shot of which is shown above). My thanks to Nancy Ruenzel, Scott Cowlin, and everybody at Peachpit Press who worked so hard to make this new book a reality. Way to go!!!!