Photoshop Insider

Good morning everybody. Here we go:

• First up: we’re expecting my new book, “The Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers” (shown above) to hit bookstores this week!!! If you haven’t ordered yours yet, you can order it now over at Barnes & Noble.com or Amazon.com, or you can find it in bookstores by this weekend.
• Larry Becker let me know that there’s a $100 rebate on Epson P-3000 units (those way cool photo viewing/photo storage units), and you can get the unit, and the rebate, over at B&H Photo. Here’s the link with the details (by the way, I have one of these which I use for backing up on location, and then seeing if I “got the shot” while still out on location. Once you have one—you’ll wonder how you lived without it).
• Remember last week when I mentioned that Stephanie Shimerdla over at Obsidian Dawn was going to create some custom brush sets just for NAPP members? Well, good news: the first set has been posted and they’re available for free download from the NAPP member Website.
• A buddy of mine was just asking me if there’s an easy way for him to get his many thousands of slides converted over to digital, (he’s all digital now and those slides are just sitting in boxes doing nothing). I told him it’s time to buy a slide scanner, block out a few weeks, and get to work. Well, as luck would have it, I ran across a new service today that will do the “dirty work” for him (or you), at a pretty reasonable price (starting at about .19¢ per 3,000 dpi slide scan). It’s called ScanCafe, and for all the details click here.
  
• If you’ve got a second, check out the work of NAPP member Joan West, who took the stretched-pixel effect (like the one I’ve been teaching in my Down & Dirty Tricks Session at Photoshop World) and did a very clever layout that combines the stretched version of the photo with an inset version of the same photo still in tact. It looks very cool. Click here to see her member portfolio (you don’t have to be a member to view her portfolio).
• The prestigious Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging is offering NAPP members a 15% discount to attend any of their workshops. Click here to see their schedule of upcoming workshops (including workshops from Ben Willmore and Fay Sirkis). For the special code you need to get the discount, visit the NAPP member’s Web site.

That’s it for today’s news. Have a great Tuesday!

I got lucky enough to spend the day shooting and learning from one of the hottest Wedding photographers in the industry today—the amazing David Ziser. David was hired to shoot a huge black-tie wedding in Cincinnati and was kind enough to invite me to come up and spend the day with him so I could see behind the scenes how he shoots a wedding of this scale.

It was really an amazing experience—and even though I was technically there just auditing the wedding, I still wound up shooting about 1200 frames (it was a really long day—-we shot for five hours before the ceremony even began, and didn’t leave until after 2:00 am).

The shot above (click on it to see a larger version–then scroll down to the next post for a slideshow from the wedding) was taken about three hours before the wedding, shot handheld at 400 ISO using a single Nikon SB-800 flash to light the bride (I had the flash set at full power, aiming nearly straight up. It didn’t really bounce (the ceiling was too high), but the flash spilled just enough light onto to her that it worked. It took a number of test shots to get it where it didn’t light the aisle too much, and I added a little vignette effect in Lightroom to help darken the aisle carpeting a bit.

As for the wedding shoot itself; David was amazing (a true master); I kept taking notes all day, I really learned a lot, and I can’t remember when I’ve worked that hard (and had that much fun).

Now, it’s time for the news (Scroll down to the next post for a slideshow of some of other wedding and reception shots, then the post following that is today’s news update).

About the images in the slideshow above: the only light source I had for both the wedding and the reception was that one Nikon SB-800 (there are no shots there with just natural light).

Most of the time the flash was mounted on the camera (although I did handhold some wireless off camera flash shots) and I used either bounce flash (bouncing off any white ceiling that wasn’t too high), or I would turn the flash head completely sideways (aiming directly to my left) just to let a little of the light from the flash spill onto my subject, so that way the shot was mostly the ambient room light with just a little bit of flash on the subject. I dragged the shutter quite a bit (using a slow shutter speed like 1/10 to 1/20 of a sec.) to get more ambient room light (the slower the shutter speed the more background room light you get).

We basically shot in three locations: (1) A hotel suite where the bridal party was getting ready (2) a beautiful and historic Hilton Hotel in downtown Cincinatti where the reception was held, and (3) an absolutely beautiful synagogue where the wedding ceremony took place.

And yes; the violin and sheet music shot was totally set-up (the violinist was very kind to help me out like that, considering her violin was from the 1700s). Also, if you’re wondering how I got that light behind the couple dancing; I cheated. There was a video crew there taping the event, and they had a light attached to the top of their video camera. I positioned myself so the video crew was behind the couple and when the couple danced directly in front of their video light, I was ready for it and got the shot!

Hi everybody! Here’s what’s up:

• This is amazing: I found this link on PhotoDoto.com, and it’s to a short video clip from the TED conference that shows an engineer from Microsoft demoing some new imaging technology developed by a company that Microsoft recently acquired. It’s a peek at the near future, and definitely worth checking out (it pretty much blew me away). Click here to watch the clip.
• My publisher contacted me this week to let me know that the Chinese translation of my book, “The Digital Photography Book” is the #1 bestselling photography book in China (the graphic above is from the Chinese publisher). I have a friend who speaks simplified Chinese, and I asked him to translate the ad, and that’s when I found out why it’s #1. Apparently they had to slightly change the title of the book for it to appeal to the vast Chinese market, so in China the book is called, “How to pick up women.” (OK, I made up that last part, but I bet it would sell better with that title).
• Larry Becker turned me on to this image in a NAPP member Mike Goodwin’s online portfolio (NAPP members get a free online portfolio that’s visible to the public), and you really have to admire the retouching job he did. He shot a car on the floor of an Auto show, and then did a pretty masterful job of isolating the car and putting it on a studio background created right in Photoshop.  Click here to check it out.
• While I was over at PhotoDoto.com this weekend, another post caught my eye; a link to a site where you can find camera manuals for just about every make and model digital camera ever made. It’s pretty useful, especially if you’ve either misplaced your manual, or you’ve bought (or are thinking about buying) a used digital camera. It’s over at CameraTown.com.
• Just a quick reminder; if you’re thinking of going to Photoshop World (Sept 6-8, 2007 in Vegas) you only have until Friday to register early and save $100. Here’s the link.

Well gang, that’s it for this Monday. Have a good one!

Here’s a couple of quick things:

• Corey Barker has just launched an online course called “Adobe Illustrator Down & Dirty Tricks” and if you’re into Illustrator–you’ve got to check this out (Corey is just a wizard at Illustrator, and he’s got some amazing techniques). Get the full details (or sign up for the class) at photoshoptraining.com (don’t forget: NAPP members get a HUGE discount on these courses).P.S. While you’re there, check out Matt’s online Lightroom 1.1 course).
• Mikkel Aaland just released a book that looks really interesting called “Photoshop Lightroom Adventure” which includes case studies from a demanding road test in Iceland (you’ve probably heard about this Icelandic adventure that Adobe sponsored earlier this year, and this book grew out of that amazing trip). Here’s a link to the book (published by O’Reilly Publishing).
• Remember how I mentioned those cool brush sets from Obsidian Dawn earlier this week? Well, as soon as I posted that, my NAPP crew wrote to tell me that they had already been working on a special deal with Stephanie Shimerdla (the artist behind the site), who will be providing exclusive custom brush sets every few weeks just for NAPP members. Check the member home page for more details (see what happens when I go away for a few weeks? I should do that more often, eh?).
• Just a reminder: only 7-days left to save $100 on Photoshop World Registration (the conference and expo is held Sept. 6-8, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on Las Vegas). Click here for info or to register.
• Here’s another one I picked up from John Nack’s blog: it’s a list of 80 Photoshop Text Effects, compiled over at PhotoshopRoadmap.com. Worth checking out.
• Scroll down one more post for some great news about equipment insurance for photographers.

That’s it for now. I’ve got some interesting news for Monday, so have a great weekend and we’ll see you then!

If you’re a professional photographer, check this out: NAPP is partnering with Hill & Usher to make equipment and professional liability insurance available to qualifying members. Hill & Usher specialize in this type of coverage for photographers, videographers, graphic artists, and other art related interests. Premiums for customized package policies generally start at $500 per year, with flexible monthly or quarterly payment plans offered in most programs. If you’re a NAPP member, click here to jump to a special area we’ve created on the member site with more information.

Happy Thursday everybody: here’s what’s up:

• The fine folks over at Westcott (the people behind the amazing Spiderlites that I use in studio, and on my Lightroom Tour) have featured my Lightroom tour in their customer newsletter (that’s it above–click to see a much larger version).The headshot you see in the newsletter was taken for a Photoshop CS3 online course I’m working on, using just one TD-5 Spiderlite and one Westcott 30″ reflector.

  To get that fashion/glamor look I used a “Clamshell” (also called “Over and Under” lighting ) set-up, with the Spiderlite TD-5 (with a large softbox attached) positioned directly in front of the model’s face, angled toward her, and positioned as close as I could get it to her face without actually being seen in the frame. Then I positioned the reflector (silver side up) just below her neck (again, just out of frame) bouncing the soft light from the overhead Spiderlite back into her face, to minimize shadows and make her eyes sparkle.

  So, think of these two (the softbox and the reflector) as a giant clam right in front of her face, and then you shoot through the little gap between the softbox and reflector. (I’m in the studio again today, and if I get a chance, I might be able to tape a quick video on how this was done).

  B&H Photo has put together a kit called “The Westcott Scott Kelby Studio Kit” based on the exact kit I use on my Lightroom Tour (coming next to Chicago, by the way), which includes 2 of the Spiderlites, two stands, two softboxes, and a pop-up background that you’ve heard me talk about here on the blog. You can find it right here.

  I’m such a big fan of Westcott’s products, and I’m really honored that they chose to feature me in their campaign. Thanks, you guys!

• Yesterday on John Nack’s blog, John posted a link to Trevor Morris’ great site, and on it he’s compiled an easy-to-use list of Photoshop CS3’s keyboard shortcuts (you can find them right here). Way to go Trevor!
• PopPhoto.com has what could be a life-saving article on how to recover lost images if your memory card goes bad. You can find it by clicking this link.
• Previously on this blog, I mentioned how one of my students came up and told me about Drobo, which is a super secure way of backing up your photos to a hard drive, and automatically ensuring that the images on that hard drive are safe using a very clever robotic way of not only monitoring the health of your drives, but addressing any problems for you, and alerting you on what to do next.Well, I got a Drobo system myself and hooked it up last night, and I have to tell you—so far I’m very impressed.I’ll have more on this tomorrow, but in the meantime, if you’ve got a sec, go watch their short video called “See Drobo in Action” over at Drobo.com and see if you don’t think this thing is really cool (especially for photographers who are paranoid about losing their images, which is basically all of us).

That’s it for Thursday’s news. Catch you all tomorrow!

Jeff Natrop posted a comment here on the blog yesterday about a site called “Obsidian Dawn” with lots of free Photoshop Brush Sets you can download, and I took a look at it and I have to say; it’s pretty darn cool (plus, it’s free, which is always nice). Drop by there and check it out (a sample of their most popular brush sets, Hearts, is shown above). Thanks to Jeff for turning us on to this one.

Vacation’s over, and I’m back in the office today (it’s great to see all my friends again! Even though I needed the time off, I really missed my gang). Now, onto to today’s news:

• Well, you knew it had to happen, right? My new book “The iPhone Book” (shown above) is already on press and will be in bookstores shortly. It uses the same layout, style, and theme as my book “The Digital Photography Book” so if you have that book, you’ll feel right at home. Even better: I snagged the person who is arguably the world’s leading expert on the iPhone as my co-author; Terry White (from Terry White’s Tech Blog). Terry I and split the writing duties—each writing half the book (if you’re wondering how we chose who wrote what; it was easy—-I had Terry do all the hard chapters). You can pre0rder the book from Barnes&Noble.com, Amazon.com, or wherever way-cool books are sold.

• Our buddy, and Photoshp World Instructor Tim Grey is a guest on this week’s “Inside Digital Photo” radio Podcast, and talks about the recent 2nd annual Microsoft Pro Photo Summit, and in particular he talks about Microsoft Vista’s new HD photo format who’s goal is to provide compression without loss of quality (taking on JPEG head-to-head). Here’s the link to this week’s show, hosted by our good friend Scott Sheppard (you can listen right there on the site).
• Photographer Alan Hess, over at his Lexar Photography blog, posted a link to a video from “The Today Show” regarding the Faith Hill retouch I mentioned last week, and you just have to watch it (click here to go to Alan’s Blog, and you can watch the video right on his site). While you’re there, click this link to check out Alan’s live concert portfolio for some great images and inspiration.
• If you’re planning on going to the Photoshop World Conference & Expo this September, and you haven’t signed up yet, there’s only 10 days left to save $100 on a full conference pass using the “Early Bird Advance” registration, so I’d get on it.Also, one of our two hotels is already sold out (The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, which is the new upscale trendy hotel attached to the regular Mandalay Bay hotel), however we’re (all the staff and instructors) are staying at the regular Mandalay Bay hotel, and there are still rooms available, but I’d snag ‘em now if you want to stay with us. Visit the Photoshop World travel page for more details.Airfares to Vegas right now are dirt cheap now, too: For example, round trip flights from Chicago to Vegas are running as low as $183 (on Continental). From Dallas they’re $244 (on USAir), and from San Francisco they’re just $130 (on United). Hope to see you there!
• I found this on the PDN Pulse blog, and I think it’s not only a great idea, but a coming trend (as said as only an iPhone book author can. ;-)] Photographer Ceasar Lima has posted a version of his photography portfolio that is optimized to the perfect size to be viewed on an iPhone (check out this link to see how it looks, then follow the link there to see Caesar’s iPhone portfolio online. (personal note: I copied my portfolio directly onto my iPhone, so it’s easy for me to show other people when I’m right in front of them, but if you want people to see your portfolio on their iPhone, this is the ideal way).

That’s it for now folks. It’s great to be back in the saddle again, and I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday!

This is from Saturday night, and what I like best about it; I didn’t pump up the color in Photoshop (in fact, I did all the processing in Lightroom, and didn’t touch the Vibrance, Saturation, or HSL controls whatsoever—the light was that great!). The only adjustments were Exposure, Shadows, and sharpening. It was taken about 30 minutes after sunset, shot on a tripod (of course), and I was aided by a dedicated squadron of mosquitoes determined to make sure I didn’t shoot for 35 minutes after sunset.

I have a couple other shots from Maine (below) from my final set, so scroll down to see those.