Photoshop Insider

This was my first time attending PPA’s Imaging USA Expo, and I have to say, I was very impressed. Every PPA event I’ve ever been to has been first rate, and Imaging USA was no exception. Since this was my first time, I didn’t know what to expect, and I was definitely surprised at some of the things I found, and here’s a quick run down of my impressions of the show:

• There were far more booths selling Photoshop plug-ins and pre-made actions that I had expected, and they were getting a lot of interest from attendees.
• Both Nikon and Canon had some of the biggest booths—they were always packed, and there was plenty of buzz around them at all times. Both had some of their top pros doing presentations on the show floor, and they were as informative as they were inspirational. Just getting to see these presentations alone was worth the expo admission price. Actually, it was worth triple, and worth the trip just for those. Also, Epson had a huge booth and it was drawing attendees like a magnet.
• It seemed like the most prevalent exhibitors were wedding album vendors (They were everywhere, some with very elaborate booths), and companies that sell products you can put your client’s photos on (like putting their photos on coffee mugs, or t-shirts, or coasters, or greeting cards, or….well, about any substance you can think of). There were also a surprising number of companies selling studio backgrounds (you couldn’t go down a row of booths, and not see two or three of them).
• I was very surprised to see that Adobe had a very small booth (the smallest booth I’ve ever seen Adobe have anywhere). It was just two stalls wide (a 10′x20′) and there were companies selling muslin backgrounds with larger booths. I didn’t even realize Adobe was there until 30 minutes before the show closed, and then only because I walked past their booth on my way to the restroom.
• There were a lot of booths from print labs. I dunno why I was surprised, but I was.
• I was more surprised to see that memory card makers Lexar and SanDisc didn’t have booths at the show. However, Hoodman was there selling their new American-made super-fast UDMA memory cards, so they pretty much had the crowd to themselves.
• All the lighting vendors were there, and you could spot large softboxes from wherever you stood. I went by the Elinchrom (Bogen Imaging) booth and it cost me some money, because I wound up buying a couple of RX strobes, some softboxes, and a bunch of other goodies. I also stopped by the Westcott booth and picked up some accessories I needed there, too.
• There were lots of demos and presentations all over the floor, and honestly, I would have loved to spend a full day just watching some of the inspirational presentations, the live shoots, and the demos of products I’ve heard of but haven’t seen live. Had I not gone and watched my Bucs get trounced by the Giants on Sunday, I would have had an extra day to see more booths.
• I thought it was kind of cool the way some vendors had off-site events, like free off-site shoots that you could sign up for to see their products in use. I would have loved to have the time to catch one or two of these.
• We were thrilled with the response we got at our KelbyTraining.com booth, and our theater was standing-room-only for three straight days. We also had a lot of great folks come by for our live taping of Photoshop User TV, and we always have a lot of fun taping a live show, in front of a live audience like that (despite the fact that it’s usually pretty much a calamity).

All-in-all, I was very impressed with the entire show, and I was really glad I went. We’ll have some video coverage of the show on the next episode of Photoshop User TV, so you’ll get a better feel for how cool the show was. My hats off to the PPA for producing such a great show for our industry.

Hey, it’s that time again! It’s “Backup your Lightroom Database Wednesday.” If you haven’t backed up your Lightroom database for a while (and if you’re wondering right now if you have….then you haven’t).

So…bring up Lightroom’s Preferences (press Command-, on Mac, or Ctrl-, on PC), and then click on the General Tab at the top. At the bottom of the General Preferences, click on the “Go To Catalog Settings” button. When the Catalog Settings preference panel appears, in the Backup section, where it say “Back up Catalog” choose “Next Time Lightroom Starts Only,” (as shown above), then close the preference and Quit Lightroom.

Now, open Lightroom again, and it will ask you if you want to backup. Click the Backup button, and that’s it—you’ve backed up the database (catalog). Now, go back to the preferences and set it up so this happens automatically (either once a day, if you use Lightroom each day, or once a week, if you don’t). You’ll thank me. Not now. But one day.

Happy Tuesday. Here’s what’s up:

• Had a blast yesterday at the Imaging USA Expo, where I gave a live sneak-peek of my upcoming Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques online class at the Kelby Training Booth on the show floor (the shots of the booth above were taken by Matt Kloskowski, who was also teaching in the booth along with Dave Cross, RC and Corey Barker). Imaging USA is a really great show, and the booth was absolutely standing-room only during all the sessions. We’re back today with more free sessions (I’m doing my Retouching Sneak Peek again this morning), and then we’re taping a live episode of Photoshop User TV from the booth in the afternoon. It’s great seeing so many of my old friends (and getting to make new ones), and I really got a kick out of meeting so many people who read this blog each day. Hope to see more of you tomorrow!
• Want to be blown away by some incredible landscape photography? Check out the work of Elizabeth Carmel. She is just amazing (here’s the link).
• I know we have a lot of font freaks (like me) out there, and if you’re one, you’ll be interested to see MyFonts.com list of the most popular fonts of 2007. Click here to see the list (with samples of each font).
• I saw where Popular Photography named the Nikon D300 their “2007 Camera of the Year,” which is cool and all, but check out their video on the D300, which is even cooler (and shows how they picked it from a field of 8 new cameras, and why it won). You can watch it right on the pop-photo site (here’s the link).
• I was really psyched to see that CanonBlogger.com named my blog (The Photoshop Insider) as one of their seven best blog sites of 2007. Many thanks guys!!!

That’s it for Tuesday news (scroll down for 1 more post about viral videos). Hope you have a kick-butt day, and don’t forget to come by the Kelby Training Booth and say “hi” if you’re at the show today!

Rod Harlan, over at DV Confidential.com has picked, and posted, the seven-best professionally produced viral videos of 2007, and you can watch them all right on his site. He did it into 2 parts (so it starts with a post of the seven most popular, and then expands, so scroll down once you get there to find the 2nd part). Here’s the categories Rod chose winners in:

• Best Commercial
• Best Worst Commercial
• Best 5 Seconds Ever
• Best Conference Video
• Best Video Pushing a Brand
• Best Video to Launch a New Website
• Best Web Video Advertising Campaign

This is very cool stuff, and if you’ve got a few minutes, you’ll be just amazed at the level of stuff they’re producing. Here’s the link to Part 1.

Hi gang! Hope everybody had a great weekend. Here’s what up this week:

• Matt Kloskowski’s “Adobe ACE Boot Camp” (which he has taught live as a pre-conference workshop at Photoshop World), is now available as an online class over at KelbyTraining.com. The class is designed to get you prepared to pass the Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) test, and just like in his live workshop, Matt does a phemoninal job of getting you prepped to take the test (Matt and Dave Cross worked directly with Adobe in preparing their pre-conference workshop, and it was a HUGE hit at the conference). Click here for more details.
• Want to see some really inspirational photography? Check out this year’s winners of National Geographic’s 19th annual “World in Focus” photo competition. Here’s the link.
• I’m over at PPA’s Imaging USA at the Tampa convention center today, doing a couple of sessions in the KelbyTraining.com booth on the Expo Floor. I’ve got sessions at 1:00 and 3:00 pm today, and Matt, Dave, Corey and RC will all be doing training sessions in the booth, too. If you’re there, make sure you stop by and say “hi.”
• Want a quick chuckle? Check out this “For Better/For Worse” comic strip (click here), for another example of how Photoshop has become a part of our culture. Thanks to Les Holz for sending this our way.
• If you’re into Final Cut Pro (The hottest video editing app today), check out our buddy Richard Harrington’s newly launched “FinalCutHelp.com” site. His site is packed with great posts, tips, and video techniques, and if you’re into FCP, this is going to be a must-stop every day. Rich is the perfect guy for a site like this, because he knows Final Cut Pro at a scary level (which is just one reason he’s been a fixture at Photoshop World’s video track for years), and he’s one of the best, most engaging and talented trainers out there (which is why he’s already working on a number of training classes for us at KelbyTraining.com). Here’s the link to FinalCutHelp.com

That’s it for today, gang. Hope I’ll get to shake hands with you at Imaging USA today. Have a great Monday!

I thought that after all these years it would be impossible to top my most magical of all tag lines (the now famous “Matt Kloskowski is Rockin’ the Houseski”). Not only did it help turn Matt into a household name, it helped untold thousands around the world properly pronounce Matt’s last name—a name which Matt himself will tell you has been mispronounced again and again ever since he was a young boy in the streets of Gdansk.

But this week, lightning struck once again while I was chatting with Photoshop Hall of Famer Eddie Tapp, who was at the Kelby Training studios working on some online training classes for us. We were talking and all of a sudden it just hit me. The tag line that will propel Eddie into more fame and fortune (if that’s even possible), is…..(wait for it……wait for it…..)……“Holy Crap—It’s Eddie Tapp!” (Come on, admit it; that’s gold, baby! Gold!!!!! It’s almost too perfect.).

This new slogan has already been spotted on car bumpers (see above—click for zoomed-in version), and Eddie is talking with the folks at Gap, Inc. about creating a line of t-shirts with that slogan, and a direct to DVD movie is already in the works. OK, I’m making all this up, but as lame tag lines go, I think it’s among my lamest (this is all just to tease our good friend Eddie. We love him, and he knows it). Look for Eddie’s new slogan to appear in stores nationwide this spring.

Hi Everybody:
I just thought I’d pop in here real quick just to let you know something that I hope you already know, but just in case you weren’t sure: I absolutely, positively read each and every comment you post here on the blog. In fact, not only do I read them here on the site, each comment is emailed directly to me, and even forwarded to my iPhone as well, so I often read them even when I’m away from my computer.

Unfortunately, as much as I’d like to, I usually can’t respond to individual comments or technical questions, or I wouldn’t have time left to teach classes, write articles, or books, do Photoshop User TV, play with my kids, go to dinner with my wife, etc.

There are so many times where I really want to jump in and answer a question or clarify things, but I’m already devoting so much time to the blog that if I devote any more my co-workers, family, friends, etc. will grab torches and pitchforks and start gathering outside my door, so I hope you understand.

Your comments do shape what I have planned for the blog (for example, next week I’m planning a “Seven-Point-System Q&A” based on the questions people are posting in here about the book, like how to use Smart Objects with Lightroom, and if “The System” is compatible with CS2, and Elements, and so on).

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I am listening (OK, reading), and that I love hearing from you all. It really makes me feel connected to the great folks who come by here each day, and I’ve met so many great people (and made so many new friends) through this blog.

I’ve gone shooting with people I’ve met from the blog, taken advice from your posts, and even bought products and services based on your recommendations, because I really feel like we’re all in this together. I know you all have placed a lot of trust in me (which I never take for granted), and in turn, I put my trust in you. I count on you guys; I care about what you think, and I value what you have to say.

It’s that interaction that makes this whole process not only very rewarding for me, but an awful lot of fun. I’m really glad you’re here, and thanks for hangin’ in with me. It’s gonna be a really amazing year, and I’m glad you’re going to be a part of it.

I’ve got a number of posts today, so make sure you scroll on down and catch ‘em all.

Looking for an incredible learning opportunity? Here’s one: Our buddy, (and Photoshop World and Kelby Training instructor), Ben Willmore, is doing an special three-day hands-on workshop on High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography at the Palm Beach Photographic Workshops in Delray Beach, Florida on January 11-13, 2008 Ben is the master of HDR (that’s his image shown here), and if you’ve really wanted to get your arms around it, there is no better way. Here’s the link for more info, or to sign up (space is very limited, and this workshop is coming up fast, so if you’re planning on going, I’d sign up now)

A number of people asked to see the unretouched car shot as it came out of the camera….well, here it is (click for a larger version).

I was able to darken the sky by setting the Recovery slider to 100 (in Camera Raw), and throwing the rest of the Seven Point System at it. The car didn’t get that much attention (except for the “painting with light” steps from the Seven Points), but cloning those wires over the roof the hotel was a HUGE pain.

Retouching the ground and those wires took 90% of the retouching time (I used a combination of cloning and copying those wires up onto their own layer and using that copy of them to the right of the car to cover up the hotel roof). Hope that helps.

Chicago-based photographer David Cuerdon, who designed the cover art for the June 2007 issue of Photoshop User magazine last year, has already won numerous awards for his cover design, but now Lisa Gumz (a professional makeup artist who did the make-up for the shoot, and is also David’s wife) has now won an award for the same cover, as she took the “Best of Category” award in “The Create Awards” Photography Support (make-up) category. Our congratulations to Lisa and David for combining their talents to come up with such a striking cover. Way to go, you two!