Photoshop Insider

I wanted to extend my congratulations to the 2007 winners of the Photoshop User Awards, the worldwide Photoshop competition (produced by the National Assn. of Photoshop Professionals).

We’re sending this year’s Best of Show winner (and a companion) to Maui, Hawaii (including roundtrip airfare, hotel, transfers, and daily expenses) for inspiration in creating the cover image for an upcoming issue of Photoshop User magazine. And this year’s Grand Prize winner is…

Gregory Carter, of Santa Ana, California for his winning entry, “Take the Field”

The winner in each category receives a prize package, valued at over $2,500 from competition sponsors: B&H Photo, Imagenomics, Peachpit Press, Kelby Training, Layers magazine, and of course NAPP. And, the winning image in each category will appear in a special issue of Photoshop User magazine.

Here’s a list of this year’s category Winners (you can see the Best of Show, and the category winner’s artwork here):

• Artistic Category
  Stian Johansen of Norway
• General Photography
  Christopher Sellers of Los Angeles, California
• General Photoshop Category
  Den Cops of London, England
• Illustration Cateogry
  Eugene Ash of Richmond, California
• Wedding/Portrait Category
  Susi Lawson of Wytheville, Virginia
• Landscape/Travel Category
  Jared Martin of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Composites/Collaging Category
  Adam Daniels of Tampa, Florida
• Advertising Design Category
  Jose Luis and Claudia Turueno/Sotelo
  Mexico
• Photo Restoration Category
  Karen Metrin of Lake Mary, Florida
• Student Work
  Deeneshen Sabapathee of Mauritius
• Photo Retouching
  Mike Tompkins of Palmetto, Florida

My congratulations to all this year’s winner. I wonder where we’ll send the 2008 winners? Hmmmmm. So far we’ve sent them to Paris, Rome, and Maui, Hawaii. Hey, it’s a big world out there, right?

Here’s some Thursday-type news:

• The wonderful Laurie Excell (One of the gifted trainers at DLWS [the Digital Landscape Workshop Series], the expert behind NAPP’s Gear Desk, and the woman behind “The Equipment Lady” site you’ve heard me talk about here on the blog), is hosting a series of on-location “Nature Safari’s” this year, and her first one is coming up here in Florida, on March 3rd - 7th at Ft. Desoto Park. Laurie is a kick-butt photographer (that’s her image above) and trainer, and if you get a chance to learn from Laurie—-jump on it! (I’ll be there for a day or two myself). Here’s where to get all the details (hope I’ll see you there!).
• Just a heads up: Matt’s brand new “Layers” book is now in stock at Amazon.com, and B&N, and people are already talking about it. Get ‘em while the gettin’s good (I have no idea what that means).
• Remember that amazing Jay Maisel workshop that I mentioned a month or so ago where you spent a week with Jay learning in his New York Studio? Ya know, the one that cost $5,000? Well, it sold out in advance (Ben Willmore was there as one of Jay’s students, and just raved about it). It created such a stir, that Jay is holding another of these incredible workshops this April (14th - 18th) for just nine photographers. Will you be one of those nine, whose lives and careers are changed forever? To request an application, email Jay’s studio at workshop@jaymaisel.com
• Photoshop World Instructor Chris Orwig did a presentation at Macworld Expo back in January called “The Art and Craft of Digital Photography,” and the fact that it was a big hit with attendees is cool, but the fact that you can watch his entire session for free online, is even cooler. Check out his video, then make sure you put him on your class list when you come to Photoshop World this April.
• PDN Online has an in-depth article on Wacom’s affordable new Cintiq 12WX, and if you’ve ever thought about making the jump to a Cintiq, make sure you give this a quick read (their reviews give you both the pros and cons). Here’s the link.
• Lastly, want to see some beautiful photography? Check out the nautical images of photographer Onne van der Wal. This guys does very nice work (click here).

Well my friends, that’s it for this Thursday. See you tomorrow for our “week wrap up” (or it could be a “week rap-up” if someone accidentally starts a drum machine).

This new class, from Vincent Versace, went live last week on Kelby Training.com (our online Photoshop and Photography training classroom), and it’s already one of our “most watched” classes. The class (which is not really for beginners), takes you through the steps you need to analyze and retouch a photo in 15 minutes flat. It’s very cool stuff, and ideal for people who kind of already are comfortable with using Photoshop, and are ready to move to that next level in their retouching skills.

You can take Vincent’s class, and all of our other online courses (including new classes from Moose Peterson , Eddie Tapp, Matt Kloskowski, Joe McNally, Dan Margulis, Katrin Eismann, Dave Cross, Bert Monroy, John Paul Caponigro, and myself (among others) by subscribing for $199 per year or $19.95 monthly, for unlimited access to all courses (Of course you get a discount if you’re a NAPP member). Here’s the link with all the details, and you can even try out some sample classes while you’re there.

Howdy, folks. Here’s whaz up:

• Yesterday was Lightroom’s one-year anniversary (for the actual shipping product), and my hearty congrats to Adobe’s Lightroom team for changing the way we work forever. PhotoshopNews.com had a couple of great stories yesterday covering the anniversary, including one on the significance of Feb. 19th, and a fun post with a “Do you remember where you were when Photoshop (and Lightroom) shipped” question, that’s a run read. Here’s the link to PhotoshopNews.com to check them out.
• The new issue of Adobe Magazine (the quarterly PDF mag free from Adobe) is now available right here (thanks to John Nack for pointing this one out).
• Vincent Versace, Photoshop World instructor and author of the highly acclaimed “Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop” has a fascinating on location workshop coming up called “A Photographic Exploration of India” (From Delhi to Pushkar) from Oct 31 - Nov 13, 2008. This is one of those “Shooting and learning opportunities of a lifetime” events, and if you’re interested, here’s the link the full details. Sounds just amazing!!!
• Just a reminder: If you’re planning on joining us at Photoshop World in Orlando, from April 2 thru 4th, you’ve only got about 10-days left to take advantage of the $100 off Early Bird Special Discount. Here’s the link to the site with all the info, how to register, etc.. Don’t miss out—if you’re going–sign up now.
• PhotoWalkPro.com has a really cool “a day at Photoshop World” feature, written by Jeff Revell (Who’s sharing what he’s learned about the event, after attending six different Photoshop Worlds), and if you’ve ever wondered what it’s all about; he really does a great job of bringing it all together. Take two minutes and give it a quick look (click here).
• If you’re in the UK, check out this organization—it’s called the London Photographic Association and it sounds like a very worthwhile group. Here’s the link to their site with full details.
• David Ziser just sent out his latest newsletter, and it’s always packed with goodies. Here’s the link to sign up for this free newsletter (Hey, it’s free, right)? I do have to say; I’m absolutely amazed at the sheer amount of blogging David does each day—he is a freak of nature (and I mean that in the nicest way possible). He makes me feel like a slacker. Check out his DigitalProTalk blog (including his recent “Massive Blog Post Monday”) here.

That’s it for this fabulous Wednesday. Remember, like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

My buddy, and Photoshop User TV co-host Dave Cross is debuting a brand new Photoshop Tour (produced by Kelby Training), called the “Maximum Photoshop Tour,” and it kicks off in  Oklahoma City on February 28th, and then goes on to Richmond on March 18, and then Los Angeles on March 25th.

This new seminar features five brand new sessions, including:

• Avoiding the “Gotchas”
• Photoshop Fixes
• Selection Secrets
• Get Smart with Photoshop
• Seven Functions You Never Use But Ought To.

The full-day seminar is $99 (just $79 for NAPP members), and you can see the full class schedule, and register by clicking here. Congrats to Dave on launching this new nationwide tour!

Here’s a quick look at what’s going on:

• Nikon released a Firmware upgrade for the Nikon D300 that addresses a rare issue that could occur that creates vertical bands in images taken at shutter speeds longer than 8 seconds. Here’s the scoop on the upgrade, how to install it, and a download link (click here).
• BIG OPPORTUNITY: If you’ve ever wanted a chance to learn printing from acclaimed Landscape photographer Stephen Johnson—this may be your best chance ever. Get this; he has a hands-on Fine Art Digital Printing Workshop coming up on Feb. 23-26 (in his studio near San Francisco), but he only has two people signed up so far–and he’s still going to do the workshop! So, if you want the opportunity of a lifetime, you can get on board and learn from Stephen almost one-on-one. Plus, if you’re a NAPP member, Stephen will give you 10% off the registration. Here’s the link for more info (if you can take advantage of this, this will rock your world!).
• When I was at David Hobby’s Strobist workshop this weekend, I ran into a terrific pet photographer, and she told me (well, she admitted to me) that she joined NAPP to get free B&H Photo shipping, because since she shoot pets, she goes through seamless paper like you can’t believe (she says she saves about $600 a year just in B&H shipping charges). OK, the good news is, she told me although she originally joined for the free shipping, now she is totally hooked on everything else; the magazine, the Web site, all the training, etc.. I thanked her, and told her not to worry, because we go out of our way to encourage members to take advantage of the member discounts so that (as she said), their “NAPP membership is free!” I took advantage of that NAPP free shipping discount myself yesterday when I ordered Two Avenger 420 rolling C-stands from B&H and saved $31.70 by getting the free shipping. That would’ve paid for nearly 1/3 my annual membership in one order (well, it would have, but they’re nice enough to give me my membership for free. Ya know, seeing as I’m NAPP’s President, and all).
• Nancy Aldrich-Ruenzel, Publisher at Peachpit Press, did an audio interview with Joe McNally about this groundbreaking book, “The Moment it Clicks” and you can listen to it by clicking here.
• Want to see some really slick photography (on a really well-designed site—check out the EXIF data panel that appears over each photo. Too cool!). It’s from photographer Julien Roumagnac. Take a moment and check it out. You’ll dig it.

That’s it for today, see you all tomorrow!

On Saturday, Matt, RC and I got up early and drove over to Orlando to catch David Hobby’s Strobist workshop on off-camera flash, and I gotta tell you—it was even better than I had hoped!

David is just a great teacher, a natural public speaker, and he’s very funny and engaging (that’s David above–photo by RC). During the workshop (which started at 9:30 am), he revealed some really great techniques that had us taking notes all day, and I had already gotten my money’s worth in first hour—it was that good!

He broke the day into two segments, starting with teaching off camera flash technique in the morning, and then doing lots of live shoots in the afternoon, with David setting up everything from scratch, from simple one-flash shoots (one of which had RC as the subject), and wound up with more complex set-ups using up to five flashes later in the day. He showed techniques for lighting any room with two flashes, and some great techniques for group shots, and since you saw everything from scratch, right in front of your eyes, it was a really great way to learn.

I just can’t recommend David’s workshop enough, and if it’s coming anywhere near you—you’ve got to sign up (by the way; both days were sold out in advance, so when you see it’s coming your way—you’d better snag a seat quick!). He’s coming to Phoenix in March, and the first day is already sold out (here’s the link with full info). Anyway, if you can catch this workshop, it will change how you light (and see) the world from now on.

Last week Apple released a major update to Aperture, their image workflow application, and the new update includes more than 100 new features, tweaks, and enhancements, including support for the latest cameras from Nikon, Canon, and Sony. The update includes major user-requested improvements to the interface, and to the overall speed of the program, especially in viewing thumbnail images.

I haven’t had a chance to play with the new version yet, (I hope to this week), but the improvements look pretty substantial and the initial feedback I’ve seen from existing Aperture users has been very positive. You can see a list of all the new features in version 2, by clicking this link.

I’ve got a bunch of book news, so I thought I’d put it all in one quick post, so here goes:

• Joe McNally’s landmark book, “The Moment it Clicks” is already sold out just about everywhere, and the publisher has already gone back to press for a 2nd printing to print another 25,000 copies, so if you want to get yours as soon as they’re available, preorder yours now at Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com. Congrats to Joe for creating the most highly acclaimed photography book in years! Note: Here’s a recent review on Joe’s book from Michael Clark Photography [link], and an in-depth review from David duChemin at the PixelatedImage blog.
  
• On Saturday I saw one of the first copies off press of Matt Kloskowski’s new book, “Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature” and it came out just beautifully (some of the people who pre-ordered his book have already begun receiving their copies). His step-by-step method is really ideal for learning Layers, and his whole project-based approach really makes the book stand apart. Here’s the link to it on Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com
• Here’s some recent reviews I’ve run across on my book, The Digital Photography Book, Vol. 2:
  > Stephen Zeller Photography (link)
  > Professional Snapshots.com (link)
  > Hal Maclean (link)
  > Mike Lao (link)
• Also, ThinkCamera.com picked my book, “The Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers” as one of their top five books of 2007. I would have really been excited, had they not prefaced the mention with, “Some hate his worn-thin humour. Some dislike the fact that he tells you what to do rather than shows you how to do it,” particularly because it’s true. Hey, I am what I am. (Here’s the link).
• Also, I’ve just finished up the latest edition of “The Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers” and it’s on it’s way to press, so we should see copies before long. And, for this latest edition, I brought in my buddy, and Photoshop User TV co-host Matt Kloskowski as my co-author, and I’m totally psyched about having Matt on board. He rocks the houseski (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself). Here’s links to the book on Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com

Thanks for reading for this episode of the Book Report.

Hi everybody. I’ve been in Vegas all this week, first for some business, then I took a few days off with my wife and some friends to just hang out and see some shows (saw Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” show Wed. night, featuring the music of The Beatles and it was just unbelievable!!! My favorite Cirque show ever!). Now, I’m back, and here’s whaz up:

• I’ve been working with Nik Software’s brand new Viveza plug-in for Photoshop, which brings the U-point technology used in Nikon’s popular Capture NX to Photoshop, and I have to say; it’s freakin’ incredible! In fact, so much so, that it’s getting my “Scott Thinks It’s Hot” award, given only to absolutely kick-butt products! The plug-in has a great user interface, pretty snappy performance, and it’s so fast and easy to use, that it’s going to become a part of my regular workflow. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out their video clip which shows it in action (click here); and you’ll totally get it, (and why it will change the way you do selective editing forever). Kudos to the gang at Nik Software for bringing Viveza to Photoshop. I’m psyched!!!
• I saw a comment posted on my blog this past week from Adobe’s Vice President of Product Development, Dave Story, in response to my post called “Adobe’s Listening.” Here’s what Dave wrote:

• Adobe is definitely listening, and not just to Lightroom requests. It’s absolutely common for me to require my team members to spend 10-20% of their time out in the community. Not just product managers, but software engineers and software quality engineers…everyone.

  I really don’t understand why every software company doesn’t do this. It is harder, and it is definitely difficult not to be able to accomplish everything our customers want, but it’s critical if we are going to meet our customers’ needs.

  One thing I will say, is that it takes some thick skin to read all the criticisms of our “beloved babies” that we poured so much sweat and tears into…but in the end it is all worth it to see what our customers create (in part) using our tools.

  I say this all the time — Adobe has the best customers in the world!

  Cheers,

  Dave Story
  VP Product Development
  Creative Solutions, Adobe Systems

• Dave is confirming something we already knew—that Adobe is listening to us, their customers, more than ever, but it’s still awfully nice to hear it direct from the horse’s mouth (so to speak).
• We’ve posted our first online class from Digital Video Guru (and Photoshop World Instructor) Richard Harrington, and it’s one a lot of people have been asking for: Getting Started with Apple Motion. Here’s the link to Rich’s new online class over at KelbyTraining.com. Note: We’ve got a lot more classes coming from Rich very soon, so stayed tuned! (That’s TV talk. I thought Rich would appreciate that type of jargon).
• If you’re in the Waipahu, Hawaii area (you lucky dog!), then you’ll want to catch a free seminar this Sunday, Feb. 17th, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm with Photoshop “WOW” books author Jack Davis. All you have to do is RSVP to  808-877-7022. For more info visit the Institute of Visual Arts site (link).
• The monthly newsletter of celebrated landscape photographer Stephen Johnson is now available online. Click here to check it out.
• Want to see some beautiful photography to take you into the weekend? Then check out the winners of PDN’s “World in Focus” travel photography contest. They’ve posted an online gallery of the winners right here.
• I had my day made on Thursday afternoon, when I looked in my email in-box and there was a very nice email from Clement Mok. Apparently, a number of my readers had sent him the link to my story from Monday, and he dropped me a line, and was as gracious as ever. What a class act!
• You’ve heard me mention the popular “Flying With Fish” blog (run by photographer Steven Frischling, who has dedicated his blog to helping photographers navigate the increasingly tricky task of traveling with pro-quality photo gear. Well, he’s now offering a series of one-day workshops called the “One Day No Jet Lag Photo Quick Course Seminar & Workshop” which are “designed to educate photographers on a wide range of skills and tools to make life on the road easier.” The next ones are coming up soon: March 15th in the Baltimore/Washington area, and then on March 16th in Manhattan (he just wrapped up his workshop in Hong Kong this past week). Check out the day’s schedule (it sounds surprisingly cool), right here, for all the details.

That’s what’s going on today. Have a great weekend everybody, and I’ll see you on Monday (which could be “Manic Monday” or “Mondo Monday” or “Manheim Monday” depending on how late I write the post). Have a good one!