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Limits of Photography

Photography, Software - Photoshop  Comment
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During our South American Cruising Through Life workshop we saw some amazing atmospheric effects: a fabulous smoky red moonrise; a moonbow with parahelia (brighter iridescent flares at the sides); and a star so bright and low on the horizon that it cast a long line of reflection in the ocean. These experiences made a lasting impression on me. I’m sure they’ll make appearances in my work. I made exposures, but none of these phenomena could be captured adequately on a moving boat. The situation and the tools at hand didn’t make finished exposures. But I’ll make finished images from the situation, using a combination of digital photography and rendering. I look forward to the day photography is able to capture images like these in these situations directly. I’m sure this won’t stop me from continuing to render images. But it will present me with new opportunities. Until then a little invention is required.
Find out more about Cruising Through Life here.
Find out more about Vincent Versace here.
Find out more about my Atmospheric FX ebooks here and here.
Find out more about my Atmospheric FX DVD here.
Read what one happy viewer though about my DVD Atmospheric FX here.
Find out more about my upcoming workshops here.
Sign up for Insights for advance notice and discounts on upcoming workshops.

Make the Weather

Software - Photoshop, Workshop  Comment
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We had great weather on our South American Cruising Through Life workshop. Most of the tourists would agree. On the other hand the photographers might not. Only the first day and a half had much weather – fog. That’s when I got a majority of my keepers. The skies were often clear, offering only an undistinguished background of simple blue. When there were clouds they were undistinguished cumulus humilis, no cumulonimbus, no cirrus, with few sheets of stratus. The sunsets and sunrises were pretty but not distinguished. There wasn’t much wind or swell so the seas were calm. Still, I shot. I got a few quiet keepers. And a lot of raw material for composites, which will ultimately yield more dramatic results. Today, you can make the weather. Understanding the new possibilities of digital rendering opens up many new opportunities for making exposures. Once you’ve been exposed to them you’ll start seeing new possibilities.
Find out more about Cruising Through Life here.
Find out more about Vincent Versace here.
Find out more about my Atmospheric FX ebooks here and here.
Find out more about my Atmospheric FX DVD here.
Read what one happy viewer though about my DVD Atmospheric FX here.
Find out more about my upcoming workshops here.
Sign up for Insights for advance notice and discounts on upcoming workshops.

Adobe Groups

Software, Websites  Comment
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Adobe has entered into the world of online social networking with Adobe Groups.
“Adobe user groups provide a forum of support and technology to business and creative professionals of all levels and professions. Whether you’re a business user, designer, seasoned developer, or just starting out — Adobe user groups strengthen community, increase networking, unveil the latest technology innovations, and reveal the techniques that turn novices into experts, and experts into gurus.
The Adobe groups site provides a place on Adobe.com where community members can create a profile, join Adobe user groups and connect with other members of the Adobe community. The Adobe designer, developer and mobile communities are represented on Adobe groups as are Adobe employees and Adobe product teams. Go to Adobe groups today and start building connections within the Adobe community.”
Adobe Groups makes it easy for you to find, join, participate in user groups – worldwide. Virtually all languages are supported. You can even start your own group! Adobe Groups provides tools to help make user group management easier so you can focus on participating and creating content, not managing it. You’ll find user groups, personal profiles, event calendars, and even job boards. Anybody can join. All you need is an adobe membership idea, which is free and easy to set up.
Learn more in this online video edition of Adobe Edge.
Find our more about Adobe User Groups here.
Find or join a group here.
Are you a member? Comment about your experience here!

Winners Announced – 4th Annual Photoshop User Awards

Contests  Comment
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First and Only Worldwide Competition for Adobe Photoshop Users

TAMPA, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) announced the winners of its 4th annual Photoshop® User Awards – the first and only worldwide competition for Adobe® Photoshop® users. Winners were selected from more than 700 entries from 12 countries. Finalists in each of the 11 categories also competed for Best of Show to win an all expense paid, five-day trip for two to Barcelona, Spain.
NAPP president Scott Kelby and Photoshop User magazine art director Felix Nelson chaired the judging panel for this year’s competition.
Winning images can be viewed at www.PhotoshopUserAwards.com/winners.php.
Adobe and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Consider entering your work for 2010!

Photoshop World – Boston

Event - Seminar  Comment
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Photoshop World is coming to Boston March 25 – 27.
Find out more here.
Check the website for video coverage of the last Photoshop World.
Download the Photoshop World PDF for a complete run down.
This conference is first rate. Over 40 top notch instructors present non-stop digital seminars for three full days and nights. The staff is super-friendly. There’s a tremendous sense of community everyone attending can participate in.
What they claim is true. “No other conference offers as much training as Photoshop World! Most conferences are just large trade exhibitions with a few panels, forums and classes sprinkled in. Photoshop World is almost the exact opposite. We concentrate on giving you training, training, and more training. Then, we couple that with an impressively sized expo with even MORE training sessions, and throw in a bunch of fun after-hour activities for good measure. There really is nothing quite like it anywhere else!”
I’m scheduled for four events.
Precon – Epson Print Academy – Tuesday March 24 from 1-5 pm.
Panel – The Fine Art of Digital – Thursday, March 26 from 7-9 pm.
Seminar – The Fine Digital Print – Friday March 27 from 11 am -12 pm.
Seminar Drawing With Light – Friday March 27 from 1-2 pm.
NAPP members get special discounts – up to $100 off.
If you’re not a member and you plan on attending become a member.
It’s even better than getting a free membership.
Photoshop World alumni get even steeper discounts – over $100 off.
Kelby Training subscribers get an extra $50 off.
Register early (by February 20, 2009) for Photoshop World and save an extra $100.

Ocean Nova Aground in Margueritte Bay, Antarctica

Workshop  Comment
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Quark Expedition’s Ocean Nova ran aground in Margueritte Bay, Antarctica. This is the very same boat we were on last month, in the very same location. We had much better weather and much better luck. Find out more at USA Today. And the Telegraph.

Check out my other Antarctica posts – type Antarctica into Search.
Stay tuned for new Antarctica images and an updated Antarctica Blurb book.
Sign up for Insights for advance notice and discounts on upcoming international workshops.

VSE – Visual Search of Extremities

Photography, Workshop  Comment
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During our South American Cruising Through Life workshop, Vincent Versace asked us all to get into the habit of performing VSEs. What’s a VSE? A Visual Search of Extremities. Vincent has spent a significant amount of time training military photographers so the language he uses is sometimes influenced by those experiences. He recommends performing a VSE every time you encounter a new shooting situation. Check the scene. Check your location. Check your camera settings. This quick process helps reduce mistakes and missed opportunities dramatically. Of course, sometimes you have to move fast and don’t have time to check everything. That’s when good habits come into play. But, too often we move fast when we don’t have to; we shoot first and forget to check, discovering unexpected mistakes or missed opportunities long after the moment has passed. Whenever possible perform a VSE before shooting. It’s a great habit to form.
Plans are brewing for future international Cruise workshops.
Sign up for Insights for pre-announcements and special offers.
Find out more about Cruising Through Life here.
Find out more about Vincent Versace here.
Find out more about my upcoming workshops here.

Learn From Your Mistakes

Workshop  Comment
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I made a lot of mistakes on our South American Cruising Through Life workshop. It could have been that I was getting used to a new camera – Canon 5D Mark II. It could have been that I was out of my element and trying new things. Am I kicking myself? No. I’m learning from my mistakes. Sometimes I feel like I learn more from my mistakes than my successes.
Here’s one example. Shooting hand held bracketed bursts (one scene, 3 exposures, 1.5 stops apart), I often found I hadn’t set or reset the bracket function correctly. It takes setting the mode and then confirming the settings on my 5D Mark II. I often missed the confirm step. And if I got distracted, I often forgot to take it off auto bracket mode, which means single shots were varying exposure unexpectedly. After repeating the mistake several times, I’m now on alert every time I slip in and out of these modes. In fact, I think this camera and this experience has made me more vigilant about all of my camera settings.
Failure is only failure if you don’t learn from your mistakes. And making mistakes in situations where the pressure’s not on and stakes aren’t high is ideal. I recommend you make a little time to shoot and use it to become more conscious of your equipment and your habits.
Plans are brewing for future international Cruise workshops.
Sign up for Insights for pre-announcements and special offers.
Find out more about Cruising Through Life here.
Find out more about Vincent Versace here.
Find out more about my upcoming workshops here.

Cruising Through Life in South America

Workshop  Comment
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I’m just getting back from my Cruising Through Life (run by Sean Perkins and Andrew Tepper) South American workshop with Vincent Versace. (Internet limitations made posting difficult during the trip. Stay tuned for coming highlights.) Sean and Andrew, always ready to help, did a great job organizing the logistics of the trip – facilities, scheduling, locations, guides, etc. We had a really nice group of people who learned a lot. It was a smaller than expected group so Vincent Versace and I made the most of this intimate environment and quickly customized the curricula to their needs. We provided many of our Acme Educational DVDs to supplement our lectures. We did more shooting exercises and reviews than planned, which made the learning even more concrete and practical. The Star Princes was a huge boat and despite the 2600 passengers and 1200 crew, we never felt overwhelmed by people. Still, a private balcony is a must for a trip like this for private quiet moments and for constantly monitoring the weather and quick shooting. There was always so much entertainment – spa, yoga, pilates, dance lessons, music, shows, movies on tv, in the theater, and under the stars – we were only able to sample a small portion of the offerings often choosing to miss the onboard activities to focus on our photography. Boats really reduce travel logistics enabling you to focus more on shooting and processing. All in all, it was an incredibly comfortable way to sample South American ports.
This was our itinerary.
2/2    Valparaiso, Chile
2/3    At Sea
2/4    Puerto Mont, Chile
2/5    At Sea
2/6    Punta Arenas, Chile
2/7    Pio Xio Glackier, Chile
2/8    Ushuaia, Argentina
2/9    Cape Horn, Argentina
2/10    Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
2/11    At Sea
2/12    At Sea
2/13    Montevideo, Uruguay
2/14    Buenos Aires, Argentina
Stay tuned for more thoughts from the trip.
Plans are brewing for future international Cruise workshops.
Sign up for Insights for pre-announcements and special offers.
Find out more about Cruising Through Life here.
Find out more about Vincent Versace here.
Find out more about my upcoming workshops here.