PhotoWalkPro

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As photographers, we are always concerned with color.  Back in olden times, all you had to do was shoot your film and then send it off to someone else whose job it was to make things look good.  Now, it all rests in our hands and that means there’s oh so much to worry about.  Is my monitor calibrated correctly?  Will my prints match what I see on screen?  Do I need to do anything to the color if I want to display my work online?  So many questions. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier in August I wrote about some great online Photoshop Training that is available from my buddy Rich Harrington.  Well Rich has taken thing to the next level with the release of his new iPhone/iPod Touch app called Understanding Photoshop.  So now you can have access to all of Rich’s great content anywhere you go.  I downloaded the app the other day to my iPod Touch and gave it a try.

When you open the app you will land on the Chapters screen where you can select one of the listed topics like Exposure Correction, Color Adjustments, or Other Adjustments.  When you select the chapter you will then be able to select one of the lessons relating to that topic, like Shadows and Highlights.

Once you have selected the lesson that you want, you have several options.  You can watch the video lesson, which looks really nice and is very visible on the Touch screen.

You can also add your favorite training lessons to a list and then access them quickly by using the Favorites button on the main screen.

There are also a couple of other great features to this app that I really like.  The first is that each lesson has a built-in quiz that you can take to see how well you are grasping the material.  There are around 16 questions per topic, which usually have true/false or multiple choice question.

The other feature that I like is the Tips section for each chapter.  There are 3 or 4 tips that will help you use the right Photoshop tool for the job.

There are other features in the app like a Search function and the ability to leave comments as well as the great little feature that lets you send in your email address so you can receive a link to the exercise files.  This really is a full service training app.

Rich is a great instructor and I think he has really knocked this one out of the park.  The app is available on iTunes for the incredibly low price of just $2.99.  For all the content and functionality, it really is a great bargain and a great way to take your Photoshop Training on the road (wi-fi connection needed for the iPod Touch).

Okay, I’m changing today’s post status from No-Post to Mini-Post since I seem to have wi-fi connection at the moment.  While I do, I wanted to let everyone know about a great series of training videos from my friend, author and general multi-media freak, Richard Harrington.  Rich has a great series of quick-hit training videos available on YouTube and he just released a whole new batch of them.  The videos are companions for Rich’s book entitled Understanding Adobe Photoshop but they stand on their own as great little tutorials for comprehending the tools of Photoshop and how to apply them.  You can check out the video series on YouTube or click here to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Also, be sure to check out Rich’s blog, RasterVector, where he covers a variety of subjects from photography, video, and other multi-media related subjects.

I’m jetting home today so I can be in town in time to make it to the Washington Convention Center tomorrow.  That’s because my buddy Scott Kelby is kicking off his new Down & Dirty Tricks tour to a sold-out crowd.  I would tell you to hurry and get your tickets but the Fire Marshall says “No can do”.  The good news is that it will be moving around North America so this won’t be your only chance to catch it.

I was talking to Scott the other day and he was totally pumped up about all the great stuff that has been packed into this one day seminar.  The day is broken into 5 sessions that include Layers and Compositing Techniques, Designing with Type (one of my favorite Photoshop World classes), Down and Dirty Tricks, Killer Tips, and finally Photoshop’s Most Wanted.  I’m not going to get into the specifics but you can read more about all the sessions over at the Kelby Training site.  One thing is certain though, if you want to learn how to leverage the power of Photoshop to create the amazing effects you see in advertising, movie posters, TV and the web then this is the seminar for you.

If you are going, make sure you find me make sure you stop by and say hi.

Once again, my weekend flew by too fast and my to do list just seems to get longer and longer.  Here’s a couple of items from the list of things I did happen to get to.

Cooliris for my photoblog – I have been a huge fan of Cooliris ever since it was called PicLens.  It’s kind of like a cool plug-in for your web browser that let’s you view web-based images in a whole new way.  If the web page has a media RSS feed, Cooliris will take all of the images from the feed and build a photowall where you can quickly zip though all of the images and zoom in for a better look at the ones you want to see.  It not only works with images but video as well.  Yesterday I added a media RSS feed to my photoblog, Per Diem Pixels, and now all of my images from the blog can be viewed via the Cooliris photowall.  If you don’t already have it, you can download Cooliris for your browser here.  It’s available for Explorer, Firefox, and Safari on PC and Mac.

Learning the SB-900 – It’s not news that the newest flash in the Nikon CLS line is the SB-900.  I have played with it a bit but I just haven’t had time to really sit down and learn the ins and outs of the flash.  I guess I could have pulled out the owners manual and paged through the 100+ pages to find out how all the new controls and features work but let’s face it, I’m a guy so reading manuals is definitely out.  Besides, I’m more of a visual learner.  So when I heard that the Wiz of Wireless SB flashes, Joe McNally, had a new class on Kelby Training I set aside some time to learn from the Master.  I learned most of what I know about the SB800 from Joe so who better to school me on the SB-900.  As usual, Joe’s class was excellent.  He doesn’t rush through any of the instruction as he talks about the differences between the old flash and the new.  Then he runs through multiple photo sessions where he moves from single flash to multiple flashes, each with multiple variations.  If you are in to wireless flash, this one class would be well worth the price of a year of Kelby Online training.

More Goodies for the Photowalk – Friday I told you that I have a sponsor for the Boston Photowalk, BorrowLenses.com.  Well, I talked to my buddy Scott Kelby and those good folks over at NAPP have arranged to add a few more goodies into the prize pool.  No details yet but I’m pretty sure it will be sweet.  If you haven’t checked out the photowalk details, click here, and if you are already planning on joining us, make sure you stop by and join the Flickr group.