Creative Suite Ships Today

Apparently one guy couldn't wait to get his copy...


You can also download free trial versions of both Photoshop and the Suite here

Two great wedding photography books

Although it's been out for a little while, last weekend I finally took more than a cursory flip through David Ziser's book, Captured by the Light. I knew it was a great book just from my quick look through it, but a more in-depth read confirms that this is an excellent book for all photographers, not just wedding photographers. David goes into a great amount of deal on lighting, off-camera flash etc, that is useful to all photographers. And of course there are some beautiful photos in there too!



More recently I received another book, The Wedding Photographer's Planner by Kenny Kim. Kenny is a buddy of mine who I got to know though his blog and Twitter and I had a chance to work with him at a workshop in Miami. He's put together a great guide for wedding photographers that provides a series of ideas and checklists for everything from the frst client meeting through the day of the wedding - and beyond. Tons of great ideas surrounded by beautiful photography (so not only are you gettng practical ideas but you'll be inspired by the wonderful images)

[links to amazon on the book titles]

Bits 'n pieces

Where to go to College?
If you're a high school student or the parent of a students who's trying to decide where to go to college, here's a site that has a ton of not-so-typical rankings of colleges. Included in their list is everyting from "10 Best Colleges for Health Nuts" and "10 Most Tech-Savvy College Campuses" to "10 Super Safe University Campuses"

Take a look at all the lists here
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Hey, it looks like it's double-blog Wednesday over at Scott Kelby's Blog: two for the price of one.
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Did you miss any of our live Photoshop CS5 Webinars? There are 9 shows archived and available for your watching pleasure right here


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Creatures of Habit

Head over to Scott Kelby's blog for my guest post, Creatures of Habit.

Dallas area workshop

I got a note that Laurie Excel is going to be holding a workshop in the Dallas area.

Check the graphic for al the details.



Plus Laurie is leading a photo workshop to Iceland in August (well after the volcano is done causing travel issues, I'm sure). Here's what she sent me abut that event:

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I will be leading a one week workshop in Iceland on Aug 15-21, 2010.

There will shooting and post processing, lots of great landscape photography and maybe some wildlife (wild horses, etc)

FocusOnNature

FocusOnNature blog about workshops and events, like volcano lasting into the summer, we travel in style in trucks, etc. at:
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Have a great weekend

Getting the best deal from Adobe

If you're a NAPP member you can get a 15% discount off the upgrade to Photoshop CS5, the upgrade to the full Creative Suite, or even if you need to purchase the full version.

That means that if you've been thinking about joining NAPP, now's the time! Not only can you get the Adobe discount, but right now you can get the Photoshop CS5 Power Session DVD free! Details here.

If joining NAPP is not on the cards for you, check here for any Adobe Special Offers

Or if you're a student or educator, be sure to check the Adobe Education Store

Bits 'n pieces

Thanks to all the folks who came out to my seminars in New York and Seattle. Those were two fun trips...on two different coastlines. Met lots of cool peole and has some fun.

In Seattle I even managed to squeeze in a ballet shoot...with a dancer with a bit of a punk rock flair.


This shot (shots) was tons o' fun: I didn't have my tripod so I tried to keep the camera as still as possible and had her move to different positions. Thanks to Auto Align Layers and some decent skill at selecting and masking, it wasn't too difficult to come up with this...even though I did it on an airplane using my little laptop trackpad. :)
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For NAPP members looking for the free Watermark Creator panel that was mentioned in my seminar, you can find it on the NAPP member web site by clicking on the menu called NAPP Perks (On the left side of the page)
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Some of you may remember my daughter Stephanie from Photoshop User TV. Well, she's been working for famed wildlife photographer Moose Peterson for some time, and Moose has convinced her to start a blog. I gotta say, she's off to a great start, including some very cool experimental photos taken at a campsite.

Check it out

Small but important things in Photoshop CS5

You may have heard talk about the "JDI" improvements in Photoshop CS5. In this "Just do it" initiative where the Photoshop team took a long wish list they had compiled and addressed as many of these things as possible, for one week. As a result there were over 3 dozen small but important additions to Photoshop CS5.

If you're a NAPP member you can watch a video I did that shows 10 of these changes, but here's a quick run-down on a few.

Make Default button in Layer styles
Change the opacity of multiply ayers at once
Straighten button in the Ruler tool options
Heads-up Color PIcker (quick access to the Color Picker anywhere in the window)
Improved Workspace menu
Scrubby Zoom (Zooming in and out by dragging left and right)
Change brush size and softness by dragging

There are a ton more, and it's one of the cool parts of Photoshop CS5: small changes and additions that you'll use every day (based on suggestions from people like you)

Catch up on the webinars

If you missed our free Photoshop CS5 webinars this week - there were 10 of them - you can watch recorded reruns right here.

Just to clarify, there is a fair amount of repetition since we were answering questions and as new people were watching each live broadcast, we covered a lot of the same material. Having said that, each one has its own unique differences: different instructors, different weird humor....

Sending in your ideas to Adobe

Ever wonder how Adobe comes up with the lists of new features and fixes for all their apps? Well, along with getting input from people llike the instructors at NAPP (based on all the many users suggestions we receive) they also have a page where they encourage your feedback.

You gotta know that they're already thinking about the next version of the Creative Suite, so bookmark this page to add your ideas as you come up with them...

Free training?

The other day I realized that we really could do a better job talking about our podcasts - I mean our free podcasts. Over at Kelby TV we currently have 6 podcasts:

Photoshop User TV - the weekly Photoshop podcast
Layers TV - all about the Creative Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, After Effects....
Photoshop Killer Tips - quick Photoshop tips, every day
Ask Dave - Dave (me) answers your Photoshop questions
Lightroom Killer Tips - THE Lightroom podcast
D Town TV - all about digital photography

Between these weekly podcasts there are over 750 episodes, all archived for your watching pleasure - did I mention that they're free? ;)

By my quick calculations that's well over 150 hours of free training on Photoshop, photography, Lightroom and the Creatve Suite. That you can watch. Free. Anytime you want.

Plug in compatibility

One of the common questions we get is "will my existing third-party plug-ins work in Photoshop CS5?"

Well, it depends on the manufacturer but most companies will be releasing (if necessary) small updates to make sure their product is compatible.

Here's the first plug-in news that I've seen, from OnOne Software:

"I am pleased to announce onOne Software product support for Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended. All of onOne's currently shipping Photoshop software plug-ins will be compatible with the new Adobe® Photoshop® CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended software announced yesterday by Adobe. Compatibility updates will be made available free of charge to registered owners of the titles listed in the attached release."

More news about plugins as I hear about them.

Live CS5 webinars all week

It started yesterday while I was teaching in Columbus, and it continues all week: each day for the rest of the week we'll be doing free webinars on Photoshop CS5. We'll be demoing some new features and answering as many of your questions as we can.

Today we go live at 1:30 and 4:00.

And don't forget, by watching you could win a free upgrade to Photoshop CS5!!

Tune in here

What are you doing here?

Go visit NAPPs free Photoshop CS5 Learning Center!

Photoshop CS5 Sneak Peek

Sorry, I can't help but tease you with a couple of before and after photos, created using a couple of the new features in Photoshop CS5. I can't tell you what the features are, but let me just say, it was easy and quick.





On Monday, be sure to watch the Adobe announcement, and head to our free Learning Center for all the details

Big things coming Monday

You already know (I have to assume that you have heard) that on Monday Adobe is announcing the latest version of Photoshop and the Creative Suite. Well, we've got some big news of our own....watch this short video for all the details.

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...did you hear the part about winning a free upgrade to Photoshop CS5? :)

First look at Photoshop CS5

Don't miss it! Next Monday April 12, Adobe will be unveiling the new CS5 Creative Suite. You can register to watch their event live by clicking right here.

Of course between Kelby Training and NAPP, we'll also have extensive coverage of all the new and enhanced features.

Today's News Headlines

Thursday, April 1st: Today's Headlines


Apple and Adobe announce Photoshop for the iPad

Photoshop World to expand to Six Cities World Wide in 2011

Wacom introduces new gesture-only tablet – no pen or mouse required

Nikon and Canon Lenses will now work interchangeably on each other's camera bodies

New iPhone model to work with all phone carriers, price drops to $29

Adobe announces free Creative Suite Upgrade day - today only.


Happy April 1st :)