Photoshop CS6 Sneak Peek
2012 will see the release of a new version of Photoshop taking it to CS6 and already we’re starting to see snippets of what’s in store being posted online.

For those of you who maybe haven’t seen them yet here’s a couple of videos giving a taster of what’s coming in the next exciting release from Adobe:

Sneak Peek #1

Sneak Peek #2

Photoshop World – Early Bird
If you’ve been thinking of heading out to Photoshop World in Washington DC this coming March but haven’t yet purchased your ticket, the Early Bird discount finishes on February 17th which gives you $100 off the ticket price!!!

Also if you’re heading out and have yet to sort out your accommodation be sure to check out the NAPP UK site where my buddy Dave Clayton can put you in touch with other folks who are going with a view to sharing a room and so sharing the cost.

Photokina – Cologone, Germany
There’s nothing quite like being well organised so here’s a date for the diary: Photokina in Cologone, Germany between 18th and 23rd September 2012…the biggest photography and imaging event in the world!

Not just an event to get your hands on the latest and greatest kit, this is one heck of a networking event so if you’re looking at making a trip over, I’ll see you there

Competition Winners
Congratulations to Patricia McCabe and John Gadsby who were present during a talk and demo I gave to the Mercia Photography Club in Coventry last month, and have each won Lightroom and WordPress for Photographers DVD’s kindly donated by Kelby Training and NAPP UK.

Their names were picked by our high tech randomiser, ok I mean me with my eyes closed, and the DVD’s are now hot footing it to them them as we speak

Right that’s all for now folks so have a great weekend and I’ll catch up with you in a few days,

Enjoy

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Behind the Scenes Video: A Sneak Peek:

And there’s more:
Text added thanks to my Designer Buddy Dave Clayton; I don’t feel so bad making him dress up like that now

That’s all for now so have a great day and I’ll catch you later,
Enjoy

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Last night I literally was sent to Coventry; well actually to give a talk in Coventry to the Mercia Group having been booked by Jaguar…

I was asked specifically to give a talk on how I first started in Photography and as those who know me will be aware it came from first of all being introduced to Photoshop by one of my Uncles who was always the family photographer and pointing a lens in your direction if you stood still long enough. As a child it always felt uncomfortable but I always kind of knew that it was important to take photos and lots of them irrespective of them being technically correct or not…it was the memory that was most important.

Anyway aside from how I started, I was asked to talk through the story behind some of my images and how I go about putting them together..from the lighting and through the editing stage. I love this part and you know what’s funny and I’m sure it’s the same for you…I can remember taking each and everyone of the photographs and of course what happened during the process; which in my case when shooting on location does tend to involve managing to find the only dog mess in the area and getting at least some part of me covered in it…as happened here:

The talk lasted just over two hours with a short break half way through for refreshments and included a couple of videos, a photography demo where I went through the Invisible Black Backdrop technique and finished off by showing some fast and easy retouching using Photoshop.

Huge thanks to the Mercia Group and to Jaguar for being such a wonderful group of people, making me feel so incredibly welcome and even laughing at my jokes; Great times!

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Now I say ‘Amazing Jessi’ for a number of reasons…all of which make her an incredible model to work with. Calvin told me I’d be impressed and man was I. We’d booked out the whole of Tuesday last week to photograph Jessi in the studio in a number of set ups and themes and what was so fantastic was how well prepared she was…so many different items of clothing and props…and what’s more all for ideas she brought to the table.

Finding models like Jessi is no easy thing; sure there are models who look great, there are models who know how to ‘work’ infront of the camera and there are models who have lots of ideas but to get all of that in one package is something special. So I guess this is more of a shout out to Jessi to say thanks for being so great to shoot and such fun to hang out with; I had a blast!

I’ll be popping back and forth to Germany as often as I can now to hang out with Calvin, Gabor and everyone else and I’m sure we’ll be getting Jessi infront of the camera again but in the mean time there’s a few more images I need to work through from our time together…the Dark Angel and a take on the cover of Columbiana which we’re calling GerLondonia…or something

Oh and I guess if I was trying to say anything in particular here it would to make a point to shoot for yourself and your portfolio as often as you can but also when you do, make it count…and that starts by finding the right model.

Enjoy

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Character Portrait Retouch
Last year I was asked to speak at a few camera clubs around the country giving an insight into what I do and how I started plus I would talk through the story behind a few of my pictures…most of which when I was talking about shooting on location ended up in me saying “…and then it started raining” or more of than not “…and I rolled right over it”…if you know what I mean.

Plus I’d also give a quick photography and retouch demonstration to give folks a look into how I go about putting some of my images together. I’m really excited that already this year I’ve been booked to talk at several more clubs and so because of that I thought I’d put together a few videos to add in; I got the idea from having read a great book recently recommended by my buddy Calvin Hollywood (more of that in another post)

Anyway here’s one of the videos I’ve put together to use at a talk later this week; a speed retouch showing what I do in Photoshop to make a Character Portrait; originally about a 15 minute edit but in the video down to 1 minute and 40 seconds…

Focus on Imaging – NEC
The yearly Focus on Imaging Expo at Birmingham’s NEC this year runs from Sunday 4th through to Wednesday 7th of March and it looks like there’s some fantastic exhibitors set to be there. It’s always great to take a look around and to get a ‘hands on’ with some of the latest and greatest kit to hit the market. Word of warning thought The Force is strong so coming out at the end of the day without having purchased atleast one item you never knew you needed is quite a challenge .

Focus is also a great social event and a great place to catch up with folks you maybe haven’t seen for a while. I’ll be heading there on the Tuesday 6th and I know that my Buddy Dave Clayton (N.A.P.P. UK Evangelist) is heading along that day too, so if you’re going to be there let’s meet up for a coffee.

Audible.com
Finally I just want to quickly mention about Audible. NowI love to read but I think I’d stand a pretty good chance of winning the ‘Worlds Slowest Reader’ Competition so I’ve started now listening to audiobooks when I’m on the move.

There’s lots of places to get audiobooks but I was put onto Audible the other day and I have to say not only do they have an incredible amount of audio books available but their pricing is superb at £3.99 ($7.49) each month which includes a book download of your choice and a discount on another.

You can check them out here [Link]

Ok that’s all for now so as always if you have any questions or comments please feel free to make use of the comments section below but in the mean time,
Enjoy

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Grunge in 8 Simple Steps
Just incase you’re new to the blog and hadn’t seen this post, back in 2010 I did a speed retouch and walk-through of a portrait I shot whilst down in Brighton and here it is.

You can catch the walk through which covers all the steps you see in the video here [Link]

Social Event in Brighton
Talking of Brighton I’m looking at planning a photo walk type of event down there in the next few weeks; maybe second week in February or around then. Anyway it’ll be open to anyone and everyone with a camera to come along have some fun and take some photos. Hey we may even have some competitions and prizes on the day so if at this stage this is something that might interest you then just leave a message in the comments section below or send me a message via email, Facebook, Twitter etc…

Right that’s all from me so have a great weekend and I’ll catch you back here in a couple of days,
Enjoy

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I’m still over in Germany at the moment as yesterday saw the final part of Calvin Hollywood’s 3 Day Workshop with the last day focusing on Self Marketing and Self Management… so no cameras, no Photoshop…purely Business! Of course it was another fantastic day packed to the rafters with information.

As an Instructor and Business Owner myself it’s always great to hear how someone else approaches running their business and deals with things like time management, promotion and  so on and yeah for sure I picked up alot of invaluable best practices that I too will look at adapting when I return to the UK.

Later in the evening Calvin and his lovely wife picked me up from the hotel and we three went out to a very good local restaurant to sample some traditional German food. I can’t remember the name of the place to be honest but you know somewhere is going to be good when it’s full of locals and geez was it good! Fantastic food and the portions were extremely generous; infact I now see why when Calvin & Gabor came over to the UK in August last year that Calvin ended up having to order 3 main meals to satisfy his hunger.

Finally to end the night it was over to the Bowling Alley for the long awaited Re-Match…

I guess this is the point where you’d expect to hear how close the match between us was, all the hype and tension leading up to it and who after it all was Victorious?!?

Well in truth it was neither Calvin, Gabor or myself but Calvin’s wife! (With Calvin in 2nd Place and 3rd going to Michael)

I’m putting my excuse down to having eaten way too much and consequently not being able to bend at the waist which clearly put me at an advantage but as for Calvin & Gabor…between you and me I think they felt intimidated…but don’t tell them I said that because I still have to get home on Wednesday

So then this morning still full from the night before we all got together and went over to Heidelburg for some time to unwind and chat about anything and everything, grab some lunch, have a laugh and take some photos along the way so I’ll be sure to share some of what we got up to on the blog tomorrow.

Right…must dash so I’ll catch up with you later,
Enjoy

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As someone who teaches Photography and Photoshop I’m really conscious that the teaching has to be informative, easy to understand, exciting and fun and this Calvin has completely nailed!!!

Never have I had so much fun and learned so much, and in such a short space of time with a couple more days of the workshop still to come. It’s so clear to see why Calvin is one of the very best instructors in the world but not forgetting the wonderful people that go to make up his team…my great friend Gabor Richter Calvin’s personal assistant and also Michael Mueller (far right in the black jacket) who until now I hadn’t actually met but we’ve just hit it off from the word ‘go’ and get on so well. Incidentally in March when we’re all at Photoshop World it’ll be Michael who’s coming out with Calvin so if you’re there be sure to say hi and have a chat…great guy and great photographer with an insane amount of knowledge in Lightroom!

Anyway getting back to the workshop, which by the way is the first english speaking workshop Calvin has ever done in Germany, on day 1 we went over to a large studio over in Weinheim to photograph our wonderful models for the day Jessi and Quasher in a number of set ups with a view to retouching the images on day 2. Calvin left no stone unturned as he explained every single step, tips, techniques and more. It’s always great to see how other people work and especially for me seeing how Calvin get’s the most from the models with the final retouched image firmly in mind before he’s even began shooting. The day was incredibly well planned with every step running like clock work and with every single person having more than enough time to get the shots they wanted and more.

After a ‘full on’ packed day we all then made our way back and everyone met up later in the evening for a meal and drinks; a superb evening with lots of laughs especially when Maciej Blaszczuk introduced us to an iPhone App called OldBooth+ ; oh my god…so much fun which resulted in a table full of adults laughing like a bunch of naughty school children…brilliant!!!  :)

Now I’m sure Gabor has plans for all the photos Maciej has made with the iPhone app so I’ll hold off posting the others but these should give you an idea of what they’re like; scary thing is I think I do actually have photos like this hidden away somewhere from when I did have hair…I mean more hair

Day 2 of the workshop saw us all at Calvin’s studio editing some of the images from the previous day and you know, it doesn’t mattter how much you think you know there’s always so much more to learn. It reminds me of when I used to compete at Bodybuilding in that no matter how much I improved always to remain humble to accept that there was always someone bigger & stronger. Now I don’t say this as a negative, far from it, but rather as a motivator to learn and continue to learn more and more to improve skills.

So again another fantastic day seeing how Calvin uses Photoshop in his way to achieve his look and ofcourse laughing loads with much more to come and with such great friends!

Right, I’m off to try and decipher my mountain of notes from earlier and get ready for tomorrow’s session on business so I’ll catch you later,
Enjoy

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Thankfully when I arrived at Frankfurt Airport one of the Security Guards called me over and pointing to Gabor (whom I’d not noticed) said “I think that guy over there might be waiting for you” … lucky huh

Calvin’s running a brand new 3 day workshop (plus a 4th bonus day) which starts tomorrow with the first day photographing in the studio, Saturday retouching and then on the Sunday Calvin’s going to be covering the business side of things. Chatting tonight about what he has planned whilst we popped out for a drink and a bite to eat it sounds like it’s going to be an absolute killer few days!

Will also be great to finally catch up with some of the folks I’ve met online but never face to face so I’m really looking forward to that tomorrow morning plus for a few days after the workshop Calvin, Gabor and myself will be doing some extra shooting, retouching, hanging out and ofcourse…bowling

Right…must dash so I’ll catch you later,
Enjoy

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We talked and talked and you know it maybe sounds kind of odd but I could almost see the frustration he was going through but when all was said and done…the way he was feeling was completely natural.

Anyway long story short I’m not professing to be a wise man (far from it) but I thought I’d share some of the points we talked through in the hope that maybe you may relate to one or more of them and they might atleast help in some way if you too are suffering from some Photoshop-Frustration…

1. Take your time
One of the best bits of advice I was ever given was not to rush my editing. I appreciate this isn’t always practical for maybe a Wedding Photographer who has a large number of images to work through, but if possible try to take regular breaks during your editing time. Rather than slogging away for hours on end break it down into smaller periods of time when you can step away from the screen, go grab a coffee and give your eyes a break.

Its not uncommon for me to get so far in the editing stage to then save what I’ve done and come back to it the following day. It’s amazing how different you view your images when you do this and also how what you need to do (if anything) becomes glaringly obvious. I’ve eluded to it before but this helps prevent something I refer to as becoming ‘Pixel Blind’

2. One Step at a time
Don’t expect too much too soon and don’t expect to be able to recreate all the wondrous techniques and effects that you see in magazines and online when you’ve only been using Photoshop for a relatively short period. Developing skills and knowledge takes time…alot of time and alot of practice.

I always remember the saying ‘If you’re not making mistakes then you’re not doing enough’ and it’s so true. 

A while back I remember a conversation I had with a friend who was to be photographing a wedding and I asked if he had a portfolio as I only remembered him recently getting his first camera. Amazingly he replied that he didn’t have one and hadn’t had time to do much physical practice however had read lots of books and knew what to do so he’d be fine; reading is great…practicing what you read and learn is vital!

3. Compositing Specific
There’s so much more to a great composite than just cutting out your subject and putting them into a new background. Indeed trying to get everything to look right can be incredibly frustrating however there are things you can do to help with this:

• Rather than trying to composite a full length subject, do lots of 3/4 length composites and build your skills from there.
• Have a clear idea of what you want your final image to be like before you’ve shot it. This way you’ll know where you want the lighting to be, model positioned and so and and as a consequence when you come to edit the images you’ll know what you want to do as opposed to staring at the image on screen thinking ‘Now what?’
• Take your time to get the photographs of your subject right ‘in camera’ so that the time you spend editing is being Creative and not Corrective.

4. Write it down
I’m someone who learns better when I write things down and what I mean here is everything I learn i.e. a new tip or technique I’ll write it down in a note book to refer to later; be it from a book, DVD, word of mouth etc…

It might seem odd that if I’m reading a Photoshop book for example and learn a new technique that I write it down when I could just look in the book again, but this is just what works for me. It’s something I’ve done from day one and infact I have specific notebooks for Photoshop, Lightroom and Keyboard Shortcuts.

5. Keep in the learning zone
There’s so many resources available to us these days in the form of printed magazines, the internet, mobile Apps and so on, so try to make use of one once a day or maybe just take a read through your notebook. There’s no better way to learn than to actually work on some editing or take some photographs but doing something is better than doing nothing so if all you’re able to do is read then your still learning which is always a good thing.

Suffering from Photoshop-Frustration is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact if anything it’s a positive because it shows that you’re not complacent and you do indeed want to improve your skills.

Be assured that everyone goes through it no matter what level they’re at in Photography and Photoshop; Joe McNally, Calvin Hollywood, Scott Kelby, Joel Grimes and so on…all of them, each and everyone will to this day experience frustration with their work but the key is how they deal with it.

So what about you? Is there anything you could add to the list above that helps you overcome this frustration? If so I’d love to hear what you have to say so why not share it in the comments section below.

In the meantime if you have any questions or comments, as always please feel free to add them in too.

Enjoy

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