More photos from Stockholm

I went ahead and put some of the shots from yesterday in a Flickr album. You can check it out by clicking here.

Shootin' in Stockholm

We went shootin' today in the streets of Stockholm, Sweden. What a wonderful city (with really gracious and wonderful people). Here's a shot I took today in the old town section of Stockholm (click on the photo for a larger version). Tomorrow I'm speaking at Adobe Live, and hopefully I'll have some shots to post from there tomorrow. Well, it's nearly 2:00 a.m., I better hit the sack. :)

Here's another shot from today

The stairwell in my hotel in Stockholm (well, it's not my hotel--it's the one we're staying in, about a block from the Adobe Live conference center). Click on the photo for a larger version.

Shot by my brother Jeff

Jeff snapped this one of me while we were shooting in old town today.

I'm Off To Stockholm

This week I'm off to Stockholm, Sweden to speak at AdobeLive! on May 31st, and a special Adobe Parnter event for photographers on June 1st. I'll be shooting there for two days before the event, so I hope to post some shots here on Tuesday and Wednesday.

You can check out the AdobeLive! Website at https://www.delegia.com/app/attendee/default.asp?projectId=189

New Photoshop Plug-in Available For Free Public Beta Download

A new Photoshop plug-in was just announced (it's in its free public beta testing stage now, so you can download it and try it today), and this one has an interesting angle. It's called Filter Forge and what is lets you do is create your own Photoshop filters (that right, a filter that creates other filters). Photoshop has its own built-in filter maker, but only Stephen Hawkins can figure out how it works, so Filter Forge may have brought this process down to mortal man for the first time. According to their Press Release, "Filter Forge can produce a wide range of textures and effects which include organic structures, metallic and rocky surfaces, distortions, abstract textures, repeating patterns, color corrections, and more." They have a library of 50 filter built by their staff, which you can download now, but of course the idea is to create your own. Download it today at FilterForge.com (note: currently only the Windows version is available for download. They are working on the Mac release now).

We Have a Winner

PixelPusher guessed it exactly right--it was the Morroccan Pavillion at Disney's Epcot Center. PixelPusher has won: (1) Matt's new "Photoshop Speed Clinic" book, (2) My new "Photoshop Channels Book" and (3) the brand new "Best of Photoshop TV" DVD.

Thanks for everyone who took at shot at guessing. By the way, here's the next hint photo I would have posted, which I think was the "Dead giveaway" shot.

Another Hint

OK, although one person got close, nobody's got it yet, so I'm posting another hint, and giving you one as well: all three photos were taken somewhere in Florida, all just a few feet from one another (Note: one guess was Universal Studios, but it wasn't taken there).

Nobody Was Even Close

OK, so nobody came even close to where the photo posted yesterday was taken, so I'm posting another. Remember, the first one who guesses correctly wins a cool prize. Hint: It wasn't in New Mexico or New Orleans, and it wasn't a bathroom.

NEWS: The Best of Photoshop TV DVD

It's finally here! We just released the "Best of Photoshop TV" DVD, featuring the best tutorials and tips from myself, Dave, and Matt from our first six months of Photoshop TV. The DVD is nothing but tutorials (no ads, no sponsors, no corny jokes--just wall-to-wall tutorials). OK, there are some outtakes you can watch, but besides that it's nothing but the tips, nothing but the tricks, nothing but the goods! It lists for $49.95, but as a NAPP member you can snag it (at the NAPP online store, or by calling 1-800-738-8513) for only $39.95 (plus S&H). If you have friends that aren't NAPP members, they can find it at PhotoshopVideos.com

Working Out To The Photoshop Guys

Check out Terry White's Tech Blog, and his tip for getting a treadmill with built-in speakers and an audio jack, so you can use your iPod Video to watch Podcasts (like Photoshop TV, as he mentions in the article), while you're "sweatin' to the Photoshop Guys."

Went Shooting This Weekend

Did a little shooting this weekend with my buddies Larry Becker and Rod Harlan. Here's one of the shots. I'll post a few more in the days to come. Anybody have any idea where this was taken? I have a prize for the first person to get it right. :)

Catch My Interview on The Digital Photography Show

If you're into digital photography, there's a Podcast you'll want to know about called "The Digital Photography Show." It's hosted by Scott Sherman and Michael Stein, and they were nice enough to have me on for a live interview this week. The show with my interview has just been posted online, and it's totally free so you can just stop by their site and listen. I had an awful lot of fun doing the interview (especially near the end of the show, when we veered off the Photoshop/Photography topic and started talking about our favorite TV show, ABC's LOST). Anyway, if you'd like to hear the interview, check it out at http://digiphoto.thepodcastnetwork.com/ (my part starts about 23 minutes into the show, so if you want to jump right there, just let it load for a few minutes and then you can jump right to it).

My First Online Photoshop Course

I'm just tickled pink (whatever that means) to announce that my first online Photoshop training course is up and running. It's a 21-day online course (just 5 minutes a day) and it went "live" just last week. There are already hundreds of people taking the course and we're just having a blast.

There are three components to the course for each day: (1) You download a PDF outline, along with extra tips and a list of keyboard shortcuts used that day (2) You download the same photo I used, so you can follow right along with me, and (3) You download the 5-minute video class each day.

The 21-day class starts when you sign-up, so you can join any time. Anyway, I'm totally psyched, and if you want to join in (NAPP members get $30.00 off the $69.95 course tuition), just go to PhotoshopTraining.com and you can start today. Right now. This minute. It's ideal for people who need instant Photoshop-if-a-cation. ;-)

Adobe Releases Photoshop Update

Adobe has released a maintenance update to Photoshop CS2, bringing Photoshop to version 9.0.1. You can download it from Adobe's Downloads page (here's the links for Mac and Windows):

Download Mac

Download Windows

I'm Back From Mac Live

I'm back from NYC, and the Mac Live conference, where we had an absolute blast! I got to meet (and train) some really great people, including lots of NAPP members, Photoshop TV viewers, and readers of Layers magazine. We had about 50 classes, and some of the instuctors included Katrin Eismann, Bert Monroy, Deke McClelland, David Pogue, Terry White, Kevin Ames, Jack Resnicki, Felix Nelson, Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski, Rich Harrington, and a who's who the graphics and Macintosh world. Loads of fun. OK, the fun's over--now I'm back to work. :)

Divitale's Hands-on Workshop

My friends (and Photoshop World instructors) Jim Divitale and Helene Glassman are now offering a series of hands-on digital imaging workshops. The next one is coming up on June 7-9, 2006 in Atlanta, and if you get a chance to go, I can tell you from personal experience it will rock your world. I've learned loads from both Jim and Helene, and these are two gifted and passionate instructors. You can get the whole scoop by clicking here.

NEWS: Cool New Scripts from Russell Brown

Russell Brown, Adobe's own Photoshop Evangelist, has released a new set of four free new Phothttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifoshop scripts called "Dr. Brown's Services 1.0". These scripts are very clever, and best of all, he's created a scripts installer, so all you have to do is run the installer and it does the rest. Now these scripts will be available to you under the Scripts menu (which is under Photoshop's File menu).

Download Dr. Brown's Services 1.0 at RussellBrown.com

Note: he also has video tutorials to show you how each script works.

I'm at MacLive in NYC

Hi everybody:
Since I got back from my shooting trip out West, I've been getting ready for the MacLive conference, which kicks off tomorrow (well, the pre-conference sessions start tomorrow) at the Javits Center in New York City.

I don't know if I'll get any posting done this week, but once I get back on Monday, things should get back to normal. Thanks to everybody who's been sending emails and posting here on the blog. Really great to hear from all of you. :)

All my best,

Scott

From Zion National Park

Here's one taken the day after our slot shoot (click on the photo for a larger version), at Zion National Park in Utah, using the same rig (and that same 24-120mm VR lens).

Gear Used in Slot Shots

I had a number of emails, and posts here in the blog, asking about the equipment I used in the shots posted last week from the Antelope Canyon Slots.

The camera was a 12-megapixel Nikon D2X. I used two different lenses: a Nikon 70mm-200mm VR 2.8 and a Nikon 24-120mm VR (which I used for most of the shots---it's seen in the photo here, courtesy of Bill Fortney).

Down in the slots it's a very "low light" situation, so I mounted the camera on a Slik Carbon-Fiber tripod with a "Really Right Stuff" ball head (which I love), and used a cable release (and mirror lockup) to get the maximum sharpness. I didn't use any filters in the field. I set my white balance to "Daylight" but at -3 to give it a warmer look.

In Photoshop I processed the Raw photos (just adjusting exposure and shadows), then I did any color correction using Curves in Lab mode, or the Apply Image Lab move (using the exact same techniques outlined in my Channels book), then I finished up by applying an Unsharp Mask to the Lightness Channnel. Because the shots are so colorful, there wasn't much color correction you could do without taking things too far, so the edits were fairly simple.

Thanks to everyone who posted such nice comments about the shots (or who sent me emails). We had a blast shooting out there, and a special thanks to the amazing Bill Fortney of Nikon Professional Services for his expertise out in the field. He's the best! :-)

Photoshop TV: 1.8 million downloads in April

I'm absolutely delighted to announce that Photoshop TV Picked up an additional 300,000 downloads in April, to reach nearly 1.8 million downloads for the month. Thanks to everyone who has helped us spread the word, and if you haven't caught the show yet, go to PhotoshopTV.com and watch it right there on the site (press the "Play Current Episode" button, or you can subscribe to it free on the site, or through the iTunes Music Store. (By the way, this week's episode features our first "in studio" guest: Lesa Snyder from the GraphicReporter.com).

Photoshop Puzzle from Miami Herald

Larry Becker turned me on to this new twist on the old "Spot the Difference" game, but this time instead of drawings or cartoons, they're using photos (and Photoshop) to make the differences. It's pretty cute. Check it out by clicking here.

Grand Canyon Shot

OK, the Grand Canyon was kind of hazy that day, with a pretty average sunset, so I didn't get much there except this shot of a nearby Adobe (the house, not the software company). I've updated my NAPP Gallery with some of the new shots; you can find it by clicking here.