Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I’ve been swamped with new projects and going through my Mom’s things. Also, I moved over the weekend, so the last week I had to add the prep into the mix. Moving forward, I’ll no longer be doing separate posts for each class, but rather one weekly wrap up that covers all three. I’ll try to post them on Fridays, since I teach Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Next semester, I’ll be teaching a brand new class called Photoshop Essentials – Quick Fixes for Common Problems. I believe it’s going to be on Thursday evenings, but don’t quote me on that just yet. Still time for you to sign up on Faded & Blurred before our next photo walk this weekend in Pasadena. We’re working on some really big things for the 2.0 version of F&B. The response to our little experiment has been phenomenal so far and we believe that some of the things we have in the works for 2.0 are going to be super cool. Stay tuned…

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The World of Digital is becoming a really amazing class. I was brought in last minute for this class, so I really didn’t know what to expect. But the class has found a rhythm that is really wonderful. It feels like more of a discussion group than a class, which I hope you all are enjoying as much as I am. One of the questions last week had to do with monitor brightness. I wasn’t able to answer it on the spot, but I did some looking and here’s what I found. The question was regarding cd/m2 and what that means. Well, cd/m2 is a measurement of the amount of light the LCD monitor produces. It is given in “nits” or one candelas per square meter (cd/m2). One nit is equal to on cd/m2. Typical brightness ratings range from 250 to 350 cd/m2 for monitors that perform general-purpose tasks. For displaying movies, a brighter luminance rating such as 500 cd/m2 is desirable. Hope that helps.

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Apparently, much of the Art of Compositing class read my previous post about knowing your limits. I’m glad we still had a full house. I really do want you all to be there and to get it, so thanks for sticking it out and continuing on the journey. We continued on with masking, even completing the lesson introducing the concept of Channel Masks. If you’d like to go over it again, be sure to watch the video tutorials. Part one is HERE and part two is HERE.

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Thank you! Thank you to all of you in The Web for Photographers who came back for more CSS abuse. Give yourselves a hand…it seems like things really are starting to click with how these things work. We were able to do some basic (but still really cool) formatting with CSS. I apologize for the errors in viewing the CSS cheat sheet on some of the PC’s. You can grab one for yourself HERE, and I’ll also bring it in for the next session. Next time, we’ll be looking at theming Wordpress and we’ll build a simple page layout building on the CSS we introduced and add in some images.

Thank you to all of you for coming out to these classes each week. I know you are all busy with “real life”, so I appreciate you taking the time…now just do the work!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out each week for my class, Photoshop for Photographers. I hope each of you was able to take something away from the class that will enhance your work flow or process when working with Photoshop. I certainly enjoyed putting the lessons together each week, and look forward to seeing many of you in the Fall, when I will be teaching Version 2.0 of Photoshop – The Art of Compositing as well as The Web for Photographers.

Also, tonight we made it official. The first Faded & Blurred photo walk t-shirts are now available for purchase. We’ve made them available in styles for both guys and girls in a bunch of different colors. Check them out by clicking the image below or by clicking HERE. Be sure to order early, so you can wear them on the walk August 29th. Frank and I are also working on a brand new site which we will be launching soon at www.fadedandblurred.com. Stay tuned here or to Frank’s blog for details.



Thanks again for helping to make Wednesdays fun…now, just do the work!

This week in Photoshop for Photographers, we took a look at brushes and actions. Specifically, the basics of how to create them and how to save and share them. Mastering both of these tools can dramatically change not only the way you use Photoshop, but also the quality of the work you are able to produce. Using custom brushes really opens up the types of visual effects you are able to achieve. Grunge brushes, natural media brushes, patterns and flourishes all can add a new texture and depth to your Photoshop work. If you find yourself making the same types of adjustments to your photos, actions can save you a ton of time, especially with large numbers of images. Or, if you don’t want to make your own, consider purchasing a set of actions like the Totally Rad! Actions from Doug Boutwell. The range of effects in TR!A is awesome and Boutwell & Co. have gone the extra mile to create actions that make sense when you’d like to tweak or adjust them. But, more on that in an upcoming post.

In addition to actions, we talked a little about plugins, specifically the fantastic suite from Nik Software. With the exception of Imagenomic Noiseware, the Nik plugins are the only ones I really use, and for good reason. Color Efex, for example, delivers an extremely diverse range of effects, from traditional color correction, cross processing and filters, to more artistic effects such as Glamour Glow, Indian Summer or the Color Stylizer. Each tool provides several customization options, allowing you to tweak the settings so your effects never look “canned”.

One of the other Nik plugins I use quite a lot is Sharpener Pro. I only use it once, and typically towards the end, if not the last step in my process. Sharpener Pro uses something Nik calls U Point technology, which allows you to “precisely control sharpness and detail selectively within an image without the need for complicated selections or layer masks.” The end result is a more natural and detailed sharpen that is simply not possible with Photoshop’s Unsharp Mask.
Take a look at the links below to dive into the world of custom brushes and actions. You can also surf over to Nik Software and grab demo versions of all of their plugins and try them out for yourself. If you decide to pick them up, enter the coupon code “NIKPSS” and save yourself 15%.

That’s about it for this week’s wrap up. Don’t forget to leave your tutorial ideas in the comments below. Or just comment to say hi. Now, just do the work!

UPDATE – There’s a great article on making your own brushes in Photoshop on BittBox. Read it HERE.

LINKS

Brushes
Brush King
Brusheezy
Q Brushes
In Obscuro
Deviant Art

Actions
Totally Rad! Actions
124+ Free Photoshop Actions to Boost Your Designs
60 Photoshop Actions for Photo Touch-Ups and Enhancements
Browse actions on Deviant Art

Plugins
Imagenomic Noiseware
Nik Software

“The Eyes Have It” was the theme for week 6 of Photoshop for Photographers. This week, I showed a couple techniques for making eyes really pop in your photos. Both techniques are very flexible and completely non-destructive to the main image. Stay tuned for video tutorials. Thanks to Frank for letting me use the above image of his son Dash.
Also be on the lookout for more info on the first “Faded & Blurred” photo walk, hosted by Frank Wisneski and myself in Venice Beach on August 29th. Details on this walk and more soon…

FALL CLASSES
I’ll be teaching two classes at Tri in the Fall. The Web for Photographers will be on Thursday evenings from 7-10pm, and Photoshop – The Art of Compositing will be on Tuesday afternoons from 1-4pm. I’m not sure what to expect from the afternoon time slot, so be sure to sign up. Oh, yeah…now just do the work!