The Digital Photo Guy

Perfect Prints with Just One Test Print

How many test prints do you normally print before you either get the perfect print or just give up and settle for “good enough?” If you said none or one, you’re either blowing smoke or you’ve invested time, money and effort in a carefully calibrated and profiled system. Printing seems to be a perennial question among Photoshop Elements (PSE) users. Most of the time, the problem seems to be prints that are too light or too dark or have mismatched colors. Today’s Video Monday Morning Tip (VMMT) shows you a way to nail the print with just one test print. I learned about this technique from Rob Sheppard, editor of Outdoor Photographer magazine. Unfortunately, his method no longer works with newer versions of PSE so I’ve reworked it. This method should work for any version after PSE v7.0.

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Learn Composition with Gloria Hopkins

For those who missed the first announcement, HERE is the link to Gloria’s webinar. Gloria is an amazing, award-winning artist, photographer and author who has agreed to teach us how to compose an image using an amazingly simple but highly effective method she developed. Gloria’s book is required reading in college photography classes. Before you shrug your shoulders and say, “I don’t have an artistic bone in my body so composition is lost on me,” I felt the same way until I looked at thousands of photos. Eventually, things began to sink in. Gloria can shortcut this process for you so that in 3 short hours, you can begin to make sense of artistic composition. You’ll know why a photo is good or bad and what makes it so. If you belong to a club or an on-line forum, your feedback and critiques will be sought after and valued.

The webinar is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 1PM Eastern Time or Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 11AM Easetern Time depending on which date gets more votes. I’ll have a voting system in place within the next week.

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Photoshop Elements in 6 Weeks, starts Feb 16

Flash Photography in a Flash, Feb 26

Palomar College – Spring 2011

Spring Desert Wildflowers, March 26 & 27 2011

Free Photo Critique

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Workshops and Webinars

Photoshop Elements for Digital Photographers, Six Weeks starts Feb 16

In just 6 weeks (1 hour each week) learn to enhance and edit digital photos using Photoshop Elements (PSE). From the comfort of your own PC or Mac, attend via webinar every Wed evening, Feb 16-Mar 23 from 7PM-8PM. This intermediate level class is for photographers who want to jumpstart their photo editing skills. All techniques in this class also apply to Photoshop. Start with an overview of a basic workflow then dive into Selections, Cloning, Healing, ACR (Adobe Camera RAW), HDR (High Dynamic Range), plug-ins and output. Register HERE.

Flash in a Flash, Sat, Feb 26, 2011, 10AM-1PM

If your flash baffles and scares you, this workshop is for you. Learn to take control of your external flash (aka, Speedlite, Speedlight, strobe, etc) and make great flash photos that don’t scream, “This deer-in-the-headlights look created with FLASH!” Learn what all the knobs, dials, switches and menus do on the back of your expensive flash. Register HERE.

Palomar College – Spring 2011 Schedule Posted

Palomar College has posted my Spring 2011 classes. I’ll be teaching both Digital SLR for New dSLR Owners (Feb 1 & 3) and Beginning Adobe Photoshop Elements (Mar 1 & 3) via webinar so you can learn from the comfort of your own home computer. Back by popular demand is the my popular Hands-On Photoshoot (Apr 2) at Kit Carson Park in Escondido.

Spring Desert Wildflower Workshop, March 26 & 27, 2011

One of my perennial favorites, spring is a magical time in the desert when everything comes to life. Get down low for amazing macros of flowers. Get up high for gorgeous sunsets and landscapes. Make beautiful photos from almost every vantage point in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. More details as conditions in the desert firm up and I can better predict the spring bloom.

New Benefit for Students

Current and former students of The Digital Photo Guy can now receive free critiques of their work to judge their progress. Once a month, send me a recent photo for an in-depth analysis of what works, what doesn’t work and how you can improve the photo next time.