The Digital Photo Guy

Rob Sheppard to Teach Photoshop Elements

On Saturday, November 14 from 9AM until 1PM, Rob Sheppard will teach a 4-hour Photoshop Elements class jam-packed with tricks, tips and shortcuts used by professional photographers. Whether you are a complete newbie or an experienced PSE user, you will learn more about Photoshop Elements than you ever imagined possible. After this class you will be able to enhance and edit digital photos faster, easier and more precisely than ever before. Most of the material from this class also applies to Photoshop CSx.

If that’s not enough, you’ll receive 60 days of e-mail support after the class. That’s right, for 60 days, if you encounter a problem and just can’t figure out how to apply Rob’s tips, send me an e-mail and I’ll get you an answer. What class have you ever taken that offers that kind of help?

Anyone with the slightest interest in photography knows the name Rob Sheppard. He’s the editor of Outdoor Photographer magazine and editor/founder of PCPhoto as well as author of over a dozen books on photography.

I literally ran into Rob at the NANPA (North American Nature Photographer’s Association) summit earlier this year and asked him to teach a Photoshop Elements class for my readers. He was enthusiastic but, understandably, his schedule was filled.

Rob is now available to teach that class on November 14 via webinar. Even better, the cost is just $59.95 ($49.95 early bird special until Sept 30). If you had attended Rob’s class at NANPA, you would have paid $155 plus hotel, meals & travel to Albuquerque so this is a screaming deal!

Click below to register today. Seating is limited.

Monday Morning Tip

When I first converted to digital in 1998, almost everyone used JPEG. This was reinforced for me because I was a sports photographer who came home from events with upwards of 1000-1200 frames. All the frames except total disasters were quickly processed for levels and sharpness before resizing and uploading to my web site for people to order. As orders came in, I reprocessed each photo for printing but, during the initial rush, there wasn’t time for messing about with RAW files.

 

Today, one of the most frequent questions I hear is, “Should I shoot in RAW or JPEG?” Even rank newbies are pressured into thinking they should be shooting RAW because “that produces better photos.” Let’s set the record straight. It’s just as easy to capture crappy RAW photos as it is to capture crappy JPEGs.

 

Today’s MMT addresses this question head-on for newbies. This MMT will answer this age-old question once and for all. As always, the MMT is in the Tips & News page of this site.

Quick Tip

One of the trickiest things to do in Photoshop or PSE is selecting hair when you’re trying to knock out a person’s head from a photo. Let’s say you took a family photo at the reunion but Cousin Ernie couldn’t attend. You try to paste Cousin Ernie’s photo from last year into this year’s photo but it’s nearly impossible to get a good selection of Cousin Ernie’s curly blonde hair which was photographed against a white wall.

Whenever you have friends and family together, take several head shots against a contrasting wall. Cousin Ernie’s blonde locks will stand out nicely against a dark wall while Aunt Ruthie’s mousey brown hair contrasts with the standard Navajo White found on most interior walls.

Next time you want to knock out Cousin Ernie from a busy background, use hair from the easy photo. You don’t want to use too much because the light and angle probably won’t match but little wisps here and there will help fill out areas where his hair blends into a white object in the background.

If you’ve taken classes with me or read my Monday Morning Tips or sat in on a Webcast Tip, you know what I’m talking about but there are still many who think it is somehow related to boring CBTs (computer-based training) of yesteryear where you watched a canned presentation with no opportunity to ask questions or interact with the instructor or other students. If you think about it, the US education model is very much like CBT, the teacher lectures and the students listen. There’s very little interaction among the participants.

Webcast (web conference, webinar, etc) are completely interactive. Using the power of the Internet, a webcast combines slides, audio, video and, most importantly, direct communication with the instructor and other students so the power of the group helps accelerate the learning process. Think back on all your learning experiences. Didn’t you learn best when you interacted with others? While there’s something to be said for quiet time in the library, reading and contemplating complex material, it’s when you discuss and engage with others that information actually gels in your mind.

Here’s a link to a recording of a Webcast Tip from several months ago. Ignore the banding on the photo I’m retouching. This was caused by using a high resolution file. High rez files are compressed when transmitted over the Internet, causing this banding effect. I normally use low rez files so they transfer quicker and aren’t compressed as much. While watching the recording, you can use the Fit Screen/Actual Size control in the upper right corner to see the entire frame (first 2 screen shots, below). Fast Forward and Reverse is controlled by clicking and dragging the progress bar along the top (3rd screen shot). To read what comments by the audience, move the elevator bar up/down at the bottom right of the screen (last screen shot).
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Webcast Tips are free webcast lessons I conduct from time to time to demonstrate some aspect of digital photography. In the past, I announced these in my Monday Morning Tips. With this new blog-style website, I may just announce them here. If you want to be notified in a timely fashion, sign up for my Monday Morning Tips by sending a message from the Contact page with “OPT-IN” as the message. As soon as I figure out how to use the e-mail distribution manager at this new hosting service, I’ll add you to the list.