2nd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk Announced

That’s right!! The wildly popular Worldwide Photo Walk is coming back July 18, 2009. Last year the event was an overwhelming success with thousands of people in more than 200 cities participating worldwide. Each city has a leader or group of leaders that guides their group to interesting locations to shoot. Then at the end of the day, all the participants gather to go over what was shot for some feedback. The very best photos are submitted for a chance to win some great prizes sponsored by NAPP. Whether you shoot professionally or juts for fun this event is not to be missed. You can get more detailed information over at Scott Kelby’s blog. There is also a link to the main site where you can see if there is a Photo Walk near you. If not, you can sign up to host one yourself. This event is also coinciding with the upcoming release of Scott’s best-selling book: The Digital Photography Book Volume 3. Which you know—if you have the first two volumes—is and indispensable resource for shooting digital photos in virtually any scenario. More on this as it develops. In the meantime, go and get signed up for the Photo Walk, did I mention that each group is limited to approx. 50 people. Don’t wait!

May 18th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

New Blog | Photoshop World Registration Open

Hey folks, got a couple of quick bits of news today. First, OnOne Software has just launched a new blog that covers everything from new products to interviews with prominent photographers and even some tips and tricks. OnOne has always produced some of the most impressive and, in my opinion, the most useful Photoshop plug-ins around. Now they are reaching out and connecting with industry via the blog and it also has the added benefit of letting you see their products in action and how the pros use them. Check it out here.

Early registration is now open for Photoshop World Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay, October 1- 3. If you are planning on attending you will want to take advantage of the early bird registration which saves you $100 off the regular price. We have a whole bunch of new classes this time around and Dave Cross and I are producing a new hands-on pre-con session called Shoot, Design, Print. In this class we will start with a live photo shoot, then composite the shots into a real movie poster, and then finally have it printed to take home with you. So it’s a basically a full design course compressed into 4 hours. This is one is going to be fun! There are only a limited number of seats so act fast and sign up here soon. For more info on other Photoshop World events, click here.

May 14th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

Down & Dirty Seminar Lands in DC

Scott Kelby and I were in Washington, D.C. last Friday to kick if off the Down & Dirty Tricks seminar tour. The seminar opened to almost 700 people who were eager to learn the latest Photoshop tricks. The day got off to a bit of a shaky start when we encountered some audio issues in the first class, but they were taken care of in good time and we were able to move forward. From there it was a great show loaded with exciting content and quite a few laughs. Scott himself was teaching this time and I was on hand to assist our team and to help with questions in between the sessions. If you attended the event I want to thank you for coming out on a work day and enjoying this day of learning. This day was the first of many coming up. I will be in Richmond, VA, on May 27 then I will be bringing the tour to Canada. I will be in Toronto on June 26 and then Calgary on June 29. You can register for these dates now by going to KelbyTrainingLive.com.

Also, I saw the new Star Trek movie this weekend and I thought it was really well done. The effects were much more like you would expect them to be and some of the performances were a great homage to the original characters. Also check out my newest video tutorial which cover creating a cool Star Trek movie poster effect that was used for the movie. I will be working on other movie based tutorials as more big summer blockbusters will be coming out soon!!!

May 11th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

In DC for Down & Dirty Tour | Book of the Week

I am so excited to be here in Washington D.C. for the launch of the the all new Down & Dirty Tricks Seminar Tour. I will be here assisting Scott Kelby as we kick off the tour here in the nation’s capitol (I can see the Capitol Building from my hotel room). This event was sold out as of last week and it promises to be a fun and educational day for all. So if you are in the DC area and plan on attending, we can’t wait to see you there. In just a few weeks, I will be bringing the Down & Dirty Tour to Richmond, VA. Future dates are coming and you can find out more information by clicking here.

Also, speaking of down & dirty, I just got my hands on a copy of Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks Book and I have to say, this is very exciting. I was fortunate enough to help Scott in developing this edition and also wrote an entire chapter on using 3D in Photoshop CS4 Extended. This is the book everyone has been waiting for because it’s loaded with tutorials on how to create the most stunning effects around. We have jam-packed the coolest collection of popular movie and advertising effects, type effects, and some 3D effects that will put your creativity into overdrive. The book should be available and out to stores in the next couple weeks. You can find out more and pre-order your copy now by going here. Well I am off the seminar. This is going to be fun!!!

May 8th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Movie Font Madness | Free Logos

Ok, so I have thank my friend Christy for finding this one for me. It’s a site that has free fonts based on actual movies. The cool part is that the names of the fonts are the names of the movies they represent. For instance, the Blade Runner font is called Blade Runner Font. That makes it easy. They have a got a huge collection of popular movie fonts and also video game and music fonts as well. Go check it out yourself and have fun. Just remember to be aware of any copyright issues when using these fonts. They are meant to be for fun! Here’s the link. (I am little embarassed that I didn’t already know about this site but oh well.)

Also, here is another cool site I have used or years. It’s called Brand of the World and it provides a huge database of free vector logos of most popular brand names. Anything from fast food to commercial logos. It’s here and free!! So before you invest a lot of time in recreating a logo, give this site a try first. Remember, of course, copyright issues still apply here so be careful with what you are using these for. Here’s the link.

May 4th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

Where’s My PatternMaker?

It is always inevitable. Every time there is a new upgrade to Photoshop, there may be a few features that people might actually use. Then there are those added features that have some element of coolness, but no real applications at all. Take the PatternMaker. It was a seemingly good idea when it first came out but never got any real praise at all. If anything, it was made fun of by most in the industry.

Not me. I try and look at these things very differently and see what use it might have. For instance, here is one way I used the Pattern Maker for an interesting background effect. However, like the Extract filter, this was removed from Photoshop CS4. Well…Ok? True they weren’t popular filters but I don’t think they were completely useless. Do you? Well if you’re using CS4 and really miss those features, worry not! Adobe has gone ahead and provided these filters, among others, as an optional download from their website to add to your plug-ins folder. (Mac|Win) And always remember, just because a tool is designed for one thing doesn’t mean it can’t be used for something else. It’s all about knowing what it can do! Have fun and discover something new today!!

April 29th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (4)

Down & Dirty Tour Is Selling Fast!!

One of the most popular Photoshop seminar tours in history is returning this year by popular demand. The Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks Seminar Tour is kicking off in Washington DC on May 8 and it is selling fast. If you find yourself in the DC area, you don’t want to miss this whole day of Photoshop awesomeness!!! Scott Kelby and I have worked tirelessly to update the tour with some of the coolest and most popular Photoshop effects around. No boring mumbo-jumbo! This is the good stuff and a lot of it! I can remember attending this same tour years ago and it just lit up my creativity every time. Don’t miss out! I will also be in Richmond, VA on May 27. Other dates are pending so keep checking the Kelby Training Live site for tour info.

Also the Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks book will be available in the next couple weeks so be on the lookout. This newest edition is the one every one has been waiting for. This the book that just shows you how to do cool effects. Sometimes that is all you want. There are so many Photoshop books that cover how or why something works the way it does, but very few that tell you straight how to do something really cool. This is that book. Be sure to check it out and I hope you enjoy!!

April 24th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (3)

Newest NAPP Member Perk | Spot The Fake!!

As if there weren’t good enough reasons to join the NAPP, here’s is something else. Each month, over at the NAPP member site, members will be able to access a select course from Kelby Training totally free. One whole course that you can access at any time, at your own pace during the allotted time. This month members can view a new course from Vincent Versace: Lighting On A Laptop. Again this perk is only available to NAPP members. So if you are not a NAPP member yet, go here.

Scott Kelby had this really interesting link on his blog today. It is a site put up by Autodesk, who produce 3D software like Mudbox and AutoCAD, and it presents you a number of images and challenges you to distinguish what is real or what is fake or rather what is computer generated. I took the challenge myself and got 8 out of 10. Not too bad, but I am little disappointed in myself. Give it a try yourself and see how well trained your eyes are. Just don’t let your boss catch you wasting time!! Here’s the link.

April 23rd, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (5)

New Video Tutorial | Flash vs Strobes @ PS Insider

Hope everyone is having a great Monday out there. Just a couple quick things today. First, I have posted a brand new video tutorial here on Planet just this past weekend. In it we explore more cool ways of getting creative with the 3D features built into Photoshop CS4 Extended. I have discovered that people are very curious about these features and aren’t always sure where to start. My hope is that these tips will engage your curiosity in playing with these features a bit more because they are so much more powerful than they first appear.

Also for you photographers. Scott Kelby has a rather interesting post today on what the difference is between studio strobes and off-camera flashes. It’s an interesting post in which he lists the advantages and disadvantages of each. Even providing gear suggestions and price comparisons for both Canon and Nikon shooters. Check it out here.

April 20th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

Book of the Week

It’s Friday, Hooray!!! Today is going to be a short post because I am up to my ears in whole of super cool stuff. More on that later, though! Today I wanted to highlight my book pick of the week. It is The Hot Shoe Diaries by famed Photographer Joe McNally. This is the second book from Joe. His first being The Moment It Clicks. Which was a huge hit. However this newest one is already destined to to be even a bigger seller. It covers using small small flashes in various scenarios and is delivered is Joe’s usual entertaining style. If you have ever seen him teach live you know what I mean. Which makes this book not just informative, but entertaining as well. No serious photographer should without this book. Check it out here. That’s it for today.

Be sure to check back here next week. We will have the results of the latest tutorial contest and a brand new contest will be under way as well. Have a great weekend!!

April 17th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)