Photoshop User Award Winners Announced

The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) today announced the winners of its 4th annual Photoshop® User Awards – the first and only worldwide competition for Adobe® Photoshop® users. Winners were selected from more than 700 entries in 11 categories. Finalists in each category also competed for Best of Show to win an all expense paid, five-day trip for two to Barcelona, Spain.

Winning images can be viewed here.

Award winners for 2008:
Best of Show: Ciro Marchetti – Florida – Gypsy Dancer
Advertising Design: Jose Luis Santana – Mexico – Tough Chicken
Composites/Collages: Mike Campau – Michigan – Stay Green. Go Red.
General Photography: Michael Whitson – Pennsylvania – Day in the Life
Artistic: Glenn Karlsen — Norway – Zipperhead
General Photoshop: Steve McGhee – Canada – The Big Swallow
Illustration: Nelsy Adriana Perez Jimenez – Mexico – Dragons
Landscape/Travel: Kajo Merkert – Germany – Coogee Pool
Wedding/Portrait: Paola Jofre – Canada – Strong Boy and Dog Max
Restoration: Janine Smith – Texas – General Worth
Retouching: Steven Cegelski – New York – Believe
Student Work: Romy Yamsuan – Canada – Ultra Badminton

Winners in 11 categories each receive a prize package valued at $2,500 provided by award sponsors – Adobe, NAPP, Layers magazine, Kelby Training, Peachpit, and Mpix. Plus, their winning image will be showcased in a future issue of Photoshop User magazine.

Best of Show winner Ciro Marchetti receives a dream assignment to Barcelona, Spain for him and an assistant of his choice to create a future cover for Photoshop User magazine, the official publication of NAPP. Round trip airfare, hotel accommodations, hotel transfers, and daily expenses for five days are provided by NAPP.

February 2nd, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (3)

Planet Contest Winners

Well I must say I was most impressed with what he work everyone did for the first ‘Learn It. Do It. Win It.’ contest exclusive here on Planet Photoshop. I want to thank all of you who entered and hope you will join us for future contests. Now…the envelope please? (Insert drum roll here)

The Grand Prize Winner is Lisa with the piece titled “Music“. Congratulations Lisa!!!!
The First Runner-Up is Erich Gellert for “Super Nova Surfer“.
The Second Runner-Up is Sara Lipary for “Night Rider“.

You can view all these winning entries here.

As I mentioned earlier, I was so immensely impressed with the work I saw that I picked a handful of my favorites and will be posting them on a special contest gallery right here on Planet. Be sure to check back soon to see the great work. Also check back soon as we will be starting up the next contest in the next few days.

January 29th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (6)

Book of the Week | Updates

This week’s book selection is not a new book. In fact, it has been out for quite a while but it is a gem for all versions of Photoshop. The book is titled The Photoshop Channels Book by Scott Kelby. Channels are an all too critical tool in Photoshop as any expert will tell you, and this book will help get you there quickly. It covers everything from creating special effects and color correction to masking and compositing. With so few resources on mastering channels out there, this book is a no-brainer!!! Check it out!

There are updates for Camera Raw 5.3 and Lightroom 2.3 available now over at Adobe Labs. It’s the usual drill. They have added some newly supported cameras and fixed a few bugs.

January 26th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

NAPP News on iTunes | Contest Thanks!!

One of the great benefits of being a NAPP member is that you can always stay up-to-date on what going on in the industry. One of those many resources available to NAPP member is the NAPP News show hosted by NAPP Director Larry Becker. Every week Larry brings you what new. Whether it’s a new product, a new event, or maybe something so cool that he just has to tell you about it. Well, until recently the NAPP news was only available NAPP members, but now you can view it as a podcast over on iTunes. Even if you are not a NAPP member this is another good way of finding out what’s happening and what good things are going on for current NAPP members. Larry also does a little contest for NAPP members with some pretty cool prizes.

Speaking of contests, we got an overwhelming response to our first Planet tutorial contest. I want to personally thank all those who entered and really hope you found a way to expand your skills. Sometimes just getting challenged is good motivation. We are currently reviewing the submissions and will be posting the winners in a few days. We will also be posting a three newly selected tutorials for the next contest. Thanks again and good luck!!!

January 21st, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

The Game Is On

What is perhaps best described as the Super Bowl of Photoshop events. Photoshop World is once again upon us. A fitting description as this years theme is football. I am very excited about this year. We have got all the great stuff you love and some new stuff as well. I am teaching all new classes this year. For instance, I have a class called Planet Photoshop Live! where I will be demonstrating some the most popular tutorials right here on Planet Photoshop live. Of course with a few surprises here and there. Go here for a list of all classes and instructors. This year we are Boston on March 25-27 for Photoshop World East and it’s going to be a blast. It’s also going to be cold. Brrrrrr!!!! Hope to see you there.

Don’t forget for those of you around the Tampa Bay area I will be teaching at the Digital Technology Center in Sarasota on January 24, 2009. This is a day long, hands on course on creating cool design effects with Photoshop. Here’s the link.

January 16th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Contest Submission Ends Today | Book of the Week

The clock is ticking! You have until midnight tonight to get those submissions in for the Learn It/Do it/Win It Design Contest exclusively here on Planet Photoshop. The big prize for this one is a full pass to Photoshop World. Plus it’s a great way to see what you and many others did with the same material. So don’t miss out! Tick tock, tick tock…

Scott Kelby just recently released his Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers. Ok, well we all knew that but did you also know that he has a special batch of limited edition spiral bound versions of this invaluable resource. Due to numerous request, these spiral bound versions are available for a very short time and in limited quantities, and is only available here. As a bonus, all spiral copies will be signed by the author himself. Check it out here.

January 15th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Planet Contest Deadline Tomorrow

There is still time to enter the Planet Photoshop tutorial design contest. You have until January 15 12:00 am. That’s tomorrow. So don’t wait get those entries in. Now we will of course be starting up this contest again with new tutorials very soon, but don’t pass up an opportunity to get in on the first one. Remember the winner gets a pass to the next Photoshop World, a Photoshop dvd, and the Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers. Good luck!!!!

January 14th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Photoshop Guys on Photoshop CS4

So a lot of people are still reluctant to upgrade to Photoshop CS4 and I am sure that everyone has their reasons. For some it seems that we only just got CS3. For others there just aren’t sure if there is anything even in CS4 that is worth the upgrade. Sure these are tough economic times and I am sure that plays a heavy part in many people’s decision, but it seems the real issue is whether the new features in CS4 are worth it. That’s where the Photoshop Guys come in. Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, and Dave Cross have produced a special four part video series discussing what’s new in Photoshop CS4 and why it might be worth the upgrade. This is a good chance to get varying perspectives on the subject and help you make a more informed decision. Part one is up now (Here’s the link.) The remaining parts will be posted over the next few days so keep checking back.

January 12th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

Matt’s Lightroom Seminar | The New MacBook Wheel?

My fellow Photoshop guy Matt Kloskowski is going to be in Covington, Kentucky on January 23rd teaching the Lightroom 2.0 Live seminar tour. This is the same seminar made popular by Scott Kelby just last year an who better to learn Lightroom from than from one of the leading instructors out there. This full of Lightroom is great whether you have just started with Lightroom or been using for a while. You will get something out of it. Even if your not sure if you want to buy Lightroom, you can attend the seminar and see if it’s worth the investment. You won’t be disappointed. Click here for more info.

Now this may not necessarily be in the realm of Photoshop but it’s too funny not to mention. If you have ever heard of the Onion News Network then you know that they have some of the most unique news stories anywhere. The only catch is they are fake. At first glance it seems that you are watching a legitimate newscast until they do or say something that makes you do a double take. Just recently The Onion posted a news story on a new product from Apple referred to as the MacBook Wheel. Now I don’t want to spoil the surprise but anyone who is Apple fan will definitely get a good chuckle out of this. What blows me away is that for a spoof newscast, the production quality almost makes you believe what they are telling you. Click here to see for yourself.

January 9th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (3)

What’s Coming Up…

Well, it seems that we have survived the holidays once again and now we must come out of the clouds and back to earth to resume our day to day grind!!! Although I must admit that I am very excited about the coming year. There are a lot of new adventures coming the next few months so stay tuned as more stuff develops. Here are a couple things coming up in the very near future.

I will be teaching creative photoshop techniques at the Digital Technology Centre in Sarasota, FL on January 24, 2009. This will be a hands on workshop where we will be learning how to create some if the most eye popping Photoshop effects being used today. Seats are limited so if interested register now. Here the link.

Also we must not forget about the big show which is Photoshop World. This event is the pretty much the Pro-Bowl of Photoshop events. With a who’s who list of the biggest names in Photoshop teaching the latest and greatest techniques over a three day period and there is always the occasional surprise here and there. This March 25 -27 we are headed to Boston for Photoshop World East. Check out the site for all the class schedules and events. Hope to see you there!!! That’s all for now.

January 5th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)