I just saw this over at the Photoshop World site. They have a new program for anybody who is attending Photoshop World solo. It's called Dinner with a Stranger and I think it's a great idea. Here's how it works:

At the Photoshop World registration desk, there will be a sign-up sheet with the names of some great nearby local restaurants. Add your name to that list, and then grab a red pin that reads "I'm a stranger."

Then later that night (the first night of the conference), you pin it on, and head for the restaurant. When you get there, you'll find a number of other people who are wearing the same pin, and you'll be joining these other "solo flyers" for a fun dinner and great conversation in a dining room reserved just for Photoshop World "strangers."

The original is on the left and the photo processed with FocalPoint is on the right. First, the original photo is a great shot and illustrates what a great photographer Andy is. Second, I think the "after" photo illustrates that Andy is an artist when he's not behind the camera as well. Having a vision of what you want to convey to your client and being able to execute that vision with a variety of tools, whether it's with a plugin or not, is a talent and Andy clearly has it.

I really like the way Andy has softened the edge and added a vignette to really bring attention and focus to the bride. Thanks for sharing your work with us Andy!

Photos copyright Andy Marcus. All rights reserved.

I was looking through a couple of our video tutorials for our Photoshop plugins the other day and it dawned on my just how many there are up there. We have 79 videos (in Flash and QuickTime format) that cover all of our plugins for Photoshop. Seventy-nine! Wow. I knew we had a lot, but I must admit, I didn't realize there were that many.

So be sure to head over to our Tutorials page and check them out! They're all free of course!

Here's the original photo as captured, straight out of the camera. I like

We'll start out by applying the onOne Auto Skin Smoother at 50%. This will give us a nice soft, glamour style look without making the skin look plastic.

Next, we're going to use the Turbo Boost effect to enhance the colors in the photo.

In the next two steps, we're going to use two techniques to focus the viewer's attention on our senior. The first is to use the Selective Focus Gaussian Blur effect followed by the Jack Davis Darken Edges vignette effect in PhotoTools.

Selective Focus added.

Vignette added.

So far, I've stayed in PhotoTools the entire time. But now I'm going to go ahead and click the Apply button. I want to enhance the eyes still but I'm going to go back into PhotoTools and do that with a Layer Mask. All of this processing so far has darkened things a bit there and we want people to connect with this photo, so brightening the eyes is a great way to do this.

So after going back into PhotoTools, I'm going to add the Kubota Soft Wash effect combined with a Black Layer Mask so the effect doesn't show up at all in Photoshop until I grab my Brush tool and then make sure that I'm painting with white. In PhotoTools, you can automatically add this mask by checking the check box(es) in the bottom middle of the user interface window. Once I have my brush selected, I just adjust the brush size, lower my brush opacity to 50% (just press the number 5 after you select the Brush tool) and then paint over the eyes.

So there you have it, a very nice senior portrait enhancement with just a few clicks and a layer mask. Not much too it really which is the key benefit of using PhotoTools. Otherwise, we would have had to make several adjustment layers, groups and blending modes but with PhotoTools, it's just about 5 clicks!

Genuine Fractals made the list in 2006. The Plug-In Suite made the list in 2007. For 2008, our newest Photoshop plugin FocalPoint 1.0 along with PhotoTune 2.2 made the exclusive list.

I'm happy to report that as of yesterday, June 18, 2008, the Plug-In Suite 4 boxes started shipping out to all of you have pre-ordered this collection of Photoshop plugins. Thank you very much for your patience while we finished this up.

For those of you interested in buying this, you now have the option to download it and not just have it shipped to you like before. Anybody outside of the U.S. will especially appreciate this to avoid the duty taxes that got assessed.

Rick Sammon has an upcoming free webcast on the O'Reilly network to teach you the 10 Key Ingredients for Cookin' Digital Pictures. Here are the details from the O'Reilly website.

In this live webcast, world-renowned photographer Rick Sammon will share his top digital photography tips, including his "10 Key Ingredients for Cookin' Digital Photographs." He'll also discuss his favorite photo philosophies, including: The Camera Looks Both Ways; In Picturing the Subject We Are Also Picturing a Part of Ourselves." You'll get to see Rick's favorite people, landscape and wildlife images from around the world. Some Photoshop talk, too!

Attendance is limited, so register now. We'll send you a reminder before the webcast. And please feel free to share this invitation with others.

Date: Thursday, June 26 at 10am PDT (17:00 GMT)

Cost: Free

Duration: 45 minutes

Meeting link: oreilly.com/go/webcast-pictures

Teleconference dial-in:
(select the number that is closest to your location)

East Coast US: +1 617 231-0350 and pin 8136507

West Coast US: +1 213-455-0500 and pin 8136507


Questions? Please send email to webcast@oreilly.com

Asuka Book has begun their "Show Us Your Best" contest for 2008. All books ordered between June 1, 2008 and August 1, 2008 are automatically entered to win a huge number of prizes including PhotoTools Professional Edition and the new Plug-In Suite 4. There are many more prizes as well and you can see a complete listing by visiting the Asuka Book Contest Page.

Good luck!

So now that you know, here's a little bit about Vincent's latest training DVD straight from Vincent himself...

"With this DVD set you will quickly learn the new features of NX2! You will also learn the "why and how to" of the features from a professional photographer’s perspective. Then, go beyond the features and learn to use NX2 as a powerful creative tool to aesthetically enhance your images. This DVD set delivers this unique combination of content and implementation, allowing you to unleash the RAW power of NX2 as well as your creativity. You will want to listen and watch the DVDs many times to absorb and integrate it all!"

Pre-order your copy before June 5th and save $15.

With Andy's permission, here are the examples.

Before

After

Images copyright Andy Marcus. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Just a quick note to let you know that I was on the Your Mac Life radio show last night with Shawn King and Lesa King. You can listen to the May 28, 2008 show over at the Your Mac Life web site. Here's the direct link to the interview.

Take a look at Ralph's blog for the 4 articles. He describes his workflow incluing noise reduction using Noiseware Professional (a product I also use) and Pixel Genius' PhotoKit Sharpener in conjunction with Genuine Fractals to enlarge older files from his 6 mega pixel Canon 10D.

Here are the links.

Genuine Fractals Impressions #1

Genuine Fractals Impressions #2

Genuine Fractals Impressions #3

Genuine Fractals Impressions #4