Join NAPP

If you're just beginning to learn Photoshop CS4 and/or Lightroom, or you have been working with these program making little headway, the best thing you will ever do is to join NAPP. The National Association of Photoshop Professionals is by far the best place to learn pretty much everything you'll need to know about the digital darkroom and so much more. Here's the link I tried learning from books and struggled on my own for the longest time. They offer so much information in the way of a weekly TV (computer) show, tutorials, forums, help center, discounts and a magazine. All this and more for $99. I'm telling you, it's a must if you want to learn fast and easy.

The histogram debate

For the past few days David duChemin has had some very interesting thoughts on this whole "should I worry about the histogram at all, somewhat, or is it the holly grail of photography . I'm still trying to make up my mind but he offers some compelling reasons for understanding the histogram but not relying on it to make wonderful images. He's suggesting to shoot in AV mode and use the exposure compensation dial to move the histogram as for to the right (highlights) as you can without bumping it against the edge. Here's the link. http://www.pixelatedimage.com/blog/. He explains it much better than I. In Scott Kelby's "The Digital Photography Book" Volume #3 he writes that he doesn't use the histogram at all but instead uses the cameras highlight warning ( blinkies), then use exposure compensation to darken the image and bring back the highlight detail. My suggestion would be to read all you can about the subject, experiment and make your own decisions. That's what I'm doing.

Photoshop TV

Here is a great way to stay on top of what's going on in the world of Photoshop. It's an entertaining show featuring the Photoshop guys from NAPP. Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, and Dave Cross offer tutorials, tips and interviews that will make your time working in Photoshop more productive.
http://www.photoshopusertv.com/

The great photographers and teachers I follow

Today I added a list of the blogs and sites I follow almost on a daily basis. These photographer/teachers have so much information to impart that its almost impossible to grasp it all at one sitting. I suggest you follow their blogs and learn from them. I feel that if I come away with just one new idea, the time is well spent.

Day one

I think I have the page layout looking the way I want, for now at least. I'm sure I'll be changing it as I learn more about blogspot. Why am I writing a blog. I'm not sure but my first thought is to help me understand why I do some of the things I do and at the same time help others with simple tips. I'm not a writer so I hope you will not hold that against me.