NEXT MEETING: May 15th, 10:00 AM in the Scenic Room (NOTE SPECIAL START TIME)
To all members of the PACS Photoshop SIG (and anyone else interested in learning how to understand and use Photoshop),
How embarrassing! After being out for two months to come back and not be able to get my MAC to work with the room projector!
Well, John Davey saved the day (again) by letting me use his PC. Will I forever be in debt to John?
So; after futzing around and failing to get my computer to work with the projector, we didn’t have a lot of time left. But I did manage to introduce you to SumoPaint, a web-based application that I was introduced to while taking classes at UArts. It has layers (but no layer masks), a manipulable histogram and curves graph, and lots of other goodies. And it’s FREE! I am posting a PDF on our handout page entitled “25PSAlternatives” which I lifted from the MACS @ PACS web site; check it out.
I also mentioned that CS5 is due out by the end of April (I’ve already paid my $600.00 for the full Creative Suite upgrade). I guess that many people in our SIG have given-up on Photoshop because of it’s cost and the fact that your paying for capabilities that you may never need or use; there’s no denying that it’s aimed at the professional nowadays. Hopefully, Photoshop Elements will suffice, and it’s a whole lot cheaper. I have to assume that what I cover in Photoshop can be directly applied to Elements.
Another topic we covered was cropping images to better frame the subject; too often we stand a mile away from our subject when we shoot portraits. You’re better off getting up close and cutting your subject off at the knees or even at the waist or chest rather than trying to get the whole figure in the frame. And don’t aim the crosshairs in your viewfinder at your subject’s head!
Please note that next month we will meet from 10:00 AM until noon; I hope to cover what I failed to cover this month due to the computer/projector failure (including highlight/shadows, making HD photographs, and a little cloning trick), plus any new material that comes our way.
See you on the 15th at 10:00 AM !
Marty