Calling All Digital Chicks!!

May 16 - 18, 2008  

 Save $25 - Sign Up Today

Digital Chicks is the most popular new program I've ever introduced.  This ladies-only  weekend retreat was introduced last year and sold out quickly. 

This year, Digital Chicks comes early in the year - May 16-18 - the perfect time to enjoy wine, cheese and some photography with friends in the gardens at the Excelsior House in Jefferson, Texas.  Just a few hours east of Dallas.

This may be a shorter program than a full workshop but we pack a lot in the time we have.  Some of the highlights include;

• Wine & cheese reception on Friday evening

• Hands-on instruction

• One-on-one instruction

• Learn about digital flash - indoors & outdoors

• Working with mixed lighting - white balance, light balance

• Taming your camera's metering systems

• Compositional rules for creating powerful imagery

• Digital workflow - what files, software, etc for the best workflow

• Awesome tricks in Photoshop - turning ordinary into awesome

• Critique session - Evaluation of your own work

• Know your gear - learn what lenses & tools are best for the images you want to create.

Save $25

Sign up between February 5 and February 15th and save $25!

Important Notice:  Right now I've reserved almost all rooms in the Excelsior House, a very popular place for weddings and events.  But, I can't hold these rooms much longer so it's very important that if your interested in attending this special retreat that you reserve your place today.

This year's Texas workshop is shaping up to be something very special.  My friend, and award winning Texas Highways photographer Griff Smith, will be joining us again for a once-in-a-lifetime session at the world famous Hangar Hotel. 

We start our workshop focusing on photographic lighting in this historic location deep in the heart of wildflower country where you'll step back in time to the romance of 1940's aviation.

• Learn about the qualities of  light
• Master your camera's flash
• Use mixed lighting sources for spectacular effects
• Learn the tricks of shooting indoors
• Find out why light painting is just so much fun!!

Weather permitting, we are planning on setting up a shoot of a vintage aircraft on the tarmac in front of the hotel.  We'll plan on using the dwindling twilight, tungsten lights, camera strobes, flashlights and more to create a stunning image. 

• Find out what it takes to turn your captured image into a masterpiece. 
• Photoshop techniques - we take the captured image and show how to edit to create a marketable / frameable print. 
• Understand the tools used in a digital workflow

This is the only GreatPhotography workshop where you can enjoy the expert instruction of two outstanding photographers.  Other topics that we will cover include;

• Hyperfocal techniques to get maximum depth of field
• Shooting macro - it's a whole new world
• Wide angle, normal, prime, telephoto - when to choose which
• Shooting Texas wildflowers
• Using light modifiers
• The perfect white balance
• Mastering your camera's light meter

The Hangar Hotel is our home for the first two nights of the workshop and this is one of those unique locations that sells out quickly.  If you're at all interested in the workshop, sign up today to ensure your place. 

When you select a crop you'll notice that Photoshop changes the information that is on the Options Bar.  Where you initially specified width, height and Resolution, you now have options for the Cropped Area.  It is here that you specify whether you want to hide or delete the cropped area.

By default, the Delete option is selected but you can change this to select Hide if you want to preserve the cropped area in the image file.  When you Commit the Crop Selection the cropped portion of the image disappears, but in reality it is only hidden. 

Let's say that you like the crop dimensions but want to edit where in the image the crop is applied.  You can simply use the move tool - you'll see that as you move the tool there is more image beyond the edges that can be used.

If you want to "undo" the crop operation then you can use the Reveal All command under the Image menu.  I use the term "undo" lightly here.  Reveal All actually is a command that will increase the size of the Canvas to accommodate the largest amount of hidden information.  There are other commands and procedures besides the Crop Tool that can create hidden information.

Hiding the Crop Area is a great option to use but remember a few key points.  First, since you are not actually deleting the information that you are cropping out, the file size will be bigger.  My suggestion is buy more memory and don't worry about it.

Second, the Hide option is not available for images that only contain a Background.  If you want to crop a background by hiding, convert the background to a regular layer first.