Vacation with Vanelli!

Barrier Island Station-Kitty Hawk
March 8-12, 2010
$595.00 NAPP Members (discount code NAPP)
$695.00 Non Members (price includes FREE membership into NAPP!)

Register

SPECIAL NEWS: First 5 paid attendees can stay for FREE in the 4 bedroom condo unit!

Five Day Vacation Workshop with Vanelli!

The vacation workshop is designed to be hands-on (Vanelli expects many hugs). All levels from beginners to advanced can attend. The fun starts at 5:00 pm on Monday, March 8th and drags on until sometime Friday, March 12th. If you need help deciding what to bring, visit the Survival Kit’s Packing List. Ritalin and earplugs are highly recommended.

The meeting room and living arrangements are one in the same. Yeah, it’s a lot of time to spend with Vanelli, so if you think you can’t handle it, contact us for other accommodation options.  The 4 bedroom condo has 1 king bed, 2 queen beds and 2 single beds. Sleeping arrangements are first come, first serve.  There is a grocery store and local shops within walking distance, and the condo features a full kitchen. Participants staying on-premises will have access to the resort amenities.

Although the workshop is structured, you will also have free time for vacation-type activities on your own if you wish. Vanelli will always be available (he never sleeps); Sandy will be available most of the time (she does sleep). Peer knowledge and advice will be plentiful with our group Breakfast Babble and Dinner Discussions.

Helpful links

2010 Outerbanks Guide

Barrier Island Station-Kitty Hawk

Getting There

The closest airport is Norfolk International Airport 64 miles away. It’s about a 90 minute drive (that’s an hour and a half for all you non-mathematical types). It’s not that Vanelli’s driving skills are bad; it’s his ability to stay off the Android while driving that makes it scary to be a passenger, therefore, carpooling is not arranged or provided by Vacation With Vanelli. If you wanna talk to other participants about carpooling, send a shout and we’ll hook you up.

Detailed directions and the condo address can be found in the Survival Kit. Only paid participants have access. No party crashers allowed.

Helpful Hint:

When you arrive in Kitty Hawk, get out of the vehicle and listen for the sound of Vanelli’s voice. Follow that sound to the condo. Shouldn’t be hard to do.

Refund Policy: If you chicken out, your dough is refundable up to 30 days before the workshop (minus a $25 restocking fee). If it’s less than 30 days we will transfer your registration to a future workshop, or to a different victim.

Adobe, the Adobe Logo, Photoshop and Lightroom are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. NAPP and National Association of Photoshop Professionals are a registered trademark of Kelby Media.

Digital Work Flow FIVE P’s

As I prepare for the “Vacation with Vanelli” workshop series, I’ve organized a simple teaching procedure for the workshop. I call these the Digital Work Flow FIVE P’s, from picture to print. Throughout the years, I’ve experience success and pitfalls from not understanding these steps. Each step is a lesson in its own. The workshop series was developed to guide you, to give you an understand of these steps. It will point you in the right direction to find more information when you are ready.

Plan:  a flexible intention of action.
When starting a new project, it’s important to have a flexible plan of action and understand plans may change. The first wedding I photographed, the bride requested 8 x 10′s I realized I cropped too tight in the camera and the photos looked great for an 8 x 12! Start with your end result in mind.

Photography: using light to make pictures.
With the advent of digital cameras, more and more people are involved with photography. Leaving your camera in auto mode generally produces great snap shots. To produce a photograph, understanding ISO, Aperture and Shutter is paramount. Using light, color and textures help tell the story when the photographer isn’t there to explain it. The workshop will teach these principles as we photograph beautiful local landscapes. Location lighting and studio lighting will also be covered.

Process: a series of creative actions directed toward enhancing photographs.
Lightroom and Photoshop have replaced traditional dark rooms. The workshop will teach how to streamline these powerful tools giving us more time in front of the camera instead of the computer.

Print: a work of art made by inking a surface with a raised design.
There are many options for printing your photographs these days. From self printing to professional services, the workshop will give you valuable insight on affordable and creative ways to print.

Post: a modern way of using Social Media to display your photography.
Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to talk about and showcase your work. Using the most popular media, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter, (to name just a few) you can share your photography privately for family and friends or allow the world to enjoy them. The workshop will teach you how to prepare and upload your files to these services.

Scott Kelby can…

Ok we have all heard the funny Chuck Norris jokes. Chuck Norris always knows the EXACT location of Carmen SanDiego or Some people wear Superman pajamas. Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas. I thought it would be funny to start a Scott Kelby can… jokes. Like, Scott Kelby can see 48 stops of light or Scott Kelby does HDR, in the camera! Once we have them all, I will present them to him at Photoshop World in Orlando on March 24, 2010. Make them funny and leave your name to get credit for it!

Lightroom Work-flow Enhancing eyes

Part 2 of 4 Lightroom Work-flow, enhancing the eyes. Part 3 will cover  skin soften.

Model Acknowledgment
Dina Pezzimenti
Melbourne, Florida

Model Mayhem # 1040336

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Lightroom Work-flow Removing blemishes

Part 1 of 4 Lightroom Work-flow, how to remove blemishes. Part 2 will cover enhancing the eyes, Part 3 will soften the skin and  the final segment will teach face sculpturing.

Model Acknowledgment
Dina Pezzimenti
Melbourne, Florida

Model Mayhem # 1040336

Read more

Removing objects

A quick and easy way to remove unwanted objects in an image. This video will teach you how to duplicate a layer using shortcut keys, creating a layer mask, paint out an object, merge layers and select a section of your image.

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Perspective Crop

Perspectives can become distorted when you point a camera upwards to get the whole building in or if you are not quite square on – this is known as keystone distortion. This is a very simple tutorial explaining how to do a perspective crop in Photoshop. I was reminded of this from Trey Ratcliff when he gave a seminar on HDR in Tampa. Keep in mind, the best way to fix perspective distortion is to get it right in the camera. The second best is using Photoshop.

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Learned more than HDR

Last Sunday I was fortunate enough to be a guest of  Scott Bourne at his workshop in Tampa Florida. His special guest, Trey Ratcliff and the subject, High Dynamic Range (HDR). Before the seminar started, I struck up a conversation with an attendee. He said he saw a huge differences from the photos he took Friday; the night before the seminar, and Saturday, after he took the seminar. He couldn’t believe what he had learned in just one day. This gave me a high expectation of the workshop. I wasn’t disappointed!

On the surface, these two motivated instructors taught the fundamentals of HDR. The more I listened, the more  I realized they were teaching more than HDR. It takes a masterful instructor to teach one topic and sneak in concepts and theories that can be applied to any subject.  To keep this post simple, I’ve outlined the philosophy I came away with from the workshop.

Trey Ratcliff:

• Blues give other colors their vibrancy.
• Important to put complimentary colors together.
• Lens choice 14-24.
• uses google earth to scout out his locations.
• communicate feeling through temperature.
• perspective crop
• Nik color Efec 3.0 – tonal contrast for HDR look

My favorite quote from Trey: When you can’t get the shot you really want, there are always plenty of other shots around.

When shooting HDR

• Aperture priority mode
• Tripod level
• Auto bracket
• Cable release
• Nikon VR or Canon IS off
• Use PhotomatixPro for tone mapping
• Use Photoshop to complete your image

Scott Bourne

• HDR doesn’t have to stop with color, convert it to black and white.
• Recreate the image the way YOU saw it.
• The human eye sees about 11 stops of light, the camera only sees about 4
• Try vertical Landscape panoramics
• Photography protects memories
• Every photo or painting should have a little mystery in it.

My favorite quote from Scott: Be authentic, be yourself. That’s how you become different.

A Few Guidelines (not rules)

• Look for leading lines
• make the photo lead the viewer on a path
• Watch horizontal lines; either on top or bottom avoid the middle
• Study the old masters.
• Look for odd numbers like 3 trees or 5 benches.
• Look for shapes and colors.
• Landscapes need a strong foreground.
• Focus 1/3 into the landscape.
• When taking photos of people or anything with eyes, try to take the photo at their eye level.

Acronyms

Subject
Attention
Simplify

Entire shot
Detail
Focal length
Angle
Time

Look up
Look down
Look all around

Photoshop World 2010: Vanelli’s Itinerary

Photoshop World 2010
March 24–26, 2010
Orange County Convention CenterOrlando, Florida

I admit, I’m spoiled by getting to attend Photoshop World twice a year. But that still doesn’t make it easy to select my classes!

Tuesday, March 23rd

12:00p-09:00p NAPP Photo Safari with Moose Peterson & Joe McNally

Wednesday, March 24^th

01:00p-06:00p  Expo Open

08:00p-11:00p  Photoshop World After-Hours Party – BB King

09:00a-10:15a  Opening Ceremony & Keynote

10:45a-11:45a My Favorite Photoshop Tips & Techniques with Russell Brown

12:00p-01:00p  Many Uses of a White Seamless Background with Zack Arias

02:30p-03:30p  Mastering HDR Photography with Matt Kloskowski

06:15p-07:15p  The Lazarus Effect: Raising the Dead Pixel with Vincent Versace

Thursday, March 25^th

01:00p-05:00p  Expo Open

07:15p-09:15p  The Art of Digital Photography

10:00p-12:00a  Midnight Madness hosted by Scott Kelby

08:15a-09:15a  Real World Image Sharpening with Jeff Schewe

09:30a-10:30a  Photoshop for Video with Richard Harrington

10:45a-11:45a  Designing With Type 2010 with Scott Kelby

12:00p-01:00p  Photoshop Restoration with Matt Kloskowski

04:45p-05:45p  Bringing Out the Big Guns with Joe McNally

Friday, March 26^th

09:00a-01:00p  Expo Open

11:00a-12:00p  Practical B&W Conversion for the Common User with Vincent Versace

01:00p-02:00p  The Perfect Panoramic With Photomerge with Jim DiVitale

02:15p-03:15p  One Light for Real People with Jack Reznicki

03:45p-04:45p  Conference Wrap-up & Giveaways

Copyright your work

Do you have insurance for your camera… YES?  Then why don’t you have insurance for your photos? The cost of insurance to copyright your work is only $35.00.

I admit I don’t have all the answers, but I know who and where to find them. Continuing my research on the legal side of photography took me to, you guest it, kelbytraining.com. Like my other post, I write these articles as basic notes to myself and to share them with friends. I encourage you to sit through the 90 minute video class with Jack Reznicki and  Ed Greenberg.

For those who don’t have time but need the information, I’m outlining what I interpreted from the class. The benefits from watching the video enables you to hear advice from the experts and download any materials they have. Keep in mind, because you have these rights doesn’t mean you have to exercise them, but they are good to have!

To copyright your work, go to copyright.gov NOT .com

1. Why Do You Want to Register (02:54)
2. Benefits of Registration (10:54)
   • you have the rights to your image
   • when you pass on, your estate inherits your rights
   • enables you to file a claim if someone uses your image without permission
3. What Are Your Copyrights? (06:50)
   • control over reproduction of your work
   • you can license your image for use DO NOT sell them
   • right of derivative (you have the right to make changes to your work)
4. Right of Distribution (06:35)
   • you decide where your work appears example: billboards, ads
   • right of display example: only in color, black and white, cropped or uncropped
   • the right to say NO if you don’t want the image to be viewed
5. Rights with your Registration (07:56)
   • the right to sue if your rights are violated
   • compensatory damages (the amount you would have charged)
   • statutory damages (court awards an amount)
6. Rights with your Registration, Part 2 (08:58)
   • having your lawyer fees covered
   • you may order an injunction
   • leverage
7. Starting the Registration Process (02:23)
   • don’t send the full size image to the copyright office
   • resize your image to a small jpg (about 700px by 700px with 5 compression) that could be presented in court
8. Registration Process Step by Step (05:53)
   • you can send the unedited version of the image (any retouching would be covered as a derivative)
   • make sure you have your copyright information in the meta data (use lightroom or photoshop)
   • http://www.copyright.gov
9. Copyright (11:02)
   • visiting the copyright web site gives you a wealth of information
   • Firefox user need to change tab settings to accept new pages open new windows
   • Safari web browser doesn’t work
   • use the web sites back and forward buttons not the browsers
   • electronic copyright takes about 3 months to receive your certificate
   • images are recognized as copyright the day you upload them
10. Registering a New Claim (10:26)
    • register your work as visual arts
    • give a reasonable title relation to the work
    • select unpublished if it’s on your web site or has been shown then published
    • narrow your registration to the same year, month or quarter
    • copyright your photos in your name but check with your account for their opinion
11. Limits to Claim (06:13)
    • click next button don’t limit your work
    • rights and permission should be all about you
    • corespondent again should be you
    • DO NOT click anything in “special handling” unless you talk to your lawyer
12. New Claim Certification (07:54)
    • first process will take awhile once you get use to it, it should take about 5 minutes
    • review your application, once you click submit, it’s a legal document and can’t be changed
13. Registering a New Claim After your Payment (05:00)
    • accept an email confirmation
    • don’t click done until you upload your images
    • upload a zip file of your images
    • limited to 30 minutes per upload you can have more than one upload
14. Wrap Up (01:46)
    • MYTHS that are NOT true
    • • if you put your photo in an envelop and mail to yourself it’s copyrighted
      • if you change a percentage of a photograph or art it because yours
      • you can use an image as long as you don’t make a profit from it
    • copyright your work!

I hope this gave you insight on copyrighting your work. I encourage you to watch the video if not for the knowledge, but for the shear entertaining value of Jack and Ed!

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