Here is a movie taking a first look at Adobe’s latest Lightroom 4 beta. To get it for yourself (for FREE!), visit labs.adobe.com.
Tag education
Introducing: Bri’s Quick Tips
Ladies and gentleman, I bring you: Bri’s Quick Tips! I’ve been working hush hush on this little gem for some time now and am excited to announce the public beta launch! Bri’s Quick Tips is a new video training portal where I’ll be regularly posting topic-driven short tutorials based in Adobe’s two most popular photography tools: Lightroom and Photoshop.
I find that many online training websites are either too confusing, too in-depth and detailed, or just aren’t being taught by true working professionals in the field who use these tools every day. I have started with a small library but will continue to build it over time. Not only can you search keywords of topics you’re looking for and download bonus material for select videos, but you can rate the videos and even share them with your friends–as every video is on YouTube. Most importantly, this free service has a suggestion box (pops out from the right) where you can suggest topics you’d like to see covered in upcoming videos–even with a file uploader if the suggestion is image specific.
I’ll be making some minor improvements to the system in the very near future to hopefully remove the ‘beta’ tag. In the meantime, I’m always open to feedback and please, share with anyone you know who you think might benefit from this: www.briantetrault.com/quicktips.
LensProToGo Viewfinders
My great friends over at LensProToGo have just launched an amazing new partnership called Viewfinders. It’s an opportunity for anyone and everyone to interact and learn about some of the greatest talents in our industry. To learn more about the whole thing, check out their recent blog post. Click here to check out the Viewfinders site (oh, and by the way, I built the site for them!).
Mastering Portraiture w/Rick Ashley
I’ve put together a really great workshop about portraiture with the one, the only Rick Ashley! Space is limited, so register quick! Click here to download the PDF.
Workshops at CDIA
Hot off the presses! Officially announced this week: my 3 upcoming workshops at CDIA in Waltham in July. Here’s the details:
Advanced Speedlights (Nikon & Canon)
When: Friday July 8, 2011 9a – 12p
Cost: $75
Please contact us to register: REGISTER ONLINE or by phone 800-808-CDIA (2342)
Are you not as comfortable using speedlights as you’d like to be? In this workshop, we’ll take the second-guessing out of these sometimes confusing flash units and learn how to approach their use in several situational examples. Through in-class shooting exercises, we’ll see the difference between working with flash inside and outside as the primary and secondary light source.
Main topics we will cover:
- Understanding the terminology – sync speed, curtain sync, i-TTL/ETTL, and more
- Speedlight as the primary light source
- Speedlight as the secondary light source (fill)
- Working with an off-camera speedlight
- Working with multiple speedlights
- Thinking creatively – overpowering the sun, using modifiers, and more
Prerequisites:
Intermediate to advanced DSLR understanding, beginner to intermediate speedlight understanding
Class Requirements:
notebook & pen, Nikon or Canon DSLR w/memory card and lens(es), minimum of 1 Nikon or Canon speedlight, extra AA batteries for speedlight(s)
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Business of Photography
When: Friday July 22, 2011 9a-4p
Cost: $99
Please contact us to register: REGISTER ONLINE or by phone 800-808-CDIA (2342)
There’s nothing more satisfying than making money doing something you’re passionate about. This workshop is for anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit who has ever wondered how to take their photography business to the next
level but didn’t know how to start.
Main topics we will cover:
- Basic infrastructure – setting up your business
- Design – importance of building a cohesive visual identity
- Marketing – creating a plan and the power of the web
- Proposal writing and pricing – a systematic approach with in-class group exercises
- Branching out – other ideas to expand your business
Class Requirements:
notebook & pen, laptop for note taking and research (optional).
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Advanced Photography Workflow
When: Saturday July 23, 2011 9a-12p
Cost: $50
Please contact us to register: REGISTER ONLINE or by phone 800-808-CDIA (2342)
Time is money, and there’s more money to be made behind the camera than at the computer. Working efficiently and effectively when at your computer is the key to allowing yourself more time behind the camera.
In this advanced workshop, we will cover ideas and strategies for digital asset management and image editing using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. We will explore the important options for organizing your files using a
flexible software program: Lightroom.
Just as important as organizing your files after a shoot is approaching editing and retouching. We’ll also cover how to keep a consistent look to your images – whether it’s a couple from a low budget shoot or a high volume project like a wedding or event.
Main topics we will cover:
- Advanced strategies for organizing assets on your computer
- Using Lightroom to manage your images with emphasis on working with multiple catalogs
- Importance of consistency when editing and ideas on implementing standard practice techniques
- Advanced retouching strategies with emphasis on batch processing and working with Photoshop actions
- Other tools, software, and techniques available to help streamline your workflow
Prerequisites:
Intermediate to advanced understanding of Adobe Lightroom and intermediate knowledge of Adobe Photoshop.
Class Requirements:
notebook & pen, attendees are encouraged to bring their own laptop but it is not a requirement.
Send your parents tech support
A tech support care package that is. It may neither of your parents, it may be both of your parents, it may just be someone else you know who is simply a bit (or grossly a lot) not so tech savvy. It’s ok, because now you can send a tech support care package through teachparentstech.org. What a thoughtful little gift to make your loved one [hopefully] smile.
Today’s Tip: Compressing a PDF
I’ve heard a lot of buzz lately about folks not being able to send PDFs to people because of their size–especially photographers trying to send proofs sheets that were built in Lightroom or Photoshop. If you’ve been around Macs as long as I have, you may remember way back to the Tiger (10.4) operating system that had a ‘Compress PDF’ option in the print dialog.
Well if you’re still on Mac and have upgraded to Snow Leopard (10.6) you’re in an incredible amount of luck. After doing away with the Compress PDF command in the OS, there’s a very simple FREE DOWNLOAD to bring it back! I’ve tested it and it works great–compressed a 42mb image loaded proof sheet down to 1.1mb! I also compared compressing with that method to using Adobe Acrobat Professional (my normal choice for compressing) and the difference was very minimal.
To try for yourself, click HERE to download the zip.
Install the package.
Open the PDF into Preview and choose File>Print.
At the bottom left of the print dialog, click PDF and you should now see ‘Compress PDF’ in the menu.
That’s it! Enjoy!
Today’s tip: photographing interiors
Having had the most experience shooting architectural interiors, I have developed some very simple essential tools and techniques that work almost every single time I’m shooting interiors and exteriors. One of the most important tools in my camera bag is my hot shoe bubble level. 
This very compact piece of equipment (for only around $25 I might add) allows me to very quickly level my camera on two axis’ (pitch and roll) so as not to get annoying perspective distortion. Having straight vertical and horizontal lines in architecture photography is aesthetically pleasing and doesn’t distract from the natural beauty of the architecture and/or design.
