We’re beginning to hit the summer swing, and conference season is upon us. Next month July 14-16 is the annual Big(D)esign Conference. If you’ve never attended AND you’re a creative in Dallas/Fort Worth–WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!?!? I know, I can be a little too enthusiastic. Here are the Top Five reasons to attend BigD:

1. Pick a topic of interest: Mobile, Usability, Content Strategy, Career Development, Design, Gaming, Development. BigD’s schedule has you covered.
2. Ignite Dallas! Wait… you don’t know what that is? OMG! Come out and experience the fun of IQ points rising.
3. Networking as a social experiment. See what happens when people actually interact in real time.
4. Speakers. No, not the ones made by Bose, the people who will be speaking at BigD. Some of the best & brightest in our industry, e.g., Dave Curlee, Brian Sullivan, John P, Cali Lewis, will astound you with their brilliance.
5. You’ll learn something. Aside, from meeting great people, watching some AWESOME presentations, the purpose is to leave a little bit smarter than when you arrived. That will happen at BigD.

Brian Sullivan was kind enough to extend a discount code for loyal Adobe enthusiasts. Use adobe2011 when registering to get 25% off the conference passes.

Thanks to the DFWAUG & DFWUPA you can catch these discounted Lightroom & Photoshop workshops this month:

Sept 22nd – Lightroom Core Series (Part 1) – This three part series kicks off on Wednesday evening, and will run weekly until Oct 6th. Part 1 covers Importing Photos & the Library module, Part 2 is all about Developing your images, and Part 3 brings us home with how to output from Lightroom. Cost for each session is $39 advance or $49 at the door.

(RESCHEDULED to Oct 23rd) Sept 25th – Photoshop Beginners Workshop – This one day event has a ton of information for those that want to get started with Photoshop. Topics covered include Image Sizing for Print & Screen, Brushes-Menus-Layers, Output of Files and Basic Image Enhancement techniques. Cost is $79.

For those that are wondering about this week’s Tip Tuesday, my apologies as I’m still having some hardware/tech issues. I’m working to resolve them as quickly as possible amongst my other daily duties. Don’t worry though, I managed to post a quick Lightroom 3 tuning guide over at TipSquirrel this morning.

Imagine my surprise when I sat down to catch up on GeekBeat.tv this morning, and I received a shout-out from Cali Lewis! I’m mentioned in the same breadth as Trey Ratcliff, which is a huge honor because HE is simply incredible. Thanks to all the folks who dropped in on the blog this week, and THANK YOU CALI! for including me in Episode #14 on Monday.

If you haven’t already registered, you need to checkout OpenCamp scheduled next month August 27-29. It will be the best open source developer/media conference of its kind anywhere, not just here in the metroplex. There’s something for everyone who creates web content. Seriously, just look at the list of speakers and you’ll agree it’s going to be the event of the summer.

Scott Kelby’s 3rd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk is less than two weeks away on Saturday, July 24th. I’m excited to be leading a photo walk again this year, and we’ll be meeting in the Dallas uptown area. For those unfamiliar with the photo walk, it is one of the largest global photography events, with over 1000 cities and nearly 25,000 photographers & photo enthusiasts shooting in a single day. Each walk is limited to 50 participants, so sign up for the Dallas walk now. Our walk will take place Saturday morning, and feel free to contact me with any questions.

The photo walk is open to anyone regardless of skill level OR camera type. (Cell phone cameras are welcome!) We’ll have plenty of mentors on hand that day for all your photography & Photoshop/Lightroom questions. Be sure to register before all the spots are filled.

Photo by John Hays, Photoshop by Yours Truly

1. Ask A.J. (brought to you by Tip Squirrel) – This new column launched this week. Head over to the Tip Squirrel blog and ask me those nagging Photoshop questions, you know, the ones that keep you stirring about in your chair, scraping your nails against your Wacom tablet. I’ll be answering as many questions as I can each week, and if you behave, I might even thrown in some video responses.

2. Lightroom Core Series – due to the popularity of this seminar, I’m repeating the classes this month. Part 1 – Get Organized kicks off next week on Oct 14th, followed by the Part 2 – Develop It on Oct 21st, and we’ll wrap up with Part 3 – Output/Export on Oct 28th. Advanced registration is $25, or $40 at the door.

Finally had a chance to work on a few photos from my Photoshop World trip. Might post some HDR stuff later, but you’ll enjoy the hazing I took during the Photoshop Challenge EXTREME. Alright, that’s it for now, back to work people.

Digital Photography Club – Tuesday, September 29th at 7pm: Photo share & critique night. Join the crew for some pizza as they exchange ideas about what’s good & what can be improved in your photography. Cost $5

Digital Photography Club – Wednesday, September 30th at 7pm: Spook-tac-ular photo shoot. Darryl has some great Halloween sets created for the family. Bring your kids on by or Darryl will provide his children as stand-ins. Cost $25

Texas Glamour Club – Thursday, October 1st at 6pm: Elvira themed photo shoot with model Farrah in the lead spooky diva role. Cost $39 adv/$49 door

Digital Photography Club – Saturday, October 3rd at 11am: HDR Photography & Lone Star Car Show, join the group for a look at HDR photography and some great cars. Cost $17

NTPC – Saturday, October 3rd at 11am: Car & Bike Show in Princeton, TX.

I’ll be throwin’ down in Vegas this week with the gurus at Photoshop World, but will see what kind of NAPP swag I can bring back. As always, if there is a local event I missed, or community group I should know about please leave a comment so I can add them to my weekly updates. Make it a great week!

DFW Social Media – Monday, September 21st at 7pm: Come out tonight to Dave & Busters as I give a presentation on Social Media tools including SocialOomph, Ping.fm, CoTweet, and others. Cost $3

NTPC – Monday, September 21st at 7:30pm: Low light photography field trip. Cost $15

Texas Glamour Club – Tuesday, September 22nd at 7pm: Hangout with Darryl & crew at Kerr’s Winghouse for some social chat on photography and other stuff.

Digital Photography Club – Wednesday, September 23rd at 7pm: Part 3 of the Lightroom Core Series. Join me at the studio for the final segment of my  seminar series. Output is the topic, but don’t think I forgot about exporting. Cost $25 adv/$40 door

NTPC – Thursday, September 24th at 7:30pm: Join the photo club at Fuddruckers in McKinney for an informal gathering of photographers and photo enthusiasts.

Texas Glamour Club – Saturday, September 26th at Noon: Probably the largest workshop (based on location) this year. Come join Darryl as he gathers the Dallas, Austin & Houston chapters together. This event will be indoor & outdoor. Cost $249

DFWWP – Saturday, September 26th at 4pm: DB Ferguson is on hand to show you how to build your blog community. Cost $3

That’s the wrap for this week folks. Feel free to contact me if you have future events planned, or if you would like me to add your usergroup to my community page.

If my introduction reminds you of something you might here at an AA meeting it’s because that’s the stigma I held as a Christian for the longest time. This view wasn’t something that people had thrust upon me, but rather a culmination of opinions long gathered through my experiences in and out of church.

Being a Christian was the secret I kept to myself, rather than share with other people, and if shared it was a passing statement generally whispered or directed towards the immediate conversation, lest outside parties point and say, “Oh, he’s one of them.” Of course, I’ve never felt like one of them.

My earliest church memories are Sunday mornings gathered with Mom & Dad & little sister, dressed up in clothes that made me itch, confined in a seat for two hours, unable to move except for the occasional sequence of “stand, sit, stand, sit, kneel, sit, stand, walk.” The highlight of Sunday mornings came afterward, when we would leave and get fresh made “donuts on stick” from Dunkin Donuts. Hmmmm… donuts.

As the years passed our denominations changed, the reasons why escape me. I’ve been Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, Episcopal, never Lutheran, a few times Baptist and finally settled on simply “Christian” long after I stopped going to church. I’ve prayed quite a bit in my lifetime, and I do remember feeling once like God was actually listening to me. Mostly, I have hollow memories of one church service, that blends into a slightly different church service, and I can never recall who wants to be forgiven their trespasses vs those that want to be forgiven their debts.

Then I met Ben Sanders. If you want to see the swagger of someone who walks with the Lord, just talk to Ben. Ben has a confidence in his faith that is immediately recognized, but not overwhelmingly suffocating. The first time Ben talked about God and church, we were at a Bennigan’s, and I wanted to know more. He addressed all my questions with an assuredness in his voice, that confidence I mentioned earlier, a determination of purpose, and frankly I envied it.

Ben invited me a few times to Abundant Life Church. It always felt like an invitation, not a recruiting tactic, and I didn’t know what to think on my first visit. That day Pastor Rigdon was at the pulpit, and while I had witnessed such charismatic preaching it was generally on TV as a role played by an actor. It wasn’t just the Pastor though, it was how the church body reacted, and interacted during the service. ALC members are proud to be known as a friendly church. You do well to create a welcoming environment for visitors. I’m happy to say that you also know the difference between being friendly, and being someone’s friend.

I’ve been asked what is it about ALC that keeps me coming back? It’s not Pastor Rigdon, who inspired me during the first service I attended, nor Pastor Hennigan, who won’t be satisfied until everybody is saved. It’s not even Pastor Manning who makes me laugh, especially when I need it. You might think it’s the worship team, and the great music, or the acceptance from members with whom I’ve never had a conversation. Could be the lifegroups, or the theatrical productions, or even the hip & cool things led by Student Pastor Donnie Culpepper in The Factory. Those things contribute, and are important, but the reason I come to Abundant Life Church is never before–in church–have I felt the presence of God.

It is an AWESOME feeling, more addicting than anything else I have ever done. This place has created a wanting of salvation, a recognition of purpose, and each service I attend leaves me rejuvenated in the Spirit in ways I had only heard people talk about. Attending ALC has made me excited about God, and the exuberation I feel is something that I want to share with other people. I’m forever thankful to ALC for giving me the gift of Faith.

Hello. My name is A.J. Wood, and I AM, a follower of Jesus Christ.

Richardson Entrepreneurs – Tuesday, September 15th at 7pm: get together and network with like minded folks.

Digital Photography Club – Wednesday, September 16th at 7pm: Lightroom Core Series – Part 2, Develop Module – I’ll be delivering a 2hr seminar on how to use Lightroom’s Develop module. Part 1 was a big hit, and I’ll be repeating the series in October & November. Cost $25 adv, $40 door

Texas Glamour Club – Thursday, September 17th at 6pm: The lovely & talented Betzu is at the studio for a private club shoot. Cost $199

DDPMG – Saturday, September 19th at 6am: Join the club for the Plano Balloon Festival. Great photo opportunity if you’ve never been.

DFWAUG – Saturday, September 19th at 11am: Adobe AIR with Scott Filloon. Learn what the buzz is all about, and why this is a hot development platform right now.

NTPC – Saturday, September 19th at 8:30am: photo outing at the Classic Car Show.

That’s the wrap for this week folks. Feel free to contact me if you have future events planned, or if you would like me to add your usergroup to my community page.

Texas Glamour Club – Monday, September 7th at 7pm: Darryl & crew meet tonight at Kerr’s Wing House in Dallas. It will be an evening to kick back, drink a cold one, and gab about photography.

Digital Photography Club – Wednesday, September 9th at 7pm: Lightroom Seminar – Part 1, Organizing in the Library. I’ll be delivering a 2hr seminar on how to use Lightroom’s Library module. Cost $25 adv, $40 door

Texas Glamour Club – Thursday, September 10th at 7pm: Photo Share & Critique Night. Join the guys & gals as they share images from the last photo shoots, and get constructive feedback for improvements. Cost $5

Digital Photography Club – Friday, September 11th at 7pm: Bridge vs Lightroom vs Elements. It’s the showndown you’ve been wondering about. I’ll be talking about where & when you need each piece of software. Cost $25adv, $40 door

Texas Glamour Club – Saturday, September 12th at 1pm: Club shoot with Angela Ryan. Cost $99

Digital Photography Club – Sunday, September 13th at 12pm: Join us for a Texas Rangers game!

DDPMG – Sunday, September 13th at 6:30pm: Get the latest Canon news direct from a Canon rep. Cost $5

That’s the wrap for this week folks. Feel free to contact me if you have future events planned, or if you would like me to add your usergroup to my community page.