AJ Wood Jump Split Kick

Fun at the 2012 Dallas Comic Con

A spur of the moment decision led the family & I to the Dallas Comic Con over the weekend. I always forget to mark it on my calendar, which inevitably leaves me ill-prepared & without a camera at the event. Yes, I could have used my iPhone, but the visuals demand a better lens. It was jammed packed compared to last year’s convention, and I expect the trend to continue in 2013. Captain America seemed to be the hero of choice, although I expected to see more Trekkies given Patrick Stewart was on hand to sign autographs and answer questions.

For me, the highlight of this year’s event was the Big Freeze a 360˚ Photo Booth provided by You+Dallas. The setup uses roughly 48 DSLR cameras simultaneously triggered to render the 360 animated effect. I chatted briefly with one of the operators, and much of the tech used was designed by You+Dallas. After watching all the sample images from Comic Con participants I had to give it a try.

AJ Wood Jump Split Kick

Despite some mileage, I still manage to have a little spring in my step. *chuckle* The 360 animated view of my split kick is on the You+Comic Con page. I wasn’t the only one that had fun, click the image thumbnails below to view more 360 animated images:

Upcoming Adobe Webinars – Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to let you know about some great Adobe webinars coming up in the spring. Imagine having not one but FIVE Adobe professionals on hand to answer your questions. Learn some cool tips & tricks you can use right away in Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign. I’ve been invited by Pariah Burke to join him and some of the best in the industry to give you a webinar unlike anything out there. Here’s a breakdown of the events:

The Photoshop 3×5 panel consists of Pariah Burke, April Clark, Shellie Hall & yours truly.

The InDesign 3×5 panel consists of Pariah Burke, April Clark, Bob Levine, Claudia McCue & myself.

The Illustrator 3×5 panel consists of Pariah Burke, Sandee Cohen, Von Glitschka, Sharon Steuer & Jean-Claude Tremblay

Early bird pricing is just $49 until March 15th. Regular ticket price is $99, and groups of five or more can receive a $20 discount on the regular ticket price. It’s easily the best deal for online training happening right now so go sign up for your favorites–Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign–before the webinars sell out.

Interview on NBC Action News, Kansas City for D2WC

AJ Wood Interview on NBC

AJ Wood Interview on NBC

Today kicks off the pre-con workshops for D2WC, and I joined Kevin Stohlmeyer for a quick interview with the local Kansas City NBC affiliate. Dallas/Fort Worth are you listening? Let’s get our creative community fired up!!!

As much as I enjoy being on the road, it will be great to get home to the family this weekend. Hope your day is rockin’!

Top Five Reasons to Attend D2W 2011

Good morning everyone!

The conference season is upon us. Less than ten days away is the D2W Conference in Kansas City, MO scheduled July 14-16. This annual event has quickly become a sought after source of designer & developer workflow goodness. That being said, here are the Top Five Reasons to attend D2W:

  1. InDesign to iPad, Portfolios in WordPress, Get to Know JQuery – we’re only in the PreCon people and there’s still more kickass sessions coming.
  2. Photoshop workflow, Android apps in under 10 minutes, and I’m even giving a session on InDesign techniques.
  3. Networking as a social experiment. See what happens when people actually interact in real time with beer.
  4. Speakers. No, not the ones made by Marshall, the people who will be speaking at D2W. Some of the most entertaining creatives in our industry, e.g., Pariah Burke, Justin Seeley, Kevin Stohlmeyer, Rob Huddleston… and the infamous Tom Green.
  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 D2W.

Dee Sadler was kind enough to extend a discount code for loyal Adobe enthusiasts. Use adobeComm when registering to get a discount off the conference passes.

June 6 – Week Recap

Good morning everyone. Here’s a recap of this week’s shared content:

1. Ten More Things About Photoshop posted on TipSquirrel. Part of my Top Ten series, you can never have enough Photoshop tips.

2. Working with Nested Styles in InDesign posted on Layers Magazine. InDesign is definitely a “must know” app for designers, especially now in the era of ebooks & tablet computing.

3. Learning Digital Photography Podcast #59 posted on Canon Blogger. YES! It finally happened, I’m actually talking in real time LIVE with none other than Mr. Jason Anderson. I try to get serious, he makes me laugh, you won’t see any of it because it’s an audio podcast.

4. I’ve been helping Sonya Bowser with her children’s book “The Adventures of Zolie Z“. It’s been a fun project that I can share with my daughter.

5. I am VERY EXCITED to have written the featured Lightroom article in the June issue of Photoshop User magazine. I have to give credit to Mike Mackenzie whose editing expertise really makes my writing exemplary. It’s an honor to write for a magazine that I actually read each month and work with the outstanding folks at NAPP. Remember, as your NAPP Evangelist, you can use my name “ajwood” when you join NAPP to receive a free DVD & discount off your membership. NAPP has also been gracious enough to let me post a PDF of my article here are the website. Download A.J.’s Lightroom Article from PSU Magazine.

5. Changes to my YouTube channel. Starting next Monday, I’ll be posting videos three times a week on Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Tutorials will continue but future videos will include interviews, product/service reviews, and a few surprises for YOU my loyal viewers.

Well, that’s been my crazy week. Enjoy your weekend and I’ll catch you next week!