by A.J. Wood

Website RSS Feed Update

Good afternoon dear readers!

This is just a quick update to let you know there will be some changes to the website in the next few weeks. The biggest change will be the use of Category Feeds. As longtime readers know this blog has covered a wide range of topics ranging from entertainment to games to politics, fitness & health and of course Adobe software.

Having individual category feeds will make the blog more useful to everyone. In the future you’ll be able to pick the category you want to follow, and you can ignore the rest of my ramblings. Given my schedule this is the best option versus starting another blog, or two, or three.

So there you have it. I’ll announce the updates when they’re online, and I appreciate your continued patronage of the blog.

in Adobe / Arts/Media / Editorial / Events / Faith / Fitness / News / Technology / Tutorials 0 comments
 by A.J. Wood

Adobe Releases Lightroom 3 Public Beta

If you haven’t heard by now then you must be sleeping… Adobe released the public beta for Lightroom 3. While this is one AWESOME moment for photographers and photo enthusiasts everywhere, let me repeat the mantra used by many of my colleagues today:

This is BETA software!

This is BETA software!

This is BETA software!

While I’m all for being on the cutting edge of technology, I’m not looking to get knicked anytime soon either. If you want to be the envy of all your buddies at least take a few precautions before firing up LR3. Use copies of images for the LR3 catalog. Keep in mind any changes may not work with the final release. Be prepared for wonky behavior on your computer while using BETA software.

Lightroom 3 is going to be a great release, Adobe having improved areas at customer request, e.g., noise reduction, file importing, printing, and added new features such as the Publish Services & Watermarking for improved workflows. You can check out Gene McCullagh’s blog for a quick summary of features or watch some videos over at NAPP’s Lightroom 3 Learning Center.

in Adobe 3 comments
 by A.J. Wood

Photoshop World – Midnight Madness

Good morning dear readers. If you haven’t been watching the #PSW hashtag then you might not have seen the announcement that I won the “Photoshop Challenge EXTREME” last night at Midnight Madness here in Vegas at Photoshop World. What a crazy night. I wanted to thank @NAPP_News for calling me out as a contestant, and @JohnPoz who also encouraged me to throwdown a Photoshop tip in public. I also have to thank @JohnPoz for taking photos of the contest so there would be public record of the hazing I took as a proud member of NAPP. (I couldn’t have gotten through without that final kiss of encouragement from @LayersTV_RC – OMG LOL!!!)

Finally, a shout out to @JustinSeeley, Patrick LaMontagne, @DawnMHSH, @TKRPhoto, @TigerBright, @RomyYoung, @MattKloskowski, @JanineSmith, @Edpflager, @Vanelli, @ScottKelby and all the Twitter peeps I finally met in person here in Las Vegas. It’s cool when the bond created through social media extends offline.

Checkout some of the pictures @JohnPoz took last night:

I’ll be posting more of John’s pics on my Flickr page later today.

in Adobe / Events 0 comments
 by A.J. Wood

DFW Events – Week of Sept 28th

Good morning all. A quick shout out to Firgs who’s a bit under the weather today. I’m a guest blogger there this morning, and you might want to read the Top Five Reasons Firgs Rocks. OK, here’s the list of events going on around Dallas/Fort Worth this week. Some fun Halloween themed photo events for you to checkout, both family & pet friendly:

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!

in Events 0 comments
 by A.J. Wood

DFW Events – Week of Sept 21st

Good morning everyone. Here’s the rundown of events happening in Dallas/Ft. Worth starting with yours truly speaking tonight:

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.

in Events 0 comments