Reflections of the Night

Reflections of the Night, originally uploaded by IvanoMak.

Click for LARGE version.

"With all art expression, when something is seen, it is a vivid experience. sudden, compelling, and inevitable." -- Ansel Adams.

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Since coming back from California and going back to work, I did not have much time for subtantive blog entries, but I promise to catch up soon. I have had plenty of time now to test my new Nikon D300 camera, and read few photography books, so I'll share a few book reviews with you. Meanwhile, here are few links that you may find useful.

-- If you're still trying to improve your Photoshop skills (and in fact, I don't know if anybody is at the level where you can't imrove your knowledge of it), you may want to consider a new online training that Scott Kelby and his guys recently launched, with rates starting at $19/month. I have used it for couple of weeks now, and I am very impressed with the content. I had a chance to go through excellent training classes on B&W conversion by Katrin Eismann (many new tricks I didn't know that will completely change your approach to B&W conversion), training on Landscape photography by Moose Peterson (a nice insight into his creativity), and a class on LAB color by Dan Margulis (first class much teaches what he wrote in his famous book , and more advanced material in second class he just launched), and I've learned a great deal already. I like the fact that the trainings are broken up by 10-15 minutes segments, and I can stop at any time. It's also nice to download the images they use in their lessons and practice along with the instructor. My opinion is that training classes are for intermediate and advances Photoshop users, but there are also classes for beginners to help them get up to speed. The variety of their classes is impressive, plus, they have a good line-up of classes coming up in a near future, so I highly recommend what they're offering. They offer a free trial where you can see what lessons are all about, so take a minute to peak by clicking on the link or by reading an announcement about the launch on Scott's blog.

-- Most of you probably already follow Strobist blog about off-camera lighting. If you're not, make sure you don't miss their recent Strobist Picture of the Year Contest, and a recent post containing the ad that few of the readers created for David Hobby.