A new way to FLASH!

May 23, 2008 -- Presslite has announced a new product called the VerteX™.

The VerteX™ is a flash attachement that can project diffused and specular light at virtually any angle, in multiple directions simultaneously from a single flash unit. This introduces on-the-go lighting solutions never before possible.

PRESSlite™ will be selling the VerteX™ for $49.95 but is currently offering special discounts of up to 30%. Read more here

Graduation Brushes for Photoshop

Just in time for some graduations this year! Scrapbookers, be ready! This brush set will help... maybe just a little bit.

It’s made up of all kinds of stuff along the whole graduation theme. Caps and tassles galore, of course. Some being worn by silhouettes of various graduates (along with the gown, of course!), some being thrown up into the air, some vector-like, some sketchy, etc.

Also includes some class rings (University and High School, along with one generic), some balloons, a few diplomas, etc. Download brushes here

First Aid - Stroke Recognition

This came from one of our past presidents now living and running a studio in Florida, Betty Huth.

A Stroke can hit anyone at anytime, but if it's recognized quickly the after effects can be minimised greatly.

STROKE RECOGNITION
http://www.strokeassociation.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4742

STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters.... S.T.R.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can reverse the effects of a stroke... totally . He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the "3" steps, STR - the first letters of STROKE.

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S - Ask the individual to SMILE.

T - Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today)

R - Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks,
call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.
A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people, at least one life can be saved.

7 Reasons to Borrow Grandma’s Egg Timer

7 Reasons to Borrow Grandma’s Egg Timer

If you’ve been looking for the edge in getting your task list done, you should consider investing in a timer. Picking up a timer stands out as the one thing I’ve done that significantly increased my productivity.

What’s so great about a piece of plastic with a couple of wires on the inside? After all, something that you can pick up at the dollar store can’t be a huge influence on our ability to get things done, or we’d all have one already.

It turns out that it isn’t the gadget that really provides the benefit, at least for me: it’s the ability to set firm boundaries on my time . . .

Read more

Free Book - 101 Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Download SitePoint's entire 270 page
"Photoshop Anthology: 101 Tips, Tricks & Techniques"
book free of charge for the next 30 days.

CLICK HERE

Giveaway expires: Friday June 13th, 2008

I received this from one of our PPC members in the blog. Can anyone shed any light or information on this? I am not aware of any program or discussion on this at a meeting, but would love to be able to let our members know if there is anything out there to assist veterans.

Rogere

Do you have the citation that Leslie and Michael Gan referenced regarding business licenses and veterans? They came back from a PPC meeting 6-8 months ago and said that veterans were not required to pay for city business licenses according to some state law. I would love to put that information into our newsletter but, have been unable to get a reference our veterans can use with their respective cities.

Welcome to your forum

Welcome to the PPC blog - a long time coming, but it's now up and running. This is your means of telling us what you like, what worries you, what's new, what keeps you up at night, what puts you to sleep! All in all it's for you to air anything you want - within the bounds of good taste!

Posts that we think will be of interest to other members we will put on line for feedback.

Now for some info for all PPC members :

The Yosemite retreat is back by popular demand! We have rented 6 houses at the same location as past times, "Redwoods in Yosemite" (behind the Wawona hotel) from October 23-27.
Four nights in the most beautiful park in the world at one of the best times for photography - fall.

Another plus! Tim Mathiesen has offered his services as photographic instructor for the period. Tim's landscape images are in great demand and his website sells his images worldwide. With Tim's tips and expertise you should be able to leave Yosemite with at least a few merit images, maybe even some loan collection ones!!

The cost for this retreat - just $89.00 per person per night AND it includes ALL your food for the time you stay. Once again we have persuaded the chef extraordinaire, Carlos Lozano with his sou chef Cheng Daines, to cook for us. If you have stayed with us before you know what a treat you're in for!

Mark these dates on your calendar NOW. This is the perfect opportunity to kick back, have some fun with great friends and colleagues in an incredible location before the busy season buries you. This is an official PPC quarterly board meeting weekend as well, so the trip can be classed as a business expense for attending the board meeting (check with your tax accountant).

Come and join us, remember, only $89 a night for everything! We will be posting an item in the shopping cart for you to sign up. My only word of caution is that we can only take PPC members and spouses and/or significant others and that you sign up EARLY. We are limited to just 55 persons for accommodation.

Roger

West Coast School

West Coast School is only one month away and I am getting so excited, I cannot contain myself. Here is a chance to learn and make more money for my business. As my business is 60% High School Seniors, I am signed up for Kalen Henderson's class. But the other instructors are very tempting to me. If you need to know more about WCS, go to http://www.prophotoca.com/ and sign up today.

Why in the world would you not go to one of the most prestigous photographic schools in the Western United States?

Signed,

Michael Collins, President PPC

free Tutorial

• NEW free Tutorial: Powerful color luminance adjustments in Adobe Camera RAW

From David Saffir's Photography and Digital Fine Art Printing Newsletter, May 2008

David is sharing a new, free tutorial on one of the "hidden" tools in Adobe Camera RAW - it is amazingly powerful - you can improve color and dimensionality in your images with a few sliders.

Click here to see the Camera RAW tutoria

Make 'em Smile with Liquify!

If you have a nice photo of a model, but she or he wasn’t smiling and you want the photo to feature a smiling face, or vice versa, you can use Photoshop to slightly tweak the facial expressions.

The key is to be subtle in your approach, unless you are creating a caricature or cartoon. With the Liquify tool, we can create some subtle changes to model photos that can affect the overall mood of the face and therefore affect the mood of the photo.

Here's how...