Okay, I already posted about this here:
http://www.opensourcephoto.net/forum/index...showtopic=11954

But in typical Kevin style, I'm very long winded. Nobody replied to that thread, as if nobody wanted to read the novel before the point. I get it.

So here's the much shorter version:

I'm now open to topic requests for a collection of photoshop training I'm considering putting together this summer. I'm trying to guage interest and relavent topics before getting too involved in the project. It will be farily low cost - just enough to justify the time to produce, in an effort to provide direct applicable and totally worthwhile PS info to the average photographer. I have no plans of getting rich off the deal - I just want to contribute some solid information in an area I feel confident in, just as others have contributed in other areas.

I want to explain tecniques in more detail than the average web tutorial so you really understand the 'why' behind the 'how', and how to apply that technique to create any effect you can think up. At the same time, I'm not going to step through every menu and option like the mega tech books - that just over complicates and is very difficult to actually apply for results.

Action sets and "automated" post process tools have come a long way and do a great job, however, to really acheive perfect results directed by *you*, the 'artist', people really need some core PS skills. I'm not about to say actions are bad. They are great time savers. I often start my process with an action then perform additional tweaks from there, and that's what I'd like the viewer to walk away with - the core abillity to make any adjustment or create any effect they can dream up from scratch if needed, so in the end, it's the *artist* directing the final image rather than the author of some action. Using core skills along with existing action sets is very powerful.

I'm planning a subject and lesson outline right now and I'd appreciate any requests to cover any specifics of interest. Specific techniques, effects, styles of process, etc - what would you do with PS if someone could just sit down and show you how?

Thanks!

Sharpening. I don't get all of the different nuances of it. Like sharpening for content then sharpening for output (how do you know when and where and how much).

(and I have read Bruce Fraser's book and still don't get it)

First of all let me say, "Thanx for doing this." Thank you for thinking about helping others.

I would like to see a good dodging and burning technique. When I went to the Make Light Real Workshop with Neil Cowley, he showed us a way to do it, but I was having a bit of trouble with the computer and didn't get to pay as close attention as I should. So for me, this would be an important tutorial.

This is fantastic. My big question is always about which tool to use. For example...in ACR, slide the contrast slider, adjust the curve, or play with the brightness and shadows. It seems like there are so many ways to do the same thing and I'm sure there are benefits to each. I would like to know which technique to use and when.

-Jess

Hi Kevin!

I want to thank you for putting this together. I don't have any ideas, but I love the before and after pictures you did. I would love to learn how to do all of that. Let me know when you put something together and I would love to be on your emailing list.

npetersen@apreciousmoment.net

Oooh, thanks!

Layers and layer masks would be good to learn more about (as well as what others have already mentioned).

How to get a gray or green skin-tone to be actual skin color and not so flat.

I also want to know how to fade-out the opacity on one side of a picture into the background (great for guestbooks where you have 1 picture on a page then fade-out to white on the next page for signing).

This is great Kevin!

How about how to use curves effectively and for more ideas, I recommend looking at lynda.com and check the disc topics about enhancing digital photography with Adobe Photoshop.

Thanks for the replies guys. That's great. The more feedback the better - I'm curious to see if people are already making requests in line with my original ideas, or if people are looking for something totally different so this really helps.

Ryan-
Sharpening is definately an important one. It's pretty easy to eyeball, but I played with all kinds of different tecniques over years to find what works best. I probably wouldn't have gone into that if you hadn't requested it. Good thinking.

Ramiro-
This will be huge! This in a round about way is one of the most significant areas to cover. Photography is all about throwing light around. If you can make the light just perfect when you get the shot, you're all set. But weddings are on the fly, real world, and we are constantly "making do" with less than perfect light and we certainly don't have time to set up every image like a studio shoot. There isn't much info on how to really deal with this in post processing. There are ways to create or remove very natural looking light in post. It takes time, but it's huge in making a really good image look like a work of art.

Jess-
I'm debating whether or not to go into Raw processing in this set - but I hear what you're saying. There are always 10 different ways to do anything with digial processing. I'm going to try and describe ways to create any effect or look you could possibly want using a very few tools. You make a very good point though. You can theoretically create similar results by using either "Brightness/Contrast", "Shadow/Highlight", "Levels", and "Curves" tools. They vary in their complexity. Brightness/Contrast is the most simple tool to use and gets the job done, but without much finess. Curves is on the other end. It's scary and complicated (not really, but it looks that way), but you can also use it to change any characteristic of any pixel in your image which means it's very powerful when used right. You spark a good idea - maybe I should do the same adjustments using all the tools side by side and show a progression of simplicity vs. fine control. Good idea!

Lucky-
Layers are key! There will be lots of layers, adjustment layers, and masking masking masking. It's actually pretty easy but it's one of those things that's hard to read about, but makes perfect sense when you see it actually done.

Cloning-
Not requested here but I've seen it in other threads. I'm going to do a whole section on clean and effective cloning. It's actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. It kills me to see people showing off images that are almost great, except they have that one awful element sticking into the side of the frame or whatever - that's quite easily removed with the clone tool, but I agree and know from experience, it's a bit awqward to use if you're not already familiar with it.

My request to you all.....
If anyone knows a good tutorial about Liquify, could you please share it? This is a very powerful tool, but I can't find any detailed information on it. I don't really understand it. I can use the default circle brush, but can't figure out what the other stuff does even with trial and error. The circle is great, but it's very hard to adjust someone's arm fat without making it look more curved and bumpy due to the curved brush. I've seen some awsome liquify work out there and I'd really like to figure out the tecnique, so anyone with the info or a link, please share.

Thanks again everyone. Sounds like this is pretty well in line with what I was thinking. Anyone else with any ideas or requests, throw them out there.

Here you go: Liquify tutorial