Monday News – 2nd Annual Worldwide Photowalk

Hey guys,

First of all, save the date: July 18.

Here’s the big news I was telling you about — Scott Kelby has announced his 2nd Annual Worldwide Photowalk. Last year, I was fortunate enough to be one of the leaders of the walk here in Manila. It was a very fun day and I had a blast meeting new photographers.

What’s new this year? Well, for sure this is going to be BIGGER! Scott’s team created a new site called http://www.worldwidephotowalk.com

What I love about the site is that it has more features! Not only do you get to see the past winners, you also get to see an interactive map of the locations of the walk.

If you want to know more about the walk, make sure to check out the FAQ Section.

I am working out the details of the walk including the city page for Manila. Once I get things done, watch out for more announcements.

If you’re wondering what’s in store, well, the winner of the walk gets a copy of Scott’s new book: The Digital Photography Book, Volume 3. On top of that, there’s an overall winner (picked by Scott) who’s eligible to win lots of prizes (to be announced on the site).

So, watch out for more news. I will update my blog as soon as I have more.

See you soon!

Yoga Asana Championship Photos

To everyone’s surprise, I have been taking Bikram Yoga classes for around 3 weeks now. It’s great timing that they just had the first ever Philippine Yoga Asana Championship last Monday, Nov 24. As a student of yoga and an aspiring photographer, I couldn’t let this event pass without taking some photos.

So, here’s my share…hope you like them.

And – last but not the least, one of my favorites:

Photoshop World Videos

Hey guys,

Short post today…After posting some screenshots of the Keynote video, I’d like to share with you some of the video links from Photoshop World.

• Photoshop World: The Evolution – This was the Star Trek theme movie during the opening of PSW 08.
• The Scriv’s YouTube Page: “The Scriv” = Jason Scrivner. He’s the man behind all the Photoshop User TV Videos. Saw him at Photoshop World with his video camera strapped on his body. You’ll see most of the videos shown to the participants of Photoshop World here – including Corey Barker’s Rick-Rolling video!
• Photoshop World Homepage: in the main page, you’ll see highlights of this year’s Photoshop World so you know what you missed!

That’s it! Have a good one!

CS Next – Photoshop CS4 Preview

One more cool thing in attending Photoshop World is that you get a preview of the new products of Adobe.

During the keynote, Adobe’s Johnny L provided a preview of the next version of Photoshop. Dubbed “CS Next” internally, the full details and features of this new product will be announced in Adobe’s CS4 launch on Sept 24.

Here are some photos of Johnny L during the keynote:

John Nack was then brought in to do a demo of Photoshop CS4:

Check out the new icon (not sure if this is the same as the shipping version):

Screenshots of Photoshop CS4:

To view the full video (courtesy of Terry White) with all the features and the demo, check out the following links:

• Creative Suite Podcast – Photoshop 08 Vegas Keynote
• Terry White’s Tech Blog
• Scott’s Blog (on the new Photoshop)

I’m sure the NAPP guys are working on some demos and tutorials for the new CS4, so watch out on Sept 23 for more announcements!

Photoshop World 08 Vegas Keynote

Sept 4, 2008, Mandalay Bay Convention Center – Photoshop World 08

I went to the venue early to pick up my conference materials (ID and workbook) and line up for the Tech Expo. The Tech Expo was still closed but the energy was just so high as participants started to arrive.

At around 8am, Larry Becker came out to mention something about a spoof for Adobe’s Johnny L… of course, he was ‘punked’ because he was stopped mid-way by the staff (on Scott’s orders). Classic Scott He eventually introduced Scott Kelby. Scott told us that he will be giving away masks of Johnny L and when Johnny’s going to be introduced, we should be putting on this mask so that Johnny will see himself in the crowd. Here’s Scott briefing all of us:

The doors opened at around 845am, and we immediately found ourselves seats in the keynote hall. In front of us was the stage decorated with the Star Trek theme. The graphics and animation were cool and there was even a voice announcement saying that T-Shirt toss was about to go on. This was the time when the staff threw Photoshop World shirts to the crowd.

When the keynote started, of course, we were all ecstatic and excited to see the Star Trek spoof done by the NAPP folks with Adobe’s Johnny L there too! I can’t begin to tell you how funny it was. Here are some snapshots of the opening credits for the video:

Here’s Adobe’s Johnny L in the video:

What I loved the most was RC’s lines… He was just mumbling words whenever he had speaking lines but it seemed to have some sense into them!

During the Midnight Madness and Closing Ceremonies of Photoshop World, they also showed the outtakes of the Star Trek video. It was so funny… I can’t even imagine how their video team was able to complete the shooting of the video with all of the funny things that the folks were doing.

If you want more photos of the keynote and Photoshop World, check out the following links:

• Scott Kelby’s Post on Photoshop World Vegas (check it out, I’m there!)
• Photoshop World 08 Vegas Photo Gallery

Enjoy!

Can’t Believe It’s Over…

Wow, that was probably the fastest 3 days of my life. Photoshop World has just ended and I’m just finally getting my much-needed rest. I think I only slept a total of 7 hours in 3 nights. It’s probably caused by several factors like jet lag and too much excitement for Photoshop World.

I will post some more info on the classes I have attended so that I can hopefully entice you to attend the next one in March 2009 at Boston.

In the meantime, I’d like to thank NAPP for organizing a great event like this. This includes the staff, the video guys and the trainers. This was a great venue for photographers and graphic designers to connect with each other and learn something new. All the people helping out were very nice to the attendees not including the fact that they ALL work for NAPP! If you’re not a member yet, join now because it gives you access to a lot of their tips, plus a free subscription for Photoshop User Magazine.

Finally, to all the instructors – you guys are great! You all have the passion to teach and really explain everything to us. You are each experts in  your own areas and it’s a great experience to see all of you come together in one big event to teach.

Aside from the Photoshop guys, I’ve attended classes by Laurie Excell, Joe McNally and Rick Sammon and it’s really a pleasure listening to them teach and share their own personal experiences to us. I have also seen good photography from them when they showcased some of their work during ‘The Art of Digital Photography’ session yesterday.

Thanks guys, it was a great learning from you.

See you in the next Photoshop World (I hope I’m in the US again by then)

Starstruck at Photoshop World

There is no other word that best illustrates how I felt when I saw all the Photoshop Guys yesterday during the first day of Photoshop World at the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. Ekky and I were actually walking around the Tech Expo area waiting for a moment to introduce ourselves to them and take photos with them. They’re all really nice people and it was great to finally meet all of them. I usually just see them when I watch their Photoshop User TV podcast. Funny, it seems like you kinda know how they really are because they are really the same “on TV” as they are in person.

So, here are the photos:

First one I met in person was Matt Kloskowski because his Photo Rescue Class was the first session I attended. I came up to him after the class to say hello and introduce myself. Good thing he remembered me! Whew!

Next up, we then saw Corey Barker and Dave Cross by the B&H booth. Here are some photos. I told Corey that Matt ‘composited’ his face in one of his examples during his demo sessions. When we told them we were from the Philippines, Dave was telling me to tell the other folks that they should do some training overseas. We’ll see if that happens in the future… Dave, if you read this, you guys are always welcome to visit the Philippines and do an event there.

And finally, even though Ekky and I did not have lunch yet (that was around 330pm), we waited for Scott’s book signing of his recently launched Lightroom 2 book. It was WORTH IT… Got a chance to talk to Scott and told him about the Manila Photowalk. I can’t begin to describe how nice Scott is. He makes you at ease immediately. I was nervous to walk up to him, not because he’s scary, but because he’s such a famous person and it’s a bit intimidating to approach him. Once I got to talk to him, all that vanished!

Oh and you know what? He is really funny and his finger and hand gestures are super fast too! See the motion below…

It was truly a great experience for me and something that will make my first-ever Photoshop World a memorable one!

Binondo Info

First time in Binondo? Here are some links that might help you. The links contain everything from food to a bit of history of Binondo… Enjoy!

• Dumplings, Siomai and Siopao (from Wish You Were Here)
• Chinatown info (places, history, etc) (from Wanderlust)
• Where we’ll be eating dimsum… President’s Tea House @ Salazar Street (also from Wanderlust)
• What else you can eat in Binondo – I’m sure you’ll get hungry while doing the walk , so a Hopia from Eng Bee Tin would be great!

Headed for Photoshop World!

Can’t wait to be in Vegas this September for Photoshop World! It’s going to be my first time in Vegas and my first Photoshop World! I’m sure it will be a blast. Hope to see you guys there! I will post updates here on what I learn and see there.

One thing that I’m looking forward to is to meet the Photoshop Guys in person and probably watch a live show of Photoshop User TV! It’s gonna be a lot of fun!!!

Anyway, if you haven’t done so, go ahead and sign-up for Photoshop World. The early-bird price ends today (maybe till the weekend) and that’s also $100 off the price.

See ya!

DJ Mikecons

Mike Constantino – a former dorm-mate from Cervini Hall and a good friend is one of the more popular DJs in Manila… Come to think of it, this is the first time I have seen him as a DJ! I’ve seen him perform and sing before but not this.

If you want to hear his SouLounge music, go to Cafe Mondial on Saturdays. He’s a regular there now. I’m sure you ladies won’t just go there for his music; he’s also single (for now)! What are you waiting for?!

Oh, and the other cool thing about these photos, I think they look like they can be used as a feature in Apple’s Pro section.