Photoshop Meetup April 4th

Dexter Kincaid recently contacted my photography business, Mono:Graphics Studio, Ltd, through an original posting for a Photoshop MeetUp group which never got off the ground about two years back.

We talked about a getting the ball rolling again and I offered to host the first gathering here at the studio in Multnomah Village.

I have been working with Photoshop since 1996, when I took several classes online and began to play with digital photography and graphic art. Having projects, images, ideas and books are a good place to start. There are also many free online resources for learning tips and tricks and I also watch PhotoshopTV.com on a weekly basis.

Photoshop for me is an ongoing passion and something I work to learn new things about almost daily. It’s a process more than a specific goal. If one is interested in gaining some mastery of this dense and wonderful software with almost infinite graphic potential, it’s important to learn by digging in and getting lost in the magic of right-brained creativity. And of course it helps to have good books and magazines.

The magazine Photoshop User, put out by NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) comes out eight times a year and can now be found at selective magazine stands, including Fred Meyer. The Visual Quickstart Guide books, put out by Peachpit Press are also excellent references, along with books which focus on specific aspects of the program, like channels and photo restoration. There’s a lot of help out there for the curious.

The studio here focuses on photography (weddings, seniors pics, portraits and modeling), graphic art (logos, business cards, signs, brochures), client art and photo reproduction and enlargement, giclee’ prints, photo restoration, and Photoshop project consultation. The gallery is open once a month on First Fridays, when the businesses in Multnomah Village stay open until 9:00pm, welcoming the community to share wine and hor d’ oeuvres.

I don’t pretend to be a Photoshop expert as much as a student…and as such, I thought for the first gathering I could demonstrate some basic photo processing techniques which are commonly used, and field questions from those present. If I don’t know an answer, I do Know how to figure most applications out.

I know the gathering will be of mutual benefit, as we can all learn from each other and have some fun doing so.

The first Wednesday in April, the 4th, from 7:00 to 9:00pm we will be meeting here at the following address: 7731 SW Capitol Hwy / Portland 97219. The place is a white house next door to Starbucks, in the downtown section of Multnomah Village. If you get lost, the phone number here is 503-244-1375.

See you then,
Lee Meier/

for reference to my work, see http://www.monographicsstudio.com/, www.flickr.com/photos/monographics , and http://www.modelmayhem.com/ site #307595.


Cheers,
Lee/

Mono:Graphics Studio, Ltd
Lee Meier
7731 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97219
503-244-1375 / cell: 503-341-4905

First Article

This is the direction that I see this users group going. This is open to change and I’m not here to micro manage this group, in fact, just the opposite. It is my hope that we get a great number of people using Photoshop and digital art software from different fields that the users group will become rich in content and have a life of it’s own. Am I in dreamy dreamland or what?

One week before the users group meeting the host will be asked to submit an article that they think will benefit the group. Does that sound cool or what? Have a professional share their expertise with you! And then, comma, if that isn't enough, be able to meet them in person and discuss your project. Way cool!

The remaining weeks are open for you to submit an article that you think will benefit the group. What process did you learn the software? What books are worth reading? How do you use Photoshop? Do you have any tips, tricks or short cuts that make your project easer? You can see this is wide open to share your expertise with others.

Readers can comment on articles and meet you in person the next meeting. This is good for learning Photoshop, making friends, and getting away from that computer that is sucking the life out of you. Or, is it just me? See you at the first meeting!

Your comments are welcome.