[PhotoshopCAFE : Photoshop CS6 For Digital Photographers
Jamar Lizarraga
This is the story of a kid and his dream. Born in Glasgow Scotland, and emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 5. Following a dream, with nothing but hopes and passion, moving to Los Angeles in search of his purpose, with a full heart and an empty wallet. This is the story of PhotoshopCAFE, the child of Colin Smith.
It was shortly after this that I was asked to moderate the forums at the newly launched planet photoshop. I found that I really enjoyed helping out other people and wrote a couple of tutorials which won the tutorial of the month contests over at the NAPP members site.
Shortly after this I wanted to start my own site where I could share tips and tutorials freely with the comminity. This was where PhotoshopCAFE was birthed. It took me about a weekend to produce v1 which was a hideous lavender color, but an outlet for writing tutorials and tips on photoshop.
By now I had the confidence to create my Camera image and I entered it in the International Photoshop World Guru awards just for kicks. I really expected nothing from this but was stunned when I received an email stating that I was chosen as one of 3 finalists for the award. I was to go to the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2001 where the winner would be announced at a ceremony at Photoshop World. To my stunned amazement, my image won first place! (This was to be my first of many awards and no one was more surprised than me!)
I continued with my illustration work and created a guitar 100% in Photoshop from scratch. I was blown away by the response to this piece of work and floored when I once again won a first place guru award at the following Photoshop World.
By this time I had begun to write more tutorials on PhotoshopCAFE and added the gallery of my art. I also came up with a redesign while traveling in Europe, which lasted until November 23rd 2005. The popularity of the site took me by surprise as numbers of visitors began to swell. I befriended a number of other people running similar sites such as neofrog, GFX, Eyes on Design, deepspaceweb, Actionfx, Eyeball design, Effectlab and more (Sadly many of these sites have hung up their mice) and we helped each other out as we shaped the face of online photoshop tutorial sites together.
Finally I got to the place where I could quit my day job and concentrate full time on writing, speaking, designing and running PhotoshopCAFE. What began as a hobby took a life of its own and has grown to one of the most popular Photoshop sites on the web. Demand for more training has seen the release of a series of training videos and this has allowed me to take photoshopCAFE on the road and exhibit and speak at some of the top conventions around the country. As of 2005 we had seen PhotoshopCAFE pass the 3.5 million visitor mark with almost a million page views a month. The future looks bright and I was excited to launch Version 3 Midnight Nov 23rd 2005. (Thanksgiving day). This way I can give thanks to the loyal fans and visitors of PhotoshopCAFE and give back a little to the art community.
Just received a couple of huge honors. I was named MAX Master by Adobe (One of the highest rated speakers and sessions at the official Adobe MAX conference). X-rite just gave the the honor of becoming a Coloratti at the Master level.
I have been focusing on youtube for a bit and have just passed 325,000 subscribers and 31 Million views on the PhotoshopCAFE youtube channel. I also had the honor of being an instructor at youtube Space LA in conjunction with Adobe a few times.
Colin Smith is a Los Angeles based digital artist, photographer and trainer. He is founder of one of the worlds most popular websites for creators, PhotoshopCAFE.com. Which has received over 50,000,000 visitors.
As an Award winning digital artist, Colin has 3 guru awards under his belt. His work has been featured in most of the industry magazines as well as Time Magazine and the New York Times. His client list includes, Toyo Tires, Microsoft, Saatchi and Saatchi and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, David Lee Roth, as well as several other LA based Entertainment companies.
As a leading trainer, Colin has written 20 books, and too many video courses to count. His training clients include Adobe, Apple, Disney and Edison International. He is a regular speaker at major conferences, including Adobe Max, PPE, WPPI, Photoshop World, Creative Pro and Imaging USA. He runs a popular youtube channel (photoshopCAFE) with over 200,000 subscribers. Official affiliations include Adobe Influencer (and MAX Master), DJI expert and X-Rite Coloratti Master
Welcome to the best free resouce for learning Adobe Photoshop online. Based out of Southern California, we have been providing high Quality Photoshop tutorials for 20 years. We're passionate about Photoshop and it shows. Gifted Instructors who are successful working professionals in the photography and graphic arts and know what really works> You watch, you learn!
We were able to start building different tools and inventing things and eventually this led to the industrial age. And then came the industrial age where we were able to elevate beyond just creating tools into creating machines. And these machines were able to mass produce things. They were able to bring down the cost of living and at the same time raise living standards and provide us with a lot of the things that we enjoy even till today. Now, there is good and bad to all of these, of course.
And then the Luddites actually mobilized and went around smashing machines and to the point that the British army was fighting against them. And at one time, believe it or not, there were more British soldiers fighting against the Luddites than were fighting Napoleon at the time. So eventually they were suppressed and everything just kind of moved on.
One of the interesting things about the industrial age is this brought about these massive cities that started to build, because now people were coming together because it was possible because of this technology, and also they were coming together to work and build things.
A lot of photographers will nod and say, yes, wedding photographers will understand that. So there was definitely a skill set required to take photographs. Then along came the digital camera. Has that changed photography?
Life is always changing, you can get on the bus or be left behind. You can make it better or complain. Thank you for an excellent look at the future of photography and art as we know it. I want to get on the bus and make it better!!! AI is coming whether we like it or not. We need to learn what our place in the new era will be.
Thanks Colin. I agree with every point you made about the past and what effect it can have one the future. I am 77 years old so I have seen (used) all of the items you mentioned and have always embraced the changes as they occur. Looking forward to what comes next and how it will affect me in the future. Always willing to learn.
AI is nothing more than a tool. It is part of a technology suit that is being created. These are tools for a person to use in a way they see fit. How these tools are used is an individual thing. Our approach to using these tools is what separates us as individuals. AI is a tool to assist in building and to create our vision. AI is not the end game but part of the journey.
I have been using AI in photoshop now for a few years. It has helped my work flow so that I am way more efficient with my time. Luminar and Topaz are all using AI in their Programs. This has also been a game changer. As to, will AI replace Photographers. NO. Consumers love Hand Made Products. Most of them buy from a known Artist or Craftsperson. A lot of them buy a work of Art from Artists who have a Name and is know for their style. and Artist Abilities. AI will Never replace the Hand Made Artisan, But it can make our lives a lot more efficient. Automation can be considered AI, but it has not replaced the Artisan who make a living by being known for their self produced Products. Styles, Genre, Dedication to ones Craft and Artistic Abilities
Great article Colin, it remains only to investigate the problem of any copyright using names of artists in the prompt.
In my opinion is a false problem, if you are a real artist you will not copy anyone as happens in traditional art.
A very valuable addition to the way we can look at the change in our world.
I started in the Black and whits film based photography. When the world changet to colour, I could not jump on the train, because it was too expensive and the homegrown development was not good, too complicated.
I have used things called AI 50 years ago. They were helping tools but nothing compared to the latest iterations.
Your analysis and ability to explain this developing art form was informative, simple but covering all the important bases, and quite thorough, You are so correct regarding change and what it means and how to learn to roll with those changes.
In the early 1980s, Bell & Howell Mamiya Company sponsored Dean Collins lighting seminars across the U.S. to promote the Mamiya line of professional medium format cameras. I worked for the company as a technical representative. One of my jobs was helping Dean with his presentations. As such, I had the honor of seeing him explain how light worked at least 20 times. He would show a photo and then go behind the scenes with his multi-media slide projectors to show the setups. I sat with the others in the every seminar and soaked up the inner workings of light.
Seeing the lights setup was great. Better yet, Dean Collins explained what was happening and why it worked that way. He realized that light and how it worked was a constant. Light always worked the same way. Lenses and cameras recorded light in repeatable ways. The key was understanding light. Dean was its master and a masterful teacher of it. He understood that photography was all about light and not the camera.
Dean Collins had a studio on G Street in San Diego where he worked for clients. He photographed everything from cars, hotels, fashion, beauty, and corporate locations. All of his photographs told the stories his clients wanted to get across to their customers.
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