1. Use The Help Menu inside Photoshop!
You will be amazed what you will learn from the help menu (Help -> Photoshop Help). It’s there 24/7! It contains information about every single little tool and function and I think it’s something that very few people bother to look at. It really does have all the answers, especially for all the fundamentals which are important in progressing as a photoshop user. So if you don’t understand what something does, look it up in the help menu.
2. Google It!
Kind of a no-brainer. There are a rediculous amount of photoshop tutorials out there on the internet. Whether it’s a blogging website, forums or youtube videos, your question is probably answered somewhere by now. If it isn’t, then drop me a comment and I will try to answer it for you.
So jump onto www.google.com and type in Photoshop Tutorials and have a nice weekend.
3. Become a NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) member.
Despite what the name says you don’t need to be a professional to join, but you’ll become a professional if you stick around. NAPP have so much to offer you as a photoshop user including a dedicated HELP centre, tutorials galore from the worlds best, discounts, news, reviews and an annual subscription to Photoshop User Magazine which is enough reason alone to join. Also if you join right now there is a bonus DVD offer in it for you, and it’s all under $100! So there is no better way to get up close and personal with Photoshop!
Click here to Visit the NAPP website and sign up.
4. Watch Photoshop UserTV
Brought to you by the same Photoshop guys behind NAPP, Photoshop UserTV is a free weekly webcast with tutorials on photoshop from a bunch of industry experts such as Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski and Scott Kelby. They cover everything from the basics to the advanced bits and peices and they keep it open to all the different types of photography. It’s good to pick up a few tips each week, and even the most advanced users will learn something new.
Check out Photoshop User TV here.
5. Spend The Time
You need to spend the time inside photoshop. You aren’t going to get good at photoshop by sitting on the couch watching movies. The more time you spend inside photoshop the more you will learn, and the more that knowledge will stick! It’s important to be persistant. When you learn something new, don’t try it once and move on. Keep at it. Try to refine the process, see how it could be better, and apply it to other images. Otherwise you will forget.
You can watch & read as many tutorials as you like, but if you aren’t carrying out what you learnt in photoshop, you won’t retain those helpful tips. So find some time as often as you can, to sit down and play with photoshop.
Bonus!
Just to add something extra, in 2011 I will be running Photoshop Fridays For Photogrphers on my blog. I will be posting Photoshop & Lightroom tutorials on my blog every friday with all sorts of tips for photographers and as many little tricks and secrets that I can throw in. So stay tuned for that, and by all means give me your feedback on what you want to learn because the content will be based on what people continuously asked me for.
B.
I think a stage comes in every photographers career when they finally find the courage or the need to jump in front of the lens for that famous self portrait shot. Well that wasn’t the case here. I was actually just in desperate need of a subject to test out a new concept I wanted to try. So when you can’t find anybody else, you just have to resort to using yourself!
