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Hi, let me introduce myself. My name is Theresa. I'm Deke's marketing maven and the woman responsible for the onslaught of prizes associated with Photoshop Top 40: The Final 10 Contest, which is now down to the precious few Final 3!

Between you and me, I can't believe we're on the verge of revealing the most essential features in Deke's Photoshop Top 40. It seems like just yesterday---okay, more like 7 weeks ago---that we got this contest rolling. And now three of you, faithful subscribers, stand to win an unbelievably valuable cache of prizes. More than $7,000 in hardware, software, and training remain, including a shipping version of Adobe's CS4 Design Premium package. And all you have to do is become a member (if you aren't already!) and guess a correct feature. Read more » 

Despite his mismatched socks, we still trust this week's guest, photographer and author Ben Long, to be our resident expert on travel and photography, and doing the two well together. In the time I've known him, Ben has taught photography in Florence, been on assignment in Africa, and ridden his motorcycle numerous times across the Great American Southwest. I think Deke actually met him on a cruise ship. The guy is everywhere. This week's show is full of terrific tips for shooting on the road---whether you're just driving up the road to your favorite watering hole, hiking out in the wilderness, or traveling to exotic lands in search of interesting local beverages.

Here are the key areas to think about next time you're headed out on the open road: Read more » 

Myyyy Photoshop, myyyy Photoshop, Top 40! Okay, so actually, it's the Top 3. That is, the Top 3 entries in our recent Photoshop Top 40: The Contest. I asked you to create a magnificent piece of artwork that celebrates no fewer than three of the features from my Photoshop Top 40 podcast. Happily, your response was overwhelming. Sadly, your response was overwhelming on Christmas Eve, while I and my sidekick Colleen were with our children. But eventually, we found time to review all 146 enthusiastically submitted entries. (Thank you, by the way! Nothing gets us going like a hot contest!)  From that, and with great difficulty, we have selected three winners.

I promised our choices would be purely subjective. And they are. But subjected to the things we love: Photoshop craftsmanship and creative ingenuity. And, go figure, we liked pieces that celebrated the theme of the contest, Photoshop Top 40. In other words, good art direction trumped precise execution, although our winners showed some mad skills. Read more »