My NAPP renewal ran out at the end of December, wait a second, you don’t know what NAPP is?  That’s the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, an amazing online resource for anyone who is into Photography, Photoshop, and Design.  So you still aren’t convinced are you, because you obviously know there are thousands of online resources for Photoshop.  Alright I get it, how about I just tell you my top 5 reasons for being a member of such an elite online community:

1. Photoshop User Magazine: By far the best Photoshop magazine publication around.  I used to buy this magazine off the shelf for 10 bucks a pop, then I found out that NAPP members receive it at there doorstep for free with their NAPP membership!  They ship the magazine 10 times a year and it is packed full with helpful Photoshop and Lightroom tips and tricks.  Many photo magazines are packed full of useless adds and complete crap (I won’t mention any names), Photoshop User magazine however, gives you an absolute no crap guarantee!
2. Quick Online Tutorials:  NAPP members get online access to a plethora of free and most importantly quick Photography, Photoshop, and Lightroom tutorials.  I don’t get much time to watch tutorials between making my own, up-keeping this blog,  and a 9 month old, but I can make five or ten minutes here or there to freshen up on the latest and greatest with the easy access NAPP provides.
3. Discounts, discounts, oh and did I mention More Discounts?  NAPP members get exclusive access to discounts on very useful photo resources all over the web.  Last year, I saved over $62 on products and shipping with MPix.  There are too many discounts to name here, but check this out, free 3-5 day shipping in the US at B&H photo.  That alone could save you hundreds if you are a gear hog like myself!
4. Renewal Perks:  I received the Adobe Photoshop CS 5 Book by Scott Kelby when I renewed my membership.  That is a near 30 dollar value on Amazon, for free!  The people at NAPP really know how to keep their followers coming back for more!
5. The Help Center:  Yep, an online help center dedicated to helping you with any questions you may have from Photoshop and Lightroom to Cameras and Computer Gear.  They will take any question and give you the best possible answer.

So let’s do some laymen’s math here, a NAPP membership costs 99 US dollars, but you get ten $10 issues of Photoshop User magazine for free.  So 99-100 = 1 dollar in your pocket, but how about the $30 book I just received with my renewal for free, $31 in my pocket.  But then there is the $62 dollars I saved at MPix last year, that’s $93 dollars in my pocket.  So yes, I am telling you that I spent $99 on my Napp membership, but that membership in turn put $93 back into my pocket, not including the money I saved on shipping last year from B&H photo.

If you have read this far without clicking on this >NAPP< link then you either really care about what I am saying, you already have a membership, or you have some kind of adversity to saving money and learning about all things Photography.

Blake Rudis

f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!