Post by Tpgettys on Nov 17, 2017 22:45:26 GMT
I just received this email from Rick LePage (from the now defunct PET magazine and Elements Village forum).
He included a link to his personal website. If you visit you will learn that he has had a some very challenging life events not so long ago.
I thought there would be several members here that would appreciate reading what he has to say...
He included a link to his personal website. If you visit you will learn that he has had a some very challenging life events not so long ago.
I thought there would be several members here that would appreciate reading what he has to say...
Update from Rick
November 2017
Greetings, my friends!
I hope you are all doing well. It’s been a while, I know.
The last few years have been quite a journey for me: I’ve had periods of great sadness, unbelievable happiness, and some utterly beautiful moments that make me glad to be alive, quite frankly. Most recently, I’ve spent a good deal of my time wandering the U.S. in a small travel trailer, taking pictures, and doing some writing and editing, both personal and professional. One part of my journey ended recently, and in the past few months I have been slowly wending my way back into the working world.
Before I get too far, I want apologize for the ungainly manner in which Photoshop Elements Techniques was shut down. I had a very limited role with Photo One in PET’s final years (largely for personal reasons, but also to let Diana run the magazine as she needed to), and by the time I dialed back in to help, it was clear that they couldn’t continue publishing. I don’t want to get into the dirty details about it all, but please know that we all tried hard to make sure that Photo One did right by our loyal subscribers near the end. I hope you all know how much I loved working with all of you. I really miss being PET’s editor and publisher—it was a labor of love, and one of my favorite jobs ever.
So, what’s up with PET?
As I mentioned on the old PET website, I have been working on a new website project, and part of my plan has been to find a place for much of the old PET content.
I have looked long and hard at trying to resurrect PET in some form or another, but I’m not sure that it’s in the cards. While Adobe continues to release new versions of Photoshop Elements every year, they withdrew support for little guys like us years ago (before I left PET in 2012, actually), and without their help, it was hard to find new subscribers.
The project I alluded to in my note, completedigitalphotography.com, relaunched in September. The site is an outgrowth of my good friend Ben Long’s book of the same name, which is one of the best-selling photography textbooks of all time. I had been working on some other book publishing projects over the past two years—it’s something I love—and after chatting with Ben a bit, I decided to publish the 9th edition of the book in the next year. (There’s more about CDP down below.)
However, I am committed to doing a few things for my friends from the PET days. First, we are building a home for Photoshop Elements Techniques back issues on the CDP website, along with an index of articles. This has taken much longer than I would have liked, but know that I will get this done, hopefully before the end of the year. (I will send a note to everyone once this is up.)
I also want to get some of the better video tutorials up as well. While half of PET’s videos are too old—and they're too small for people to really be able to see what's happening—there are quite a few that deserve to be public, especially given how little Photoshop Elements’ editor changes from year to year. Getting this done will be a longer process, given the size of the video library, and we are trying to figure out the best way to make it happen without taking forever or, more importantly for me right now, without costing significant resources.
Both the back issues and the videos, when available, will be free for everyone. I had offers from good people about acquiring some of the content, but I was concerned about it being put behind a paywall on someone else’s site, and I feel protective enough of PET’s assets to not let that happen, especially for subscribers.
The last thing I’ll say is this: if I can figure out a way to do something more with all of you, I will do it in a heartbeat. Once we get through this busy time of site and book launches, I hope to send out a survey to all former PET subscribers to see what apps you’re using these days, and what types of things (newsletters, books, tutorials) you might like to see from us.
November 2017
Greetings, my friends!
I hope you are all doing well. It’s been a while, I know.
The last few years have been quite a journey for me: I’ve had periods of great sadness, unbelievable happiness, and some utterly beautiful moments that make me glad to be alive, quite frankly. Most recently, I’ve spent a good deal of my time wandering the U.S. in a small travel trailer, taking pictures, and doing some writing and editing, both personal and professional. One part of my journey ended recently, and in the past few months I have been slowly wending my way back into the working world.
Before I get too far, I want apologize for the ungainly manner in which Photoshop Elements Techniques was shut down. I had a very limited role with Photo One in PET’s final years (largely for personal reasons, but also to let Diana run the magazine as she needed to), and by the time I dialed back in to help, it was clear that they couldn’t continue publishing. I don’t want to get into the dirty details about it all, but please know that we all tried hard to make sure that Photo One did right by our loyal subscribers near the end. I hope you all know how much I loved working with all of you. I really miss being PET’s editor and publisher—it was a labor of love, and one of my favorite jobs ever.
So, what’s up with PET?
As I mentioned on the old PET website, I have been working on a new website project, and part of my plan has been to find a place for much of the old PET content.
I have looked long and hard at trying to resurrect PET in some form or another, but I’m not sure that it’s in the cards. While Adobe continues to release new versions of Photoshop Elements every year, they withdrew support for little guys like us years ago (before I left PET in 2012, actually), and without their help, it was hard to find new subscribers.
The project I alluded to in my note, completedigitalphotography.com, relaunched in September. The site is an outgrowth of my good friend Ben Long’s book of the same name, which is one of the best-selling photography textbooks of all time. I had been working on some other book publishing projects over the past two years—it’s something I love—and after chatting with Ben a bit, I decided to publish the 9th edition of the book in the next year. (There’s more about CDP down below.)
However, I am committed to doing a few things for my friends from the PET days. First, we are building a home for Photoshop Elements Techniques back issues on the CDP website, along with an index of articles. This has taken much longer than I would have liked, but know that I will get this done, hopefully before the end of the year. (I will send a note to everyone once this is up.)
I also want to get some of the better video tutorials up as well. While half of PET’s videos are too old—and they're too small for people to really be able to see what's happening—there are quite a few that deserve to be public, especially given how little Photoshop Elements’ editor changes from year to year. Getting this done will be a longer process, given the size of the video library, and we are trying to figure out the best way to make it happen without taking forever or, more importantly for me right now, without costing significant resources.
Both the back issues and the videos, when available, will be free for everyone. I had offers from good people about acquiring some of the content, but I was concerned about it being put behind a paywall on someone else’s site, and I feel protective enough of PET’s assets to not let that happen, especially for subscribers.
The last thing I’ll say is this: if I can figure out a way to do something more with all of you, I will do it in a heartbeat. Once we get through this busy time of site and book launches, I hope to send out a survey to all former PET subscribers to see what apps you’re using these days, and what types of things (newsletters, books, tutorials) you might like to see from us.
