From Friday Morning’s Shoot
This was taken first thing this morning (click for larger version) at my photo workshop in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains (in about 33° chilly weather—brrrrrrr) in an old fashioned Grist Mill in Cades Cove. This really nice guy (named Kevin) was working in the Grist Mill and was nice enough to pose long enough for me a click off a few shots (he even let me move him into some decent light). I’ll post some more shots from this morning, but I had to fly out tonight (it’s a long story) so I’ll miss tomorrow’s shoots (rats!). Had an amazing time teaching at the GAPW workshop, and had some absolute first-rate photographers in my class as well. I taught quite a bit; met some really wonderful people, and made some great new friends. I guess that’s what these workshops are really all about—learning, laughing, and making new friends. Not a bad way to spend a few days. Thanks to GAPW for allowing me to be one of their instructors—I had an absolute blast!!!! 
P.S. Did anyone notice I finally spelled “Smoky” right? 
Hello,
I am Project Manager of Web International Awards and after checking some
of your projects I decided to interview you, if you also agree.
Web International Awards (www.webia.info) is a ranking system for web
development companies and freelancers, and recently, we have launched a
new section in our site containing interviews with web developers.
If you`re interested, please let me know.
Regards,
Bogdan Pop
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am editor-in-chief at MIKRO KNJIGA - leading Serbian publisher specialized in computer books and magazines. We have the contract for publishing The Digital Photography Book in Serbian, and I would appreciate your help. It is rather urgent since the book should ready for our Tech Fair in May. I have translated the book myself, and enjoyed it. Here are my two questions:
1.The explanation on page 135 is confusing and unclear. Isn’t it important where the photographer is standing on the hill, and is he shooting dawnward or upward?
2. The photo on p.167 do not correspond with the text. There are no baskets of food, Coca-Colas cups or orange light anywhere in the picture. Please advise.
Hi Scott,
Congratulations on the spelling.
I had assumed it was some weird American schpellung
Keep up the good work
Kenny
Scott,
Lived there for 2 years and found it spelled at least two different ways. Don’t feel bad!
I really like this image. It has a toned feel to it and it is very ‘creamy’ and rich on my screen. I’d be interested in hearing how you processed it.
One other question for you; according to a review of your book, it says you have a secret way of saving the PDF with music if you have Adobe Reader Pro. I want to buy your book anyway, but do you know what the status of Lightroom’s ability to burn a DVD of the slideshow with music? I only use royalty free music but would love to have this full function tool to use with my clients. There’s a great article http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/2007/02/_a_lightroom_quicktime_slidesh_1.html
that explains a way to do this, but I’m hoping for an easier way. Any luck?
Do you ever actually read these?
Thanks,
Todd
Hi Scott,
I second the request for how you toned this image. I do like it but did you ask him not to look into the lens on purpose?
Thanks,
Richard
To Kenny and Todd:
You know how I got the right spelling? We drove by an official National Park sign.
To Richard:
Glad you liked the image. I did tell him two things: (1) Don’t smile, and (2) Don’t pose (so don’t look directly at the lens), and I’ll snap off the shot when I think it looks right. I processed it by converting the photo to black and white (using my Gradient Map method from my Channel’s book), then I converted it to a Duotone (well, actually, I chose Tritone once the Duotone dialog box appeared), and then I loaded one of the preset Tritones that had a gold and brown look to it. Then I added an edge vignette, and an Unsharp Mask to finish things off. If you’ve ever caught my “Photohsop Killer Tips for Photographers” session, the whole technique is right out of that class.
To Todd:
At this point, Lightroom won’t burn a DVD with the music embedded—it will only create a PDF, but without the music. So, you have to open the PDF in Acrobat Professional, add the music there, and resave the PDF to have the music added. So, it’s a bit of a task now, but I imagine this will be addressed in Lightroom Version 2. And lastly, yes—I read these. I don’t always have time to respond back, but I always read them, so thanks for commenting.
To Bogdan:
I’d be happy to do the interview—just email me the questions (or just post them here, and I’ll grab them off, and send them back to you—don’t forget to post your email address so I have a place to email the answers.
To Olga:
So great to hear that you’re translating the book. Unfortunately, I’m on the road right now, and don’t have a copy of it with me, so I can’t get you the answers to your two questions until Tuesday when I get back. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Scott,
Thank you friend!
I REALLY appreciate your response! That meant a lot.
Sincerely,
Todd
Scott-
Mailed you via Gmail about this, but not sure if I got your email address right (just guessed). Anyhow, seems your RSS feed is wonky - won’t let me register to receive. Says there’s a bug in line 155 of the code…
Thoughts?
-Mike
Hi Scott,
Can you give us some info on your new blog site? I am presently using blogger, but love your new blog, and would also like to post larger photos (blogger limits the size)….how can I switch to a format like this?
Wow Scott,
That makes two replies out of two for me.
I even got a mention on PhotoshopTV.
I’m the ‘Angry’ Scotsman who quizzed your spelling of Laddie
Your’s angrily
Kenny
Hey Scotty,
Scott’s using Word Press in his new blog. I think he mentioned it in a previous post - when he announced that he’s moving his blog to a new site.
Mike
this shot is stunning! really nice. well done.