Hi Gang: Earlier this week I saw some comments that you’re posting comments but they’re not getting through. I don’t moderate my comments—-if you write them, they go live immediately, unless my blog’s built-in Spam filter thinks it’s spam.

It will usually mark it as spam if you include more than one link in your comment, or if you use the word Viagra.

Anyway, for some reason, it’s been blocking all sorts of comments in the past week, so I went back through all the thousands of spam comments I get in a week (over 240 pages worth), and I found a bunch of comments that you guys posted but got marked as spam.

First, I’m so sorry they were delayed, and we’re checking on the problem, and how to fix it.

Secondly, thanks to everyone who commented. There were lots of great comments, and I appreciate it very much. By the way: I read each and every comment you post, and occassionally respond back in the post, or in some cases, I just email you back directly (depending on my schedule, so I don’t get to answer nearly as many as I’d like), but either way—I read every single one.

Thanks for your patience while we get this spam comment thing worked out, but I’ll be keeping an eye out several times a day in case a legitimate comment gets tossed in the Spam Can.

All my best,

-Scott

We all like Scott’s Q&A posts right? You know, the ones where he asks questions to himself? Well I thought it’d be cool to do a Scott Kelby styled Q&A post about Scott himself. Here goes: (Warning – My jokes are much worse! )

Q. Come on Matt, you’re not as funny a guy as Scott is. Do you really think you’ll be able to pull off a Scott Kelby-styled Q&A?
A. (Cat sound!). Hey! Starting off by insulting me won’t get you anywhere. You’re probably right though, but I’m gonna give it a try anyway.

Q. OK, I’ll give you a shot and continue reading.
A. That’s not a question, but thanks – you’re all heart.

Q. So is Scott really as funny in person as he is on the blog and on your podcast?
A. Absofreakinlutely! Actually I think he’s funnier. Whenever we sit down for a meeting, the first 10-15 minutes (or 45 minutes sometimes) is just a lot of joking. You can only imagine what it’s like to plan a Photoshop World keynote event. It makes it hard to keep a schedule at work, but it sure makes for one fun place to come to every day.

Q. What time does Scott go to sleep?
A. How should I know? What kind of weirdo do you think I am?

Q. Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you?
A. It’s OK.

Q. Really?
A. No. That’s actually your second strike between the “not as funny” comment above and this whole weird bed-time thing. One more and I’m outta here.

Q. Really?
A. No. I’m the one writing the questions. There probably won’t be a third strike.

Q. OK, then let me rephrase this so as to not upset you (you seem cranky today). It seems like Scott must be up until all hours of the night?
A. I’ll let the “cranky” thing slide for now Honestly, I think it varies as it does with a lot of people. When he’s in the midst of writing a book, I’ve seen emails come in from him as late as 3:30am. When things are slightly slower (which they never really are) I’d be willing to guess he turns in between 12-1am on most nights.

Q. What could he possibly being doing up that late every night?
A. Working. You’ve got to remember that Scott is the co-owner of a 75 person company. During the day he’s pretty much hit with meeting after meeting and lots of other things that need to get done to keep the company running. Besides being a business owner, he’s also a content guy. So that content (books, DVDs, articles, blog posts, videos) needs to get done at some point. When every one else is asleep is usually a good time to do it.

Q. If he’s always that busy, how does he ever see his family?
A. Family is his #1 priority. As much as he works, he spends just as much time with his wife and kids. It’s kinda like the old saying “Work hard, play hard”. He’s often in a meeting at 4pm and looks at his watch and says “Gotta go to my son’s soccer game” and 20 seconds later he’s in the car. He’s chaperoned his kid’s field trips, and makes it a point to pick his little girl up every week from pre-school and have lunch with her. They take frequent family vacations (and I mean the whole family – grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and all) every summer. So yeah, he works hard but he also spends a lot of time with the family in ways that the typical 9-5 job doesn’t allow for.

Q. I’ve heard rumors that Scott plays Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 2 on the Xbox 360. Is that true?
A. Sadly yes. A bunch of us here in the office play (and Scott’s son too). We usually get on at night and kill each other with the M16 Assault Rifle (with the Red Dot site and attached grenade launcher of course). Scott’s the kinda guy that takes personal pleasure in launching an AC-130 attack against his employees.

Q. Is Scott any good at the game?
A. Can you define “good”?

Q. You know, it means the opposite of “does he suck”?
A. Oh! Um… yeah he’s really good!

Q. Do you have to say that?
A. Yup
(I’m totally kidding – he’s actually gotten very good)

Q. OK, moving on. Scott seems to write a lot of stuff. Does he use a ghost writer?
A. No way! That’s a common question though because he cranks out so much. I have to admit, when I first started working here at Kelby Media Group nearly 6 years ago, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I thought I’d be doing some writing for Scott and other various things. I quickly came to find out that you are responsible for your success here. If you do it, YOUR name goes on it. Plain and simple. He writes all of his blog posts (unless otherwise noted) and he writes all of his books. If there’s a co-author you can bet that he split the work 50/50. And if he uses excerpts or ideas from other people you can be sure they are thanked gratuitously throughout the book.

Q. OK so he writes a lot. But who’s Scott’s favorite author?
A. Without a doubt, that Matt Kloskowski guy But besides Matt, Scott likes any book by Seth Godin.

Q. Does he wear any color shirt other than black?
A. Only on Tampa Bay Bucs game days. I’ve seen a few non-black Bucs shirts but that’s about it.

Q. Does he wear any t-shirts without logos?
A. Nope. I’ve even heard that he sleeps in an “MPIX Rocks!” t-shirt.

Q. What’s Scott’s favorite drink?
A. Coke Zero I believe.

Q. No I meant alcoholic drink.
A. I know. He actually doesn’t drink alcohol. I’ve never seen him have a drink other than a small glass of wine. In fact, a story goes that he was in Japan with his buddy Dave (not Dave Cross) meeting on some training opportunities. Apparently singing Karaoke and drinking saki is customary at night. In hopes to not offend any of his hosts who were pouring saki shots for him, he secretly gave Dave the drinks (while Dave was also busy drinking his own). Dave was totally hammered that night (and may have not known his name) but Scott remained 100% sober

Q. OK, can you give me 5 things that most people wouldn’t know about Scott?
1) Scott’s a black belt in Taekwondo
2) Last concert seen: Bon Jovi
3) He doesn’t fluently speak another language but he practices Spanish a lot
4) Favorite Burger is from In-N-Out Burger (but I’m trying to win him over to Five Guys).
5) He does a killer French accent. Heck, he does about 5-6 accents that sound dead-on to the real thing.

Q. Sounds like you think Scott is a good guy?
A. Honestly, from a career standpoint Scott has helped me more than I ever thought possible. Bigger than that though, you know what makes working with him so cool? I’ve gotten one heck-of-a good friend in the process too. He’d give you the shirt off his back (as long as you liked black) if you asked him. We talk business a lot. Partly because we both love the business that we’re in, and partly because there’s just a lot to talk about. But it’s the times where Scott has me and a bunch of the guys over on a Sunday to watch the Bucs play, or 1:30am at In-N-Out Burger, or driving through the Arizona desert somewhere that we have the best time. He’s just fun to hang out with and anyone that knows him thinks the same thing.

That’s it for today. Have a great weekend everyone!

Is it any coincidence that just a few days after Apple’s iPad was announced, Engadget.com, probably the leading tech blog on the planet (who blogged the announcement live as it happened), announced that they were turning off reader comments for a while. As a longtime reader and fan of Engadget, I have to tell you I was shocked.

Here’s what they said:

“Hey guys, we know you like to have your fun, voice your opinions, and argue over your favorite gear, but over the past few days the tone in comments has really gotten out of hand. What is normally a charged — but fun — environment for our users and editors has become mean, ugly, pointless, and frankly threatening in some situations… and that’s just not acceptable.”

Click here to read their post, and why they did it. Thankfully, it appears that they have reopened comments once again, but I have to tell you, on some level, especially after some of the comments here concerning my iPad post, I kind of understand why they did it.

Here on this blog I feel very fortunate that we have built such a great community that it usually isn’t an issue (unless you mention Apple of course, and then all bets are off). However, a lot of bloggers I’ve talked with have decided to turn off commenting permanently, and they are stunned that I don’t at least moderate the comments here before they’re released. My policy has been—-if you make a comment—it goes up immediately, and so far that hasn’t been a problem.

That being said, here’s my policy: you can disagree with me—no sweat (and if you’ve read this blog for any time, you know that happens on about a daily basis)—-just don’t be mean about it. If you’re really mean to me, or to anyone else here, there’s a pretty decent chance I’ll just go and delete your comment (this isn’t The New York Times after all).

If you post a comment here and you get a message saying it’s awaiting moderation, that means you’ve probably put some web links in your post, and my spam filter thinks it’s a spam comment, but it’s not entirely sure, so it holds it for me to check it out. The problem is—I might not get to check it out until the end of the day, so your best bet is not to include a bunch of outside links. One isn’t usually a problem, but two or more and it’ll hold it for moderation.

I get literally hundreds of spam ads comment attempts here each day, most of them put there by automated spam bots, and believe me—you don’t want them to get through. Many are absolutely filthy (shockingly so in some cases), and besides, you probably already have enough Viagra, Cialis, and discount fine watches to last you for a while, right?

Anyway, I thought it was sad to see things get so bad at Engadget that it came to that. Again, I understand, but it was still sad. I surely don’t ever want to see that happen here, so as we move forward, even if I do wind up mentioning a topic you feel very passionate about (Apple), just remember we’re all friends here (except for Brad Moore. If he posts anything—blast him!).

Photo by Bill Frakes

I grew up in a family of storytellers.

My grandfather, Bub, could tell a story better than Tom Brokaw.  In fact, he was Tom Brokaw’s first boss at WSB-TV in Atlanta.

My mom was a popular news anchor in Jacksonville, Fl, for 25 years.  She taught me the importance local activism and the difference it can make.

My dad is the quieter type.  He was a news reporter in his younger years but is now a small business owner and avid amateur photographer.  He gave me my first camera and taught me how to use it.

My background is what ultimately drew me to photojournalism in college.  It was the culmination of telling stories and making images.  The big question mark over my future suddenly disappeared.  Professional photography was where I was headed.

While a student at the University of Florida, I was introduced to Bill Frakes’ work when he gave a lecture to a group of photojournalism students.  A couple months later I saw him in the Atlanta airport and introduced myself.

We hit it off immediately.  We are aligned in a way neither of us expected.  Other than our obvious differences in age and gender, we come from opposite backgrounds.  He grew up in the sand hills of Western Nebraska.   I grew up on the beach in Florida.  Yet somehow we ended up in the same place, geographically and mentally.  We both have a work ethic that exhausts and exasperates almost everyone else we know, our humor is identical and our creative tendencies are shockingly similar.

I started working as his assistant about two-and-a-half years ago.  Bill was patient with me.  I didn’t know exactly what being an assistant entailed but learned quickly.

To get a job as an assistant you don’t have to know everything about photography, you just have to be open minded and willing to learn.  You have to listen to instruction and be willing to take chances.  Most of all you have to want to work and be flexible.

You need to be able to work with every camera format from 35 mm digital to 8×10 film.  We work with them all, and if we don’t  have what we need we get someone to build it for us.

Photo by Bill Frakes

I think that’s what ultimately made Bill decide to hire me.  I was very open to the education process.  Any project he wanted to tackle I was up for, whether I knew how to do it or not.  I never back down from a good challenge and I never quit until the job is done.

I’ve also been very lucky in that Bill has given me a lot of room to learn.  From day one he has sent me web sites, given me books and sat down and really worked with me through an idea or problem.  He has let me grow as a photographer and a person.  Through working with Bill I have not only learned the mechanics of photography, but the thought behind it.

Bill has taught me to take pictures with my heart, my mind and my soul.  The camera is a tool, albeit a very important one.  At the end of the day the photographer takes a photo, not the camera.

My grandmother riding in the hearse on the way to my grandfather’s funeral in March. (Photo by Laura Heald)

Bill exemplifies this belief in his coverage of the Kentucky Derby.

An average Derby for Bill means about 60 remote cameras, dozens of Manfrotto ballheads, magic arms and super clamps, and hundreds of feet of cable and connection cords.  This equals out to about 25 large cases of gear.

Photo by Bill Frakes

He puts cameras everywhere he can’t physically be during the race.  His position is head-on from the finish line.  The remotes are under the rail, around the turn, on the roof–anywhere he thinks he can make a photograph the readers will want to see.

Photo by Bill Frakes

Photo by Bill Frakes

Photo by Bill Frakes

Photo by Bill Frakes

Photo by Bill Frakes

What he does with the remotes is nothing short of genius.  A lot of photographers set remotes up at races like the Derby.  Very few can do what Bill can.

Bill calculates every possibility.  He pays close attention to what horses are competing and the jockeys riding them.  The under the rail remotes are set at different focal lengths and focus planes.  He has a camera set for every possible outcome, from a win on the rail to one 10 feet off; a jockey celebrating his win 10 feet before the finish line or 10 feet after.  That’s a lot of distance to cover with lenses ranging from a 14-24mm f/2.8 to a 600mm f/4.

That’s just the 30 remotes under the rail.  The rest are set to capture a graphic, something offbeat or beautiful.  He tries to find a different angle every year, and some how, after 20 years of covering the event, he always does.  He always finds a new angle or has a new technique.

He uses his tools, whether it be a Nikon D3, a Manfrotto support or a remote cable, and creates beautiful images year after year.  His mind and eye make the image. The camera is simply the vessel that allows him to capture it.

Being Bill’s assistant is an education no amount of money can buy.  Photography is one of those professions you just have to do.  Theory is an important background to have but real world application is how you learn, and learning from one of the world’s best photographers has been a dream experience.

People always ask me what an average day of work is like for me.  I never know how to answer.  There is no average day.  One day may be spent editing and organizing in the office, while the next day we are trekking through the outback of Australia or standing on a cliff over the Panama Canal.

Photo by Bill Frakes

In the last two years I’ve been with Bill on most of the 400,000 miles he’s flown.  We’ve worked on 5 continents and in at least 30 different US states.  We have fun.  Trust is everything.

Subject matter varies as widely as the locations.

For example, this summer Bill and I spent a month in Australia working on the ad campaign for the Nikon D3s.  Immediately after we finished that project, we had another ad campaign that has yet to be released.  The day after that finished we were on a plane to Berlin, Germany, to cover the World Athletics Championships for Sports Illustrated.  After two weeks of track and field, we rented a car and drove to Rome, Italy, to work on the documentary on Missy Koch that Bill discussed in his guest blog last week.

Photo by Laura Heald

Photo by Laura Heald

That was two months of work.  Each assignment was drastically different from the one before it.  Sports photography is what Bill is known for and it is something we do a lot of and enjoy.  But it is not everything we do.

Photo by Laura Heald

I say we because through the course of our working together, we have evolved from a mentor/student relationship to a business partnership.  Bill and I recently started our own multi media production company, Straw Hat Visuals.  I still work as his assistant on his Sports Illustrated assignments and I don’t think that will ever change.  But we have been actively moving into a broader range of subject matter.  We are currently in production on two ad campaigns, a music video and a long-term documentary project.

We never want to get stuck in one subject or one genre of visual communication.  Multi media has taken us to a new place visually and creatively.

We are constantly evolving, learning new technology and trying new techniques.  We work fast and decisively.  Bill’s mind is constantly in motion.  I not only want to keep up, I want to be ahead.

The new cameras have allowed us to do as two people what it used to take a crew of 30 to accomplish.  Everything we need is now in one camera body, one tool.  We never leave home without a D300s or D3s over our shoulders.

Our individual skills have been extremely important in this evolution.  Bill is really good at conceptualizing an idea and executing it.  I’m good at putting it together in post-production, whether we’re creating videos in Final Cut Pro or still productions in Aperture.

We have access to every imaging and editing tool you can imagine.    Bill’s Aperture library now has over 1.5 million images.   We have  91 terabytes of raided storage.  And well over a million analog images. Fortunately we have an offsite storage location–our office is comfortable but not that big.    It’s a lot to keep up with but without it our production would crash and burn.

Bill has done a significant amount of directing music videos and television spots.  Documentary film is one of the places we are headed

In this world of tight budgets we’re working hard to streamline our operation.  We are learning how to create multiple platform stories from start to finish.

All gear and technology aside, we are ultimately storytellers.  We want to push the creative envelope and create content that can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages, beliefs and biases across every platform, traditional and new that you can imagine.

Our latest multi media was posted on SI.COM last week.  It’s on sorority and women’s league flag football at the University of Florida.

Photo by Laura Heald

The story isn’t complicated or uncommon.  It is just a fun story that is not commonly told.  The key for us is finding an angle or something humorous in the every day.

From Gainesville, FL to Beijing, China, Bill and I have traveled near and far to cover stories across all genres and age groups.  At 23 years old, I am one of the lucky ones.

As our friend Mark Suban from Nikon Professional Services said to me recently, “Bill has had a career most photographers only dream about, but man, I want to be in Laura’s shoes.”

Thanks Scott and Brad for creating a place for photographers to visit and learn.  I’m incredibly flattered that you asked me to contribute.

strawhatvisuals.com

Being an artist sucks. Being an artist is awesome.

Trey’s new book “A World in HDR” has just been released. Besides a practical tutorial on HDR, there is ample discussion on new ways to look at art and the internet. This experiment started a number of years ago when he first got started sharing his HDR Tutorial. Below is an extended exposition on some of these thoughts. Send him your thoughts on Twitter at @TreyRatcliff .

How have we all gotten ourselves into this situation? What is going on with being an artist on the Internet anyway?

Let’s face it. There are multiple people that live inside of us. One of us cares what other people think. One of us could care less what other people think. One of us really wants to make money. One of us really does it for the art.

I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, when having “multiple personalities” was seen as something horrible and possibly dangerous. We all know one of Sybil’s personalities was a bloodthirsty murderer, and if we couldn’t control them, what could we possibly do when we have the occasional dire thought?

I’m here to talk about all these personalities and why the cacophony can be an incredible source of inspiration and drive.

Just Find Some Beauty

I’ll start this article by telling you the important conclusion: root out the beauty from the chaos. Throughout this treatise, I’ll sprinkle in pretty images I’ve taken over the years. Despite all the psychological delving herein, it’s nice to be reminded that beauty exists. Some of you may know that I am heavily influenced by the Impressionists of the late 19th century, and in particular by Auguste Renoir, who said, “To my mind a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty. Yes, pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.”

Farewell India – The Taj Mahal

Why do we care what other people think?

Aren’t we independent thinkers? Do we really care if Read the rest of this entry »

I certainly don’t think so (I’d rather see airlines regulated as to how they treat their passengers), but according to an article in Yahoo’s Shine magazine, a governing body in the UK thinks things have gotten so out-of-hand that maybe photo retouching should be regulated.

Here’s what the Shine article said:

“In what’s poised to be the biggest uproar yet over the ongoing issue of Photoshopping in mass media, members of the British Parliament are calling for a ban on digitally altering ads aimed at children under 16, and disclosure of these modifications in ads aimed at adults, reports Jezebel.“

Here’s the link to their article to read more.

I’m back from four days on the Island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean, as the Guest Speaker at Joe McNally’s Off Camera Flash workshop. The workshop was an even more amazing experience than I had expected, and I learned a lot more than just photography.

This week, I’m going to share some different things I learned as an instructor, as a student, as a guest in a very special resort (more on this in a moment), as a businessman, as a husband, a father, and as a photographer (it’s amazing what you can absorb in just four days).

It’ll probably make a separate post each day this week to share these lessons, and I’ll weave my stories in alongside some of the other important things happening in this; the week leading up to my Worldwide Photo Walk on Saturday. But as I’m sitting here on the five-hour flight from St. Lucia to Atlanta, (and then a short hop home to Tampa), all this stuff is swirling around in my head, and I’ve got to get it down on paper (even if it’s not really paper).

First, we’ll start with the shot up top. I arrived after the workshop was already underway, and after checking in at the resort, I headed down to the beach to catch Joe’s sunset shoot at the beach.

When I got there I high-fived my assistant Brad Moore, who was already there assisting on the shoot, and then watched as Joe waded offshore with a local scuba diver to do a portrait, along with his assistant Drew holding a large Elinchrom Rotalux softbox with flashhead attached, as one of the students (A great guy from Texas named Clint) held the small Elinchrom Ranger Quadra battery pack and cables (more on this later in the week, when I post a video we did here in the studio on the Quadra).

It was just a one-light shoot, using a single studio light on location, but man did Joe make that one light sing! Check out the final image on Joe’s blog (here’s the link).

More Proof it’s a Small World
The next morning, we headed into the small town of Soufriere, so we could do some street shooting. After wandering the streets for an hour or so, we met up with our guide from the hotel, and he mentioned that there was a fire station nearby if we wanted to drop by and see if they’d let us shoot their trucks, so we headed over there.

A student from our group got about 100 yards ahead of us, and got to the station first. A fireman was standing outside, and he saw the photographer’s Canon camera and said, “Hey, I’m a photographer. I’ve got a Canon DSLR, too!” They started chatting and the fireman asked the student, “Hey, do you read Scott Kelby’s blog?” (I kid you not!). The student tells the fireman that I’m actually part of the group, and of course, he thinks the guy is pulling his leg until McNally and I come around the corner 30-seconds later.

The firefighter’s name is Garvey Charlemagne (that’s a portrait I took of Garvey above), and he’s an avid photographer, and just a wonderfully gracious, kind, and incredibly patient guy as he let the class make portraits of him, in full gear, for around an hour, and it was Caribbean island-hot down there (that’s real sweat, in other words).

Although my blog connection to Garvey might have gotten our foot in the door at the fire station, watching Joe work in this environment was a master class unto itself. Joe just has a way of ingratiating himself in any situation, and within minutes these firefighters, were rolling out the red carpet to do anything Joe needed to “get the shot.”

He had them do everything from move firetrucks, to dress up in full gear, to doing group shots with the entire department (including the Captain in his full parade best), to pulling out all sorts of gear, posing in different locations—you name it. They were so taken with Joe, and he worked the scene like such a pro, that everybody, firefighters included, had a blast.

On the flipside of this; Joe does something for them, which I think is very, very important; he immediately sends them the best finished images from the shoot. (They may not at first know what it means to have Joe McNally make your portrait, but they soon will).

Here’s Joe and I posed with Garvey (photo by Steve Rogers), after the shoot. A big thanks to all the guys at the Soufriere Fire Dept., and a special thanks to my blog reader Garvey. You guys were awesome!!!

Ya Just Have to Know What to Ask
I have a running joke with Joe. When we were walking the backstreets and alleys of Sufraire, I put the camera to my eye and shouted ahead to Joe, “Hey Joe, you been shootin’ much HDR??” He turned toward me, and I took the shot below, which pretty much says it all.

Can Joe Pick a Workshop Location or What!!!!
Our host resort for the workshop was the fabulous Jade Mountain hotel, which has already become a favorite hideaway of celebrities (which we knew), but what nobody knew until the third day of the workshop was that Travel & Leisure magazine had just named the hotel the #3 best hotel in the world (the first time in history a Caribbean hotel had made Travel & Leisure’s exclusive Top 10 List). Believe me; these accolades are well deserved—-I’ve never seen anything like it.

Here’s the view from my room (they call them “Sanctuaries” and they’re well-named). It’s a 17-photo pano; taken hand held, standing inside my room. It’s 62 inches long at 240 ppi.

It stitched together perfectly; totally seamlessly, without any input from me, all in Photoshop CS4 (well, I selected the photos inside of Lightroom, then chose “Merge to Panorama in Photoshop.” I’d do a tutorial on it for you, but there’s nothing to show. Select 17 photos; choose “Merge to Panorama in Photoshop” and then wait a few minutes and it’s done.

This one was taken from the breakfast table in my room. It’s not a pano. I just cropped it that way in Lightroom.

This isn’t the lobby. This is the hotel room they gave me as an instructor. I kid you not. This is where they put me up. My wife and I walked in, and our jaws hit the floor. There’s only one wall (on the left) with a 14-foot high door, so basically 1/3 of the room has a wall, and the other 2/3 are wide open to the sea. But it gets better.

There’s actually an Infinity pool in my hotel room. It has steps down into it, and then it’s around 5-feet deep. It’s not a hot-tub—it’s much bigger—it’s a pool, and it’s amazing (as is the view).

Here’s where I shot the first pano from. That’s the canopy bed on the left. The room came with a full time butler who was fantastic, and I could go on and on, but it was immediately clear why this hotel was awarded the #3 hotel in the world. I can’t imagine what you’d have to do to #2. The service was like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and the entire resort, and its staff, made sure everyone; instructors and students, had an experience of a lifetime.

Thanks to Nick and Karolin Troubetzkoy, the owners of the Jade Mountain Resort, who have created a magical place where you can unwind and relax at a level like no place else. (Check out their Website, or follow them on Facebook).

There’s more to Come
I’ve got so much more to share, but they’re closing the aircraft doors for our connection down to Tampa, and it’s already really late. I’ll have some insights on the workshop, on learning, and Joe, and a whole lot more, but I just had to share a few fun stories to kick things off.

Think Tank’s Airport Security 2 Gets a “Scott Thinks It’s Hot!” Award
My recent trips to Birmingham and DLWS in the Other Banks totally cemented it—-the Think Tank Airport Security 2 is the rolling camera bag of my dreams. It has totally replaced my beloved Lowe Pro Pro Roller 1, which served me well for the past two years, but this Think Tank rolling bag is truly that next level of bag, and now there’s no looking back.

I’m still amazed at how that bag holds as much as it does (I load mine with a 200-400mm f/4 lens, a large 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, a large 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, two full-sized camera bodies, an Epson P-7000, two chargers, a monopod, an SB-900, multiple filters, a Di-GPS unit, and loads of little gadgets that wind up in our camera bags). Besides what it holds; it’s very cleverly designed, well-built, and it’s just a smart bag all the way around (from it’s built-it security cable, to it’s built-in emergency backpack conversion, to it’s hidden ’secret compartment’).

Think Tank really understands photographers, and what we need, and that’s why I’m giving the Airport Security 2 my “Scott Thinks It’s Hot!” Editor’s Choice award. Here’s the link to their site with all the details. (Note: They have an International version, which conforms to Int’l carry on restrictions, but I only have the US edition. If you travel internationally, here’s that link).

Just got my copy of David DuChemin’s New book, “Within The Frame”
When I got to my office yesterday morning, a copy David DuChemin’s just released new book, “Within the Frame” was sitting on my desk. I took it home last night and just couldn’t put it down! There’s nothing like a photography how-to book with stunning photography to inspire you, but his book goes way beyond just inspiration, and teaches you how to think about creating captivating images, and I think that’s why this book is going to be the next big thing. Hats off to David (who is my guest blogger for tomorrow) for creating a very special book (here’s the link to it on Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon.com). Way go go, man!

Adobe deal: $25 off Lightroom 2 until May 31st.
I saw where Adobe has a $25 off deal on Lightroom 2 running until May 31st. Here’s the link to their online stores (including Int’l) to take advantage of the deal.

Photos From my DC Seminar
Vithaya Photography attended my DC Photoshop Seminar/Audiofest and they were kind enough to send me a link to a gallery of images they took from the day (photo above by Vithaya Photography). Here’s the link to see a gallery of some scenes from the event. My thanks for Vithaya Photography for coming to the seminar, and for being so kind to share these images with my readers.

That’s it for today folks. Don’t forget to check out David’s guest blog tomorrow, and we’ll see you here on Thursday for a photo I’m sure will make me shudder (along with other news bits and stuff).

There are things I absolutely love about my new 15″ Apple MacBook Pro (photo above courtesy of Apple), but at least 40 to 50 times a day, I want to have a friend fling it high into the air so I can use it for skeet shooting practice.

Now, before I dig into this review too far, part of the problem seems to be an Apple thing, but part of the problem may be something Adobe can fix in Photoshop CS4, because it’s there where the problem is most prevalent, and it’s there where I find myself stringing together somewhat colorful phrases I would not normally assemble.
My Worry
My main concern about the MacBook Pro was that the glossy glass screen would be too glossy for accurately editing photos in Photoshop.

My First Impression
I was pleasantly surprised at how great photos look on its crisp glossy screen. In fact, it’s so luscious, I think it makes the photos look better than they really look. Also, I was concerned about reflections, and while it is more reflective, and I keep thinking that’s going to be a problem; so far, it really hasn’t been. Surprisingly, the only time I really notice the reflections is when it dims the screen. Then, I’m much more aware of them.

The Reality
I’m still worried. Because it makes photos look so darn good, I only want people to see my photos on a glossy MacBook Pro glass screen, but of course, that’s not going to happen, as they’ll be viewed on the Web on whatever computer they have, and of course, they’ll be viewed in print. I’ve only had my MacBook Pro a few days, so I haven’t had a chance to do any serious printing in-house on my Epsons, and just last night I sent my first lab print to MPIX.com, so I have no idea how my on-screen color correction and edits will relate to my final images in print or on the Web. So, while I’m pleasantly surprised at how nice the screen looks, I’ll have to wait and see how the Photoshop editing process plays out. I will update you on this as soon as I know.

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My Worry
I know that one of the key features in Photoshop CS4 is the new hardware accelerated graphics and that now Photoshop hands off a lot of processing directly to the graphics card, and while I could see a difference in my old MacBook Pro, I was wondering if the new NVIDIA graphics card in the new MacBook Pros would really make that big a difference.

My First Impression
It’s way better than I expected. So much so, that it actually changes your Photoshop experience. I’ve never felt like Photoshop has moved faster than it does with the new NVIDIA cards. It’s crazy fast, and zooming, moving, rotating views, etc. is just amazingly, crazily, wonderfully fast.

The Reality
My first impression was correct. So much so, that I’m going to install an NVIDIA graphics card in my MacPro tower at home, which is the machine I do most of my serious photo work on.

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My Worry
Since the new MacBook Pros don’t come with a mouse button, I was afraid it would be weird not having something to click, and it would take me a long time to get used to it. Instead, the whole trackpad is a mouse button (well, most of it anyway), so wherever you are, you can just click.

My First Impression
Wow, you don’t really need a mouse button. I started working with it immediately, because your hand sits right where it always did, and when you want to click, you just click with your thumb like you always did. After five minutes, you don’t even think about it again.

The Reality
I was wrong. The trackpad is killing me, and is the main culprit behind all my MacBook Pro Pain. Apple will have to fix part of it (and if the reports I’m reading online are correct, they’ve already begun a fix), but Adobe will probably have to fix the other part.

The problem is a combination of the new trackpad finger gestures, which let you control navigation and rotation within Photoshop much in the way you work with photos on an iPhone (you can flick images around, you can pinch to zoom in, etc.. It’s actually a very cool intuitive idea). Here’s the problem; my thumb rests on the trackpad where it always rests—right where the click button used to be. But if it moves upward even 1/16 of a inch (which it often does), then the trackpad thinks I want to rotate the canvas view in Photoshop, and so it turns my canvas to a 45° angle. Sometimes, it just starts tilting my canvas back and forth while I’m trying to work. Sometimes it not only rotates my canvas, it zooms me out to less than a 1% view of my image. So, 40 to 50 times a day (maybe more), I have to go and reset my Canvas to normal, and then zoom back out to fit in view. It is driving me crazy to the point that I now find myself making finger gestures to my new Mac.

I went to the Trackpad preferences, hoping there was a way to turn off the “rotate my screen wildly and zoom in and out at random” feature, but sadly, there was not (see the capture below).

I’ve pretty much turned off whatever I can in the preferences above, and yet, still I rotate. Here’s a quick video of how this affects my day.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/qOFNCB_u_aY" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Now, this problem happens to a lesser extent in my Web Browser and in my Mac Mail application, where suddenly my text zooms in, or gets really tiny. It doesn’t bother me as much there, but that’s probably because it doesn’t rotate my view, eh?

Read the rest of this entry »

I know—I’m not a guest. But I looked at my calendar yesterday afternoon to see who I had scheduled as my guest for “Special Guest Blog Wednesday” and it was completely blank. I’m really not that surprised, because as my wife will attest; I have the memory retention of a hamster, and I guess I just completely forgot to get line up a guest blogger for today. So, you’re stuck with me today as your guest blogger, but next week I’ll have an actual special guest, so at least it won’t happen two weeks in a row.

An Odd Admission From A Book Author
This may sound kind of weird coming from a guy who makes his living writing books, but I don’t think there’s any method of learning that compares with being a part of a live seminar or workshop. As good as a book or a video is, it’s a one-way experience; there’s no interaction with the instructor; no opportunity to get that one question answered that’s been driving you crazy, and as passionate as an author might be, you just don’t get that excitement—that buzz—that energy you get from a great live seminar or workshop.

That’s why I love teaching workshops so much, and it’s also exactly why each year I try to attend as many of other people’s workshops as I can, as a student (I’ve recently taken workshops on everything from shooting food, to shooting home interiors).

I think for a teacher like me, it’s particularly important to learn new things, new techniques, and new ways of looking at things, so you don’t get in a rut—you need to feed that side of you that made you want to be a teacher in the first place, and for me, learning new stuff just feeds my passion (well, that and buying new camera gear, but that’s a whole different problem. Or story. Depending on how you look at it).

The Art of Being a Good Student
Now, up to this point, I’ve been talking as “Scott the instructor” or “Scott the Photoshop Insider Guy,” but what I really want to talk to you about today is something I’ve learned as “Scott the student,” so from this point on, I’m giving you my perspective as just another student in the workshop, so please keep that in mind from this point out (but I’ll check in again as regular Scott toward the end of this article). I want to talk about ‘Being a Good Student,’ and making the most from the live learning experiences you’ll come across.

There’s One in Every Crowd
When I go to a workshop; I’m there for one reason—to learn from an absolute expert on a topic. But in a couple of the workshops I’ve attended lately, one of the students literally “Hijacked” the class, which had a really negative effect on:

• The other students
• The instructor
• The “bad student” himself

I’ll give you an example of how one student somewhat hijacked a recent class I was in. It was Architectual/Interiors shooting workshop Matt and I attended out in California. The instructor would tell the class, “Here’s how I would set-up and compose a shot of a room like this,” and as soon as those words were out of his mouth, “Bad Student,” would step in and say, “Well, that’s not the way I would shoot it, and he would proceed to show the instructor how “He” does it (which, of course, is exactly the opposite of what the instructor just showed us). The problem is; he’s not just showing the instructor off to the side. He’s now showing the entire class. He’s directing his comments to the instructor, but we’re all now standing there watching another student showing the instructor his methods, during our class time.

Now, this guy might be a phenomenal interior photographer. In fact, he might even be much better than the instructor (we, as a class have no way of knowing; we all just met 30 minutes earlier). Or, he might be a total hack. We just don’t know. But we do know this; we paid to hear the techniques from the instructor—not this student—but there we are—all standing around listening to the student.

Now the instructor has to spend time justifying to the “Bad student” why he uses the technique he originally demonstrated (while we all stand around), and then he continues his lesson to us. About two minutes later, after showing how he sets up a flash, the “Bad Student’ interupts and asks the instructor, “Well, wouldn’t this technique also work?” and he proceeds to move the flash over to a different location and he shows how he’d light the room. The instructor is frustrated. The students are frustrated. This guy is “hi-jacking the class.”

The instructor once again has to show why he uses the technique he does, and then we finally move to another room. The instructor starts his lesson, and the Bad Student kicks in again. Thankfully, another student who’s already got steam coming out of her ears, finally steps in and says directly to the Bad Student, “Your technique might work, but I paid good money to learn how to do this stuff from him [she points to the instructor]—not you.” All the other students chime in immediately with a “Yeah, we paid to hear from him!” and he backed off for about 10-minutes, and then he was right back at it.

Now, you might be thinking, “It’s the instructor’s fault; he shouldn’t have let things get out of hand!” I can tell you from personal experience, it’s very tricky dealing with a hi-jacker, especially in a small group like we were. I thought the instructor did a good job of trying to give this guy a visual que (through his facial expressions), that he was holding up the class, and by trying to cut his interruptions short as possible without being rude, but with this guy, it wasn’t easy. Even a sharp, direct comment from another student didn’t slow him down.

This same thing happened to me when I was a student in another workshop earlier this year, and while I won’t go into the whole story here, the woman wanted to let the class know she was a big time pro—more of a peer of the instructor than a student (however, this could not be further from the truth, as was evidenced by a display of her work before the class started). Sadly, she proceeded to hi-jack the class big time between challenging the instructor’s techinques, and monopolizing his time.

Here’s the thing; both ‘bad students’ paid to attend these workshops. I would like to believe that they signed up because they wanted to learn about the topic from the instructor they paid to learn it from (that’s why I signed up), but then they get to the class, and they spend the day trying to become the focus of the entire class. I just don’t get it.

Thankfully, this didn’t happen in the class I took last weekend from Mary DuPrie, but there’s generally “One in every class.” Don’t be that “One.” If you pay to go to a workshop to learn something new, shut up and learn. There are other students in that class who paid, too—and they paid to learn from that instructor—not one of the students. Be a good student; stand back and just take it all in. That’s why you’re there.

Outsmarting The Class
Here’s a tip for getting the most of on-location photo workshops. I’ve been a student at many of these, and I’ll use the “Digital Landscape Workshop Series” workshops as an example. We’ll get up at the crack of dawn, drive out to our shooting location, and then Moose Peterson (world famous photographer and head of DLWS), gives us some tips for shooting that location, and then we set-up for our shoot. So far, so good. But there’s “Always One” student who thinks they’re going to “outsmart the class and the instructors” and they break away from the group—away from the instructors, and go off by themselves to get that “one shot nobody else will get.”

This is another form of “bad student.” Here you have the incredible Moose Peterson, and co-instructors Joe McNally (Yes, that Joe McNally) and amazing landscape photographer and total gear-head Laurie Excell (who runs NAPP’s own photo gear desk) right there—at your disposal. They’re there, on location, to teach you how to shoot landscapes. They’ll show you composition ideas; talk about which lenses you might use, where to set-up, what to capture, and basically share one-on-one knowledge you can’t get any other way. What an incredible opportunity for the class. Except for the One student who headed off by themselves so they could “get that one shot nobody else got.”

So, what did this student learn from their morning with Moose, Joe, and Laurie? Not a darn thing. If you’re going to wander off, totally ignore the instructors, and do you own thing; why pay for the workshop in the first place? Just fly to a nice location, wander around by yourself, and save the money. The reason people go to these workshops is not just to shoot in beautiful places—-you can do that on your own—it’s to learn from world class instructors. Be a good student, and not only will you come home a better photographer, you’ll have invested your workshop money wisely.

Why I care
There are two reasons:

1. I’m a student, too. And just like you, I really want to absorb as much as that instructor has to share. I spent my time and money to attend the workshop, and I really want to hear what that instructor has to share.
2. I’m an instructor, too. When I do a workshop, I really genuinely want it to be a fantastic learning experience for my students, who spent their hard-earned money for their travel, their time, and for their workshop registration fee.

I take my workshops very seriously, and I have everything planned out, and a written outline for every hour, of every day, of the entire workshop (even if it’s a full week long). Sadly, I’ve had students hi-jack my own workshops, and in those cases; nobody wins. Not the students, not the bad student, and certainly not me, because it takes my class outline and tosses it in the trash. It derails my plan for the class, it totally makes me lose my focus, and it hurts the entire workshop for everybody.

The Moral of the Story

Be a good student. Go without any expectations. Go without any preconceived notions about what you should or shouldn’t learn, and just allow yourself to soak it all in. Respect your fellow classmates and the instructor’s time. Ask questions when its appropriate, but make sure you remember it’s not a private workshop, and leave time for others to have their questions answered.

Workshops and seminars are really what you make of them. If you go in with an open mind, it will come out full. If you go in already knowing everything, there’s not much room for anything new to find its way in. Go in with the idea that you’re going to learn a ton, and you’ll get double your money’s worth, you’ll make new friends, and you’ll be a better, more-informed, well-rounded person for sharing in the experience.