OK, it was really just supposed to be just Dave and Corey splitting the day, but they were kind enough to invite me to do one of my favorite parts of the day—the session on Typography and Designing with Type, so now it’s the three of us.

The seminar is coming up on Monday, February 22nd at the Tampa Convention Center, and if you haven’t had a chance to catch the tour yet, it is just one of those days that really opens your eyes to the power of Photoshop, and all the cool stuff you can do—stuff that really looks hard, but is actually easy once you know the secrets.

It’s not too late to register—follow this link, where you’ll find out the full class schedule, and how to reserve your seat (It’s only $99, or $79 if you’re a NAPP member) for a day of nothing but the latest Photoshop special effects (these are real commercial effects—the same ones you see in print, on the Web, in ads, on TV, and in Hollywood—-techniques you can really use in your own everyday work). I hope Dave, Corey, and I will see you there!

About a month ago we launched KelbyTV.com, a new home for all the video shows we produce each week, so folks would have a central location to find all our shows right online.

Last week I mentioned that Dave Cross has launched his own new weekly Podcast called “Ask Dave” and now NAPP News (hosted by Larry Becker)  has joined the channel.

The full list of weekly shows on KelbyTV.com include:

• Photoshop User TV
• D-Town TV
• Layers TV
• Lightroom Killer Tips
• Photoshop Killer Tips
• Ask Dave
• NAPP News

Of course, you can subscribe to all of these shows using Apple’s iTunes, and watch them right on your iPhone, iPod Touch, etc.

Here’s a direct link (make sure you catch the new episode of D-Town, with special in-studio guest Joe McNally).

Want to come and work with us? NAPP is looking for a kick-butt PHP programmer to come and join the NAPP team down here in sunny Tampa, Florida (where today’s high is a lovely 65°).

If you thrive in a really cool work environment, and want to work with some incredibly creative and fun people (our Web team rocks!), who really value what you do, then contact Barbie Taylor, our HR Director for all the details (just leave me a comment here on the blog, and I’ll get you her direct email).

Also, if this isn’t you, but you know someone who would fit the bill, will you pass this on to them for me?

Many thanks—Scott.

OK, there is a slight distinction in the headline you see above from my normal football game coverage—I didn’t say “shooting from the sidelines.” This time, I actually shot from up in the stands, because I didn’t have sidelines credential.

Now, if you’re wondering how I got some “big glass” into the game, here’s the trick. The NFL has a rule that a spectator can’t bring a lens that’s more than 6 inches long (15.25 cm) into the stadium, and they measure the length as you come through the security. So, I measured my beloved Nikon 70-300mm f/3.5 – f/5.6 VR lens, and it measures (without the lens hood, and attached to a camera body), about 5-3/4″—just under the wire, so they let me in with it.

I shot with a D700, so to get even closer (I was a ways back from the field), I used the DX crop, so although it got me in much closer than I would set at full frame, it does crop your image down to 6 megapixels.

Our seats (I went with my brother-in-law), were right on the goal line, so when the action was down on our end of the field, we both took some shots, but when they went past the 50-yard-line in the opposite direction, we pretty much just put down our cameras and watched the game.

The half-time show was absolutely amazing to see in person (and especially seeing them build that huge stage and lightshow in less than 6 minutes). The Who sounded just fantastic in person (much better than I expected), and the stage looked so cool I had to snap a few shots of them, too (but again, I didn’t really have the right access or the right lens, but it was fun shooting them anyway).

Although I didn’t get a sidelines pass, as I was walking into the Stadium, I ran into my buddy Jeff Snyder from Adorama, who had sideline media credentials, along with his son (who was shooting his 9th Super Bowl). You can check out his blog about shooting Super Bowl week right here.

As I write this, I’m back in my hotel room in Miami (heading back home first thing in the morning), and I really had a blast. A good friend hooked me up with the tickets, and we hung out with him and his family during the game, and just had an amazing time (plus the Saints won, and as an NFC guy, with a few buddies as die-hard Saints fans too, I had to root for New Orleans, but honestly, I thought the Colts would take it. Glad they didn’t though!).

Saw lots of celebrities at a party before the game (Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Harry Connick, Jr. [he's told me he's been using Photoshop since version 1.0], Jerry Rice, LL Cool J, Hillary Swank, and we saw Brad Pitt and John Travolta a little later).

What a fun day. I know, I know—the fun’s over—now back to work.

Ken Toney, regular commenter here on the blog, won the raffle we did for the “Photoshop Guys Signature Guitar” and he sent me the shot above of the guitar, in its display case, hanging on the wall of his office (which is pretty sweet, by the way). Click on the photo for a larger view.

The raffle raised nearly $2,500 for the Springs of Hope Orphanage, and then we raised another $1,300+ from the off camera flash t-shirts (which are still available, in four stunning styles by the way), right here.

Also, we raised an additional $1,000 through this blog’s affiliate program with Think Tank Photo, (makers of the most awesome camera bags I’ve ever used) so if you’re thinking of buying any Think Tank gear (over $50), use this link and: (1) You’ll get a cool freebie from Think Tank (see below), and (2) 100% of the affiliate fee goes directly to the orphanage.

Here are the free Think Tank Goodies you get to choose from:

• Cable Management 20 ($19.95) Link
• Modular Pouch ($19.95)  Link
• Pixel Pocket Rocket ($16.50) Link
• Security Tag ($25.00)  Link

Anyway, all totally cool stuff, for a really important cause.

Thanks to Ken for sharing the photo, and thanks to you all for helping to support the great kids from the Spring of Hope Kenya Orphanage.

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!).

Here’s a quick update on what’s going on at the upcoming Photoshop World Conference & Expo, coming up March 24-26 in Orlando, Florida:

David Cuerdon joins Instructor Dream Team
One of the most popular instructors on Kelby Training Online, expert photo retoucher and photographer David Cuerdon, is teaching all three days of the expo in the Expo Theater. If you haven’t had a chance to learn from David online, this is a great opportunity to catch him live (where he totally rocks by the way!).

I’m teaching three classes—all of them brand new!
I’ve got all new classes this time around: (1) An all new “Photoshop Down & Dirty Tricks” class, packed with Photoshop special effects, (2) Lightroom Killer Tips (with loads of little-known tricks, workarounds, and time-savers), and (3) Designing with Type for Photographers: a class for photographers on how to make type work with your photography and how to get professional-looking results for everything you design with type. I hope I get to see you in my sessions!

Flights are cheap!
I checked last night, and flights right now are a bargain. For example, round trip from:

• New York on Delta: $198
• Boston: $216 on Delta
• Atlanta: $174 on USAir
• Charlotte: $154 on AirTran
• Chicago: $205 on American Airlines
• London Gatwick: $675 on Delta
• Frankfurt, Germany $681 on USAir. Sweet!!!!

Stay where we’re staying
The instructors and Photoshop World staff are staying at the Omni Rosen Hotel right next door to the Convention Center, and they’re offering a special $125 rate for Photoshop World attendees. Here’s the link with more details.

There’s a Photoshop World Blog
To keep up with what’s going on, check out the Photoshop World blog (from Nancy Massé and company) because they’ve always got the latest stuff (I have to go there myself to find out what’s new), plus they usually have a contest or giveaway of some sort going on. Here’s the link.

There is no “In/Out Burger in Orlando”
Matt and I are totally disoriented because we don’t know where to go for burgers after Photoshop Midnight Madness. We’re open to ideas.

Free One-on-One Portfolio Reviews
This is one of those “Best Kept Secrets” at Photoshop World, and it’s free for any registered attendee. If you’re going, and you want to seriously take your career to the next level, you’ve got to take advantage of this (here’s the link).

Walt Disney World is right down the street
If you’re thinking of bringing the family with you, for a work/vacation visit, you’ll be happy to know that not only is Walt Disney World nearby, so is Universal Studios and Sea World. Sweet!

Some of the Pre-Conference Workshops are Selling Out Already!
The day before Photoshop World we offer a bunch of intensive pre-conference workshops, including a number of live shoot workshops. Some of these, like the NAPP Safari, have already sold out, and the next one to sell out is David Ziser’s On-Location Wedding Shoot workshop, along with Deke McClelland’s Photoshop Channels & Mask workshop. You can still snag a place at the Concert Photography Live workshop, and the Editing Video with DSLR cameras classes, and the live “Shoot and Edit your own Movie Poster” workshop. Here’s more info.

Catch the Video!
If you’ve never been to Photoshop World, and want to know what it’s all about, just watch this video. It does a better job of capturing the Photoshop World experience than about anything I’ve seen.

The Hottest Event Of the Summer: The Nik Summit
Nik Software, the company behind plug-ins I can’t live without, like Color Efex Pro 3.0, Silver Efex, and Viveza 2, is launching a very special event this May in San Diego called, “The Nik Summit” where they’re bringing together a group of top photographers (including the likes of Tony Corbell, Joe McNally, and Rick Sammon no less) and top instructors for a very cool creativity/training experience, and you’re invited.

If you’ve got a sec, check out their event site, and see if this just doesn’t sound cool as anything! Here’s the link.

If you Shoot Macro, You Gotta Get This T-Shirt!
Photographer Dan Stroka came up with just a very clever shirt for any photographer into Macro. I won’t spoil it (you have to see it yourself—you’ll crack up), but here’s the link.

Thanks to this week’s Guest Blogger, Joshua Black Wilkins
I think Brad’s idea of giving us a peek into the world of famous photographers, through their full-time assistants, is really fascinating and entertaining, and learning about folks like Joshua, and his story, how he got there, and where he’s going is just very cool. Thanks Joshua for sharing your story with us.

Contest for Photographing Children
Ginny Felch, who has the top-selling book on how to photograph children, is running a very compelling contest over on her blog for children’s photography, and the winner gets a copy of Lightroom. Here’s the link with all the details. (NOTE: Besides the contest, she’s got a great blog, with lot of great photography—definitely worth a visit).

Don’t be the last person in the world to enter Adorama’s iPhone contest
There are already over 5,000 entries—why isn’t yours in there? (OK, maybe yours is, but you know what I mean). It doesn’t cost anything to enter, and the prizes are insane (be aware though, that’s the same term that my son uses to describe the taste of a “Chicken Nugget” as in, “Dad, have you ever actually tasted a chicken nugget? They’re ‘Insane!” By the way, he actually said that, and I couldn’t stop laughing for two solid days). Anyway, here’s how to enter: (1) Look at the photos on your iPhone. (2) Find a really good one. (3) Enter the contest here. (4) Sit back and wait for prizes to rain upon you (or not, depending on how you did in Step 2. By the way: when you finally do see the winning photo (which hasn’t been chosen yet—there’s still time to enter), you’ll see it and think to yourself, “Oh man, I should have entered.” That, I can guarantee! OK, now go and enter.

New Online Class: Fixing Photographic Problems with Photoshop with Dave Cross
This class just went up live on Kelby Training Online, and just today I saw two emails from students who were raving about the class (despite the fact that much of it was in Canadian). Here’s the link. Also, thanks to everybody whose been sharing feedback and helping us get the kinks out of our cool new player. It’s coming right along, with more fixes (and new features) coming, so many thanks you guys.

It’s 12:50 am. I’m hitting the sack.
I hope you guys have a great Thursday—-in fact, I hope it’s your best Thursday yet! See ya tomorrow for some Fridayesque stuff.

Did I say “Podcast?” I meant “Padcast.” (Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself).   Seriously though—Dave came up with a great idea for a weekly podcast—it’s called “Ask Dave” (with Dave Cross) and basically you ask Dave Photoshop questions, and he answers them (Dave knows Photoshop on a crazy level).

I love this new show—–it’s short, sweet, and right to the point. Here’s the link to watch the first episode on KelbyTV, and here’s the link for submitting your questions to Dave on Twitter. Congrats Dave on launching your new show! (also catch Dave each week on the new Photoshop User TV).

For 5 years, I have worked behind the scenes as a photographer’s assistant. This is (or can be) an illusive job.  In short, I get paid to be surrounded by celebrities while they are being photographed for print advertisements, music packaging, world-wide publicity uses, book covers, movie posters and television shows.

I got into this occupation in  an unusual way. Although I had done photography as a hobby since I was 15, I had no idea what the business was like. Since moving to Nashville, I had started shooting live music shows as well as live burlesque performances for fun. I received a Nikon point-and-shoot digital camera for my 24th birthday and started taking it everywhere I went. Since I am also a performing singer-songwriter, I  knew a lot of peer musicians that were more than happy to let me take photographs of them at their shows. Before getting that first digital P&S camera, I had only used 35mm film, in fully manual SLR cameras, so the new convenience was astounding.

I was introduced to professional commercial photographer Tony Baker around this time. While working on his house, I started asking him questions about his photography and his shoots.  I had been a fan of his music photography work for some time but didn’t know much about how he made those photographs, including the team of people that assist him in the process. Since I had a background in construction, he asked me to build a set for a CD packaging job he had coming up.  The shoot took place in the beautiful gardens of the Opryland Hotel and Convention Center, and my job that day was to build an underwater platform that the artist would stand on to appear to be floating on water. The set also involved large, fake trees, a sod-laid grass surround, and a 20′x40′ scenic background.  There were two other guys that showed up with a huge grip truck full of photography equipment. After I finished building the set, I volunteered to help the other guys with their jobs. There was a lot of equipment I didn’t know the names of, and a lot of terminology I had never heard, but that didn’t stop me from asking “what can I do?” and “how can I help?”

The shoot lasted at least 14 hours. Maybe longer. Without a hitch.

Tony Baker appreciated my willingness to help the production, and my ability to “jump right in” and soon I was on almost all of his local jobs. In a few short months, I learned the names of the photography equipment used, how it works, and the right way to operate them. I also built friendships and working relationships with the photographer’s assistants who  I worked with, and assured them of my ability to help them do their jobs, all the while learning every lesson I could to be a better photographer. Since the main reason I started assisting was to, in fact, become a photographer.

Through other assistants, I was called by other photographers and producers to help on their productions. I soon learned that EVERYONE is different in their behavior, work ethics, production etiquette, and lighting style. What one photographer ALWAYS does, another photographer NEVER does. What didn’t change was my willingness to work as hard as I could, safely, for as long as it took. I ALWAYS asked questions, and still do, in regards to personal technique and creative lighting. Although at times I CAN offer my professional opinions regarding lighting and possible shot ideas, often times it is my job to create the desired look for the photographer, and HIS/HER client.

Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins

I became  aware of Jeremy Cowart’s work in the spring of 2007. At the time, he was the “new” guy on the scene and quickly gaining popularity in the music industry for his dynamic photography. Nashville buzzed with talk of his talent and everyone took notice. One assistant who I had worked with a lot was working with him, and it wasn’t long before I approached his producer to offer my assistance.

Nashville is a big city with small circles. In any given industry, you’re 3 degrees of separation from just about anyone.

The first shoot I worked on with Jeremy was for a Fox TV show that was to be called “Nashville.”  I was given the wrong call time and showed up late. Usually this is a death card. I wasn’t nervous to meet him, but quite embarrassed about my 1 hour tardiness. I showed up at a Nashville studio surrounded by 50+ people I didn’t know, including a full TV film crew.  Other than apologizing for being late, I wasn’t able to talk to him much that first day. We had 5 locations to shoot, 5 assistants, two grip trucks, a full blown digital rig, and the sun set at 8pm.  That job was 18 hours long, lasting well into the night .

Shortly after, I was called again to work with Jeremy and have been with him since.  I’ve traveled with him to remote locations without a GPS unit. We’ve worked in the August heat of Savannah, Georgia, and the snow-covered deserts outside Santa  Fe, New Mexico.  And many places in between.

As his 1st assistant, a title I don’t take lightly, my primary responsibilities are to show up on time, discuss the shots for the day (if they have been decided yet), plan the lighting for those shots, help organize the production and flow for the day, and generally be available to help make the shoot a success. One thing special on his shoots is that everyone helps everyone else.  It takes a team of people, working together.  No matter how hectic the day becomes, the atmosphere around him is fun, happy and creative. We almost always have other assistants on Jeremy Cowart shoots. Again, we keep this circle small.  Egos have no place in Jeremy’s world and the people hired to create his shoots are friendly, helpful and fun to be around.
I could list the artists we have worked with, but chances are you already know them through Jeremy’s work.

In contrast to MANY other photographers I’ve known and worked with, Jeremy has an amazing ability to keep his cool.  In the most stressful situations, Jeremy maintains a professional and easygoing attitude.  In situations where most of us would have a complete meltdown, Jeremy does not.  One of the many things that has inspired me about him over the years is his never-ending quest to create “different” photographs on a daily basis. And it doesn’t stop at photography. He is ALWAYS creating.  When he gets bored with something, he might paint. I hear he also plays guitar. When he is troubled about a social tragedy, he looks for ways that he can HELP people. He doesn’t do this for his ego, Jeremy truly GIVES his talent and heart to those he feels deserves a little help from a friend.

This brings me to something I am most proud of in my life.  HELP Portrait Project was something Jeremy HAD to do.  He’ll tell you that. The compassion in his heart for those less fortunate was so great that by mid-2009 he came up with an organization that he felt could help people.  The basis of HELP Portrait was to make, and give photographs to people that have lived through, and continue to struggle with social and personal downfalls.  This includes the homeless, battered and abused women, orphans, ex-gang members, foreign refugees, the disabled, the elderly and alone, as well as anyone that needs a little boost in respect and love.  Needless to say, I signed on before he finished his proposal.

The idea was simple.  Gather groups of photographers, assistants, hair and makeup professionals, producers, catering companies, camera stores, printing services, video crews, grip houses, studios, civil organizations, church groups and ANYONE that wanted to help people.  Assemble all these people together for one day, arrange for those in need to come to this temporary studio,  take their photographs, and give the photographs to each person .   Okay, it wasn’t that simple.  There were blogs involved, and online commercials, and TV stations, and websites, and coffee shop conversations and many sleepless nights making sure he was doing the right thing. Brainstorming phone calls at 11:30pm were not unusual. On top of that, there was no money to play with. The idea was to give. And we did. And he did. And he continues to, at any cost.

As I write this, Jeremy is in Haiti (you can see some of the shots from his project if you look through his tweets from the past few days).  He is doing whatever needs to be done to help the people who need it most. The celebrities can wait. The movie posters can wait. The CD packages can wait. His family will wait, knowing that he is doing what he HAS to do, all in the name of love.  If that isn’t inspiration for us all, than we have no heart.

You can see more of Joshua’s work at flickr.com/joshuablackwilkins, and hear some of his music on MySpace

Personally, I think it’s very interesting to see how each assistant has their own unique story of how they’ve come to where they are in life and their career.  So come back tomorrow to see how Joshua went from being a construction worker to assisting a celebrity photographer!

Lot’s to cover today, and not much time to do it. Here goes:

Yesterday we Released a New Video Player for Kelby Online Training
We’ve been gathering your feedback and ideas for a while now, and yesterday, after many months of development, we launched a totally new player for Kelby Training Online, and we’re pretty psyched about it (a small version of it is seen above). The new player has a much larger screen size, lots of great new features (requested by you guys), and the initial feedback has been just fantastic! (If you have additional feedback or need support, you can go here and send it to us. This way it goes directly to our web team and they can make changes more quickly, rather than having to come here to check the comments). If you’re a Kelby Training subscriber, make sure you watch Matt’s quick guide through the new features. Here’s the link.

Canon announces winners of NFL shooting contest
Congratulations to 19-year-old Casey Berner (who won the adult division) and teen division winner 15-year-old Justin Tijerina who won Canon and Pro Football Hall of Fame’s “Why Do You Love Football?” photo challenge. They scored some sweet Super Bowl tickets, along with having their images displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You can see Casey’s winning images here, and Justin’s images here. Congrats you guys!

Killer Deal on Epson Wireless Printer
Last January (2009), Terry White gave me a “Terry White Tech Day” for Christmas, and he flew down to Florida to spend the day setting up/fixing/tweaking all the tech stuff in my house. It was the greatest gift ever (here’s the link). Anyway, one of the things I fell in love with was the all-in-one (printer/scanner/copier/fax) Epson Workforce 610 Wireless printer he had me get. Since it’s wireless, my whole family uses this printer for everything from printing homework assignments, to printing boarding passes, to printing photos on photo paper.

Well, Terry just let me know that Office Max has it on sale for just $99. That’s a killer deal on a killer general-use home printer. Here’s the link (Note: This isn’t a printer for serious photographers, and the scanner is adequate for general scanning, but just keep in mind—it’s a wonderful all-in-one home printer—not a lab-quality photo printer, though it does a pretty decent job when you print on photo paper).

Catch My “Photography Masters Tell You How” Interview at TakeGreatPhotos.com
I did an online interview for TakeGreatPhotos.com as part of their “Master Photographers Tell You How” series. Although we start with a look at how I got into this business, from there out we pretty much focus on the marketing side of photography, and how to give yourself a competitive edge these days. If you’ve got a minute (and you can put up with the stretched/squished/distorted photo they have of me on their site, here’s the link (hey, it could be worse—-at least they didn’t stretch some of the images from my portfolio, eh?).

Follow me on Twitter
If you want to follow me on Twitter (don’t worry—no tweets about me dropping my kids off for soccer, or what I had for breakfast type stuff), you can get on board right here.

That’s it for today folks. Hope you guys have a fantastic Tuesday!