I was somewhat cynical about Photoshopworld as a conference to attend this year. I’ve been certified for years as an ACE (Adobe Certified Expert) and ATCP (Adobe Certified Training Provider) in both Adobe Photoshop and InDesign – so I thought it would be nothing but a huge review session.

Boy was I wrong.

The first thing that struck me was the “play book” attendees receive upon registration. Each instructor (the “who’s who” of photography and photo editing) had outlined every session with notes and screenshots – meaning I could relax and enjoy the sessions, or read the notes from conflicting sessions. I would encourage every conference to follow suit.

There’s so many new features in the new version of Photoshop that even seasoned vetrans need time to reorient, or modify their workflow. I took in a ton of new subtle retouching techniques, to make sure your photos look like you – only the best representation of you! There are so many fake, pancake-faced wedding photos you can look at before wanting something a little more subtle. Only you should know a retoucher has worked their magic on your frames.

I had booked sessions with a few models to shoot in my off hours. I collaborated with the lovely and talented Tanya Plonka on some great shoots – it was fantastic having someone who can shoot alongside you and have completley original frames after the shoot. Tanya also took pity on me one night and modeled herself, thanks girl! Some local photographers are growing sick of my mantra of collaboration, but the quality really shows when you work together, proof is in the final frames.

I’m off to at least one more conference session this year in June, Don Gianatti is coming to Montana for his lighting-essentials.com workshops. I’m getting darn good at nailing studio lighting on location, but I think a few days spent with Don will bring my skills from good to great.

I leave you with a few frames from the evening shoots:

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This time ’round I spent two days with 12 other shooters from various areas of B.C. learning long exposure, high dynamic range (HDR), extended dynamic range (XDR), panoramics, street shooting, studio lighting, ambient lighting, working with models and post processing workflow. As you can imagine, the pace was intense – my crew from Alberta turned up the heat by scheduling model shoots into the evening to augment the day’s training.

I can’t recommend the training from VPW enough. I’ve grown tired of the usual “learn to use your Christmas Camera” or “basic composition” workshops found in Calgary and Southern Alberta. Once you conquer the intial learning curve of photography, you need to work with professionals who understand exactly how to extend the craft into another tool supporting your creativity. VPW does just that.

Here are a few shots from the workshop, I’ve not retouched these frames yet – so consider them raw.

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