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I can’t believe it came around again so fast. But indeed, it was time for Photoshop World Orlando! Since we are parked in Fort Worth, TX, we flew to Florida for PSW. One of the things I LOVE about PSW is that the event has come to be something of a family reunion. Immediately upon arriving, you converge with awesome friends who are all there for the same reason. (Actually, it happened BEFORE I landed in Orlando. At my layover in Atlanta, I met up with Eddie Tapp and Judy Host, and we shared a plane to Florida!) And across the entirety of the event, we were constantly crossing paths with/going out with great friends and other PSW instructors. Usually, we meet up with friends during the course of our travels, when we pass by their home towns. But like I said, at Photoshop World, it’s like a family reunion where everyone is in the same place. Love it!

This year, Photoshop World’s theme was “Project Photoshop,” based off the hit TV show, “Project Runway.”

Oh, and then there’s the learning part! PSW is usually a massive brain infusion of information and creative techniques. This year was no exception. But here’s the interesting thing: When I first started going to Photoshop classes, both live and online, it always surprised me how much I didn’t know. Well this year, after attending a bunch of classes, I actually started to realize how much I DO know. And it’s a lot. So this tells me two things. One: I need to keep putting this knowledge toward new projects. And two: I need to start taking some harder classes, because, being the knowledge/Photoshop junkie that I am, I need to be challenged and constantly learning new things.

Every year, Photoshop World takes on a different theme. This year, it was Project Photoshop, based on the TV series, “Project Runway.” Now, since NAPP (The gang that puts PSW together) seems to outdo itself every year, the keynote was the perfect parody to the TV show, with Adobe’s Julianne Kost taking on the role of Heidi Klum. Oh, and the dresses were all actually designed by fashion students in Orlando… and they did an AWESOME job!

Above is a pano from Scott Kelby’s Photoshop for Travel Photographers class. (He was talking about panos at the time )

Here are some of the classes I took this time around:

• Scott Kelby’s class on Photoshop for Travel Photographers. I’m actually a travel photographer now, and this was the first time I remember this class being offered. Loved the class, and there was one pano technique I learned that made the whole hour worth it right there!

• Corey Barker’s class on 3D in Photoshop. I’ve been getting into more illustrative projects and design effects, yet I was pretty unfamiliar with the 3D features in Photoshop. So this basic overview-style class was great for me.

• Bert Monroy’s class on Illustration. Every time I go to one of Bert’s classes I learn new things… lots of new things. And not just specific techniques, but the thought process behind them.

• Terry White’s class on why photographers should be on facebook. Learned tons of new stuff about how to actually harness the control settings in facebook and how to channel certain messages to certain groups of people.

• Rich Harrington’s class on Adobe Premiere. Ben and I are planning on getting into more video-related projects and up until now, I’ve been using iMovie for that. I’d like to get into the more serious software, so the intro to Premiere was a good thing to give me a general idea of how things worked.

• Katrin Eismann’s class, “From one to Many,” which dealt with using series of shots to create one final image. Whether it be HDR, unique panos, using multiple shots for noise removal, or even people removal, they were all awesome techniques I know I’m going to be referring back to in the future. And dude. It’s Katrin Eismann. She’s freakin awesome and a pleasure to learn from.

At the PSW Expo, onOne Software had a photo booth, so of course we had to get in there!

One of the highlights from the trade show floor was Westcott’s lighting setups, complete with themed sets and models. This is a shot I got from one of those.