Totally Unauthorized

The little tiny guy waaaaay up front is Scott Kelby, saying goodbye to everyone

It’s over.  Done.  Finished.  Photoshop World East 2011 is in the history books.  And a good thing, too, since I’m about as full of information as I can be, there isn’t room for any more learning.

That’s without getting to the 8:15 class, either.  I just couldn’t get up early enough, so I wandered in about 9:30 to enjoy the Expo area.  I’ve enjoyed the trade show part just as much as the classes–and learned as much, too.  There are always lessons and lectures going on–the Wacom booth had a particularly excellent list of classes, including Scott himself giving a portrait retouching demo Friday morning.

My last two classes were Frank Doorhof, a young Dutch photographer who talked about inspiration and making do with cheap lights and prop, and Scott Kelby, with Lightroom tips. Although totally different in approach, I enjoyed them both.

Scott supports an orphanage in Kenya, Springs of Hope.  I have been trying, with no success, to get him to put together a volunteer trip to aid them, and perhaps a 4 or 5 day photo-safari afterwards.  So after our class, I cornered him and asked him straight out if I was ever going to get him to go, and he said he wanted to but would have to go with his church, so I guess that plan isn’t working.

The end of show sendoff was pretty interesting–great slideshows from Frank Doorhof, Jack Black and Moose Petersen.  Tons of door prize giveaways–not that I ever win anything.  Big exhortations to come back in September for Photoshop World Las Vegas–which I won’t be going to.

I enjoyed this immensely, but don’t think I need to repeat for at least a year and more likely two.  By then, there will be new versions of both Photoshop and Lightroom out and it will be time to take more classes.  Now I just need to take more photos and spend more time making them look great.