The minute I set foot into the Convention Center at Mandalay Bay I knew I was in a special place. I had been anxiously awaiting this moment for months. Excitement and positive energy filled the air as I walked to the New Attendee Orientation with my sister, Misti. I didn’t know exactly what to expect since this was my first time attending anything like this.

I took techniques I learned from Moose Peterson’s class
“Shooting Landscape with ACR Finishing” to create this landscape photo.

Larry Becker started giving the orientation presentation, and then I knew: this was all about pure fun and learning some awesome things at the same time! I left the meeting so excited to start the next day of classes, I could barely sleep that night. It was almost like Christmas!

The first day of classes started out with the opening keynote address. Larry Becker told us at the orientation that the keynote was no ordinary keynote. It was full of fun and not to be missed. And boy was he right! Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, and the rest of the Kelby Media gang sure know how to put on a show. The theme of this year’s Photoshop World was “Project Photoshop: the Feel, the Fashion, the Filters.” They opened the keynote address with a video of their version of “Project Runway.” It was hilarious and had everyone laughing with jokes only photographers and designers would appreciate!

I learned this compositing technique from Jim DiVitale’s class
“Mastering the Composite Image.”

After the keynote, we made our way to class. My first class was with Joe McNally. The Joe McNally! I may have been a little star struck! And so it went with the rest of the classes. With photographers like Scott Kelby, Corey Barker, Julieanne Kost, Moose Peterson, Jay Maisel, etc., I was thrilled to be learning from the masters and celebrities of photography.

Each day was packed with classes and as the days went on, I started noticing a theme. I came into Photoshop World wondering if what I had been doing was “right.” I taught myself how to use my camera by trial and error. I taught myself Photoshop by experimentation. I was eager to learn from the experts about how they did things. They are the professionals so they had to be doing it “right!”

The theme I saw emerging was this: it doesn’t matter how you get from Point A to Point B. It only matters what your outcome is. There is no “right’ or “wrong” way. There are more efficient ways of doings things, of course, but no right and wrong. Can you imagine the relief I, and probably many others, felt? I was doing techniques in Photoshop that Scott Kelby uses all the time. Some of my photography techniques were the same as Moose Peterson’s. This was awesome! I definitely learned a ton of new things, but I came away feeling validated. I was on the right track.

The entire class was wowed by Joe McNally’s fun flash techniques
in his class “Small Flash Basics.”

Each and every class was amazing. The instructors were so knowledgeable and quite surprisingly, very funny! They were lighthearted and cracked jokes and set everyone at ease. They made you feel like you could ask any question and they would be more than happy to help you. They were, most importantly, approachable. They weren’t untouchable celebrities; they were normal people just like me.

Scott Kelby gave some helpful tips on how to create a great panorama shot.
I tested this out at Zion National Park on our way home from Photoshop World.

I loved discovering this, and Misti and I even got up the courage to talk to Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, Dave Black, and Jeremy Cowart. They were genuinely happy to meet us and we even made them laugh!

One of the highlights of Photoshop World was the special event, “The Art of Digital Photography.” This was a panel of some of the best photographers in the world. Each shared a series of photos and the story to go along with them. Joe McNally shared his “Heroes of 9/11” project. It was incredibly emotional. Jeremy Cowart talked about his project, “Help-Portrait.” Dave Black inspired everyone with his journey into photography. It was emotional, inspiring, light-hearted and fun and I left with an amazing feeling. It’s hard to describe, but this event was one of the best two hours of the whole convention!

At the end of the week, my head was full of information and my heart was filled with a burning fire to try out all these fantastic new techniques!