Pixiq

Pre-convention day or “precon” day at Photoshop World today. Starting the day early with a gathering of the instructors for an early morning private presentation put on by Adobe. Can’t say any more because of a non-disclosure agreement I had to sign or men in black raincoats wearing dark sunglasses will show up at my door. After lunch, I decide to take in a 5-hour DSLR Video class given by Richard Harrington. Rich, as we like to call him, is one of the authors of a great book called Still to Motion and is a fantastic instructor. His book is the book you need if you are going to shoot video on a DSLR.

The class was great, a very informative session (I learned a lot of great stuff) and he was masterful at keeping control of a room full of photographers and videographers. If you think that’s an easy task with a room full of type A’s, give it a shot some time. Rich handled it perfectly.

He had a singer come, one who made it to the second round of American Idol in Las Vegas, and along with the students (it’s a hands on class) took footage to edit together for a music video. There were about 4 others assisting and helping Rich shoot, with about 35 students, so the instructor to class ratio was very high. We viewed several videos Rich produced and he explained in detail all the cuts, the camera movements, the lighting, and just all sorts of stuff that fulled my little ole noggin’. Multi camera shooting, sound syncing, on and on. There was also a TV commercial spot he just shot, showing us the rough cut before final color correction and sound. Fooled me, I thought it looked great as is. He also showed us some raw outtakes to see how it was pieced together.

A lot of video equipment was shown and explained. Toward the end of the session, there was a location shooting outside and students could “borrow” some of the equipment and rigs that some video manufactures lent Rich for this class. It’s great to have friends in high places. Students had to leave their driver’s license in order to borrow and shoot with the equipment, Rich being no fool.

All the footage will be made available to the students during the week, to download and edit. Rich has an Adobe Premier Pro editing class later this week, which I’m also hoping to attend.

Right after the class is one of the really events and one of the many things that separates Photoshop World from the many other conventions. At every Photoshop World, the night before the convention opens, all the instructors and some of the NAPP crew get together for a big group dinner. What great fun. I sat between my good ole friend Jeff Schewe and the lovely Julieanne Kost. JP Caponigro and Katrin Eismann were also at our table. A gathering like that really makes it a special occasion for the instructors. I sat and talked to Moose Peterson who showed me some wonderful and amazing air to air vintage airplane shots he’s doing. Check them out at www.warbirdimages.com. I love planes and that's a workshop I'd love to take one day. Without a get together like this, it’s hard to really talk and or meet the many of the other instructors. New instructors are introduced to everyone, old friends get to share new stories, and a good time is had before the craziness and whirlwind pace of the convention starts. It really gives the show a family feeling for the instructors.

Tomorrow is the opening ceremony. Always entertaining and fun. Can't wait.