1. This party’s about to get started! #psw12, 2. So fun having lunch with @thegypsymama @Moes_HQ while I’m in DC for #psw12, 3. Crazy cool model setup from @WestcottCo at #psw12, 4. Molten Chocolate Cake – oh my! #psw12, 5. Cool art & good chance to use my degree in Russian. Just don’t remember what it means #psw12, 6. I want to be one of these couples someday, 7. @aj_wood & family getting book signed by @scottkelby @ajwood, 8. You’re never too young to learn Photoshop (or maybe watch Wall-E) #psw12 @aj_wood’s daughter), 9. Totally cool Nikon 50mm lens bracelet from @lensbracelet #psw12

Camera Phone Friday is nothing if not unpredictable: a slow week might have four photos, a busy one twenty-four. This week’s total is seventeen. All but the last three flesh out my trip last weekend to Washington, DC, for Photoshop World. I think my phone captured more than my camera.

I’ve worn my new 50mm Lens Bracelet (bottom right in collage above) all week—geek chic at its finest!

1. Photoshop World Midnight Madness #psw12, 2. Painting from DC Cherry Blossom Festival 100th anniversary #psw12, 3. Expo Hall #psw12, 4. L’Enfant Metro Station #psw12

I may have been in DC during the 100th anniversary of their Cherry Blossom Festival, but I really didn’t see many cherry blossoms. I took the metro from the convention center to the airport on the last day, and really wish I’d figured it out a little sooner and done some sightseeing.

The photo bottom right in the collage above was taken in the L’Enfant Metro Station. Last week I emailed my students in the Classical Conversations Challenge II class that I teach a link to this story about Joshua Bell playing anonymously in L’Enfant, so being there felt meaningful (I got to visit twice, since I should have gotten off and changed trains the first time through).

1. Bumpy ride from DC to Philadelphia. Glad to be on the ground., 2. That includes my 10 cent Kroger gas discount :-(, 3. Robin’s egg found on the ground in our backyard (there’s a nest and more in our porch light), 4. Dogwood

I think the last four images are just lovely, except for that awful gas pump. $111.40! What’s the most you’ve payed for gas lately?

What did your camera phone capture this week? Link it below!

Camera Phone Friday: Photoshop World Recap Edition is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

We’ve all heard the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but how do you edit a photo to tell a story? You might need to crop out elements that detract; lighten or darken areas to draw the eye towards where you want it and/or away from where you don’t; or maybe enhance or desaturate color.

This photo from the Real World Concert Photography workshop at Photoshop World last Friday is a good example of the kind of editing I’m talking about.

This is Scott Kelby and his wife, Kalebra. The photo was taken with my 50mm lens when they were at the back of the stage, so they’re only a small part of the original image. As soon as I saw this shot, however, I knew that unless another one truly wowed me, it was the one.

I started in Lightroom, went into Photoshop, and then returned to Lightroom. The first thing I did was crop it. A lot. I decided I wanted to get everything else out of the frame, so I removed the edge of the mic stand on the right using the fabulous Content Aware Fill feature in Photoshop CS5 (I typed Command + E on my Mac to send the image from Lightroom into Photoshop – that’s probably Control + E on a PC). I saved the image in Photoshop (not “save as,” just save) and closed it. This sent an edited second copy back into Lightroom, which is where I resumed my edits.

Next, I decided to go black and white. The tint of the stage lights detracted from rather than enhanced the image. I used one of my very favorite Lightroom presets, Noir film – MakeLightReal.com, which I must have downloaded once upon a time from here. I tweaked the exposure and added a post crop vignette in the Effects panel to darken the edges and frame the middle. It looks like the Noir film preset added some Luminance Noise Reduction (in the Details panel), which I would have done anyway. This was shot in low light with ISO 1000.

Here’s our final edit:

Scott Kelby is a very public figure. He’s just been named the top-selling U.S. photography book author for the second year in a row. His books regularly wind up on bestseller lists because he’s equally adept at teaching the everyday hobbyist or the seasoned professional how to get the shot or better use the software to edit it.

If you read the dedication page of any of his books, however, you’ll also discover that Scott’s a devoted husband and father, with a strong Christian faith. His wife, Kalebra, goes to Photoshop World with him and they enjoy playing and singing together in his band; that smokin’ red guitar was her Valentine’s gift to him.

When I had the chance to tell a story about Scott Kelby with a photo, that was the story I want to tell, and I’d do it again—knowing it’s only a second place shot for a concert photography contest—because it’s a story I believe in.

Edit to Tell Your Story is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I‘ll remember this as the first full day of my first ever visit to Washington, DC; the longest distance I’ve walked in a single day in an awfully long time; and the day I finally grasped what I should be doing with the collections and catalogs in Lightroom; but mostly I’ll remember it as The Day My Photo Made the Photoshop World Opening Keynote.

Remember yesterday when I told you about attending the Real World Concert Photography pre-conference workshop? Well, the photo I submitted to the contest was one of the top three posted on the screen this morning for audience vote. Mine popped up first and I whispered— very loudly, since people two rows ahead of me turned around—”That’s my picture!” The folks around me clapped and hollered like I was their hometown girl, which was so sweet.

I didn’t walk away with the camera and lens from Nikon, but I certainly walked away with a big smile.

What was the most unexpectedly fabulous thing that’s happened to you recently?

[photo of Scott Kelby and his wife Kalebra]

My First Full Day of Photoshop World in DC, 2012 is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

1. Cutest house shoes ever (dearfoams @ BJ’s), 2. Love my little bobbies from @allorahandmade, 3. Create, 4. Tiles, 5. The scent of carnations still reminds me of high school, 6. Cherry blossoms in DC

This week’s Camera Phone Friday is coming to you live from Photoshop World in Washington, DC. Photoshop World is a semiannual Photoshop lovefest organized by NAPP, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. I’ve been an Evangelist for NAPP for my demographic—mom bloggers, homeschoolers, designers, SAHMs, and digiscrappers—for nearly three years.

If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you might fit into one of more of those categories. You can always learn more about NAPP and my current referral special by clicking the ad at top of my blog or the NAPP link in the row at the top of the page. See it up there? It starts with Home.

Currently, joining with promo code DAWN gets you a $10 discount and Corey Barker’s Down and Dirty Tricks for Designers for FREE. I’m going to Corey’s Down and Dirty Tricks for Designers class this weekend!

Classes start tomorrow, but pre-conference workshops were today. I attended Real World Concert Photography taught by Alan Hess and Scott Diussa. The class lasts for four hours, with a break in the middle to shoot a real concert. Before Scott Kelby became a world-renowned author, photographer, and instructor, he was a singer and musician. Still is.

Scott’s wife, Kalebra, is also in his band, Big Electric Cat. I submitted a picture of the two of them together on stage as my entry in the photo contest that’s open to workshop attendees. There were forty of us, each of whom was allowed to submit one photograph by 10:30 p.m. tonight.

It’s been an exhausting couple of days, so I actually went back my room and collapsed, even missing the big TweetUp tonight (the conference hashtags are #PSW12 and #PSW). However, I did get my photo in on time.

I hope the other thirty-nine attendees went out on the town for a fabulous evening instead of heading back to their room and editing photos, because the winner gets a new Nikon D7000 and a lens (forgot which one). Who needs to go sit in your room and edit when you can be out mixing, mingling, and tweeting? I just want them to be happy. Really I do.

What did your camera phone capture this week? Link it here!

Special thanks to Red River Paper, who’s helped sponsor all four of my trips to Photoshop World!

Camera Phone Friday: LIVE from Photoshop World Edition is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

My pass for Photoshop World arrived in the mail yesterday for March 30-April 1 in Orlando. Today—Friday, February 25—is the last day to register and receive the $100 Early Bird Discount. I would love to see you there.

Photoshop World is a creative high. I always walk away motivated, inspired, and with fresh editing and workflow tips that revolutionize my whole photography process.

The classes are varied and relevant, and taught by industry leaders. During the course of the conference you can learn lighting tips from Joe McNally; Lightroom from Matt Kloskowski or Julianne Kost; portrait retouching from Scott Kelby; how to make an online portfolio from RC Concepcion; concert photography from Alan Hess.

For a photography junkie, it just doesn’t get any better than this.

It’s my personal wish to see more camera-toting blogging mamas like myself there. If you can’t make it this time, Photoshop World happens twice per year, once on the east coast and once on the west coast. The west coast locations is usually Las Vegas.

If you join NAPP (see the NAPP tab in my navigation bar for reasons why you should), be sure and enter my promo code—DAWN—for a $10 discount and a free bonus offer, which is currently Scott Kelby’s Photo Recipes Live DVD/book combo. Once you’re a member, you can start racking up benefits when others join through your referral link. Refer eleven new members and earn your Photoshop World pass for free.

Are you going to Photoshop World? Do you want to go?

It’s Almost Photoshop World Time! is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Photoshop World was Tuesday-Friday this week in Las Vegas, and while I would have loved to have been there, I had a great week at home.

Wednesday I took head shots for a lovely young actress.

Thursday night two of my kids and I went to a Latin party. If you’ve ever thought I’m a little nerdy, this might confirm it. We hung out and watched videos about the Latin language. I took six pages of notes and a screen shot.

Friday was my seventh child’s seventh birthday! On each child’s birthday, if at all possible, I take them out for lunch. Chili’s is always a favorite and that’s where we went.

Are they just born knowing that tilt of the head?

We’ll call this, “Wait, it’s my sister’s birthday and she’s getting all the attention!”

I cut everyone else in my household’s hair, so I’ve never felt too bad about paying to get mine done until this year. In an effort to save, I haven’t gone to get my hair cut since last December. A good friend, another stay-at-home mom, has done it for me a couple of times, whenever we’ve had the opportunity.

After Google image searching “haircuts,” I saved this to my phone before we left for the birthday lunch.

Although well aware that no mere mortal could make me look like that, I thought the style was realistically possible for my hair.

On a whim, I called a salon that I hadn’t visited in over a year and a half and where I knew my former stylist no longer worked. Could they work me in? Yes, if I could be there in 30 minutes!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that while the salon had been a little snooty, it’s now a more relaxed and enjoyable place to be. I really liked the girl who cut my hair and will probably go there again.

I don’t know about you, but after a haircut I like to get a picture to remind me how it was styled at the salon, although it’s usually difficult to replicate by yourself. My husband snapped some pictures for me while I gave lots of instruction on where to stand, focus, etc. After that Jasmine Star wedding photography course at Creative Live last weekend, I harbor a secret agenda of transforming him into my own personal JD (Jasmine’s husband and second shooter). I’ll let you know when you can book us to shoot your wedding. ;-)

The good news is, I got a new headshot! Woo hoo!

It’s cropped in the sidebar enough to disguise the fact that my roots needed a touch up, which I took care of this morning. ;-)

My daughter snapped some pictures of my husband and me; we’ll celebrate our 25th anniversary next month. I am beyond thrilled to have them and to have been blessed with such a man to call my own. I’m convinced there’s not another anywhere who would put up with me.

What have you done this week?

I’m crossing my fingers to be at Photoshop World in Orlando next spring!

What I Did this Week While I Wasn’t at Photoshop World is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Last week in Orlando was Zack Arias’s first appearance as a Photoshop World instructor. I knew a little about Zack: he lives here in Atlanta; I’d watched his guest post video on Scott Kelby’s blog and related to the winter photography funk; a few months ago my husband printed his white background studio setup to hopefully create for me one day in our unfinished basement.

What I didn’t know was the impact he would have on me at Photoshop World.

You know that feeling you get when someone is speaking and it really moves you? That heavy, misty feeling in your head that says you just might start crying if any more of your inner wires get tripped, your fears and insecurities laid bare? It didn’t take long for that sensation to hit me; not a particularly comfortable feeling in a room full of people, sitting there between a couple of my NAPP buddies.

Here was this wildly successful photographer who seemed to be a lot like me on the inside.

I walked out of that room a serious Zack Arias fan. Not just me: he was the hit of Photoshop World Orlando.

He’s real. He’s honest. He’s encouraging. He’s a battery charger. I was trying to explain it to my husband, and he said, “He made you feel like you could do it.” Exactly.

One of my favorite quotes (and this isn’t word for word) was this: It’s not about being a rock star photographer. It’s about serving people. (Obviously this has nothing to do with shooting rock stars, which technically does make you a rock star photographer. It’s about the “photographer as rock star” mentality.)

There’s a lot of buzz in the photography world about fees, and how underpricing your work is detrimental to photographers as a whole. Zack told the audience that if you’re just trying to feed your family, do what you need to do and let everyone else take care of themselves. Don’t worry about taking down the industry.

I had the chance to speak with Zack a couple of times. He’s very down to earth and likable, like someone that would be fun to hang out with. If you can hear him speak, don’t miss it.

Zack Links:

• Zack’s blog
• Zack on Twitter
• OneLight Workshops
• Usedfilm Studios
• Usedfilm Studios fan page on Facebook

Related Posts:

• Joe McNally’s Big Lights from Small Flashes
• Photoshop World Whrrled
• Photoshop World Orlando 2010 in Photos Recap

This post brought to you by my Photoshop World sponsors, Red River Paper and Artistic Photo Canvas.

Zack Arias Rocked My Photoshop World is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

These photos are from Photoshop World Orlando last week.

Here I am with my buddies Alan Hess of Shot Live Photo and Lew Bedell from Artistic Photo Canvas. I consider Alan my personal mentor; he puts up with an endless stream of questions from me, which he probably never anticipated when influencing me to buy the same camera as he has. I carry his concert shooting setting tips on my phone now to spare him the Twitter DMs. He really is a rock star photographer.

Lew helped sponsor me for Photoshop World by letting me evangelize about his awesome company at their booth on Thursday afternoon. What a great bunch to hang out with!

Alan gave away this canvas from APC, signed by Scott Kelby, of a shot from Photoshop World 2009 in Las Vegas. It was from his pre-conference workshop on concert photography. I didn’t win. :-(

Alan surprised everyone by also giving away the canvas that you see above my buddy A.J.‘s head. It’s of Billy Idol (I told you Alan was a rock star photographer). An older man won it; I suspect he didn’t even know Billy Idol. If I’d won this one, my husband would have probably hung it in the living room. After all, we are children of the 80s.

Here’s the same cast of characters, still hanging out with APC:

Here’s Terry White doing a lighting class on the expo hall floor at the Manfrotto booth. I think we have the same camera, too. I seriously want to borrow some lenses from these guys. :-)

A.J. attempting to roll an Oreo down his face and into his mouth, part of Vanelli’s crowd-pleasing pre-Midnight Madness antics:

Na na na na na na na na… it’s Batman Vanelli himself!

Matt Kloskowski teaching a Lightroom class:

Here is Scott Kelby receiving an award from Peachpit Press for being the #1 computer/technology writer in the world for the 20th straight year (actually it’s six). Scott about lost it when Peachpit said that instead of choosing a congratulatory gift for him, they would buy him his next lens. It was kind of cool to see that someone that you might assume would have everything actually has a wish list. :-)

For more Photoshop World action, check out the PSW Flickr stream!

Related posts:

• Joe McNally’s Big Lights from Small Flashes
• Photoshop World Whrrled

This post brought to you by my Photoshop World sponsors, Red River Paper and Artistic Photo Canvas.

Photoshop World Orlando 2010 in Photos Recap is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

My external flash and I have a love/hate relationship: love it when it works properly, hate it when I don’t get the desired results. Fortunately, I’ve got sense enough to realize that I am the problem, not the light. If I’d use and study it more it would be less intimidating, more predictable with less guess work. I love Zack Arias‘s quote that it’s “just a piece of plastic and four batteries.”

If you attend Photoshop World, you want to either meet Joe McNally, attend one of Joe McNally’s classes, or just be Joe McNally. There is no other Joe (except Joe from MPix, but that’s another story).

Bright and early last Thursday morning I attended “Big Light from Small Flashes.” The class was packed; I actually sat in the center aisle.

The biggest piece of info I walked away with (and for goodness sake, somebody correct me if I remembered this wrong) is this: adjust aperture to compensate for flash, shutter speed for ambient light. I immediately had a chance to test it while shooting candids at our Father/Daughter Dance on Saturday night.

The gym was dimly lit, but my flash was triggering the flash on the camera of the photographer shooting the official portraits, so I switched to low aperture, high ISO, no flash for the beginning of the evening. Once I was able to use flash, I had to increase the aperture to keep from blowing out the highlights. I just kept tweaking aperture and shutter speed, trying to achieve the desired results from flash and ambient light. I would rather play a learning game than a guessing game any day.

By the end of the evening, I wanted to trade my SB-600 for an SB-800 with a diffuser, but that’s yet another story.

Here are some more shots of Joe wowing the crowd at Photoshop World:

This post brought to you by my Photoshop World sponsors, Red River Paper and Artistic Photo Canvas.

Photoshop World Orlando: Joe McNally’s Big Light from Small Flashes is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I just returned home from my third Photoshop World, this time in Orlando. Although there was no time for blogging, I did Whrrl different parts of the event from my phone. These are the slideshows. Look for more Photoshop World posts to come!

This post brought to you by my Photoshop World sponsors, Red River Paper and Artistic Photo Canvas.

Photoshop World Whrrled is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved