The Secrets of My Success

Oft I am asked, "oh great Phil, how is your knowledge so vast? Can your understanding of f-stop and shutter speed be so a-like Stephen Hawking's grasp of fractals and string theory? What Faustian pact have you committed your soul to that you dance with the deep secrets of Photoshop's sinuous curves?  Is it merely coincidence that you speak in profiles?  Were you apprenticed at the feet of Guttenberg?

My secrets I will share with you.

Mallomars and Kombucha.  It is what I nosh on when I am at my Mac.  I will say it loud say it proud, "I am an on line tutorial junkie"! Some have their Warcraft others their Sims and a few the Wolong PandaCam.  I spend the dark hours of the night consuming on line video tutorials.

Adobe TV's Russel Brown is my Johnny Carson.  I laugh, I cry, I understand 'blending modes'.  Julieanne Kost has gently guided my trembling hands through things that are RAW.  If my appetite seems particularly insatiable, I read online 'Adobe White Papers'.  These sacred writings on things digital fill gaps in my brain with ancient lore that only an acolyte would desire.  My creative juices begin to ferment like the pungent taste of my Kombucha.

Now I will admit I do use most of what I learn immediately.  Whether printing here at CPW or shooting on location with a client I am constantly trying to incorporate the new things I have unearthed on  the web,  read in magazines, or overheard in seamy backrooms into my creative process.  The sooner I can gain a handle on new techniques and approaches the sooner I can play and create.   In fact as soon as I learn a new technique I try to poke and prod it, look under the hood if you will.  Believe it or not there is room to intuit in the digital workflow.

Remember, nothing is better than getting out there and walking the walk and not just talking the talk (or blogging the blog).

I have seen that 1000yard stare on the faces of my workshop participants at the end of a two day seminar on CS4 here at The Center for Photography in Woodstock.  What once was a mind light, fresh and hungry has been stuffed to the point of 'Photoshop TMI'.  Feeling like Charlie Brown's teacher,  I tell my followers to rest their weary pates and not to panic because their brains hurt.  Photoshop Cafe offers servings of hearty Photoshop food that will be there for them when their minds have digested.

You need to find the techniques that work for you and the world wide web is a cornucopia of information for the hungry digital artist.  Certainly if you come to CPW and take a class with me or one of the other instructors who visit these halls you will learn photography secrets only known to Capuchin giclee initiates, but until then, pick up your mallomars throw back your Kombucha and dig in to the online smorgasbord.

If you're in town, come on down.