Photoshop workshop with Jonathan Kingston

Great thing about Ketchum/Sun Valley, is that we don't have to go very far to learn from brilliant, talented people, because they always come to visit US.  Such is the case with Jonathan Kingston, a documentary and underwater photographer and photoshop guru who gave his Photoshop CS4 basics and beyond training at my studio. I got to sit in for free (part student, part TA) since I transformed my studio/gallery into a classroom for 5 days. I even helped out when I could, because as they say, you can learn a lot when you teach.  Some lecture, some shooting, some practicing, some wax on - wax off, ....grasshoppahhhhh......

We even had Paul Liebhardt in the class (thank god, who knew photoshop could be so funny?!) Paul was both Jonathan and my favorite professor at Brooks Institute of Photography, BACK IN THE DAY. (a wonderful photographer with a great sense of humor-check him out!) Tables have turned, and now we're teaching the 'old dog' some new digital tricks. Class was small, so that left a lot of time for questions and personal attention. We had a great group of intelligent students, and we would even discuss the philosopy of color management?!

After 5 days of geeking out together, it felt like family, and we celebrated at Rasberry's for a wonderful farewell dinner (thanks Alfredo!!)

Photos Do Not Bend Studio was a great venue for the workshop - we'll be doing more here, so stay tuned.

But for now.... ahhh, back to normal (and back to work) 

Summer Wrap-Up

This summer was full of workshops, weddings, fires, and interns. Jonathan Kingston traveled from Bend, Oregon and taught some Photoshop classes in the gallery/studio. About 8 people attented it as an intensive workshop over the weekend.

Brooks intern Brandon Hauser assisted as second shooter and was on hold for tech-support whenever I needed him. A nature boy at heart, he loved climbing mountains and shooting the fires (see photo below). He was also great at lifting heavy objects and turning heads at weddings. My relationship with Brandon was part boss, part mentor, part friend, and part mom. Brandon is now graduated and just got a job in Alaska. Good luck Brandon!

For those of you who didn't hear, Ketchum was under siege for 2 weeks, as forest fires forced 3,000 people to evacuate their homes and businesses. The town had 1,700 firefighters camped out a the base of the mountains, and thanks to them not a single life or structure was lost. Thanks firefighters!!

Finally, the biggest wedding of the summer was downsized from 400 people to just 40 close friends and family at the parents' house because of the fires, and the family donated all the food from the reception to the firefighters. They were served filet mignon and vishyssoise, and they said they loved the steak, but why was the soup cold?