Photoshop World 2010, Las Vegas
Photoshop World 2010 in Vegas was even more fun than the Boston one! A few of us from The University of Lethbridge, including Michael Warf, ventured down to Sin City this last week to learn about Photoshop, design, and photography, as well as to do some crazy networking. I averaged around 5 hours of sleep each night, but isn’t that what you are supposed to do in Vegas?
Like last year, pardon the bad point and shoot camera photos. I had to throw a few of the not-very-in-focus ones in just because that’s all I had. Speaking of which, my little Sony is 6 years old now. Does anyone recommend a good, small camera I should get to replace it?
We stayed at THEhotel, since Mandalay Bay had no more openings by the time we made our reservations. Lucky for us! THEhotel was stunning, and easily the nicest place I have ever stayed. It was hard to leave. If it had a kitchen, I would have been just fine living there forever!
Lotsa photos!!
Wow, the room was so personalized for me! ;)
Maybe I should start calling myself that?
The view at night
The view in the day
The first day I was up bright and early – well, not quite bright as it was before sunrise! My east facing room had a gorgeous view of the sun rising over the mountains.
PSW was held at Mandalay Bay, which is a gorgeous hotel/casino I was only briefly at one time before.
A small portion of the crowd waiting to get into the opening keynote
Courtesy of Zack Arias :)
Co-worker/traveller Brian poses before we head out to the After Hours Party at House of Blues
Earlier that day, R.C. Concepcion personally introduced me and Michael to Zack Arias, which was a pretty big deal for us since we admire him immensely. It didn’t hurt that R.C. raved about our work during the introduction :)
We had a chance to better chat with Zack at the party, and Michael had a good visit with him on Friday.
Myself, R.C., and Michael
Scott Kelby’s band Big Electric Cat
That night we met John, a commercial photographer and digital editor from Texas, and he became our buddy for the remainder of the trip.
We remembered Vanelli from the party last year, but didn’t properly meet him until now. He became a staple for the remainder of our stay, and I’m so bummed I didn’t get a chance to shoot with him (*almost* – so it will have to happen next time!) (I think this accurately sums him up, haha)
Michael’s friend Jerry, who assists for Don Giannatti.
Michael with Matt Kloskowski
Early the next morning I ran into Vanelli again, and he personally introduced me to Scott Kelby :)
At the next class I went to on blogging, I was pleased to discover that Jeff Revell was one of the chairs for the discussion. I hadn’t talked to him since PSW Boston last year, so it was great to have a few minutes to say hello and catch up!
PSW this year had a rock & roll, concert theme.
R.C. hooked me up with this David Bowie doppelgänger at the party. Adam is also a photographer, but when he looks like that, he needs to be on both sides of the camera! Michael was my VAL (voice-activated lightstand) and we got a good half hour out of the lobby of THEhotel before we were kicked out. This is just a teaser and there are more to come!
Michael and Adam
…plus myself
At the Tradeshow they had tons of models you could photograph, and I’ll probably still do something more funky with these when I get the chance.
R.C. was good at pimping out Adam, and threw him in with the models a few times.
Brian, John, and Michael – our fancy night on the town
The view from The Mix bar
Scott Kelby did a lighting demo at the Westcott booth
Getting a photo of all of us taking photos
Mike Kubeisy gave a detailed demo on the lighting he uses for his Hollywood glamour photos, and after finishing with his hired model, R.C. got in there again and had Adam model. (I later thanked R.C. for making us feel like celebrities – to have someone “big” like that raving about you to other important people is such an amazing feeling!)
I was lucky enough to get to borrow Mike’s Pocket Wizard and get a shot of Adam in that set up.
Goodbye, PSW! The closing ceremony, which I had to duck out of early because I forgot to eat lunch!
The sun set over the strip, and we were on our way home.
It’s worth noting I slept until 1pm today to compensate for the week. Oh my!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Michael Warf, Tanya Plonka. Tanya Plonka said: New blog: Photoshop World 2010, Las Vegas http://tinyurl.com/2d9xky9 […]
Tanya you are amazing! How do you make me look so good? Perhaps the better question is ‘what would I have done at PSW without you?’ I had a fantastic time at THEhotel and am dying to see all of the awesome work you’ve done. Likewise, I can’t wait to get you in front of my camera. Who knows, maybe together we’ll make each other famous!
Adam, it was not difficult! I’m so glad R.C. introduced us and gave us each a moment in the spotlight. Thank you again for the “illegal” photo shoot in the lobby.
I definitely look forward to running into you at the next Photoshop World, and we’ll make more concrete plans the next time :)
[…] Tanya Plonka – Photoshop World 2010, Las Vegas […]
What a great trip report. I love the enthusiasm you shared, including the mirror self-portrait. You have some great shots of Adam and I really like the profile shot of the Queen of Hearts (I wish I knew the model’s names to give credit).
Congratulations on meeting Vanelli. One of these times, we need to hang a bell on him.
[…] am veeeeery late on editing and posting these, but thrilled to finally get them up here. Back in September I alluded to working with a Utah photographer who could easily be David Bowie’s lovechild […]