Photoshop World Day 3, the final day, always seems to arrive way too quickly. It seems like just yesterday that Scott and I were introducing ourselves to a class full of concert Photography pre con attendees and now the whole show was winding down. But it wasn’t over quite yet. There were still a number of classes to catch and speakers to hear.

I started the morning having a bite to eat with Russell Brown and Moose Petterson as they prepped for their morning sessions. I actually checked out both their classes during the morning session and as usual they were great. Moose has a passion for photography, whether it is capturing critters on film ( well, on a digital sensor… but you know what I mean) or taking to the skies to photograph airplanes, or the amazing landscapes that make you sit back and catch your breath. It illustrates that when you do what you love, it shows.

Since it is the last day of the conference, the expo floor opens early and closes early. One of the first speakers up on this final morning was by the author of Storytellers; Jerod Foster. I had met Jerod at dinner on night 1 of the conference and was really interested in hearing him speak. He gave a great presentation at the Peachpit booth and I am looking forward to reading his book. (Hopefully I will have some free time to do so soon)

I then made my way over to the Westcott booth one last time, just to see what they had going this morning. I got a few shots that I am pretty happy with and headed over to the Nik booth and then to the Adobe booth to catch a few last-minute tricks. Then a quick bite to eat and off to a few afternoon sessions before the conference wrap up. I managed to spend most of the hour listening to Jay Maisel and Gregory Heisler, which is a great way to spend an hour. After some last-minute meetings it was time for the conference wrap up which featured presentations by Joel Grimes, Calvin Hollywood, Dave Black and Moose Petterson. All were amazing and it really shows why the instructors at Photoshop World are the best in the world. Then Larry Becker took the stage to give away a ton of stuff and send everyone on their way.

But the day wasn’t really over yet, first up was a small instructor / staff party and then dinner with Dave Clayton, Glyn Dewis and James M Hole. Followed by a freezing stroll through Washington DC where we found out exactly what time they turn out the lights at the White House and exactly how crazy some of the local tent dwellers are. I first met Dave Clayton in an elevator in Las Vegas during a previous Photoshop World. He had since taken on the role of NAPP evangelist for the UK and had organized a group of attendees from the UK to come to Photoshop World in DC. He has also been a huge supporter of mine in getting the word out when I had a new book hitting the shelves. Through Dave, I met Glyn and while we had never met in person, the conversation via Skype, emails and tweets, made it seem like we had been hanging out for years. It was my first time really meeting James and he is truly a great guy. And it turns out, really good at holding himself suspended in the air while in a lotus position…

Dinner was at an Irish pub around the corner and it was great to finally unwind and chat in person about Photoshop World, photography, and the world in general. Then it was off for a little stroll towards the White House. As we got there, they turned out the lights. It’s true, we were walking up to the fence and the lights went out.I still managed to get a shot by resting my camera on the bottom of the fence and using the Live View mode to get the composition that I wanted.

I did try to get a shot from across the street by resting the camera onto of a big wooden sign, only to be told by a toothless woman on a bike that I was not supposed to do that. I guess she was living in the tent and didn’t like the attention being placed on the house across the street. It was weird…. and cold…. and late… so we headed back to the hotel.

That’s when it all went to pieces…. We found the shoe shine chairs and couldn’t help but take a few photos. Now what you won’t see here is that Glyn nearly died and so did James. It turns out that James can fold his legs into a lotus position and can then support himself with his hands, which he did while Dave and I were sitting behind him. Glyn was supposed to take the photo but Glyn started to laugh and I mean laugh to the point were he couldn’t breathe. Dave and I thought he was going to pass out…. all this time, poor James is supporting himself in the air and is now starting to tip forward, but his legs are still in a lotus so I figured he would slam face first into the ground. Finally Glyn managed to bring the camera up and get a photo… You can see it HERE

Well, that’s it… the end of another Photoshop World. The next one is in Las Vegas on September 5-7, and while I don’t yet know if I will be teaching or if the Concert Pre Con will be offered, I know that I will be there no matter what. It’s just too good of a time to pass up.