Foreword

I wear a lot of hats at my day job, where since 1999 I lead a company dedicated to teaching people Photoshop, Lightroom, and photography. One of my roles there (and one I particularly enjoy) is my role as Conference Technical Chair for the Photoshop World Conference & Expo. That’s a fancy-sounding name for “the guy who gets to choose who speaks at the conference.” It’s a job I take very seriously.

People from all over the world come to this three-day conference and we had decided from the very beginning that if this truly was going to be a world-class event, we had to hire nothing but absolutely the very best instructors on earth—the thing that would make our conference so unique. If you come to Photoshop World as an attendee, you know for certain that you’re learning from the very best.

Sure, there are some very obvious choices for instructors out there, but I don’t need just 10 or 12 instructors. With well over 100 classes to fill during the conference and I need to put together a team or 35 to 40 flat-out amazing teachers. They can’t be just “fairly good” or “pretty solid.” They have to be literally the world’s best at what they do. That’s quite a small list.

Of course, I can’t use the same instructors every single year—you have to keep things fresh for the attendees who come year after year. So an important part of my Technical Chair job is to find the next generation of Photoshop gurus—teachers whose skill and passion have started getting them worldwide acclaim. I was delighted to see that a photographer/Photoshop guru I met a few years ago on a vacation trip to London with my wife turned out to be just that.

After spending the day shooting (and laughing) our way around London (with our dear friend, designer Dave Clayton), I started following Glyn’s tutorials online and son of a gun not only did he have some very clever stuff, I was learning new techniques from him on a regular basis. His retouching techniques and special effects were just really clever and he was covering and creating some of the most popular “looks” out there today.

So, when two years later I came to London with my “Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it” full-day seminar, I invited Glyn to be my “guest retoucher” to come on stage for 30-minutes and do a start-to-finish retouch of an image I had just lit and photographed of a boxer in a boxing ring. I left the stage, sat in the audience, and took notes along with everyone else. As expected, he absolutely crushed it!

I knew from the audience’s reaction that Glyn had been a huge hit, but when I read the hundreds of written evaluation forms completed at the end of the day, I realized that what he did on stage that day wasn’t just a really good session on retouching. What he did was something really special. He connected with the audience in a way that a few people in this entire industry can. Whatever that “thing” is that makes someone go from a really good teacher to a world-class instructor, he had it in spades. I knew right then I had to ask him to join our “Instructor Dream Team” at the Photoshop World Conference & Expo.

From his first time speaking at Photoshop World, he was a hit. He captivated rooms full of serious Photoshop users with his knowledge, passion, and gift for communicating with wit and wisdom throughout. But it was his heartfelt presentation at the closing ceremony that year in front of literally thousands of Photoshop users gathered from around the world, where he shared his personal story, his journey, his struggles, and his triumphs, that made him who he is today and that made us fall in love with the man behind the training.

He shared some wonderful insights into his life, which brought into perspective his willingness to pass on what he’s learned to others (even if he learned it the hard way). He does it all in a way that really makes it stick. Glyn’s teaching has helped so many people around the world achieve their dreams in Photoshop, and in doing that, they’ve helped him achieve his dreams as well. And you’re holding a culmination of all of that in your hands right now.

I’ve learned so much from Glyn over the years, and I’m so excited that you’ll now have the opportunity to learn from him as well as you join him on this journey. I’m so proud of Glyn for what he’s done here in his debut book—the first of many to come—and one that I know will have you creating the type of images you’ve always dreamed of.

Glyn has a lot to share, and he doesn’t hold back. He gives you everything he’s got (as he does in everything). I know as you go through this book and start creating these types of images that there will be times where you’ll have that same silly smile on as I did when sitting in that audience in London watching Glyn teach. You’ll have that moment when Glyn teaches one of his amazing techniques and you think to yourself (just like I did), “Ah ah—so that’s how you do it!”

You are really in for a treat.

All my best,

Scott Kelby
Publisher, Photoshop User magazine