Acknowledgments

From a grain of sand the pearl comes.

—Confucius

Once again, what I have learned is that writing a book is a collaborative process after which I get all the credit. Which is cool, but...

This book simply would not be this book if it were not for the draconian editorial diligence of Edna A. Elfont, Ph. D., and the scientific diligence of Lawrence B. Coleman Ph. D., Professor of Physics at the University of California at Davis. When you read this book and you find that the thoughts are clear, concise, easy to understand, and make sense, trust me: that’s all Edna.

If it were not for Professor Coleman’s kind and gentle criticisms, his incredible insights and explanations that made me see the light when I was scientifically out of my mind, this book would be far less of a book. This book’s scientific strength is powered by a beautiful mind. Thank you, Professor. I know you had better things to do in your free time. Your gift to me is not lost.

I am the photographer I am today because of CJ Elfont. Also, the technical photographic accuracy of this book would not be what it is if it were not for CJ’s intervention. Without CJ (and Edna too), I would not be an artist, I would not be a photographer; I would be someone else—certainly not the person who could ever have written this book.

To Sean Dyroff: You truly are a Super Hero with “spidey” powers. You laid out this book, tech edited it, fixed every one of my actions, and answered every one of my Photoshop questions, all while going to graduate school. Bravo!

To Mark Jaress: Thank you for being the person who taught me Photoshop. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

To Fatima Nejame: Thank you for talking me in to teaching, thank you for all of the wonderful places you have asked me to go and teach, and thank you for being my friend. I really like seeing the world through a camera with you.

To Ted Waitt, my editor at Peachpit Press: This book is finally done. Thank you for fighting the good fight for me, and thank you for keeping me safe.

To everyone at Peachpit Press: Thank you for your hard work and efforts to make this book happen.

To Bert Monroy, David duChemin and Jay Maisel: Thank you for allowing me to talk you into writing the foreword and afterwords of this book, though I suspect you may have done it simply to shut me up.

To John Paul Caponigro and R. Mac Holbert: Thank you for being the best examples of perfect practice I have ever met. My technique is so much smoother and cleaner because of you.

To Ed Sanchez and Mike Slater of Nik Software: Thank you for keeping the company so alive and on the edge of technology. Thank you for providing three of the “crown jewels” for this book. Your friendship outside of work is cherished.

Nils Kokemohr (the N, i and k of Nik Software): You are the smartest human I know. Your software makes my life and me more creative than I could have ever imagined.

To Josh “the boy wonder” Haftel of Nik Software: You never sleep, and that’s a good thing for all of us who use the products you manage.

To Joe Sliger of Wacom: If it were not for you, the tablet presets that are part of this book would not have happened.

To Mike Wong and Dan Harlacher of onOne software: Thank you for providing FocalPoint 2.0 for this book and constantly reiterating Genuine Fractals. Most importantly, thank you for believing that whenever possible, our business meetings must take place at Splash Mountain at Disneyworld.

To Joseph G Hirschberg, Ph. D., Professor Emeritus, University of Miami, Department of Physics: Thank you for sending me down this path. I never would have gotten on this ride were it not for you. Thank you for teaching me the difference between real and virtual, accurate and precise, how to bend light with a spoon, and the conversations we had about the science of art in Burma. Thank you for asking me “Does light travel in a straight line?” and when I said “Yes,” telling me, “Not according to Einstein.”

To Dr. Adrian Cohen: You are the standard I try to live up to in all my deeds.

To Challen Cates: Thank you for all the time you spent sitting in front of my camera waiting for me to get it right. As they did in the first book, the images of you make for a much nicer looking book.

To Dave Moser and Scott Kelby: The day you asked me to be a part of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals is the day that led to this book. I never have been more proud to belong to an organization than I am to belong to NAPP.

To Dan Steinhardt of Epson: Thank you again for providing me with your unfailing support even when I was/am a complete pain in the ass. Because of you, once again, another pocket of time was created in which I could create this book.

To Nancy Carr of Kodak; Vincent Park and Anthony Ruotolo of American Photo Magazine; Ed Sanchez and Mike Slater of Nik Software; Peter Poremba of Dyna-Lite; Fabia Ochoa of Epson; Tadashi Nakayama, Makoto “Mike” Kimura, Naoki “Santa Claus” Tomino, Jeff Mitchell, and Mike Corrado of Nikon; Liz Quinlisk and Thomas Kunz of X-Rite, Jeff Cable of Lexar; and Richard Rabinowitz: Without all of your faith and support over the years, I would never have had the career that I do.

To Marc Vanocur of Shout Softly Films: Thank you for making my madness look professional.

To Toby, Sally, Adam, and Jamie Rosenblatt: Were it not for you, I would have stopped being a photographer.

To Chef John Fraser of Dovetail Restaurant in New York City: The week I spent in your kitchen studying reminded me of the importance of being attentive to detail in my work. Everything matters when you create; everything dovetails into everything else. A day has not gone by that I have not reflected on what I learned in your kitchen. Thanks also to your entire staff for so generously sharing their knowledge.

To my sister Eve and my mother, I really did win the relative lottery.

And once again to my wife, Sylvia, who had to suffer through the rewriting of this book. You have kept me calm when I was anything but. I am so lucky that you still have questionable taste in men.

To Vanilla Gelato, Wasa Cinnamon Crackers, and Café Americano: Every section in this book was celebrated by having one of each.

Oh... I almost forgot, Prrrl j. Cat, the fur person. Thank you for sitting on my keyboard and reminding me when it was time to rest.