Probably My Most Embarrassing Photography Story Ever

I thought’d I’d better tell this story myself before it takes on a life of its own, so on this past Wednesday’s episode of “The Grid” I went ahead and spilled the beans. I have already taken quite a bit of ribbing about it (including emails from friends poking fun, people calling, and even images sent my way), but I feel the only way to deal with this is to just put it out there, take my lumps, and try to move on.

So, here’s a short excerpt from The Grid (above) where I explain what is probably my most embarrassing photography story ever (and those of you that follow me here know that’s going to take some doin’). I didn’t tell RC what the story was in advance, so his reaction is real, and priceless â” just the look on his face alone is worth watching the clip.

All I ask is two words: Be kind. ;-)

Hope you have a less embarrassing weekend than I probably will.

Best,

-Scott “SC” Kelby

P.S. Thanks so much to everybody who watched our Photoshop World-a-thon last night. What a blast! If you missed it, it’s streaming continuously at this link. Plus, we’ll have it up on YouTube later today. 

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  1. I did something similar once. Making my wife’s business cards (she’s a makeup artist… very convenient for me) and I ship them off to be printed. Get the cards, she’s all excited, then I notice my phone number on them which I had used as a placeholder until she got a business number (which I had filled out). Turns out I had hit undo one too many times when doing the final output without noticing!

  2. Scott, you’re always guaranteed to keep us smiling, as well as educating and entertaining us :)
    Regarding Wednesday’s “The Grid”, I can honestly say, it was one of the best episodes yet.

  3. Hey Scott,

    You know that there is only ONE person who walked this earth that is perfect! :-) I actually had a couple ask me to do a selective color photo for one of their photos. The only people that don’t like selective color … are photographers. The public does have a problem with it in my opinion! Great story … I did have to chuckle a little! :-)

    Dennis

  4. Scott, you’re right…..that is embarrassing! Now I hope you’ve edited your football slideshow that you present at your SLAP tour to get that one embarrassing New England Patriot photo out of there. You know, the one I told you about when you were in Boston. It’s probably too late to take it out of your Lightroom 5 book, though (pg. 470)! :-)

    Great broadcast last night. I learned some new things!
    Have a great weekend,

    –John

  5. Just think of it like back in the day when sports cards were more valuable because they had an error on them. That version of the book could be worth a fortune some day!

  6. Hi Scott! Yeah, the Selective Color photo is in my Kindle version, as well. But hey, that just makes it cooler.

    It’s awesome that you can laugh and poke fun at it. It’s even better that we can laugh at it, too. ;-)

  7. Running the risk of embarrassing myself almost as much as Scott, until last week’s (excellent btw) show I had no idea that selective colour had become a photographic sin to the point of eternal humiliation to have a smidgeon of colour in one’s black and white pics. Was it so long ago that the net was littered with tutorials outlining all the different ways one could achieve such an effect? I’m sure I saw one by your very own Dave Cross at some point. How did it happen? Was it the normal way of things? A few people do it. It becomes fashionable. Then everyone’s doing it. Then someone says ‘I’m not doing it any more cos everyone’s doing it’. Then everyone says ‘I’m not doing it any more cos everyone’s doing it’. Then nobody does it. Then someone does it again and it becomes fashionable … Or is it a permanently bad thing? Always wrong? Don’t do it again? Ever? For now, I won’t do it again. Just let me know when it’s ok again. :) Have a great weekend y’all. Was it ok on 8th June btw? http://www.ickledotco.co.uk/2014/06/a-dash-of-orange-through-the-gloom/

  8. I don’t know that I have ever done “selective color”. But as the old French proverb goes, “I never thought of sticking a bean in my ear until my mother told me not to do it”. Now, I can’t wait to do it! Then again, I am not a pro and use Photoshop strictly for fun.

  9. Scott, I bought the PDF/EPUB from Peachpit after seeing the video (classic!) and they have the same picture for the chapter intro and the table of contents. Yeah! I have a collectors’ item. :)

  10. It’s not so bad, you admitted it to the error and mistakes happen to us all. Don’t beat yourself up! We still love you! And, you still have air in your lungs, a roof over your head, and food on the table!

  11. Scott: You say it’s embarrassing that people who don’t watch the Grid or read the blog will see it and say “oh, oh no.”.

    What’s even worse is the people who look at it and will go “This is the most amazing effect ever. I must do it all the time and on every single picture I ever do, because Scott Kelby did it in his book”….

  12. I disagree with current trend for commentators denigrating any
    technique that other people enjoy. I saw some selective coloring a few of weeks ago in a friends wedding
    album and the bride was thrilled with them. There were also long
    exposures using sparklers to create light trails. How many of those have
    we seen in the last year? Photograph enthusiasts and, more so, professionals are bombarded with far more images than the average Joe on the street. What might seem clichéd and over-used to us may be fresh and exciting to our friends who are not photographers. Selective coloring is also a technique that teaches some really useful techniques to people learning editing skills. (This is the second time I have written this because the last time my comment was deleted, If you disagree with my point of view, instead of deleting it would it not be better to come back with a constructive reply?)

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