The Coolest Thing On the Photoshop World Expo Floor Ever!
Last week I promised that I would tell you guys a little bit about what the folks at FJ Westcott did on the Photoshop World Expo Floor that made them the talk of the show, but first a little history. (All Photos by Terry White. Thanks T!).
Dave Moser (NAPP’s Chief Operating Officer) and I had come up with an idea with based on the the fact that so many people already bring their cameras to Photoshop World. We thought it would be cool if we set up “shooting stations” for lack of a better term, where we would have sets and props or professional models, all professionally lit, where they could practice their skills.
A few months back I called Kelly Mondora over at Westcott Lighting to share the idea, because the only way this was really going to work was to use Continuous Lighting, like their TD-5 Spiderlites (having to deal with strobes, and wireless channels, and getting multiple people shooting at once, just would be a nightmare, and by using the TD-5’s we’d sidestep all that, plus as many people that wanted to shoot at one time, could).
Well, Kelly was all over it, and basically they took the idea and totally ran with it and it was literally the talk of the show because: (1) How incredibly creative the sets and concepts were, and (2) how well executed each set was with great props and backgrounds (3) how nicely lit each set was (4) that the male and female models were great and incredibly patient, (5) the make-up artist they flew in was just amazing, and (6) the fact that they changed the sets and models every day!!!! (One of their sets the first day was Catwoman, as seen at the top of this post. Photo by Terry White).
People were shooting at the “Westcott Shootout” literally all day, every day during the entire conference. You could see crowds huddled around each set at any given time, as seen above (Westcott did all this, while they were running their regular booth at a different location on the show floor).
Anyway, I was so excited at how it came out (which Westcott gets, and deserves 100% credit for), and I wanted to share it with you guys here, so if you come to Orlando Photoshop World next March, you absolutely, positively have to bring your camera and see what they come up with next. (Check out some of Scott Bourne’s awesome shots from the Shootout right here, and here, and here).
Consider this my standing ovation to Kelly, to photographer Michael “MJ” Green who worked the shootout and helped everybody along the way, and to everyone at Westcott who showed that they do way more than just make lighting. They make cool!
P.S. Check out Westcott Lighting on Facebook right here. They always post lots of cool stuff, and videos and tips on lighting.
UPDATE: Westcott caught more than just the attendees attention with their shootout—the LA Times did a write-up on them. Here’s the link.