In this 1 hour live webinar Vincent will join us to discuss the importance of the qualities of how a lens blurs and how focus is overrated in photography. With new software like FocalPoint, it’s now possible to realistically replicate the quality of lens blur, or Bokeh, after the fact, and he’ll take us through when and where photographers deploy blur and how to achieve the desired results.  With your DSLR camera it’s now possible to create the look of a Hollywood Glamour shot that previously required an 8 x 10 view camera. Vincent will show you how.

See samples of Vincent’s work here.

This is a free webinar and you can register at http://www.ononesoftware.com/webinars/ – but register now because the webinar is only open to the first 500 registrants. You won’t want to miss this one!

Along for the shoot were senior product manager Dan Harlacher, Brian Kraft (vp sales), Vincent and me. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to spend a day shooting with Vincent, now you can see. Brian Kraft shot a little video along the way and put it up on Vimeo. I thought it would be fun to share here.

Just a warning though, this may be a side of Vincent many of you have not seen before. He was very heavily under the influence of Gummy Bears early in the day. Evidence of why you should keep them out of the reach of your kids.

Well, now he’s got it on a training DVD and I thought I would share the news with all of you here.

Vincent’s DVD that teaches this technique is called The Lazarus Effect: Raising the Dead Pixel and you can find out more about it at Vincent’s website at AcmeEducational.com.

He’s also got a DVD update to his book Welcome to Oz called Return to Oz – From Oz to Kansas 2.0 and it’s all about Black and White conversions.

Welcome to Oz is one of my favorite Photoshop books and would recommend it to anybody who wants to learn more about Photoshop. I’m looking forward to seeing the Return to Oz materials especially since Vincent is one of the best at the black and white conversion.

For his winning entry, Vladimir will receive Vincent’s newest DVD called “Pixels in the Mist”. He’ll also get a signed 24″ x 30″ print from Vincent’s collection of work. Congratulations again Vladimir and thank you to everybody who entered. There were a few of you who had trouble using the form at the end of the contest but if you emailed your pictures to me, they were shown to Vincent for consideration so even if you didn’t see it in the gallery, it was reviewed.

Stay tuned for the next contest which will be announced next week…

Don’t forget, the winner of our January 2009 Black and White photo contest will win a new Photoshop DVD from Vincent titled “Pixels in the Mist”. Additionally, the winner will receive a signed 24″ x 30″ print from Vincent.

If you enjoy still life photography or if you make a living at it, you won’t want to miss Jim DiVitale’s session at 9:30 in the Digital Photography Live Studio Track. The session is called "Still Life Photography Shoot Live" and I can guarantee you that Jim will teach and show you something you didn’t know before. I was in Atlanta once last year and stopped by Jim’s studio and he gave me an improptu Photoshop class and taught me a ton…but I digress.

If Still Life isn’t your thing, go over to the Creativity Track and catch Joe McNally’s session on "Shooting for Major Magazines". Joe has a resume second to none and the portfolio to back it up so I’m sure he’ll be showing a bunch of his work so this will be a hard one to miss.

At the 11:00 am session block, I would do anything I could to be in Helene Glassman’s "Lighting for Digital Portraiture" class. Few things will improve your photography like proper lighting and Helene is one of the best on the subject. To prove it, Helene has been living minutes away from The Brooks Institute of Photography for over 20 years since she graduated from there and has maintained a successful studio even with hundreds of new graduates to compete with each year.

You get a 2 hour break for lunch, so if I were you – here comes a shameless plug, sorry – I’d stop by the onOne Software booth (#515) at 1:00 after you eat. We’re giving away an iPhone to one lucky attendee. Stop by our booth on day 1 for details on how to win.

At 2:30pm, I’d make my way over to a new session this year called "Lightroom Power Session" with Chris Orwig. Chris is a new Photoshop World instructor this year and is an amazing photographer – so you’ll get to see some great stuff in his demo I’m sure – and a wonderful teacher, not to mention a great guy. Be sure to see him there if you can. If you miss him there, he’s got several sessions on the Tech Expo theatre and in the Peach Pit booth.

In the 4pm session, you’ll have to choose between Jay Maisel’s new "Light, Gesture and Color" and Rick Sammon’s "Working Hard at Having Fun in Digital Photography". Jay and Rick have opposite teaching styles so you’ll most likely want to pick the session that you think you’ll enjoy the most. I suspect Rick will be full of energy and will get the class invovled while Jay tends to be a little more subdued and presents in more of a lecture style. Both sessions will be great I’m sure, just pick the one you think you’ll like best.

At 5:15 I’d either go back to the Lightroom track and see Tim Grey’s session on "Photographic Workflow in Lightroom" – though if you saw Matt Kloskowski’s session at 9:00 on workflow you might be covered. I think I might have to go see Joe Glyda’s session on "How to Light for Shooting Food". I’m not a food photographer and I don’t plan on becoming one, but Joe is an amazing presenter who is hilarious as well so I would go to this for the sheer entertainment value. Joe has been the top guy at Kraft foods in the creative department for something like 15 years (or more) so you know he’s had to figure out some cool and creative ways to stay fresh there.

At 7:00 pm, you will not, I repeat, will not want to miss the "The Art of Digital Photography" presentation. There’s no instruction, just a bunch of great slideshows by Jay Maisel, Vincent Versace, John Paul Caponigro, Jim DiVitale, Joe McNally, Moose Peterson and Joe Glyda. Don’t miss it.

That’s a very busy day 2 but well worth it. I’ll post my day 3 recommendations next.