This morning I was reading Photoshop News – run by one of the masters of Photoshop – Jeff Schewe. As it turns out, there were several birthdays that just passed: February 19 was a birthday for Photoshop (1990), Camera Raw (2003), and Lightroom (2007). Jeff asked a very simple question – where were you when it was all going down? Click here to check out the specific post . Reading the blog post, you’ll see that the comments are written by some of the biggest names in the Photoshop/Lightroom biz, giving you a quick peek into what their lives were like back then.

As interesting as that was – it’s not what made me smile. Want to know what that was? Want to know where I was in 1990? Read about that and other things after the jump. You know what to do.

Ah, 1990

Back in 1990, I was about to start college, going in for a degree in Secondary Education. I went into college with the idea that I would study to become a teacher for the hearing impaired, and in the process, became a High School English teacher. I figured that teaching high school English would be a good start before heading out for a Masters in Deaf Ed. However, without any warning, I was suddenly bit by the technology bug. I spent as much time in college working out programs on the VAX and on LYNX as I did writing English papers. I spent hours chatting with friends at config.sys parties, trying to figure out how to move programs into upper memory on the 386 DX2 40 I had bought with hard earned money. While that may sound very geek inclined, I was also the guy who showed up to these parties in a bandanna, leather jacket, and motorcycle. It was a weird identity crisis – let me tell you.

Great Tutorials Ahead

Lighting Essentials – Don Giannatti’s great website on lighting and Camera Work. Many thanks to the Digital Pro Talk site for giving up this gem.

Fire! Special effects fire, at least. Check out Steve Holmes tutorial on how to create a fireball by clicking on this link here

What Fascinated Me About Photoshop News
In the middle of Jeff’s “where were you?” post is a link to an article called Photoshop Widows Club. The article is written by Rebecca Schewe, and gives a great look back at an earlier Jeff Schewe. I smiled at this article because I’ve had my dinner brought to me next to this computer more times than I’d like to count. I’ve spent countless hours tinkering with files and have fallen asleep next to my computer while trying out the next cool thing. It made me think that I was invariably part of some club. Falling asleep and eating dinner by the computer become initiation rights to this special circle. I can’t say that I mind it much, it’s been a great road so far, and I feel blessed to be able to talk to you guys daily about all of the little things that we continue to find.

So.. my questions to ponder:

How many of you have fallen ill to the addiction that is Adobe? Fallen asleep at your computer? Ate dinner with one hand, the other working the mouse? Where were you in 1990 when Photoshop launched? Be sure to answer all of those questions at the Photoshop News website. And when you do, let me know here too. I’d love to see how many people actually -do- sleep by their desks. Misery loves company, ya know?