Photoshop Fling 3 Cruise

Mastering Photoshop with Deke and Bert

• Taking multiple classes from both Deke McClelland and Bert Monroy was a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience.
• Sitting in Deke's classes was a masterclass in technical training. Deke possessed an infectious, side-splitting humor and theatrical delivery that could make complex channel masking and vector paths feel completely intuitive.
• Sitting in Bert's classes was an exercise in pure artistic awe. I learned his proprietary, pixel-by-pixel techniques for rendering lighting, glass reflection, fabric textures, and perspective from scratch in Photoshop—proving that with enough mastery, anything can be painted digitally.

Key Memories & Port Adventures

• Day-0-Pre-Party:
  • The night before boarding, we kicked off the trip with our traditional pre-cruise party at the hotel, allowing the eager attendees to mingle with the legendary speaker lineup.
• Day-1-Bon-Voyage:
  • Boarding the m/s Veendam! Our official Bon Voyage party was held on board as we sailed away, setting the stage for the parallel curriculum tracks.
• Day-2-Key-West & Russell Brown's Show:
  • After morning classes, we docked in Key West for the afternoon.
  • The highlight of the day was in the evening, when Russell Brown delivered an absolutely show-stopping, theatrical Photoshop presentation. Russell's legendary showmanship, energy, and comedic props wowed everyone in attendance.
• Day-3-At-Sea:
  • Sea Days meant intense classroom learning, running two highly busy parallel tracks all day.
• Day-4-Belize Cave Tubing & International Waters Speculation:
  • In Belize, Neil Bauman, I, and a group of attendees took the famous "innertubing through caves" shore excursion.
  • Our vessel was parked alongside a few other massive cruise ships just outside the three-mile international limit. Neil and I spent a good portion of the day speculating that Holland America chose to park in international waters and rent high-speed local tenders because it was cheaper than paying the steep port docking fees—though we could never get any official to confirm our math!
• Day-5-Guatemala (Rio Dulce & Quirigua Mayan Ruins):
  • A massive, marathon shore excursion! We spent three hours cruising up the spectacular Rio Dulce, followed by two hours exploring the incredible Quirigua Mayan Ruin site, bookended by a multi-hour bus ride through the Guatemalan countryside.
• Day-6-Cozumel (Coba Ruins Marathon):
  • Another epic ruin expedition! Neil and I embarked on a full-day trip to the ancient Mayan ruins of Coba: a 45-minute high-speed water shuttle, a two-hour bus ride, two hours exploring the massive ruins, and then the reverse two-hour bus and 45-minute water shuttle back to the ship.
• Day-7-At-Sea & Closing the Crow's Nest:
  • The final sea day of the conference. After completing a full day of presentations, we closed down the ship's Crow's Nest lounge one final time with the speaker and attendee party animals.
  • This was the end of a marathon three-week, three-cruise road trip for me, and I was incredibly ready to head home, but we sent it off in style!