Acknowledgments

Although only one name appears on the spine of this book, it takes a large, dedicated team of people to put a book like this together. Not only did I have the good fortune of working with such a great group of people, I now get the great pleasure of thanking them and acknowledging their hard work and dedication.

First, I want to thank the most amazing woman I've ever known, my absolutely beautiful and truly wonderful wife, Kalebra. She's equal parts savvy business woman, power negotiator, stand-up comic, super mom, gourmet chef, interior decorator, travel guru, motivational speaker, and rock star. I don't know what she's putting in her coffee, but let me tell youit's workin'! She's the type of woman for whom love songs are written, and I am, without a doubt, the luckiest man alive to have her as my wife.

Secondly, I want to thank my 8-year-old son Jordan. God has blessed our family with so many wonderful gifts, and I can see them all reflected in his eyes. I'm so proud of him, so thrilled to be his dad, and I dearly love watching him grow to be such a wonderful little guy, who is blessed with his mom's compassion and her tender, loving heart. (You're the greatest, little buddy.)

I also want to thank my big brother Jeff for being such a positive influence in my life, for always taking the high road, for always knowing the right thing to say, and just the right time to say it, and for having so much of our dad in him. (I'm honored to have you as my brother and my friend.)

My heartfelt thanks go to the entire team at KW Media Group, who every day redefine what teamwork and dedication are all about. They are truly a special group of people who come together to do some really amazing things (on really scary deadlines), and they do it with class, poise, and a can-do attitude that is truly inspiring. I'm so proud to be working with you all.

Thanks to my compadre Dave Moser, whose tireless dedication to making everything we do better than anything we've done before is an inspiration to our whole team. He's an amazing individual, a great friend, and an awful lot of fun.

I owe a special thanks to my tech editor and adviser, Polly Reincheld. She puts every single technique in the entire book through the ringer to make sure that everything works the way it should, but she goes way beyond that, and her input, advice, perspective, and encouragement have made the book better than it would've been otherwise. I'm so happy to have her working on my books, and I'm so glad she's joined our team, despite the fact that she's constantly playing Shania Twain songs at her desk.

My thanks to Veronica Martin, the newest member of our team, who copyedited the book (and believe me, copyediting my books is no easy task).

Special thanks to my layout and production crew. In particular, I want to thank my friend and Creative Director Felix Nelson for his limitless talent, boundless creativity, input, and just for his flat-out great ideas. To Kim Gabriel for doing such an amazing job of keeping us all on track and organizedI can't thank you enough. Thanks and kudos to Dave Damstra (the best layout guy in the business) and his team for giving the book such a tight, clean layout.

Thanks to Jim Workman, Jean A. Kendra, and Pete Kratzenberg for their support, and for keeping a lot of plates in the air while I'm writing these books.

A special thanks to my wonderful Executive Assistant Kathy Siler for keeping me on track, focused, and juggling (okay, running) half a dozen different projects while I'm deep in "book land." She and I had a special bond this year, as both our NFL teams wound up at the bottom of their respective divisions, and I assume that bond will last until the Tampa Bay Buccaneers triumphantly return to form and mercilessly rout her beloved Redskins in Raymond James Stadium later this year. (I'm going to pay for that one.)

Many thanks to Dave Cross and Matt Kloskowski for their ideas and input on the book, and thanks to Chris Main and Barbara Thompson for being such an important part of our team.

I owe a special debt of gratitude to my friends Kevin Ames and Jim DiVitale for taking the time to share their ideas, techniques, concepts, and vision for a Photoshop book for digital photographers that would really make a difference. Extra-special thanks to Kevin for spending hours with me sharing his retouching techniques. Also my heartfelt thanks to Eddie Tapp and Taz Tally for their help and input on my color management chapter.

I want to thank all the photographers, retouchers, and Photoshop experts who've taught me so much over the years, including Jack Davis, Deke McClelland, Ben Willmore, Julieanne Kost, Vincent Versace, David Cuerdon, Robert Dennis, Helene DeLillo, Felix Nelson, Jim Patterson, Katrin Eismann, Doug Gornick, Manuel Obordo, Dave Cross, Dan Margulis, Peter Bauer, Joe Glyda, and Russell Preston Brown.

Also thanks to my friends at Adobe Systems, including Addy Roff, Julieanne Kost, Cari Gushiken, Gwyn Weisberg, Deb Whitman, John Nack, Kevin Connor, Mark Delman, Karen Gauthier, Russell Brady, Mark Dahm, Russell Preston Brown, and Terry "T-bone" White.

Thanks to Nancy Ruenzel, Scott Cowlin, and everyone at New Riders / Peachpitthey're really great people who continually strive to produce very special books.

My personal thanks go to Alan Meckler and Adrian Maynard at JupiterImages for enabling me to use some of their wonderful images here in the book.

Most importantly, I want to thank God, and His son Jesus Christ, for leading me to the woman of my dreams, for blessing us with such a special little boy, for allowing me to make a living doing something I truly love, for always being there when I need Him, for blessing me with a wonderful, fulfilling and happy life, and such a warm, loving family to share it with.