Yesterday I went to Adobe's yearly "Buy our stuff, we're the best!" day. I went primarily to hear Scott Kelby speak and to decide once and for all whether or not I should buy his books.

I won't be.

Mr. Kelby had good things to say, don't get me wrong. I wrote down a number of interesting things about working with channels and calculations. But the majority of his tips and tricks aren't what I'm looking for. Time is money and I can't be bothered mucking about.

Guy Gowan, on the other hand, was more my speed. I'm always looking to improve my workflow and the way Mr. Gowan's goes about using Photoshop appeals to me. He is a retouch expert and a specialist in non-destructive editing (ie adjustment layers and masks). I've heard him speak before and took better notes this time. Now I remember how to properly override Adobe's default "Levels > Options" settings.

All in all, a day well spent.

Oh! And you know how you read all over that when you use the Channel Mixer to create black and white images, that the values aren't supposed to equal more than 100? Well, that's bullshit.
I was very glad to hear someone finally confirm it.