Dan Moughamian

By Martin Sitter

I met Dan Moughamian through my work at macProVideo.com, where he was a customer. Over time we began a dialog, and I quickly came to see that Dan's history as an educator combined with his extensive industry experience made him exactly the type of trainer we need at designProVideo.com. Let me tell you a bit about Dan ...

Dan's passion for all things Adobe began in 1993 while studying Journalism & Mass Communications at the University of Iowa. His classwork there allowed him the opportunity to delve into products like Photoshop, Premiere and even Director (which was a Macromedia product at the time). Immediately captivated by the idea that creative works could be made not just in physical mediums like canvas or film, but on a computer as well, he became a "digital sponge", absorbing every fact and function that he could.

This marked the start of a 15 year creative journey that continues today. As a professional in the creative arts, Dan has worked with numerous mediums, including: digital and darkroom-based photography; video montage and motion effects; photographic compositing; and even hand-coding CSS for web design (yes, coding!). Dan sums up his attitude towards creative software this way: "The day you stop absorbing new information and new ideas, is the day your creativity will start to languish. Don't limit yourself to one medium or one kind of software; branch out! I'm not a musician, but working with audio loop software is something I do on my own time because I know that short musical clips or effects can make all the difference in video and motion projects. It's all intertwined together."

An Adobe Certified Expert, Dan's greatest creative passions are his photography and teaching (including topics related to photography, video, and motion graphics). In recent years Dan has applied his creative passion in new ways, collaborating with other professionals in the industry to help test and perfect Adobe products behind the scenes. Having the ability to work with all of Adobe's products before they are released, gives Dan the unique opportunity to explore new or improved functionality in detail, and provide feedback to Adobe based on his experiences and those of his students. Better still, Dan's students are able to benefit immediately from his knowledge of cutting edge features, as they become available.

"Adobe's suite of products provide so many avenues for people to explore their creative ideas. I've been using their software since 1993 and have spent several years testing their products... yet I'm always blown away by the new things that are possible. That's why I enjoy teaching so much. The only thing better than using the software to create your own art, is helping others to understand all the cool things that they can accomplish."

Dan also enjoys working as an author when time permits, including a brand new title from Adobe Press and Peachpit: Real World Compositing with Photoshop CS4.