Photoshop-aholic

Brainerd High School senior Jeff Schuety knows his Photoshop.

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Schuety was introduced to Adobe Photoshop when he designed an ad for an eighth-grade class. He instantly fell in love with it. He took more classes that used Photoshop so he could learn more about it.

His junior year, he joined the Brainonian staff because it was the only class in which he could use his Photoshop skills. This is his second year working on the yearbook, and he teaches other students how to use the computer software.

The Brainonian adviser said, "Jeff is co-editor-in-chief of the yearbook. Everyone on the staff knows that he's the guy to go to with any questions about Photoshop. He knows the program well and can do much more than the basic photo editing that most of our staff use Photoshop for. Jeff has a real talent for graphic design and he can create amazing effects. We are hoping to submit some of his work to a Josten's contest this spring."

Brainerd High School senior Jeff Schuety posed for a photo Monday during his yearbook class. Schuety was named Fine Arts Student of the Week. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls

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For his work with the yearbook, Schuety was named Fine Arts Student of the Week.

Following is a question-and-answer session with the senior.

How has being in yearbook helped you with your Photoshop skills?

"I learned how to do more things with it. I can take digital pictures and turn them into looking like a Polaroid. I also can use Photoshop to create handwriting or drawings that look real."

Did you learn more about Photoshop by working with it everyday in yearbook?

"I did learn more about it by being in class, but I also learned how to do a lot of it by from taking a HTML class in 10th grade. My teacher had a subscription to Photoshopuser.com so I could go to the Web site to learn how to do more things. I was able to go onto the site up until last year. You have to be a subscriber in order to use it."

What is your job in yearbook?

"For the most part, I help anyone who needs help. I also have pages to lay out, the divider pages and stories to do, but I mainly help other students with Photoshop."

What is the most common question from students?

Jeff Schuety

Art focus: Brainonian.

Year: Senior.

Age: 18.

GPA: 3.7

Most memorable fine arts achievement: Being named Fine Arts Student of the Week as a junior.

Artist most admired: Vincent van Gogh.

Favorite movie: "Talladega Nights."

Favorite TV program: "The Office."

Favorite food: Chicken fries at Burger King.

Favorite book: "Brother Odd" by Dean Koontz.

Favorite song: "Deep Inside" by Incubus.

Parents: Mike and Deb Schuety of Merrifield.

"On how to do cutouts. This is the biggest thing that is new to a lot of people. Cutouts are where you cut the person out of the background and put it on the page. It's not a hard thing to do, but it's a lot of tedious work and you have to try not to cut out any parts of the person."

Of the 208-page finished yearbook, what's your most creative page?

"The senior polls because it took a lot of effort. Me and another person, Amanda Johnson, did the whole thing in Photoshop. There were four pages. The pages look like a crinkled notebook paper that has Polaroids taped on them. It was Amanda's idea and I laid out the whole thing. She helped me a lot, but I knew more of the skills on how to do it."

Honorable mentions:

Connie London, senior, Fifth Street Journal: Fifth Street Journal adviser said, "Connie's commitment during the March newspaper issue truly helped out the entire staff. Her work on layout, both before and after school, was done with patience and determination."

Garrett Wedan, senior, speech: Wedan's speech adviser said," Garrett has been a reliable speech competitor who is committed to the team. He has won awards at numerous tournaments in the discussion category."

JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.