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It’s Matt! The next installment of the NAPP Interview Series is Matt! It really is! Can you tell I’m excited?  If you don’t know, Matt is one of the three lead anchors for PhotoshopUserTV, an instructor for PSW and Kelby Training, has quickly become the king of Lightroom, and well.. he rocks just about any house of Photoshop that he enters.

I am honored to give you..

Matt “Rockin’ The Houski” Kloskowski

(click the pic to learn more about Matt)

1. What’s a typical day like for you at NAPP HQ?

You know, the usual stuff. We all live together so we wake up and Dave Cross makes breakfast since he’s the cook. Scott plays a little guitar for us as we read the paper and… ok seriously, that’s a hard question to answer. One thing that we’re good at is making days non-typical. Some days are pretty regular. Everyone will sit in their offices, working on articles, NAPP tutorials, online training classes, blogs, DVDs, workbooks, etc… But then there’s always the random meeting thrown in there about a magazine issue or a current project like the Photoshop World keynote. That’s where it gets really fun. We’ll sit in a room for 2 hours throwing around crazy ideas until something sticks. Then of course, we have days where we have to film those introductory movies and, as you can imagine, we’re not actors – so that takes a day about as far from typical as you can get.

2. How did you come to work for NAPP?

Back in 2001 I kept sending emails to the NAPP Director at the time (Jeff Kelby), about letting me do some tutorials for the NAPP member site. Eventually he caved in and I did some freelance work for NAPP. A couple years later, they needed someone full time. I lived in Tampa and already had a relationship with a lot of the folks so it was a natural fit.

3. When you are not at work and are out and about, what scenes attract your eye the most to take photos of? Gear? -from @roymadstudios via Twitter

I love landscapes and I love sunrises and sunsets. I’m also a sucker for clouds. If you look at my photos, that’s always something I try to incorporate. If I go out to photograph a sunrise or sunset when there are no clouds I’m always a little disappointed. I love to photograph families too. I’ll be driving down the road and see kids playing outside with great light on them and think about the shot I would take.

4. What is your favorite PSUTV episode of all time and why?

The Steam Episode, of course. I can honestly say, that’s the hardest I’ve laughed in the past 10 years. It’s the one where I was creating steam from a coffee cup and accidentally zoomed in on the woman’s chest in the picture. The Overlay blend mode became the cleavage blend mode, and it just got worse from there.

5. It’s been said that it’s easy to make you laugh, who is the one NAPP staff member that makes you laugh the hardest?

Probably Scott. He’s just a funny guy. Anyone who has ever been in a class with him knows that he can make you laugh. He’s not just like that on stage though – that’s his personality and it carries through to the office.

6. What is the craziest thing one of your fans has ever said to you?

The craziest thing huh? Hmmmm… I did have a fan come up and say, “Matt, you’re the best! I’m married but I’ve been thinking about leaving my…” I cringed for a moment as they continued to say “I’ve been thinking of leaving my wife and…”

OK, not really. But a few years ago, a guy actually emailed me to say he had something really important to talk to me about. He had a sad story of being unemployed and how my training has helped him tremendously. So I told him to go ahead and give me a call at the office and I’d see what he had to say. He got me on the phone and the only thing he wanted to know was what religious faith I had… It was very odd to say the least.

7. What is your favorite part of attending PSW?

The people of course. Most of the year, I sit in my office and create training material on Photoshop, Lightroom and digital photography. I don’t get to physically interact with the people I teach too often so it sort of feels like we’re in a bubble just thinking or hoping that our training is helping and paying off. Photoshop World is the time of the year where we actually get to go out there and talk with everyone. It’s awesome! I come back with lots of ideas and lots of new friends.

8. If you could spend an entire day on a photo shoot with anyone you wanted, who would it be, where and why?

MISSING RESPONSE! Sorry everyone. It seems that Matt missed this question on the interview. When I discovered it, Matt was already gone for the Photoshop 20th Anniversary Party in San Francisco. I have sent him the question again via a private message through the NAPP forums. If he ever answers it, I’ll let you know what he says! If he doesn’t, I give you all full permission to bombard him with questions at the Photoshop World Conference. It’s ok – just tell him Firgs sent you!

9. What class/subject would you like to teach but haven’t yet?

I’ve got two: First, I’ve been practicing Tae Kwon Do and really enjoy it. As a teacher, I’m always watching how I’m being taught. My instructors are awesome and I’ve leered a lot from watching them. I’d love to teach a class or two and bring my teaching style into Tae Kwon Do. I think I have a lot of neat little tips that could help people.

On a more relevant note, I’d love to teach college students about Photoshop and digital photography. I’ve learned a lot about the industry and I think I’m old enough that I would earn their respect as an authority, but young enough that I could still relate to them and what they’re going through at that point in their lives.

10. How do you really feel about the “I <3 Matt” t-shirt? Do you think it should be mass-produced so that everyone could have one?

Yes, definitely mass-produce it! My wife would buy one. Maybe my mom too, and I think it would pretty much stop there.

Thanks for having me! Take care!

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Thank YOU Matt!