Save 31% Off: Adobe Photoshop CS3 Photographers Guide Review & Ratings

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Adobe Photoshop CS3 Photographers Guide Review

OK, you've purchased a DSLR and either Photoshop CS3 or Elements. Now you want to know how you can best use your new camera to capture the best images you can, so that when you get them into Photoshop you'll be able to process them to their fullest potential and really get some impressive images, much better than the point n shoot crowd. You can spend 3 years and read nearly 20 books like I did, but who really has time for that? Isn't there one book out there that gives someone a good taste of all of the components of photography and Photoshop? Yep, this is the one! I've read it through, and comparing it to several other all-in-one guides to both photography and Photoshop, this is one of the best choices. There are many good soup-to-nuts Photoshop books out there, but not many of them teach how to optimize your photography skills to ensure the best possible image BEFORE firing up Photoshop. How do you get a great image out of Photoshop? Start with a great image. This book tells you how, and it's not just for beginners.
Pick this one up, even if you own a different version of Photoshop. It's a winner.

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The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers (O'ReillyDigital Studio) Review & Ratings

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The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers (O'Reilly Digital Studio) Review

When I first became a serious photographer back in the days of film, I stored my negatives and pictures in a shoebox. As my collection grew, I switched to contact sheets and coded negative files. Afterwards I filled a closet with special filing boxes of negatives and prints. But it was hard for me to find an older picture. I tried cross-filing but it never really worked. Then came digital.
By word of mouth, postings in on-line forums and an occasional magazine article I figured out that I'd better back up my photo files to non-erasable media and that I could more easily find old files by cataloging them with cataloging software. But I can't say that I developed a comprehensive system.
The DAM Book does that. (I wish they had taken a different title; the pun soon becomes boring.) Krough presents a system for sorting, archiving and finding photographs using Adobe Bridge and cataloging software. After defining digital asset management (DAM) and metadata, he talks about creating the digital archive both as an information structure and as a hardware configuration. Because he presumes that serious photographers will be using Photoshop, he discusses the use of Adobe Bridge as an asset management tool and describes a DAM workflow. He then discusses cataloging software, what he calls derivative files (which are generally files derived from a master copy) and strategies for file migration, including computer upgrades, software changes and even film migration.
The author's own system seems beyond the needs of most photographers. (He claims to catalog 135,000 pictures a year.) But even though his own system includes rack-mounted servers, raid configuration and multiple back-ups, he also suggests simpler systems that include a single computer, an external drive and DVD backups. But what is most important is not the description of systems but the presentation of concepts that most digital photographers can apply. For example, even though I could see the difference between browsers and cataloging software, articulating the distinction between the two makes it easier to analyze my own requirements. And understanding that for a digital cataloging system, that uses keywords, the title of a picture is not essential to finding it makes it easier to use titles that are system related rather then content related.
Krough describes useful software that supplements Bridge that can be downloaded for free and will make DAM easier. (Unfortunately he hasn't found a way to make Bridge run any faster, but he does suggest time-saving procedures.) He also suggests procedures that some photographers will not need, like embedding a rating in every photograph, and other procedures that might be a little premature, like converting every file to Adobe's DNG format to better preserve metadata. On the other hand, before I even finished the book, I had made several changes in my own DAM system. For example, although he uses iView MediaPro as an example of cataloging software, he made me wonder if my cataloging software had the same capabilities that I had never used. A little time with my software manual and I now have a place to store external metadata that are not embedded in a picture file, but are associated with particular pictures.
There are other books that discuss DAM but this is the first I've encountered aimed at photographers. I consider it essential reading for serious digital photographers.

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Save 27% Off: Rick Sammon's Digital Photography Secrets Review & Ratings

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Rick Sammon's Digital Photography Secrets Review

I have no idea what the people who rated this book as 5 stars are talking about. I have used Amazon since the website was open this will be only the second book I ever returned!
This book is ONLY good if you have purchased your first digital camera and need some introduction to digital photography after you have read the manual with the camera -- for anyone else -- it is a joke!
Most of the book is used to help sell Canon or Westcott equipment. Most of the supposed secrets are 5 sentences or less with no real substance.
The DVD is mostly pointless and the paragraph intro to the DVD is basically trying to sell you his other DVDs. I have seen reviews of this book in photo magazines and everyone must be on lets make Rick Sammon's money band wagon because the information listed in this book is fairly useless to anyone outside of a pure novice.
I cannot tell you how dissappointed I am in this book -- it puts me off to anything else he may produce or write.
The secret of this book is there are no real secrets and fool and his money are soon parted!

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Save 37% Off: Advanced Digital Black & White Photography (A LarkPhotography Book) Review & Ratings

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Advanced Digital Black & White Photography (A Lark Photography Book) Review

I am a technical book addict. While I have only had this book 5 days, it has already paid for itself in improvement of my BW work. It is finely crafted, and to the point. It draws you in and it delivers for real world artists.
As a writer, I am struck by how well this book is structured and written, and the very fine layout of illustrations and methods. When you encounter an excellent technical book and find yourself immersed in it, sometimes you fail to notice the ease that essential information is being conveyed to you. Then suddenly it hits you, wow!, this is the gold standard. This is one of those books. It covers historical BW methods up to the present version of Photoshop, and then provides an outstanding and practical work flow in CS3. By understanding what has gone before, you understand better how CS3 takes BW to another level.
The book is written by a person who is technically competent, a fine writer, and a BW artist. He understands how to frame the issues, and pragmatically deal with accessing the Photoshop tools needed in real world work flow. It is easy to write a huge book that is just a grocery list of features. It is very difficult to write a book like this that is supremely competent, focused, concise, and outlines strategies of interest to real world working artists. I rate it as one of the finest books I have ever read on using software. If there are any other books written by this author, I will buy them on strength of this one.
I would say that someone with basic photoshop skills can easily use this book. If you lack these skills, I think this book would point you to what you need to learn. One of the challenges of learning photoshop is figuring what you need to know and what to ignore. This book finds that focus and is obviously written by a working artist. It is a tool unlike the bloated books that I own, that mostly collect dust and are consulted grudingly. Buy it, you will be pleasantly surprized.

Advanced Digital Black & White Photography (A Lark Photography Book) Overview

Digital photographers can now attain the enduring beauty of black-and-white photography in their own work! There's more to monochrome than just discarding the color in Photoshop, but many books simply treat it as an afterthought. Not this one! John Beardsworth teaches every major method of making a color picture black and white, and explains what kind of images are best, and why. Both ambitious newcomers and advanced enthusiasts will learn how to achieve the richest tonal depth and balance, use black and white to interpret the subject for the viewer, reproduce historic and darkroom processes, add creative and special effects, and produce exhibition-quality prints.

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Save 45% Off: I've Got a Human in my Throat: Create MORE OpticalDelusions with Adobe Photoshop Review & Ratings

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I've Got a Human in my Throat: Create MORE Optical Delusions with Adobe Photoshop Review

First off, a huge congrats to anyone involved with this book. It shows how much time and effort went into the making of this book from the sheer about of tutorials it offers. There is a different Photoshop technique on just about every other page.
I've Got a Human in My Throat has three sections: Getting Started, Exploring Photos and Effects, and Impressing Your Friends. On the included CD are all of the source images required to create each of the pieces in the book.

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Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 Maximum Performance: Unleash the hiddenperformance of Elements Review & Ratings

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Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 Maximum Performance: Unleash the hidden performance of Elements Review

Photoshop Elements 7 is powerful photo editing software, but it can be very difficult for new users to unlock that power. The interface is not at all intuitive to those of us who are not well-versed in the somewhat arcane art and science of photo editing, and Adobe includes virtually no documentation with the box. Online help files can be difficult to locate and understand. Many of the shortcuts and functions that must be understood and navigated to effectively use Photoshop Elements 7 would unfortunately stay hidden from most casual users forever were it not for experts like author Mark Galer who are willing to share the expertise that they have gained from years of experience in photo editing.
I previously used Photoshop Elements 5, and have the excellent book which was written on that version by renowned photography writer Scott Kelby. The version 7 book by Mr. Galer is every bit the equal of Mr. Kelby's book, and in my opinion surpasses it in some respects. Mr. Galer's book is separated into three major sections that contain a total of 25 projects for the user to complete. While doing the projects you will learn the ins and outs of the software. The book also comes with a DVD that contains not only all of the photographs needed to complete the projects, but also includes video demonstration of the techniques using the Elements 7 software, along with preloaded action buttons that can be inported into the program. These actions are essentially recorded macros of certain editing and enhancing techniques. These can be freely used on your own photos.
After a week of doing the projects in the book I can honestly say that I've gotten more performance out of the software than I did in a couple of years of using Elements 5 with the Kelby (and I do plan on getting the new Kelby Elements 7 book as soon as it's available). The DVD videos are just like being able to sit at the desk of an expert user while he demonstrates the techniques that he uses. I can't wait to get home from work each day just so I can sit down at the computer and learn some more. You will be happy with this book. It will unlock many of the secrets of Elements 7 and you will take your images to a new level.
Here is a link to one of the video tutorials included on the DVD. This one is in low res while the ones on the DVD are much higher resolution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GaRkOBAEmo

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 Maximum Performance: Unleash the hidden performance of Elements Overview

Unleash the hidden potential for professional image editing in Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 with this essential book and DVD guide.

Using step-by-step instructions and movie tutorials, Mark Galer leads you through the less well-known and most powerful post-production editing techniques Adobe Photoshop Elements has to offer. Cunning tricks and clever workarounds in this book show you how to create inspiring, professional-looking images and perform tasks you only thought possible in the full Adobe Photoshop package.

Whether you're an imaging professional or a photography enthusiast, this book and DVD will help you get the maximum performance from your software. Learn how to:

* Create striking effects with no commercial lighting or studio equipment

* Extend the dynamic range of your digital camera by merging multiple exposures

* Optimize, enhance and montage images with stunning results

The DVD provides extensive support to the book with movie tutorials for all projects, high resolution images, multilayered files of completed projects, a stock library and a keyboard shortcut guide.

* Save money by unleashing the hidden potential of Elements 7 for professional image editing rather than upgrading to the full Photoshop software

* Practical, step-by-step projects show you how to solve real-world problems and create stunning images using clever workarounds and powerful, little-known techniques

* Full DVD support with more than 5 hours of tutorials, image files, a stock library and keyboard shortcut guide--worth the cover price alone!


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Save 35% Off: Digital Landscape and Nature Photography For DummiesReview & Ratings

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Digital Landscape and Nature Photography For Dummies Review

If you're just starting out in photography or if you just need a refresher in one area this is a great book. It is easy to understand and well laid out and the images used for examples are beautiful. You can't wait to grab your camera and get out to try the suggestions out. It is nice to be able to choose the area of your interest and just read that without having to read the entire book. Just the same I found myself reading an awful lot just to find out how to get some images like those. You won't be sorry that you bought this!

Digital Landscape and Nature Photography For Dummies Overview

Step-by-step instruction on creating beautiful nature and landscape portraits
This eye-popping guide walks you through the nitty gritty of how to take memorable and stunning landscape and nature photos. Packed with constructive advice and a good dose of friendly handholding, this full-color and extra large-trim beginner guide escorts you through the basics of photography and explains how to apply those fundamentals when taking high-quality photos.
Walks you through the basics of photography and details how you can apply those skills to nature and landscape photography
Zeroes in on ways to sharpen your skills by adjusting exposure, composition, and lighting in order to get the best results
Explores the most popular landscape themes and describes how to capture them, including forests, mountains, crashing waves, and sunsets
Shares tips on processing photos, making common repairs, and finding inspiration

Digital Landscape and Nature Photography For Dummies investigates the most popular nature themes and describes how to capture them, including birds, animals in the wild, animals in captivity, flowers, and insects.

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The Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers Review & Ratings

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The Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers Review

This book is great for those digital photographers who would like to enhance their photos without taking a class. Having used PS 7, I felt like I needed to take a class on how to remove red eye. With Elements 3, it gives you two options on ways to remove red eye. Does you flash leave you with an overexposed shot?...do A, then B, and finally C. DONE! Well written book and very simple to use.
Being a Mac user, I was a bit disappointed that the book was written for Windows--beware that PSE 3 for Windows has more features than the equivalent version for the Mac. There are some different key strokes between the Mac and Windows version, so Mac users will need to keep that in mind when following the instructions.
Otherwise the book is very helpful and easy to follow.
Update:
I"ve been going back to this book every week and still learning more and more advanced techniques--eye and teeth whitening, sharpening eyes, removing hotspots, and many others. Its almost like a cookbook with very simple directions. Picture quality in the book is great, so you can SEE the difference in the before and after. With advances in printers and cameras, one can truely print at home like a pro.

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Save 24% Off: Photoshop CS2 Raw: Using Adobe Camera Raw, Bridge, andPhotoshop to Get the Most Out of Your Digital Camera Review & Ratings

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Photoshop CS2 Raw: Using Adobe Camera Raw, Bridge, and Photoshop to Get the Most Out of Your Digital Camera Review

This full-color book offers clear and concise instruction that takes you step-by-step through the process of using the Camera RAW plug-in in Photoshop as well as the related sections of Bridge and CS2. The author not only explains how to use the settings but devotes entire chapters to some of the problems that can, and often do occur - like dealing with digital noise. I appreciate the fact that he doesn't treat the Camera Raw plug-in as the be-all, do-all tool in Photoshop but rather presents equivalent tools in CS2 that many times are a better choice for particular lighting situations. The layout and organization of the book reminds me of one of Scott Kelby's books; the two major differences being the author doesn't include rambling witticisms throughout the text and unlike the aforementioned books, I think that he thoroughly covers the topic rather than just the highlights. The book's organization allows you to quickly find the desired topic (or in my case, problem area) and read a brief description and ways to either perform the action or resolve the problem. To date I have read three books on the topic of working with Raw files using the Camera Raw plug-in filter and this book is far superior to any title I have reviewed. If you are a photographer shooting Raw images this is the only book you will need - period.

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Save 45% Off: 101 Quick and Easy Secrets to Create Winning PhotographsReview & Ratings

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101 Quick and Easy Secrets to Create Winning Photographs Review

In his book "101 Quick and easy secrets to create winning photographs" the Author Mathew Bamberg takes us around the world capturing day to day things using various techniques, taking the mundane shot and turning into a visual masterpiece. Bamberg does an outstanding job of describing the photo techniques that he employed as well as the technical aspects of the shot, the use of color, light and shadow, for ground object, background object etc.. Bamberg describes his thought process behind the decision he makes about the framing of the shot, whether to use aperture priority, shutter priority, type of lens etc.
The book is divided into 15 chapters:
Chapter 1 Making your photographs look 3D. This chapter describes how to use objects to give your photo some dimensionality using foreground and background objects.
Chapter 2:Painting with light. The chapter covers using available light vs. flash vs. reflected light
Chapter 3 Adding action to your frame. This chapter covers using long exposures. It also covers taking shots of people in motion and how to convey what they are doing through photography.
Chapter 4. Adding or subtracting shadow. This chapter covers how to use shadows to emphasize the subject as well as how to get rid of unwanted shadows.
Chapter 5. Making Art from architecture. This chap0ter is basically about photographing buildings in interesting ways.
Chapter 6. Creating mood shots using weather. This chapter is about using exposure compensation to bring out color. It's also about using black and white photography to set the mood.
Chapter 7 Beautifying with color. This is about finding color in the shot and then emphasizing it. Making the color jump off of the page.
Chapter 8. Breathing life into people. This chapter is about using the lens, colors they are wearing and the environments they are in to create a photograph.
Chapter 9. Making animal photos sharp and fun. In this chapter Bamberg shows us how to capture the essence of the animal. He really made these images stand out.
Chapter 10. Spicing up photos with lens flare, noise and other unusual effects. Here Bamberg talks about using the settings on your camera and lens to really bring out unusual effects whether is lens flare, distortion or long exposure.
Chapter 11. Composing with landscapes. Here Bamberg covers using focal lengths, aperture, shutter speeds and combining many different camera settings to achieve the perfect shot.
Chapter 12. Shaping up with symmetry. This chapter covers using lines to direct the viewers eye.
Chapter 13. Technical tango. Here Bamberg talks about what equipment and settings to use in different situations.
Chapter 14. Daytime, nighttime, anytime. Here Bamberg talks about using the settings on your camera to capture the brilliance of light and color. Any time.
Chapter 15. Back to the future. Simply said., how to photograph old things and bring visual life to them with color.This book serves as a multipurpose book. It can be used in the classroom and it can be used as reference material and it is very well suited for both.
The book is filled with beautiful photography. It's an easy read. What I really liked about this book is that it will be very easy for the novice photographer to understand and there is something here for the experienced photographer as well. Bamberg really captures the essence of photography in this book. Bamberg really makes the photos in this book come to life and he walks the reader through how to do this. Bamberg did an excellent job writing and editing this book as well. The points he makes are detailed but concise. The book flows very well from beginning to end and yes there are 101 very useful secrets here. This is worth 10 stars in a 5 star limitation.

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Save 45% Off: Mastering Exposure and the Zone System for DigitalPhotographers Review & Ratings

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Mastering Exposure and the Zone System for Digital Photographers Review

Once the setting of aperture, shutter speed and ISO to get an exposure is learned by a photographer, a major problem of exposure is getting the larger range of light seen by the human eye to fit into the more limited range of light seen by a camera, so that the details the eye sees in shadow and bright areas appears as something more than the black and white shown in the image created by the camera. This was the problem that Ansel Adams tried to conquer in the development of the zone system. Many digital photographers are happy just to keep the camera's histogram to the right and manipulate the sliders in software to recover as much data as possible. In "Mastering Exposure and the Zone System for Digital Photographers", Lee Varis offers his somewhat unusual update to the problem.
After a few brief words about workflow and Lightroom software, Varis offers his interpretation of some of Adams' theory, using a black to white tonal scale. Next he discusses camera tonal calibration so that the photographer can set exposure compensation before taking a single image, and then calibrating Lightroom for accurate colors. In the next chapter he presents several images, some in color and others in black-and-white, with his considerations in selecting his exposure. He follows this with a chapter on post-processing, with a heavy emphasis on using LAB color to create pictures that I would characterize as having a lot of visual "pop". There is a chapter on High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing which he refers to as the fine art of cheating, and then he finishes with some speculation on what direction photographic technology will take.
Varis is not for beginners. He assumes the reader will know the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO. He assumes the reader will understand what all of the sliders and buttons in Lightroom and Photoshop do. He even assumes the reader will understand the LAB color space, although I confess that I have found understanding this space difficult (and to my way of thinking, not very useful.) The chapter on HDR covers the facilities in Photoshop and Photomatix Pro in a cursory fashion that will not help most people to understand the use of either software, but which Varis uses as a springboard to further application of LAB color.
The way that Varis is not for beginners is typically shown in his discussion of color calibration. The author almost glosses over the fact that each digital camera, even within the same model line, varies slightly in the accuracy of the color it captures, and indeed, there are some colors that it are beyond the capability of many cameras to capture accurately. To compensate for that Adobe in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw provides a color calibration facility. Bit even the profiles provided by Adobe reflect only certain averages for cameras and are not usually accurate for the individual camera. To come as close as possible as the actual color of subjects, Varis recommends calibrating the processing software to the individual camera. (Indeed, for certain uses such as product photography it may even be necessary to calibrate the camera for the individual shoot. That's why manufacturers like X-rite sell color charts to aid in accurate calibration.)
Most photographers are happy enough with the profiles provided by Adobe, if they even care about calibrating their camera. But for those who do care for a greater degree of accuracy Varis provides instruction in the proper way to color calibrate an individual camera.
Ultimately all of this calibration only moves the image to a few parts of a stop greater range and many photographers may not think it worth the effort. Add to that that Varis occasionally offers unusual advice like setting the contrast slider in Lightroom to zero to start with rather than Adobe's default setting of 25 and readers may wonder about his advice.
Still there is an audience for this work. The skilled photographer who is not satisfied with the standard RGB color space and is interested in exploring some new techniques which may or may not prove helpful may wish to explore this book.

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Save 34% Off: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Workflow: The DigitalPhotographer's Guide (Tim Grey Guides) Review & Ratings

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Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Workflow: The Digital Photographer's Guide (Tim Grey Guides) Review

Lightroom is here and the blizzard of Lightroom books is upon us.
Lightroom is Adobe's new software for digital photographers which offers a built-from-the ground-up approach to enable photographers to turn their images into prints, slide shows or web graphics. While the program itself is not without flaws, the interface is much more intuitive then Photoshop, and allows somewhat faster handling of files.
Grey's book takes the reader through all of the steps a photographer would use from importing his or her pictures from a camera into a computer to printing the pictures or creating a website using Lightroom.
He describes what each of the buttons and functions provided by the software does, in the order that the average photographer would use them. His writing is concise and what he describes is for the most part clear. A photographer who picks up this book and follows it while processing pictures will have little trouble creating satisfactory output. The book certainly makes using the software more clear than the rather thin instruction manual that comes with Lightroom.
On the other hand, nothing that Grey tells you will help you create a great photograph. The book is aimed purely at the technique that it is necessary to use to create output, and little about the art. One of the great things about image processing software is that it can allow you to create not just images but art; to convert zeros and ones into the photographer's vision. You won't find that here, but maybe that's asking too much of this work.
I can complain about some of the shortfalls of the description of technique. For example, one of the great advantages of Lightroom is that it is a powerful asset management tool (although not as good as some standalone products). It has a well designed scheme for creating keywords that allows for easy recovery of images that I hope Adobe will eventually incorporate into the Bridge portion of Photoshop. It includes so-called parent-child relationships. But this powerful tool is hardly described. Similarly, Grey points out that the software allows for the creation of either HTML or Flash web galleries. I would have liked to know the advantages and disadvantages of each.
The Lightroom interface uses a combination of light grey and dark grey on many of its menus. That works on a monitor but the printed screen captures of the interface are often almost impossible to distinguish. While I commend the publisher for getting this book to the public so quickly, in the rush several typos seem to have slipped in.
Many photographers have been hungry for more information on the use of Lightroom. Grey's book is one of the first detailed explanations. It's useful, but hopefully even better volumes will follow.

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Erotique Digitale: The Art of Erotic Digital Photography Review &Ratings

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Erotique Digitale: The Art of Erotic Digital Photography Review

What's truly amazing about this book is that it combines high quality artistic nudes, by talented photographers throughout the world, with in-depth discussion of techniques. It's rare to find both in the same book, and to find them so well integrated. The quality of the images is so high that I could well have bought it for the photos alone - something that almost never is the case with photo how-to books! And, the reproduction quality is absolutely amazing, rivaling that of some of the highest quality hard-bound coffee table books! And, that leads me to the final point ... The price is actually reasonable, because it is in paperback form (not really paper, but rather that high quality durable plastic clad type of "paper"). If you like books with artistic nudes, this one is a must have!

Erotique Digitale: The Art of Erotic Digital Photography Overview

This how-to digital photography book, in a "coffee table" book format, focuses on image manipulation in Photoshop, the most popular and best-selling photo editing software. This book appeals to a large audience: anyone interested in the new frontier of where digital technology and the art of erotic photography meet, photographers currently working with nude and/or erotic imagery who want to apply digital effects to their work, or for those who simply appreciate the art and want a book that showcases this form. Erotic and nude images have always occupied a special place in the realm of photography. These images are both controversial and ever-popular, and the development of digital technologies has opened the doors to new possibilities within this art form. This book offers a thematic overview of this area and provides a showcase of some of the best talents currently working in the field, who were selected because their work is experimental, original, and visually arresting. These artists are interviewed and the text demonstrates how the images were created, from the original shot of the nude model through to the finished erotic image via screenshots that reveal the stages through which the photographer achieved their vision.

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Save 27% Off: Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer's GuideReview & Ratings

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Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer's Guide Review

Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer's Guide is one of the best Photoshop primers I've read. The author works through image adjustments in a very logical progression. He begins with very simple edits and works his way up to more complex fine-tuning. The instructions are both step-by-step and very clear. He also does an excellent job of explaining the "big picture" of why you want to make these adjustments and does not just turn you into a mouse clicker following steps by rote.
While no one book is going to tell you everything you could ever want to know about Photoshop, this is a fairly comprehensive tome. The entire workflow process is covered beginning with downloading files and sorting them in Bridge, all the way through printing. I would suggest using the "Look Inside" function to check the Table of Contents if you're interested in a complete list of the specific steps covered. The good news is that all the most common bases are covered, and covered well. If I could add one thing to this book, it would be a chapter or two on the basics of making adjustments in the LAB color space. For certain images, LAB will yield truly superior results, yet it receives no coverage in most Photoshop books. If you're interested in learning more, I highly recommend Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace (though that book was written for CS2 and could now use an update).
For those who own the CS3 edition of this book, you should be aware that this edition offers a lot of the same material. Yes, there are additions, but you will want to flip through it in the bookstore before buying to make sure that there is enough new content here to warrant the purchase.
If this book has a weakness, it is that it doesn't really live up to its title. The book is not about workflow per se, but about all the steps that are part of a workflow. Only the first and the last chapters really focus on the aspect of trying to plan the workflow itself. This is no crime, I don't know if it's even possible to fill an entire book with workflow planning discussions without becoming ridiculously redundant and useless. But Tim Grey and his publishers chose to identify this as a workflow text and on that basis I think they have failed. Still, it's an excellent guide to editing photos and I recommend it to anyone looking to improve their skills in that area.

Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer's Guide Overview

In this latest edition of his bestselling guide, expert digital photographer and author Tim Grey explains how proper workflow can alleviate repetitive parts of a project to allow you to focus on producing stunning results and he reveals expert tips and techniques that automate tasks, optimize output, and reduce time spent at the computer, and offers insights to using Lightroom and Bridge. He also demonstrates how to process RAW captures; crop, rotate, repair, and adjust tone and color; harness new Clone, Curves, and Blend Mode features; download, sort, and organize digital images on a computer; and more.

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Digital Retouching and Compositing: Photographers' Guide (Power) Review & Ratings

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Digital Retouching and Compositing: Photographers' Guide (Power) Review

This is simply the best book on digital retouching that I've seen! Some of the other books look slick, but when you get down to it, all they provide are a series of quick tips on how to fix particular problems. This book has those tips, too, but the author goes much deeper into explaining why these techniques are necessary, and exactly how they work. Instead of handing me a fish, Busch has taught me how to fish! When faced with a particular problem not covered in this or the other books, I now know enough to be able to handle it myself. Great approach!
The book looks at all kinds of digital retouching and compositing techniques, written especially from the photographer's viewpoint. Everything works with Photoshop, and all illustrations are in full color so it's easy to see exactly how the steps work as well as the final results.
This is the second book I've purchased from this author, and I find all his books to be both informative and fun (the lesson on how to convert superhero NoCopyright Man's uniform from color to an accurate black and white version is hilarious and worth the price of the book alone!) I learned a lot about photography, Photoshop, retouching, and compositing from this book. I recommend it highly.

Digital Retouching and Compositing: Photographers' Guide (Power) Overview

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Save 30% Off: The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers Review & Ratings

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The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers Review

Adobe began shipping its new Lightroom 2.0 (LR2) software at the end of July. A week later this book was available. It made me think that Martin Evening is really a team of writers, each working on a chapter of this book, or even some smaller portion, and that the publisher, Peachpit, must have incurred huge overtime costs. (Actually, the software was available in beta form for a long time, and authors had final copies of the software before it was delivered to the public.) There are enough changes in version 2.0 that this early edition is welcome for people who want more details.
After an introduction to the software, Evening goes through each of the modules in LR2, explaining what the sliders, radio buttons and check boxes do, and occasionally discussing his preferences and techniques for using the software.
I suspect that with the large installed base of Lightroom, most of the people anxious for details will be using an upgrade, and might prefer a book equivalent to Ben Willmore's "Adobe Photoshop CS3: Up to Speed" which just dealt with the new elements in an image processing software upgrade. On the other hand, there are a lot of new features in LR2, and the software is so integrated that it may be useful for experienced users to review all of the capabilities.
Even though it's comprehensive, new users may be a bit overwhelmed by Evening's work, especially since it often is far more detailed than a beginner needs. The discussion of sharpening and noise reduction may seem like a foreign language to someone who has never used Unsharp Mask. While past performance is no indication of future performance, newbies might do better to wait for something that will probably be more accessible, like Scott Kelby's "The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)" which is presently scheduled for a September release.
The book shows the pressure of early release with some typos and repetitions. On the other hand, Evening describes many of the features in more detail than the tutorials that are available on line.
I found it difficult to view the screen captures of the LR2 menus. This is no doubt due to the fact that LR2's menus are in shades of gray that are highly visible on a monitor, but less so on a printed page. I for one would have no objections if publishers would increase the contrast so that seeing the menus would be easier.
This book is about the technical use of Lightroom. It doesn't talk much about how the features can be used for more impressive pictures. For that, one should look at a few of Rob Sheppard's books like "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Digital Photographers Only (For Only)" or even better "Outdoor Photographer Landscape and Nature Photography with Photoshop CS2 (Outdoor Photographers)" or (subject to the caveat about past performance) his upcoming "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 for Photographers Only", presently scheduled for October release.
If you want to get your hands on a LR2 book right now, this is the only game in town. It's dense, but comprehensive, and for the experienced user, will require some sorting out, but all the information one may need about LR2's new features are included.

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers Overview

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Save 24% Off: The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Dictionary: The A to Z desktop reference of Photoshop Review & Ratings

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The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Dictionary: The A to Z desktop reference of Photoshop Review

As a beginning digital media student, learning how to use Photoshop can be a very time consuming endeavor. Learning how to use it effectively is another thing. One can spend hours, if not days, trying to figure out how to flesh out their ideas onto the screen through photoshop. One may find that process time-consuming if not counter-productive to their workflow if they don't know the program like the back of their hand. This book, however does not help you with that. This is a reference guide and as such, does not hold your hand through your journey with familiarizing photoshop.
Philip Andrews authors a reference guide for Adobe Photoshop CS4 commands. This book caters to the beginning/semi-intermediate end-user as the book describes in short but succinct detail almost every Photoshop option available (There might be more hidden, who knows.)
The problem with this book lies in its format. Like a dictionary, you can only learn more about the command only if you've encountered it and want to use it, but have no knowledge on the actual tool or command itself.
The publisher however does make it clear that it's a reference tool, not a step-by-step guide to get better at the program (although there is a tiny section at the back of the book that tries to help out).

The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Dictionary: The A to Z desktop reference of Photoshop Overview

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Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual Review & Ratings

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Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual Review

Like earlier versions of Photoshop Elements (PSE), Photoshop Elements 8 is both powerful and complex. While it has some automated functions, users hoping to harness its full power are going to need some help. Barbara Brundage offers this help in a detailed guide that explores the higher functions of PSE, while respecting the challenges many readers may have in grasping complex technology.
Brundage offers both conceptual overviews and tutorials of PSE 8's interface and functions. She effectively breaks down the the concepts of file management, basic editing, image manipulation and sharing of the results of these digital editing techniques. Particularly useful are the two appendices, which provide a summary of ALL of the (many many!)menu items in the two main components of PSE (its editor and the organizer).
Minor deficiencies are present in this book. While it certainly provides sound advice on avoiding Adobe's deliberate efforts to guide consumers to a purchase of the "Plus" version of the online extension to PSE 8, it doesn't mention the wide scope of Adobe's data collection of user activities associated with this (in both the free and "Plus" online adjuncts). Advice to consumers to read the EULA if they have concerns about how Adobe will collect their data would have been a welcome addition. Also, the book correctly states that PSE 8 can be installed with earlier versions of PSE. While this is true (and you won't be forced to uninstall any earlier version), it doesn't mention that PSE 8 will force you to choose which single version of PSE you'll want to keep using. Finally, the book says that "the help files that ship with Elements are sometimes incomplete". More correctly, in PSE they are absent. The Help menu in PSE 8 launches a browser and takes you online, where all the help content is located. You can download a 27 MB .pdf help file (which users without persistent connectivity should consider).
These are small shortcomings that do not detract seriously from the overall worth of this book, which is valuable tool with great utility for serious amateur (or frugal professional) photographers or digital artists expanding their craft.

Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual Overview

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Gimp 2 for Photographers: Image Editing with Open Source SoftwareReview & Ratings

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Gimp 2 for Photographers: Image Editing with Open Source Software Review

GIMP 2 for Photographers provides essential help-by-example in the use of the many advanced GIMP tools. It does not claim to be a complete manual, and does not address the paint and art creation aspects of the GIMP. It does an outstanding job demonstrating its use in the advanced photo editing procedures that are normally well beyond the capability of common photo editors, such as the ones bundled with camera software.
The GIMP is often included in desktop Linux distributions. A CD included with the book contains recent versions of the GIMP for Linux, Windows and OS X. It also contains practice images for use with the examples in the book.
After an introductory chapter, the book presents chapters covering correcting and touching up images, using masks and layers - painting, filling, and color tools, and working with black-and-white and color images. A typical exercise describes how to improve a scanned image. The initial image is tilted and needs to be righted, using the angle tool to measure the degree of tilt to be corrected. A moiré effect is removed with the Gaussian blur tool, the levels and curves tools are used to correct the tonality, and contrast is increased for better definition. The different options available for these tools are briefly discussed. Another example shows how to restore an old, faded and scratched picture using various cloning and healing tools.
The use of layers and masks is shown to modify an originally dull landscape photo. The colorless sky is replaced with a blue sky with natural-looking color gradient and some light clouds and a setting sun low in the sky is added. The text tool is then used to convert the image to an Easter card.
Some of the examples towards the end of the book are getting complex enough to go beyond the scope of ordinary photo editing but serve to demonstrate some of the most sophisticated tools available in the GIMP.
I highly recommend this book as an excellent and essential guide to using the GIMP. Adobe's Photoshop Elements 5 may have more bells and whistles, but the GIMP will let you do most of the same editing steps for free. Of course, Linux users don't have a choice and are fortunate to have this powerful editor available.

Gimp 2 for Photographers: Image Editing with Open Source Software Overview

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Save 31% Off: Digital Capture and Workflow for ProfessionalPhotographers Review & Ratings

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Digital Capture and Workflow for Professional Photographers Review

I give this book 3 stars, but that doesn't mean it's not worth buying. The author provides a straightforward process workflow for setting up your digital camera, exposing and capturing your shots, uploading and post processing your digital files, and preparing them for output to an album.
The problem with this book, however, is that it follows the guidelines of most Amerhest books. It's only 150 pages, and in many places the author could have added more information. I want to read more about how he sets up his filing system in Adobe Bridge (which is the file organizer he explains how to use.) I also wanted to know why he uses Bridge over say iView Media Pro? And it's interesting that he doesn't mention two of the big digital imaging applications on the market today: Adobe Lightroom and Apple's Aperature, both which handle RAW images faster and more efficiently than Adobe Bridge. If Bridge is all you have, then this might be a useful book.
The best chapters in this book are about setting up Photoshop actions for processing wedding photos. He explains about a dozen actions that should be a part of every wedding photographer's arsenal. He also explains how to use Adobe Camera Raw, mainly because he correctly encourages his readers that it's better to shoot in RAW mode than in JPEG.
I think Lee would have been better writing a three-part series about digital capture and workflow, simply because the process is so very important to how a photographer makes his or her money. If she lacks a good, solid workflow, she can start out making a $100-200/hour but end up making a lot less in the post-production process.
So yes, this book is worth reading if you're looking for answers to build your workflow, but it will leave you wanting to know more.

Digital Capture and Workflow for Professional Photographers Overview

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