Customer Reviews

Adobe Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ansel Adams and the photographers of his era established the standard for modern photography. Get the full range of light, from the blackest blacks to the clearest whites. Adams also helped establish the rules to achieve that goal. Control the process every inch of the way, from picking your equipment until the final print, to capture your vision.

The modern digital photographer can achieve that control by using all the features of his camera and the software available to him for processing. The leading software is Adobe Photoshop. Manufacturers have adopted a format called Raw that captures the most data so that the photographer can exercise the most control in processing. Adobe has responded with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) which helps photographers squeeze that data from the file to allow digital photographers to meet the Adams standard.

Rob Sheppard has produced a book on using ACR that always keeps in mind that the purpose of ACR is to help the photographer produce an image that embodies his vision. There are several books available about using ACR that describe how to use the sliders and what the effects are. Sheppard's book covers the same ground, but he also relates the technique to the artistic purpose. For example, he tells you how the shadows slider works to change the black point in a picture. But he tells you that you should not just extend it to some arbitrary limit that insures the image has the greatest range. He discusses the fact that varying the black point helps to give snap to some pictures and that increasing areas with no shadow detail may actually help to achieve the photographer's vision.

The author recognizes that the process begins with taking the image and, after a discussion of the Raw format itself, tells you how to use the in-camera histogram that comes with many higher end cameras, to bring the best possible image to ACR. Then he selects a number of specific images, with a full range of differing processing requirements, to illustrate the use of the ACR tools to achieve the photograph that reflects the photographer's vision. The book is profusely illustrated with step by step images that remove any doubt one might have about what to do. And thankfully, for my eyes, the illustrations were large enough to see clearly without a magnifying glass.

I particularly liked the chapter "The Noise Problem No One Talks About" which was a problem that I've never been able to find enough help in solving. There was also a chapter on compact digital camera Raw processing which recognized that not all photographers are shooting digital single lens reflex cameras.

Sheppard recognizes that sometimes even ACR cannot capture all the data available in a single conversion and includes a chapter on combining separately adjusted files of the same image in Photoshop to extend range even more. He includes a chapter discussing other Raw converters that are available.

This book is aimed at slightly more experienced photographers then another favorite of mine, "Raw 101" by Jon Canfield. Moreover, it doesn't cover the post ACR process in Photoshop, for which I would recommend Tim Grey's "Photoshop CS2 Workflow". Finally, there is no hands-on work here. If you learn better that way, you may want to read Barry Haynes' "Photoshop CS Artistry", which includes extensive tutorials, although at least in prior versions, gave ACR short shrift.

For me, Sheppard's book seemed the perfect explanation of ACR.

I've been working with Raw for some time and have referred often to Real World Camera Raw, which has been the definitive book on the technology itself. However, I'm always on the lookout for a useful book. I initially was attracted to the cover and title of this one, plus the fact that Rob Sheppard is a superb photographer. So, I bought the book and I wasn't disappointed, as it takes a discussion of Raw to a whole new level. Sheppard's approach of "you're a photographer first," and "the technology serves the art" is dead-on and refreshing. Sheppard really knows his stuff, and this book is packed with highly useful Raw techniques and considerations -- all true to the "you're a photographer first" mantra. Plus, the book is graced with scores of Sheppard's stunning images. Great stuff! I'd say that this is the true "real world" Raw book.

I'm relatively new to PS. In the last 8 months I've worked through most of Photoshop CS2 for Digital Photographers and Photoshop CS2 One on One and thoroughly processed about 50 (not a lot) photos out of the thousand or so I've shot.

I bought Camera Raw in preparation for moving most of my photography to a DSLR and to help decide whether and what to shoot RAW vs JPG - to learn the advantages and disadvantages of RAW processing, what is entailed and how much time it might take. I've been shooting RAW now for only a month and a half and Camera Raw has been my bible for processing my mostly RAW images.

The content of this book and Rob Sheppard's writing and presentation styles are a perfect package for me. He's clear and to the point, writes in a friendly but not cute way and gives a lot of comments on why he's doing each task in the way he's chosen. He keeps the focus on getting the results the photographer/reader wants.

The book takes you through a well-defined RAW processing workflow and thoroughly covers how and why to use all of the functions on the adjustment tab and the new curves tab, with good sections on the detail and lens tabs and a brief but excellent discussion of using the tricky calibration tab function. Images are used to show each step of the process being discussed. A lot of the images apparently show subtle adjustments that in many cases I simply couldn't see on the page. Could be my eyes or being able to "see" well - or just the limitations of printing. Doing the same steps with downloaded copies of Rob's images was more helpful in seeing the effects of the adjustments on the monitor.

I found this very exciting stuff. Chapters like "The Histogram, Key to RAW and Camera RAW" may be old to many readers, but was covered in a much more thorough and illuminating way than in any of the dozen or so articles I've read. There was an excellent chapter on dealing with noise in Camera RAW and mention of post RAW noise reduction options.

Camera RAW is useful for anyone who shoots RAW, whether with a DSLR or compact digital. It has a nice chapter specifically for compact camera photographers with topics including "Why Bother" and "Challenges of the Small Sensor" plus basic processing for compact camera RAW.

The next-to-last chapter is a delightful extension in this book on RAW. "Post Camera RAW Processing" reminds that ACR only treats images as a whole, leaving the work on specific areas of a photo to Photoshop. More than that, it provides a great tutorial on using a plethora of adjustment layers and masks to make an image have the kind of visual and emotional impact you might want. Very very useful for me. A strong nitpick about some other books is that they spew out keyboard shortcuts, most of which I can't remember, but they don't say where the functions they're using fall in the menu structure. But -- Rob tells us in what menu each item he uses can be found - and adds the keyboard shortcuts too.

Bottom line - the example image subtleties notwithstanding, as a relative beginner I'm extremely happy with Camera RAW. It is not overwhelming, but has depth that I will be able to continue to use.

This is one of those rare books where the author speaks to you about a technical topic in a way that is incredibly accessible and totally focused on what YOU need to know. In this case, Rob Sheppard's discussion of Camera Raw is totally oriented around getting good photos, period. His author voice is plain and straightforward, yet seems uncannily targeted on the questions that he seems to know you have. I guess that's because these are all issues that he has had to address himself in his own journey into Raw. There's a gem on nearly every page in this book. Great images, too. Whether you already have a Camera Raw book or not, you should buy this. You won't be sorry.

I picked this up hoping to find a more approachable alternative to learning RAW, as many of my Photoshop students wanted something easier than Bruce Fraser's Real World Camera Raw. A brief skimming of Sheppard's Camera Raw made it appear as though it would do so.

Sadly, after reading it, I can't recommend it.

Overall, it's a decent overview of the capabilities of Camera Raw, aimed at photographers without any experience with Photoshop and very little desire to understand why some of the features in Camera Raw operate the way they do. That (over) simplification does make it easier to learn the basics, but it's sadly limiting for anyone who hopes to be able to truly optimize their images.

His very sketchy explanation of the new sharpening capabilities in ACR v4, his handwaving of the importance of the Calibration tab ("pretty geeky" and hard to use--not surprising given the lack of explanation of any of its controls); the lack of detail about how Vibrance and Saturation inter-relate; the lack of detail about Clarity; the lack of use of SmartObjects when combining multiple images--all made it an unsuitable alternative for me.

Worse were the many misstatements. While rarely important, they were enough to be off-putting. Saying ColorMatch is a "wide-gamut colorspace" (It's smaller than sRGB), various misstatements about CMYK, and numerous other little inaccuracies scattered throughout reduced my confidence in it.

It is, however, very approachable, especially for those with no experience with Photoshop, and particularly for those whose background is with film. The coverage of black and white was also quite respectable.

In that light, if a reader wants to learn JUST the basics, this isn't a truly bad choice--though I would still recommend the Fraser/Schewe Real World Camera Raw book for most photographers anyway, even though it's more technical: it covers more and in more depth in fewer pages.

Overall: not horrible, but better alternatives exist.

We are just now starting to see more book on Adobe camera raw and how to use it in the workflow and this book is one of the better ones. Using a lot of photos the author explains not only all the various functions of Raw but also how to interpret the historgrams and use them to better adjust your photos. He also does not the differences between a digital SLR and a PROsumer camera.
The only downside to the book is the fact that some of the detailed explanation require photos that span several pages without text. So it can be hard to follow an example at times as you have to keep paging back and forth.

Rob Sheppard has done it again! Mr. Sheppards ability to make sense out of all the confusion is worth the price of admission alone. He offers sage advice with out all the hype. His non judgemental style offers you choices and explains why. He does not exploit popular myths, rather he unfolds the layers cloaked over what many have ascribed as trueisms. The book is definitely a how to and not a "do this."

The book explains why you may not need RAW for particular situations. A discussion of what RAW is and is not is particullary interesting. Handling noise was very detailed. There are many "Pro Tips" throughout the book and many of them stand alone regardless of the subject matter.

I have carefully gone over all the books on this subject. Save your money buy Rob.

Simply put, Raw Rules. JPEG files toss away 1/3 or more of the valuable date in your file. That's pretty basic stuff that eveyone knows. If you want to learn about Raw - from start to finish - you need to read Rob's latest book. In this lavishly illustrated book, Rob uses his skills as a communicator, photographer and digital artist to give the reader all he or she needs to know about Adobe Camera Raw. The part I really enjoyed: Making Camera Raw Work Harder For You. Read this book, shoot a few RAW images, and you'll never shoot JPEG files again (for your serious work). - Rick Sammon

This book is excellent and I'm very glad I bought this book.

I'm complete beginner in digital photography, even so have some experience in film photography. So Raw, Bridge, Photoshop, Histogram, White Balance... all new concepts for me.

This book main goal is to teach reader how to "create" the best possible photograph from the moment one takes picture all the way through the digital editing. The book is organized in very easy to follow and logical manner. I found Rob Sheppard explanation of many complex terms to be very clear, thorough and easy to understand. Every topic covered in this book is supported by numerous, high quality, pictures.

Author starts with explaining how digital camera captures the image, what are the limitation of the digital camera, and why proper exposure is important (no color deterioration - otherwise hard if not impossible to fix later)

Later in the book author covers picture raw editing, starting from simple examples and progresses toward more complex/advanced examples.

At the end author shows how to use double exposure and some other tricks, this time in Photoshop.

In short book covers all possible topics in great details.

My favorite chapters were: histogram and curve control. Thanks to Sheppard I could finally understand what is the histogram for and how to take advantage of it (I've read numerous other sources, but couldn't understand it). I loved his explanation of the curve, since I feel, this is one of the most powerful tools in camera raw (and very complex too), and thanks to excellent Rob's explanation it's my favorite now.

What I loved about author approach is that Rob Sheppard gives the reader tools that one can later apply to tackle different situation, opposing other books approach - to teach reader "how to" that applies to one particular situation, and useless in another. Rob also shows many different approaches to raw editing and explains where one is favorable over the other.

But what I loved the most, is that author teaches reader how to critically evaluate the photo, in order to determinate what the proper correction/processing steps required if any.

This book would be perfect, but Photoshop part (two latest chapters), I found lucking in details, and examples. I wasn't able to replicate the book examples, and had to use another reference (I'm new to all this digital thing).

Overall I'm very very happy with the book. This is the most comprehensive book on the market, and the best ever tutorial on the topic. The book might not be the perfect one, but there are currently no better, more comprehensive books on the market. Definitely recommended.

This book offers great coverage of Camera RAW. The instructions are clearly illustrated with images as they progress through the different stages of the RAW process.

The problem I had was with sentence structure. The narrative does not flow easily and though the language is simple, it seemed I had to wade through all the extra words to find the meaning. Despite that difficulty, this is still an informative resource on Camera RAW.