Customer Reviews

Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers is a grab-bag of tips, tricks, and techniques for image manipulation, especially compositing. Some chapters that aren't really about Photoshop at all made it in as well, including some surprisingly basic tips on how to shoot sharp photos to good common-sense advice on how to run a photography business, and some slightly bad advice about running a backup system. (No, making copies on DVD's really isn't worth the trouble; a properly-run backup system on magnetic media is more secure, cheaper, and much, much less work.)

This is, in fact, the book's greatest weakness -- it often loses sight of its intended readership. The meat of the book is about compositing techniques, which are of primary interest to professional photographers doing catalog or advertising work, but they will not be very interested in the basic or non-Photoshop related chapters.

The techniques run the gamut from the simple, brilliant, and immediately useful (such as very clever ways of using Extended Photoshop's Stack editing for a variety of image manipulation tasks, or creative uses of Content Aware Scaling), to the incredibly complex (such as creating convincing drop shadows on a textured background in a multiple composite product photo). Advanced masking techniques, hair retouching, and other often difficult compositing-related techniques are also covered.

The upshot is that any individual reader will very likely find about one third of the book useful. The rest will be either not applicable to what s/he does, something s/he already knows, requires proficiences s/he does not (yet) have, or requires Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, which s/he has not bought.

This book should really have been called "Compositing in Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended." That way, it would have been possible to drop the few chapters that had nothing much to do with compositing, replace some of the rather inane non-Photoshop chapters with an overview of what compositing is, and isn't, good for, with perhaps a note on the ethics of photo manipulation and a short historical overview thrown in, and rearrange the material to form a more coherent and focused whole. As it is, it's not a bad book by any means, and any "green-belt" Photoshop user will likely find something useful in it. With a more coherent vision of its readership and better focus on its core message it could have been much better.

When Martin Evening published his comprehensive "Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: A Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC" he told us that he had to tell so much about Photoshop CS4 that he would come out with another book dealing with applications and here it is, written together with Photoshop guru Jeff Schewe.

The chapters include advice on what to do before you shoot; methods of improving image quality; mending and blending; masking and composting; a chapter called "cooking with Photoshop" which includes information on merging, black and white and color effects; printing; and minding your business.

I'm not always certain where the boundary is between intermediate and advanced Photoshop users, but I suspect that if you feel comfortable using the Pen tool, you will be the kind of user this book aims at. For the rest of us, some of this book will be helpful while other material will be over our heads. The chapter on compositing included a lengthy discussion describing the preparation of an image in a many-stepped process that seemed way beyond anything I would ever assay. I think of this kind of work as being in the space between photography and graphic design. Yet, for a commercial photographer, learning the skills described can certainly provide additional clients and sources of income.

On the other hand the chapter on cooking with Photoshop contained information on using photomerge that I instantly put to use and the discussion of content aware scaling seemed like old hat. Rather than describe the basic process of using an inkjet printer, the chapter on printing discussed the best way to prepare for custom profiling and the preparation of images for CMYK work. The business chapter visited archiving and setting rates, and seemed more designed to remind photographers that that these were important subjects that had better be given serious consideration.

Occasionally I was reminded that the book was more like a cook book, in that it didn't always present an integrated process but sometimes, unrelated techniques. But unlike most cook books, this book didn't lead you through a step-by-step process with settings without explanation, but rather tried to explain what the various steps were trying to accomplish. One can follow along with the images provided on the accompanying disk. (The DVD also provides movies which are substantially the same as some of written text, except that they move along pretty quickly, but some people might favor this method of learning. Also on the DVD are a few PDF's that include short sections of Evening's earlier Photoshop CS4 book, and demo versions of Photokit software which I was unable to install on my computer.)

This is not a book for beginners. To benefit you will have to know and have experience with most of the tools and panels of Photoshop. Moreover, even if you are experienced, the techniques that the authors provide may not prove of use to you. But that's the way it is with more advanced Photoshop techniques. I think it will be worth while for more advanced users to see if there is anything of value for them in this book.

Martin Evening's two books on CS4, the second with Jeff Schewe, are excellent.

As a programmer with a strong technical background, but new to photography, the two books have been very helpful. Their clear explanations, both written with examples and videos to cement those concepts, excellent graphics, along with their photographer's perspective allow the reader to come into their studio and see how an accomplished professional photographer brings pictures to life.

The key, for me, was at the end of the workshop, I understood what I needed to do, why I needed to do it and how to bring it to fruition. Their sections on sharpening and printing alone are worth the price of admission. I understand much more of how (and where, when and why) to use CS4, especially Camera Raw. They give insight on how best to manage workflow, understand sharpening, handle "exceptions" in your photos and how to bring my photos out of the printer.

Having trouble getting your landscape shots out of the fog? Read page 47 of the "Raising your IQ" chapter. Having trouble understanding when and how much to sharpen your images? Watch the movie tutorials and follow their clear explanations. Try it on your own photos - don't use their examples! Having trouble matching the output color even though you've calibrated your monitor, downloaded all the profiles, bought that excellent Epson photo printer, etc., etc., read their output chapters. The proof of the pudding is in the eating - or in seeing your own pictures pop out of the print you hold in your hand.

Didn't make it to Photoshop World in Las Vagas? Want to get the scoop from "world-famous UK fashion photographer, author and digital 'imaging pioneer Martin Evening" (from the Photoshop World literature PW sent me)? Get these books.

I have a healthy book budget and I have purchased multiple photoshop books, browsed others on O'Reilly's Safari and taken online tutorials. Imho, these are by far the best of the lot.

If the content in this book is the ultimate in topics for a workshop for digital photographers, it makes me glad I've never spent several hundred dollars for a workshop with the likes of Jeff Schewe or Martin Evening.

I strongly recommend Martin Evening's book on Photoshop CS4 for professional digital photographers. It's an excellent book. Well written, if a bit stodgy. Comprehensive. Much of the content of this book new book with Jeff Schewe is available in Martin Evening's "Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers" and with more detail.

Should a reader care that Schewe shots photos for Case but never for John Deere? Or that he owns a laser trigger? Most authors keep the personal stuff restricted to preface, foreword, or introduction. Here the authors constantly intrude. If an author is going to intrude, then they should at least write with the wit of a Scott Kelby, Deke McClelland, or Russell Brown.

The videos were very poorly edited. The videos by Martin Evening are almost inaudible. I loaded them into an audio editor. Audio is reduced to -15db. Why? Because Martin Evening used a cheap microphone into a laptop and did not have enough respect for the buyer to remove the noise from his videos. Instead, the noise was made inaudible by making the audio barely audible even with headphones and full volume. The videos by Schewe have more volume, but their editing is also poor. You can hear him snorting and puffing, and they generally have poor pacing. I'm surprised the technical editors from Focal Press didn't insist on better videos.

The technical prose is generally excellent. Schewe and Evening are both very experienced and knowledgable digital photographers. They are both competent technical writers. Focal Press did an excellent job with the layout of the book.

I expected more from this book, however. Given their professional credentials and the title of the book, I expected the equivalent of an award-winning workshop for experienced digital photographers that would teach advanced techniques. Most of the techniques in this book are basic to intermediate. I saw nothing that really approached an advanced technique. Layer blends and selections are stock in trade for digital photographers with intermediate Photoshop experience, and it's the discussions of layer blends and selections that form the bulk of the book.

If you want to learn about layer blends and selections, I would suggest readers look for books by Deke McClelland or Katrin Eismann. If you want to learn glamour techniques for smoothing skin, selecting hair, and the like, there are books with an exclusive focus on glamour retouching that offer better instruction.

What I expected was a book for professionals that was truly inspiring. Something along the the lines of books from Vincent Versace, John Paul Caponigro, etc. Books by those authors combine photoshop techniques with photographic vision and walk-throughs that demonstrate how to take mundane shots and craft something extraordinary. That's not what you get with this book.

Schewe and Evening are two of the best known authors on the professional use of Photoshop today. But they are also both primarily Studio Photographers and these tips and tricks come from that background. There are a lot of examples of how to optimize people shots and product shots. For Nature Photographers, that is not very helpful.

The techniques they describe at times seemed excessively complicated. Lots of smart filters, compositing, fixing hair, adding text for advertisements. and some gimmicky things like emulating a fish eye effect. I would guess that 80% of the book will be of no value to me as a nature photographer. But 20% of it was golden. Solid clear advice on basic RAW processing, Photomerge, creating realistic blurred backgrounds or going the other way and extending the depth of focus.

Despite some excellent parts, I can' recommend this book for Nature Photographers. Much better are the solo books by Martin Evening. I particularly like "Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers" and "The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers"

Martin Evening has, in all of his past books been comprehensive and effective in presenting the most pertinent information for photographers using Photoshop. This book is spotty in its scope, and lacking in organization. Instead it presents ways to use Photoshop CS4 that are not, to my mind, broadly applicable and not really "The Ultimate Workshop"

Jeff S and Martin E have produced an incredibly useful book for taking your image processing and correction to the next level. Written in an easy-to-understand style and rife with great examples, they start with an image they have shot (studio, staged, or impromptu) and take one through *their* processing of it. Some of the small details or tips that come out are also exceptional - for example Martin's tip on shooting a background before doing a model shoot, and how useful the background was later.

But what really makes the book exceptional is the supplied DVD with a lot of the images and some stellar movies that Jeff and Martin provided that provide more detail on some of the examples they show in the book. Watching these movies, one can get a real sense of how these masters think and work on images - invaluable!

Photoshop is such a giant program that the more I scratch the surface, the more I find I don't know. Authors Shewe and Evening have shown how to open the many doors of PS CS4. I am a professional photographer and have used PS for years, but now I have a companion to help me do things easier and faster. The have shown some wonderful tricks and techniques - and how to do them: content-aware scaling, the PS diet, using color range in B/W conversion, extending depth of field, layer blending to remove people from a scene, beauty retouching on skin, and on and on. These are all explained with clarity and wonderful examples that let you start using these techniques right away. Plus they have all the technical jargon spelled out in an understandable way.

I can't fathom what is upsetting to reviewer "Joe Joe." This is a book that shows you the way to use photoshop to make your pictures better.

I think that Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop is an important tool and should sit right next to you mouse.

This book is written by two of the biggest names in digital photography education.

Martin Evening is the UK-based commercial and fashion photographer who has written the book that this one takes its title from. Jeff Schewe is a US-based commercial photographer and educator, who conducts many seminars and presentations on digital photography and digital printing. Both are partners in the PixelGenius enterprise that brought us the PhotoKit sharpening automations. Adobe has so much respect for what Pixel Genius has done that it went to the partners of Pixel Genius to incorporate the output sharpening routines for Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom RAW converter.

Whereas Martin Evening's Adobe Photoshop for Photographers is an A to Z reference for photographers to understand how to use Photoshop, the Ultimate Workshop book assumes that you have already read Evening's reference book or already have a solid understanding with Photoshop and the number of tools available. The Ultimate Workshop jumps right into teaching you a number of techniques in Photoshop. Some are general to most current versions of Photoshop and others are specific to CS4 due to the use of new tools.

The book is segmented into major sections with the first few dealing with general information about preparing files, such as using Adobe Camera Raw to convert files to something Photoshop can work with. Other introductory sections get into some useful retouching techniques, but the really meaty retouching techniques are in the second half of the book.

In the second half, Schewe and Evening show some actual assignments that they worked on and what steps they took to satisfy the art directors. They also get into using some of the more advanced tools and techniques available in Photoshop from straightforward merging techniques to create a new large photo from several small ones to creating a fisheye effect photo using non-fisheye photos. Quite impressive!

Some of the tips I found particularly useful are how to effectively make intrusive and unwanted details in an image disappear. In my home city, we have trolley buses that use overhead power cables and most of my photos of the downtown area are blighted with those cables. Evening and Schewe provide you with the technique and tools to utilize in CS4 to create an unblemished photo. It serves to make CS4 a worthwhile upgrade too in order to have access to the new tools, like Stacks, that can make your life easier when editing your photos.

I found the use of Stacks particularly interesting as a way to remove people from a busy scene. It used to be that in order to get a clean photo of a popular location, you had to do a massively long timed exposure, so that moving people would not register on the film. Now, you can use Smart Objects and Stacks to render a clean scene. Unfortunately, in order to get the Stacks tool, you need the more expensive Extended version of Photoshop CS4.

Most of the techniques provided are, as you would expect, manual ways to do things in Photoshop. Take noise removal as an example. While Evening and Schewe take you on a step-by-step process to remove noise, they admit that their Photoshop's technique can be bettered by third-party applications such as Noise Ninja or Noiseware. They are also not shy in using techniques developed by others, such as Mac Holbert's mid-tone contrast enhancement. However, Holbert is no stranger, as he is now a partner in the Pixel Genius venture and will work with Schewe, Evening and others to improve on the PhotoKit products.

There are also a few of the more common things you would want to do with Photoshop that don't have the sizzle of using Stacks. These include beauty edits to correct blemishes, loose hair and how about hair roots? These are all very useful for people photography, of which most of us must do everyday with our friends and family. I'm called upon to do annual family portraits and I really wished I knew some of these techniques for years past, when I've had to do many of the same things used as examples in the book, to correct strobes reflecting off eyeglasses (low ceilings) or the closed eyes of one person in an otherwise good group photo.

There is also a discussion on how to manage your digital files and thoughts on archiving and backing up. Back in the day when the Nikon D2X was new, Schewe made some noises about how wrong it was of Nikon to encrypt the white balance data in D2X RAW files. Reading his comments on archiving made me understand why he's so passionate about having open standards in order to preserve the integrity of the photographer's files for the future.

The Ultimate Workshop shows the digital photographer how much power is available to them using Photoshop CS4. No longer does a photographer need to outsource the postproduction to a retoucher if the photographer takes the time to learn the tools at hand. The Ultimate Workshop is a fine way towards learning those tools.

This book, like Martin Evening's earlier works, is simply awesome.
He gives lucid descriptions of the procedures, the reasoning, the purpose, and why it's the best way to do it.
The illustrations are crystal clear - and it's directed at photographers. Many other CS4 books describe PHOTOSHOP, not how to USE it for photography (or anything else!)
Finally, for a text book, it is very easy reading.