Customer Reviews

Take Your Best Shot: Tim Grey Tackles Your Digital Darkroom Questions

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I generally like the Q & A format in books and this volume uses this style to the fullest extent. It is absolutely chock-full of great ideas, tips and tidbits that are essential knowledge for the beginner digital photographer as well as those who are more experienced. Tim Grey expertly answers questions that I had and many questions that I hadn't even thought of beforehand. I was especially pleased with his inside info and candid responses to queries about brand name cameras, types of printers and the best lenses. I especially appreciated his honest answer as to which photographers would most benefit from owning Adobe Lightroom and other expensive software. This book has already paid for itself many times over by preventing me from making some ill-advised purchases.

Digital photography is a subject both wide and deep, encompassing a lot more than just knowing how to turn on that convenient compact camera. Frustrating to many entry-level image makers is the realization not long after starting to shoot away that there are certain fundamentals that need to be mastered in order to avoid confusion and chaos as the number of image files grows exponentially. Making high quality images to start with, preserving the quality of image files while preparing for multiple uses, and creating a storage methodology that allows you to actually find the images you want when you want them are all dependent on learning a core set of underlying digital imaging principles.
This is a technical field with its own language -- if you don't understand digital imaging terms, it will be next to impossible to learn those underlying principles, and learning anything in these attention-challenged times is hard enough. Tim Grey has made it his business for nearly a decade to help explain digital imaging terms and processes in a precise but colloquial and highly readable style that has made him a standout among the host of educators who have flocked to the field. Tim started his free Digital Darkroom Questions e-mail bulletin in the fall of 2001 and has continued it ever since, answering questions from readers in a manner that illuminates the subject with unusual clarity for all subscribers. In this book he as compiled the most salient questions and answers into a highly readable and informative work both for beginners and seasoned veterans as well. The beauty of this collection is that it addresses a great many of the scattered but important fundamental digital imaging principles, which, though not very exciting on the surface are vitally important to developing a better understanding of what's really going on.

Do recognize that Take Your Best Shot covers a lot of territory; it's not intended as a tutorial for any one program, even though many questions are about Adobe Photoshop. What emerges is a well-thought-out philosophy of how to go about the digital darkroom process, one that is tried and true and has been adopted by a great many serious digital photographers over the last several years. Tim also addresses that fact that technology continues to grow (for example with wider use of parametric editing, used extensively in Lightroom, Aperture, and the current version of Adobe Camera Raw), and that these advances simply add to the creative arsenal without diminishing the importance of a sound grasp of digital fundamentals.

Tim has developed an easy, lucid, direct communication style that exhibits a clarity not often found in this geeky, jargon-filled technical writing business, and his explanations address many levels of understanding, making the book a worthy reference for a broad audience. If you take digital imaging seriously, this book deserves a thorough read and a permanent place on your reference shelf.

I can't really add anything to Gordon Schultz's review except to say that I agree with it 100%. Tim Grey has written an excellent book in a very user-friendly format which is chock full of information on every aspect of digital photography. If you're into RAW conversions, Photoshop editing, and home printing then unless you're an experienced pro, you need this book. I simply can't recommend it highly enough.

This book is a collection of (presumably) common questions, and Tim Grey's answers. Most of this information can be found on the Web easily, but for someone who is just getting started it might be useful to have such a compendium. On the other hand, for anyone who already does know what the difference between JPEG and RAW images is etc, the answers in this book don't have enough depth (especially when talking about how digital cameras work), and are sometimes incomplete (e.g. there is no mention of watermarking in the response to a question about "securing" images). At the same time, some of the questions are over-specific (e.g. "What Do the Highlighted Menu Items In Photoshop CS3 Mean?"). Even if the format of the book doesn't allow for detailed answers, I'd at least expect pointers to further information (there isn't even a reference section).

I'm the author of this book, so you might want to take this review with the proverbial grain of salt. However, I can tell you that of all the books I've written (over a dozen), this was by far the most enjoyable for me to write. My hope is that readers will likewise find it to be enjoyable and informative to read, and I'm delighted that the reviews presented so far here reflect that.

I've long felt that the question-and-answer format was a powerful way to learn. That was part of the motivation for creating the free Digital Darkroom Questions email newsletter (www.timgrey.com/ddqp/) in a question-and-answer format (the other reason being that I was simply getting a lot of questions from photographers!).

In this book I've tried to cover the topics that have been most common (or most troubling) for photographers over the years. I'm biased, but I like to think this book has successfully encapsulated the most common questions in an organized format with an entertaining (while informative) style. I include my biggest "pet peeves" (so you'll know you're not alone when you get frustrated, and also know what to watch out for), as well as "Let's Settle This Already" sidebars that provide definitive answers to topics that have been the most controversial. These two features are, I think, of huge value in this book.

Great Book. I am a subscriber to the regular TimGrey.com but found the book a wonderful source of review and reinforcement. It is hard to keep up with the ever-quick changes that occur in this ever changing digital world and I appreciate the sharing of up-to-the-minute information. Thanks Tim!

This book is presented in question and answer format.

As an advanced hobbyist photographer, these were exactly the questions I've had. The answers were clear, with (when needed) step-by-step instructions on how to do the task.

I have two recommendations: For photographers -- get the book and also subscribe to the author's newsletter (one question/answer each). For the author -- write a second volume, soon.

Tim Grey's books are clear, concise and full of practical, useable information. He is one of the two or three very best authors on photoshop and digital imaging. You can't go wrong buying any of his books.

This book is very helpful to anyone interested in digital photography. While I have been hacking along for some time, mostly learning from errors, as an amateur, this book is a great beginning, and while I have not examined the whole book, it seems to be well laid out and great for any digital photographer especially a beginner.

There is a lot of information regarding your digital Darkroom. What I liked is being able to jump around and not having to read the book cover to cover. Easy reading and informative.