Welcome to Oz 2.0: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop (2nd Edition) (Voices That Matter) [Paperback]

Vincent Versace (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 17, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0321714768 | ISBN-13: 978-0321714763 | Edition: 2

Creating memorable photographs is a process that starts before you edit an image in Photoshop, before you capture the image, even before you pick up the camera. You must first approach the subject with the proper sense of perception, with the ability to visualize the finished print before you commit a scene to pixels, but still be flexible and spontaneous. Master fine art photographer Vincent Versace has spent his career learning and teaching the art of perception and how to translate it into stunning images. In Welcome to Oz 2.0 — a completely rewritten update of the book’s first edition — he delves into what it means to approach digital photography cinematically, to use your perception, your camera, and Photoshop to capture the movement of life in a still image.

• Adapt your workflow to the image so you always know how best to use your tools
• Turn a seemingly impossible photograph scenario into a successful image
• Practice “image harvesting” to combine the best parts of many captures to create an optimum final result
• Discover the importance of bokeh — not only how to use it in order to control how the eye travels and sees an image, but also how to realistically create it in post-processing

Foreword by Bert Monroy
Afterwords by Jay Maisel and David duChemin

Includes free software downloads from onOne and Nik worth $250, as well as customized presets for the Wacom Cintiq and Intuos tablets!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Vincent is one of the most electrifying and flat-out fascinating Photoshop instructors out there today, and amazingly, that excitement and his brand of Photoshop magic have been captured in this book. I was blown away!”
– Scott Kelby, Editor and Publisher, Photoshop User Magazine

"If you are looking for a challenge, and you want to take your Photoshop as well as your photographic skills to the next level, then I would very highly recommend Welcome To Oz."
–Book review, Seatlle Post-Intelligencer (seattlepi.com)

About the Author

Vincent Versace has received the Computerworld Smithsonian Award in Media Arts & Entertainment and the Schellenberg fine art award
and has been nominated numerous times to the Photoshop World Hall of Fame. Vincent produces art for entities as various as Eco-Challenge and the San Francisco Presidio National Park; he teaches at the Maine Media Workshops and Palm Beach Photographic Workshops, and was the original host of the Epson Print Academy. Articles about his work have appeared in over two dozen photography magazines. You can see his work on the Web at www.versacephotography.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: New Riders; 2 edition (December 17, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321714768
• ISBN-13: 978-0321714763
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 0.7 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Media Management > Photo Editing > Adobe Photoshop

More About the Author

Vincent Versace is an award-winning fine-art digital photographer whose work has appeared in museums and galleries throughout the world. In addition, he teaches regularly at Photoshop World and lectures widely at photography and digital imaging conferences and conventions.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a pleasantly instructive journey to the print. December 27, 2010

By Carl Richards

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Sometimes it is easier to define a thing by what it is not than what it is. Vincent Versace's book, Welcome to Oz 2, is not merely a "How-To" book or a "100 Photo Tips and Tricks" book. It does not tell you what lens or filter to use in a given situation. It is not a book you browse through. This is an adult book with a mature approach to photography from a different perspective than photographic help books. Whereas most books will teach you the craft of photography, this book will teach you the art of photography. Whereas other books teach you the "how" of photography, this book will also teach you the "why" of photography: why we are asked to do things in a certain way, why these ways are superior and how they will lead to a better appreciation of the print.

It was Vincent's prints that I stood in front of several years ago at a photographic seminar he was conducting in Oakland, California. I was stunned when I saw those images, and I didn't know exactly why they had the power to transfix me. I had been in photography as an amateur for a long time, and I could recognize contrast and saturation and other attributes, but it wasn't until I read his first Welcome to Oz book that I came to understand why I was so impressed and how he did it. Anyone looking for a quick fix or a pat formula for photographic success will not find it in this book. This book asks you to work and think and stretch your imagination. It leads you along the way through clear, concise explanations and numerous helpful illustrations. You don't read this book. You work through this book.

Yes, as one reviewer at this site mentioned, there is an emphasis on the use of Photoshop, but don't be fooled that this is a book about how to use Photoshop. This is a book about how to make great photographs into successful prints. It captures the thought process one should use from the conception of the print before the shutter button is ever pressed to how the nature of that capture can be enhanced in Photoshop to guide the viewers' eyes and thoughts to enhance his appreciation. This book is not about taking pictures. It is about making pictures.

Professionals have no monopoly on learning photography. Amateurs serious about their art will also benefit greatly from the Oz series of books and DVDs. It was not until I read the first book that I was able to raise my photography to another level. It proved to be a revelation to me. I have worked part way through this Welcome to Oz 2 book since receiving it recently. It is not a warmed makeover of the first book. It contains new insights, new approaches and new techniques. This book and I have many hours to go. Of all the photographic books I have ever read, I feel the first Oz book has taken me the farthest, and this book has the potential to take me even farther. I consider this work a gold standard in the education of photographic art. If you are serious about your work, I think you might, also.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Behind the Curtain with a Great Digital Artist January 6, 2011

By Mark E. Wilkey

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Vincent Versace's new book "Welcome to Oz 2.0" is far, far more than another book about how to "make digital images look good" using Photoshop. I have a shelf full of such books. This book offers something much more unique and far more valuable. The book, in a way unlike any that I'm aware of, sets forth the artist's approach to producing masterful digital images and prints. Like a Zen master, Versace offers tips that bear extended contemplation: "Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect;" and "impossible is just an opinion." What differentiates this book from its peers is that Versace gives the reader NOT just step by step ideas about how he managed to create these visual masterpieces, he also explains the philosophy and thought processes that led him to take these steps. (Some of which are unique to him). It's as if we've been invited "behind the curtain" for a private tutorial with a great artist and teacher. In addition to the written material and images, purchasers of the book receive software worth many times the book's purchase price--along with instructions from Versace in the software's use. The first version of "Welcome to Oz"--if one can find it--sells at a premium of many times the original price. This new book is a complete rewrite and expansion of Versace's earlier work. The Introduction suggests that Versace may write two further books on this subject. Photographers and digital artists should hope this happens. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and buy this book before it too is fetching $150 a copy from used booksellers! This is NOT a beginner's book, but is a MUST HAVE for photographers and digital artists trying to "get the last 2%" from their images.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Vincent Does it Again December 26, 2010

By Jed M. Best

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have read Vincent Versace's Welcome to Oz and have now read Welcome to Oz 2. Well Done Vincent!! This version takes you further into Vincent's belief that it is the Print that is all.
He mentions how the eye travels within the image/print and he then goes into minute detail on how to accomplish this. Along the way, there are important discussions on various factors, These include image taking, image harvesting, depth of field, light, color and gesture. In addition, there are several terrific plugins that are included free.

As mentioned in another review, I would also recommend the DVD's that are available from Acme Educational. There is one for Welcome to Oz 2 so whether it is easier to learn via reading or viewing, both modalities are available to the end user. I would highly recommend the book and the DVD. In short, Vincent has again contributed something unique to our understanding of image making. Well Done!