Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop (Perfect Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Vincent Versace is a Renaissance man who has produced the best how-to book of the year! With its subtitle of “A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop” Versace introduces a system for creating images that owes as much to the traditional darkroom as the digital one. Don’t just read the book; study it. The first chapter isn’t called “The Tao of Dynamic Workflow” for nothing and, like the rest of the book, contains Versace’s charm, wit, and wisdom. It’s copiously illustrated with detailed step-by-step examples of techniques that when applied to your own work will turn you from zero to hero. The fact that he’s a heck of a photographer means the book is stunningly illustrated, but it’s also been well designed. It has become a cliché to say that a book could change your life, but this one could." -- Joe Farace, December, 2007 , Shutterbug,  Top Digital Books Of 2007; More & Better Digital Imaging Books

Product Description

"Vincent Versace is a Renaissance man who has produced the best how-to book of the year! With its subtitle of “A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop” Versace introduces a system for creating images that owes as much to the traditional darkroom as the digital one. Don’t just read the book; study it. The first chapter isn’t called “The Tao of Dynamic Workflow” for nothing and, like the rest of the book, contains Versace’s charm, wit, and wisdom. It’s copiously illustrated with detailed step-by-step examples of techniques that when applied to your own work will turn you from zero to hero. The fact that he’s a heck of a photographer means the book is stunningly illustrated, but it’s also been well designed. It has become a cliché to say that a book could change your life, but this one could." -- Joe Farace, December, 2007 , Shutterbug,  Top Digital Books Of 2007; More & Better Digital Imaging Books

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,  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 photographic scenario into a successful image
•  Practice “image harvesting” to combine the best parts of  many captures to create an optimum final result
•  Create black and white prints that have the look, feel and “richness” of traditional silver prints without ever leaving the RGB color space

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Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press; Pap/Dvdr edition (December 23, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735714002
• ISBN-13: 978-0735714007
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #351,485 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like Mr. Versaces work, buy this book..., January 31, 2007

By	T. Werelius "nullman200" (Woodinville, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is basically about how to create images similar to Mr. Versace's (not to duplicate his work, but to use his techniques to achieve similar results)

I really love Mr. Versace's images, I have seen them in print on display and am always taken with them.

There are a number of unique things about this book.

First it comes with the images he talks about (full resolution) so that you can try and exactly duplicate his techniques which is very helpful in the learning process.

Second he gives you a idea of why he is doing something and not just how he did it. The approach of the chef vs. the recipe following cook.

Third his approach is one of artistic vision vs. pure representational photography (which in my opinion does not exist) and which I totally embrace.

Fourth he shows you how to use multiple images to overcome limitations of camera gear (dynamic range, depth of field, etc) and how to use Photoshop to add visual flow and direction to produce a final artistic vision.

Fifth he emphasizes what I call just in time pre-visualization with an end in mind. Where many might see an uninteresting subject he can "Fast Forward" through his workflow and pre-visualize a much more beautiful result than just using the camera with its limitations might allow.

Though I love his work, and do recommend this book I can't give it 5 stars since there is room for improvement.

In the book Mr. Versace jumps around at times, repeats concepts just talked about but in a slightly different way (a little confusing) and in general it seems to take most people one or two or three tries to take in what he is explaining.

There are also things I think that need to be expanded upon and others that are distracting. The use of catch phrases "traveling a circle in a straight line" etc. are useful philosophically at times and cute at first, but in my opinion just get in the way of learning overall.

A bit more organization, expanding on some still hazy topics, and cutting down on the eastern philosophy jargon would make it a 5 star work.

If you want to get inside Vincent's head it's worth every penny.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This raised me to a new level, February 22, 2007

By	D. Barrack "RunningHappy" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can only thank Vincent for sharing his approach, knowledge, and philosophy. This is not a breeze through, how to book, but rather an approach that will make you think. I have now gone back to tons of photos that I thought were well thought through, applied Vincent's approach, and was so happy with the results. And that just getting through the first 1/3 of the book. This does assume you are very comfortable with PS and already have generally good photos to work with. Just a few thoughts if Vincent is reading through these ...

a) I'm practicing using the techniques but using a Wacom instead. This seems like a great way to go but there's no mention of this in the book.
b) There is heavy use of the render lighting effects. It would be helpful to get into more discussion regarding how to control better this effect.
c) I have tried using multiple lights with multiple subjects (people) in a an image and it's just not intuitive in PS how the lighting behaves. Some discussion about this would be great.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting the Image That Your Eye Saw, January 9, 2007

By	David Johnston (Florida) - See all my reviews

I have been trying out Versace's techniques chapter-by-chapter, and I am thrilled with the results that I am getting. Each chapter deals with both the philosophical approach to creating unforgettable images and the in-depth, step-by-step instructions to make it happen. In addition, it includes a DVD with the actual Photoshop files, with all the layers, to show exactly how the magic happens. I knew how to use Photoshop, but this book is taking me to a whole new level.

The author's techniques, such as image mapping and image harvesting, put the 3D back into my images. No more disappointment when I print. With Versace's help, my photos now look like what I saw when I depressed the shutter!

The chapter on converting color to black & white is excellent. Versace explains the art of the black and white images, as well as the steps in Photoshop to create the best image for printing.

That is what is neat about this book. It is not just about using Photoshop, it is about taking great photos and making them even better with Photoshop. I highly recommend this book!