The Photoshop Darkroom 2: Creative Digital Transformations Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Award-winning photography/design team Harold and Phyllis Davis are back with a brand-new volume in their new Photoshop Darkroom series. Picking up where their best-selling first book left off, The Photoshop Darkroom 2: Advanced Digital Post-Processing will show you everything you need to know to take your digital imaging skills to the next level. Great photographers know that the best images begin well before the shutter clicks, and certainly well before Photoshop boots up. Harold takes a step back, and shares his helpful tips for capturing the most compelling images possible by keeping in mind what type of post-processing you'll do before you start shooting. You'll also find complete coverage of important topics such as compositing, working with layers, and HDR. Packed with tons of eye-popping images which have won Harold national acclaim, this is a fantastic resource for photographers who want to think outside the box and create truly stunning artwork. Compatible with any version of Photoshop Useful case studies break information down into condensed, real-world examples which are easy to follow and put into practice immediately Images and supplemental material are available for free on Focal Press's website Exclusive: Selected Techniques from The Photoshop Darkroom 2: Creative Digital Transformations These images show some of the techniques explained in The Photoshop Darkroom 2: I used multi-RAW processing to build up this striking portrait with a dark background. Photoshop’s retouching features smoothed the skin and helped enhance the eyes. This macro photo of water drop reflections and refractions was enhanced using partial desaturation and the soft light blending mode. This image of sea palms (kelp) in the surf is a stacked composite view with photos taken over a period of time combined in Photoshop. This photo composite started with a shot of an empty eggshell, and an entirely separate shot of a wasp. In Photoshop, I used an LAB color adjustment to turn the wasp wings green, then composited the wasp into the eggshell. Exclusive: A Letter from Harold and Phyllis Davis on The Photoshop Darkroom 2: Creative Digital Transformations Dear Readers, How would you like a Photoshop book that is one part inspiration, one part nuts-and-bolts techniques, and 100% as visually gorgeous as a 21st-century Photoshop book should be? That’s our idea behind The Photoshop Darkroom 2: to inspire you so you can create your best imagery with the tools you need. There’s really no secret sauce here. Our earlier book, The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing has been hailed as “the best Photoshop book ever,” “easy to use,” and “fun!” We’ve used the same approach in The Photoshop Darkroom 2: Creative Digital Transformations. We don’t try to cover everything: we explain Photoshop from the perspective of what we really do every day in the course of our professional lives. We are not interested in bells and whistles for the sake of bells and whistles; we are interested in getting things done. We believe that having fun and being inspired is part of the point of Photoshop, and we’ve tried to make every page in our book both fun and inspiring. We often get asked two questions about The Photoshop Darkroom 2: First, how does this book relate to the first Photoshop Darkroom? And then, do I need the latest and greatest version of Photoshop to get the most out of your book? These are good questions. The Photoshop Darkroom 2 and the original Photoshop Darkroom are companion volumes. Each one is meant to be read on its own. Since we didn’t want to repeat ourselves too much, in some places in The Photoshop Darkroom 2 we refer you to the first book for more in-depth information about certain topics. But you certainly don’t need to read them in order. As the subtitle, Creative Digital Transformations, suggests, The Photoshop Darkroom 2 emphasizes the portions of Photoshop that involve changing the nature of what is shown: retouching to remove flaws and enhance beauty, making the unseen visible, and photo compositing to create new worlds. The Photoshop Darkroom 2 was written using the most up-to-date software available at the time of writing, Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Lightroom 3. A few of the features specific to these versions are discussed in the book. However, for the most part, the techniques shown in The Photoshop Darkroom 2 (as with the first Photoshop Darkroom) involve core features of Photoshop such as layers and masking that have been available for a long time. If you are new to Photoshop, The Photoshop Darkroom 2 is designed to get you up to speed quickly. If you are an old hand in the digital darkroom, we think you’ll find some new techniques in The Photoshop Darkroom 2--and, more importantly, some new ideas about how to approach Photoshop and the digital future. We hope our book helps you along your path as a photographer and digital image creator. Enjoy! --Harold and Phyllis Davis
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (February 4, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780240815312
ISBN-13: 978-0240815312
ASIN: 0240815319
Product Dimensions: 9 x 0.6 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,023,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #105 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Equipment, Techniques & Reference > Darkroom & Processing #396 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Audio, Video & Photography > Adobe > Adobe Photoshop #418 in Books > Computers & Technology > Software > Design & Graphics
Photoshop is a mature product, having been around for a couple of decades. It is huge in terms of the number of features, and the book market for teaching people how to use it has evolved accordingly. At first there were only "Bible" books that attempted to teach you everything. More recently there have been books that are more topical, teaching you specific kinds of skills, like color adjustment, or digital collage, or painting. I haven't seen a book of this sort before - mainly because I have not read it's predecessor, The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing.FIRST IMPRESSIONSJust looking at the cover, then flipping through the pages, one cannot help but be astonished at the lively, colorful, attractive pictures. The usual flowers, pictures of women's faces, spiral staircases, but with unusual treatments. "How did he DO that?" is a question that keeps coming up as I browse the book.HOW HE DOES ITThe best part of this book, and what sets it apart from others, is he takes you through multi-step processes of using a variety of different techniques to create a unique image. Other books will typically show you how to use one technique, and the result. That's very helpful, as far as it goes, but the real power of Photoshop is combining these techniques. Going through a process of combining the techniques gets you to think about planning the result and how to get there.The book is organized as a series of separate projects. Each project has the steps, including original pictures, and interim steps along the way. He explains what he is doing, and why.
Harold and Phyllis Davis have produced another useful, easy to follow text on how to create unique images using Photoshop (PS). Harold turns digital files from a camera into personal visual statements, and shows how you can do the same. He writes clearly with an engaging, chatty style. Phyllis is a graphics designer who presents Harold's transformation of the image, step by step, with screen shots of the relevant PS window, drop down menu, layers palette, etc, accompanied by precise statements of what is being done. There are helpful reminders where description of a particular PS tool or technique can be found on an earlier page. The graphics make it easy to follow some very complex examples. If that isn't enough, there is a link to a website where you can download a low resolution file of a starting image and go through the process on your own. The index and internal references help you quickly find particular information.The book is a collection of case studies, each one illustrating the path taken to a final image and, of equal value, showing what choices were made along the way and why. The examples are representational (an old spiral staircase, flowers), people (a beautiful model, kids), abstract (kelp), expressionist (transparent flowers), and surrealist (an Escher-like staircase). Interspersed among the case studies are sidebars with helpful commentary, expressions of personal belief and artistic philosophy (thoughtful, not stuffy), and brief presentations of related topics.A consistent workflow is used that relies on multi-RAW processing (multiple versions of a RAW image that are used as layers in PS), layer masks and the brush tool, and blending modes. HDR and LAB color transformation are used in some examples.
This book provides the serious photographer and Photoshop user some of the tools to become an exceptional artist. Harold takes real photographs, develops a plan for transforming the photographs into artistic renditions, and then takes the reader through each step. The results are images presented beautifully in the book and successfully sold to the public. This is one of the strengths of the book that the examples are real photographs that are turned into professional prints. This is a quality paperback where the quality of the images is not compromised in the publishing.Among the many techniques described so that anyone could repeat them are:* Producing prints that increase the dynamic range of photographs beyond the range available in a single image through multiple Raw image processing,* Bringing a flower image from the ho hum to a beautiful image with the proper use of highlights and contrasting backgrounds. The results are professional images not some over processed amateurish result.* Creating a transparent image of beautiful flowers using a light table and multiple images. The results are images that have an artistic quality probably never achieved before.* Producing surrealistic montages that are true works of artHarold never suggests techniques like auto masking that are poor Photoshop solutions that only work in limited situations. He describes tools that work every day for real situations.Great artists have a vision of what they want to create and techniques that bring that vision to the final product. For some of his visions, Harold shares his visionary thoughts, develops a comprehensive plan (sometimes hundreds of steps), and presents each detailed steps.
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