introduction Introduction

Introduction

If you've picked up this book, you're obviously interested in digital photography. And there is a wide variety of digital photography books available these days. However, if you've ever dreamed of being a serious digital photographer, the second edition of Digital Photography Expert Techniques is the place to start.

Since the first edition of this book was written, the focus of the book has moved to a nondestructive workflow. The term "workflow" has been bantered about so much that it can mean most anything. In the context of this book, it means an organized process of creating a finished photograph that starts with an idea and ends by being shown or passed on to other people. That organization is structured so that when a change in the interpretation of the image is required, it is possible to go back only to the specific stage at which the re-interpretation must be made. That is because each new step is done in a way that does not disturb the original image, or the process does not use any more adjustment steps than absolutely necessary in order to make the needed change.

Organization of This Book

This book consists of 12 chapters. At the beginning of most chapters is a sidebar titled "How This Chapter Fits the Workflow," which gives you perspective on what you will be doing and why you're doing it at that stage of the organization. After that, I address common issues that you're likely to face as you move further into that domain. As the title of this book suggests, the combination of these issues form a set of "expert techniques" that you can use to successfully master that task.

Chapter 1, A Plan for Nondestructive Workflow

Puts the organization of the entire book in perspective, so that you know what my concept of start-to-finish workflow is all about, as well as the rationale for the sequence.

Chapter 2, Be Prepared

Tells you everything you need to know about getting ready to start shooting. The chapter covers how to set your camera to be prepared for shots, what accessories are likely to be helpful, what settings are likely to work when you don't have time to think, how to keep the camera steady, and how to freeze action.

Chapter 3, Bridging the Gap

Is all about Bridge; this image management program now comes with any and all the Adobe CS2 Suite applications. In this instance, however, Bridge is discussed primarily in relation to Photoshop and to the myriad ways that it helps to keep your workflow organized.

Chapter 4, Streamlining Camera Raw

Gets into a great deal more depth about streamlining your processing while in Camera Raw and the benefit of doing as much of your processing as possible while you're in this completely nondestructive stage of operations.

Chapter 5, Nondestructive Layering

Describes, in detail, how layers can be used to isolate destructive operations so that they can be carried out without affecting anything else you've done to the image.

Chapter 6, Nondestructive Overall Adjustments

Shows how to use adjustment layers, which are completely nondestructive, to make overall image adjustments. There are tips and tricks for using almost all the different types of adjustment layers. Image adjustments administered by commands that are not available as adjustment layers are covered in Chapter 8, when you've exhausted all the possibilities for completely nondestructive editing.

Chapter 7, Making Targeted Adjustments

Discusses making and using selections, masks, and other means of making adjustments that pertain only to portions of the image. You also learn how to modify layer masks after the basic adjustments have been made to further enhance a portion of the image.

Chapter 8, Repairing the Details

Covers all types of image repair, including retouching. Retouching is always maximally destructive, so you are also taught how to isolate the image to preserve all the work you have done up to this point.

Chapter 9, Collage and Montage

Discusses making one image from multiple images using the techniques of both collage and montage. A collage is an image obviously composed of multiple images and doesn't require doing such things as matching shooting angles, hiding cutout borders, and otherwise attempting to "fool" the viewer into thinking that this is a factual photo. A montage takes the viewer to a time and place that, though it looks real, never really existed as a visual reality...at least not when a camera was present to record it.

Chapter 10, Creating the Wow Factor

Presents the next stage of progressively more destructive editing: special effects. Most special effects are created by filters and plug-ins that respecify every pixel in the targeted portion of the image.

Chapter 11, Special Purpose Processing

Covers "specialized" (for lack of a better, all-inclusive term) image processing. More specifically, it discusses panoramas and enhanced resolution images (including how to shoot them so the multiple images required to make them blend together seamlessly), dynamic range extension techniques, and converting photos to "paintings."

Chapter 12, Presenting Your Work to the World

Contains the most effective techniques for communicating your photographic talents to the world. In other words, this chapter is all about preparing your image for output and then how to use that output to show off your talents in an efficient and cost-effective way.

Appendix, Workflow Alternatives

Takes a look at some workflow alternatives, including software tools such as Capture One, Aperture, and Raw Shooter. You'll also find information there about how to access the bonus chapter on Adobe's Lightroom (http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/lightroom).

Who This Book Is For

This book is for photographers who are serious about producing the highest quality photographs in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. For that reason, I speak as though I'm talking to fellow professionals, all the while knowing that any serious photographer can do her best by taking a professional approach to creating images that communicate as effectively as possible.

Because there are so many solutions and techniques to cover, I faced a conundrum: should I try to make it easy for everyone to understand, or assume that readers have at least a little familiarity with Photoshop? I opted for the latter. For example, I assume that you know how to use common commands and tools (e.g., the Magic Wand and the Move tool), and I also saved a lot of time, words, and pictures by making liberal use of keyboard shortcuts or by simply putting the command in brackets.

Does this mean that Photoshop novices shouldn't buy this book? Not at all. It just means that you may need a beginning Photoshop book as a quick tutorial. If you're looking for a good place to start, consider Deke McClelland's Adobe Photoshop CS2: One on One (O'Reilly).

This edition concentrates on digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, which have become the hallmark of serious digital photographers in the time since the first edition was written. This book focuses on digital SLR cameras that have higher megapixels of noninterpolated resolution, interchangeable lenses, and larger, more noise-free sensorsin other words, professional-quality cameras that let you clearly see exactly what the lens sees. Because these cameras are all capable of producing high-quality RAW files, this book also explores how to get the most out of RAW files.

This book is more about workflow than it is about procedures in a specific program. Because the majority of serious digital photographers use Photoshop, that's the program used in most of the examples in this book.

So does this book contain all the information you'll ever need as a professional digital photographer? Of course not. Hundreds of books have been written on the subject of digital photography and digital image editing. If anyone could have fit all that information between the covers of one or two books, it would have been done a long time ago. Be sure to let me and the folks at O'Reilly know if we've missed any that are especially dear to your heart. We'll try to squeeze them into the next edition.

About Photoshop Versions

Adobe Photoshop CS2, which first appeared in the summer of 2005, is the ninth iteration of Adobe's world-famous image editing program. I'll gleefully point out new features in Photoshop CS2 that are especially notable at particular stages of the workflow recommended in this edition of Digital Photography: Expert Techniques.

Conventions Used in This Book

This book is meant to be equally useful to both Mac and Windows aficionados. There is virtually no difference in the operation of Photoshop and the other programs mentioned herein.

Menu commands are exactly the same unless followed by a parenthetical remark that points out a difference or distinction. Menu commands are given in hierarchical order, with an preceding each new appearance of a cascading menufor example, ImageAdjustmentsLevels. If a menu appears from a palette or dialog menu, the name of the menu or dialog will precede the naming of the command hierarchy.

Macs and PCs use different but equivalent keys for keyboard shortcuts, so I'll give you both commands in one breath. Because Photoshop first appeared on the Mac, the Mac command abbreviation is given first, followed by the Windows command abbreviation. So a keyboard shortcut is given like this: Cmd/Ctrl-Opt/Alt-D (that is, Cmd-Opt-D on the Mac and Ctrl-Alt-D on the PC). Today, there is no meaningful difference in the functionality of the Mac or Windows versions of Photoshop CS2.

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:

Plain text

Indicates menu titles, menu options, menu buttons, and keyboard accelerators (such as Alt and Ctrl).

Italic

Indicates URLs, email addresses, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, and directories.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Steve Weiss, the O'Reilly executive editor for digital media who has groomed many a Photoshop author into achieving fame and fortune. He's also fun to talk to and a superb human being. Colleen Wheeler, the developmental editor, is supremely intelligent and has a wonderful sense of humor as well as organizational and technical perspectives. James Duncan Davidson was the technical reviewer for this book, providing insight and helpful comments every step of the way. And I have to give credit to the great O'Reilly production team.

Also, many thanks to Margot Maley Hutchinson, my agent at Waterside Productions. She is simply the cream of the crop: honest, loyal, brainy, hard-working, and a great mom.

Many of the best lessons in life are taught to us by our families. My son, Lane, has been a great teacher, and the directions his life is taking today are just downright inspiring. I also owe a lot to my extended family: Bob Cowart, Janine Warner, Nancy Miller, Jane Lindsay, Sherry Epley, Kim Friscia, Jim Coe, Roger Mulkey, Rick White, and a host of other friends and neighbors.

I'd especially like to thank Tatyana You'no, the amazing face painter who did a job on herself especially for this book's cover. Her baby daughter is also on the cover. If you're looking for a face painter or a very patient model, you can reach Tatyana by email at [e-mail].

Finally, this book couldn't have happened without support and help from every manufacturer or publisher whose products are mentioned or featured.