As I have started to get into taking pictures and then editing them I have also started to dig into the (often mysterious) world of Adobe Photoshop.
I have sifted through a lot of books, trying to learn Photoshop and I have found that there are many good ones that can teach you everything you want to know about it.
Most of the time, though, I want to just know something specific, such as how to remove a blemish or how to cut down on digital noise in a picture. I don't want to wade through 20 pages of information on a certain tool so that I can then figure out for myself what I should use it for.
Recently I found Scott Kelby's book, "the photoshop CS2 book for digital photographers". For those of you thinking that there is a newer version of Adobe Creative Suite available, there is also a newer version of this book available, but I am reviewing this one because I haven't gotten the other one yet. Give me a week or two.
What a goldmine this book is! There are so many great techniques for modifying and fixing photos.
OK, right away let me tell you that Scott's writing can be a little over the top. He thinks he is funny, which can often kill a book, movie, job, marriage, etc. if the person really is not funny. Scott is... mildly funny, but if it bothers you when an author constantly makes corny jokes you will not want to read the book straight through.
Honestly, though, reading the book straight through is probably not the way most people are going to use this book. This is an easy-to-use reference book for fixing pictures.
Working with RAW images? There is a chapter about that, with several techniques that are easy to get, even if you aren't familiar with Photoshop.
Digital noise in the picture? There are techniques for fixing the photos.
Too much flash in a picture? Exposure wrong? Need to get rid of unwanted elements?
There are solutions for all of these things and many more.
And where this book is better than other Photoshop books is in its approach. It doesn't even pretend to teach you everything about Photoshop. It takes a Problem > Solution approach, being very specific about how you can fix what you need done in a few simple steps.
For me, this is the way I learn. If someone can show me practical application of something, actual nuts and bolts, I then see how that feature works and apply it in other ways. This is much better than giving out 10 pages of info on a feature and every option it contains. How does it actually work? What does it do? These are the questions that this book answers.
Also, the actual format of the photoshop CS2 book for digital photographers is a refreshing change. Each page contains a simple summary of a feature and then tells you in easy to follow steps exactly what to do.
You don't have to guess or make assumptions and follow vague suggestions that often are littered throughout most how-to books that don't want to 'restrict' your creativity.
What many of these books are missing is that most of us newbies want to see how it is done and then we can get creative with it. Bruce Lee didn't create his own fighting style without knowing an older, established style first. (I have wanted to drop in a Bruce Lee reference for a while now... talk about corny authors.)
For me this is the way to learn what I really want to do. I can figure out all the other stuff about Photoshop, like how to dock the menus and use the zoom feature. I don't want to read for 100 pages before I actually see something useful.
I would recommend grabbing this book, or the newer version, or even the older version, and keep it close by if you are constantly modifying photos. I will guarantee you that you can grab it and find the info you want fast and apply it before you would even be able to find the right chapter of most how-to books on Photoshop.
Matt Dawdy is a part-time photographer and blogger that writes articles about taking pictures and editing them. He also manages a royalty free, completely free stock photo website www.therightpic.com and teaches software training courses around the world.
To find out more information about this topic or other photography and image related subjects, check out TheRightPicBlog
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