Back to Adobe Photoshop, as you have no doubt noticed I love Adobe Photoshop, that is why I have so many books reviewed on the program. There are just so many fun and wonderful things you can do and since a good portion of my life deals with digital photography it is a natural extension of that work.

 

How to Wow Photoshop for Photography isn't a must have book for any Adobe Photoshop user or photographer. You simply don't need it. However, if you want to have fun and learn some useful and tricks then you might want to pick up a copy. I know I am glad that I did.

 

This full color 276 page (not counting the index) book is just packed with great ideas for making your photos come to life. Things like learning to get the optimal exposure, color management which is a very big and often confusing subject. Camera RAW, getting the most from Adobe Bridge, creating fill layers, mastering selections, using the patch tool and more. Now all of these sound like very basic subjects and they are, but this book shows you how to use them and why as it pertains to photography and editing those images digitally. Unlike other books that deal with all uses for these tools like web use pre-press and the like, this is just for photography and to me that makes it more important and more useful. Focused information is always better than general information.

 

Chapters:

Chapter 1: Workflow Foundations
Chapter 2: Processing and Presenting
Chapter 3: Adjusting and Optimizing
Chapter 4: Retouching and Repairing
Chapter 5: People and Portraits
Chapter 6: Enhancing and Exaggerating
Chapter 7: Color and Tone Treatments
Chapter 8: Artistic Effects and Overlays
Chapter 9: Combining and Collaging

Each section comes complete with step-by-step instructions lot of full color samples and screen shots. There are so many screen shots and sample image shots that this book is as close to a video tutorial as you can get, each step is not only text documented but visually documented as well. The instructions are easy to read and follow. There are tip boxes throughout that help you get even more from the tools and techniques covered. The insight boxes are just great they include information on image sources, things that are included on the CD that you might want to take a look at and other interesting tidbits.

 

Included with the book is a CD-ROM with over 250 presets, actions, natural media brush tools, custom shapes, seamlessly wrapping patterns, plus all of the photographs used in the book. This the perfect book for any novice or intermediate user that wants to take Adobe Photoshop and their photography to the next level.