Idea to Image in Photoshop CS2 Cover while a book dealing with an older version of Adobe Photoshop is 100% relevant for Adobe Photoshop CS3, many Photoshop CS2 books are relevant to CS3 and there is of course no guarantee that any of these books will be updated to cover CS3 specifically. Especially some of these little gems like Idea to Image in Photoshop CS2.

There are dozens if not more books dealing with enhancing your digital photographs using Adobe Photoshop. It is this third party support that makes Adobe Photoshop so popular, it makes it easy to learn and easy to be inspired and awed which makes you want to use the software all the more. Idea to Image in Photoshop CS2 is one of these guides to enhancing your digital photographs in Adobe Photoshop; however it is also unique in that it suggests being creative at the time you take the picture instead of faking it later in Adobe Photoshop. A suggestion I wish more photographers no matter their experience and skill level would take to heart.

To see what I mean all you have to do is look through the book and see some of the interesting and very eye pleasing photos that the author has taken and these were photographed that way. One of my favorites is the picture of a horse with the shadow of cowboy on its rump Photo. It is a very striking photo and while this could have been done in Photoshop post process I am ever more impressed that it wasn't. I think too many photographers of all skill levels figure well, I can always do that in Photoshop and while that is certainly true I think this kind of mind set causes the photographer to loose out on a lot of the fun, interest and excitement in the process of photo taking. It isn't nearly as satisfying doing it in Photoshop as it is to knowing that you took the time and learned your camera and photographic techniques and did it all at capture time.

I like to think of post processing as sex by pill. Instead of finding that special person, getting to know them and to know them deep in your heart and soul and to know that that is the person for you, the person you want to make a life with a person you want to have kids with you instead pop a pill, look at the person and then come back 9 months later. Doing everything in Photoshop and not in the camera is the same way. Now don't get me wrong, Photoshop is very important and so is having Photoshop skills, but I think we rely too heavily on it to get even the small things right, small things like white balance, focus (sharpening), exposure, etc. To do all of this correct these things and more should be done at the time the image is captured, only minor adjustments to things like this should be done in Photoshop. Composition is another one that people tend to do later with the crop tool in Photoshop.

Idea to Image in Photoshop CS2 helps you learn how to see the final image before you ever use your camera to capture the image. Things like light, creative framing, filling the frame, horizontal or vertical pictures, looking for details, telling a story and much more are all covered and with some help from this book and a little work on your part all of this can be done at capture time if you train yourself to look and teach yourself how to use your camera to the utmost.

Idea to Image in Photoshop CS2 also covers how to use Photoshop CS2 to do enhancements like drawing attention to a subject, enhance landscapes, making face shots all they can be, dealing with shadows and more.

The author also talks about how to be creative in Photoshop, to do things that you simply can't do with your camera. Things like aging a photo, using filters, playing with the weather, creating a pinhole camera effect, creating a basic montage and more and these are just the basic things, there is a whole section on advanced creative techniques like using the art history brush, creating lighting effects, converting color photos to black and white, hand coloring, creating a more advanced and more artistic montage and more.

The final chapter of the book deals with how the author photographs, telling the story as well as the different types of photos and stories he likes to tell, like environmental portraits, capturing action, posed portraits, and more.

Yes, this is a book on Adobe Photoshop CS2 and yes this is a book on how to enhance your images in Adobe Photoshop CS2, but it is also a book how to take great pictures at the time of capture and then how to use Adobe Photoshop to make them better not making them something they were to start with. I think the whole point of this book can be summed up by an old saying that very much applies to photography digital or otherwise "Garbage in Garbage Out." If you don't start with the best you can't end with the best no matter what that ending may entail.

This is a book that should be on the shelf of every photographer from those at the novice skill level to the expert skill level, the images in it, the information covered is all priceless and inspiring.

Chapters:

Chapter 1: The Photographic Idea
Chapter 2: Image-Enhancement Artistry
Chapter 3: Creative-Image Artistry
Chapter 4:  Advanced-Image Artistry
Chapter 5: Photographic Image