Photoshop CS5 for Nature Photographers: A Workshop in a Book Review

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Photoshop CS5 for Nature Photographers: A Workshop in a Book ReviewPhotoshop CS5 For Nature Photographers - A Workshop in a Book: Ellen and Josh Anon are back with a new edition of the acclaimed Photoshop for Nature Photographers book. The new version replaces the accompanying DVD with a web site that includes the content to practice the techniques. I find this much more convenient than a DVD accompaniment. I find the new book to be a significant improvement from the already excellent older books. Not only do they cover all of the new functions in Photoshop of interest to Nature Photographers, they have also enhanced some of the older sections and have beefed up the sections for Photoshop Elements users. Photoshop CS5 no longer ships with a tutorial on the new functions as it did with previous versions, so a book like this is even more essential than before and it becomes the defacto User Manual for me when I want to look up a function that maybe I haven't used in a while, learn more about new functionality such as HDR Pro, or just brush up as I often like to do.
As with previous versions, the book follows a photo workflow by teaching you the basics of digital capture first, followed by Bridge, the first place you interact with images on your computer; then on to Adobe Camera Raw, followed by Photoshop in depth. Detailed setup instructions for the many different Preference sections in the different modules that make up Photoshop CS5 are included. Unfortunately this book was published before ACR 6.1 was released which includes lens profiles. However the book does cover the Lens Correction filter which utilizes identical technology so you can just apply your learning from that section of the book to the new ACR 6.1. The in depth Photoshop sections take you step by step through almost anything you would ever want to do. I found the section on the new Refine Edge command extremely useful since this is a very powerful new function but it is a case of a single equation in many unknowns. The Anon's guide the reader through how to best use this tool to make truly excellent selections previously not possible in older versions of Photoshop. I felt the discussion on the new Content Aware Fill to very balanced. Many things I have read make it sound almost like a panacea which, in my own experience, it is not. Ellen and Josh clearly indicate it's shortcomings and the additional work required after using the tool to make your selection perfect. I also found the section on HDR Pro extremely useful and following the steps will even allow the HDR novice, to produce some very nice HDR images. Beyond the normal adjustments one makes to images, the book also tackles the more complex subjects such as Composites, creative Black and White, Filters, Multiple Exposures, and an enjoyable section on painterly mages that gave me some new ideas to try. Photoshop CS5 for Nature Photographers concludes with a chapter on how to get the best output and a Tie Savers chapter which tackles some major time saver functions.
Throughout, the book, many of the images have been upgraded including many stunning new photos taken by the authors themselves. Additionally short technique articles from notable photographers including George Lepp, Joe McDonald, Arthur Morris, John Shaw and more are included.
My only complaint is that the index of the book is not as effective as it could be. As an example, I wanted to find HDR Pro when I first got the book. The index does not have an entry for this but does have one for HDR imaging. It takes you to a single page, in the middle of a very complete multi page section on HDR Pro. It doesn't even take you to the first page of that section. I found on several occasions where the index got me close but missed by a little bit. The eBook version would not have this problem since most eReaders offer content aware search.
List price or Photoshop CS5 for Nature Photographers is $49.99 however the paper version can be had at Amazon and Barnes and Noble for $30 to $35 and the eBook version is below $30. For that, you get nearly 500 pages of jam packed with easy to understand and easy to apply information about CS5. The eBook version is already available through the Kindle store at Amazon but is not available on iBooks. I downloaded the free sample which includes all of the preliminaries and the first chapter using the Kindle App on my iPad. The formatting of some of the pages is strange when viewing in horizontal mode but it all clears up in vertical mode. This book would definitely be better in iBooks or the Barnes and Noble reader on the iPad than it is using the Kindle reader as both of those are better designed for the iPad.
One always wonders if a new version of a book that one already owns is worth the money. This book provides, in one place, all of the information to use the new tools in Photoshop CS5 as well as providing an excellent manual for all of the other functions that a Nature Photographer is likely to use. In addition to covering the new areas that were introduced into Photoshop with the release of CS5, many of the functions that were new to CS4 are now covered more thoroughly. In this case, I must conclude that it is worth purchasing the new version of Photoshop for Nature Photographers as it is a much more complete reference than it has ever been in the past.
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