This book is not about "fixing it in Photoshop." It's about how you, the serious nature photographer, can use technology to enhance your art. Rob Sheppard sees Photoshop not as an eraser for mistakes and the effects of careless shooting, but as an artist's tool, one that assists you in the craft of producing art from your digital camera. He shows you how to use Photoshop CS2 to extend tonal range, remove color haze, correct lens distortions, create multi-frame panoramas, and so much more—all to reveal the work of art you knew was there all along.

• Learn to apply Photoshop techniques to the unique requirements of landscape and nature photography
• Be aware of correct exposure when shooting for Photoshop
• Use layers to enhance images and correct tonality and color for optimum images
• Discover a better way of dodging and burning
• Understand midtones and manage color correction with an eye to the finished product
• Process images twice in Camera Raw for better shadow and highlight detail
• Explore how Photoshop CS2 can support proven techniques used by the masters of traditional nature photography

Photoshop offers great power for controlling color so you can get natural, realistic colors that best express what you see in nature

Unsharp Mask is unmasked so that you can get the most from this powerful sharpening tool

Utilize the best methods of black-and-white conversion

Credits.

Foreword.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Part I: Core Photoshop Skills for Landscape and Nature Photographers.

Chapter 1: An Approach to Photoshop.

Photoshop and Nature Photography.

Photo-Based Approach.

More Ansel Adams than Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

A Workflow Overview.

Chapter 2: What Would Ansel Do?

Ansel Adams’s Legacy.

Art versus Science.

Adams’s Work Was a Model of Craft.

How Many Tools Did He Use Anyway?

Can Indoor Work Match the Outdoors?

Expressive Images.

Variations on a Theme.

Interpretations.

Chapter 3: Start Right.

Shoot It Right from the Start.

The Exposure Challenge.

Overexposure Is Bad,Too.

Exposure Answers.

Film Concerns.

Sharpness.

Thinking Ahead.

Visualization and Composition.

Digital Improv.

Chapter 4: Setting the Stage: Basic Steps.

Open and Save As.

Rotate.

Crop.

Straightening Horizons.

Overall Adjustments.

Dealing with Color.

Fixing Colors that Record Poorly.

Chapter 5: A Short Course in Camera Raw.

Comparing RAW and JPEG files.

RAW Done Smart.

Crop and Rotate.

Workflow Options.

Auto Settings.

Tonal Adjustments.

Color Adjustments.

Fixing Lens Aberrations.

Save Your Work.

Setting Up Camera Raw for Your Camera.

Part II: Layers and Other Essential Tools.

Chapter 6: Layers 101.

Why Not Selections?

Keys to Understanding Layers.

Ansel Adams Worked in Layers.

Flexible, Isolated Control.

Easing into Layers with Adjustment Layers.

Selections and Layer Masks.

Duplicating Layers for Effect Control.

Layer Management.

Chapter 7: Developing Midtones.

Back to Curves.

Another Midtone Tool.

Using Shadow/Highlight to Tweak Specific Tones.

Intensifying Sky Tonalities.

Opening Up Shadows.

Chapter 8: Color Adjustment Refined.

What Is Real Color Anyway?

Colorcast Correction.

Adding Warmth.

Warm and Cold Contrast.

Beware Saturation Fascination.

Correcting Color with Hue/Saturation.

Chapter 9: Better Images through Local Adjustments.

Dodging and Burning.

Basic Eye Control.

The Dreaded Brightness/Contrast Control.

Further Adventures in Eye Control.

A New Level of Adjustment.

Selections and the Layer Mask.

Color Range Tool.

Back to the Beginning.

Chapter 10: Putting It All Together: An Approach that Works.

One Step at a Time.

Evaluating the Photo.

Re-Examining the Photo.

Chapter 11: Clean It Up.

Debris Removal.

Making the Harder Clone.

Using the Spot Healing Brush.

Tilting Trees and Other Perspective Anomalies.

Part III: Special Techniques for the Nature Photographer.

Chapter 12: Extending the Tonal Range of Scenes.

Photography’s Dual Nature.

An Arbitrary Line?

Tonal Range Manipulation.

Two Exposures for Better Tonalities.

The Photoshop Combination.

When the Tonalities Are Not Easily Separated.

Twice-Processed RAW Files.

High Dynamic Range Adjustment.

Chapter 13: Classic Black and White.

Seeing Black and White.

Photographing in Black and White.

Shooting Black and White versus Converting from Color

Channels for Black and White.

Channel Mixer Work.

Black and White from Camera Raw.

Multiple Conversions in the Same Image.

Toning Black-and-White Images.

Chapter 14: Finishing the Image.

Sizing and Sharpening — Why Last in the Process?

Sizing Surprises.

Sizing in Photoshop.

Size Based on the Native Resolution First.

Bigger or Smaller Photos.

Sharpening Tools.

Sharpening and Image Brilliance.

Smart Sharpen.

Sharpening with Layers.

Blurring Distractions.

Chapter 15: The Better Print.

Monitor versus Print.

Work Prints.

Basic Printing.

Evaluating the Print: Where.

Evaluating the Print: How.

Adjusting for the Print.

Making an Elegant Border.

Making Multiple Prints on One Sheet of Paper.

Appendix A: Photoshop Plug-Ins for Nature Photographers.

nik Software.

Digital Film Tools.

Kodak ASF.

Glossary: Pro Glossary.

Index.