Synopses & Reviews
Layer blending modes have been part of Photoshop for years, but because they're not easy to understand at first glance, this immensely useful feature tends to get overlooked. Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers is the only recipe-format book that covers blending modes specifically for digital photographers.
The book covers:
- Changing hue, saturation, luminosity, and color
- Correcting basic color shifts
- Repairing highlights
- Sharpening or softening focus
- Adjusting lighting for subtle or dramatic effects
- Controlling contrast
- Creating surface effects and textures
- Adding interest to landscapes and urban scenes
- Enhancing portraits of children and adults
- Simulating graphics arts techiques
and much more.
Unlike Photoshop's built-in filters, blending modes don't change the actual pixels that make up an image, so their effects are completely reversible. There are over 20 blending modes in Photoshop CS2, which range from those which darken and lighten images (such as Darken, Multiply, Lighten, and Screen) to modes that increase contrast (such as Overlay and Hard Light) and adjust color (such as Hue, Color. Luminosity, and Saturation).
In addition to covering each blending mode in detail, John Beardsworth, a London-based photographer and author, takes the reader through a whole collection of recipes that demonstrate how to use blending modes alone or in combination to fix problem photos, add subtle effects, and create dramatic images that are truly unique.
With clear, step-by-step instructions, real-world projects, an easy-to-follow format, and hundreds of full-color examples, Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers is shows you how to use blending modes to achieve a wide range of image adjustments and special effects-without having to first learn everything there is to know about Photoshop.
Synopsis
Layer blending modes have been part of Photoshop for years, but because they're not easy to understand at first glance, this immensely useful feature tends to get overlooked. This text covers blending modes specifically for digital photographers.
Synopsis
Window Seat: The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking is a complete view of a creative project from the artist's perspective. Julieanne Kost, a Photoshop and creative thinking expert, has taken her own experience shooting images out of commercial airplane windows to create a unique creative seminar.
The first section of the book, The Art of Creative Thinking: The Principles, outlines Julieanne's method for staying creative in an increasingly complicated world. In her personal stories, advice, and philosophies, you'll find inspiration if you're stuck or just can't get started. You may recognize some of your own less-than-productive thought processes as she describes her own struggle to let go of the everyday flotsam of life to find a quiet mental space in which she can think, dream, and create.
The second part of the book, Window Seat: The Portfolio, is a collection of images culled from over 3000 photographs Julieanne shot from commercial airplane windows over a period of five years. The photographs are accompanied by brief commentaries addressing various aspects of the process, from the original inspiration to issues of control, subject matter, image selection, and manipulation.
The Appendix contains technical information: a discussion of the equipment and media Julieanne used to shoot the photos; how she processed the photographs using Adobe Camera Raw; the Photoshop techniques she employed to correct, retouch, and manipulate the images; her personal file management system; and how she prepares her files for printing.
This book is essential reading for photographers and artists looking for ways to stay creatively awake, aware, and alive.
About the Author
Julieanne Kost's foray into Photoshop began in 1993 when she joined Adobe Systems in a technical support role for Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere. Two years later, she took on an in-house design role creating educational content for several of Adobe's products, including user guides, tutorials, and the "Classroom in a Book" series.
She now serves as the Senior Digital Imaging Evangelist at Adobe, educating designers, photographers, teachers, and fine artists. A passionate photographer herself, Julieanne lectures on creativity and Photoshop topics at prominent industry events, fine art and photography schools, and numerous conferences around the world.
She is the guiding force behind the Photoshop Fundamentals and Advanced Photoshop Techniques training DVDs published by Software Cinema and is the cofounder, with her husband Daniel Brown, of www.adobeevangelists.com.