Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop (VOICES) | List Price: $44.99
Discount Price: $25.89
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Binding: Perfect Paperback
Inspirational [Posted on 2008-03-30]
This book is inspirational; there are 4 or 5 very detailed step by step exercises. There are, also, many example pictures of finished work, like the one on the cover. It is a pity that the author has chosen the "less beautiful" pictures for developing the exercises. Don't expect to find how to make the one of the cover.
Great digital photo book! [Posted on 2008-07-08]
Vincent Versace's Welcome To Oz is quite possibly the most innovative and best digital photography title I've ever come across (excluding my own books, of course!).
Versace is a superb photographer. So this is not one of those digital photography books that is written by a Photoshop guru without the creative gifts and guts to make images. But it is still largely a Photoshop book.
Versace's subtitle tells the story of his book: "A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop". After reading this book, I felt better able to view photograph-making from the perspective of what would happen to the photo in the computer as well as in the camera. And, as I said, the images are splendid (and the step-by step accounts of how they were created very thorough).
If I have one caveat here, it is that Versace provides versions of his original images, and encourages readers to duplicate his work on these samples. Personally, I prefer to try things out on my own images, and I enourage readers and students to process their own work. Otherwise, the whole thing becomes a slavish imitation of a master rather than an original creative endeavor. But that's a matter of individual taste and a quibble, this is a really, really good book.
An introduction to advanced photgraphic editing in Photoshop [Posted on 2008-07-15]
The book is useful for those who want to move up from basic use of Photoshops image enhancment tools to a more advanced level. The use of various layer masks and how to develop an efficient workflow is described. The book is laid out as a course and the reader should do the exercises using the images from the included CD. The style of the results is of course a reflection of Versaces own style, however by learning the described teqnique the reader can gain a platform to develop his own style. The example images are portraits and close-up nature. There is also a small collection of the Versaces images nicely presented which shows that the author has achieved his goals.
This is not a general encyclopedia on Photoshop rather it is an introduction on how to use the toools in Photoshop to achieve a specific photografic result and to get inspiration from a master.
A Method Actor's How To Book [Posted on 2008-08-13]
I call this a Method actor's how to book because invariably Versace starts with the artistic motivations and aims before getting into the techniques to satisfy them. This approach really works for me.
I have spent most of my time with his B&W conversion techniques, trying out some alternatives not included in the book, but that derive from its motivations. I've found the techniques are extremely adaptable and customizable to one's own vision. This I think is rare for a book such as this, and therefore it receives my highest esteem.
Worth The Journey [Posted on 2008-08-14]
This book is not your everyday Photoshop book and not a book for casual reading. It is a journey that provokes thought and requires the reader to often take his steps over again to fully appreciate what is being taught. As Vincent Versace has said many times, his purpose in writing this book was not to do a step by step answer book, it was to write a book which would inspire the reader to ask questions and look at things in a different way.
As an example, after reading about image harvesting I created an image composited from 20+ separate photographs to achieve enough depth of field using a 180 macro lens. By working through the lesson, I finally understood how to do the compositing it would require and I was surprised how well it worked. That the warp tool was required to get the leaf the way he wanted it only serves to reinforce the concept of interpretation.
For those who may be disappointed to find out Kismet is a composite, I have to wonder why. Are Jerry Uelsmann's images less photographic because he composites them in the darkroom? Are landscape images by Ansel Adams less iconic because they were manipulated in the darkroom? Photography has always been created from what the photographer saw and felt and how he wants to interpret that onto the print.
I recommend this book to anyone who has the patience to take the time required to understand what Vincent is sharing and I am hoping he will add more books to my library in the future.
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