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The need for a fill flash,
uncluttered backgrounds, and a good photo printer are ideas that seem a
bit incongruous in a book offering much more advanced advice in later
chapters. I think the author was just trying to target as broad of an
audience as possible.
Upon reading this solid guide, you will probably notice Ken's preference
for 3rd party plugins/filters. He's the first Photoshop author I've read
who so strongly advocates the utilization of extra plugins instead of the
direct use of Photoshop's built-in technologies. While Scott Kelby would
tell you to add a duplicate layer, apply Gaussian blur, and then reduce
opacity to accomplish a given task, Ken touts the power of $200 plugins
that accomplish the same goal more quickly and sometimes more effectively.
Fortunately, comparison photos are often provided to illustrate the
differences between the results of Photoshop techniques vs. 3rd party
plugins.
Overall, this book is worth owning if you would like some useful tips and
tricks from a pro. Just keep in mind the author's bias toward 3rd party
products, and expect a few sections on topics that are perhaps too
elementary for the rest of the book (e.g., "Take Good Care of Your
Printer".
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Good book like we expect from o'reilly but not titled right., January
6, 2005
Reviewer: Patrick Holt "txdragon"
I liked this book a lot, most books from o'reilly are superb. It it falls
into my one pet peeves, along with the 90 percent of digital photography
books. It puts all the emphasis on the digital and very little on the
photography. This book will not help you take better pictures with your
digital camera, it will help fix and process pictures in photoshop and
other program, so really it should be called expert techniques in digital
photo processing. That being said, it has some great chapters on digital
workflow, photoshop and 3rd party photoshop plugins, as well as retouching
techniques. All of these go more in depth then what you find in most
photoshop books alone.
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Poor quality photographs mar book that otherwise might be useful, April
26, 2006
Reviewer: J. Shea
Is this guy really a pro? I found many of the photographs in this book to
be poorly composed or just generally a boring photo.
The suggested alterations
seems to just be for the point of demonstrating what you can do. Is the
author really that short on good photographs that he wants to recompose or
enhance?
I wish I had seen this book in the store before putting it on my wish
list. I would suggest looking elsewhere for a book with better examples.
________________________________________________________________
Milburn's book on Expert Techniques for the Digital Photographer, March
11, 2006
Reviewer: V. Anderson "photographer"
This is an excellent book for the advanced digital camera user. It is
mainly written for Pros. While it says it is for Photoshop CS users it
also covers a lot of other sources.
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Excellent for the Photoshop/Digital beginner, February 16, 2006
Reviewer: G. Glojek "--FG"
Easy to follow and easy to use for the novice photoshop/digital
photographer/editor.
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Not thorough, lacking step-by-step instruction., February 15, 2006
Reviewer: John Diana "jdins@ptd.net"
I have attempted to learn from this book several times but I constantly
find it lacks thorough step-by-step instructions. It reminds me of a set
of instructions that have been hastily written. Steps are omitted time and
time again.
I consistently find
myself referring back to other books on Photoshop like Adobe Photoshop CS
one-on-one. I think the author has a vast amount of knowledge and much to
offer but this book needs to be rewritten. If you're looking for knowledge
on how to use Photoshop advance techniques, this book provides only
glimpses of how to actually apply advanced techniques.
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Color photos make it so clear, April 24, 2004
Reviewer: "alexzb"
I have read several books, and while the words may be informative, there
is noting like the pictures. This book was great for me because the
pictures were sharp and clear, which allowed me to see the difference a
few adjustments in my approach could make, without having to read the
entire book.
Honestly, I flipped
through this book and found photos of what my shots looked like, and next
to them was a photo of what they could look like.
This book -- though its title suggests it is for experts only -- is great
for anyone who wants to become a better photographer in a hurry. And, when
you have time, there are also great explanations in the text.
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Expert Techniques (O'Reilly Digital Studio) (Paperback)
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