Photoshop as an artistic tool (2008-11-20)
This book is a labor of love by the author. A lot of time and effort went into producing this, for the obvious reason that Mr. Giordan loves his subject matter.

I should be clear in saying that this isn't a book about photography. It's a book about taking photographs and Photoshop to produce art (in the traditional way of thinking of art).

It's well written and the reader really needs to do the exercises to get the most out of it.

If producing "art" from your photography is your goal, this is a great book to have as a reference.

I was waiting more PhotoShop (2007-03-08)
55% of the book is about how to take a good digital photography. And the rest is about PhotoShop, is not enough. I'm disappointed

Shows photographers how to be better artists (2006-08-08)
This book is dedicated to the purpose of taking raw digital photographs and turning them into art and using Photoshop to help with this task. The book is broken down into three parts. In the first part, the author has dedicated his instruction to basic photographic principles, as well as the specific, actionable techniques for taking better digital photos. The chapters cover the basics of exposure, composition, depth of field, and general technical skills that will enhance the quality of your images. The final chapter in this section, on composition, just might be the most important chapter in this book. The fact is, if you don't have solid composition skills, you have little chance of making artistic images that have impact. Exposure and focus are important technical skills, but composition frames reality and structures the viewing experience. Without effective composition, you're left with a detached and soulless view of the world, even if it is clearly exposed and presented.

The second part of the book is about how to use Photoshop on your photographs once you have them. The author laments that although digital photography is notorious for generating tons of raw material, that most people never move past the "My Photos" folders that act like digital shoeboxes, crammed full of snapshots that are stored out of sight. The chapters in this part provide ample ammunition for what to do next. Chapter 5, "Photo Explorations," considers ways to manipulate photos while maintaining a final result that still looks like a photo. Darkroom and optimization explorations maintain a look that is still photographic while adding a more expressive element. Chapter 6, "Artistic Explorations," gets even more expressive as it delves into drawing and painting. You'll need a digital tablet for many of these effects, but the results are well worth the effort it may take to get one.

Part 3 of the book, "Gallery", represents the author's own personal explorations, based on his Tuscan experiences and photographs. He uses some of the same techniques described in Part 2, "Photoshop Explorations," and full image-capture information is provided for all source photos. Each image includes a brief introduction and a complete description of how it was created. Screen shots of Photoshop are shown as they are needed in showing how each image was created.

I highly recommend this book to those photographers who want to learn more about the artistic side of their craft starting with their skills as photographers and including inspiration, vision, and the technical knowledge of Photoshop needed to put it all together. Plus, the author has put together a truly stunning collection of photographs from Tuscany. The table of contents is as follows:

Part: 1 DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES
Chapter 1. Digital Camera Basics
Digital Photography Pros and Cons
Five Habits to Optimize Image Quality
Previewing Tips: Critical Evaluation
Preview Exposure with Histograms and Clipping
Capturing the Elusive Shot
Elements of Photographic Quality
File Format Pros and Cons
Using a Flash Effectively
Chapter 2. Digital Exposure
Exposure = Amount of Light and Speed of Shutter
The Tones and the Zones
Adjusting Exposure
Metering Light
Overcoming TTL Meter Limitations
Non-manual Exposure Settings
Using a Handheld Meter
Measuring Tonal Range with Histograms
Chapter 3. Focus and Depth of Field
Types of Autofocus
Focus and Camera Stability
What Is Depth of Field?
Artistic Application
Chapter 4. Composition
Compositional Building Blocks
Documenting a Moment
Controlling Compositions with Multiple Exposures

Part: 2 PHOTOSHOP EXPLORATIONS
Chapter 5. Photo Explorations
Dramatic Shadows
Custom Black and White Conversions
Shift Depth of Field
Image Panoramas
Daguerreotype Effects
Infrared Effects
Simulate Twilight
Hand Coloring
Cyanotypes
Chapter 6. Artistic Explorations
Printmaking Effects
Painterly Illustration
Line Engraving
Painted Canvas
Conté Crayon Drawing
Graphic Effects With Blending Modes

Part: 3 GALLERY
Chapter 7. Abbazia: Finding Transcendent Spirit
Source Images
Building the Image
Abbazia Image Design Log
Chapter 8. Passagio Scuro: Revealing Shadowed Vitality
Source Images
Building the Image
Passagio Scuro Image Design Log
Chapter 9. Punto: Exploring Relative Fundamentalism
Source Photos
Building the Image
Variations on Punto
Punto Image Design Log
Chapter 10. Santissima Addolorata: Experiencing Blind Faith
Source Photos
Building the Image
Santissima Addolorata Image Design Log
Chapter 11. Porta Rossa: Discovering Evocative Doorways
Source Photo
Building the Image
Porta Rossa Image Design Log
Chapter 12. Molecola Sogni: Toward a Weightless History
Source Photos
Building the Image
Molecola Sogni Image Design Log
Chapter 13. Una Passione Perfetta: Creating Dynamic Precision
Source Photos
Building the Image
Una Passione Perfetta Image Design Log
Chapter 14. Parte Interna: Building Visual Tension
Source Photos
Building the Image
Parte Interna Image Design Log

Split Personality (2006-06-13)
I was really excited when I first looked at this book. I regularly complain that many ostensible photography manuals are really picture books that have had some language added to make them look like photography instruction books. Here was a book that had plenty of beautiful pictures of Tuscany that were really used as a framework for instruction. Then I discovered the book's split personality.

The first part of the book is aimed at beginning to intermediate serious photographers. Using the author's own digital pictures, Giordan explained the basics of photography, including exposure, focus and composition. The pictures were not only lovely, but they were tied to the text so that they illuminated the teaching points. Giordan has a tendency to photograph details rather than the big picture, but perhaps that's also a useful lesson to learn. He also seems willing to tolerate over-exposed skies to get shadow details. But he passed my litmus test for any book maintaining it's about digital photography by explaining the use of the histogram, blinkies and even the zone system.

Unfortunately, he also put out some wrong information. For example, he states that digital cameras achieve exposure compensation by adjusting ISO ratings and so one should shoot in manual mode if one expected to compensate exposure. But that's certainly not true of the Nikon D2H, which Giordan used for the pictures in this book, or any other digital camera I know. Most digital cameras compensate with the aperture when you are in shutter mode and the shutter speed when you are in aperture mode. Moreover, while the author acknowledges that an important role of lenses of different focal lengths is to adjust perspective, he also preserves the old myth that depth of field is a function of focal length.

Still, even with inaccuracies like that, this book looked like a four-star book. Then the second section came along. It deals with the use of Photoshop and is aimed at very experienced users of the software rather than the beginning to intermediate audience of the first section. Here was an ideal opportunity to use the photographs of Tuscany to show how to control exposure, lighting and color with the basics of Photoshop. Instead he chose to use some very advanced techniques to create pictures that were far removed from the basics of digital processing. For example, in a chapter telling how to use Photoshop while preserving the photographic nature of the image, he shows how to simulate twilight or do the equivalent of hand coloring of photographs.

In the following chapter he explains how to modify images so they look like paintings or drawings. He finishes up with detailed descriptions of how he manipulated certain photographs to make them look like they weren't photographs.

I tried to put aside the philosophy that one should capitalize on the nature of photography when using Photoshop. I downloaded images from the companion website and tried to follow along with the author's description of how he was manipulating the pictures. I consider myself an experienced Photoshop user, but often the instructions were too sketchy or ambiguous for me to follow on a first try, and sometimes after several tries, I still couldn't follow Giordan's instructions.

This book had the potential to be really effective by taking a different approach to photography instruction. Unfortunately, the first part is filled with a few landmines and the second part is only for the most experienced Photoshop users for whom the first part might prove too simplistic.

An inspiring and beautiful book (2006-05-27)
This book includes how-to, but it is so much more than that. This is a lovely book to turn to again and again, just for inspiration. I agree with the other reviewers - do the exercises. This one I will keep because it is not tied to a particular camera though it does focus on photoshop CS and later. If you are struggling with making your photography interesting, or if you are just looking for inspiration, this is one you should pick up.