A FEW STEPS
The Handbook’s author, Stephen
Laskevitch, is acutely sensitive to the
pitfalls that lurk within this image-
manipulation system that nearly all
photographers rely on in one way or
another. “The Adobe Photoshop prod-
ucts,” he writes, “are some of the most
complex programs many of us will ever
use… Although we are provided with
thousands of complex techniques for
editing images, most users (and most
images) don’t need all of that complex-
ity. In fact, only a few steps are needed
to get the vast majority of images to
shine.”
Despite the good intentions, of many
of the authors who walk the circuitous
road of digital post instruction, they
have dif;culty identifying those “few
steps” for their readers. Laskevitch is
clearly dedicated to an uncomplicated
agenda. “My goal,” he writes, “is to pres-
ent [Photoshop techniques] in a reason-
ably accessible way.” As the founder of
Luminous Works Training and Consult-
ing in Seattle, Washington, Laskevitch’s
teaching credentials are impeccable;
he’s an Adobe Certi;ed Instructor and
has been teaching for 30 years, designing work;ows for hundreds of photographers and companies, and training
creative individuals and ;rms.
WORKFLOW WITHOUT
PHOTOSHOP MISCHIEF
With the two most recent versions of
Photoshop CC and Lightroom as his
Also On Our Radar
The Photographer’s
Eye: A Graphic
Guide
Instantly Understand Composition
& Design for Better Digital Photos
By Michael Freeman
The great thing about this book is that
author Michael Freeman backs up every
idea with stunning work samples, each
of them displayed and deconstructed,
using his signature diagrams, outtakes,
and acute design sense on every spread.
A companion volume to his 2007
bestselling The Photographer’s Eye,
the 190-page package makes for a rich
master class in composing powerful,
arresting images—both in camera and
during digital post. As always, Freeman brings his carefully thought-out
devices to the party—having human
subjects react to o;-camera action,
for example, to suggest a narrative, or
selectively focusing (or defocusing)
foreground and background detail,
juxtaposing action, in the field or by
stitching disparate elements in after-capture, using prominent curves or
rectilinear shapes to define the active
part of a frame.
The Art of the
Photograph
Essential Habits for
Stronger Compositions
By Art Wolfe and Rob Sheppard
Veteran photographer Art Wolfe is
best known for the startling graphic
power of his imagery. In The Art of the
Photograph, he brings together his
extraordinary imagery with background
anecdotes on every shot, each image
bearing its own distinctive lesson in
technique and esthetics.
Wolfe uses every photographic
device in his toolbox—from color and
optics to framing, post production
techniques and pure instinct—in order
to craft an extraordinary one-volume
course in creative imaging.
Co-authored by former Outdoor
Photographer magazine editor Rob
Sheppard, the book is a fabulous resource of great technical and creative
advice synthesized from two distinguished photographic careers. And,
with the possible exception of one
memorable chapter, “The 10 Deadly
Sins of Composition,” the whole thing
is accomplished without a rule in sight.
WWW.FOCALPRESS.COM WWW.CROWNPUBLISHING.COM
light reading
Laskevitch’s book is a
refreshing, no-nonsense
primer that helps lift
Photoshop above the
grim accumulation of
“truths that cannot be
consumed.”