Photoshop Compositing

This is a good book, and I'm learning alot from it, but... it's written in a very strange 3rd person style. "The circuit boards came from computers Lund had used over years. 'I always keep stuff like this around,' he says." It's awkward, and reads a bit like a second-rate feature story in a local newspaper. It also seems like it takes many more words to get the point across . Once you get past this strange authorial contrivance, the book provides good information.

While most Photoshop books, teach compositing techniques by building on very simple images, John Lund uses real complex-looking advertising images and breaks them down into the simple steps used to create them. I found that made it easier for me to visualize the possibilities of the techniques he teaches in the book. Another aspect of the book that I think is really succesful is the personal perspective that the author uses which makes the book easier to read than other Photoshop books I've read, which often have the pace and humor of a manual. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in taking their photography further, this book can truly be read and understood by users of any level, and I never would have thought that a Photoshop book could actually be enjoyable to read.

John Lund invites you into his studio, gives you a cup of coffee and lets you look over his shoulder while he works, all the while explaining what he's doing in a way that makes it easy to understand. And what he does is amazing!This book is inspirational, not very heady (as in 'you could never in your wildest dreams ever do this') and practical (as in 'you can do this') with easy-to-follow, easy-to-understand steps to making some very unusual Photoshop illustrations. The book has me thinking. I've been keeping a lot of photos I've taken with my digital camera for later use. With John's book I'm thinking of how I can do more than put someone's head on a cow. Compositing images is exciting, and John gives a lot to think about. This book is human, kind, generous and it made me feel comfortable. John's attitude makes me feel like I can do it, and therefore, I'm encouraged that I can actually do things beyond what I might do on my own. His own story is inspirational and his techniques will get any level Photoshop user or photographer excited. I highly recommed John Lund's Photoshop Compositing.

After spending so much time learning how to use Photoshop we finally have a book that in simple and understandable ways instructs the user in how to open up their creative side and really do wonderful and unusual things with photography and photoshop. It really opens the window of your imagination which inspires you to begin thinking outside the box and producing your own unique works of art. What a great addition to the Photoshop library.