Adobe Photoshop CS: The Art of Photographing Women

I have been taking 35mm photographs for years and have been using an older version of PhotoShop for retouching as well. But recently upgraded digitally to a Nikon D70 and now have to quickly get up to speed with the camera, lighting, Photoshop CS and all the bells and whistles that are now available to me. I needed a sort of all in one book and I think I found it. Got Kevin's book and couldn't put it down til well after midnight. Starting on the tutorials the next day. If you are a perfectionist and like detailed instruction, I don't know of a better book from the perspective of a photographer/designer. The title got my wife's attention but that is not really what I am after. The color correction, touchup tricks and post processing tips/actions are what I need at this time. What I have gotten out of this book already will make my work better, save time and translate into a lot more money that I spent on the book. Patrick Douget

Don't get fooled by the title -- or the cover. This book is for everyone who uses Photoshop -- not just those who photograph women. Pictures of women are but a metaphor for all pictures. The techniques taught can be used on babies, seniors, landscapes, factories or cars. They work across the board. I've got lots of Photoshop books. This has been the easiest to use and most practical. The first 4 chapters -- on Workflow -- are worth the price of the book. With Kevin's help, I've developed an approach to archiving, proofing, and displaying my images. And, I've learned a way to create and use actions to do the heavy lifting. This book makes clear the qualitative difference between 8 and 16 bit images. Run the exercise and you will see the advantages of 16 bit with your own eyes. Color correction has become very easy. Kevin teaches a simple way to get dead on color. Now I understand the tremendous advantage one gets by using a Gretag/Macbeth or similar reference card. And, again, to make it easy, he shows how to use what we've learned to make and use actions and batches to take the tedium out of correcting all the pictures taken under the same light. I shoot RAW. Kevin helped me master Adobe CS's RAW processor. But, more importantly, I've also learned how and when to simply make a .tif and do my corrections based on the reference shot. I find the latter to be more precise and accurate. What a time saver -- one step eliminated and the others run by actions. Notice I've not said one word about photographing women? I haven't used it for that, yet. Maybe, I will -- but the book's value is not dependent on the subject matter, it is all about getting the most out of all your photographs whatever they might be.

The book we have all been waiting for! I just happened on "The Art of Photographing Women" in a bookstore. I usually just flip though a book, but this one stopped me dead in my tracks. This book is a must have. Usually we pick up a book to just get a couple of tips out of it, but this one is fully loaded. What you get is a series of lessons, with practical reasoning for the actions on everything you will set out to do. Download the high quality images form Kevin's website and away you go, step by step, learning the solutions to our everyday problems in digital imaging, learning the right way. By the way the images Ames gives us to work on are a great experience them selves, they'll teach you how see, and the models are very nice looking besides. Kevin is a great photographer besides a great teacher. I saw Kevin at the PPofA Digital Conference in Biloxi MS a couple of years ago, this is one man that not only knows his stuff but can convey his thoughts in print. I cannot say enough for this one... You've got to pick up a copy for yourself, you won't be able to put it down... this is the best book I have started in years!

I wanted to write this note to thank you for your book "Adobe Photoshop CS - The Art of Photographing Women". It is phenomenal! I have followed your writings in Photoshop User magazine, and have admired, and adopted, many of your techniques for retouching that Scott Kelby had included in his book on Photoshop for Digital Photographers. I have been looking forward to the release of your book and I have to say that the wait has been well worth it. I especially like the information you put forth on archiving the image files, your pre-postproduction and color correction actions. Your chapter on lighting, though, really inspired me. I was amazed at how much I learned from this chapter, even though I have been a photographer for the past 34 years. Your explanation, and illustration, of the process you went through in lighting the fashion photo was by far the best, and most informative I have ever come across. It opened my eyes to a whole new way of seeing light. I have to add that I have only begun to focus on fashion, portrait, and beauty photography the last couple of years; I have primarily been a nature photographer since I was 12 years old. Thank you so much for this book. I truly believe that it will help me move to the next level with my photography. I look forward to putting your suggestions into practice, and continuing this incredible journey that is being a photographer.