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Photo Book Reviews

Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop by Vincent Versace, Reviewed by Greg Isaacson Award-winning fine-art photographer Vincent Versace offers a unique guide to digital photography that encompasses everything from capture to post-production. Article rating: 6.80

Vincent Versace is an award-winning fine-art photographer with work in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History. A four-time nominee to the Photoshop Hall of Fame, Versace turns his attention to the industry standard graphics editor in Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop. Garnished with some of his own stunning photographs, the book is an extremely helpful guide to harnessing Photoshop and perfecting your own technique for maximum artistic effect.

The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1, “The Tao of the Dynamic Workflow,” starts by explaining that “it is best to approach Photoshop preemptively, to get it right in the camera…If it doesn’t look good when viewing it through the camera, it will not look good coming out of the printer.” Versace then shows you how to transform that good-looking image into an even-better looking final product, using a series of Photoshop manipulations. The exact process will be different for everyone every time, but you need to understand the software and the underlying concepts in order to flexibly and creatively meet every artistic and technical challenge - the essence of a dynamic workflow.

In this first chapter, Versace shows you how to create and use image maps; how to place key and fill lights; how to correct digital sensor color cast; how to merge layers; how to create selective depth of field; how to create background light; and much, much more. Through an intricate sequence of digital alterations, Versace transforms an inadequately lighted portrait of actress Challen Cates into a gorgeous, vivid final image, and he takes you step-by-meticulous-step through this editing process.

In chapter 2, “Image Harvesting,” Versace explores the practice of shooting multiple images of the same subject while changing the shutter speed, exposure, and focus point, which enables you to “harvest” the optimum aesthetic elements from various images and combine them to create an ideal final image. Versace walks you through the steps: First you have to take multiple photos, then you have to remove unwanted elements from the base image, then correct the shallow depth of field, and so forth. In the end, you will have a beautiful image that merges the best aspects of exposure, depth of field, and focus from the various images you started with.

“Chapter 3, “The Unwitting Ally,” teaches you apply the image-harvesting concept in your aesthetic choices regarding light, shape, gesture, and color. Chapter 4, “Classic Studio Lighting,” takes you through the process of altering a portrait photograph so that it emulates the dramatically-lit look of a classic Hollywood glamour photo. The next chapter, “Creating a Black-and-White Image from an RGB File,” explains how to convert the resulting image into a continuous-tone, black-and-white image. Finally, Chapter 6 (“It’s About Time”) discusses how to infuse the experience of time into a photograph. Drawing on all the techniques described in the previous chapters, Versace explains how to create an image that captures the flow of time - in this case, an image called “Smoke” which merges three different images of moving water, for a haunting, time-defying effect.

It would be hard to ask for a more nuanced and helpful guide to working with Photoshop. Versace goes into great detail about specific features of the software, offering troubleshooting advice for a vast range of technical challenges that you are likely to encounter, while showing you novel ways to harness Photoshop’s many powerful functions - all illustrated with an abundance of clarifying screenshots. At the same time, Versace offers a whole new approach to the craft, with its own, illuminating concepts of workflow, technique, and creative flexibility. It is an ideal book for approaching digital still photography with an ideal piece of software.

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