Thursday , March 28 2024
Photoshop Photo Retouching Cookbook will have you turning everyday photos in memorable images.

Book Review: Photoshop Photo Retouching Cookbook by Barry Huggins

If you are like me, many times you look at a photo and think that this would have been better if the sky was a little darker or if that power line was not there. Perhaps you think that you might like to process the photo to remove some blemishes from the skin or even, if you have a scan of a film print, that you would like to restore to its better days.

In Photoshop Photo Retouching Cookbook, Barry Huggins will, in step-by-step instructions show you how to perform all these techniques and many more. In fact, there are 113 recipes for adjusting, correcting, retouching, and manipulating your photographs.

Photoshop Photo Retouching Cookbook is segmented into 11 sections and an introduction. What is nice about the Cookbook series in general is that you do not have to be a master of Photoshop. While it is good to have a fundamental knowledge, each of the books leads in with an introduction of the more advanced skills that you will need to work with for recipes, and in this introduction you will learn about selections, layer masks and clipping masks.

The section "Exposure Correction" will show you how to work with photos that have some sort of over- or under-exposure as well as contrast problems. "Color Correction" works on illustrating color problems within a photo such as saturation and color casts.

"Focus Manipulation" will have you sharpening images, blurring motion and other depth of field effects. "Retouching Photos" shows you how to remove red-eye, whiten teeth and eyes, and remove blemishes as well as reshaping faces. "Retouching Landscapes" provides techniques on removing unwanted objects, such as an unwanted power line, correcting perspectives and fixing sky colors.

"Color Effects" shows you how to create black and white photos from color and other color effects like emulating photo filters. "Lighting Effects" handles portrait lighting effects, creating night scenes from daylight photos as well as adding or removing reflections. "Traditional Darkroom Techniques" teaches you how to add film grain to your photos for effect, adding infrared, posterization, solarization and reticulation effects.

"Processing RAW Files" gives a very light overview of working with the various controls within the camera raw workspace. "Photo Restoration" will introduce techniques for removing dust and scratches from photos, recreating damaged areas of your photos and fixing faded photos. The final section shows you how to use "Photo Compositing Techniques" to take two or more photos and seamlessly combine them into one.

While Photoshop Photo Retouching Cookbook will work for anyone wanting to roll up their sleeves and take advantage of learning new techniques, it will be especially helpful to those that work with Photoshop and want to have at hand a quick reference book of retouching techniques.

About T. Michael Testi

Photographer, writer, software engineer, educator, and maker of fine images.

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