Adobe Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only [Paperback]

Ansel Adams and the photographers of his era established the standard for modern photography. Get the full range of light, from the blackest blacks to the clearest whites. Adams also helped establish the rules to achieve that goal. Control the process every inch of the way, from picking your equipment until the final print, to capture your vision.

The modern digital photographer can achieve that control by using all the features of his camera and the software available to him for processing. The leading software is Adobe Photoshop. Manufacturers have adopted a format called Raw that captures the most data so that the photographer can exercise the most control in processing. Adobe has responded with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) which helps photographers squeeze that data from the file to allow digital photographers to meet the Adams standard.

Rob Sheppard has produced a book on using ACR that always keeps in mind that the purpose of ACR is to help the photographer produce an image that embodies his vision. There are several books available about using ACR that describe how to use the sliders and what the effects are. Sheppard's book covers the same ground, but he also relates the technique to the artistic purpose. For example, he tells you how the shadows slider works to change the black point in a picture. But he tells you that you should not just extend it to some arbitrary limit that insures the image has the greatest range. He discusses the fact that varying the black point helps to give snap to some pictures and that increasing areas with no shadow detail may actually help to achieve the photographer's vision.

The author recognizes that the process begins with taking the image and, after a discussion of the Raw format itself, tells you how to use the in-camera histogram that comes with many higher end cameras, to bring the best possible image to ACR. Then he selects a number of specific images, with a full range of differing processing requirements, to illustrate the use of the ACR tools to achieve the photograph that reflects the photographer's vision. The book is profusely illustrated with step by step images that remove any doubt one might have about what to do. And thankfully, for my eyes, the illustrations were large enough to see clearly without a magnifying glass.

I particularly liked the chapter "The Noise Problem No One Talks About" which was a problem that I've never been able to find enough help in solving. There was also a chapter on compact digital camera Raw processing which recognized that not all photographers are shooting digital single lens reflex cameras.

Sheppard recognizes that sometimes even ACR cannot capture all the data available in a single conversion and includes a chapter on combining separately adjusted files of the same image in Photoshop to extend range even more. He includes a chapter discussing other Raw converters that are available.

This book is aimed at slightly more experienced photographers then another favorite of mine, "Raw 101" by Jon Canfield. Moreover, it doesn't cover the post ACR process in Photoshop, for which I would recommend Tim Grey's "Photoshop CS2 Workflow". Finally, there is no hands-on work here. If you learn better that way, you may want to read Barry Haynes' "Photoshop CS Artistry", which includes extensive tutorials, although at least in prior versions, gave ACR short shrift.

For me, Sheppard's book seemed the perfect explanation of ACR.

I've been working with Raw for some time and have referred often to Real World Camera Raw, which has been the definitive book on the technology itself. However, I'm always on the lookout for a useful book. I initially was attracted to the cover and title of this one, plus the fact that Rob Sheppard is a superb photographer. So, I bought the book and I wasn't disappointed, as it takes a discussion of Raw to a whole new level. Sheppard's approach of "you're a photographer first," and "the technology serves the art" is dead-on and refreshing. Sheppard really knows his stuff, and this book is packed with highly useful Raw techniques and considerations -- all true to the "you're a photographer first" mantra. Plus, the book is graced with scores of Sheppard's stunning images. Great stuff! I'd say that this is the true "real world" Raw book.

I'm relatively new to PS. In the last 8 months I've worked through most of Photoshop CS2 for Digital Photographers and Photoshop CS2 One on One and thoroughly processed about 50 (not a lot) photos out of the thousand or so I've shot.

I bought Camera Raw in preparation for moving most of my photography to a DSLR and to help decide whether and what to shoot RAW vs JPG - to learn the advantages and disadvantages of RAW processing, what is entailed and how much time it might take. I've been shooting RAW now for only a month and a half and Camera Raw has been my bible for processing my mostly RAW images.

The content of this book and Rob Sheppard's writing and presentation styles are a perfect package for me. He's clear and to the point, writes in a friendly but not cute way and gives a lot of comments on why he's doing each task in the way he's chosen. He keeps the focus on getting the results the photographer/reader wants.

The book takes you through a well-defined RAW processing workflow and thoroughly covers how and why to use all of the functions on the adjustment tab and the new curves tab, with good sections on the detail and lens tabs and a brief but excellent discussion of using the tricky calibration tab function. Images are used to show each step of the process being discussed. A lot of the images apparently show subtle adjustments that in many cases I simply couldn't see on the page. Could be my eyes or being able to "see" well - or just the limitations of printing. Doing the same steps with downloaded copies of Rob's images was more helpful in seeing the effects of the adjustments on the monitor.

I found this very exciting stuff. Chapters like "The Histogram, Key to RAW and Camera RAW" may be old to many readers, but was covered in a much more thorough and illuminating way than in any of the dozen or so articles I've read. There was an excellent chapter on dealing with noise in Camera RAW and mention of post RAW noise reduction options.

Camera RAW is useful for anyone who shoots RAW, whether with a DSLR or compact digital. It has a nice chapter specifically for compact camera photographers with topics including "Why Bother" and "Challenges of the Small Sensor" plus basic processing for compact camera RAW.

The next-to-last chapter is a delightful extension in this book on RAW. "Post Camera RAW Processing" reminds that ACR only treats images as a whole, leaving the work on specific areas of a photo to Photoshop. More than that, it provides a great tutorial on using a plethora of adjustment layers and masks to make an image have the kind of visual and emotional impact you might want. Very very useful for me. A strong nitpick about some other books is that they spew out keyboard shortcuts, most of which I can't remember, but they don't say where the functions they're using fall in the menu structure. But -- Rob tells us in what menu each item he uses can be found - and adds the keyboard shortcuts too.

Bottom line - the example image subtleties notwithstanding, as a relative beginner I'm extremely happy with Camera RAW. It is not overwhelming, but has depth that I will be able to continue to use.

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