Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant "Beginner" Book on RAW, 19 Nov 2007
When I first received this book I felt I wouldn't learn much from it and I was tempted to give it 4 stars, but boy (or should I say "and girl" in the name of equality) was I wrong! I am not really that advanced in raw photography and I have learn't a bit more, let me explain!
The book is made up of 140 pages (my 1st thoughts were that's not many!).
It is divided up into 6 sections - Workflow overview, In the field, Editing essentials, RAW correction and processing, Finishing off and DAM.
I have to admit I personally didn't learn too much from the initial chapters that I had not read in Andy's previous books or from what I knew.
Oh I forgot, yep I did learn one thing in the 2nd chapter and it is very important, it's about exposure and reading the histogram. It explains about shooting to the left or right on the histogram, and the pro's and cons of both.
Apart from that it's not until page 42 that you get to Editing Essentials that the book comes into its own. I should point out that you should not expect a "hold your hand book" or "step by step book", it is fairly basic info, then get out there and try it yourself stuff and wetting the appetite.
We now have downloading info, editing basics, picking the best,and backing up.
We then get RAW correction and processing. Adjusting the black and white points, colour balance and contrast, saturation and black and white, dust spot removal. That is all in about 15 pages with some great shots.
Practical considerations - the histogram is re investigated here.
Finishing off - Direct RAW printing, workflow, and extra info on post processing software and saving the corrected raw files. I will have to try that, I thought you just converted the raw to a tiff or jpeg and the original file was left alone. Bit more learning I think!
Then it finishes with DAM - Digital asset management, concentrating on iView and Picasa.
I definately learn't a few things and will re read the book in the near future as a reminder / reference when I get down to doing more RAW conversions etc and saving to DAM's.
I would say if you are already quite to very competent about DAM and RAW conversion then I doubt you will learn too much if any more from this book, try a more advanced book on specific software like CS3 / Lightroom etc. But for us that are really still begining and learning the ropes this is a useful edition to the library!
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must for all Digital Photographers, 5 Nov 2007
There are quite a few books out there now on digital photography, most will have a section on RAW, however most will also leave many of your questions unanswered or leave you a little confused. This book not only answers all your questions but is written in a way that makes it easy to understand and follow. It starts with an introduction to why you should be shooting RAW, then covers workflow overview, in the field, editing essentials, RAW correction and processing, finishing off and finally digital asset management. If you have read any Andy Rouse books before you will realise that this is a reference book that you will enjoy reading. I regard myself as an experienced semi pro photographer but have already improved my images from this book. The photographs in this book are amazing, again if you have followed Andy Rouse you will know what to expect and you will not be disappointed. This is simply a must buy for anyone who wants to get the best from their photographs.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
RAW explained using some stunning images., 4 Oct 2008
It is always difficult to give credence to any book about photography where the quality of the published pictures is suspect. The digital revolution as far as cameras are concerned have led those of us who were previously successful with film format into a whole new area of learning. Consequently, there are books and tutorial DVDs which seek to assist in that process of education. Those products generally fall into the 3 broad categories of Good, Not so good, and Abysmal.
In this case, however, we have an exception. This is a product which falls into the category of Excellent!
Quite seriously, this man knows his stuff, is able to take some pretty amazing photographs and also quite able to put his skills into book form so that we who wish to learn may do so.
His photography is of the highest calibre and, whilst I did not buy the book to look at his pictures - but, instead, purchased it in order to learn about RAW, I would have found it very difficult to accept anything written by someone who was not able to practise what they preach.
If you are at the stage where you also need to understand RAW, this is the book for you. It will not disappoint.
NM
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