The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing

I saw Harold Davis' photos a while ago and they really caught my eye. The composition, color and artistic qualities are remarkable and I found them much like my own ideas and ideals. Fortunately for me, Mr. Davis is more than obliging in divulging his techniques and concepts. Although "The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing" is a couple of years old, it still remains fresh with the Photoshop examples current. In short, you will get lots of bang for your buck. I am a very seasoned Photoshop pro, but I still found myself saying "aha!" every now and then as I discovered some gem of an approach. If you are a Photoshop novice, this book may seem a bit daunting at first. There are some concepts, such as Layer Masks and the Lab color space, that may be unfamiliar. But stick with it and you'll learn a bit about Photoshop as well as get an in-depth look at Harold's methods. The book offers very clear, approachable (and fun!) step-by-step examples of how to create the images in Photoshop. These range from fairly straight-forward HDR (high dynamic range) to a couple of very artistic manipulations. Harold clearly explains how he goes about achieving each step as well as the principles behind each method used. Additionally, he even discusses how to capture similar source photos to bring into Photoshop, a very substantial bonus! If you like the way he does night photography and star trails, this alone is worth the price. This book isn't for photography purists, nor is it a complete compendium of Photoshop techniques. It is a look at how one extremely creative and talented photographer creates his art. He guides us through his thought processes and goals for each project, without agenda or intimidation, and along the way tickles the reader's inspiration. There are dozens of different approaches, hundreds of books on using Photoshop and thousands of opinions on how to go about executing similar effect. Read them all! Use them! But be sure to add the Harold and Phyllis Davis books to your repertoire. You will explore undiscovered areas of your talent you never knew existed.

I am an amateur photographer who recently decided to take the plunge into the intimidating world of Photoshop. I read several books including one 600 page tome that was about as boring as reading a phone book. It wasn't until I read The Photoshop Darkroom that everything clicked! Mr. and Mrs. Davis present many of the most useful and powerful Photoshop techniques in an easy to follow step by step manner. All the photos used in the book are available for download making it easy for the reader to follow along. The sample photos are beautiful and the end results are inspirational. This could easily be a coffee table book if it wasn't so darn helpful. Each section begins with an introduction to the featured technique and is followed by step by step examples showing how the technique works. Along the way, each chapter is filled with helpful suggestions and tips about Photoshop and photography in general. Some of my favorite sections include: working in RAW, digital asset management (DAM), working with layers, black and white photos, hand HDR, stacking photos and sharpening. Since finishing this book and working through all the examples, my comfort level with Photoshop has increased tremendously! Speaking as a rookie Photoshop user, The Photoshop Darkroom has given me the confidence to take my photography to the next level. It will do the same for you! Highly recommended!

I first became aware of author and photographer Harold Davis a couple of months ago through an article he wrote on Selective Sharpening for "Photonet" ([...]). You can review this article on the Photonet Website under the "Learning" tab menu options. There are many digital sharpening processes (that is increasing edge contrasts) available but Harold Davis' selective LAB sharpening is the first I have found which is an easily learned selective sharpening; a way to restrict sharpening to the areas which benefit from sharpening. It is necessary to advoid sharpening areas of soft focus, noise and other artifacts as sharpening these areas will degrade rather than improve the image. With this process, the user maintains fine control over each step. Based on this very well written sharpening article, I researched the author to find that he has published more than thirty computer programming and digital photography books, each to excellent reviews by readers as well as professional reviewers. He is recognized in the digital photography field for his ability to share his expertise through classroom teaching and writting. In The Photoshop Darkroom, he presents several varied processes for improving and applying special effects to digital images in Photoshop. He expands his selective sharpening presentation through screen shots of the Photoshop steps accompanied by concise notes. He follows this format for each of process presented in this book. He simplifies and improves many of the Photoshop processes I struggled with in learning Photoshop. This book will be helpful for those digital photographers beginning Photoshop through to the advanced users. (If interested in digital black and white processing, note that Harold Davis will be releasing a book on this subject in April, 2010. I am eagerly awaiting my copy!) wd

I am an amateur and need help, these books really do help.

Harold's book is MUCH more than a 'how to' book, though it does that very well. His approach to book layout, with handwritten notes and guidance, is fresh, easy to follow and to dip into. But much more than that, in following Harold's techniques you are learning how one of the best exponents of using the digital (rather than simply doing what we did with film, but using digital techniques) medium thinks, and approaches image making from a new perspective. Even though I primarily use Adobe Lightroom for my photo workflow, there is much to learn from Harold's book. His style is informative and he has a light touch when guiding the reader that works very well. If you are fortunate enough to be where Harold gives a workshop - make sure you get to it. Take the techniques used in the book and apply them to your image making. You'll be amazed how your work can improve.

I received this book approximately 2 weeks ago and it has provided me a very clear path on how to do so many changes and improvements using Photoshop, I will only take a few lines to describe the book. It is clear, concise, illustrative, easy to read and most of all written by someone who has used the product daily. Harold's description of techniques and the illustrations are superb. My wife purchased the 3-set from Amazon as an early Christmas present and boy am I glad she did. I have purchased other books on Photoshop and the authors talk so far above my head, I have to use oxygen after trying to read them. Harold's projects are down to earth. Buy it and enjoy reading and learning from a new experience with a professional.

I am an amateur photographer, and I have had the good fortune to attend two of Harold Davis' photo workshops. He is an absolute wealth of information with regard to digital photography, technique, and processing in the Photoshop darkroom. This book does a tremendously effective job of capturing his instruction and his actual workflow in a comprehensive, approachable, detailed way. For anyone who has been dabbling in Photoshop (as I have for a number of years) and really wants to learn some more advanced techniques, this book is a great resource. Its step-by-step explanations are clear enough for even a very new Photoshop user to follow and apply and see impressive results. The way that the information, as well as tips and useful side comments are presented is also fun and visually appealing - with many amazing photographs, of course - so it's an enjoyable read.

This is THE Photoshop guide for those wanting to process RAW images. The authors shows you how to do this in Photoshop, step by step, using the Adobe Camera RAW engine. Then they take you through the most useful and important Photoshop capabilities, Layers and Masks, and then several other key tools such as Blending Modes and Channels. Everything proceeds logically, clearly, with lots of illustrations of Photoshop menus and windows to help you step by step. The layout is superb, with reminders, hints, and references to earlier pages to help you along the way. I'll be using this as a reference for years to come.