Recommended books about Post-Processing (help!)

[Panama Hat & Camera]

Folks,
I am a newbie in Post-Processing and I would like to learn more about this subject.
Which books would you recommend about Digital Photo Professional (software from Canon), Elements 10, GIMP and Post-Processing (especially RAW) in general?
I count on you!
Antonio.

[FlyingSquirrel]

If you want to better understand and utilize the power of RAW I suggest The Digital Negative by Jeff Schewe. I am reading it currently and its very good so far but I'm not very far into it yet.

[davidedric]

Good question, Antonio, and I am sure there is more than one answer. Here's my thoughts.

I agree with Mat that Jeff Schewe's book is excellent. However, it does get quite deep and could be a bit off-putting. Perhaps more importantly, from your point of view, he use Lightroom as the tool to demonstrate his ideas, and you are a DPP/Elements user. I think that would make it quite difficult to follow for a novice, as you say you are.

I think I would start by getting to know my own software quite well. I have never used DPP, but I have found Scott Kelby's book on PSE very helpful (I happen to have the PSE 9 version), though not everyone likes his style. Of course, some prefer to learn though videos and some from books - personally I like a combination - but whichever route you choose, I do think it is easier to follow theory if you have a tool that you know how to use and where you can try out ideas.

Regards,

Dave

[kdoc856]

I think Dave has pinpointed the crux of the matter right from the start. I think before you waste a bunch of money in the wrong direction you need to determine how best you learn: reading, or following along.

PP'ing requires a lot of steps. Logical in the end but not necessarily immediately intuitive.

I started by reading a lot of stuff, thinking that it all made perfectly good sense, and then realizing when I sat at the keyboard I could reproduce very little of it. I did much, much better, by following videos. Not just watching, by having an image open (either mine or theirs), and pausing the video and immediately reproducing the step myself. For me it "stuck" much better
and subsequently I found the books easier to read and with a more lasting impact. There are hundreds of good videos, many free, but the subscription services are not expensive and are generally well organized.

I think this is a very individualized area, and hard to set done a definitive path. But... it's fun. And it makes non-photographers in the family think you're a wizard.

[Donald]

Which books would you recommend .... GIMP ....?

Antonio

I would not recommend a book for the GIMP. Instead, I would recommend Rolf Steinhort's video tutorials (click here). The older shows refer to earlier versions of the GIMP, but are still relevant to helping you learn the basic capabilities (levels, masks, layers, etc).

[jcuknz]

For those who happened upon Paint Shop Pro I would mention the users group www.pspug.com where people used to PSP will help you though you will find the uses of PSE and PS are similar although things may be called by different names but basic newbie stuff is very similar.

[rpcrowe]

If you find any book by Scott Kelby that covers the software you in which you are interested; that would be a good choice.

Along that line... Scot Kelby and many other experts have professionally done YouTube videos available. Both B&H Photo and Video and Adorama have free YouTube videos available. I particularly like the Scott Kelby video on Photoshop for Travel Photography which has been sponsored by B&H...

I often am wary about "FREE" offers on the Internet but, the B&H and Adorama videos are legitimate...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIt1cDw5lLI

I would however take the home-made instructional YouTube videos with a grain of salt. Some of these are interesting and valuable and others are just terrible.

[Green Mountain Girl]

I have Scott Kelby's book ok LR4, and it has helped a lot. There are still times when I am still confused about what to do, but steady improvement has been the reward. Now I use it mostly as a reference text, when I am unsure about something.