If you are looking for a good companion book for digital photography and Photoshop, Scott Kelby's The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)definitely fits the bill. It is my only Photoshop reference book and has been instrumental in helping me master a couple of the Photoshop tools I use frequently. An excellent "How To" book, it is written for both Mac and PC users.
This book covers in detail many new and exciting Adobe Photoshop CS2 techniques for digital photographers:
• The sharpening techniques the pros really use (there's an entire chapter on, just this!)
• The pros tricks for fixing the most common digital photo problems fast!
• The step-by-step set-up for getting what comes out of your printer to match exactly what you saw on screen
• The retouching secrets of how the pros retouch portraits
• How to process raw digital camera images (plus how to take advantage of all the new Camera Raw features of CS2!)
• How to color correct any photo without breaking a sweat (you'll be amazed at how easy it is–once you know the secret) and more.
On the subject of light and lighting techniques. If you are curious how the pro's set up their lighting for still life and special effect photography, you will find the book by Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz fascinating to read. Never would I have thought that that is what pros did to achieve a certain result. Whether it is experimenting with single light source, black bounce, deliberate camera movement to create blur or the use of unique background materials, it is like the sky is the limit. Dare to experiment is the secret and with digital camera, the learning just got a whole lot easier.
Still Life and Special Effects Photography by Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz
"Every picture featured in "Still Life and Special Effects Photography" is accompanied by a description of how the lighting was achieved, while clear illustrations showing each lighting set-up help readers achieve the same effect. The first section is dedicated to shooting conventional still-life subjects (such as food, product shots and natural flora), and the second to the more challenging field of special-effect photography (montage, multiexposure, mirrors and props, constructing simple room sets, etc). Now available new in paperback, this should be an indispensable book for anyone who would like to discover the secrets behind other photographer's successful images."
Photography is about seeing the light, the way the Grand Masters see it and it is what separates the great legends from the rest of us. Light or the lack there of is what stops us dead in our track and makes us take two steps back and take a lingering look at a photograph hanging on a wall. To me, colors are just a facade - the "extras". Peel away the colors, if a photograph is truly special, the light that grabs our attention initially should still be there.
I am convinced if the modern day photographer can master the subject of light and use light to convey her message just the way she intends it to, she truly has a special gift. It is that gift I so wish for, it is my only goal in the quest to be a better photographer. So very often, we snap away without spending time to compose the image, to think of the message and why we are there in the first place. We hope by snapping a few dozen shots of the same scene, one will turn out good enough and our effort will not be in vain. That is where we are all mistaken. The most valuable lesson I learned from my photography teacher was a sentence she uttered one day in class: "Timeless photos are composed, and they are often a result of a great deal of planning and thinking, in setting up the shot and the placement of light." Ask any accomplished photographer and they will tell you this cannot be more true.
The more I do photography, the more I realize I need to go back and re-learn the basics. I told myself that until I can wrap my head completely around the subject of light, I have barely just begun. That is the story of photography - It is simply a story of light and light is all around. Can you see it?
Each of Adams 40 photographs presented here is accompanied by an engaging narrative that explores the technical and aesthetic problems presented by the subject and includes reminiscences of the places and people involved."
Ansel Adam (1902-1984) made over 40,000 photographs. His mastery on the subject and his medium are well chronicled in three much sought after books: "The Camera", and "The Negative" and "The Print"
definitely fits the bill. It is my only Photoshop reference book and has been instrumental in helping me master a couple of the Photoshop tools I use frequently. An excellent "How To" book, it is written for both Mac and PC users.
and Roger Hicks on 
