books by Focal Press     books:       The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos98 reviews Michael Freeman Focal Press, 2007 Excellent book. This is probably my favorite photography book to date. I've read well over a dozen, most in the past two months. This is not a book for beginners. There are no "how to" tips here. It doesn't tell you how to use a camera, or even how to compose a picture. Rather, it semi-philosophically breaks down the elements of composition and discusses them individually. Sections on things like the ...             Apple Aperture 2: A workflow guide for digital photographers (Digital Workflow)12 reviews Ken McMahon, Nik Rawlinson Focal Press, 2008 Well written I enjoyed ' Aperture 2' because it's well-written and joy to read. Emphasis is placed on backing up your library and assets. Numerous time saving advice is given here. The section on Adjusting Images is excellent. The authors speak with authority as if they sat down with Apple Aperture programmer to get 'inside' info. This is of tremendous help even if you don't understand the jargon at ...             Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 2: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures10 reviews Walt Stanchfield Focal Press, 2009 Put THIS On Your Shelf Put this on your shelf if you are at all interested in animation or art or even the filmmaking process. The lessons contained in here are perfect for anyone wanting to learn more about these disciplines!             Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures38 reviews Walt Stanchfield Focal Press, 2009 Inspiration and Instruction Stanchfield's voice is so clear in his writing, you get the sense of his passion for the art, and his desire to teach and inspire the next generation of animators as if you were one of his students. His writing ranges the philosophical discussion of what it means to be an artist (animator) and it's place in society, to very specific instruction on what to draw and why. You should read this. ...             Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting136 reviews Fil Hunter, Steven Biver, ... Focal Press, 2007 Must have book on lighting I've been photographing for a while, and seriously too, but this is one of the best books I've read purely on the subject of lighting! I wish I had found it sooner... The authors have a very good tone throughout the book and try to teach the basics... without telling you too much about what to *do*. They tell you about what to expect when you light something a certain way. Great primer for ...             Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: A Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative use of Photoshop ...36 reviews Martin Evening Focal Press, 2008 The Best On Photoshop CS4 Out There This is truly the most amazing book on PS CS4. I thoroughly enjoyed the first chapters on Adobe Camera Raw - ACR is brushed off by many authors as merely a tool to convert RAW images to JPG after performing very limited basic adjustments. Well, Evening showed me there is much more to it than that. This book is a comprehensive reference as well as instructional guide lined with many clear ...             Michael Freeman's Perfect Exposure: The Professional's Guide to Capturing Perfect Digital Photographs16 reviews Michael Freeman Focal Press, 2009 Getting Serious About Exposure This book is directed at digital photographers. He explains how digital and film photography have some differences as far as exposure. He goes into how a sensor works to capture light and he defines terms used to talk about exposure. Freeman feels that there are 12 exposure situations divided among 3 groups. He explains these well using the idea of key tones. Then he talks about "The Zone ...             Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools43 reviews Roey Izhaki Focal Press, 2008 Never learned so much about mixing very simple : unless you are very happy with your mixes, this book is a must have. Even better than what I expected. This book is very complete and really makes mixes better. This book talks really seriously and precisely about mixing. I've catched advice that I now use all the time. A few examples : Compressing : I've been using compressors for 5 years and I've read a lot about compressors ...             How to Cheat in Photoshop CS4: The art of creating photorealistic montages14 reviews Steve Caplin Focal Press, 2008 A unique book! A wonderful book, but not for newbye. Sometimes it will be useful more step by step instructions.             Practical HDR: A complete guide to creating High Dynamic Range images with your Digital SLR8 reviews David Nightingale Focal Press, 2009 Great introduction to HDR photography If you want to get into high dynamic range (HDR) photography, you'll find this an excellent introduction. Not only does it describe how to take HDR shots and process them, it explains why the techniques are used. There's even a short section on the history of HDR photography. I didn't know that the basic ideas behind the process go back to the 1850s! After the context section, there's a ...             Digital Landscape Photography9 reviews John and Barbara Gerlach Focal Press, 2009 Best digital photography book i have read. I have read many photography books, this sets the new gold standard. Concise yet detailed.             Creative Photoshop CS4: Digital Illustration and Art Techniques29 reviews Derek Lea Focal Press, 2009 Excellent product, but not for beginners First I should state that my knowledge is slightly above that of beginner. I would comfortably say that I am an intermediate user of CS4. This product was very well laid out and easy to use, but it was also for more advanced-intermediate users to advanced users. It's safe to say that this sufficiently pushed the bounds of what I was comfortable with when using CS4. The tutorials were easy ...             Mastering Audio, Second Edition: The art and the science44 reviews Bob Katz Focal Press, 2007 Excellent I hate it how everyone says you can't master audio yourself, ooh no leave it to the 5 'professionals' that exist in the world. Surely they had to start somewhere. This book is great, the kind of book you keep reading again and again. I am still learning from it. Also check out 'Parallel Compression' which is described in the book.             The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing7 reviews Harold Davis, Phyllis Davis Focal Press, 2009 The Photoshop Darkroom: Creative Digital Post-Processing 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 ...             Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation15 reviews Francis Glebas Focal Press, 2008 Best Purchase You Will EVER Make! I am a recent graduate of the Gnomon School of Visual Effects and have been fortunate enough to have had the privilege to actually be a student in Francis' class. I remember when he was in the process of writing this book, "Directing the Story" and in my most humble opinion the book is nothing less than pure gold. There is nothing else out there that I know of that explains the true essence and ...             The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide: A Down & Dirty DV Production43 reviews Anthony Q. Artis Focal Press, 2007 Terrific Book--Refreshingly Practical and Informative What a great book! And how filmmaking has changed since the days when I was in film school, forbidden to shoot anything in video. Today the tools of filmmaking are available to everyone. Artis knows what its like to be an aspiring filmmaker with a limited-to-none budget. He shows how to do it--how to get your resources together, how to plan and make your film, and the many possible ways for ...             After Effects Apprentice, Second Edition42 reviews Chris and Trish Meyer Focal Press, 2009 Learning After Effects After Effects is not an intuitive program, as was PhotoShop (at least for me)and, to a certain extent, Adobe Premiere. I've been frustrated for years knowing what AE could add to my videos, yet being unable to do anything about it. This book was suggested to me by someone who knows AE very well. I haven't gotten very far into the book yet, but so far this is a "5-Star" book for learning After ...             Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop21 reviews Tom Wolsky Focal Press, 2008 A GREAT Book! Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop I am new to Final Cut Express, and moving from iMovie is quite intimidating to say the least! I cannot imagine jumping into FCE without having Mr. Wolsky's book. I've followed each and every in-depth dvd tutorial in the book and it has been a lifesaver. The book is so well written and easy to follow and very detailed. I definitely recommend this book to ...             How to Cheat in Adobe Flash CS4: The art of design and animation19 reviews Chris Georgenes Focal Press, 2009 How to cheat in Adobe Flash CS4 - is great book. I am a beginning animator. I've bought this book and very like it. This book is suit for persons who is not beginner in Flash. There are a lot tutorials, tips and tricks. The explanations are clear and without superfluous words. The disk includes files which help to understand the program. I am very pleased with this book.             Dance Music Manual, Second Edition: Tools. toys and techniques12 reviews Rick Snoman Focal Press, 2008 Covers more than programming and sequencing I bought a book several years ago called "Electronica Dance Music Programming Secrets." The "Dance Music Manual" is much better. No book will deliver a formula for you to make music. You will just have to discover that for yourself as you write songs. The book gives you the information necessary to start you on the songwriting journey. It has an excellent section on synthesis and ...              search for books animation, apprentice, capturing, composition, creating, directing, documentary, exposure, illustration, introduction, landscape, macintosh, mastering, photographer, photographers, photographic, photographs, photography, photorealistic, photoshop, post-processing, practical, practices, processing, production, professional, stanchfield, storyboarding, storytelling, techniques books:    Kindle - Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device This is the future of book reading. I have used it and love it! randomly chosen book: The World At My Feet: The True And Sometimes Hilarious Adventures Of A ... home  impressum - about us