Product Description

Achieving accurate skin tones is one of the most challenging tasks in digital photography. Master this challenge with professional photographer Lee Varis as he covers a range of skin: women and men, young and old, various tones, in-studio and outdoors, tattoos, and more. His step-by-step tutorials and before-and-after illustrations demonstrate various techniques for topics such as digital-specific lighting challenges and what can and cannot be done in post-process.

A free CD-ROM accompanies the book and contains sample image files to use while following the tutorials, plus equipment recommendations and technical reference materials that enhance and reinforce the instruction.

Order your copy of this practical guide today and get a complete start-to-finish approach to integrating everything from posing models to shooting and retouching candid scenes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6056 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Review
A Hollywood photoillustrator with 30 years of experience, Varis has been published in National Geographic, Newsweek, and Fortune magazines. Far from a manual on fashion or nude photography, this is a comprehensive tutorial on how to photograph all types of people: young, old, and dozens of ethnic varieties. Varis supplements the book with a CD of numerous before-and-after sample image files and technical reference materials. He begins with a discussion of the right hardware and software and how to configure them, then teaches digital color management and lighting techniques as they apply to portraiture. He also provides in-depth chapters on retouching and special effects, including such techniques as skin smoothing, beauty retouching, screen diffusion, and depth of field effects. Highly recommended for serious students. (Library Journal, March 15, 2007)

From the Back Cover
What is the color of skin?

A practical guide to photographing people in the digital age

It's one thing to snap someone's picture. It's another thing entirely to capture the essence that made you reach for your camera in the first place. Now a top Hollywood pro shares his secrets for the digital capture of human skin in all its variety: young, old, male, female, different skin tones and ethnicities, with makeup or without—even tattooed skin!

Using step-by-step tutorials and stunning full-color examples, industry expert Lee Varis teaches it all: the basics of digital imaging, essential tricks to shooting indoors and out, how to light your subjects in any pose, and much more. Above all, you'll find out why the color of skin that's best for final output is almost always a departure from reality.

Topics include:

• Starting with the right hardware and software settings
• Developing your digital color "chops"
• Mastering Rembrandt lighting and other basic techniques
• Overcoming common digital skin problems, such as too much red
• Adjusting skin tones to withstand nearby colors like green grass
• Faking tattoos and photographing the real thing
• Trimming the fat, lighting up the eyes, and filling in wrinkles
• Adding soft focus, retouching, and other advanced Photoshop® techniques
• Discovering what can and what can't be done in post-process

Follow the tutorials in the book with numerous before-and-after sample image files on the companion CD. You'll also find technical reference materials to enhance and reinforce your learning.

• Know how to soften wrinkles and change shapes—and when not to!
• Beautifully color-balance every skin tone
• Brilliantly light any number of subjects in any location

About the Author
Lee Varis, a Hollywood photo-illustrator, has been involved in commercial photography for three decades. His images have been featured in National Geographic, Newsweek, and Fortune magazines, and both his writing and photography have been featured in trade journals such as PDN, New Media, and others. His pictures have appeared on movie posters, video box covers, and CD covers, and in numerous brochures and catalogues. He has been a seminar instructor with APA, PPA, Julia Dean Photographic Workshops, and Apple Computer.

Customer Reviews

Not as described
The book I ordered was listed as "new" on amazon.com, but when it arrived it had a crease on the front cover, similare to if the cover had been dog-eared. I kept the book because, after a string of bad experiences just like this one, I was sick of mailing things back, not being refunded the shipping cost, and essentially wasting money. Their shipping time was very quick, so that is a plus, but ultimatley, the book was not in the condition it was described as.

Skin, The Final Frontier
Skin, The Final Frontier. Skin is neither white nor black nor neutral grey. Lee Varis explain how to color correct skin. The one chapter on lighting is good enough IMHO to be the basis for another book. This book is fairly unique in its main subject and reason enough to buy it in addition to a general PhotoShop book. Fairly quick reading and well illustrated.

Thick book... tiny content
I did read all these great reviews and finally decided to buy this book.
To summarize - its rather disappointing.
Lighting? Not so great on it. Retouching? Beauty retouching technique (yes, no plurals) is pretty much "blur + brush".. With some texture to throw in. Sharpening technique (yes. No plurals again) - well.. not a lot of use - could be better done with LAB space. Most of colour discussion is about RGB space. Excuse me, what happened to CMYK and Lab? Bits about calibration - yes, nice, but not a lot of details. Its almost like someone thought up an idea for book, wrote few chapters then got sick of it, and started to throw in random thoughts and ideas just to fill up space.

I woulnt recommend this book to anyone who ever read Welcome To Oz! or any other decent book on photoshop.