The Landscape Photographer's Guide to Photoshop: A Visualization-Driven Workflow

"You are not offering testimony to the existence of something, you are bringing something into existence—something that did not exist before, and that would not exist if it were not for you." - Guy Tal

The first step to creating an expressive photograph happens before you even click the shutter: it is the act of visualizing an image in your mind’s eye. Once composed and captured, the data recorded by the camera is then transformed in processing to match the visualized image.

To become a better expressive photographer means, among other things, to become a better visualizer. This requires more than just technical skill, but also an understanding of what art is, what it means to be an artist, and how to translate your thoughts, feelings, and experiences into visual creations.

In The Landscape Photographer’s Guide to Photoshop: A Visualization-Driven Workflow, Guy Tal provides a broad theoretical foundation for digital landscape photography as an expressive visual art, and for understanding how art and technology come together to serve your creative purpose. He then offers a roadmap for a visualization-driven approach to processing images in Photoshop.

Topics include:

• An overview of the history of art and of photography as art
• A deeper understanding of creativity and visualization, and of the technical underpinnings of digital imaging
• Techniques to effectively apply visualization in creating and processing your images
• How to perform “gap analysis” to identify the gaps between the image at any point in time and the desired outcome
• How to convert your RAW files using Adobe Camera Raw prior to editing in Photoshop
• How best to employ many of Photoshop’s tools and features
• How to leverage Layers and Masks to accomplish your visualized results
• How to control and adjust contrast, color, and tone
• Image blending techniques to extend dynamic range and for focus stacking
• Processing strategies for black-and-white conversions, including toning your images
• Printing and other output techniques including sizing, sharpening, noise reduction, and color management

Bringing all of these techniques together, Guy presents a detailed case study, beginning with his initial visualization for the final image and working through his processing steps from RAW conversion to the final print.

Guy Tal spent the first 26 years of his life in Israel where he was born, served a mandatory military service, and studied and taught at the Tel Aviv University. As a youth, he loved to explore the natural areas around his home by the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the Negev Desert and the Golan Heights. It was during one of these outings that Guy first picked up a camera to document the things that fascinated him about the natural landscape and its wild inhabitants. This prompted a passion for and deep interest in photography that continues to grow and intensify to this day—three decades later.

At odds with the political turmoil and rampant urbanization of his homeland, Guy immigrated to California where he embarked on a career in information technology. He also began an enduring love affair with the wild places of the American West. Guy found that he was unfulfilled by the urban, career-driven life, and decided to move closer to his beloved deserts and mountains of the Colorado Plateau. He ultimately settled in a tiny, remote town at the foot of Utah’s Aquarius Plateau, on the eEAe of Utah’s famous canyon country—a place that inspires him deeply and where he practices most of his work.

A lifelong learner and explorer, Guy’s interest in art, science, and philosophy converged with his intense love of wild places, which he expresses through his photography and writing. He is a public speaker, educator, and frequent contributor to several photographic publications. Guy’s first book, More Than A Rock, was published by Rocky Nook in 2015.