Rating: 

I had never heard of Katrin, but my friend’s
excitement piqued my curiosity. When I saw the
book “The Creative Digital Darkroom” was co-written by Katrin Eismann I decided to check it out.

The idea of a darkroom is familiar to “old school” photographers. It is how we worked. The film was shot and then we took it to the darkroom. I did not have my own darkroom, but had access to one in school. I was always fascinated by the process of working in the darkroom, but by the end of the day, was tired of the chemical smell.

So, what is a “digital darkroom”? It is the way we translate what was done in a traditional darkroom with film, chemical and light to what is done with a digital camera (or scans), computer and printer.

As I started reading this book I was struck with the comparison of working in a darkroom. It does not require that you are familiar with a darkroom setting, but it does give a history or basis for what you are doing.

I really like the way the book is set up to walk you through the steps of setting up your digital darkroom and carrying through all your digital processing of your images.

Each chapter has several samples and easy to follow instructions. These are written for Photoshop but generally translate to Photoshop Elements or other digital editing programs. Sample files from the lessons are not included with the book, but there is a website set up where you can download the images as you are ready to work with them. Unless you want to download them all at one time, but at 246 Meg, I would suggest that you have a high speed connection if you are going to do this.

Also included at the website is a bonus chapter on printing. As I see it, the final step in your creative process is to have the print that you can hang on a wall or share with friends.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more and improving their photos. Not only does it help with your post processing, but I think that there are many tips that will actually help in seeing and taking better photos.

The Creative Digital Darkroom
by Katrin Eismann & Seán Duggan
List price: $49.99
www.oreilly.com/
ISBN-10: 0-596-10047-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-596-10047-6

book review by Kari Sheppard
Bay Area Macintosh User Group of West Central Florida
www.bamcentral.org