REVIEW: Welcome to Oz 2 by Vincent Versace

Recently I finally got around to reading Vincent Versace’s Welcome to Oz 2.0. It’s a pretty deep book that is very thought provoking. In fact, when I read the first edition I gave it a pretty harsh review because at that time I wasn’t really ready for material this advanced.

When I read the book this time I “got it”. I really appreciate getting an opportunity to look inside the mind of a photographer whose work I admire, and learn more about why he does some things that are different from my normal workflow.

Vincent Versace explains his method of controlling the viewers eye so that you don’t simply look at his image, but instead you become entranced with the image. Your eye wants to stay in the image and learn its story. It enjoys coming back to the image to see what else is there. This is what the art side of photography is all about, and Vincent describes with examples exactly how to turn an ordinary image into one that is extraordinary.

With that said some of the things that I found a bit cumbersome in the first edition remain in this edition. There is a LOT of info that can be great if you want to know every detail on how Vincent does his magic, but ADD types like me tend to drift off with that much detail. I tend to be verbose myself so I know this is like the pot calling the kettle black.

This book is so thought provoking that ADD types will find their mind racing with new ideas based on his comments. My instant gratification nature prefers my books to be direct and to the point with lots of screen shots (ala  Scott Kelby). This book is chock full of detail which makes it super difficult for me to focus at times, but the detail oriented types will love it.

Every serious photographer should read this book

This is a book where you want to follow along with Photoshop so you can physically experience editing a photo in the way that is described in the book – much like Scott Kelby’s 7 Point System. If you read it that way then the most important concepts sink in much better so that they become a part of your workflow. This is critically important as it can change your photo editing workflow permanently. Here’s an example of shot I recently did for a client where I have applied a portion of his workflow:

Notice how your eyes are draw to the face, then to the foreground boy,
and finally to the boy in the background before you explore the rest
of the photo. Visual distractions are also removed.

Here’s the before version with an image map overlay (hover over to see the before image only):

With the image map technique that Versace encourages, you can see my strategy for adjusting the brightness of this photo. I try to place more control over the viewers eye by first removing distractions (grass, bright spots on the rocks, etc…) and then adjusting the brightness for the order in which I want your eye to travel over regions of the photo. The net result is a believable probability that subjectively might be to everyone’s taste, but it shouldn’t feel heavily photoshopped.

I came to a major realization while reading this book

The way Vincent Versace describes how he thinks and modifies his images is exactly what I’d like to do to my images – if I had the time and the talent. The reality is that I don’t have the time to put this much energy into a single photo. Sadly I also don’t always know where to darken part of my image 55% and another part 65% - even with image maps done in advance. This is the art part that you can’t teach – you just have to exercise and build that skill over time. In fact, some might argue it’s really a gift which some have and some don’t.

Despite my desire for my images to apply this workflow, reality dictates that I’ll only have time to adopt portions of it. What is great about this book though is that I’ll think differently and try to apply some of the concepts both in camera and in post processing. This is the real value in this book for the average person because you will think differently and look at your images differently after reading this book.

Advanced users can use this book as a tool to get to the next level

If you are a photographer who has advanced to the point where you are getting a lot of things right in camera, and you are doing a lot with layer masks, blending and opacity then I think this is a must read book for you. If you are still at the phase where you fix it in Photoshop, or do it all in Lightroom or Photoshop with just plug-ins, then this book may frustrate you (as it did with me when I read the first edition) until your skills are where they need to be to understand the content.

I’d like to thank Vincent Versace for writing this book as I feel this edition is helping me to grow as a photographer and think differently (much like Bryan Peterson’s Learning to See Creatively (class)). It’s super important to have these “ah ha” moments in your photographic journey to pull you up to the next level. In photography it can be rare for someone to go into such detail about the secrets behind their successful imaging. When you are ready for it, reading this book can be significant in getting you to think deeper about your work, so I highly recommend it when you get to that point.

What’s new for V2

This version removes two chapters of the book (which are available online at Welcome2Oz.com), and improves the organization/workflow of the four chapters that remain. For some reason I was able to follow it better this time, even if I did struggle at times to stay focused.

There’s a lot of good content added online along with some enhancements to the other chapters using Nik and onOne Software Products (special editions included free with the book). For some these free editions of the software can easily justify the cost of the book.

For those wondering if it is worth getting the second edition my answer is definitely yes. Even for those who get this book from the library, you’ll want to re-familiarize yourself with the existing chapters and definitely read Chapter 4 through to the back cover.

Online the “Oz 2.0 The Why To Of My How” and videos are worth a look as well. In addition, you can get Versace’s Wacom Intuos 4 Presets.

Conclusion

My review of the first version of this book was a bit off base simply because I wasn’t ready for this book at that time. Reading this book is much like reading the bible where your eyes may move across some of the content without really grasping the real message. It took me a few reads before I really “go it”, and when I did I found myself constantly pointing colleagues to this book. As a result of that fact alone, I consider it a must read book.

Take a look at my interview of Vincent Versace and his guest blog article to see more of his images and observe how your eye behaves with his photos. If this is something you want from your own work, then there’s no other resource out there better than this book.

Click here to order your copy today and show your appreciation to this blog.

Disclosure

I was provided a copy of this book by Vincent Versace to get feedback from him about improvements in the second edition. I got the first edition from my local library.

I may make a commission if you make purchases using links found in this article. Thank you for supporting my blog by using my links.

Guest Blogger: Vincent Versace - From Oz to Kansas 2.0. Almost Every Black and White Conversion Technique Known to Man

I’m happy to have Vincent Versace, the author of Welcome to Oz 2.0: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop (2nd Edition) and a participant in my printing series share his thoughts on black and white conversion techniques. All images are copyright Vincent Versace – All Rights Reserved.

This blog is an excerpt from the opening of my next book “From Oz to Kansas 2.0. Almost Every Black and White Conversion Technique Known to Man.” God willing, coming out this fall.

THE PLEASURE OF CREATIVITY

A Recipe for Creating

If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.
-Vincent Van Gough

Most of us can look at the artistic work of others and decide whether or not we like a particular piece. Why then, when we view an image of our own, are we frequently fraught with ambivalent feelings? I do not understand why we tend to be our own worst critics. Certainly there are enough people in the world who will find fault with anything that we do. We must learn not to assist them.

But why pursue anything creative if we are doomed to torture ourselves about what we did and approach being creative as if there is some cosmic score keeper that decides if we are ahead or behind? The truth is that nobody but you is keeping score. We spend too much time concerning ourselves with the notion that for our creative work to be valid, others have to like it.

All artists hear a call to express themselves creatively, but too often, that voice fades with time and is replaced by one that says, “You can’t do that.” or “If it was such a brilliant idea someone else would have thought of it first.” The quickest way to silence that voice is to do exactly the thing that you think you cannot.

Hardening of the Categories

Hardening of the categories causes art disease.
- W. Eugene Smith

If you want to take more interesting pictures, stand in front of more interesting stuff.
-Joe McNally

Every image you create is an expression of the artistic inspiration that moves you. You express your creative voice by developing the ability to show what moves you without screaming for the attention of others. It means getting out of your own way and, in the moments when your creative spirit is moved, trusting that what comes from those moments will be good. Your goal should be to trust what you feel and constantly strive toward personal excellence and elegant performance. When your effectiveness becomes effortless, your images will move the viewer solely by the power that caused you to be moved.

Because you are reading this blog, I assume that most of you have chosen photography to express how you feel to the outside world. However, regardless of the path you have chosen, it is you who drives the art form bus, not the other way around. Technique exists to better help you express yourself. If there is a battle between voice and technique, voice should always win. Emotionally full and technically imperfect trumps technically perfect and emotionally vacant every time.

I believe that there is no drug as addictive or as alluring as being successful creatively. To make a living from the fruits of one’s imagination is truly a blessed way to live. But herein lies the rub. With practice, and perhaps success, we find our groove. But grooves frequently become ruts, and ruts can become trenches, and trenches can become graves in which our creativity becomes buried.

So how do you become more creative and create diverse, emotionally moving images? If you want to have more creative work, find creative moments in your everyday life. If you want to have more emotionally captivating work, let your everyday life captivate you emotionally. If you want your work to be more diverse and interesting, lead a more diverse and interesting life. In simpler terms, your work is only as good as the inspiration that you find in the life you lead.

If You Have a Minute, Tell Me Everything You Know

I would say to any artist: ‘Don’t be repressed in your work, dare to experiment, consider any urge, if in a new direction all the better.’
-Edward Weston

A discussion about photography should be about why we are moved to create the images we do, and how to best practice the things that will help our voices be heard in the clearest, truest way. A discussion about technique that excludes one about why particular techniques are chosen is like having a conversation about a repair manual.

All creativity comes from a wellspring within us, and the more frequently and diversely we exercise our creative muscles, the stronger and clearer our emotional voice becomes. Feeling that you will never do something well, is no reason not do it. Let that something become your new best friend, because it is from doing that things never before seen are born.

For me, great photographic lessons were learned from shooting both portraits and landscapes. What I learned is to shoot my landscapes like portraits and my portraits like landscapes. When I photograph a flower, am I not taking the flower’s portrait? When I photograph a person, is it not the objective, with one frame, to lay bare the essence of that person in that instant? My most successful portraits and landscapes are the ones in which those things happen.

What makes images even more successful is bringing life experiences and a knowledge base of techniques to the table. This allows you to create an image that reflects what you felt when you were taken by the moment.

I would like to tell you a story. I love to cook and, even though I know it is unlikely that I will ever be as great a cook as one of the great chefs that I know, I keep trying to learn more about cooking creatively. I had the honor of spending a week in the kitchen of John Fraser, the chef at Restaurant Dovetail in New York City. By mid-week, I had finally graduated to “preparing ingredient,” specifically – the task of chopping carrots into the equivalent of pixel-sized cubes. About half way through my second bunch of carrots, Chef Fraser walked by and told me that my efforts were not acceptable. My first thought was “.. but they are just carrots.” Apparently, my face belied that thought, and Chef Fraser said, “I see you don’t understand.” Again, I must admit I was still thinking “.. but they are just carrots.” What I said was, “No, I do not.”

“Okay,” he said, “let’s talk about something I know you understand. These carrots are not visually acceptable. You need to be cutting cubes and you have cut rectangles and diamonds. The visual composition I want to create is squares in a circle. So compositionally what you have done does not work.” I did get that! “But the bigger issue is that because they are irregularly shaped and different sizes, they will cook differently. Some parts of the carrot will be over-cooked and some will be under-cooked. My goal is to create a dish that is so visually appealing that you almost don’t want to eat it because of how pretty it looks, and when you do, you will find that it tastes even better than it looks. By not cutting the carrots uniformly, you have disrupted the pleasure of the person eating this dish. Everything matters. Everything dovetails into everything else. It’s why the restaurant is named Dovetail.” That was one of the most important lessons I have ever learned. Everything matters, and everything dovetails into everything else.

Home Run Hitting 101

Don’t let the fear of striking out ever get in your way.
-Babe Ruth

Be careful of the artist who boasts of 35 years of experience. Such a person may have one year of creativity experienced thirty-five times. To me, a true artist practices by acting; by putting truth into his or her creations so that they have an elegant simplicity. Great art is created when the artist discovers that being an artist is about understanding themselves and expressing that. Knowing more about techniques helps that expression happen.

So why should you know every black-and-white conversion technique known to man and how to use all of them? Because the more you know about how to bring forth your vision, the clearer your voice will be heard. So what if you swing and miss? If you do not swing at all, you will never have the chance to knock it out of the ballpark.

The underlying goal is a simple one: to make a print of a picture that moves you, just like it moved you the first time you saw it. The joy of creation is in knowing that your photograph moves others.

The bigger and fuller you experience life, the bigger and fuller your creative expressions of life will be. It is on that note, that you should begin all your creative symphonies. It is on that note, that you should begin every breath you take.

Closing

I’d like to thank Vincent for allowing me to re-publish this article and include his amazing black and white imagery that guides the eye on a wonderful voyage through each of his images. While I’m just a simpleton that uses Silver Efex to create my black and white images, I’m looking forward to seeing his new book. I’ve written a review on his Welcome to Oz first edition book and I am looking forward to getting around to reviewing his latest improved 2nd edition.

You can learn more about Vincent’s workshops at http://www.mainemedia.edu/workshops/photography/welcome-oz-20, or pre-order his DVD that complements this article at http://acmeeducational.com/versace/exdr. Here’s some additional resources to learn more about Vincent Versace:

• http://versacephotography.com/book.html
• http://acmeeducational.com/versace
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/vincentversace/

If you are into black and white photography and own an Epson printer like the 3880 or 4900, then you might enjoy my articles on ABW and Exhibition Fiber, or one of Vincent’s favorite papers -  Cold Press Natural.  There’s also lots of great articles in my printing series.

Disclaimer

If you make purchases  using select links in this article, I may get a commission. Thanks for supporting this blog by using my links when purchasing.

This article first appeared on Scott Kelby’s blog earlier this year. When Vincent was asked to be a guest blogger on ronmartblog.com he suggested that I re-publish this article.

REVIEW: Welcome to Oz by Vincent Versace

If you've read Photoshop books and articles then you've probably already heard of Vincent Versace because the techniques he describes in this book are reused in many other books. In this review I'll discuss his 1st edition which is based on Photoshop CS2, but when I wrote this there was mention of a new second edition. That information has vanished so apparently something has caused those plans to be scrapped. I now recommend you go ahead and get this edition of the book as a update no longer seems to be forthcoming.

Vincent Versace's portfolio and industry praise speaks for itself, and perhaps his face to face instruction is outstanding (so the legend goes - I have no first hand experience). He's part of NAPP's dream team and a three time nominee for the Photoshop Hall of Fame, so his credentials are without question.  This book offers a glimpse into his mind and how he approaches "developing" a photo, so it's awesome to have the opportunity to get into this guy's brain.

Chapter by Chapter Comments

Here's my thoughts on each chapter of this book:

Chapter 1 - The Tao of Dynamic Workflow

This chapter starts off with a rather prophetic quote: Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect Practice makes perfect. You first have to practice at practicing. - Vince Lombardi and then talks about Shibumi: The Art of Perfect practice. The point behind all of this is to drill home the point that practice alone isn't enough - you have to learn how to practice at being perfect. What I think Vincent really means here is that you have to pay attention to the fine details and practice at making those little adjustments that separate a photo from being average to extraordinary. This all makes sense and is very motivational, so I was drawn in to this book rather quickly.

It was great to see how Vincent attacks a problem using his own image maps (not the Photoshop feature) to outline what changes should be made to the contrast, depth of field, and lighting. He uses this to transform an ordinary photo that you or I could get into something that is very special.

He accomplishes this using some well known Photoshop techniques (i.e., curves adjustments, Gaussian blur) as well as some lesser known techniques like using the Lighting Effects filter and Nik Software's Skylight filter (from Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete). The results are impressive and you feel like you are shadowing a true pro at his office during an internship. I love this aspect of the book and was excited about what I might learn.

Here's an example of the before and after from the takegreatpictures.com web site:

In the end this chapter was promising but not as easy to follow along as most other books are, so I was a bit disappointed.

Chapter 2 - Image Harvesting

This chapter discuss a topic that is heresy to some and a fact of modern digital photography - image harvesting. This is the concept of taking portions of multiple images and compositing them together to create a vision of what the photographer intended. Vincent argues that it allows us to get closer to recreating what the eye saw. However, when I look at Vincent's final images, I can't say that my eye has ever seen what he's created so I think that statement is a bit of a stretch.

Using a patch of leaves Vincent uses image harvesting to create the depth of field he wanted and he follows up using LAB color adjustments, Nik Software's Skylight and Contrast Only features from (from Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete) to create the color and contrast of a pro photograph and then Nik Software’s Sharpener Pro to sharpen the image in the right places. He finishes this all up with a ray of sunlight from the Lighting Effects filter in Photoshop to create a another masterpiece out of a fairly mundane photo.

This chapter is very hard to follow along with because there is a certain element of skill required with brushing techniques that the average Joe isn't going to have. An advanced Photoshop user can probably keep up with this chapter, but many will struggle to get results that are as good as Vincent's (hence the perfect practice references early in this book).

Chapter 3- The Unwitting Ally

I was excited during the first two chapters, but was struggling to get the results I had hoped for. In this chapter my frustration reached its peak because I found the chapter to be too cumbersome working on a boring image that required a lot of effort for little reward (the final result failed to impress me - especially given the effort involved). The only new concepts introduced in this chapter were surrounding blending modes and the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. The rest of the topics were repetitive (which is okay) , but offered little additional value to the reader.

I was sorely disappointed in this chapter and felt like it was a cumbersome way to learn what Scott Kelby effectively teaches in a couple pages with more practical applications.

Chapter 4 - Classic Studio Lighting

I was in awe of the Marilyn Monroe style shot featured in this chapter, so I was very excited to work through this chapter to get these kind of results. Once again, I found the brush techniques to be more challenging than expected because you basically need to get them right in one stroke without overlapping OR use a selection and know what the proper values are to get the level of gray needed for the mask. I enjoyed seeing what is possible and how it is done in this chapter, but I failed to get the same type of results using the information provided by Vincent in this chapter. This reinforced my feeling that Vincent is certainly talented and very creative, but he's not a very good teacher. It's kinda like watching the computer geek who says he'll show you something but he just types and clicks away at a pace that no mere mortal could follow. In the end you are in awe of what was done, but have no clue how to do it yourself.

Chapter 5 - Creating a Black-and-White Image from a RGB File

This chapter is very outdated and a waste of time if you are on Photoshop CS3 or greater. There are so many better ways to get black and white images these days, and I'm sure Vincent is probably using Nik Software Silver Efex Pro by now. I expect you'll see major changes here in his new edition due to be released in April 2009.

Chapter 6 - It's About Time

This chapter was probably the most frustrating of all as Vincent once again does a ton of work for a final product that fails to impress me (perhaps it will impress you), and this time he does less even less instruction. Personally, I think his Kimset photo would have been a more interesting subject for this chapter but I suspect that Vincent felt that Smoke was such an unusual treatment of water that it warranted its own demonstration. I respectfully disagree.

The Results

It's pretty tricky to follow along with Vincent Versace's lessons, and it's even harder to apply them to your own images but I tried. Here's my best shot(hover over to see the before image):

Overall I feel like I learned something, but I also wonder if it is worth the 5 hours it took to process this photo. I think my big take away is going to be the value of the Render Lighting filter (that I've never used until now) and the value of darkening the background to control the viewers eye better.

A friend once told me after he had watched this video tutorial, that time you spend on the last 10% of your photo can take 10 hours or more, but that's the part that will make the difference from average to exceptional. This book gives you an insight into that, but I'm not sure if I have the patience to do that. I'd definitely rather watch a video to learn the techniques to do that, but if you've feel like you've hit the proverbial brick wall and want to grow more then this book is probably what you are looking for. Products like Color Efex 3.0 and Viveza will certainly make it easier to do some of the things Vincent shows how to do manually CS2, so I'd recommend getting yourself some time back by investing in the tools that Vincent himself praises (and probably will use in his new edition of this book).

Conclusion

There are things I love about this book and many things that I hate. At the end of the day I'm glad this book exists, but I'm even more happy that guys like Scott Kelby have read this book and reintroduced many of the concepts in a much more digestible format.

Vincent is clearly gifted and there are some detail oriented personalities who will love seeing his Photoshop workflow, but at the same time they'll find themselves wanting more details. This is mostly a "watch me" type of book where some details are provided, but it isn't uncommon to find yourself wanting more information on how to accomplish Vincent's magic. Hopefully the next edition will address these shortcomings, but my recommendation is that this is really a book for seasoned Photoshop users. Beginners are going to be lost quickly, so you should probably  skip this book until you’ve exhausted more practical options first.

Skill Level: Advanced
Value: Typical price for this type of book
Recommendation: Only Recommended for Advanced Photoshop Users - Beginner to Intermediate should read other books first.