Ebook: Mac OS X for Photographers: Optimized image workflow for the Mac user

Let's be direct: if you are a serious photographer using the Apple Macintosh computer platform, this book belongs in your library; even more so, if you're a serious photographer who is considering switching, or has already switched, from the Windows platform to Mac, this book will prove to be an invaluable resource.

Authors who attempt to help you learn sophisticated systems face a real dilemma: make a book too simple and it lacks value and misses the mark; try to cover everything and the reader may get lost in the minutia. This has a further ironic twist with the Mac OS which has been widely touted as being "easy to use" and "just works," yet in reality when applied to a complex enterprise like professional imaging it quickly becomes very complex indeed due to the plethora of diverse tools and processes within the imaging workflow. Developing a scheme for covering a complex topic that ties it together and helps retain the reader's interest is very important, and this is a sterling example of how to do it well.

This book's author, Rod Wynne-Powell, is an accomplished professional photographer, imaging hardware/software expert, process consultant/trainer with extensive involvement as an alpha tester for Adobe Photoshop, and has some of the best credentials in the industry. His method here is to use the digital photographic process -- from capture to output -- as the framework for the book and then overlay it with the discussion of OS X and all the hardware and software that relates with and contributes to it while creating images. The result is a really fine piece of work -- the most timely, purposeful, and complete collection of this kind I've seen. Contents include an Introduction, The System Architecture, Hardware Implications, General Maintenance, Software Assistance, Resources, Color Management, Input and Output, Network-Backup-Archive, Conclusions, Appendix, and Glossary. In many respects this is a "best practices" guide for photography with Macs -- it's that complete, accurate, and useful.

The overall style is first rate -- direct, accurate, very readable, neither preachy nor judgmental, yet not afraid to voice preferences or viewpoints when they inform the reader in making prudent choices. Brief sidebars include cogent ancillary material not appropriate for the main text. And along the way just about every imaginable topic a working photographer might experience is covered, many of which are glossed over in lesser works, making this a valuable learning tool and resource for the business of photography as well as computer platform knowledge.

In summary, this is the best book I've seen on the Mac system as a whole from the perspective of digital imaging and is recommended unreservedly. If you take pictures seriously and use a Mac -- buy it!