Al Ward's book offers the reader an innovative and custom made guide in manipulating photos suited to your taste. I find this interesting as it gives me a free hand in learning techniques without confining me to a rigid set of rules. Much room is left for personal discovery. I prefer this as I do not like being confined to just a particular limitation in learning.
The book is a tutorial that explores the endless capabilities of Photoshop and explains how one can make use of this to its fullest potential. A good point to mention here is that the book was designed not just to teach you how to do it but it also let you develop your skills without compromising creativity. The reader is made aware of the basics and picks up from there encouraging you to create styles that are your very own. There will be times when you’ll lose interest in discovering new things and this will be your fountain of youth.
I say that this approach is very good considering the fact that learning becomes more enjoyable as it provides the reader a good motivation to improve. Understanding the features of the software yields to a better creative expression that is very much original.
Manuals like this have always been of great interest for me as it not only gives instruction, it also provides a good motivating force for me to improve myself further. I’ve always had this affinity for instructions that does not spoon-feed rather it pushes you to do more and find ways to develop your craft. Learning can be tiring if the method of teaching is very rigid. This won’t allow your creative juices to flow. I can compare this to sand being held by a hand, hold it too tight or too loose and it will slip. Hold it just right and it will stay.
