Peter iNova is one of the most respected authors in digital imagery eBooks and software, having written 4 books on Nikon cameras, 3 on Canon cameras, and his most recent work on Photoshop Actions. His creations are the secret weapon of designers in the fields of commercial art, advertising, fashion, and digital photography of all kinds. Mr. iNova has designed optical systems for NASA and is recognized as an extremely creative fine photographer. This interview was conducted by phone and e-mail over a period of about six weeks.
SG: Your latest publication is "Lights...Digital Camera...ACTIONS!" Could you describe it for us?
PI: This new eBook extends the creativity of every photographer, from amateur to pro. The book has more than 600 Actions that change your photographs into remarkable display treatments for printing or photo-illustration. Some of the Actions let you treat your images in ways that have never before been possible. "Lights...Digital Camera...ACTIONS!" has 248 pages but almost every page has an interactive visual example or multi-level image of the Actions.
SG: I've seen some early reactions to the book and they've been extremely positive.
PI: Anyone who really likes digital photography seems to go crazy for the Actions. Early adopters tell me that the book has brought new life to images they've had in their libraries for years.
SG: I know I've been getting new uses from many old photos by running them through multiple Actions and then putting them into music videos, creating a sort of gonzo animation effect.
PI: That's cool. You'll have to let me link to one of those.
SG: You bet. This is your 9th eBook. What do you like about the eBook format?
PI: It does what paper doesn't. First of all, since it's on your computer, you have all the search capabilities at the touch of a button. If you use the index in the back of the book to look up a term, you can click on the page numbers, jumping right to it. You can instantly reach any page you want.
SG: And then there's the interactive aspect.
PI: Right. That's perhaps the most significant point: an eBook offers interactive features that can take a reader many levels deep into various topics. An eBook offers you movies, rollover images, and live links to the Internet. In a printed book, you might have "before and after" images; in an eBook, you can have an entire range of images, including "how to" instructions, movie clips, charts, graphs, and more. And the images are much more detailed than you see in printing dots on paper. You can zoom in 200% to 400% before you hit the pixel level. It's like holding a page four inches from your nose!
SG: You made "Lights...Digital Camera...ACTIONS!" available in two versions.
PI: It comes on a CD or a fast USB flash drive.
SG: With the flash drive version, you have a kind of "workbook" aspect. A reader can try one of your book's 600 Actions on their own photo images and store their work right on the drive with the book.
PI: Exactly. The drive is a full gigabyte of storage space, but half that is available for personal projects. You don't need to store the eBook on your computer. Just read it directly off the flash drive. You can compare your work with the examples, try to push your images to new areas, combine the Actions in new and different ways, and just take the image manipulation and creativity to new levels. Plus, since you're working on a computer, you can post your work to the Internet or share it via e-mail. Try that with a paper book.
SG: In poking around your Web site (www.digitalsecrets.net) I'm surprised at the depth of it. How many pages are on that site?
PI: Eleventy-zillion. I don't know. I keep adding stuff: new product reviews, tips and tricks that I find or that people e-mail to me, comments about working with filters and Actions, and so on. Somehow I inherited my grandfather's pack-rat gene, so there are pages hidden in there that go all the way back to the year 2000. Digital tips from the edge of the dp universe.
SG: There are movies as well, like your music video using NASA footage.
PI: All's fair in love and digital imagery. That one's an experiment in iMovie 08.
SG: Are there other advantages of the eBook format as compared to printed publications?
PI: An eBook weighs one percent of a printed book, and it takes up less space. Once you make a back-up copy, your eBook is safe from damage and can't get lost. There's no "printing" expense so you can have full color on every page. What's important for me is that the image quality can exceed printed media. The pictures can be ultra-high-density resolution.
SG: Do you publish updates and additions on your site?
PI: Yes, and there are links built into the camera eBooks that keep you connected for the latest news, whenever and wherever you want it.
"Lights...Digital Camera...ACTIONS!" by Peter iNova. ISBN: 1-882383-39-7. GM Books; 248 pages, including 600+ Actions for Adobe® Photoshop® 7, CS, CS2, CS3. Available on CD or Flash drive.
Information: To learn more about Peter iNova's books, visit http://www.gmbooks.com/ or call 310-475-2988.
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