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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not much more than an illustrated manual, November 3, 2007
This review is from: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 for the Professional Photographer (Paperback)
I have been using Lightroom for a few months and ordered this book specifically because it dealt with the 1.1 release. All other books available today are written for the 1.0 release, and I was interested in obtaining a book that described the new features in Lightroom 1.1.
This book was a big disappointment. It provides a cursory review of the main features and functions of the software and includes illustrations of some of the software tools at work. However, there is very little discussion on how best to use the software to get the results you are looking for. It also avoids discussing a number of the tools that you will be using on many of your images. For example, the chapter on the Develop Module describes the function of the major tools available - color and white balance controls, tone curve, HSL controls, etc, and provides a sample image modified with various adjustments. However, the book completely glosses over the noise reduction, sharpening and lens correction tools ("sharpening" and "noise reduction" don't even rate a mention in the book's index). This is especially unforgivable for sharpening - which is an awesome and powerful tool in version 1.1.
If you are looking for an easy-to-read introductory-level book that doesn't provide much more information than you will find in the on-line manual, then you may find this book useful. If you are looking for a more comprehensive and descriptive Lightroom reference, I recommend looking elsewhere.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Enough Information, January 10, 2008
This review is from: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 for the Professional Photographer (Paperback)
The tag in the title of this book "for the Professional Photographer" might create the implication that it contains advanced techniques in the use of Lightroom image processing software. However, what the authors present is a rather straightforward introduction to Lightroom. The book contains chapters on importing digital images into Lightroom and organizing them with the library module, adjusting them in the development module, and outputting them as slideshows, prints or websites. Unfortunately, rather then provide advanced techniques, the book often fails to mention rather fundamental techniques.
Typical is the discussion of comparing images to select the best one. The authors indicate that two selected photos can be compared on the monitor screen using the "C" key as a shortcut. To compare more than two pictures they suggest typing the shortcut key "N". When this shortcut is used, all of the multiple photos are displayed simultaneously and, as the mouse cursor is rolled over pictures, a small x appears in a corner of the picture which may be clicked to delete the picture from the pool. This works, but if there are a large number of pictures to be compared the images may be too small to be useful. When more than two pictures are selected, most experienced Lightroom users would type the letter "C" which would allow comparison of two larger images at a time with the deleted competitor being replaced by the next selection. (In the same discussion they suggest that when only one picture is selected, using the "C" key allows a comparison of a single photo's before and after adjustments. In actuality, the key that does that is the "Y" key.)
In a similar vein, the authors suggest that in creating a collection, which is a sort of special file of photographs, one should highlight the collection name and then drag a thumbnail of the image to be added to the highlighted collection name. Actually, it's not necessary to highlight the collection name to drag an image into the collection. It doesn't hurt to highlight the collection name, but it just adds an unnecessary step to the process.
When the authors discuss keywords, they don't mention parent-child relations or the ability to export and import keyword lists into Lightroom, and when they mention catalog backups they don't point out that the location for backups can be changed, which one certainly would want to consider if a backup is made to protect from drive failure.
Although the book purports to cover the changes made to Lightroom in version 1.1 there is no mention of the vastly improved sharpening facility that that upgrade provided. There is also no mention of the integration of Lightroom with other software, like Adobe Photoshop.
These topics may be covered by the not always user-friendly on-line help for Lightroom, but it would certainly make it easier for a new user, to whom most of the instruction seems to be aimed, if the authors dealt with such topics.
Readers interested in learning more about using all of Lightroom's capabilities would be better served by reading Scott Kelby's " Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers,The (Voices That Matter)" (even if its corny humor is a bit off-putting, and even though the reader will have to find the 1.1 supplement on the internet), and users seeking a deeper understanding of Lightroom may want to read Rob Sheppard's " Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Digital Photographers Only)" or Gulbins and Steinmueller's " Managing Your Photographic Workflow with Photoshop Lightroom".
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding straight-shooter workflow guide for high-volume photographers, November 27, 2007
This review is from: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 for the Professional Photographer (Paperback)
Adobe's 'Lightroom' (now in version 1.3) was designed from the ground up for digital photographers. Non-destructive color management and deep retrieval capability are its hallmarks, from importing photos into a catalog database to finished product export for printing, retouching or slide shows. I've dabbled with the software for over a year (from beta testing forward) and should have had a pretty solid handle on it by now ... that is, until Huss & Plotkin chastened me. I've gained a wealth of new tricks, and plucked many a pearl, from this book (for instance, I had dismissed 'Impromptu Slideshow' as a mere gimmick - now I know better).
Consider a few caveats before entering 'Lightroom' (LR): first, it performs better with native RAW files ("digital negatives") than with ubiquitous camera-processed compressed JPEGs -- new users ought to have a measure of comfort (easily gained in Photoshop Elements) with RAW processing and Adobe's inscrutable keyboard shortcuts. Although LR is quite intuitive, and its manual unusually instructive, first users might well appreciate easy-flowing introductory hand-holding (see later), rather than plunging head-first into Huss' roll-up-your-sleeves approach. Moreover, as evident from the mixed reviews, the Publisher misjudged in tagging this book for a 'beginning' audience. It is squarely aimed at high-volume users who want to minimize computer interaction and maximize productivity ('workflow'). Although illustrated with Windows screen shots, Mac users need not feel slighted.
Omission of a section on 'Sharpening' (not even referenced in the index) is puzzling at first - until one realizes that wedding photographers would rather blur than sharpen the bride's crows feet. That niggle aside, this is a solid, well-rounded and comprehensive workshop on swiftly getting up to speed with LR - hard work, to be sure, but well worth the effort. Refreshing are the authors' unvarnished comments: LR isn't (yet) the best or fastest DAM (Digital Asset Management; fancy term for photo album) around, but it's sure the most versatile; they have little use for subjective star ratings (more suitable for rating movies); Windows Vista gets a thumbs down, the authors reinstalled their stabler and faster Windows-XP/SP2. [The latest LR version (1.3) corrected many Vista and Leopard OS issues; judged by user forum reports, problems with Apple's Leopard OS have dwindled, but sluggish performance and scarcity of hardware drivers remain a major hurdle for Vista users.]
Readers new, or fairly new, to LR might look to a bit more of the basics before tackling this daunting topic. Forget the pretty pictures, the 'gee-whiz isn't that easy', or the stale hee-haw jokes books - there just isn't a primrose path to Adobe products (and that includes Elements). I recommend Martin Evening's "The Lightroom Book" [make sure to update it with the free version 1.1 supplement] as an excellent starter as well as comprehensive reference, with polished text and abundant illustrations for the "how-it-works" fundamentals. Symbiotic with the Huss & Plotkin book's "make-it-work" practical philosophy, this twin library provides unmatched coverage of the LR learning curve - from first seeing the light on up to expert workflow polishing.
All in all, this is one grand just-the-facts resource -- it demands a lot of the reader, but you'll never be at a loss because text and figures are first-class. The end-result is a broad and deep understanding of organization towards optimizing photo workflow. Managing a library of tens of thousands of images ... with hundreds more thundering in daily ... the knowledge gained here will be invaluable in using your limited time to best advantage.
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