One of the key aspects to the success of many of Scott's books (Photoshop in particular) has been his step-by-step approach. Sadly, with his latest Lightroom 3 book, it is also the reason that is just a mediocre book. In fact, Scott even comes out in the opening section Seven Things You'll Wish You Had Known Before Reading This Book with the following comment:
"If you've read my other books, you know they're usually "jump in anywhere" books, but with Lightroom ... I recommend you start with Chapter 1 and go through the book in order."
For his jump-in-anywhere books, the step-by-step approach is quite effective, however, the step-by-step approach becomes overly redundant here in that it actually detracts from the continuity of this book. Another major problem with the step-by-step formatting in this book is that the Steps have no description except the number. In fact, the pages only refer to the Chapter, so you have no idea if Step 5 is referring to the second, third or forth topic. You end up going back and forth between pages and the TOC a lot to figure out where you are and what the steps were. Scott's good friend Matt Kloskowski's new Layers book uses the familiar step-by-step approach, but Matt gratefully includes descriptions for each step making things much more readable.
My other gripe with the step-by-step format in the Lightroom book is that there are topics that are more readily suited as just a pure discussion section without any steps, but you will often find Steps where not needed at all. Most topics have a short intro (sometimes humorous which I do enjoy) and then go to the steps. IMHO, it would work much better with some of the more critical stuff pulled out of the steps and included in a more descriptive discussion section. Some aspects just don't belong in the Steps. Well, enough with the books formatting.
After reading through this book, I found myself asking if this book was written for me, after all the title says it is for Digital Photographers. Often, I felt like it was targeted more towards Professional Digital Photographers, especially folks who do this for a living in a Photography Studio. That is fine, but I don't think a lot of non-professionals are as concerned about stuff like the new LR3 tethering support that the book devotes a huge amount of space to.
The real meat of this book is in the Chapters which cover the Develop module (after all, that is Scott's forte). However, I will say that there could have been a little more substance on some of the new LR3 Dev features such as improved Noise Reduction and Gradient Filter tool. I think one of Scott's challenges is that with has huge media empire, he hardly has time to really keep up with all the latest features added to new product versions. So for example, his discussions of NR and Gradient tools are very simplistic with minimal insight or guru-type tips.
With the heavy emphasis on Develop, the other topics about Lightroom are not as well covered. In fact, the whole Workflow is oriented mainly around the Develop module when it really should include more of the others as well. The Library module coverage has little substance on some of the more critical areas such as Keywording, Metdata, Filtering, and Smart Collections (not much more than what you get with the Adobe Lightroom help topics). One could easily write a whole chapter on the power of working with Metadata/Keywords and Smart Collections (and Published Services).
When an author writes on a certain topic, there are often common scenarios that folks want to know about. It is unfortunate that many of these scenarios are not addressed in the book. For example, how does one easily get content into their mobile devices (e.g., iPhone and iPad) and for that matter iPhoto. Noted Adobe evangelist Terry White says that this is one of his most commonly asked questions. And on this topic, Scott could have covered it nicely in the Published Services to Hard Drive section. For many folks, that would have been worth the cost of the book alone.
Another example is on the subject of creating slide shows, folks often want to use multiple songs, have slide transitions (e.g., Ken Burns effect), incorporate video. OK, LR3 does not support this, but it would have been nice if this book mentioned some of these issues and pointed folks to other resources. And another common scenario left out is how to add GPS metadata to your images (assuming your camera does not support it).
The chapter on the Web module primarily covers the process of doing a very simplistic web site using the supplied template, but it would be good to discuss in depth more of the pros and cons of the Flash and HTML templates. For example, the Flash templates are nice, but won't work on iOS devices. And while the HTML templates work on iOS devices, there are issues with the generated code (i.e., you load a new page for each image, which is very inefficient).
The book does a very good job covering integration with Photoshop, which is another positive for this book. I think it would be nice to also add some more emphasis on Photoshop Elements as I know a lot of Lightroom users choose Elements.
Overall, this is not a bad book, especially with the strong Develop module content, but I guess I have some reservations when I read the book described as:
"The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers is the first and only book to bring the whole process together in such a clear, concise, and visual way."
I hope that for his Lightroom 4 book, Scott is able to address some of the layout issues to make it more readable. I would also recommend that he coauthor it with MattK as I know Scott's ability to stay up to speed with new product versions is challenging and only compromises on the quality of the book when he goes it alone.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Flip to back Flip to front
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Popular titles by this author
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
Ian Johnston
Another Kelby classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 23, 2010
Davo H
I still don't like it and it's still the best.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 8, 2011
Mark Eddiford
Scott Kelby's Lightroom 3 for Digital Photographers.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 8, 2011Eddysep
Kindle Fire HD cannot play videos
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 21, 2013
