World Famous Comics: The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
By: Scott Kelby Publisher: New Riders Press Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: New Riders Press Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 448 Publication Date: September 10, 2008
Product Description: Written in concert with Adobe's development of the Photoshop Lightroom 2 Beta, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers - by #1 bestselling computer and technology author, Scott Kelby - is the most complete and concise Lightroom "how-to" book for digital photographers of all skill levels.
In The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers, Scott walks readers through the basics of Lightroom use, leading them to a brilliantly devised and super efficient digital photography workflow that dramatically improves productivity and allows photographers to spend less time processing photos and more time shooting them.
Throughout the book Scott shares his personal camera and Lightroom settings, as well as the studio-tested techniques he's developed for his own photography workflow. The book is written in his trademark step-by-step, plain English style, and because he knows what really works and what doesn't, he isn't shy to tell you flat out which tools to use, which to avoid, and why. This allows digital photographers of any skill level to jump right in using Lightroom like a pro from the very start, sidestepping a lot of the frustrations that typically haunt those unfamiliar with new applications…especially those as powerful as Lightroom.
What really sets The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers apart from other Lightroom books on the market are the last two bonus chapters where Scott answers the questions, "In exactly what order am I supposed to do things in Lightoom," and "Where does Photoshop fit in to the mix?" Both chapters start with an on-location photo shoot, including full details on the equipment, camera settings, and lighting techniques. Readers then witness as he takes the photos from each shoot through the entire workflow process, to the final output of the 16"x20" prints. And, because he incorporates Photoshop seamlessly right into this workflow, you'll learn some of the latest Photoshop techniques for portrait and landscape photography as well.
If you're one of those people who learns best by actually doing the projects yourself; who learns best without all the complicated technical explanations and confusing jargon, and if you really want to start using Lightroom today to unlock the productivity secrets of "The new digital photography workflow,"---there is no faster, more "straight-to-the-point" or more fun way to learn than this groundbreaking new book, and you are absolutely going to love it!Â
Very Good I do not like to write a long review either...so just to say this is a fantastic book if you can digest Scott's style (maybe a good advise is to simply ignore his sense of humor).
Good Read Trying to figure out new software on your own is nearly impossible. Scott Kelby's book provides the help needed to make Lightroom @ work.
Worth Every Penny I'm one of the people that owned the first version of the book and still coughed up the $29 for version 2. I don't regret it one bit. There's an entire chapter on the new Adjustment Brush, and that chapter alone has made me my $29 back. If you're new to Lightroom, I can't help but think Scott's workflow and descriptions of the tools is the best out there. They sure helped me last year when I was starting out. However, if you're experienced in Lightroom, yes, you'll definitely find some of same "basics" stuff. But the updates (importing and sorting chapters, adjustment brush, new workflow chapters, and customizing) are worth $29 and I'd spend it again in a heartbeat. Highly recommended.
Just do it For me it doesnt come naturally to sit with a book at my computer and work through it to learn to do it right. I am determined to quit that silly massivly time wasting habit and have successfully started my new smarter behavior with Scott Kelby's well written, logicly laid out, with easy to understand verbage instruction manual. I have thousands of images and vow to continue to follow his flow and do it right this time. Lightroom 2 is an awesome program that looks easy, but to get the most out of it you may need a little hand holding by a pro and that is what this book delivers.
THE guide to navigating Lightroom 2.0 First I would like to say that if the book feels a bit like the first version, there's a good reason and it's because Adobe didn't remove features from LR2. There isn't a way to write a Lightroom book without covering features that were included in version 1. This would be a disservice to those that didn't own Lightroom version 1 and are starting fresh with version 2. The other thing that might feel familiar is the layout of the book. Most all of the Kelby books have a visual style that is familiar but even that has changed slight in this book, and for the better.
The book begins with a seven step "Things you wish you would have known before reading this book". It is a quick guide that tells you how the book is organized, what to expect when you read it, where to find source material that is used in the different chapters, and even a warning about his humorous chapter intros. I am actually a fan of Scott's humor but for those that aren't, he tells you to skip the intros and move right to the chapter because that's where the good stuff is.
The actual flow of the book is very logical and moves through the workflow process just as you would in Lightroom. One of the new features of the book that I found extremely helpful are the small header banners at the top of each page which mimic the panels at the top of Lightroom. Listed at the top are the Library, Develop, Slideshow, Print, and Web headings that are so familiar to Lightroom users. Whichever module is being dealt with in the particular chapter is highlighted on the banner, just as it would be in Lightroom. This is a great way to navigate quickly in the book so if you wanted to check out chapters dedicated to printing you can quickly flip through the pages and look for the Print module heading at the top of the pages. This is a small but very clever idea that I really appreciate.
The first chapter is all about importing images into Lightroom and is laid out in an easy, step-by-step progression from where to store your images, to getting your images into the program from your memory card or from folders that already exist on the hard drive. There is even a section on shooting tethered directly to your camera and having the images go directly into Lightroom. And here's another new bonus to this book. Every chapter has a Lightroom Quicktips page following each chapter. These are helpful little hints that somehow relate to the chapter but didn't really fit but are nonetheless important nuggets of information.
The following chapters are laid out just as logically and are beautifully illustrated. Particularly helpful were the chapters on customizing the Library module to make it fit my own needs and the section on the new Adjustment Brush. This new feature in Lightroom 2 is amazing and Scott did a great job of explaining not just how to use all of the features, but also when and why you would use them. I especially liked how he showed how to use the brush as a creative tool that will keep me from having to use Photoshop quite so much.
This book covers every new feature with great depth but not in a textbook way. Every feature of the program is broken down into its basics and then reviewed in a progressive style that will benefit novice and professional alike. The one thing that sets this book (like all of the Kelby books) apart from the rest is that you feel as though he is talking directly to you thoughout the entire process. It's like having your own personal instructor right at your side.
Lightroom has changed tremendously from its humble 1.0 beginnings and any user of the new version will save themselves time and frustration by sitting down with this book which I believe is the definitive guide to using Lightroom 2.0.
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