The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers

My review is going to be short and sweet, as the others here have written far more and better than I could. Having just received my book, and just gotten through part of it, I would say that it's well worth the price. I have one other book by Mr. Evening, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS, 7.0, and this book is just as detailed and helpful. I don't even have the software yet, but wanted to get a jump on Rev 2 of Lightroom, and the book appears to point out the new features of the new Lightroom, compared to the previous revision, a great help for those who have been using the older software. I'll update this review if I find anything to change my initial opinion, but it looks great so far. Highly recommended.

Adobe's Lightroom version 2 (LR2), designed for digital SLR photographers, offers non-destructive image management, a powerful photo finder panel, and freshly added localized tone/color/spot retouch brush tools much like Photoshop. Although LR2's Develop module can acommodate JPEG and other 8-bit color formats, its 'Adobe Camera Raw'-like processing engine shines with camera-native RAW formats (12-14 bits) or TIFF (16 bit) files. This is a formidable plus, as the high-end DSLR trend moves towards 16-bit data collected by a full-frame sensor -- besting 35 mm analog film at its own game.

Users new to LR ought to have a measure of comfort (readily mastered with Photoshop Elements) with RAW ['digital negative'] processing, as well as with Adobe's speedy keyboard shortcuts, before diving into this book. Although LR is quite intuitive, and its manual uncommonly instructive, this Adobe Press release may be tough sledding for tyros; my take would be to start with one of those hee-haw/dummy basic introductions--then add this book to fill in the many gaps. The Amazon price makes acquisition all the more irresistible.

Martin Evening, an early member of the Lightroom team (back to Shadowland days), long has provided from-the-trenches feedback, thus is uniquely positioned to comment on LR2's strengths and ideosyncrasies. Along that line, LR has an active user Forum whose critiques help Adobe fine-tune the product. The author's well-crafted words reflect that fruitful interaction ... this is far from a spruced-up remake of the original LR1 book, but rather a grand makeover, illustrated with live shoots; awesome in its breadth, depth and scope. Even advanced users will find this book a must-have purchase - if only to optimally implement LR2's numerous new features. [For instance: when to use 64-bit LR2, or when it might be overkill.] The text smoothly guides the reader through a studio workflow, introducing the sequence of modules from importing, tagging, and developing up to final presentation. Though illustrated with Mac screenshots, PC equivalents in menu layout are clearly spelled out, and keyboard shortcuts for either operating system are paired; Windows users need not feel the least bit slighted.

For the initiated, there is a dazzling melange of advanced topics: audio note-taking, catalog syncing, Mac and PC platform interchange, interactive camera tethering, GPS positioning to pinpoint a photo's location, and the wedding of LR's cataloging and bulk capture processing strengths to Photoshop's (or Elements') labor-intensive fine-tuning prowess. Even so, this is not a book to be read cover to cover over the weekend, but rather one to reference specific topics. Barely have the elements of the LR2 interface of panels and menus been covered, for instance, when (page 14) the Identity Plate is dissected in great detail; the 'Quickstart Guide' (page 22) - rather than a romp through the basics - plunges deep into well-honed workflow techniques of importing, organizing and developing images. Later chapters, fortunately, delve into these topics in superbly organized step-wise detail with lucid easily digested text and a refreshing touch of humor ... entertaining without being overbearing.

Niggles: readers might have welcomed a summary recap of a baker's dozen of should-know keyboard shortcuts for Win and Mac at the end of each module's chapter, to help recall those arcane key combinations sprinkled through the text. Also, the more esoteric technical topics might have fared even better had they been bundled into one final 'crown jewels' chapter, rather than strewn a bit choppily through preceding chapters.

This softcover book, though daunting in size, is highly recommended to LR users from intermediate to those climbing the peaks. The text is well rounded, with finely honed words printed on quality paper and, with an abundance of screenshots and striking color illustrations, makes for a splendid reference guide that will bring timid users up to speed, yet seamlessly transitions to the very limits of LR's rich repertoire ... including a treasure of industrial strength workflow tips for high-volume professionals. This truly is a modern Lightroom 2 "Bible" that serves equally well as advanced learning tool or as a comprehensive topical reference guide to LR2.

Lightroom 2.0 is going through the expected growing pains of a major revision; a version 2.1 update to remedy transition bugs may be expected shortly. It is comforting to know that, should major program changes/additions be introduced, the author will post a matching no-cost in-depth update to the book in record time; as he demonstrated when Adobe introduced the LR 1.1 package.

I have a common complaint about most Photoshop and Lightroom books: they all go over the same basic information. Information that I have already learned by myself simply by experimenting with the software. How many times can people write the same basic-to-intermediate information on how to organize files, set white balance, adjust contrast, etc.? I am already an intermediate Photoshop and Lightroom user, so most books I have found do not offer enough new knowledge to make them worth the investment.

But Martin's book is different. In this book, I have been able to find detailed and advanced information that I have been unable to find in many other books. Everything I can think of in Adobe Lightroom 2 is clearly and deeply explained in sufficient detail to obtain the knowledge necessary to use the application at an advanced level.

Along with having the knowledge, the book does an outstanding job of communicating the knowledge. All information is discussed in full detail, with complete explanations of what the feature does, and detailed explanations of every step in the process of using the feature. There is never a feeling that some small amount of information was left out between the steps. Nothing seems to be "glossed over" as the explanations move from one step to the next. Additionally, the examples are detailed with lots of photos, with many of the examples having a photo for every step in the process of using the tool.

This review might not be useful to some if I don't find at least one thing to be less-than-ecstatic about. I can say that if you know absolutely nothing about Lightroom, are lost with it, and are looking for a very easy and basic book to get you started, this may not be the book for you. Martin's book is nearly 600 pages of deep detail. It may be a bit overwhelming if one is looking for an easy to read book on the basics. But if that is the case, I would recommend buying this book along with a more easy and high-level book on the basics. That would be a great pairing for someone who is just starting Lightroom, but is planning on becoming an advanced user.

If you would like to see some examples on the author's writing technique, he has written numerous articles on the Internet. Simply search for his name in an Internet search engine, and you will find some of the articles he has written. This can be useful if you wish to see an author's writing style before making a purchase.

If becoming an advanced Lightroom user is your goal, you owe it to yourself to get this book.

Basically, I highly recommend this book as *the* reference for Lightroom 2.

The author's writing style is quite clear, and is obviously based on access to inside sources within Adobe (it's published by Adobe Press!). It's no surprise that the book came out quickly after LR2's release, and that it is so well polished. This early access was also used to help the reader understand how/why various features were implemented as well as how the implementers envisioned the features would be used. This is quite useful, especially for advanced users.

As previously pointed out, this is not a prescriptive book. However, the "Develop" section does an excellent job stepping the reader through a recommended workflow through the basic settings, the tone curves, and then the spot/gradient tools. If you'd like a GREAT prescriptive book, check out Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies. Although it's written for Photoshop CS2, it does a great job walking the reader through the basics of camera calibration, lighting, and post-processing of pictures of skin. (Lee Varis has some DVDs that apply to CS3, but I haven't looked at them.)

What's not to like? The book is heavy and a bit cumbersome to read while using a computer. Seriously, I'd much rather have this book be the "Help" pages of LR2. Why programs as complicated as Lightroom (or heaven forfend, Photoshop) can't have reference books integrated as help files is beyond me.

It's also worth noting that the book went to press before the DNG profile editor (beta) was launched by Adobe. This tool allows the user to take a picture of a Gretag Macbeth color checker and then *quickly and easily* build a profile. LR2 can then be configured to automatically apply the profile to any image taken with the particular camera. So, the readers should completely ignore pages 310-311, and go to http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/DNG_Profiles%3AEditor to learn how to download and use the DNG profile editor.

Finally, I should say that I've been using Lightroom (on both PCs and Macs) since the beta. The quality and usefulness of the program have been increasing significantly since its early days. Aficionados are refered to http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/ for a great insider's look into Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom groups.

Adobe began shipping its new Lightroom 2.0 (LR2) software at the end of July. A week later this book was available. It made me think that Martin Evening is really a team of writers, each working on a chapter of this book, or even some smaller portion, and that the publisher, Peachpit, must have incurred huge overtime costs. (Actually, the software was available in beta form for a long time, and authors had final copies of the software before it was delivered to the public.) There are enough changes in version 2.0 that this early edition is welcome for people who want more details.

After an introduction to the software, Evening goes through each of the modules in LR2, explaining what the sliders, radio buttons and check boxes do, and occasionally discussing his preferences and techniques for using the software.

I suspect that with the large installed base of Lightroom, most of the people anxious for details will be using an upgrade, and might prefer a book equivalent to Ben Willmore's "Adobe Photoshop CS3: Up to Speed" which just dealt with the new elements in an image processing software upgrade. On the other hand, there are a lot of new features in LR2, and the software is so integrated that it may be useful for experienced users to review all of the capabilities.

Even though it's comprehensive, new users may be a bit overwhelmed by Evening's work, especially since it often is far more detailed than a beginner needs. The discussion of sharpening and noise reduction may seem like a foreign language to someone who has never used Unsharp Mask. While past performance is no indication of future performance, newbies might do better to wait for something that will probably be more accessible, like Scott Kelby's "The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)" which is presently scheduled for a September release.

The book shows the pressure of early release with some typos and repetitions. On the other hand, Evening describes many of the features in more detail than the tutorials that are available on line.

I found it difficult to view the screen captures of the LR2 menus. This is no doubt due to the fact that LR2's menus are in shades of gray that are highly visible on a monitor, but less so on a printed page. I for one would have no objections if publishers would increase the contrast so that seeing the menus would be easier.

This book is about the technical use of Lightroom. It doesn't talk much about how the features can be used for more impressive pictures. For that, one should look at a few of Rob Sheppard's books like "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Digital Photographers Only (For Only)" or even better "Outdoor Photographer Landscape and Nature Photography with Photoshop CS2 (Outdoor Photographers)" or (subject to the caveat about past performance) his upcoming "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 for Photographers Only", presently scheduled for October release.

If you want to get your hands on a LR2 book right now, this is the only game in town. It's dense, but comprehensive, and for the experienced user, will require some sorting out, but all the information one may need about LR2's new features are included.