Scott Kelby has written a great many books on various flavors of Photoshop and LR. It them he provides explanations of how things work and then gives very clear, extremely detailed examples (recipes) of how *he* uses them. As he is also an accomplished photographer, following his recipes can lead to successful results.
Victoria Bampton, the author or the "other" LR book, has spent a lot of time collecting questions from other photographers. This book is a well organized compendium of those questions along with clear and complete answers.
So, which is approach (and book) is best? It depends. (Weren't you paying attention a few paragraphs ago?)
If you don't have an established approach to processing your images (work flow) then the Kelby book gives you both the work flow and instructions in one way to implement it. In his LR book that naturally focuses on LR but also includes recipes for Photoshop where appropriate.
If, however, you already have an established work flow and just want to know what all the buttons do, or need specific answers to questions that come up while you're using LR then the "Missing FAQ" might be more helpful. (Also, with the FAQ book you get the added bonus of being able to download a full electronic copy. That means you can have access to all 480(ish) pages of information wherever you are. That is a real handy feature.)
There is, of course, considerable overlap. The FAQ does discuss work flow, albeit in a stepwise fashion. This book provides answers, albeit without the convenience of seeing the questions.
Bottom Line: If you can, get both (I did). You won't be disappointed (I'm still not). If you've never dealt with managing and developing digital images then get the Kelby book. If you want to know how to efficiently apply methods you already know (or think you can figure out on your own), using LR, then the Missing FAQ is probably your best choice.
I've been recommending this book to new users of Lightroom 4 well in advance of the publication date, just based on my experience with the author's earlier Lightroom books. Happily, Scott Kelby did not make a liar of me.
The Lightroom 4 book follows just about the sequence that one would follow in using Lightroom, starting with importing images and organizing them in the Library Module. Editing has been expanded to three chapters and explains how to use the revised basic sliders in Lightroom 4. There are chapters on exporting, jumping to Photoshop and the output functions including printing, slideshow and the new book module. (The web module chapter has been dropped but is available on line.) The book finishes with some downloadable layouts and a step-by-step walk through the processing of a portrait.
The teaching technique is excellent for beginners. The various functions are broken down into simple steps of 2, 4 or more pages. There is a narrative of the steps to follow down the outside of each page with screen captures on the inside. The captures are necessarily small but large enough to read easily. You can download images from the book's website to follow along on your computer and I'd recommend doing so if you are just a beginner. I've followed along with several of these tutorials and they all seem to be accurately constructed with all the steps clearly spelled out.
The book is designed for beginners and not aimed at experienced users. Still, if an old hand knows what the new features are in Lightroom 4, it's easy enough to find just the chapter or section you want and follow along with the author.
The book certainly has benefited from its various iterations. Where tools have been carried over from older versions, everything is crystal clear. For a new module, like the book module, the instructions are still good, but they lack the complete clarity and smoothness of the other lessons. (If you've never done a book before, you may also want to go to the Blurb website which has a lot of good information. I continue to use Blurb's software because I can't figure out how to soft proof for Blurb in Lightroom.)
Product Details :
More Details about The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) 1st edition
or
Download The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) 1st edition PDF Ebook
No comments:
Post a Comment