Lightroom Transformations – Book Review

 

Lightroom Transformations — Realizing your vision with Adobe Lightroom plus Photoshop
by Martin Evening
Pearson / Peachpit / New Riders ISBN-13: 978-0-13-439828-0, 256 pages
$45 U.S., $56 CN (check Internet for better prices)

What makes a good photograph? asks world class photographer and author Martin Evening. This modest-size and affordable intermediate level information and instruction book provides answers you can use both when making your photos and when editing them. Martin’s writing is clear and direct, and his image illustrations are excellent from first step to final result.

Disclosure: Martin Evening is my favorite photo book author, and Lightroom Transformations continues his reign of titles that are jaw-droppingly outstanding. Here is an interview with Martin from 2008, and here is one of the many review of his books we have published at MyMac.

Lightroom Transformations is two books disguised as one. Martin patiently explains the why and the how of pro-quality camera photography within the combined framework of Lightroom and Photoshop enhancements. He is a real writer and a deep thinker, so digest his words carefully because they are the distilled wisdom from a lifetime of craft and creative expression, plus countless articles and books.

Unlike many competing and prior titles. this book’s exercises and tutorials are brief and focused. Follow Martin’s steps to get optimum results, then expand your personal toolbox so his lessons serve as time-release vitamins within your own workflows. Study the sidebar explanations and screen shots. Note: the primary text is a small serif font and the sidebar text is a smaller sans serif font; my eyes are not getting younger, so I make sure good lighting is available during my study sessions.

Did you know It is OK to clip the shadows or highlights? Or why it’s best to generate 16-bit TIFF files when exporting from Lightroom to Photoshop? How about using ProPhoto RGB as the color spaces in the External Editing preference? Are you familiar with JBOD archiving using Carbon Copy Cloner on a Mac? Tips like these permeate and enrich Lightroom Transformations; when Martin writes it, pay attention.

This book is divided into eight major units, taking the reader into advanced Lightroom and Photoshop techniques including, among many: hand coloring, retouching, enhanced black and white effects, photomerges and panoramas, HDR (high dynamic range) capture and processing, perspective alignment and adjustment, content aware methods, advanced dodging and burning, sharpening and noise reduction, haze removal, and page after page on getting the best most exciting color for print and screen presentations.

This title is Nemo’s Photography Book of the Year by a long measure. Whenever I have an hour to myself I set my iPhone aside, pull up a potential prize photo, and practice one or more of Martin’s luminating lessons. You do the same, and your photography and personal vision will grow with each encounter with Lightroom Transformations — Realizing your vision with Adobe Lightroom plus Photoshop.

Our MyMac Review Rating is a strong 9 out of 10, with my personal recommendation.