John Shaw’s “Photoshop Field Guide” has been my bible for years.  So, when “John Shaw’s Digital Processing: A Personal Workflow Using Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4″ was released I purchased it right away at a reasonable cost of $25.  What follows are a few of my thoughts on what, at the time, was John’s latest e-book.  Note: he has since released “Using Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5″ ($15).  Both e-books may be purchased on his website, which earns you a PDF of whatever book you’ve chosen.

John clearly states on his website that neither of these titles are intended to be “how-to” books.  Rather, they are a rare glimpse inside the processing habits of a seasoned pro.  In fact, the highlight of the book for me were the examples where John discusses not only the step-by-step workflow used on each image, but his reasons for making each adjustment.  Truly invaluable material.

I’ve been using Lightroom since version 1 was released in 2007 (or maybe early 2008).  I’ve read and own a couple ”how-to” books, the best of which is Nat Coalson’s “Lightroom 3: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process“.  It’s safe to say I’m no spring chicken when it comes to using Lightroom and Photoshop.  I mention this because I believe someone newer to working in the digital darkroom will find John’s e-book much more useful than I.

Having said that, here’s what I really like about John’s e-book:

• As usual, John doesn’t use technical jargon or geek speak.  His instruction is easy to understand and flows nicely.
• I’m glad he spent a few pages discussing the importance of devising a system for organizing your digital files early in your career.
• The short chapter on “Getting Started” touches on just about all of the most important aspects of configuring Lightroom for optimal performance.
• His thoughts on the initial edit of images after downloading them to your computer were helpful.
• Shortcuts!  Using shortcuts in Lightroom can dramatically increase the speed with which you are able to process images and John details the most used ones, even providing a handy cheat sheet.

What didn’t I like?  Really, it isn’t so much that I didn’t like certain things.  I just found that for me, as a fairly experienced user, some of the content was too basic.  By no means does that make this a bad investment.  If you are newer to using Lightroom and Photoshop, this may well be the best place to start.  If you’re an experienced user, you’ll benefit from the examples and possibly from one or two of the Photoshop tutorials on such topics as image blending or luminosity masking. 

The bottom line is this: you can’t write a fairly generic book and have it appeal to newbies and power users at the same time.  ”Digital Processing: A Personal Workflow Using Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4″ succeeds in keeping both sides happy about as well as can be expected.  Would I spend $25 on the book, if I had known then what I know now?  Yep.  Those examples I mentioned earlier are worth the price of admission alone.  Consider the rest of the content a nice bonus.

I haven’t yet purchased “Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5″ although I do plan to pick it up.  I’ll do a separate review on it at some point in the future.  If you’ve got either one, please take a moment to leave a comment with your thoughts and opinions on them.

I was recently contacted by a new photographer who really wants to improve her skills and learn more about all those crazy buttons and dials on her camera, but can’t fit a workshop into her schedule right now.  What’s a girl to do?  Read a book.  Or five.  And guys, this applies to you, too.

I’m a voracious reader.  I read magazines, books, web articles, blogs and even news on my iPhone.  When my interest in photography started to take off I didn’t even know about workshops.  I knew about books.  So, I bought a few, I read a few and I used the knowledge to make hundreds, if not thousands, of bad photos.  Then one day I picked up my film from the lab and much to my surprise, there on the light table, was a slide that didn’t suck.  And it was mine.

Apparently, reading all those books and making all those bad images was finally starting to pay off.  You may never see your slide on a light table.  You may not even know what a slide or a light table is.  But, you can still glean loads of useful knowledge from reading a good book.

Here are the books I found most helpful and one…not so much.

Books by Art Wolfe

The Art of Photographing Nature

Photography Outdoors: A Field Guide for Travel and Adventure Photographers (Both of these books are your classic “how-to” guides filled with lots of stunning Art Wolfe images from around the world.  He offers tips on composition, exposure, using filters, traveling with your gear and explains how to use different camera settings for creative effect.) 

A Book by Galen Rowell

The Inner Game of Outdoor Photography (I would not start with this one.  Galen was a world-class adventure athlete, a photographer, a writer and a philosopher.  This book is not your standard how-to book.  There are few discussions of gear and technique.  Galen is at his absolute best here, discussing the quieter and more philosophical side of outdoor photography.  It’s a book that will make you stop and ponder why you want to make pretty pictures, and that’s a good thing.)

Books by John Shaw

Nature Photography Field Guide

Landscape Photography (Both of these books are among the best of the best.  John has a very easy, informal way of writing and teaching.  His ability to explain difficult and technical topics such that a moron like me can understand is unsurpassed.  Both of these two books are “how-to” guides that cover the same topics as Art’s, but with a different voice.  Some things may click with you when you read them in Art’s book while others may resonate more when read from John’s books.)

Business of Nature Photography: A Professional’s Guide to Marketing and Managing a Successful Nature Photography Business (Do you want to be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams and travel the world making photographs?  Okay, I concede – you may not become wealthy as a pro photographer but you sure can have lots of fun.  And you can certainly make a living at it if you don’t mind being a businessperson first and a photographer second.  This book covers all the basic stuff you’ll need to know as a working professional photographer.  It is a bit dated in today’s digital world as there are references to the filing of your slide pages and making film submissions to magazines.  Nonetheless, John divulges lots of valuable information about marketing, taxes, legal issues and more.  Well worth a read if you’re thinking of running a nature photography business.) 

Photoshop CS3 Guide (This is an e-book, available for purchase only at John’s website.  It is, in my humble opinion, the holy grail of Photoshop books.  I learned way more in one week after purchasing this book than I did in over a year of fumbling around in Photoshop on my own.  Almost all the techniques and workflow he discusses are applicable in CS4, too.  If you are mystified by Photoshop do yourself a favor and buy this book.) 

Books by Tim Fitzharris

National Audubon Society Guide to Landscape Photography (Another “how-to” guide, albeit very well written and chock full of amazing Tim Fitzharris images.)

National Park Photography (This one is a little different.  It’s a “how-to and where-to” guide.  Each chapter covers a popular national park and has useful tips for photographing the area.  Really a great book.)

A Book from Arizona Highways

Photography Guide: How & Where to Make Great Photographs (This is another “how-to and where-to” guide but it only covers Arizona.  This one is published by the good folks at Arizona Highways magazine, which is itself internationally recognized for the high quality photography within its pages.  Several frequent Arizona Highways contributors provided content for the book.  Great how-to information is provided and at the end of the book, you get some awesome advice on when and where to photograph popular areas of Arizona.

A Book by Nathaniel Coalson

Lightroom 2: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process (Full disclosure: Nat and I run workshops together.  Even if we didn’t and Nat was a jackass, I’d still recommend his book.  No other Lightroom book I’ve read comes close to the depth and breadth with which this book covered Lightroom.  And, Nat does so with a writing style that is engaging and easy to follow.  John Shaw also offers a Lightroom e-book.  I have no doubt it is a great one although I can’t comment personally because I haven’t seen it.  By the way, Nat isn’t a jackass.  He’s actually a really nice guy, an amazing instructor and a good friend.)

And finally, the one and only photography book I’ve ever returned (drum roll please)…

A Book by John Fielder

Photographing the Landscape: The Art of Seeing (Suffice it to say that when an author starts comparing photography to pizza, I quickly lose interest.  Yeah, I get the whole analogy thing but I just found this one to be really, really bad.  I know others, friends even, who think it’s a great “how-to” book.  I try not to hold it against them.  You might find it useful.  I didn’t.)

There you have it!  My favorite books and a couple opinions you didn’t ask for.  I’ll close by saying this: You can read all the books in the world but if you don’t get out and photograph, you’re never going to improve.  Shoot often and seek honest, constructive critique on your images.  And most importantly, have fun.

Got a favorite how-to book?  How about a not-so-favorite one?  Or a thought on the books I’ve listed?  Be heard – leave a comment!