lightroom

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Upgrade
$99.00
The graduated filter and adjustment brush are worth the cost of the upgrade by themselves. But some ability to make irregular selections, particularly that might be used to easily mask an element from the effects of the graduated filter, is still needed (I'm still getting acquainted with the new features, so perhaps this exists in some way that I haven't yet discovered). A radial option for the graduated filter would also be a nice addition. But all in all, it's a worthwhile upgrade.

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers
$44.99
This book is very helpful getting you started in Lightroom. It's easy to understand and use.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2
$299.00
Had seen Light Room in action, but didn't realize it had both Win and Mac on the same disk. Since I have both machines it was a real pleasant surprise. A great program, better suited to many photo tasks than Photoshop.

The Photoshop Lightroom Workbook: Workflow not Workslow in Lightroom 2
$34.95
Well, I bought his book based on a breathless review, that ity is better than Scott Kelby's. I think I made a mistake. Kelby is the real thing, one of the top ten photographers in the world. More about this.
I call this "base camp," because I am only at the first stage, and I plan to update this as I go on. Buying one of these books entails a large committment of time, and you have to call the shots as you see them as you go on. This may mean calling off the climb to choose another route, if things are not looking good. Here are a few intial impressions:
-The book cover promises "stunning images." IMO the book cover is ugly and many of the images are garish. Compare with Kelby. This is not a killer, because many technical people have little esthetic sense, yet can still instruct. But it is concerning, since photography is esthetic.
-The first 50 pages were a tutorial pontification of optics, color spaces, etc. A bad sign.
-The presentation seems fractured and piecemeal. I want a tutorial on how to process my photos, not a labyrinthine software religion to worship. THe authors seem like software people, not photographers.

So at this point, I am gritting my teeth and keeping an open mind. One of the biggest problems with the Amazon ratings system in regards to evaluating photographic equipment is the "herd mentality." It seems that, like the field of psychology, everyone is an expert. We are treated to breathless reviews of how "wonderful" something is, I am thinking of the Nikkor 85 mm lens ($1300!), but examples abound. In reviews, the writers are in "love" with an idea or perception. The language is usually vague with no evidence offered.

I thought at first that these reviews, which may make up a majority of all reviews, were rogue reviews posted by employees of concerned companies. But at this point, I am instructed how unreliable human opinion is about issues of technology and esthetics. This is not to deprecate human experience, but to show that it needs to be in-formed with a humility about the limits of a point of view. The rise of science was supposed to correct for the shortcomings of human personal knowledge, but science has its own problems. That's another conversation.

Here are a few ideas about rreading reviews:
-look for solid evidence in positive reviews. "Wonderful ideas," great experiences don't cut it.
-seek out "outliers" in reviews. Read the negative reviews. Are these reviewers just having a "bad hair day," or got a dud product? Or do they have a point?
-We are trying to avoid the "herd mentality" here. You know, the herd that had us in stone knives for 50,000 years, doctors not washing their hands when delivering babies, etc, etc.

OK - enough. I am going to plow through this ugly book more and will try to find the pony in all this manure. I wrote this for my own benefit mainly, as I am just in awe and wonder at how dumb people get when they run in herds, have a financial interest, or get a little power.