How Scott Kelby Does It in Lightroom July 28, 2015 – Posted in: Photography

Today Scott Kelby wrote a blog post about his new book, How Do I Do That In Lightroom?, which you can also read about here. We at Rocky Nook are thrilled to be publishing Scott’s newest work (it’s available now as an eBook, and the printed version of the book is being printed as I write this). How Do I Do That In Lightoom? is a great resource for Lightroom users, whether you have just a little experience with the program or you’ve been using it for years.

I had the opportunity to review the book before it went to the printer, and I was very happily surprised at how much new information I picked up. I’ve been a Lightroom user for many years now, and I am—or thought I was—pretty good at making my way through the software. But I started getting the feeling that, with each new version of Lightroom, I probably wasn’t taking advantage of new techniques and shortcuts that would speed up my work, and that I probably had forgotten (or never knew) some crucial keyboard shortcuts that would also have me working smarter as I edited. Overall, I suspected that I was getting a little “stuck” in my old Lightroom workflow, and there were also probably ways to customize Lightroom that would make it a better experience for me. But as a fairly experienced Lightroom user, it’s unlikely that I would buy a big book on the latest version of Lightroom and work my way through it, chapter by chapter. I suspect I’m not entirely alone here.

This is where Scott’s book is so incredibly helpful. There are dedicated chapters on everything from organizing images to customizing Lightroom to editing to printing to Lightroom mobile (and much more). Lightroom is still a pretty straightforward program, but it has grown a lot over the years, and there are many powerful features to be found beyond the obvious sliders. No matter your skill level, I think we all have “blind spots” in one place or another, and this book definitely helped me with mine. In reading through the book, I learned dozens of things I did not know before, and there are about 10 tips that will save me hours in Lightroom and, to me, make the book worth its price all by themselves (I realize I’m a little biased). There are great tips on expanding tonal range, working with masks, customizing Lightroom so that the side panels stop automatically popping in and out and driving you crazy (or is that just me?), changing multiple brush adjustments with just one slider, and many, many more. Every few pages, I found myself putting down the book to try a new tip, technique, or shortcut in Lightroom.

The really cool thing about this book is that it worked on two levels for me: it served as an accessible and quick “refresher” for stuff I knew but had forgotten or stopped incorporating into my workflow, and it also taught me brand-new techniques that got me up to speed with Lightroom’s latest release. Now I feel like I am truly using the current version of Lightroom to its maximum potential.

Finally, the best part—of course—is revisiting some images armed with this new knowledge!

Download the book now! (and use code Lightroomkelby and get it for $15.00). Or pre-order the printed book on amazon here!