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Doubt is a Lonely Pain
Madrid, Spain: My Lightroom Adventure book has been at the printer for almost two weeks now. For me, the time between a book going to the printer and the time when it is bound and shipped and actually in my hands is always an emotional roller coaster. This has been especially true for this book.
The days after the book shipped to the printer were filled with sheer joy. After a few drinks to toast my editor Colleen Wheeler, and the O'Reilly production team of Ron Bilodeau and Phil Dangle who all worked their butts off to get the book done-- I went fishing in the high Norwegian mountains. (See photo below, taken with my favorite point and shoot camera, the Leica D-Lux-3.)
This weekend trip was followed by the inevitable exhaustion that follows finishing a long project. (By the way, it's not a good idea to write blogs when you are exhausted...witness how I botched my previous entry.)
Exhaustion was soon replaced with anxiety. Will the printer do a good job? Will readers appreciate all the hard work so many people put into this book? Will they understand how I tried to honor both the art of photography and its technical aspects? Will they find the book useful? Will the book sell? Doubt is a lonely pain.
To get out of this funk, I did what always works: I went back to work. This time it is an update to my Photoshop CS 2 RAW book. I've worked exclusively in the Lightroom environment for so long, it felt strange opening my RAW files in Adobe Camera Raw via Bridge. I've said this before, but the Photoshop/Camera Raw/Bridge workflow is like an off-road vehicle: even though it's not the most efficient ride, it'll get you anywhere you want to go. Sure, Lightroom gets you a lot of places, but speed and efficiently are its primary concerns.
I also started on a new photo project that will illustrate the updated RAW book. I call it, Under the Hood, Working RAW. Here are a couple shots from my first subject, my Citroen car mechanic in Ulefoss, Norway whose job literally gets him under the hood, and gets his hands dirty.
While I'm here in Spain visiting my wife's family I hope to find new subjects. I know the project is meant for the Photoshop CS3 RAW book, but I confess...I edited and processed the images in Lightroom. This update may turn out to be harder than I expected...
Oh, as for the doubt thing... I've also learned that doubt has a flip side and it's called faith, which I have plenty of as well.
Comments (26)
So Mikkel I'm assuming the July 15th estimated release date was optimistic.
I'm looking forward to the book.
BTW, the more I play with LR 1.1, the less likely I am to be turning to CS3 anytime soon. It's a great program.
Mark
JULY 15th is pretty close to correct... I mean it takes a little while for the printer to ship to the various distribution points... but it shouldn't take very long. Mark, if I hear otherwise I'll let you know!
I've ordered the book since June 27th from Amazon Canada, delivery date: Oct 12.
I can wait!!!
I too, love LR 1.1 and find I'm using CS2 and Bridge less often.
Just lightroom's Print module makes it worth the price.
Thanks Mikkel for your books.
Oh yeah, are you going to be on "The Lab With Leo" (Leo Laporte) any time soon?
Harold
Thanks Mikkel. I have it on order from Amazon, who still have it listed for the 15th. It sounds likely to ship within a week or so from your description. When you get yours just let me know if you think it's any good! Seriously...looking forward to it...whenever.
Mark
I realize you may offline and enjoying the warmth and beauty of Spain Mikkel, but have you heard anything new from the printer re completion?
thanks.
Mark
Hi Mark, Spain was GREAT! Back in rainy Norway... got an email from my editor, Colleen Wheeler, which says:
"Our date from the printer for Bound Book Date is July 20; the in-stock date is 7/25 which I believe is the day they get to the warehouse."
That's all I know, for now.
Thanks Mikkel.
We'll see who gets it first O'Reilly or Amazon.
Given that book merchandising sometimes defies logic I'm placing no bets.
And Norway can be wonderful, even in the rain.
Mark
Mikkel, I just received a notice from Amazon that your book delivery date that I pre-ordered went from July20 to Sept! Did you know that? Whats up!?
Andy, that makes no sense to me at all...The book is done. It's printed. I can't imagine it takes that long to get to Amazon. But I'll double check on Monday and see what's up.
Hey Mikkel we're all waiting eagerly :-)
Any word from the movers and shakers in the office?
Unrelated topic: do you think Lightroom will ever make editing of selective parts of a photo possible (short of exporting images to CS3)?
Thanks.
Mark
Hey Mark, my editor in California just got a copy of the book. Lucky her! She says it looks fantastic. She'll fedx a copy to me here in Norway. So... it will be a couple days before I see it. But we are looking good! I'm told it will ship to everyone within days... Let me know if you hear anything, ok?
As for your other question:
"...do you think Lightroom will ever make editing of selective parts of a photo possible (short of exporting images to CS3)?"
Have you seen Nikon Capture NX U Point technology, which allows you to apply localized editing directly to the image itself? I really hope Lightroom follows that direction... it's so cool.
Thanks Mikkel.
Update from O'Reilly says it's now available.
Amazon is still saying mid-September! Hopefully that will change.
Where are you in Norway.? I spent a great week in Sandefjord and another in Bergen. Old Bergen story. Old man is asked whether it always rains there. He says "I don't know, I've only been living here eighty years."
Enjoy the wonderful Norwegian summer.
Mark
Mark, glad the book is finally available! We are in Ulefoss, about 30 minutes from Skien, which is near Sandefjord. We inherited my father's home, which was also my Grandfathers, and his fathers... so it goes back a long way. It's a small town, and we are on a river surrounded by a forest. Lovely place.
Mark- odd, I've not seen that update on O'Reilly..the book still shows not pub yet...
Mikkel- Amazon still shows mid- Sept for delivery..
Any other discount book sellers around that might have it earlier??
btw, got a good laugh on that Bergen story :)
for what its worth, barnes and noble also shows Sept 15 as release date.
My error.
I received a newsletter from O'Reilly saying it's now available. But if you try buying it it shows backorder status.
I still want to get it from Amazon given the price difference and the tax I have to pay as a California resident.
Mark
Mark, looks like Amazon is finally shipping the Lightroom Adventure book. Whew... what a relief! Let me know when you get it and what you think. I still don't have a copy myself...
Thanks for the alert Mikkel.
I will have mine by no later than next Wednesday if they ship as expected.
And of course I'll let you know what I think immediately.
Ha en god kveld.
Mark
Update:
Amazon is running a little behind and I now have a promised shipping date of the 1st...Friday delivery. Stay tuned.
Mark
And I STILL Don't HAVE a COPY!!!!!
I have the book in my hands! In my first pass (admittedly looking at just the pictures) I was struck at the quality of the binding and vibrance of the colors and stunning photos illustrating the beauty of Iceland (and that cover..wow- hope my wife doesn't read this). If it reads anything like it looks it WILL be a winner. I'll report back in a few weeks my thoughts. But my first fly-by is a big thumbs up! (Except for UPS who damaged it a bit in transit) :( Congrats to you!
I have it and, as expected, it's both very well written and beautiful.
My only question is whether it will be sufficient by itself or whether I'll need to use it with another book, like Kelby's or Evening's.
A technical question for Mikkel or for any of you. I want to do my sharpening of some photos in CS3. I know how to export a photo to CS3, but how can I then bring it back into Lightroom as edited in CS3 without corrupting the file in some way?
I want to do my printing and posting from Lightroom.
Guidance appreciated.
Thanks.
Mark
Thanks Mark! I finally got my copy the other day and I'm very happy with the book as well. Whew... now I can relax. Anyway, as for you question: are you starting in LR and then going to PS? If you are, then it is simple. Use the Edit in Photoshop command (under Photo in the Develop Module). Make you changes. Close the file. It should automatically be included back in your LR catalog as a .psd or .tiff (whatever you choose). Your original file is untouched. This is pretty simple, which makes me think you may be doing things another way. Let met know...
Thanks Mikkel.
No time to check it out today...off to Napa do some shooting...but I will tomorrow. I have a hunch that actually did happen with the two photos I experimented with but I just wasn't aware they were saved back into Lightroom. Would they just show up on the strip as edited in CS3?
Mark
They will appear as a thumbnail in the library. They will also have an a .psd or .tif file extension. And Mark, you asked about the other LR books out there. Frankly, I haven't looked at them so I don't know what they offer. You are on your own with that question!
Thanks Mikkel. I did figure that out shortly after I wrote the last message and have now used CS3 with LR successfully.
As far as other books go, it's really apples and oranges. This book is the most beautiful and most user friendly of all the LR books. The books by Scott Kelby and by Martin Evening are not ones you can easily read through. They are encyclopedic, especially the Evening one. They serve that purpose well.
But I'm having fun learning by reading yours.
Mark