Well this is embarrassing. I went to the link I found for Manhattan library Lynda.com access, entered my library card number and PIN and was taken to the Lynda.com website but not logged in. There was nothing I could find which would suggest how to log in as a library member, so I called the number on the library page.

The lady was very nice and couldn't understand why I couldn't log in. She says she just tried it and it worked. After much confusion going back and forward and explaining the steps, it transpired that I was talking to Manhattan in Kansas, not New York. I had no idea there was another one. How I didn't realize from the web page, I have no idea.

Just to avoid future embarrassment, there's also a Kansas City in Missouri - right across the river from Kansas actually.
 
HTH. 

I'm on the phone to them right now with my library card out!

SteveStrummerUK
It's funny, but the more I dig into digital photography and image manipulation, the more similarities and corollaries I see with digital audio processing. If anything, having never processed my own film, all I ever learned about photography many years ago stops being of much help...

I did "wet chemistry" black and white, mostly landscape, for about 30 years. I went digital and put the enlarger into storage a few years ago and I don't see it coming out and back into use any time soon. Photoshop, Lightroom and Bridge are the imaging equivalent of Pro Tools in that they're the 'industry standard'. Unlike Pro Tools they're also pretty much the best at what they do and while there are alternatives none are as capable as the Adobe products. And Adobe doesn't insist that, for the best results, you buy a specific, over-priced expensive camera from them to go with it.

There's a steep initial learning curve with Photoshop just as there is when moving from tape to a DAW (and I've never got my head around Lightroom, it doesn't work the way my mind does or something) but once you've got the basics down you wonder how you ever managed to do anything the old way.

Despite never owning the software, Adobe's rental scheme works out quite well if you use several of their applications or want the newest version as soon as it's released/is stable. Avoid the recently released Lightroom CC 2015 for a while though, it seems incredibly buggy at the moment. Lots of people reporting all kinds of problems, and it even crashes on launch in a fresh OS X installation on my MacBook Pro. Which isn't what you'd expect from a supposed leading software house's "professional" product.

And if you're into black and white/monochrome, the Topaz b/w plugin is both cheap and excellent.

Nik's Silver Efex is also well worth a look at for monochrome photography. It's so easy to get stunning results with it.

I'm up to PS CS6 and am still learning new things even after years of use.  The Lynda training videos were extremely helpful for me.

tlw

And if you're into black and white/monochrome, the Topaz b/w plugin is both cheap and excellent.

sharke
 
Nik's Silver Efex is also well worth a look at for monochrome photography. It's so easy to get stunning results with it.
 

 
Gentlemen, we appear to be singing from the same hymn sheet
 

 

What do you think of Color Efex then? I had a play around with a few years ago and while I thought it was good, I don't think it made the same impression on me as Silver Efex.