Your arguments are advanced very convincingly, but deliberately misquoting me by conveniently dropping out the phrase "for all practical purposes" from my post in your reply is unworthy of your case.
I did include it in the original forum quote that I included in my reply...
LR does not make the use of PS unnecessary, but it sure reduces the need "for all practical purposes" for most photographers who don't need to manipulate the pixels to get a good image.
Ah, this is what it boils down to. Good photographers can make do with LR, bad ones need PS to polish turds. What about in the film days, was it a case that good photographers got their film developed at boots opticians and bad ones like Ansel Adams took it into the darkroom themselves to carry out more advanced processing?
Perhaps you might like to ask Adobe why they created LR as a tool primarily for photographers whereas PS was originally a graphic design tool. A very talented photographer friend has a disparaging view of photographers who resort to extensive use of PS in their editing, claiming they should spend more time getting it right in camera. Each to their own by your comments do smack a little of "I'm right" arrogance IMHO
My comments so far have not been about which software is better, LR or PS. They have been about what is right for our OP.
I find it hard going - partly the grey lettering on a black background I find difficult to read - but I am trying hard.
Not to mention the integrated modern User Interface of Lightroom, compared to the dreadful, unfriendly, chaotic and cluttered UI of Photoshop
For example, in LR there is nothing you can do to change the colour of the font in the UI. In PS you can change the interface and font colour. Therefore it is a better program for him in that regard.
Adobe created LR because they knew it would sell, it is a good program I use it and like it. I'm not arguing with you as much as it may seem. For 90% of people it will be spot on. But like I said earlier 90% of people probably took their film for someone else to develop. The 10% that enjoyed the technical challenge of the darkroom, along with the additional possibilities it allowed, are probably the 10% that enjoy PS.
My point earlier was;
The best solution is to spend the time to learn both platforms thoroughly and make his own mind up.
Rather than arguing about it though, like I always say with these issues it is better to use the software that you enjoy using. One that achieves what you need it to and fits like a glove is the best one for you.
I don't see how this smacks of arrogance. The vast majority of us (me included) do not produce fantastic results. We might tell ourselves what we do is results driven, but really in the big scheme of things the results are relatively poor. It can still be satisfying to create an image you are happy with, but we do this for fun and as a hobby primarily. So use the software you enjoy using in the same way you use the camera system/platform you like, and shoot the genres you enjoy. The reason I have advocated PS for the OP is because he can already use it and does not seem overly interested in learning LR. If he is interested in learning it there is every chance he will be very happy with it.
I agree with your friend that a good photo is about light, composition, atmosphere, storytelling, and connection. Get these right and it matters little what camera it was taken on and how it was processed so long as it is not of obvious poor quality.
An interesting point I will make, to support your argument not mine, is I have a picture that I have sold as a mounted print at least a dozen times. It was processed in LR, and every time I sold it I was a little embarrassed. The colours were off and it was not quite right. I have re processed it beautifully in PS. Colours are now bang one, selectively edited just right, loads of texture and contrast where there should be. Got it re printed and looked at it side by side, photographer friends all agreed the older LR edit was a bit cartoon like compared to the more realistic detailed re edit. Guess what? Not sold it since