October 2005 Book Reviews

Lighting for Interiors by John Freeman is a new book filled with super illustrations and information on lighting just about any interior you will come across, from a home dining area to a palace room. From bounce light, to single light, to multiple lighting set ups, and artificial, it covers them all and does it as best I have ever seen. I really wish I could include samples of the images in this book as some, like an office building staircase, is hard to believe it could even be lit at all, with its 5 levels and combination of stairs that include curves, angles, and straight steps ALL in one shot.  Each illustration includes shooting info and tech notes.

This soft cover book is about 9x11 inch, with 160 pages and retails for $35.00-US.  Distributed by RockPort Press at;   www.rockpub.com

I Rate it: A+++

The new Adobe Creative Suite 2 , Classroom in a Book is out and ready to use to learn EVERYTHING about this new program set. The Classroom in a Book series is the best selling book to learn Adobe programs as it is put together and written by Adobe experts. Can’t get any better than that. These books all come with a bonus CD which contains all of the files needed to do the step-by-step lessons, and the book is filled with illustrations and screen shots of the tools needed to do each step and the settings used on each. By being able to actually “see” what settings are used there is no guesswork as to what is needed for each setting. Since the Creative Suite package contains the major Adobe programs, this books covers and uses all of them to create the projects, and not just one of them like Photoshop alone.
    This soft cover book is about 7x9 inch, with 308 pages and retails for $44.99-US.  Distributed by Peachpit Press at;   www.peachpit.com

I Rate it: A+

EarthWorks , Photos and Essays by Steve Mulligan is a new collection of his B&W landscape images that many would consider to be more fine art than landscape. Quality of the kind that you would like to frame for on a wall instead of sit on a bookshelf. Most of the images, but not all, are of western US locations from weathered rock potholes to the baked surface of the badlands, but the book also includes Florida glades and tree topped peaks in China . If you like the feel that only B&W can give, then this is one great book to add to your photo library.
    This hardback book is over 12x12 inch, with 39 images and retail “signed copies” are just $39.95-US.  Distributed by Photo-Eye at; www.photoeye.com

I Rate it,  A+++

Barkerville , British Columbia ’s Heritage of Gold , by Chris Harris is a collection of images and the history of a great “Old West” type area in Canada that any traveler would love to go see and photograph themselves. Even under four or five foot of winter snow, these images will tempt you to make a trip there, or others may prefer open fields and the old cemetery in bloom with wildflowers. The quality of this small of a book is above average, and the images are top shelf as the cover shows.
    This hardback book is about 9x7 inch, with 56 pages and retails for $19.95-US.  Distributed by Country Light Pub. Or check it out at;   www.chrisharris.com

I Rate it; A++

The Digital Color Printing Handbook , by Tim Daly is a new guide to creative color management and printing techniques. If you already, or intend to do your own printing at home, then you need to know all of the factors that goes into this often misunderstood process. Factors that often lead to failure with a print, and need to be known for success with all future ones. This book covers everything you need from set up to output and is packed with the illustrations and info that show you how quality printing is done. The instruction is easy to understand and learn from, and you will be surprised at how much better your prints turn out.
    This soft cover book is about 9x9 inch, with 156 pages and retails for $24.95-US.  Distributed by AMPHOTO Books at;   www.watsonguptill.com

I Rate it; A+++

Artistic Techniques with Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter , by Deborah Lynn Ferro is a new guide for photographers who want to turn their images into fine-art masterpieces using digital tools, which now gives everyone more total control than ever before. With 17 chapters filled with how-to info on turning even a poor image into a great one, this new book will be worn out real fast with constant use. Every technique is fully illustrated and explained in easy to understand directions. You will learn a lot with this book in your library!
    This soft cover book is about 9x11 inch, with 127 pages and retails for only $34.95-US.  Distributed by Amherst Media at;   www.amherstmedia.com

I Rate it; A+

Grand Canyon National Park – A Photographic Natural History is a collection of the images of 15 world famous landscape photographers and the text is by Robert Hutchinson. Some of the photographers include; William Neill, Tom Till, David Muench, Carr Clifton, and Jack Dykinga to name just a few.  Images range from small waterfalls on the canyon floor to the magnificent full canyon images that you are used to seeing on calendars. Just seeing the names of whose work is in this book will tell you exactly what quality the images in it are. Every image is captioned, and most with a full paragraph of info on the locations of that shot. Added to that is the written part of the book that is full of the natural history of this most famous of all national parks. You will want this one for your photo library!
    This hardback book is about 9x12 inch, with 100 images on 128 pages and retails for $25.95-US.  Distributed by BrownTrout Pub. at;   www.browntrout.com

I Rate it; A++

AUTUMN by Jean Mulatier is a power packed new book filled from front to back with 211 beautiful fall color images. Added into some of the most beautiful fall color images I have ever seen are quotes “of life” from many of the best known writers from ancient to modern. This is one of the smallest picture books I have seen, but it is also one of the best. Great things do come in small packages, at least between these covers it does. This is one of the few books I will sit under a tree with a big glass of ice tea and read from cover to cover.
    This soft cover book is about 7x5 inch, over 200 pages and retails for only $16.95-US.  Distributed by Rizzoli at;   www.rizzoliusa.com

I Rate it; A++

EXTREME Digital Photography   by Jonathan Chester is a book for those who go way beyond their neighborhood to get images. WAY beyond! No matter if you want to get face-to-face with an African lion, or a river of lava, this book covers just about all of it, and what you need to know to get those images from anywhere in the world. The places are not a sunny beach in the Pacific though. They can be the most extreme places on earth that takes a whole other breed of photographer to even attempt. If even the milder locations are of interest to you, then this new book has all of the info you will need to succeed there.
    This soft cover book is about 9x10 inch, with 192 pages, and is distributed by Thomson Course ( www.thomson.com ) in the US , and iLEX Press ( www.ilex-press,com ) in the UK . Check their web sites for the current price.

I Rate it;  A+

The Little Mac Book, “Tiger X Edition” by Robin Williams is another of her many great books on using the Mac. If you are new to Mac, this book will get you up to speed in no time. If you are an old-time user it will teach you things you probably didn’t even know about your system. Since this is a beginner level book, it is very easy to understand and learn from, and almost everything is illustrated so you will know what she is talking about. This is one of those books that you keep right next to your keyboard so you always know where it is at when needed.
    This soft cover book is about 7x10 inch, with 204 pages and retails for only $14.99-US.  Distributed by Peach Pit Press at;   www.peachpit.com

I Rate it;  A+