3 comments about My Family Album: Thirty Years of Primate Photography.

1. "My Family Album" catalogs 30 years of de Waal's black and white photographs of both wild and captive primates. The bulk of the shots are of chimps and bonobos, but a third are of monkeys and there are striking photographs all around. While the principle effect of the book is to get across the intelligence, complexity and beauty of these fellow animals, there are enough funny faces for the book to work on that level.



2. Noted primatologist Frans de Waal has put together a beautifully printed pictorial tribute to primates. In high quality black-and-white photographs, he documents similarities and differences among non-human primates in areas as diverse as play, confrontation, sex, familial ties, and social activities. The accompanying text describes not only the meaning behind the pictures but also, in true de Waal form, how they relate to human behavior. Although de Waal is a scientist, this concise and clearly written book is meant for the lay reader.

   De Waal's specialty is the study of non-human primates in captivity, so the majority of these photographs do not show monkeys and apes in their native habitat. Instead, you'll find remarkable close-ups of expressions and interactions that capture moments of the individual lives. Although de Waal is best known for his study of chimpanzees and bonobos, he includes photographs of macaques, capuchins, baboons, and snow monkeys.

   This book is a real treat. I recommend it highly for anyone who has an interest in animal life.




3. Frans de Waal's collection of primate portraits covers various species of monkeys in many social situations. Long hours spent with his subjects means that Waal had their total trust when photographing them. Thus, his subjects have a natural, unforced manner that allows their true nature to shine through. Waal's accomplishment, in this occasionally hilarious, frequently touching, but always fascinating collection of photographs is that he transcends the notion that the value of primates lies in how much they are like humans. His texts and pictures reveal them not as inferior versions of homo sapiens, but simply as @what they are: intelligent, sensitive, highly socially evolved creatures. This is a beautiful and fascinating book.

5 comments about Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers : 49 Easy-to-Follow Recipes to Fix Problem Photos and Create Amazing Effects (Cookbooks (O'Reilly)).

1. Outstanding contant the best of it's type. Easy to read and follow. A major contribution.



2. More for the advanced beginner, I have learned a lot about blending modes from this but I learned my Scott Kelby basics first.



3. This is not a book for beginners. Shows blending techniques and effects in a very focused way. Should only be considered by those who are indeed interested in these fields.



4. I guess it depends on how you learn. This book has recipes for various looks using Photoshop's Blending Modes. The examples generally include several different kinds of photos. The result is that you get to see what happens to photos of things, people, landscapes, etc. using the same or similar recipes. The author also tells you when he did things a little differently for one or two kinds of photos, and why.
   
   I've seen a lot of this stuff before, but found that I learned a lot from how this book is laid out. It should also make it a lot easier to find, and use, a specific technique for a specific problem.
   
   Because I am a digital scrapbooker, I might find all of this a lot more useful than some other people who use Photoshop. I'm not only manipulating photos when I scrapbook, I am also making and manipulating digital papers and elements. These techniques would be extremely useful for scrapbooking.



5. Of all the wonderful Photoshop books by the O'Reilly Studio, this one rocks solid and gave me things about Blending Modes I never knew were possible. I am still playing around with all the possibilities. They have great internet access to images that go with the 'recipes', and a terrific index with examples of all the different combinations they offer so if you need a type of effect, all you have to do is go to the visual index and pick what you are looking for and there it will be. All have the same single image, so it is easy to find the effect you want. I highly reccommend this book to any level Photoshop lover who likes to get artistic with their photos.

3 comments about The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: A Century by the Sea.

1. I am a big fan of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and vacation there every summer! I thought this book was excellent since it captured all of the Boardwalk history and displayed lots of excellent photos. I bought this book for my 10 year old nephew and he loved it! He and grandpa keep thumbling thru it together.



2. Having been born and raised and still living in Santa Cruz, this book brings back so many memories. It is a beautifully illustrated book with so many wonderful colored pictures. A wonderful souvineer book for anyone to have of a very unique place.



3. The pictures make this book! It would have been great if there were a few more pictures of the various rides.. but thats not what this book is about. From 1800s to 2007, it's all in here!

5 comments about Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History.

1. This book is full of fascinating stories and discussions of the dioramas and their impact on animal drawing and animal conservation movement.
   The pictures are excellent. Good for children just becoming interested in the field as well as adults. Highly recommended. mj



2. My father introduced me to the wonders of the American Museum of Natural History at the age of five.The Hall of African Mammals was the highlight of my first interest in the 1930`s.The dinosaur exhibit and ocean life can capture the imagination and fascination of any child.
   Windows on Nature is a must have in the library of any one with an interest in Natural History.



3. There is nowhere beneath a roof, anywhere on earth, that means more to me than the great diorama halls of The American Museum of Natural History. It is stunning (and, really, rather sad) that it has taken this long for a popular book to be written about these magnificent works of art and science, but at least it has been done well. (It is also gratifying to see the book getting such good--and well deserved--reviews here.)
   
   For many millions of people habitat dioramas have been their first taste of the beauty, calm, and nobility of wild creatures and wild places. More people are familiar with nature documentaries these days, and since I love good documentaries too I can't really complain about that. Nonetheless there are some things that habitat dioramas, when done well, can convey that the flickering image, even on an IMAX screen, just can't. No medium portrays the spacious calm of wild country, and the simple dignity of wild animals, better than dioramas. It's also important to remember the valuable record dioramas can provide: many of the dioramas in this book are of places no longer wild.
   
   Stephen Quinn's credentials for writing this book are probably as good as anyone alive. He started as an artist for the museum and has been an important force in helping keep the medium alive through the dark years of the 60s to 80s, when across the U.S. it was frequently neglected, if not despised, by curators though not, blessedly, by the general public. Things are at least somewhat better now, and Mr. Quinn is now project manager for exhibitions at the museum. He has done a fine job with this book. The text is engaging and informative and the photos are big and beautiful.
   
   I do have a few quibbles. He sometimes uses the word "captured" for animals collected (read killed) for the dioramas. I'm sympathetic with why he felt he had to do that, given what he's trying to do with the book and given the cultural forces with which he must contend. The moral issues behind hunting and museum collection are complex and beyond what a book like this could be expected to cover. Nonetheless, animals are never "captured" for taxidermy.
   
   I should hasten to add that animals do not need to be killed specifically for taxidermy. Many if not most animals mounted for museums in the last few decades died in zoos, were hit by automobile traffic, etc. That generally was not a realistic option at the time these dioramas were created.
   
   My other reservation is deeper, but harder to articulate, and I don't have a real solution to it. I also know that a lot of readers will be unsympathetic with it. I'm not completely comfortable with "behind the scenes" stuff in anything other than technical manuals, trade magazines, etc. The people who made these dioramas were of course just people but had high ideals (ideals that Mr. Quinn without question shares) and they wanted the dioramas to be about their _subjects_. His behind the scenes writing will engage people more with the medium and is interesting in itself, no argument. But how much does it really help to have people thinking "I wonder if that rock in Diorama Z is the one that employees used to go to make out behind on their lunch hour."?
   
   I don't know the answer, and so I can't really fault the author. I also recognize that many of the reviewers here loved that aspect of the book. My hope, and I'm sure it's the author's as well, is that it will all stay in perspective. Let's hope that's right. It would be very sad to see dioramas become the subject of the kind of psychologizing and trivializing that permeates the world of "fine" art.
   
   That said, this is a beautiful and well-written book about a noble, if often neglected, realm of art and natural history. If you've read through a long review like this one about a book on this subject, I promise you won't regret owning it.



4. Stephen Christopher Quinn, Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History (Abrams, 2006)
   
   Dioramas are amazing things. Looking at them may not make it seem so, but that, more than anything, is testament to the artistry practiced by the men and women who construct them. Windows on Nature goes behind the scenes of the construction of the dioramas at the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
   
   This is a coffee-table book, so there are a large number of excellent pictures of the dioramas themselves accompanying the text on how they were created. Both are as fantastic as they are fascinating. If you're a fan, this is a must-have. ****



5. This was a gift for my mother who visited this museum years ago. It brought back great memories we had when we went. The book was very well done.

2 comments about Suicidegirls 1: Papercuts 03, 2007.

1. As a fan of Suicide Girls from the beginning, I found this book to be an instant collectors classic.
   
   The girls are of course hot, but the writting they give is some of the most insightful thoughts you'll read for a long time.
   
   Most people just look at a pierced, tattooed girl as nothing more than someone with issues. This book sets all that straight. Very good reading as well as more eye candy that you can stand.
   Very much worth the price.



2. If you love beautiful tattoed and punked-out women in artistic and fun nude poses, then this is the perfect "magazine" for you. All art, no ads!

5 comments about Coming of Age : Photographs by Will McBride.

1. I'm one of those people who loves photography that seeks, not so much to be revelatory, but to capture a moment in time. I love photographs that allow you into the subject's mind and being in the precise moment when the picture was taken. McBride offers photos like these. There's something magical about being in that fleeting liminal space between childhood and adulthood, and McBride manages to catch and hold in black and white the beauty of that space. My favorite picture is of McBride's wife and three young sons; it's so beautiful that it brings tears to my eyes. I'm saddened to see several reviews that imply that the photos in this book -- at least those in which the subject(s) are nude -- are in some way exploitative or offensive; I don't see any such thing. This book captures and preserves boys at their most achingly ephemeral and precious.
   
   The only thing that could have made the book better would have been clearer organization. It includes photographs from larger series/sets by McBride, but there is little by way of transition between the collections. I would love to have a bit more biography about the different subjects. On the other hand, one could argue that more biography would rob the photographs of their "everyboy" quality, in which the subjects may serve as proxy for boys around the world who are, as the title implies, "coming of age." If you found offensive the recent pictures of Miley Cyrus taken by Annie Liebowitz, you will find this book offensive; for my part, I think it is a lovely book.



2. I made the mistake of ordering this book without reading any reviews. I too was expecting a book about teens becoming men but was very disturbed by see naked children fill its pages. Maybe it's just me but I don't find that kind of art appealing. I emailed the seller and asked if i could return this item and was never replied too.



3. This book was ok. It was not what I expected it to be and hoped for more pictures and more in depth study of the subjects. It was a wide generalized pictoral/essay. I dont think I would buy the book again. The front cover was very nice but not much else in it.



4. I was under the interpritation that this book would be a photograph filled book of boys becoming men the struggle of puberty and etc. But the unsettleing thing that I did not think of was there are pictures of naked children in this book. I appriciate art very much but to me naked children whether it "art" or not is till considered child pornography.



5. One of the reviewers below - interestingly the one with the longest tirade and the most misspelled words - sadly reflects the puritanical revulsion and hypocritical rebuke of so many works of art that involve male nudity. The poor guy actually exposes more of his own internal sexual disorientation than he probably realizes. His psyche is disrobed when he protests that Will McBride's photographic journal is "sexual and the only real purpose would be to get people hot and bothered."
   
   Reviewer C. Greene is obviously a true Son of the South. Shackled with so much sexual repression, he can't help but accuse Will McBride of leading him into temptation. It's really rather funny when you think of it.
   
   C. Greene's accusation that a book's intent is to get people "hot and bothered" says everything about C. Greene's internal world and nothing at all about Will McBride.

2 comments about Roadside Relics: America's Abandoned Automobiles.

1. Bought this as a gift for husband, and he absolutely loved it! He looks through it all the time, even wants me to order more books about abandoned or wrecked cars. He is a car enthusiast to the fullest, and I recommend this book.



2. Beautiful images of burnt out, rusted, and
   dead classic cars, trucks and vehicle parts,
   dressed in weeds, grass and mud...lovely.
   Not so much in your neighborhood, but they
   make fabulous images in their abandoned settings.

5 comments about The Universe: 365 Days.

1. I am a HUGE fan of Earth From Above, I think it's by far one of the best photo books out there. This book pales in comparison to the caliber of the photography in Earth. Very disappointing. There a couple of amazing shots, but that's about it. I wouldn't bother, unless you're super into astronomy.



2. We have purchased several of these books - one for ourselves and the others as gifts. It is awesome.



3. This is a truly awesome and inspiring book. The gorgeous photographs and the informative text will challenge your imagination to the breaking point! Best of all, this book will strengthen your faith in our awesome Creator God, and in the Bible - His word of truth to all mankind.
   Consider the following Bible verses, written hundreds to thousands of years before the invention of the first telescope:
   "The host of heaven cannot be numbered." Jeremiah 33:22
   "As many as the stars of the sky in multitude - innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore." Hebrews 11:12
   "Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing." Isaiah 40:26
   "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have made, what is man that You are mindful of him?" Psalm 8:3,4
   "[God] hangs the earth on nothing." Job 26:7
   "It is [God] who sits above the circle of the earth." Isaiah 40:22
   "There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory." 1 Corinthians 15:41
   "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades? [Can you] loose the belt of Orion?" Job 38:31
   "Can you guide Arcturus?" Job 38:32
   "God ..... has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds." Hebrews 1:1,2
   "For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it ..... who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited." Isaiah 45:18
   "You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host ..... the host of heaven worships You." Nehemiah 9:6
   "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and there words to the end of the world." Psalm 19:1-4
   "Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10



4. I wanted to buy this book for a long time and waited until the price was right. When I bought it, I couldn't check inside because it was wrapped in plastic. So when I brought it home and opened it, I was very disappointed with the photos. I was expecting super high quality photos and instead found tons of OLD photos of galaxies and stars that have been available in other books (which I have or have read) since the 1960s and 1970s. Or worse, photos seemingly taken directly from websites, with web quality, ie: not very good.
   
   They had to fill this book with 365 photos and I say 250 of them are not worth spending any amount of money on, because they're free on the internet or the quality is terrible or simply because they've been available in other (and better) books for several decades now and the writer didn't bother getting updated versions of those old photos. As an example, on Nov. 27, there's the famous "Earth at Night" photo. I already have the photo as a desktop image (it's widely available on the net) and it looks better on my computer than in the book, which is murky and lacks detail.
   
   The Universe: 365 Days is just not what I expected. The concept is actually cool but the execution is very uneven and at times poor. I would have left it at the bookstore if I initially had the chance to look inside it before purchasing it.



5. There is a website called "Astronomy Picture of the Day". The website is exactly what it claims to be. Every day the website posts a new picture related to astronomy with a description of that picture written by a professional astronomer. With the first archived photo on that website from June 16, 1995, the editors of "The Universe: 365 Days" had nearly 8 years of photographs to draw on when this volume was published in May 2003. This book can be used like a calendar because that is how this book is laid out: every day of the year has an astronomy photograph, with a description of each picture.

   As someone who knows very little about the universe, or astronomy, even with the descriptions next to the pictures I still wasn't always sure what I was looking at and how one picture was truly different from another. I understand that they look different and that they are pictures of very different parts of the universe, but the details are far beyond my comprehension. What is not beyond my comprehension is the fact that these are stunningly beautiful pictures. Even simple pictures that we may have seen many times before, like a picture of our planet from space, is striking and beautiful. Others are of star clusters and galaxies that are so far away and so alien that it boggles the mind to know that there are places like this out there and we really know nothing about what it would be like to travel there.

   This book can be read as a calendar, where you flip the page each day and see what new photograph is waiting. It can be read like that, but I couldn't imagine only looking at one of these pictures a day. After seeing one picture, I just had to turn the page to see what wonder was waiting for me, and almost without exception, there was a wonder on every page. Beautiful space photography (though some are on Earth, and others looking out from Earth). If that sounds interesting, this collection is probably for you.

   -Joe Sherry

3 comments about Edward Steichen: Lives In Photography.

1. Until now, it has been impossible to find an art book that complements the extensively researched biography of Edward Steichen written by Penelope Niven some ten years ago. "Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography" remedies this situation with brilliance and dash. It explores the work of this great American artist with lively and detailed precision, capturing the high exuberance of his work and his many-faceted personality in essays that are carefully dovetailed with the greatest photographs in Steichen's oeuvre. All elegantly printed with no costs spared. To learn more about the artist's long and fascinating life, purchase "Steichen: A Biography" by Penelope Niven. To understand his art, purchase "Lives in Photography." With these books on your library shelf, you will have a better idea of just why this great artist has such staying power.



2. Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography is a wondrous collection of some of the finest work by one of this nation's finest photographers. The images should prove inspirational to any who aspire to creating art with a camera. Steichen never succombed to the post-modern faux-artistry and its glorification of the bizarre and twisted. This book is simply fabulous.



3. Edward Steichen had a long (94 years) and storied life, however until now it was difficult to find a book that exhibited his work and gave a clear understanding of both his work and influence on: Art, Fashion, Marketing, War, Curating, Botany, and (of course) Photography. Through the text of this, rather large, book one can learn about an influential and very controversial (as most artists often are) man. Of course this book has numerous beautiful plates (Which is expected in the world of printing today). However, unlike many photo books this one is an interesting read. While, some of the writing may seem exuberantly adoring of Steichen, this can be easily understood after learning of his impact on the art world. After reading this book it is hard to believe that this is the first comprehensive book on Steichen since Steichen himself wrote "A life in photography" in 1963. Overall an excellent book for anyone interested in photography.

2 comments about The Photography Bible.

1. This book is terrific! As good as or better than taking a digital photography class.



2. I recently bought this book for my assistant. My assistant having very little photography experience at the beginning helped a lot but didn't always know what I was doing. She now has a very good idea and even helps me compose shots now. Wonderful! Would recommend for any beginner photographer or any photographer needing to brush up on basic ideas and terms.