1 comments about Changing Works: Visions of a Lost Agriculture.

1. I found "Changing Works" to be a very informative text in the area of technological advances in the dairy industry. Harper uses SONJ pictures to highlight wonderful interviews with various dairy farmers that farmed in the generations before World War II. These interviews bring the past back to life as the reader goes through the mechanization introductions such as replacement of horses and the reconstruction of the milking process. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the dairy industry and to future dairymen. As an agricultural student, I was enthralled throughout the entire book. Harper tends to be less descriptive when it comes to the actual workings of the machinery, but it does not take much away from the rich narrative he weaves with the farmers' interviews. The reader gets a feeling of loss for the traditional ways that Harper projects throughout the book and it only enhances the content.

3 comments about The Guide to Kansas Birds and Birding Hot Spots.

1. Terrific book - just what I was looking for. Has been a great help.



2. It is very through and informative and I would recommend it to any one trying to identify birds.



3. A fine gem, summarizing the birds most likely to be seen in Kansas. Each bird gets a full page with photo and helpful information like how to recognize them, where to find them, and when to find them. The photos are excellent! New birders will quickly find a species without sorting through the clutter of a larger field guide. Experienced birders may glean details such as where and when to find target species.

2 comments about Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt (Historic Photos.).

1. Upon the unexpected assassination of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt found himself being sworn in as the 26th President of the United States and went on to become one of the most dynamic, charismatic, energetic, and popular president is American political history. "Historic Photos Of Theodore Roosevelt" is a compendium of period black-and-white photos of TR visually documenting his life and exploits as a soldier and explorer, a conservationist and big game hunter, a scientist and writer, a family man, and his time as the governor of New York, his brief term as a vice-president, and as a president. With informative captions given them by Stacy A. Cordery (web bibliographer for the National First Ladies Library in Canton, Ohio) "Historic Photos Of Theodore Roosevelt" is a fittingly pictorial biographic presentation of a remarkable man whose political policies, ideas, and influence are still resonating in American culture today. "Historic Photos Of Theodore Roosevelt" is an impressive body of work and a strongly recommended addition to academic and community library reference collections in the areas of 20th Century American History, Photography, and Biography.



2. TR has become one of the more popular historic Presidents and many books have been written about his life and his work. The Library of America has a collection of his books and another of his letters. I recommend both heartily. And I also encourage you to add to your understanding of the life of Theodore Roosevelt with this collection of a couple hundred photographs taken from all periods of his life. A few of them you will have seen in the popular images and in the biographies, but most you will not have seen unless you are a TR specialist.
   
   This book was put together by Stacy A. Cordery who is a scholar on TR and his daughter, Alice. She has written an excellent foreword and captions for the pictures. Cordery lets the pictures do most of the work, but adds just the right touch of context to help us understand better what we are looking at. She also notes that we have so many of these helpful photos because TR was so adept at using the press and getting them to help him get the publicity he wanted.
   
   While the photo is printed to very high quality standards, the pictures come from a time when the skill of the photographer mattered a great deal to the final product, so you will notice some variance in the texture of the photos. They are not because of the publisher. And the large format allows us to study the photos very closely. Get out a magnifying glass and see the detail you can pick up. It really is quite cool.
   
   A very nice book.

5 comments about Adobe Photoshop CS for Photographers: Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative Use of Photoshop for the Mac and PC.

1. This is one of the best books I have read dealing with Photoshop. It is written for the Photographer. The instructions are very clear. I would suggest that every profession photographer and serious amateur have a copy of this book.
   
   
   
   Cragg Eichman



2. If you into photography, you must use Photoshop CS and consequently, you must have this book. No more, that's it.... just buy it!!!



3. Just to start this, I'm one of the "near-expert" users that uses Photoshop all the time, and has been doing so for years, and no, it's not at all geared for beginners, but you should of figured that out by the part where it says "Professional Image Editor's Guide". That said, this book is incredible, there are many very interesting and solid techniques that you will have a hard time finding in any other source. Aside from that, not much more is to be said, but as the owner of at least 6 or 7 photoshop books, I would have to say this is by far the best! Highly recommended, as long as your not a beginner.



4. This is a wonderful book for the photographer who is delving into Photoshop CS for the first time. However, there are many editing errors. Some of the places where Mr. Evening refers to other sections in the book obviously refer to previous editions rather than to the current edition. There are quite a few typos which were not picked up by the editing process as well. The indexing is not up to par either. For instance when you search for "montage" in the index it doesn't exist, yet there is an entire chapter on the topic. Overall, I am very glad that I bought the book and find it extremely useful in getting up to speed in my digital darkroom use of PS CS.



5. This is a very comprehensive book. It demonstrates sophisticated Photoshop CS
   techniques. I would call myself an advanced beginner in Photoshop PC. While I was able to implement the various techniques described in this book, I would have preferred clearer step by step instructions.
   
   The author buries instructions within the text. Step by step instructions would make the book more user friendly and probably appeal to a broader audience. The contents of the CD which comes with the book was helpful. Some of the "before" and "after" photos used to illustrate the techniques in the book looked pretty similar to me, but they are more distinct looking on the CD. I found installing the CD on my PC a bit glitchy, but that was sorted out after a few tries.
   
   In my opinion, the perfect hybrid CS Photoshop book would cross the sophistication of Martin Evening with the step-by-step instructional style of Scott Kelby.

3 comments about Sublime Spaces and Visionary Worlds: Built Environments of Vernacular Artists.

1. Over the last year there was an extensive display of "outsider" art at the Kohler Art museum in Sheboygan Wisconsin. I was fortunate enough to be there when the exhibit was on and went back three times to take in all the details of the exhibit. A subset of the larger show is still on display.
   
   I have also gone to several of the art locations in Wisconsin to experience the artworks first hand. This book goes a long way to capturing these artists and their work.
   
   Outsider art [if that is the correct term] is art created by common folks rather than professional or semi-professional artists [if that makes sense]. Their art is unusual, rustic in some senses and folkish. This book catalogues some of the more interesting artists and their work.
   
   The locations stretch from Fred Smith's concrete garden in Phillips Wisconsin to Nek Chad's vast works in India. The types of art range from Nick Engelbert and Fred Smith's concrete statues to sequined houses to Emery Blagdon's strange wire and wood "healing machines" to the huge Evertron of Dr Evermore in Sauk County Wisconsin.
   
   Look any of these people up on the web and you will begin to get the idea as a thorough review and description would result in a review as long as the book.
   
   The book is very well done and of excellent quality. It is a book that you can spend hours reading and perusing.



2. If you are - do NOT miss planning a drive to or a drive by some of the sites described in this comprehensive collection. The authors have extensive experience and firsthand knowledge of these artists' exuberant installations and come by their enthusiasm from a deep empathy and masterful understanding of these self-taught, self-driven artists. Bring your camera. Bring your notebook - you WILL be inspired. If you're not going to this neck of the woods any time soon - not to worry, this book will give you an excellent and in-depth overview of Raw Art, Art Brut and whatever else you want to call these projects made by mostly hobbyist retired farmers and other non-artsy fartsy folk artists scattered throughout the nooks and crannies of the subject area. Prepare to be wowed by the sheer force of will of these often times whimsical visionaries. That they called into being representations of their often time hidden passions and inspirations until they had some time on their hands is what this is all about. That they accomplished more artistically in their sunset years than many trained artists do in a lifetime is cause for celebration. This is book is just that - a celebration of raw inspired vision as it manifests on the landscape - in between barns and villages here and there. Sort of artistic cheese curds - a little uncultured, but tasty nonetheless. Uniquely Wisconsoian. Inexplicable - but carefully documented here.



3. This is essentially a catalogue of the permanent collection at the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. We had the good fortune to visit and see the collection and decided, after leaving, to buy the book. The book is beautiful and the photographs and essays are excellent. They should make anyone who sees the book want to go visit the museum to experience the exhibits.

5 comments about North America the Beautiful (Journeys Through The World).

1. This book is packed full of breath-taking scenery with every page, from front cover to back, presenting exquisite photos of North American treasures. It is a picture book filled with eye candy for the nature lover, world traveler, and science enthusiast. I highly recommend this book to inspire your soul, renew your mind, and lift your spirits.



2. I bought it as a gift for my husband who is into photography. He's really enjoying it. It arrived before Christmas too even though I got an email that said it would be late. I've had good experience w/ amazon on book orders.



3. This is a beautiful book of photography done by one of the most outstanding nature photographers America has ever known. The photos from all over N. America are outstanding. A wonderful coffee table book. Also an inspirational book for photographers or anyone desiring to be amongst the glories of nature. Galan Rowell knew what to look for in a great photograph.



4. I love this book! I'm in to landscape photography and this book is some of the best examples out there.



5. I have been a fan of Galen Rowell's work for years, and I had been anticipating getting a compendium of his North American work for a while. If you want to see some of Rowell's best from a technical standpoint, then by all means grab a copy, but be warned that this is some of the worse image quality I've seen in a photography book published in the last 10 years. Most pictures are overly grainy, there are some major pixel problems where colors blend (particularly in colorful sky shots), and color casts often don't match his originals. With the technology as good as it presently is, this is inexcusable for such an expensive book. Rowell deserved better.

No comments about Smut..

1 comments about New York Then and Now (Then & Now Thunder Bay).

1. Very dissapointed, ended up with this tiny little book I cannot see with out magnification. I will not buy another then-and-again books until I get dimentions of the book. This was 1/3rd the regular coffee table size.

1 comments about Dogs (Cube Books).

1. The pictures in this book, ae so full of emotion...I think it has the best photography as compared to any other dog book out there. Well worth the Amazon purchase price. The pictures are realistic..not computer animated...For a dog lover like me, it doesn't get any better than this.

1 comments about Pleasures Taken: Performances of Sexuality and Loss in Victorian Photographs.

1. This book is wonderful for every level of experience and interest. The text is interesting and engaging, the process of reading it is much like attending one of her lectures. Carol examines photographers such as Lewis Carroll with new insight and understanding. She also introduces readers to interesting Victorians such as Hannah Culwick. Her passion comes through in the pages!