3 comments about Paris Then and Now (Then & Now).

1. Beautifully explained and portrayal of one of the world's finest city.
   I really enjoyed learning more about places I had visited while in Paris.



2. Anyone who has come to know and love central Paris--the 'theme park' areas that capture its historical essence--will find this book charmingly evocative. In the sense of being able to revisit those places, many of them typical tourist attractions, the book is satisfying. The problem of not duplicating the precise angle and POV of the original 'then' photographs, raised by another reviewer, is relatively trivial and technical. The 'now' shots capture their subjects well. No photographer will 'see' a scene, place or person the same way and from an aesthetic standpoint the 'now' photos are satisfying and professionally executed, and book production is first rate.
   If one had to carp, and that's what a review is for in part, one might wonder why the authors did not take the opportunity to broaden their canvases slightly to include 'then' paintings--such as the paintings executed from the balloon's-eye view conceived during the 1871 siege of the city (able to be seen today at the brilliant Le Bourget Musee de L'Air et de L'Espace) vs. 'now' photographs, for example to illustrate the notable Peripherique, and to compare previously fallow pieces of the city 'then' vs. their current situations, such as, for example, the stunning La Defense structures.
   All in all, however, for what it is, the book is pleasing and will bring back many happy memories to Francophiles. Of course there are innumerable books of photos covering Paris, and naturally there are favorite places not covered in this book or not handled the way the individual reader might like, but on the whole this is a workmanlike job that captures its subject competently.
   (Apologies to readers who will note, correctly, the absence of appropriate French accents in this review--not offered by Amazon's word processing system.)



3. 
   
   Paris is, I think, the second most beautiful city in the world (full disclosure: I live in Rome, which is tops in my book) and so I was eager to take a look at this book when I saw it at a friends' house.
   
   I was already familiar with the Then and Now series after receiving the Rome edition of the book for Christmas, and after seeing this book I can only conclude that what I had chalked up as weaknesses in the Rome book may just be faults in the series.
   
   The central idea for the book is charmingly simple: the left-hand pages feature old photos of some of Paris' best-known spots, and the right-hand side of each page is made up of modern shots of the same sites.
   
   The biggest problem is hard not to notice: the angles of the photos on the right are very often not taken from the same angle as the older images. I found this to be so puzzling as to be irritating. I think it shows a lack of planning on the part of the book's editors, and it also robs the reader of being able to make a complete comparison between the way things were and the way they are -- a process that is the book's very raison d'être.
   
   I admit my patience for such sloppiness had already been tried with the Rome book, but the sins seem even greater here.
   
   I also rue the absence of a table of contents listing the photographs in order, another weakness that now appears to be a characteristic of the series.
   
   I'm not sure how likely these issues are to be solved in future editions, since by my count nearly 30 photos would have to be re-shot in order to solve the largest problems. But if the editors would like to release a book that reaches this volume's potential, they'd better get snapping.

5 comments about Adams Streetwise Small Business Start-Up: Your Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Managing a Business (Adams Streetwise Series).

1. Bob Adams' Small Business Start-Up: Your Comprehensive Guide To Starting And Managing A Business is a complete "how to" workshop under one cover and provides the aspiring entrepreneur and small business proprietor. Every aspect of aspect of getting a business up and running is comprehensively covered beginning with developing a business strategy and plan, to advertising, promotion and publicity, to financing, cash management, and employee recruitment. Regardless of the service or product your anticipated venture will be producing for today's highly competitive marketplace, begin with a thorough, cover-to-cover reading of Bob Adams' Small Business Start-Up.



2. If you are in the kindergarden and you need a book, take this one



3. Whether you are planning to start a business or already own one, the Adams Streetwise Small Business Start-Up could be the only business guide you'll ever need. Organized into eight major sections covering strategy, marketing, sales, advertising, people, money, legal, and office, this book takes you from the very basics of starting a business through how to get the best and most effective marketing for your particular situation. It helps you deal with people problems that can waste your time and money. And it always keeps your eyes focused on your sales, costs and profits.

   (c)1999, VentureConsult.com




4. What do you look for in a business book? If you answered weird-looking fonts, cartoonish graphics, and breezy text, then Bob Adams' "Streetwise Small Business Start-Up" may be for you.

   Bob went to Harvard, but don't worry, this book won't be over your head. Mr. Adams' tips are long on folksy charm and short on hard facts. Often, he simply points out the obvious. Example (p.99): "Consumers tend to pay a lot more attention to feature coverage in newspapers, television, and radio than they do to advertising." You don't say, Bob?

   Mr. Adams tries to jazz up his limp writing by using strange fonts and dingbats, plenty of (uninformative) graphics, and even tilting whole pages diagonally, but these gimmicks merely underscore the book's emptiness. The graphics throughout are as vapid are as the text, and look like they were snatched from a bargain-basement clip-art collection.

   Would-be entrepreneurs, do yourself a favor and buy a different book.




5. Great reference book for starting a business. Covers all aspects from accounting & tax issues to marketing, and much more. I heartily recommend this book in all my seminars. Very useful three way presentation style: in depth; Q & A; and stories with graphics. One of them is bound to match your learning style.

2 comments about Heaven, Earth, Tequila: Un Viaje Al Corazon de Mexico.

1. This book lived up to its billing as beautiful and informative. Visitors and friends are drawn to it. With the skyrocketing price of tequila and mezcal it's good to have a quality publication dealing with the history and culture. A good insight to a part of Mexican culture.



2. Menuez combines beautiful photographs and informative text to paint a picture both of a region and an industry. From the darkly provocative picture on the cover (of naked men working in pits of agave pressings) to those of the people and landscape of the region, he creates a sense of Jalisco (the province where all tequila is produced) that draws the reader in. For those who know only that tequila is what goes in a margarita, the text enlightens the reader regarding the complexities of tequila and the culture that surrounds it.

2 comments about The World of Buddhism: Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Society and Culture.

1. This is a wonderful book. It's a rare combination of authoritative scholarship, readability and beautiful presentation. The book is lavishly illustrated with color photos of Buddhist sculpture, historic sites, paintings and much more. But this is really only the beginning of this book's merits, for the most attractive feature of the book is probably its ability to give the reader the best available "big picture" of Buddhism - in all its fantastic variety - in such a condensed and attractive format. This is not at all to imply that the content is at all superficial in any significant way. Yes, it's true that an 18-page chapter on Tibetan Buddhism can't cover everything but the book does such a wonderful job of weaving together the pertinent material on the subject in such an enjoyably dense and lucid manner that you come away with a surprisingly complex understanding of the subject. It's true that the book is a little out-dated, much great scholarship has been done since the book was published some 23 years ago, but this isn't something anyone but a specialist should be terribly worried about - and even for that group the book stills remains very valuable. Again, this is a fantastic place to "start" one's studies of Buddhism - and that's really what's at issue with a book of this type. The further reading that this volume will almost undoubtedly provoke will fill in the gaps and render more complex the picture this book provides. No book is perfect, but this book's merits vastly outweigh its flaws. Simply put - a must have for anyone interested in Buddhism, especially in an academic sense.



2. Aha! I'm always looking for a bargain, and The World of Buddhism is probably as close as I have come. True to the cliche that books cannot be judged by their covers, this large, handsomely produced volume actually delivers more than one expects -- and in many more ways. Miraculously, its cost is significantly less than its ample size and elegant format could probably justify.

   I was first attracted to World of Buddhism's many striking pictures and detailed drawings, maps and illustrations. They turn out to have been chosen with exceptional care and sensitivity to the subject, not simply to entertain the casual browser. Some of the resulting images are stunning, greatly enhance the text, and make a powerful impression on the eye, the mind and the spirit.

   I also happen to be deeply interested in Buddhism and everything about it. This book has proven to be nearly encyclopedic in scope, pays due heed to all sorts of different schools, sects, denominations and traditions within Buddhism, and can basically be relied on as a comparatively comprehensive survey of the topic. I frequently consult its index and glossary.

   Best of all, though books which purport to survey such a broad range of ideas -- and especially those with such sensational illustrations -- sometimes contain only superficial, inaccurate or misleading texts, this is totally untrue of World of Buddhism. Its panel of contributors consists of outstanding scholars and Buddhologists from all over the world. Indeed some of them (in particular Richard Gombrich and Etienne Lamotte) are (or have been) among the foremost authorities in the field. Fortunately all of them manage to write interesting, engaging prose, though it often covers relatively complex technical topics, and is sometimes intricately detailed. Though not necessarily for the specialist, this book is certainly one to be considered by those who may be fairly new to the subject and want an introduction, or even by someone reasonably conversant with Buddhism but in search of new ideas and insights.

   Naturally, as the Buddha himself never tired of pointing out, nothing is perfect. There are some limitations, even to a book as satisfying as this one. Thus be aware that its scope and focus is less adequately conveyed by its title, "The World of Buddhism," than by its subtitle, "Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Society and Culture." The reader must accept going in that this book pays foremost attention to the Sangha, which is to say the formally structured Buddhist clergy. There are many reasons for this, including the extraordinary longevity of this unique institution, plus its inherent interest and fascination. However probably the most important reason is that, as Bechert explains, "It is primarily the Sangha that has transmitted the Buddha's words and maintained the tradition of meditation and thus ensured that future generations ... can be shown the way to release from the world." In any event I find that this focus in no way seems constricting, and that in practice it often facilitates the reader's making many useful conparisons between widely varying historical periods, countries and kinds of Buddhism.

   Finally, as much as I like and respect this book, I think it is only fair to point out that, in several significant ways, it is rather dated. It was, after all, first published in 1984 (though again this may not have terribly great relevance to the general reader). Buddhism is ancient and has always done its best to resist change -- but most of the good scholarly research concerning it is of fairly recent vintage, with some of the most dramatic findings having come to light only within the last ten or twelve years. The specialist is aware that people such as Gregory Schopen have, in just this last decade, added brilliantly to our understanding of Buddhist origins and early practices, and certainly the nature of Buddhist monasticism. However little or none of that modern work is reviewed or cited in the present book, apparently because it was unavailable at the time it was being compiled. It goes without saying that the concluding chapter entitled "Buddhist revival in East and West," while interesting and informative, reports details and trends which at this point are no longer quite accurate nor reflective of what is actually going on with Buddhism throughout the world today.

   It is also my impression that, for some reason, the authors occasionally gravitate unnecessarily towards older sources, translations, etc., even when fresher material was available. Thus, when dealing with ancient India, Gombrich chooses to quote lengthy passages from the famous and beautiful Dhammapada and the Sutta-Nipata, but selects some of the earliest English translations (dating to 1881), which not only sound archaic, but had already been superceded by more recent and far more definitive translations by the time the present book was being put together. Similarly, World of Buddhism's annotated bibliography, while both extensive and useful, omits many recent, highly relevant works.

   Compelled to describe both the strengths and weaknesses of this valuable book, I hasten in closing to predict that most readers will eagerly relish it for all that it is, and readily forgive it for what little it is not. One of its lesser, but very real, charms is that its many picutures present a fairly unique selection of good Buddhist art and architecture, making them the sort of place you want your mind to wander through, over and over again, on quiet, contemplative afternoons.

1 comments about Unknown Weegee.

1. A fine book of Weegee photos though the title is somewhat misleading. The International Center of Photography has over eighteen thousand of his photos so there could easily be dozens of books with exactly the same title. Of the 111 photos in the book probably less than half were actually published and they were certainly not printed with a 175 screen on glossy paper as they are here.
   
   The photo selection is excellent and a typical cross-section of Weegee's output, down and outs sleeping in doorways, fire and crime scenes, cops and suspects, strippers, animals, the weather, celebrities (fortunately not too many) and plenty of photos of folks just looking at some street drama. Some of these photos will really grab you, for instance, page fifty-four shows the inside of a movie house in Washington DC, with a wooden partition, seat high, running from the back to the front to segregate the white and colored audience. There surely can't be many photos that record this. The front of the book has four essays, two are contemporary and the others historical, Paul Strand's is from 1945 and Ralph Steiner wrote his in 1941. Both are interesting because to them Weegee is basically a news photographer but each recognised the creative potential in his work back then.
   
   My only criticism is the rather sloppy editorial format. The list at the back of the book gives technical details about the 111 photos but they are not printed in the same sequence as this list so the reader has to scan through it to find out a bit of information for a particular photo. Art book publishers really should try harder.
   
   This is a worthy addition to the books in print about Weegee, if you are new to his work check out the inexpensive 'Weegee' (ISBN 0714842249) by Kerry Purcell with fifty-five of his best photos and nicely each one has a detailed caption about the image, or try 'Weegee's New York: Photographs 1935-1960' (ISBN 3823854712) a large, beautifully printed paperback with 335 super photos.

4 comments about Maui: Hawaiian Paradise.

1. I have been to his galleries in Las Vegas many times, just to get lost in his amazing work. He is a very talented person. This book would be a great addition to any photographic collection. I continue to look at it when I need inspiration/motivation to get up at 2am to go on a sunrise shoot.



2. After reading the other reviews I decided to purchase this book. It is very disappointing. It is a rather small book and to be honest I have seen much better pictures on calendars. The book is over rated by the other 2 reviewers.
   
   I will say that Amazon delivered promptly as usual even before the estimated time. I have never been disappointed in Amazon's service and delivery.



3. I saw this book at a Peter Lik gallery in Maui but it was the gallery's copy. I wanted to buy one but they told me that the book was sold out and I could buy one of the employee's personal copies which was used for $150. So I was very happy when I found it on Amazon for such an amazing price. It came wrapped in plastic so I bought 2 copies; one to view and another to keep since it might be worth something later on since it won't be reprinted. At least that's what they told me at the gallery. The book is beautiful and captures Maui at its best. It makes a great gift for friends and family too.



4. The book arrived right on time and it was great. The pictures were like nothing I have ever seen before. I recommend the book and Peter Lik to anyone.

5 comments about George DeWolfe's Digital Photography Fine Print Workshop.

1. I recommend this book for advanced photoshop users and photographers. It lacks a lot of in between information, but I still enjoy the book and have learned a lot. George DeWolfe is an outstanding photographer and we can learn so much from ones like him. If your new at photoshop and want to learn photographic work flow easily, the book I recommend is "Photoshop Artistry for photographers using CS2 and Beyond" By Barry Haynes. This book is based on his workshops and explains things in real simple terms. Barry Haynes writes articles for Photo Techniques Magazine, this is where I learned about his books and workshop.



2. Essential, hugely informed, lucid guide to fine-art photography by a master dedicated to his craft. Vital.



3. Firstly, I never write reviews, but I felt I had to for this one. Before I start I feel I should give my credentials. I have spent the last three years working as an assistant to a fine art printer working on traditional print projects for numerous big name photographers.
   
   I bought this book after seeing that Mr Dewolfe teaches up at the Cone Workshops and after reading the good reviews on Amazon. That was a big mistake!! This is the reason why it is good to check books out in a store before you purchase.
   
   The book is very weak. I had read "Real World Photoshop CS2" prior to this, so I had a very good benchmark. RWP CS2 is a truly excellent book on using photoshop. Dewolfe's book is poorly laid out, repetitious (very), contradictory and gives limited examples of valuable technique. I gained nothing from reading the book and bored quickly of his preachy style. Here is an example:
   
   "The print has another dimension that I call presence. It has almost nothing to do with the technical side, but it is a matter of craft, that careful blend of aesthetic judgment and technical skill."
   
   Now tell me if that is not a contradiction. Who edited this?
   
   Another thing that bugged me is that the book feels like an advert for the line of Optipix plug-ins that he is associated with. He mentions them almost constantly (there is an advert on the last page if you missed the hundreds of references throughout the book).
   
   Please, please, check this out in a bookstore before you make up your mind.



4. Reviewed by Bruce Herman
   Member of the Alaskan Apple User's Group
   Anchorage, Alaska
   
   George DeWolfe's Digital Photography Fine Print Workshop is a significant departure from any of the other digital darkroom books that I've read. It was easily the most challenging because it presented so many new ideas in such a short book (255 pp.). Most other books rely heavily on global corrections that emphasize curves whereas DeWolfe relies more on levels, even for color corrections. Other authors apply local corrections with masks, but DeWolfe prefers to brush on corrections using the History Brush. Digital Fine Print Workshop was one of the most rewarding books about print making because it made me think about my photographs in new ways. This book grew out of the workshop that DeWolfe teaches
   
   DeWolfe begins with an overview of what constitutes a digital fine print. He defines the terms brightness, color, contrast and so on, and then introduces the workflow that will be the central focus of the book. He gives a series of examples that provide the reader with a basis of distinguishing the good from the not so good for each of the qualities just defined. DeWolfe says that he has had a lifetime of developing his own appreciation of these characteristics. So it's a bit of a leap for a reader to expect to come up to speed by viewing a handful of photographs reproduced in a book. Here DeWolfe might have referenced some photographs on the Internet to give the student a bit more background.
   
   Two aspects of DeWolfe's overall approach that set his book apart from most other digital print making books are his emphasis on separating the mid-tones and his concern for the quality of light in the print. I think that understanding these factors alone are likely to lead to vastly improved prints.
   
   The second part of the book, titled "The Workshop," constitutes the core of the book. It is in this section that DeWolfe explains and illustrates in detail his personal vision of achieving the fine art print from a digital photograph. The workshop focuses on digital photography beginning with bringing the digital files from the camera into the computer and ends with making the print. DeWolfe covers techniques for dealing with both RAW and jpeg image files as they come off the camera. He does not mention scanning, although one could reasonably follow the workflow for jpeg images. In any case, he works with 16 bit files, which he claims allows him to use levels in Photoshop without encountering the gaps that arise when working with 8 bit files. My personal experience was that 16 bit files did not entirely preclude gapping, but it was not as bad as it would be with 8 bit files.
   
   DeWolfe performs his artistry in two phases. He begins with global changes and then fine tunes the resulting photograph with local changes. One of the tools that DeWolfe uses is a plugin called Optipix. Although he discusses some techniques that substitute for Optipix, I found that using Optipix often made a step more likely to work as described. I would recommend purchase of this plugin ($139) if you wish to carefully follow DeWolfe's workflow.
   
   It was in the application of the local corrections that I found the most difficulty in DeWolfe's approach. DeWolfe uses the history brush to make local corrections to almost all parameters of the photograph. He eschews masks as tools for graphic artists, preferring the history brush because it forces an artist to commit in order to move forward. Each reader of this book will have to make his or her own assessment of this view.
   
   The Fine Print Workshop concludes with a brief description of what is required for a digital darkroom, including setting the preferences in Photoshop. This part of the book seems to be an attempt to broaden the appeal of the book to beginning digital photographers. Considering the level of complexity in executing the steps in the workshop, this almost seems out of place. That portion that deals with the software and hardware will be out of date long before the techniques described in the workshop pass into irrelevance.
   
   DeWolfe's book grew out of the week long workshop by the same name that he teaches. Reading the book is not likely to be as good as taking the workshop, but it's far, far better than just reading the generic Photoshop how-to book. Despite the fact that I don't necessarily agree with all aspects of DeWolfe's workflow, I highly recommend this book. Just be sure to leave a reasonable amount of time to absorb the material and give it a fair appraisal.



5. Before you waste one more sheet of printing paper, before you waste another minute with scanning and color management, before you waste another second with a bad workflow ... get this book. You will save the price of it in one week just in paper and ink alone. And maybe you will keep your sanity. This is bedtime reading, coffee shop reading, and "lightroom" reading. It is well written, well printed, and straightforward. I have followed George DeWolfe's suggested workflow to the letter, and it works! Don't buy another book until you have this one, and have read it two or three times.

2 comments about Porn Week.

1. This book has nice pictures of guys and gals nude showing everything. Although there is only one black girl in the book (the one on the cover) she does not have any explicit pics, just topless. If you are looking for pictures of porn, this is it.



2. I actually like this book and I hadn't expected to!! In an era when sex (a healthy and natural behaviour) is a taboo and treated like it's dirty, when it's OK to invade other countries unjustly and kill rape and pillage but against the law in most places for a woman to walk down the street topless, it's a bit of a relief to see people playing in the sexual arena without inhibition, moral judgements and all the unhealthy overtones the righteous liars and hypocrites would measure people with. The people in this book strike me as better adjusted than most of our political and religious leaders-those dills who don't understand that the guaranteed way to create a black market is prohibition, the guaranteed way to eradicate something is to embrace it and put it in a true and healthy context.
   
   There is plenty of unhealthy sex industry. I know women who bemoan that they have to go back to street walking to pay for a car so they can get a `real' job or buy a birthday present for their child's birthday. This book is about the other end of the sex industry where the participants are there more by choice rather than forced there by the political and economic forces. This is pictures of the sex industry where the participants are well educated and with options but who embrace and cherish their sexuality and are willing to share it, with the other participants and the reader.
   
   I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. For all the women out there who are seen only as sex objects and not, more significantly, women, thinkers, learned and valuable people I hope everyone who reads this gets a new perspective on the people for whom celebrating their sexuality is part of how they make their living.
   
   A healthy book (even if I'm gonna burn in the fires of hell forever for saying so). After all, if you can't buy a toy gun or a doll without genitals in hell and everyone there accepts their humanity then bring it on, it's where I wanna be and a place with healthier values than Western society at the moment.
   
   Cheers
   
   Lloyd

1 comments about Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900-1968.

1. This book illustrates the daily life of Harlem in the 1920's and 1930's. It gives the reader an examined persective of what it was like to be part of a community struggling to be heard. The photos of the funeral processions were especially heart grabbing! When this exhibit first showed at the Metropoliton Musuem it caused a great controversy. Many of the leaders of civil rights movement thought the photos were displaying black people as subjects not art. There were massive demostrations outside the museum to have it close. Many of the photos are still part of the museum's collection although they are not on display. this book offers great insight into the life of Harlem Renaissance. I also recommend, The Sleeper Wakes Edited by Marcy Knopf and A Renaissance in Harlem by Lionel C Bascom.These books offer additional information on what life was like during the New Negro Movement. A valuable art history lesson for us all.

5 comments about Digital SLR Photography with Photoshop CS2 All-In-One For Dummies Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)).

1. What a wonderful book! Turns out the book goes above and beyond the great description that I read. I'm very happy with my purchase and will purchase 30 more for my photography students! It really breaks down a complicated hobby into easy and understandable information.



2. Although not new to digital photography I have found this book reveals many aspects of the subject which in many other books are frequently not explained fully enough to totally grasp the concepts or are explained in such detail that one has to fathom what it's all about.
   
   Explanations are clearly detailed on how to optimize such subjects as exposure, balancing white point, controlling color, archiving images and numerous others aspects of digital photography.
   
   Kevin gives readers the opportunity of trying a number of exercises relating to the contents of the book and even offers images which can be down loaded from his web site.
   
   This book is well illustrated with explicit explanations and the setting out of topics makes for easy understanding. A book well worth reading for both the enthusiast and experienced photographer.



3. After much thought and reluctance I finally have made the transition from film to digital and purchased a DSLR. I needed a book to help me make the transition and decided on Kevin Ames' book. A very fortuitous choice on my part indeed. He writes in a fashion that is interesting, informative, to the point and most importantly easy to understand. As a result of using the book as a guide I have enjoyed the digital transition thoroughly and have come to realize I have made the right decision.
   What impressed me the most was when I had a problem registering for downloads from his website and I emailed him. I was expecting an email in return. Got not an email but a personal phone call from Kevin to help me with the problem!! Kevin was extremely helpful. He not only took the time to solve the original problem but gave some very good advice on other issues as well. His enthusiasm for photography and willingness to share with others his knowledge and expertise is evident in the book and was borne out by a personal phone call from him. I am very impressed. Buy the book, you will not be disappointed.



4. I have enjoyed this book which provides a good blend of 'understanding your camera' with 'how to work magic with it' in CS2. I have recommended the book to others; especially those confused with all the camera and CS2 technologies. I refuse to lend it as I'm afraid I won't get it back.



5. For those not fortunate enough to attend one of Kevin Ames' workshops, as I recently did, this "Dummies" book is the next best thing. Whether you are a beginner to digital photography or a practicing professional, Digital SLR Photography with Photoshop by Kevin Ames is a valuable addition to your "toolbox."
   
   Ames is that rare combination of artist and teacher, and this book is one of the most comprehensive, clearest and easiest to follow "how to" books that I have come across.
   
   I've been a photography hobbyist for more than fifty years and the early chapters on fundamentals were still a worthwhile refresher. As a serious amateur my pictures are important to me, so I found Ames' unique approach to non-destructive image processing, disciplined file organization and foolproof archiving to be extremely valuable and essential information.