3 comments about The Big Book of Babies (Big Book of . . . (Welcome Books)).

1. As a photographer and the proud owner of 26 images published in this book I should also admit that my review might be a tad biased. Still, I was completely impressed with the presentation of this coffee table book. The images featured showcase a variety of styles from your totally adorable every day snapshots, to some truly stunning professional portraits in addition to several very famous images of celebrity babies. The sentiments added to the pages seem to bring just the right touch to the photographs. Well designed and well printed, this is a must have for anyone who loves babies!
   
   Terrilyn O'Neil - [...]



2. As a baby and child photographer, I LOVE this book. Beautiful photos and really cute stories throughout. Who doesn't love pictures of babies??!!



3. Since 34 of my images appear in this book, I am likely a bit biased. But it is a beautifully printed book and quite a joy to thumb through and take in the imagery and sweet quotes.
   
   Connie Groah, Barefoot Photography

No comments about Two Ozark Rivers: The Current and the Jacks Fork.

2 comments about Contemporary Wedding Photography.

1. One of the better wedding photography books I've purchased. Beautiful scenary in the shots. Book was published in UK. Some good ideas I intend to incorporate in my photography but nothing really new.



2. I've started reading this book, and I mainly bought it because of the beautiful photos. The award winning authors shoot totally high end weddings, with examples of their work appearing on every page. The back cover says this book "Includes all the advice you need...," Well I certainly wouldn't say that, especially if you're a novice wedding photographer. This book is for getting at more artistic wedding productions--using the type of shooting you find in fashion magazines. Though they don't seem provide enough informaiton about how to set up and get shots, they do provide EXIF data on each of the photos in the book which provides you some ideas about the equipment they're using. The last few chapters deal with Photoshop strategies and wedding album creation, but these chapters are very lacking. They're mainly good introductions. Overall, it's a good book to have if you're looking to improve your wedding photography, but it's certainly not the only book you'll need.

5 comments about Jazzlife.

1. Jazz Life is a great book in every senses: Fantastic photographs,very good informative text and wonderful audio CD, besides its weight and its size. Very, very good. Great find.



2. This book has great pictures of famous entertainers. It is very heavy, though. I got the best price through Amazon. It came more quickly than I imagined, We are very pleased with the book and the service and wouuld do it again.



3. I just received this enormous book; yes enormous in every way. Both in vision, content, printing and weight. I have plenty of jazz photo books and some earlier collections by Claxton, but this certainly reaches beyond the rest. It reminds me of the work by the great Cartier-Bresson. It is far beyond publicity shots and the compositions are real and echoes what language can never say. I am reminded of the great writer Albert Murray. He delves deep into the entire ouvre of this American art form. The large two page bleed photos are breathtaking. The book is largely b&w which suits me just fine. One seldom comes across such empathy and passion for a subject and at the same time shoots like a painter. This is a bargain at twice the price.



4. Gorgeous book. One that I will want to have out and look through over and over. Amazing, you see something different every time you look through it.



5. If you were a jazz fan in the Fifties this book will be the ultimate visual memory jogger. It is a huge book, too, weighing in at over fifteen pounds (a bit more with its handy carrying box) and with spreads opening to an impressive twenty-three inches wide by sixteen deep. The 696 beautifully printed pages feature an expanded collection of photos originally taken for the 1961 German book 'Jazz Life' produced by Joachim Berendt and William Claxton.
   
   In four months during 1960 these two motored across the America and it would seem photographed every important jazz musician that mattered and what stunning photos they are. Page after page of folks you have been listening to for years and not just recording studio shots but plenty of informal and location photos. Musicians everywhere get a look in, New Orleans, Kansas, St Louis, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, from ragtime to bop to East and West coast styles. Each area has an essay and all the photos are captioned. Looking through the book for the first time with its huge page size and Claxton's sympathetic jazz camera is a rather awesome experience.
   
   There is a forty-two minute CD with the book (the original German edition had two seven inch LPs) of music recorded by Berendt but I thought it was rather bland in its choice of tracks. Predominately New Orleans traditional and spirituals with a very small sampling of other styles some of which annoyingly fade out before the end. I bet at the time though the music added to the book's success in a still rather war-torn Germany.
   
   'Jazz Life' celebrates a great American music style with photos you can almost hear. I doubt there will be anything as good as this published again.
   
   *A Shorty Rogers tune dedicated to Bill Claxton
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

1 comments about Mr. Lincoln's Camera Man: Mathew B. Brady.

1. Originally published in 1946, this is a terrific presentation of Civil War photos by the Matthew Brady team. Of special interest is the section reproducing Brady's post-war lantern slide lecture book, with unedited captions, for a program that was to have been presented at Carnegie Hall.
   
   Roy Meredith's text covers Brady's pre-war career, with a large sampling of his portraits - including Lincoln - then takes up a chronological account, mostly of the Eastern Theater, as Brady & his team followed the armies in a wagon, processing their plates under terrible conditions. A large amount of photographs must have been ruined in the rain & mud. Brady mostly points his camera at the terrible aftermath of battle, at bodies & broken barricades, but there is one rare photo that may have been shot during Antietam. Brady is present at an out door gathering of Grant and his generals (Brady calls it a "War Council," but Grant never put his plans up for a vote. We see a defeated Lee, his great dignity intact. The Grand Review marches past. The Lincoln conspirators are hanged. Then we meet an arrogant Custer; a delegation of Native American chiefs; the curvaceous dancer, Laura Le Claire; Andrew Carnegie and finally, President Grant.
   
   There are many books available of Civil War photographs. This one is excellent because it focuses on Brady. It's a large book - over 300 pages & 300 photos. Dover publishes fine books at bargain prices.
   
   Bob Rixon

1 comments about Think of England.

1. Martin Parr is one of the great documentary photographers of Britain and this book is a prime example of his talent in the field. This book is a wonderful collection of the quirks and eccentricities of the British. No subject is overlooked as Parr covers food, dress, interior design and gardens, pomp and circumstance and Brits at the seaside. It's a view of England not seen by most tourists which makes it all the more relevant for foreign audiences. Browsing through the book one can see several cultural similarities like the picture of a winning dessert at a district garden society show, or people talking on their mobile phones.
   
   If you're a bit of an anglophile or simply enjoy good photography, this book won't disappoint. I bought this book at the Tate Modern after having seen several of the photos in various galleries, and find it inspiring to aspiring photographers like myself.

4 comments about The Business of Wedding Photography (Business of Photography).

1. Ann Monteith clearly sets out the various issues related to establishing a wedding photography business, whether it be a fully equiped full-time studio business or a weekend, on-location service. She explains the types of business structures (sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, etc.) and their advantages and disadvantages for the wedding photographer. She also devotes whole chapters to the following subjects: -Marketing objectives -Business Location -Product (album) design and presentation -Pricing services and products, and more!

   The second half of this book contains profiles of currently established wedding photographers who explain their business strategies and photographic styles. These profiles include examples of the photographers' works - collections of wedding photographs which are a joy to browse through and which lend ideas to the aspiring wedding photographer or established professional.




2. The book is well outlined and hits on every detail necessary to operate a successfull wedding photography business. Monteith also adds profiles of some of the world's best wedding photographers who give their take on the world of wedding photography. Great book!



3. At first I thought this book would be another "this is how I did it, just copy me" publication that is so common in the photography industry. In contrast, though, Monteith has taken a fresh approach by describing the various options available for all your business decisions. It covers all the major ideas used by photographers today (both full-time and part-time), and lets you decide how you want to run your business. Great for new photographers and veterans. I wish this book was available when I started my photography business--it would have saved me a lot of headaches and research.



4. In the first section of the book Ann Monteith gives the nuts and bolts for putting together a wedding photography buisness. The second section features 30 Top International Wedding Photographers. I was honored to be included by Ann. Photographs and inner thoughts are shared from the chosen photographers.

2 comments about 1000 Signs.

1. This collection of 1000 signs covers everything from postings you see every day to those that are unique to various locations, such as Australia's kangaroo crossing sign. Chapters are: Animals, Man, Stop, Dog, Transport, Children, Miscellaneous, Danger, Weapons, Toilets, No! and Work. Not much text, printed in English, German and French. Photos are in color. Photographers and locations credited, but no index. This is a goofy but fun book, and interesting to leaf through.



2. The title of this intriguing chunky photo book has a word missing, it should have been '1000 ROAD SIGNS'. Actually probably about 940 official highway signs and the rest being privately made but still relating to roads. The three-language text for the twelve chapters (Animals, Man, Stop, Dog, Transport, Children, Miscellaneous, Danger, Weapons, Toilets, No! and Work) is on single pages and mixed into the relevant photo sections. Considering that the subject matter is rather uninspiring, visually this book looks rather good, photos are twelve, six, four or one to a page and there are plenty of spreads with one photo.

   There are some pretty weird signs, too. One from South Africa has an explanation mark in a triangle with three words below, 'CAUTION ROAD STOLEN', Australia has a no swearing sign, a red outline circle with a red diagonal across the body of a man, by his head there are five marks, *!#"?.

   I'm not quite sure who this book is aimed at, highway engineers and transport planners, graphic designers, or readers who go for quirky books (me) but as it was produced in conjunction with Colors Magazine (Taschen published their '1000 Extraordinary Objects ISBN 382285851X) you can be assured of something a bit different to leave on your coffee table.

2 comments about Stainless Ladies.

1. Basically, as the review below says, this book feature beautiful models being very rude with a variety of dildos and vibrators.
   
   Some of the shots are lovely, some pornographic. It's not a book to leave out on the coffee table, but one for a private collection. (If it is on your coffee table please invite me round.)



2. If you need a photo essay of beautiful models masturbating with dildoes, then this is your book. Some quite strange-looking dildoes too. This little tome could have been really so much better. In the introduction, the photographer notes that he only asked the models to be "insolent and indecent" in their poses. His instruction was indeed heeded. My own taste in photographic figure studies is "artistic nudes" who reflect some class, so this one goes back to Amazon. To each their own.

5 comments about Above Seattle.

1. This is one of Robert Carmeron's last books and it is one of his best. Seattle really lends itself well to this kind of photography, the city is so naturally blessed. The photography in this book is classic Cameron and the photos are so vivid. I recommend this book to anyone with an interst in this beautiful city or just an interest in great photography in general, you won't be disappointed.



2. Seattle is set in a very diverse geographical region. This diversity provides for ample breathtakingly beautiful and lush photographs of the metropolitan area. Lakes, mountains, trees, islands, bays, rivers - this area has it all and is cleverly photographed in this Robert Cameron book.
   The book is fairly up to date although citizens or connosieurs of Seattle may notice the dated-ness of the book by the conspicuous absense of some new construction in the downtown area and the changing condition of other areas of the city. If you like pictorials, this is a great one to own and probably one of the best of the Seattle Metropolitan Area. I highly recommend it.



3. THIS BOOK IS A KNOCKOUT, IT'S 12 X 14, THE PICTURES INSIDE, MOST OF THEM ARE THE SAME SIZE AND ARE SO CLEAR IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE THERE, YOU LOOK AT SEATTLE FROM ALL ANGLES AND TACOMA, YOU CAN MAKE OUT PEOPLE IN THE BUILDINGS, THERE ARE OLD PICTURES FROM THE 1920's RIGHT NEXT TO TODAYS PICTURES, THE BOOK TELLS YOU WHERE AND WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT, YOU CAN READ SIGNS IN THESES PICTURES, IT SHOWS HOW CLEAN THE SEATTLE AND THE PUGET SOUND IS, IF YOU LIVE THERE THIS BOOK IS A MUST, FOR IT WILL SHOW YOU AREAS YOU MAY HAVE NEVER SEEN, FOR THERE IS SO MUCH TO SEE, AND TO THE REST OF THE WORLD, THIS BOOK THIS IS THE PERFECT TRAVEL GUIDE FOR THE NORTHWEST, IT'S A 160 PAGES OF THE CITY, WATER, NAVEL SHIPS, FERRYS,AIR PORTS, AND MOUNTAINS, THERE IS JUST NO WAY TO PUT THESE GREAT PICTURES IN TO WORDS! "THANKS" ROBERT CAMERON



4. Stunning quality; if you've been there, you will easily be able to pick out your favorite spots, despite the distance. The captions are a little dry, but the pictures make this aesthetic book one of value.



5. Everybody who has any relation to Seattle should have this book! To people who live there it shows their city from a different point of view. To people who like to get a detailed impression of the city and its close environment I really recommend it ! But this book (in my eyes) is not made for people who look for a "tourist guide".