1 comments about Bodine's Chesapeake Bay Country.

1. This latest book of Bodine photographs is the best of those published in the last 30 years. The classic black and white photography is a refreshing change from what you usually find in `coffee table' books. I think it makes a great holiday present, and have purchased more than a dozen copies.

No comments about Wilmington: Picturing Change.

3 comments about Places of Grace: The Natural Landscapes of the American Midwest.

1. PLACES OF GRACE consists of a series of stunning photographs by Gary Irving and an essay by Michal Strutin. The book covers states in the upper central plains--Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio and Indiana, although as Strutin notes, some would include other areas.

   Strutin asks--what is the American Midwest? She outlines what she thinks comprises the area and discusses the forests, wetlands, huge fresh water lakes, and prairie that can still be found throughout the region. She imagines what the first European explorers must have seen when they arrived. She says, for example, the word prairie is French for meadow. French explorers were the first Europeans to travel extensively through the American plains. They saw the amazing wide open spaces where grass grew 10 feet tall and lacking any other word, likened it to their own grass meadows back home. The French named many places from Des Moines to Des Plains.

   Strutin says conservationists are working to restore parts of the prairie to their natural state. She explains some of the research involved in determining the correct proportions of Asclepia (Butterfly Weed); Echinacea; Daisy; and other flora in a region that contains one of the three major U.S. flyways for birds, butterflies and other migratory animals.

   PLACES also contains photos and text about non-prairie areas in upper Michigan and Wisconsin where hugh forests once existed as anyone who has ever read Laura Ingalls Wilder's LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS or heard of Paul Bunyun knows. Even today this area is a source of timber and home to many paper mills, though a good deal of the timber is being recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan where it landed a century ago.

   Irving and Strutin could have called their book HIDDEN PLACES OF GRACE. There are many wonderful nooks and crannies that somehow escaped the developer's axe, and today are protected in one way or another. This is an interesting and beautiful book.




2. A very well composed book featuring fabulous photographs with vivid colors and composition- enjoyable page after page. Books like this succeed for me when I desire to visit these locations. Well done!

   Good production values overall make this a nice addition to other landscape photography books. Highly recommended.




3. Mr.Irving has had some wonderful books in the past,but "Places of Grace"is not only his finest,but is the best collection of landscapes i've seen in a long time!This book is a must for anyone interested in the finest of landscape photography!

5 comments about Photographing Your Artwork.

1. No matter what your media, you need to consider having a good photographic record of it. This lets you keep a "portfolio" of prints handy, rather than trotting out the bulky originals; send slides to shows and galleries; keep a record of works you sell or give away; and provides the basis of making prints. The how-to is excellently done: I got good results from my first roll. It cost a couple of hundred dollars to get started, in SLR camera body, lenses, tripod, and film, but you can't buy a good easel for that -- about what a big assortment of pastels runs.



2. Good information for those who need to take pictures of their work. This is an excellent reference. I highly recommend it if you are an artist without much photography experience and want to do it yourself.



3. Watch for those small books that fit comfortably in a pocket. They don't have fluff, get down to business, and are worn from significance. Photographing Your Artwork is a sort of right arm, studio mate for me, a painter-educator. I teach a Professional Issues seminar to young studio artists at an art school. At last this old friend is back-in-print. Believe me! There is no other reference in print that so clearly covers the basics. More importantly, does its job of teaching with style and clarity. Visual artists need this information and the skills it teaches.



4. I'm very happy that Amherst Media is reissuing Photographing Your Artwork. Originally published in 1987, it's still a unique resource--the only how-to book of its kind, as far as I know, that's truly aimed at artists who want to photograph their own work successfully and inexpensively, as opposed to the photographers who would otherwise do it for them. That said, I think the book's information is equally valuable for photographers who want to shoot artwork, either for artist friends or as a moneymaking business. And to apply its techniques, photographers don't have to invest in expensive strobe equipment. The techniques it describes are simple but very effective. This new edition has been revised to reflect small changes in suitable films, which have actually improved in the intervening years. When the original edition went out of print, I got lots of calls from artists trying to locate a copy. If you're out there, here it is! And thanks for your interest. --Russell Hart



5. I looked all over for the information contained in this book and found bits and pieces here and there. This book has it all, clearly written, easy to understand and very comprehensive. I couldn't be more satisfied!

5 comments about Photo Finish: The Digital Photographer's Guide to Printing, Showing, and Selling Images.

1. This is the fourth Tim Gray book and second Jon Canfield book I have bought and read. While this book treats many of its various subjects in much less detail as Tim and Jon do in their other books I still found it useful. The section on creating digital slideshows was particularly helpful and all of the other subject matter is covered at least a summary level, providing good review and synopsis of the more detailed treatments in their other books.



2. This is an excellent book for anyone needing the basic on producing web content or printed media. However, I found it not up to the standards I have come to expect from Tim Grey. It borrows from a lot of his other work and does go into great detail on how to produce web files or printed media. It falls well short of providing content on Showing and Selling Images. While there is certainly an art to these two processes, I had hoped to see some examples of how to incorporate these into my current procedures. There really was no content on these subjects.
   
   Great book for the beginning to intermediate photographer wanting to improve their product. Falls well short of useful content for the more advanced photographer.



3. This book was a huge disappointment. It's content is weak in almost all sections with much of the information available from either the Internet or you local photo lab. I didn't find it very useful at all and I'm even tempted to send it back.
   
   The book is pretty much broken up into the three section as described in the book's title. The first part brushes over optimising your workspace - calibrating your monitor - and selecting a printer and then basic printing output. Things most people know already.
   
   The second goes into a bit more depth regarding getting your pics on the web: registering a domain name, selecting a hosting company, etc. Information you'll find better provided by a quick search in any web search engine. However, one of my main gripes is that it reads like a magazine review of 3rd party programs you should buy to help with the web authoring in html. In fact it advises using Macromedia Dreamweaver. A program which cost more than 500 USD. Now, I understand that writing html sounds complicated to the novice but you would - honestly - be better served and save some money from learning a bit from any basic html/web authoring book(any of the O'Reilly books are well recommended) Creating a basic html web gallery is not complicated.
   
   The final part of the book continues on the team of glossing over the subject. It briefly mentions approaching galleries and selling on the Interent. I was expecting so much more from ths section but I really didn't learn much more than I knew already.
   
   I find it hard to believe that one of the reviews here gives this book 5 stars yet points out some of the same failings of the book as me. The book has good intentions but just doesn't deliver the level of content and information required to make really useful.



4. I really thought the book would be more geared to professional photographers and workflow, etc. with regard to digital photos. Much more space was spent on website building, which I would have expected from a website book, not a book titled as a digital photographer's guide. Did I get $30 worth of information? Probably, but I would have liked more information on digital workflow, file management, professional lab tips, etc. as a professional photographer making the move from film to digital.



5. When I found Photo Finish listed in Outdoor Photographer I thought it would help me with selling my photos. I didn't realize the amount of material it covers in helping prepare to sell. Not only does it cover the actual preparation of the photo, it will take you through a complete web site construction in order for you to place you images on the Internet. It also covers a lot of material in between. I find Photo Finish to be a resource that I return to frequently as a text in hand as I proceed with various photography projects.

5 comments about The Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers (VOICES).

1. This is an excellent step-by-step guide for using the capabilities of Photoshop Elements. I wanted something that would show me how to do the things I needed to do right now, without having to spend two weeks sitting at the computer. This book did it.



2. Kelby has a real talent for explaining the process of improving your shots with the help of Elements. This is a great book for the amatuer or beyond. I will recommend to my fellow beginner photogs.



3. Even though I use a Mac and this book was written for Windows users, most of it can be applied to the Mac platform also. Mac users can skip the Organizer section; we have iPhoto and don't need the Elements Organizer anyway. We Mac users also must make a few adjustments; for example when told to use the Control key, we use the Apple Command key.
   I'd already taught myself how to use several of the features in Elements 3, but since buying this book, I've become amazed at the many marvels of this program that I hadn't yet discovered. Kelby gives specific easy to follow instructions.
   Still, it would be great if more was written for the Mac. There are many of us loyal Mac users out there, who aren't about to give up our wonderful Macs.
   
   Hold On, Jessica, Don't Let Go



4. This has been very helpful in learning how to use the PSE3 program... I'm still working with it but to this point I would recommend to anyone...



5. I would recommend this book to the person who doesn't like to read a lot of verbiage. This book states the facts one one side of the page while illustrating the screen shot on the other side of the same page. I found it most helpful and easy reading. It also helps you up front and first with organizing folders and saving files to folders - doesn't jump right in and starts on edit instruction. As I believe organization is the most difficult part of Photoshop to learn, I liked being walked thru the steps.

3 comments about Men at Work.

1. It will be presumptuous to place my opinion next to all the worthy accolades this work has received.
   It stands all by itself in the B&W pantheon, and even people not interested in art or photography can`t afford to miss this true classic.



2. Men At Work by Lewis Hine is a beautiful collection of 69 photographic studies of men and machines originally published in 1932. This book is a great example of men controlling machines in order to benefit their lives, rather than the machines controlling their lives. Hine was able to find normal subjects and turn them into to amazing, interseting images. Through these photogrphs he catches the positive side of life which is very enjoyable to look at. There are also 18 extra photographs of the construction of the Empire State Building. Each page has a detailed description of the photographs to let the reader know exactly what he was shooting. The Empire Sate Building photos are quite amazing especially when you think about Hine himself that high off the ground taking these photos. In addition to the Empire State Building shots, are photographs of railroad workers and coal miners which no one had ever really recognized before. Overall this is a great book at an excellent price.



3. Lewis Hine had an affinity with the workingman. Jonathan Doherty, in the introduction to this book, says "Hine looked at workingmen with his camera and found a strength in them and a pride in their work that was common to all". He had a point because the photos show men controlling their machines and not the other way round, with these photos you can see craftsmen at work.

   The sixty-nine excellent photos in the book (originally published in 1932) show forty-six taken during the construction of the Empire State Building and they are clearly not posed. Hine was given the assignment to cover the building work and so the photos have the raw energy of heavy work. The remaining twenty-three photos are much more formal studies of activity, lathe operators, engine drivers, coalminers, turbine engine grinders, welders and others are all creatively shown going about their work. I think these beautiful photos really show the respect Hine had for the working craftsmen.

   Good (and inexpensive) as the book is I wish these photos could have been presented in a more formal setting, centred on each page with quality paper and printing to really do them justice.

2 comments about Volcano: A Visual Guide.

1. First, what this book is not: It is not a textbook. I.e. there are not many written pages.
   What this book IS: a fabulous document of some of the most dramatic volcanoes around the globe. Every continent is included. Incredible photos. In fact, every page has two or three beautiful colour photos, with sidebars detailing the important salient qualities.
   
   An outstanding and exciting contribution to my personal volcano library. A must!!!



2. This book is a visual masterpiece featuring science writing at its very best. No high school or college classroom should be without it. It is printed in gorgeous coffee table book formt and will make a rich book addition to any collection. One of the most comprehensive books about international volcanoes all over our planet ever published in fun easy to read prose caption.

2 comments about Helmut Newton (Photofile) (Photofile).

1. I think that Mr. Bray's review refers to Newton's autobiography, and not this little work. There is text here, a rather long (and interesting and insightful) introduction by Karl Lagerfield. But the major portion of the slender volume is devoted to approximately 60 images of Newton's work, primarily from the late sixties through the mid-eighties.
   
   This is a small, inexpensive book. The images are not the highest quality reproductions, but for the money they're excellent. The images include some of his best-known work (One of the "Big Nudes", for example) and some that was unfamiliar to me, and I've been a fan of his work for forty years.
   
   This would be an ideal inexpensive gift for someone who's already a fan, or who likes quirky, mildly erotic imagery.



2. Helmut Newton's autobiography is a real delight, and must also be the cheapest Helmut Newton book to be made available anywhere. For someone who hated school and failed to reach his parents' expectations he is an exceptional writer. But more than this the book is an inspiration for anyone who seriously is considering a career in photography.
   
   This is because despite various hardships, brought on largely by Nazi anti-Semitism and persecution which murdered his uncle, and also his original employer a photographer called Yva Newton remains positive. He neither dwells on the horrors of the Holocaust nor the hardships of internment as a stateless alien in Australia followed by four years of military service in the Australian forces. Instead he describes in great detail how he 'laid' his way across Europe, Asia and `down under' before meeting his beloved wife June Browne, [who is also takes photographs professionally under the pseudonym Alice Springs].
   
   The couples' sometimes tempestuous, but always loving relationship reveals the strains that a photographer's lifestyle can place upon a relationship.
   
   As the book progresses Newton leaves Australia with June to work for London Vogue. "My pictures were a disaster", he writes.
   
   Subsequently the couple settled in Paris where they struggled to make ends meet, even though Newton was regularly employed by French Vogue, as well as Elle and other publications. Nevertheless sometimes he also was forced to go to Berlin to photograph collections for very little return,
   
   The couple vacillated about whether to live in Australia or Europe. In Australia Newton's career was successful and his finances were stronger, but to be in the first rung of photography he needed to be either in Europe or the USA.
   
   In due course the Newtons settled in Paris, living there for over twenty years, later they moved to Monte Carlo.
   
   It must have been shortly after his heart attack in America that I first came across Helmut Newton's work. It is the original `Porno Chic` that has moved his work into art galleries across the globe. Newton always insisted he wasn't an artist, but a 'gun for hire'.
   
   The book is well produced and contains a number of images from Newton's life and work. It must be said however that this is primarily a work of text and not a 'fine art' book. Many of Newton's images from such works as 'Big Nudes', and 'White Women' are there, but in order to see them at their best readers should refer to Newton's other books, which are printed to reproduce the quality of the photographs and contain less text.
   
   Stephen Bray

5 comments about Between the Dark and Light: The Grateful Dead Photography of Jay Blakesberg.

1. I purchased this book for my husband's uncle. He and his wife used to follow the Dead. He adored this book. He even found a crowd picture that showed he and his wife. They were thrilled. The photography is wonderful.



2. Saw this book for the first time at the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland during a cross-country trip (side note: an interesting place to visit. Check out Jerry's guitars: Rosebud, Lightning Bolt, Wolf and 2 he ordered but never played). Bought it on the spot! If you think you have seen all the pictures of the Boyz, think again. This is an impressive collection, perfect for the "Deadhead who has everything". I just bought a 2nd copy, 'cause I know I am going to wear out the first one I bought!



3. This book is required reading for all fans of the Grateful Dead. Wonderful photographs and commentary. It brings back so many memories from years past that I find myself not being able to put it down. I will most likely buy a second copy, just to have it for future enjoyment when I wear this one out. Great job Jay!



4. The photographs in this book evoke a community and a culture that was a huge part of my own life during the Grateful Dead touring years. Looking through these photographs brought back so many great memories, and finding photos of familiar faces and places was both nostalgic and sentimental and at the same time incredibly satisfying. Thank you Jay!



5. I bought the first book as a gift, this is absolutely a fantastic collection of photography, so good I've bought three more. Made several people extremely happy.