5 comments about Digital Photographer's Notebook: A Pro's Guide to Adobe Photoshop CS3, Lightroom, and Bridge, The.

1. This book is unique. First of all, Kevin Ames is a REAL photographer. He does it all and does it extremely well. But it is clear from the diversity of topics in this book and the care he uses to explain every step in detail, that Kevin has respect for technology and how it can be applied to make your photography better and your experience doing photography more enjoyable.
   
   The first thing that stands out about this book is that it has STYLE. Style would seem out of place in a book that is a collection of somewhat unrelated subjects (since it was derived from over five years of monthly columns in Photoshop User magazine), but each chapter has depth and realism. Kevin lets us in on his real world experiences. He is not holding back. He makes a complete story out of each chapter and the photos are from his real experiences. It is something anyone can relate to. The photos mean something. They are real. In most books on photography, and especially Photoshop, the photos used in examples are just that -- they are taken out of context -- like stock. Kevin's models have names because they are real people.
   
   But wait, there's more. Kevin is genuinely concerned that the digital revolution puts photography as an art form and documentary medium at risk. He spends significant space in the book on managing and archiving digital negatives. He has an entire chapter devoted to metadata and one that discusses in detail the naming of digital negatives. The chapter on his bulletproof archive workflow alone is worth the price of the book. He has clearly given the topic of how to manage and preserve digital negatives a lot of thought and presents methods that are scalable, extensible, and evolutionary to accommodate changes in storage media, operating systems, and technology in general. His suggestion of using a number for each shoot or project is simple but brilliant. He further suggests going back through your old shoots and organizing them into project numbers. The beauty of it is they don't have to be in chronological order -- the metadata will take care of finding the photo you are looking for. Just do it. He points out that if one converts one shoot a day or every few days, your entire digital collection can be archived in bulletproof form in less than a year. Kevin suggests it is easy to keep track of the content in each project number with a spread sheet or a blank check book ledger -- something you can keep in your camera bag. Furthermore, he goes into more depth than I have seen anywhere on the compatibility of Lightroom and Bridge and the reciprocity that exists between them and Photoshop CS3.
   
   Kevin has two in depth chapters on adjusting raw files: one on Adobe Camera Raw 4 and one on Lightroom's Develop module as well as making color correction and exposure adjustments. Again, the aspect of the instruction in these chapters that makes this book unique is Kevin's style of writing. It is casual, comfortable easy reading, as if a conversation. But more importantly, it is accurate and detailed, almost anticipating every possible question. There are three great chapters on presenting your photos: on the internet, as email presentations, and details on making custom contact prints. The chapter on email presentations is a good example of a little known feature that can benefit everyone. Once again Kevin makes it real when he starts the chapter with: "I don't know about you. I get truly tired of scrolling through email looking at attached JPEGs." Ever had that experience? I have.
   
   This book is chock full of great advice, wonderful experiences, and real world productivity that every aspiring and professional photographer can use. The thing that makes it stand out and above is style: Kevin Ames' style.
   
   Highly recommended.



2. As a photographer and Photoshop educator I am always on the lookout for books that will not only help me take advantage of the most current digital tools but also pass on the most up to date information to my students. With the advent of an all new Photoshop last year and the addition of Lightroom, I have found many students and fellow photographers confused about how to integrate both programs into their everyday working environment. Kevin Ames has worked as a professional photographer for many years and was an early adopter of digital tools when many were sticking with the comforts of the analog world. His depth of experience is complemented by his excellent teaching and writing skills to bring forth a book that will help professional photographers take the best advantage of what Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom can offer.
   "The Digital Photographer's Notebook" contains clear explanations of the many concepts of digital tools, from how digital cameras see and record light, why raw files are the only way to record images, how to organize and keyword your images and how to protect and backup your data so you never have to lose a single image. As one who has experienced the loss of data on one occasion, Kevin's thorough strategy of image backup may be worth the price of this book alone.
   As the saying goes "but wait, there's more". Kevin shares his broad experience in capturing digital images both on location and in the studio and how to utilize Adobe Bridge to download your images from CF cards or work tethered directly to your computer. Strategies of color management are covered in detail, as are retouching tools that can be applied to entire folders of images. The Lightroom interface is covered in detail, from metadata, to the develop module, to printing and web galleries.
   Once images are organized and processed Kevin takes you into Photoshop with some special tools and techniques to take your images to another level.
   This book had its genesis in Kevin's columns from Photoshop User magazine. This expansion has a cohesiveness that belies these origins; the scope of this compilation is very much a book.
   While the book indicates it is intended for the professional photographer, I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about his or her digital photography. Professional shooter, serious amateur, fine artist or photography student can all benefit from these sound organization strategies, clear explanations of tools and techniques, all wrapped up in a clear writing style with anecdotal observations that make reading a book on software actually a pleasure.



3. I found Part 2, which discusses the system and workflow for archiving files, worth the price of the book alone. I have been searching for some time for a better archival system than the chronological one I use. Kevin's detailed description of his system is the best article I have found on archiving files. The importance of what he calls "bulletproof archival workflow" hit home recently when I lost many files from two separate hard disks failures within a two-week period. I was going to use the new system to archive a large project involving old negatives and slides, but will now use his system first to eliminate the holes in my current archives.
   
   I have followed Kevin's column for several years and frequently revisit articles for color management techniques he has shared. In this book I found a couple of techniques and actions that I have already used in my work.
   
   Kevin has done a nice job with this book and has provided tools that should be useful to you.



4. Kevin has scored another big hit with this work. There are files to download and you can work through the projects. Well Done!!



5. I saw Kevin Ames on Peach Pit Press' podcast (on itunes) and I pre-ordered this book several months ago. This isn't like many of the books I already own (approaching 300) in that Kevin's style of writing is both conversational and instructional. The information is presented in a way that made me feel as though a good friend was there, teaching me and sharing his knowledge and experience.
   
   It's not so much a dip and find, although that's possible, as it is a story where you pick up useful information along the way. He explains everything from capture to lighting and from Photoshop to Lightroom. His chapter on lighting (Chapter 4 Light Right!) was friendly but still clear and concise with examples that prove every point he makes. I found it more helpful than the books I have that only cover the subject of lighting.
   
   I definitely recommend this book if you've been searching for something a little different that is packed full of lessons learned from an experienced pro!

5 comments about Food Play.

1. I LOVE this book! I've had one for a while and bought this one as a gift. There are many wonderful ideas for both adults and kids, and I've done it with my grandkids as well as my friends. VERY FUN!



2. My wife is a teacher and loves this book. We have ordered 3 more as gifts.



3. Item was a gift and recipient was pleased. Very ingenious ways to "play with your food."



4. FOOD PLAY is an unique and adorable book suitable for any age person. My grandchildren to whom I gave the book were amazed and tickled by the expressiveness of the food faces and I was astonished at the imagination that created them. The fact that collectively several of them also tell stories is also great fun. I recommend this book for everyone.



5. My 2 1/2 year old son who has severe food aversions and will not touch any fruits or vegetables other than bananas and french fries, is absolutely delighted by this book. He looks at it almost every day and loves to name all of the fruits and vegetables and what each is meant to look like. I'm very impressed with it as well. It's fun for any age. I highly recommend it.

5 comments about The Adobe Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers (VOICES).

1. I have this book on my desk at all times. Step by step applications that make learning photoshop CS a breeze! I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn how to enhance their pictures!



2. This book, like many photoshop books, is just the same thing over and over. How to retouch photos, how to use layers to change the intensity of an image. It's a good book if it is your first photoshop book and you're looking to learn the basics, but it is nothing beyond basic.



3. These book have helped me to do things I could have never done without reading. Love these Photoshop books.



4. Good easy to understand instructions. Full color pictures help.
   
   Topics covered are for intermediate users.
   
   Some advanced topics such as HDR not covered.



5. I got this b/c I am still pretty new to photoshop and it's a tough program to get a handle on b/c of the terminology. This booked helped me get thru the basics and even had a few advanced tips. It's easy to read and very well written (Kelby is pretty funny!) I would reccomend this to anyone just starting out in photoshop.

4 comments about Los Alamos.

1. The photos in this book are not about Los Alamos, New Mexico. Although some of them may have been taken there, many--maybe most--are from Eggleston's familiar Deep South. One is done in an airplane flying over God-knows-where.

   But the photos aren't about the locations. They are about color. And the main colors are red, white and blue.

   If Eggleston's "...Guide" was photographed under the influence of the design of the Confederate flag (as Eggleston has claimed), then the framework and inspiration for this book are the colors of the American flag.

   Robert Frank's monotone classic "Americans" had the underlying theme of the American flag. Eggleston's "Los Alamos" uses the colors of the flag as a motif. Shot over the years 1966 through 1974, there is a range of emotions within the photographs. There is cynicism--those were times ripe with cynicism--but there is also much found to admire in the American landscape at that time. Particularly the richness of the colors portrayed in the most banal and commonplace of subjects. In this arena, few photographic artists compare with William Eggleston.




2. Los Alamos is a full-color, 175-page, photographic portrait of a New Mexican town. These images, captured on film by master photographer William Eggleston, range from 1966 to 1974 and superbly capture the ups, downs, scenery, and close-ups of a living, breathing city. No text distracts from the full-page photographs, which are presented as the works of art they are. This large sized compendium is a welcome and recommended addition to any personal, professional, academic, or community library Photography collection.



3. Eggleston is a bit of a mystery. His photographs make you open your eyes wide and say, "Wow!" but it's hard to say what it is about them that is so stunning. This book is the best thing he has published to date and it offers the clearest window into Eggleston's genius that I've seen. Reproduced on large pages in rich colors that leap out and shake you until you splutter, these pictures bypass the intellect and kick your sense of raw beauty like a mule with a belly full of habaneros.

   It's clear to you that the beauty is all about the color, or is it? What's happening with the composition? Soemthing is at the tip of your tongue, but try as you might, you can't say what makes these pictures so obviously works of great genius.

   When you calm back down and try to figure how a book of pictures that look almost like snapshots could sting you so hard, the accompanying essay by Thomas Weski gives the best account of Eggleston's work that I've seen to date---short, but clearer and more insightful than Janet Malcolm's meditation on color and snapshots in Diana and Nikon or Eudora Welty's introduction to The Democratic Forest.




4. This book is stunning! A large number of Eggleston's photographs beautifully printed on good paper. "Los Alamos" is one of the best photography books I have seen in years.

4 comments about Freud at Work: Lucian Freud in Conversation with Sebastian Smee.

1. magnificent view on the painter as painter.



2. Lucian Freud seems to gain in importance as a painter and as provocateur with every exhibition (or even frequent monograph) that appears - an d for good reason. Freud continues the tradition of figure painting, but clearly in his own language. His canvases are dense with detail of both body surface and psychic message. His tendency to find rather physically grotesque models (such as Leigh Bowery) and then paint canvas after canvas of those models, each work revealing even more bizarre statements about the sitter, has made him one of the most interesting painters of our day - and the gentleman is in his eighties!
   
   Infamously reclusive, Freud paints everyday, producing huge canvases and diptychs/triptychs with what appears to be the greatest of ease. But this very fine book allows us to see the artist's struggle with the creative muse by admitting us into the studio, courtesy of interviewers David Dawson and Sebastian Smee and photographers Dawson and Bruce Bernard, a friend and admirer now gone who captured some of the more sophisticated views of the artist at easel and photographic images of the models along side the painted version from Freud's hands, imagination and talent.
   
   Even for those who have collected museum catalogs and other monographs of the work of Lucian Freud these richly reproduced color photographs of Freud's paintings, given the new vantage of moving from the museum wall into the studio of origination with the additional images of the painter at work, constitute a superior art monograph of a current genius. The book is a conversation with a living genius, a painter who is far more interested in the paint and brush than he is with the observer - until now. Highly recommended for art collectors, educators, art students, and for those who remain fascinated with the human figure. Grady Harp, April 07



3. If the so-called School of London is your thing, here is a unique opportunity to watch the grand master at work. Not as good as a video, as possible with Auerbach and Bacon, but you take what you can get with the famously reclusive Freud, who clearly relishes enhancing his own reputation for eccentricity. (Remember the Snowdon photo of a wild-eyed Freud in his youth standing in front of his vintage Rolls Royce while wearing work clothes, like a scene right out of the 'sixties film Blow Up?)
   
   Here we see the work of two photographers, both old friends, who were allowed to capture Freud at work over more than 20 years, as he painted single- and multiple-subject portraits of widely varying sizes, with subjects ranging from The Queen to Leigh Bowery. Most interestingly, this format allows us to see a large number of his paintings at various stages of completion, thus showing his process in a reasonable amount of detail.
   
   Start with a sketch by Cezanne and adapt it to two models, then add a third, to make a contemporary painting. An earlier work starts with a nude model perched somewhat precariously in the cubbyhole high up on the wall. Her portrait on the easel below reveals just how brutal Freud can be in portraying the figure. When we saw the painting at Acquavella Gallery, we wondered if he actually had the model positioned in a nook in the wall. Now we know.
   
   We see how the oil portraits of subjects such as Lord Fellowes and David Hockney start with oil sketches and go through development to the finished painting. The talented young British artist Tai-Shan Schierenberg, whose portraits of John Mortimer and Lords Sainsbury and Carrington are already in the Tate and the National Portrait Gallery, is one of several artists who paint in a style very similar to Freud's, but close-ups of Freud's smaller portraits show the particuarly intensive reworking which make his work unique. He lays on paint heavily like Auerbach or Kossoff but with his own style, which, in the end, is inimitable.
   
   Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles in full dress uniform makes a glamorous subject. We also see Freud painting a horse and his dog Pluto, and his latest young female admirer. We also see Freud developing the plates for his masterful etchings, some of the best work being done in that medium today.
   
   A 30-page interview by David Dawson and Sebastian Smee is interspersed with the late Bruce Bernard's color photographs and David Dawson provides over 100 additional color photographs of the painter at work. It seems that there is a new monograph on Freud every eighteen months or so; this is one of the few works which focuses on his process.



4. If you are an admirer of Lucian Freud's work, this book should definitely have place in your library. It essentially comprises of 3 parts, opening with a very frank and insightful interview with Freud by Sebastian Smee. Followed by two collections of colour and b&w photographs by Bruce Bernard and David Dawson. They cover all aspects of Freud in the studio - photos of Freud larking around as a Henry Moore sculpture, works in progress (often including the model), finished paintings, his studio, his dogs, horses, foxcub, etching plates and resulting prints, series of WIP paintings showing the stages involved in their creation. Over 120 photos in all, with the vast majority being in colour. Lavishly illustrated.
   
   Smee, Bernard, and Dawson all had/have a close association with Freud and for me that's what makes this book so special. Throughout, Freud is just going about his business which is captured wonderfully by the photos. Bernard wanted to take carefully considered photos but Freud was having none of that, to the point of literally doing headstands. Bernard died in 2000, around the time that Freud was working on his Cezanne piece. Dawson picks up the plot from there, with photo's through to 2006.
   
   For anyone interested in Freud's painting process, either out of curiosity or as an artist, the photo's provide a wealth of information. The adage "A picture is worth a 1000 words" could not be more apt. The Work in Progress photos range from the raw drawing on canvas through to finished pieces. A number of WIP photos also include the model, allowing for comparison between the flesh and the oil. Etching plates and the resulting prints are also shown.
   
   Smee's interview reads like a couple of guys chatting over a pint down the pub. Over his career (and long may it continue!) Freud has met and hung out with numerous famous figures - Picasso, Giacometti, Bacon, Hirst, Auerbach, Bergmann, Balthus, Bowery, Queen Elizabeth II, even gambling with the notorious Kray Twins (1950/60 gangsters from London's east end). The interview is liberally populated with wonderful anecdotes. Freud also talks about the painters through history that he admires - Cezanne, Matisse, Corot, Chardin, Toulouse-Latrec and why. He touches upon living in London and anti-semitism, what led him to paint pictures of his mother, his grandfather Sigmund Freud, being sat at the bar and finding out that someone else was impersonating him - was he upset? Not really, he ended up painting the man's portrait.
   
   For someone who is reknowned for his privacy this book is exceptional. I'm sure Freud had a huge say in how the book would look and its contents. His pride in a job well done is most evident.
   
   If Freud is on your artistic radar, even as the merest blip, then do yourself a favour and own this book. Essential. 10 stars!

5 comments about The Hand of God: Thoughts and Images Reflecting the Spirit of the Universe.

1. This work brings home the grandeur of our universe (and the creator behind it) as best as any book, video or special I have ever seen. The quotes from theologians, astronomers and prophets that accompany the images do not all point to a singular philosophy or faith, so do not be too hasty to write this tome off as a religious work or creationist propaganda. The photo prints are of superb quality and the quotations are well matched. My personal favorite quote is found on page 128, next to an image of a cluster of Massive Infant Stars: "I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science. And there is certainly no scientific reason why God cannot retain the same relevance on our modern world that he held before we began probing His creation with telescope, cyclotron and space vehicles." -Wernher Braun
   This text is also a fresh reminder that while popular, secular science writers often demonstrate a lack of wonder and exaggerate the claims of their theories, the real scientists, the Einsteins, Newtons and Keplers, regarded themselves as full of wonder and mere children who had stumbled upon a few pretty pebbles upon the ocean's beach (a paraphrase from Abraham Heschel's "A Philosophy of Judaism"). Regardless of your personal faith proclivities, if you understand that no human has all the answers (and perhaps not even very many) you will enjoy this book, guaranteed.



2. This excellent collection of pictures from space presents an awesome and inspiring view of space through many of the Hubble photos accompanied by pertinent and profound quotes from thinking peple.
   
   It is a marvelous and thought-provoking encounter with the heavens regardless of your religious views.
   
   I have given it to my children and friends and received 5-star responses from all who see it.



3. I am not one to give praise easily. In fact, I can't remember when I last reviewed a book. But this book is truly a work of art. It is very well written and will prick the conscience of any agnostic or non-believer. It's as if there is this giant puzzle which nobody has been able to put together, till Michael Reagan came along and assembled the pieces.
   Well done, that man. I also believe this book should be in every Primary school library.



4. As a young atheist, I was numb to the Creator. And now, after God's mercy has brought me to Him through His Son Jesus Christ, I know the joy of worshipping Him. This is a book that, for me, leads the heart to humility and worship of the great Creator of all.



5. If you are looking for a book to provide snippets of inspiration for others who are dear to you, or, perhaps one that will spark your own prayer and devotional time, this may be the book you are seeking.
   
   "The Hand of God" is a collection of photographs taken in space, many by the Hubble Telescope, showing the vast and awe-inspiring wonder of the universe. These photos, a new "eye on the heavens" show every manner of nebula, comet and star formation for the wondering earthbound traveler. Presented in deep and vivid colors, the photos are thoughtfully paired with inspirational quotations, both familiar and obscure.
   
   Of the many gorgeous images, surprises abound. A view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and its surroundings looks every bit like a segment of Van Gogh's "Starry Night". A shimmering white cross-like photograph of Galaxy NGC 4640A is coupled with these lines from an ancient Jewish proverb: "God said to Abraham, 'But for me, you would not be here.' 'I know that, Lord,' Abraham answered, 'but were I not here, there would be no one to think about you.'"
   
   Here are page after page of vast and panoramic views--both in word and in photograph, ranging from the tender greens and blues of our own earth, to a halo-like image of a filament eruption on our sun.
   
   One would not classify this as a coffee table book per se, since its 8" x 8 1/2" dimensions are much smaller. It is perhaps best called an end table or nightstand book, suitable for an occasional glance or prolonged study. Either way, the unfamiliar images are profoundly inspiring, and invite the reader to move beyond Arthur Schopenhauer's observation, "Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world." This book is sure to expand your limits and inspire your vision, beautifully.

5 comments about The Human Figure in Motion.

1. Muybridge's "The Human Figure in Motion" is a classic. The frame by frame photographs of figures (male, female, athletes, children) are vintage photos from the latter half of the 19th century. They document action: carrying objects, a man jumping, child crawling, etc, as well as activities common to the time that are not evident in everyday activity now, such as discus throwing, fencing, woman pouring water from a jug, etc. These photos, although small, are still of major importance to the artist who tries to understand muscle groups for drawing the figure. Great resource book.



2. This book is of historical interest and shows the genius of Muybridge. It comes practically without text and is simply Muybridge's photo album with lots and lots of images of naked men and women in action. However, to go beyond that and to take the book as an art reference to anatomy is simply a fallacy. The pictures are so small and the resolution so poor (understandably) that unless you are drawing stick figures, it is simply impossible to use as a reference.



3. Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was the most significant contributor to the early study of human and animal locomotion, whose extensive studies were acknowledged by such pioneers of motion pictures as the Lumiere brothers and Thomas Edison. If you have ever seen slow-motion photography of a horse galloping and seen how they have all four hooves off the ground at the same time, then you can understand the fascination in the early days of photography of taking a series of pictures of people running, climbing stairs, or dancing. In fact, it was the horse that got Muybridge involved in this work. In 1872 Muybridge was enlisted to settle bet regarding the position of a trotting horse's legs. But using a camera with the fastest shutter speed available only provided a faint image. Five years later Muybridge used a battery of cameras with mechanically tripped shutters to show the what really happens (in fact, a trotting horse and a galloping horse move differently in having all four hooves off the ground simultaneously).

   Consequently, Muybridge invented the zoopraxiscope, a primitive motion-picture machine, which recreated movement by displaying individual photographs in rapid succession. "The Human Figure in Motion" was first published in 1901 and reflects the work Muybridge did at the University of Pennsylvania, where he had been invited to work at the behest of the painting Thomas Eakins, who painted motion subjects, which explains why art students are even more interested in this book than scientists. Includes are over 160 motion studies of the human figure engaged in everything from dressing to hopping on one foot. There are almost 5,000 photographs in this 390 page clothbound edition. Be warned that most of the models, both adults and children, are "undraped" to use the vernacular of the time. In 1887 Muybridges's most important work, "Animal Locomotion," was published in 11 volumes containing over 100,000 photographs taken between 1872 and 1885. Obviously, "The Human Figure in Motion" is a more accessible way to appreciate Muybridge's groundbreaking work.




4. This book is great if you don't plan on drawing from it. although the pictures are nice ,contrasty black and whites they are small and repetitive. But what do I know? alot of obscure movie quotes.



5. This is a classic artist's resource that belongs on the shelf of anyone who draws people, at all. This book is filled with thousands of pictures of people doing many, many diverse activities. All of the pictures are of nude people, so as to allow the muscles to be seen clearly. This makes these 19th century photos timeless.

   Never has anyone produced such a comprehensive reference of this sort, before, or since. He also produced classic works on the motion of animals, that you have probably seen before, whether you were aware that they were his works or not. Muybridge is a man for the ages. Hopefully, he will one day recieve the recognition that he deserves for his great contributions.

5 comments about Schaum's Outline of Optics.

1. This schaum's outline is too old for this topic (same thing for Optics by Eugene Hecht ISBN: 0805385665). It is time for someone to write a new one even if physics has not changed! (I guess what you pay is what you get!)
   
   Pro: good summary for something you know
   con: not much detail like many old books from schaum's



2. This is a great book for somebody who wants to learn basics and get a feeling about optics. Helped me with the exam too.



3. I used this book as a supplement for a course in Physical Optics, mainly to get practice in solving problems. I found the chapters on Polarization and Diffraction very useful. This book helped me get a better grade in this course. This book does not cover the topics like Jones and Coherence Matrix and Stokes vector. However these topics are covered well in the same author's Optics text. BTW, The Optics text is also very good. Solving problems in this book and then approaching the text gives a much better understanding of Optics. This book does not cover Poincare' sphere, which is also an important topic for which we cant find material anywhere except our Professor's lecture notes. Overall, this book is a must if you are taking any Optics course or the GRE physics text or if you just want to master the basics of Optics.



4. Its a good book to work problems in congunction with a regular text book. The practical side is limited for engineering purposes. Smith or Fischer is a better book.
   
   I am a practicing engineer, so I look at stuff from what works in real world. It would have been a very good book when I was in grad school (many moons ago:).



5. This Schaum's outline is better than the expensive textbook by the same author on the same subject in many ways, and in my opinion stands alone as a guide on optics. It gets to the meat of optics via solving problems that range from simple to difficult, which is particularly attractive to engineers learning or reviewing this subject. To me, the only chapters that seemed a bit confusing were the first two on wave motion and on electromagnetic waves and photons. For that material you may need to consult another source. From that point onward, however, the outline couldn't be any better. The outline even has a chapter that introduces Fourier optics. This outline would make an excellent review or supplement for someone taking a course in Photonics that uses Saleh's "Fundamentals of Photonics". That textbook has virtually no solved problems in it whatsoever, and the first third of the book follows the material covered in this outline nicely.

2 comments about Wiley CPA Examination Review 2007-2008, Vol. 2: Problems and Solutions.

1. I bought the 2 vol set with the 4 vol bundle with the thought that the 2 vol set is totally different. How wrong i am!!! It is exactly the duplicate of the 4 volume, the only difference is that the study outline and problems and solutions in the 4 vol set had been split into 2 volumes.
   
   I have returned the 2 vol set to Amazon.Hopefully can get a refund.



2. This really is a great product and I found both the volume and nature of the multiple choice questions to be outstanding. Before buying this book, I labored through the Becker course without good results. I take much of the blame for early failure, but this book cuts right to the chase. The Becker course has a lot of bells and whistles, but really, just get this book and work through the thousands of practice questions. It will never expire (unlike the Becker materials) and this book contains all of the same (exact same) questions as Becker's materials. Money well spent. Good luck to all, it is such a relief to be done!

2 comments about Enclosure.

1. You will not look at rocks, sticks, ice, leaves or water the same way after you read this (or any) of his books. It's mezmerizing to see the way these common objects we would walk right by turn into sublime art. Also worth checking out the DVD "Rivers and Tides". Just wonderful, and the polar opposite of the slick, mass produced art out there today.



2. Andy Goldsworthy's work is as good as a human being can get to the Northern Lights.