Photo Book
Reviews
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All Reviews are by Paul W Faust unless otherwise noted as Michael Fulks (MF)
and Elizabeth Powis (EP).
To purchase any book or to find out pricing
information, click on any of the book images.
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Archipelago
by David Liittschwager & Susan Middleton
Archipelago is a magnificent photographic record of this
chain of islands that stretches more than 1,200 miles beginning
northwest of the Hawaiian Islands, and goes past the Midway Atoll.
Large areas of this region are set aside as wildlife refuges for
seabirds and marine life, and managed by researchers. This book is a
collection of the images taken during this research, and one look at
the cover image will let you know just how magnificent those images
are. Besides the photos of the animals, there is a ton of
information about the islands and their animal citizens. In
the back of the book, there is a section with animal profiles for
each one. Every photographer, and nature lover, will love this book,
as will anyone who is lucky enough to get it as a family heirloom.
This hardback book is about 12x12 inches, with 280 pages, and
retails for US$65.00 and if your local bookstore does not have a
copy you can order it from the NG web site at:
www.nationalgeographic.com
I Rate it: A++++
(Reviewed March 2006)
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Arnold Newman
by Philip Brookman
Arnold Newman was a giant among photographers. In his lifetime, he
photographed for the most famous magazines including Life, Look,
Fortune, and the New Yorker. This superb new book is filled with his
images of people, places, and things - from painters to a Watusi
king, and from a stone wall to Picasso in shorts. Most of the images
are well-published portraits of people like Georgia O’Keefe and
other well-known artists, but there are also many of his documentary
images of city life from back in the 1940s. No matter what the image
though, they all show that they were made by a master photographer.
If you have a photo library, you do not want to be without this book
in it!!! (And take a look at this unbelievable low price. It
is worth twice that, if not more!)
This hardback book is about 9x12 inches, with 280 pages, retails for
US$24.99 – and is published by Taschen at:
www.taschen.com
I Rate it: A+++
(Reviewed Dec. 2006)
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Art & Design in Photoshop:
How to Simulate Just about Anything from Great Works of Art to Urban
Graffiti
by Steve Caplin
This is another Photoshop book
written by the same author as
How to Cheat in Photoshop
CS3. In this book, there are the perfect ingredients for a
textbook for a digital imaging or Photoshop class. The sections are
designed like lessons or tutorials. The first chapter includes
different lessons of typography: fonts, size, and design. The second
chapter is titled Principles of Design and covers the basics of any
artist’s design: perspective, focal point, and composition. The
majority of the other chapters are various projects with
instructions to accomplish different techniques. One section
includes steps to use the Pen tool to draw a Simpsons character.
Each section uses shortcut key commands for both the PC and Mac,
lists extension tips and also gives a historical or contemporary
example for inspiration on the project. The book includes a CD with
the images, textures, and fonts used on all of the projects. An
excellent resource for any individual working on their own work or
designing a lesson for their teaching.
Paperback:
256 pages
Publisher:
Focal Press,
http://www.focalpress.com; Pap/Cdr edition (August 25, 2008)
ISBN-10:
0240811097
ISBN-13:
978-0240811093
Product Dimensions:
9.9 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
Text: A+
Layout: A++
Photography: A+
User: All Photographers
(Reviewed by EP Nov. 2008)
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Artistic Techniques with Adobe
Photoshop and Corel Painter
by Deborah Lynn Ferro
This book is a new guide for
photographers who want to turn their images into fine-art
masterpieces using digital tools, which now gives everyone more
total control than ever before. With 17 chapters filled with how-to
info on turning even a poor image into a great one, this new book
will be worn out real fast with constant use. Every technique is
full illustrated and explained in easy to understand directions. You
will learn a lot with this book in your library!
This soft cover book is about 9x11
inch, with 127 pages and retails for only US$34.95.
Distributed by Amherst Media at:
www.amherstmedia.com
I Rate it: A+
(Reviewed Oct. 2005)
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The Art of Digital Photography
by John Hedgecoe
Anyone who has been around photography very long knows the name John
Hedgecoe, and for good reason. He is one of the more experienced
photographers and authors around, and now he has used all of that
knowledge and incorporated it in a new book for digital photography.
The cover of this book alone will give you an idea of the quality of
his images, and the rest of the book will teach you how you can
create your own great images. One of the BEST parts of this book is
that the entire thing, from cover to cover, deals with the "HOW-TO”
of creating the best images. Unlike so many (too many) other books,
there are NO sections in this with those things other authors use to
fill space with, such as what camera you should choose, and what
lenses to go with it. ALL of that is gone from this book, and it is
NOT missed by me one bit. This is not only a book full of
beautiful images, but also the information you will need to make
ones like them. And it’s even a steal for the price!
This hardback book is about 9x11 inches, with 288 pages, retails for
US$30.00 – and is distributed by DK Publishing at
www.dk.com
Rate it: A++
(Reviewed Jan. 2007) |
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The Art of Digital Photography,
by Tom AngHere is another a
step-by-step guide to creating and manipulating great images. This
8.5x11 inch, soft cover book is designed for the truly creative
photographer. It covers all areas of digital work from what
equipment is needed to outputting the final image. Many of the photo
illustrations in it are also by other artists, and it has a variety
and quality that is outstanding. Subject matter ranges from
regular PhotoShop filter effects to very involved montages. This
AMPHOTO book has a wealth of ideas and information, and is well
worth its retail price of US$29.95. It can be checked out at
www.watsonguptill.com
I Rate it: A++
(Reviewed March 2005) |
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The Art of Digital Wedding
Photography
Professional Techniques with Style
By Bambi Cantrell & Skip Cohen
This is a very nice new book for both learning the business, and/or
adding to an already established wedding photography business.
It is filled with many fresh new ideas, especially for digital
photographers, as well as all of the old standards of wedding poses.
It is not a technical how-to book with lighting and all of the other
matters, but instead concerns itself with the “Eye” rather than the
tools used to make the images.
This soft cover book is about 9x9 inches, with 160 pages, retails
for US$29.95 – and is published by AMPHOTO BOOKS at
www.watsonguptill.com
I Rate it: A
(Reviewed Aug. 2006)
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The Art of Outdoor Photography,
by Boyd NortonThe Art
of Outdoor Photography is a great collection of techniques
for advanced amateur and pro photographers. I wish the image that is
on the title page been put on the cover so you could see how
excellent the images are in this book. I am used to seeing better
than average photography, but this book contains many images even
better than average, and the rest of the book shows you how you,
too, can make them. Unlike most photo how-to books that have more
images than useful information, this one is just the opposite. Most
pages are full of just information so get ready to learn a lot! This
one is also bigger than most 8.5x11 inch soft cover books its size.
With 192 pages, it is twice as thick as many I get. There are also
chapters that cover how to use your work after you have captured
those great new images of your own. All of this and with only a
retail price of US$21.95. Published by Voyageur Press and can
be ordered at
www.voyageurpress.com
I Rate it: A+
(Reviewed March 2005)
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The Art of People Photography:
Inspiring Techniques for Creative Results
by Bambi Cantrell & Skip Cohen
If people are your thing, and you want to get more creative, here is
an excellent new book for you. It is all about going beyond the
normal people/portrait type pictures, and into how to create images
that “really” stand out and grab you. Just looking at the
illustrations in the book is enough to inspire “almost” anyone to
grab the first person they pass, haul them off to a good lighting
location and start shooting pictures of them. This is another rare
book that inspires you to actually do something with your work.
This soft cover book is about 8x10 inches, with 176 pages, retails
for US$24.95 – and is published by AMPHOTO BOOKS at
www.watsonguptill.com
I Rate it: A
(Reviewed July 2007)
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The Art of Photo
Manipulation, Photoshop for Right-Brainers,
by Al Ward
This is not just another Photoshop
book. This one is for all of the creative artists who need to use
Photoshop to do a lot more than just “fix” their images. This
is your personal guide to advanced photo manipulation and special
effects, and it even comes with a cross-platform CD that contains
all of the files you need to do the book’s lessons. This is one of
the better how-to books on Photoshop. It doesn’t just tell you what
to do, but shows you the tools and their settings used to do them.
(A major plus in my view!) This 8x10 inch book has 336 pages, and
retails for US$49.99.
I Rate it: A+
(Reviewed April 2005)
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The Art of Photoshop
– CS2 edition,
by Daniel Giordan
This is a great, new how-to book that will take you far beyond
creating everyday images and into the world of great, digital fine
art. There are 19 chapters that cover everything you will need to
know to create great artwork, but the lessons take you far beyond
what you get from most other Photoshop how-to books. It is full of
step-by-step illustrations, including screen shots of the tools used
and their settings. This book will show you how to create gallery
quality images, and it also includes a bonus CD that has the
author’s source files for all of the lessons in the book. This is
one book you will keep right at your workstation to use all of the
time.
This soft cover book is about 10x10 inches, with 303 pages, retails
for US$49.99, and is published by SAMS Publishing at:
www.samspublishing.com
I Rate it: A++
(Reviewed April 2006)
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The Art of Photoshop for
Digital Photographers
by Daniel Giordan
This new book was inspired by, and is illustrated with, images from
the areas around Tuscany. It is both an instructional and
inspirational book that covers how to take better images and then
how to make them even better in your computer by using techniques
from simple painterly effects to alternative ones. It has a lot of
“why” and “how-to” info for every subject.
This soft cover book is about 8x8 inches, with 280 pages, retails
for US$39.99 – and is published by SAMS Publishing at
www.samspublishing.com
I Rate it: A
(Reviewed March 2006)
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The Art of the SNOWFLAKE,
A Photographic Album
By Kenneth Libbrecht
With each one as uniquely different as a fingerprint, snowflakes
have to be thee most beautiful crystal forms in nature, and just one
look at the cover of this new book will show you why. I have
seen snowflake photography done many times in the past, but never to
this extent and with this dedication. I also did not know that
snowflakes are grouped in categories by their shape, such as,
Plates, Prisms, Needles, Columns, and others, again each
one-of-a-kind. There are even ones that look like film reels
and bullets. Their detail is even more amazing when you see it blown
up to a full page, as many of the shots are. This is also the
first time I have ever seen shots of snowflakes on top of other
snowflakes. This would make another super holiday gift and
children will absolutely love it!
This hardback book is about 11x12 inches, with 156 pages, retails
for US-$30.00 - and is published by Voyageur Press at:
www.voyageurpress.com
I Rate it: A++
(Reviewed December 2007)
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Assembling PANORAMIC Photos,
A Designer’s Notebook,
translated by William Rodarmor
The O'Reilly Media offering is a
collection of the panoramic images of eight French artists, and the
details of how they did each one. This is a very good new book on
how-to make these great pan images, whether they are simple or very
complex. If you really think you already know how to stitch together
a pan image, see how well you do with a full 360-degree “circular”
scene. Yes, I mean ROUND. When you can do that, you can do any pan
image, and one of the eight examples in this book shows you how.
This soft cover book is 8.5x9.5 inches, with 96
pages, and retails for only US$19.95. This book is published
by O’Reilly Media and can be checked out at
www.oreilly.com
I Rate it: A+
(Reviewed Sept. 2005)
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Atget – Paris in Detail
is a collection of close ups and detail images around the city of
Paris by one of the pioneers of photography, Eugene Atget. Every
image in this book came from collections, many of which were lost on
back shelves for decades. These published images are outstanding
considering that they were created over 100 years ago in the
“pre-historic” days of photography. The subjects include everything
from doorknockers to cathedral interiors, almost all of which are
long gone, even to the memory of most. To know where photography is
today and where it may go to, you have to know where it came from,
and this book is a perfect collection from its past.
This hardback book is about 11x11
inch, with 231 pages and retails for only US$60.00. Distributed by
Rizzoli at
www.rizzoliusa.com
I Rate it: A
(Reviewed Nov. 2005) |
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AUTUMN
by Jean Mulatier
Here is a power packed new book
filled from front to back with 211 of the most beautiful fall color
images I have ever seen. Added in with those are “quotes of life”
from many of the best known writers from ancient to modern times.
This is one of the smallest picture books I have seen, but it is
also one of the best. Great things do come in small packages, at
least between these covers it does. This is one of the few books
that I will take and sit under a tree with a big glass of ice tea
and read from cover to cover.
This hardback book is about 7x5
inch, over 200 pages and retails for only US$16.95.
Distributed by Rizzoli at
www.rizzoliusa.com
I Rate it: A++
(Reviewed Nov. 2005)
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