Take Better Photos with Your Phone
By Peter de Ruiter

A book about camera phones? Don’t you just point and shoot? There are now camera phones out there with options for adjusting zoom, exposure, multiple exposure and more. The author of this book thoroughly explains the variety of phones, options, and even gives tips for photographing. This pocket size how-to book is a great tool for those who have a camera phone with options, but aren’t sure how to use them. This book may also be useful to the more advanced photographer who is unaware of the capabilities of today’s camera phones.

RATING
Text: A
Layout: A
Photography: A
User: All Photography Levels
(Reviewed April 2008 by EP)

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There are many books on the market that deal with how to take great pictures, but you don't see very many that teach you anything about how to see the world from within. The inside where all feelings come from. Oriental traditions have always made living from within their guidelines for life, and now there are two new books on the market that take that way of thinking and apply it to photography.

This book is one of those. It is 144 pages of inspiration and thought on how you too can learn to see with a new vision, and then transfer that vision into your images. This soft cover is published by AMPHOTO and retails for $29.95.
(Reviewed Feb. 2004)

If you are new to Adobe PhotoShop CS, there is a new book out just for you. Teach Yourself PhotoShop CS in 24 Hours is the fastest and easiest way to learn all about what you can do with this #1 digital imaging software program. Each hour covers another PhotoShop feature from the basics to using PhotoShop for the web. This 7x9 inch, soft cover book has 527-pages, a color sample gallery, and lessons to show every tool and setting used to do the work. In just 24 hours, you can be creating quality digital images of your own. This is by far the best book to get for beginners, as it is very easy to learn from and makes you ready faster to go on to more advanced training. The book retails for US$24.99.  
You can order them from   www.samspublishing.com    
I Rate it:  A+ 
(Reviewed March 2005)

 

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Tao of Photography, Seeing Beyond Seeing,
by Philippe Gross and S.I. Shapiro.

While the above book is mostly color, this one is 136 pages of fine black and white images, and some of those include the works of Ernst Hass, Ansel Adams, and Aaron Siskind to name just a few, as well as images from the authors.  It is published by Ten Speed Press and the soft cover retails for $24.95
(Reviewed Feb. 2004)

 

301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques: An Essential Printing Resource for Photographers
By Andrew Darlow

This book is part of the Digital Process and Print series published by Thomson Course Technology. This book is broken up into chapters about digital imaging and printing. The chapters are composed of an introduction about the subject and then organized by a list of tips about the topic. For example, within the color management chapter, Tip #60 is: “Learn the difference between calibrating and profiling.” The author continues with a couple pages of a written explanation and images of that tip topic. This nearly 500-page book is full information on the subject of inkjet printing as a digital photographer; perfect for the digital photographer, instructor, or student needing a resource.

I rate this book A++ (EP)
(Reviewed January 2008)

 

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I’ve always thought that picture books go on coffee tables and in bookcases, and tech books go in “piles.” One new book headed for my coffee table is Through The Lens, Greatest Photographs, from National Geographic. This new hardback book almost weighs as much as my coffee table, too. At over 10x10 inches, and almost two inches thick, I would not want to drop it on my foot. The very first picture published in National Geographic was back in 1890. This book is a collection of many of the best images published in the past 50 years, or so. Its 500-plus pages showcase the work of the best-known photographers who have worked for this classic publication, and covers Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, Oceans, and even out into the Universe. Although every image is fully captioned, there is only enough test elsewhere to keep you interested and informed. Now for an even more amazing fact: it retails for only US$30.  Check it out at,    www.watsonguptill.com      
I Rate it: A+++ 
(Reviewed Jan. 2005)


 

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I just received an interesting little book that I wanted to check out due to the fact that I have always liked to photograph old cemeteries and tombstones. I always think of all the stories they could tell, but never will. At least not until I looked at this book, Tombstones & The Tales They Tell.  It is illustrated with pictures of old tombstones, as well as a collection of some very unique and funny epitaphs, and the stories that go with them. The tombstone owners include Tom Dooley, whom they wrote a song after, a little girl buried in a rum keg, and even a stone for a man’s right arm. If trivia and odd history is one of your interests, this book is a great addition to your collection. It will also be very helpful for anyone wanting to shoot this subject, and is traveling around the Carolina states in the eastern US.  The book is 6x9 inches, 186 pages, and retails for US$9.95. It is published by Blair Publishing at:  www.blairpub.com 
I Rate it:  B++ 
(Reviewed Feb. 2005)

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Toning and Handcoloring Photographs,
by Tony Worobiec

Toning and Handcoloring Photographs is a great new information book on how you can add even more impact to your best images, and use the same techniques to improve the quality of most of the others. It's 128 pages are full of information and illustrations on what you can do, what is needed to do it, and what you can expect to get when it is done. The techniques covered include single toning, dual toning, oils, pencils, masking, airbrushing, dyes, and mixed media, and more. The illustrations are also very helpful in that there are many which show not only the standard, before and after images, but also many side by side samples of the same image done with different effects, so that you can see what each will do when applied.  They will also no doubt give you many ideas for your own new images. This soft cover book is published by AMPHOTO and retails for $24.95.  (Reviewed Feb. 2004)

This is one of those coffee table books for people who love new perspectives using photography.  In his first book, David Weinberg has documented the images created by the skyscrapers’ distortion of light and color.  Weinberg is known for his use of glass and reflections to create abstract images.  This book does create a feeling that the artist grabbed every image he took of skyscraper reflections and put it in this book; some images are more successful than others.  The best are the ones that are the most abstract and create an unrecognizable design.  Weinberg documenting these light-paintings is like a person looking into a kaleidoscope: everyone sees something different because the image is constantly changing. These opportunities lasted only for a brief moment and only the person holding the camera at the right time and angle could capture the unique combination before it drifts away. This is a great addition to anyone’s coffee table.

This hardcover book is 96 pages and is published by Glitterati, Inc. www.GlitteratiIncorporated.com (October 25, 2006). It measures 11.3 x 10.7 x 0.8 inches and retails for $50.00
I rate it: A (EP) 
(Reviewed April 2007)

Travel Photography: Documenting the World’s People and Places
by Bob Krist

This book is the first in Lark Photography’s collection of books called Digital Masters, which offer books by highly trained masters in the specific field of photography being featured. Bob Krist is a National Geographic photographer with multiple awards. He takes travel photography beyond the point of documenting. Krist lives by the rule of capturing high quality images in the camera and not relying on fancy equipment or software to fix a poor image. This book covers the necessities of getting good photographs from the beginning. Along with an ample amount of text, the book includes outstanding examples of travel photographs. The only disappointing fact is that these images don’t include any caption to describe their location or event. Despite this, it is an excellent resource for any photographer interested in travel photography.

Text: A+
Layout: B
Photography: A+
User: All Photographers
(Reviewed by EP Nov. 2008)

Travel Photography: Off the Charts
By Lou Jones

Lou Jones is a very accomplished travel and commercial photographer.  He has a way of combining his artistic eye and technical knowledge to capture the amazing connections he makes with a location.  Travel Photography: Off the Charts is an instructional manual containing technical information and guidance from this well-known master.  It includes advice on equipment needed and clothing to wear, but also composition and what to photograph.  There are even chapters on security and health.  For those who want to learn more about travel photography or the style used by Lou Jones, this is a great resource.
182 pages, Focal Press  (July 27, 2006), Paperback, US$29.95
I rate this book A++
(Reviewed Aug. 2006)