5 comments about Lighting for Digital Video & Television, Second Edition.

1. I got this book out of the library to read as a preparation for doing lighting on a low-budget movie I'm planning. Long story short, I devoured the book, then had to renew it so I could read it again and again.
   
   People with big expensive lights will love the clear use of big expensive lighting equipment.
   
   People who know nothing about lighting (like I did before I got this book) and have no money (like me) will love the low-budget chapter, and specifically the "spit and gaffer's tape" (author's words) list of equipment for those of us without deep pockets.



2. This is an amazing book. The guy is a true pro and explains everything you need to know to get takes that look professional on the first try.
   
   The book is really well written and organized. I blows by while you learn all the hows and whys of lighting video.
   
   I recomend this to anyone who feels that they are not at the professional level with lighting yet. It will change your life.



3. Overall, I think this book is very easy to read. The author starts with the basic elements of lighting and builds on that foundation. I am using it with a lighting for video class that I am enrolled in, but would be very helpful by itself. The pictures really help to guide the process and set up your lighting scenerios properly.



4. This book changed my perspective of lighting being a beginner and it gave me so much insight and the buzz words to work with the pros... Truly enjoyed it and refer to it often! (NO I am not the author)hehe I just really liked it. It rocks!!



5. Lighting for Digital Video & Television introduces the basics of lighting for film and video in a very concise and lucid manner. The information published here will serve the filmmaker with very little or no budget as well as those with professional budgets. The author presents both relevant theory and practical advice. The single best book I have purchased on the subject of lighting for video.

5 comments about Still Life and Special Effects Photography: A Guide to Professional Lighting Techniques, Second Edition.

1. From the original review on PixSylated.com: I love the format of RotoVision books. A big, beautiful photo opposite a detailed lighting diagram with just enough words to explain how the image came together. This book is a compilation covering a wide range of still life photography.There are lessons to be learned for all types of still life and product photography. For instance, I found that the techniques for making a length of rusty chain look beautiful are equally applicable to lighting bread. Given that it costs about as much as a good pizza, Still Life and Special Effects Photography is another must-have.



2. Well. .I ordered this book and when I open it I realize that I found the book I was searching for a long time!
   
   The sets designs are very very helpuful to know the practise of lights and the shots help me a lot in my creative though!
   
   Very good book. I recommend it to all the photographer with a hard passion for still life photography.



3. This book is great for fueling your creativity and showing you how to accomplish the photos as shown.



4. This book reads like it was written before digital photography and Photoshop were viable options for the professional photographer. Many of the elaborately staged shots are laughable and seem quaint compared to today's techniques. Don't let the cover images fool you either, most of the shots inside have a very 1980s feel to them. Even so, a handful of the shots have useful lighting information, so this will stay on my studio's bookshelf.



5. This is an oldfashioned book with elementary sketches showing lighting setups and not much else. I would recommend instead:Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting This book explores an approach to lighting that excites the imaginiation.

5 comments about Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists.

1. I really liked this book because i love making lists and this book provides you with great questions. One, because it's things I wouldn't have really thought of listing on my own, and two because it's makes a list of things that you might later forget in life so it's like a mini biography



2. Visually it looks great! Kooky illustrations on nice paper - you do want to write in this journal. Plenty of room for your ideas. The pages are headed up with list topics and you just jot down "answers". I think the idea of the book is to add to the lists over a period of time, having a giggle at your previous comments. This is something that I do think I will continue, not like a journal which I can't keep going for longer than a month!



3. I bought this book for my friend for Christmas because she is always making lists and she loved it.



4. I've been addicted to making lists for years, I came across this book on a blog and I went threw the roof. I ordered it immediately, received it today and have spent most of my day filling it out already. I'm glad to have found others who share the love for lists. Use it to learn about yourself or to just have fun.



5. if you know anyone who loves making lists(as i do!),this would be the PERFECT gift!
   
   I was so excited to receive mine in the mail and I'm slowly making my lists so it will last longer.
   
   I wish it had less pictures and a few more lists but it has almost every list you can imagine with space to make your own in the back.

5 comments about Advanced Photoshop Elements 6 for Digital Photographers.

1. Very good book to help anyone learn how to get the most out of Photoshop Elements. The book is easy to read and understand. There is also the bonus link to a website to help you learn. I have been working with Elements for a number of years and this book has really helped me improve my picture editing skills.



2. Having read many articles and books on Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, I was keen to see something for Elements pitched at the advanced user - too often only the Photoshop books focus on the advanced. This book generally meets these objectives well.
   
   Early on, unfortunately the author spends time discussing the "auto-everything" features and beginner functions, and I began to wonder if this was to be the tone for the book. Fortunately, these wasted pages behind me, the rest of the book is very good. There are plenty of pages packed with plenty of info, so discarding the beginner stuff, still leaves you with much to learn. I found the coverage of layers and layer masks good, especially as almost all other info on this subject is photoshop and not elements focussed. As a newbie to printing I also found the printing chapter to be very informative and logical.
   
   Good on the author for explaining things well, and allowing Elements users to realise the full power of the application.



3. Phillip has written a very useful book for the intermediate to advanced Photoshop Elements user to take advantage of the latest features Adobe has added to Elements 6. I have a copy of this edition on my bookshelf and also have the previous edition of this book for Elements 5.
   As before, there are lots of colorful images and illustrations to complement the text and many of the images can be downloaded from his website. This edition seems to make more improvements towards showing step by step instructions along with concise explanations of image editing concepts, image capture, editing tools and features to help the reader know "how" and understand "why".
   For example, his step by step presentation of Camera RAW workflow and explanations of the Elements 6 RAW editor features are very clear and practical. He also explains a couple of methods for RAW editing of multiple images. Very well done, but one thing does seem to be missing, I couldn't find instructions on how to open a normal JPEG image for editing in the RAW editor.
   There are a few typos here and there that appear to have carried over from the previous edition/version, but they are of no major consequence. I've used elements regularly since version 2 and Adobe seems to be indecisive with parts of the program as they continually reorganize and rename different features from version to version, albeit most seem to help improve it overall after you adapt to the changes. All of this makes it more challenging for writers to keep up with their shuffle of terminology, menus and overall layout. Phillip seems to have done well at this game!



4. Written by the same author as 'Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 - A visual introduction', but covering more advanced topics as the name suggests.
   
   The book starts with some basic concepts of digital imaging and leads on to some pretty complex projects which can be undertaken in Elements.
   
   At the moment, it's firmly based around Windows version - all the screenshots and keyboard shortcuts refer to this and there's no indication of any proposed updates when the Macintosh version is released later this month - as a user of the beta version of the software I didn't find it difficult to navigate the menus and tools.
   However, it's not restricted to users of v6 - each process has indicators showing which versions of Elements it can be applied to and they could equally be applied to Photoshop CS3.
   
   It's written in an easy style to read - I found even the most complex of projects pretty simple to follow. However, no CD is provided as with his other book - not a major issue, but sometimes seeing a process in a video is helpful. Resources in the form of the images used in many of the chapters are available from the book's dedicated website along with some videos, but these are not particularly related to the contents of the book.
   
   Good layout with clear graphics, before and after shots and staged walk-throughs.
   
   The book is split into sections which are easy to navigate via a comprehensive contents page and index. A good book for dipping into when you need to figure out how to do digital hand colouring!
   
   The sections dealing with colour management were particularly useful as this is a concept I've always
   struggled with...



5. Another good book by Philip Andrews. Where his Adobe PSE6 Visual introduction is the appetizer, this Advanced PSE6 for Digital Photographers is the entree. Mr Andrews covers what's happening in your camera and scanner and how you can control image output, fully covers RAW processing; and then goes into workflows that work. He then speaks to the application and projects and really gets into the detail of making the PSE tools work for you. The way Mr Andrews has written this book it is easy to understand and you feel like you have a mentor that really wants to see you succeed.

No comments about Magic Lantern Guides: Canon EOS Rebel XSi EOS 450D (Magic Lantern Guides).

5 comments about Color Photography: A Working Manual (Color Photography).

1. Good introductory book on color film photography. Great chapters on processing films and making prints.
   
   Contains nothing about digital photography. Coverage on color theory is very concise.



2. Book came within 3 days, very fast. Great condition, and I think I am going to order some more wrestling stuff from Amazon. THE BEST!



3. This book contains a lot of great information, great for amateurs! I'm definitely glad I bought it.



4. A great book who like printing color photographs the old fashioned way (not digital). Hard to beat this book and the price.



5. I found the book to be very helpful undersanding color theory, how to shoot and make prints, and many other elements of photography of which I was previously unaware.

5 comments about Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon.

1. Nikkormatic Kam-ra
   
   May Pang used two cameras to make the incredible photos in this book:
   Her hastily packed 35 mm Nikkormat and a Polaroid SX-70 instant camera Lennon bought for her later. The SX-70 is in the cover photo. Sadly not a blurry Kodak Flashcube Instamatic photo in sight.
   
   The title "Instamatic Karma" is an homage to Lennon's famous song "Instant Karma".
   
   Imagine being a young woman working as John's personal assistant, and having your boss's wife tell you to date her husband. That's how May Pang's 18 month "Lost Weekend" started. You almost wonder if Yoko Ono picked May Pang so she would be able to hip-check her and reconcile with Lennon later on.
   
   Life in L.A., New York City, and Long Island are all chronicled here with bluish fuzzy Polaroid Instant photos, and Pang's historic inside views of life with John Lennon.
   
   As the ultimate insider, it is surprising that she took so few photos, or that so few made it into this book. Many of the photos are the same shot from slightly different angles or moments. Surprisingly these are not repetitive, but give a feeling of three-dimensionality or motion.
   
   Lennon always looks the same, glasses or not, clothed or half-clad. Here are photos you will not see anywhere else -- buy it now before this first edition becomes a collector's item.
   
   (ccbysa clumberiler)



2. You'll wish the book was a little bit thicker and with more photos and text, but I guess there will be a volume two. Either way it's great to be able to see any unreleased photos of John Lennon.



3. I absolutely love this book. I've been a collector of books on John, especially photo books for most of my life. What I love about this book is that the pictures are so natural and beautiful. There are hardly any "posed" pictures at all and the ones that are posed are more like family photos than something done for a publicity package. It's John looking healthy and happy and I adore it. Thanks, May!



4. You can breeze through this book in less than an hour-the written parts are short and succinct. May Pang's photos vary in quality from blurry to excellent, and reveal a happy ex-Beatle during a musically productive period of his life that he later dismissed as his "lost weekend". He looks anything but lost. This is clearly a labor of love from Pang, and it shows.



5. It's always great to see new photos of the beatles that we haven't seen before, especially when it's the late John Lennon. This book reveals John's 'Lost Weekend' life as one of fun and adventure, really helping to shape and make clear a part of John that was secret for a long time. I loved this book and recommend it to any Lennon fan.

5 comments about Photographer's Guide to Yellowstone and the Tetons.

1. This is a very helpful book when photographing Teton and Yellowstone. I was able to decide exactly what equipment to pack prior to the trip and it was exactly what I needed.



2. Good pointers for each geographic location.
   
   Could be updated to add digital photography tips, but my long experience enabled me to accommodate for that.



3. I would have given the Photographers Guide to Yellowstone & the Titons a 5 Star Rating if there was an index in the back of the book for easy reference while out in the field. It is difficult trying to remember what page the subject that your looking at is on. That being said, it is still a good reference book on the area and I do not regret buying it.



4. I bought this book to take along on a vacation trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons in mid-June 2007. I found it to be a great source to take photos of often photographed natural icons at different views and angles as well as some shots that the average traveler would not know about without this book. For instance I would not have known about the great shots that can be taken of the Mormon Row Barns with the Tetons in the background without this book. Perhaps more seasoned photographers may know about these different places but I for one would not have had a clue. I would have ended my vacation with the same shots of Yellowstone and the Tetons that everyone else has. The book took me off the beaten path where I got some great shots and expierenced the pleasures of getting away from the main road.
   
   Other valuable information was the instructions on what time of day is best to shoot a certain shot, tips about exposure, and valuable tips about using filters that made my pictures stand out.
   
   The book was concise, accurate, and very easy to follow and understand for an novice like me.



5. A caveat: I am a total amateur who takes pictures only during the one or two annual vacations using very simple equipment!
   
   I just came back after 5 days at YS and GT parks. I was very impressed by how accurate Joseph's suggestions were -- in terms of the preferred times, angles and such to take pictures from. For example, Joseph had suggested taking pictures of the Old Faithful NOT from the benches in front of the Inn, but from the lodge side or from another angle which would include some colorful runoffs in the picture. I managed to pick up a rainbow with the waterfall from Uncle Tom's trail in my video (my still camera did nt pick it up). Other suggetsions also turned out to be as accurate and useful. More importantly, it is absolutely free of fluff and hence you can read it in a 2 hours flight to YS!
   
   When I first looked at Joseph's pictures, I felt like there was probably a tad excessive use of filters to exaggerate the contrasts (the blues appeared to me to be a bit more blue than what would have been real). I never got to verify this as the sky was grey in YS and GT when I was there! Anyways, it is just a matter of taste. If you like Joseph's results (they are stunning), you can use the detailed input he provides on the use of the polarizer and the filters. Even otherwise, his suggestions on just the spots and times to take pictures from make the book very valuable.
   
   The book is organized based on features -- waterfalls, geysers, animals and so on. That is probably useful for many. However, for family vacationers, coverage by location (Norris, West Thumb,...) would probably have been easier to use. I had to correlate the suggested times for photography from Joseph with the info I got on how to cover each location from another excellent book (YS Treasures by J Chappel).
   
   Overall, I strongly recommend the book.

5 comments about Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters.

1. I will just say that this is very helpful for reference to specific part of the human anatomy. Especially the skeletal and muscular diagrams at the back of the book.



2. for us amateaur artists who want inspiration to create great works of art. This book shows the details of the human body and how great artists drew from live and dead bodies as they create the greatest masterpieces in art history.



3. I took an art class at the junior college and the instructor suggested copying the masters to improve drawing skills. I bought this book and copied every picture. Not only did it familiarize me with many artists I had not heard of but, over time my drawing skills improved dramatically. I am now buying collections of drawings of other artists and copying. I highly recommend the book not only as a reference but also to be used to improve skills. I have an engineering background, not art and this helped immensely.



4. Pick up this book if you are looking for a great artistic anatomy reference book. If you are looking for more than reference, however, you might want to look elsewhere. While this book is definitely good, it doesn't give the artist direction in how to draw or depict the illustrations. The text is pretty much straight-forward, usually only noting the parts of the bodies in the images. Second, this book lacks the poetic and great writing of Robert Beverly Hale.

   Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters is more of an extra reference book or a supplement to Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters. In that book, Hale really teaches to the reader whats needed to depict anatomy, what steps the artist must take, gives tips on how to become a great or accomplished artist, why the artists of the past were so good, what mistakes beginners of figure drawing usually make, and sooooo much more. It's pretty much an incredible book to have even if you're not into figure drawing.

   I think Anatomy Lessons would probably be more highly regarded in my eyes had Drawing Lessons been nonexistent. Anatomy Lessons is great for further reference, if thats what you're looking for though. I probably wouldn't recommend anyone to buy this book unless you already own or have thoroughly read and studied Drawing Lessons by the Great Masters.




5. An excellent book on artistic anatomy. Reading this one book has taught me more than some figure drawing classes. A systematic deconstruction of how the masters of artistic anatomy have integrated their knowledge into some of the greatest drawings of all time. The book goes through the drawings of famous artists, categorized by the region of the body on which the drawings are focused, and attempts to explain how extensive knowledge of anatomy has been effectively applied. It touches on how these artists could create drawings which are more powerful than merely a photographic rendering of the model through their use of anatomy.

   Unfortunately, the book is very cheaply bound. Entire leaves have detached themselves from the spine, though I have treated the book very well. My copy has turned into a stack of paper and scotch tape, wrapped loosely in its former cover. Despite that fact, I still consider it worth the purchase.

   I have both this book and "Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters." Both are excellent books, but if you must only buy one, get this one. It is the better of the two.

5 comments about The Best of Family Portrait Photography: Professional Techniques and Images.

1. If you are new to family portraiture or are simply frustrated with your results, this is the book for you. It's an easy read with lots of photographic examples without all the fluff. I highly recommend it!



2. Even if you have shot family portraits before, this book not only gives you new ideas but it also details the techniques and lighting logistics from the portraits shown. It also reminds us of what we may have forgotten or have become lazy in doing. A definate thumbs up.



3. This book makes it very simple (comparatively) to understand how to place subjects, how to light them and how to take the pictures! The photos included are great, too, to give ideas of what is being discussed.



4. My wife started giving me a hard time about family pictures, insisting on having some done by a pro. So, I have a camera, know where the button is to take the picture, and can read - so ordered this book. Why pay a pro if you can do it yourself, right?
   
   The book is of good quality and print. The pictures are absolutely stunning and left me drooling with desire on knowing how to take them. Bill is offering some advice next to some pictures on the settings used by the pro's that took the pics, and only that advice and the hints and tips for posing and group composition makes this book worth the money.
   
   Take note however that taking pics such as the ones in this book requires careful planning - location, dress-code, weather conditions, and good equipment (forget about your point & shoot). You also need some software tool such as photoshop, and you need to know how to use it. If you have any doubts, forget the book and order a pro...



5. This book has good info for beginners. The photography is just mediocre though. I woudl have preferred more inspirational and dynamic photographs in this book