5 comments about Sea Glass Chronicles.

1. Nice book with some pretty pictures but does not really contain much useful information about sea glass. The book "Pure Sea Glass: Discovering Nature's Vanishing Gems" contains much more information about the possible origins of sea glass for the novice collector.



2. 
   
   Fabulous book for anyone who loves beachcombing and collecting sea treasures - highly recommended!



3. so much information about seaglass...
   and the photos allow you to compare what you have already found or looking for.



4. Last night I opened Sea Glass Chronicles to read a few pages, but found I couldn't put it down! This lovely book is a treasure, just like the "treasures" it describes in each chapter. After a few pages, I realized that Pat Hanbery's photographs were amazing as well! Enjoyable on several levels, it's a "coffee table" book that any age would enjoy simply for the browsing, but the writing and research by C.S. Lambert will take you much, much deeper into this hobby enjoyed by nearly everyone: beachcombing! It is an educational trip through the archaeology of beach glass, pottery, and doll fragments, caught in time before they were all altered by water's relentless task of reducing them into sand particles on a beach. Although there is a great deal of information, it is presented in quickly-readable short stories. This is a real "keeper" as well as a good gift idea.



5. Considering there was only one other book on sea glass that I knew of, I absolutely HAD to have another-being the avid sea glass fan that I am. However, upon receiving the book, I was greatly unimpressed with not only the images, but also the lack of magnificent specimens. The book tells more about ceramic shards than it does actual glass. In my opinion, I find actual glass to be much more attractive than any kind of pottery shard.
   
   Furthermore, the book had hardly any information on where to find glass, how to look for it, or even when to go and look... absolutely nothing about actually collecting. Or what about the weathering process of the shards? Nope. I was very disappointed in the lack of information. For those craving explanations of the possible origins, when and where to find glass, and just general information regarding anything one can think of about sea glass, get the book Pure Sea Glass. It's an amazing reference whenever I come home with new and interesting pieces.

No comments about Photography: The Essential Way (MyPhotographyKit Series).

2 comments about People in Vogue: A Century of Portraits.

1. Muy buena selección fotográfica en una secuencia bien escogida de las principales figuras del siglo XX. Muy recomendable.



2. This is a useful compendium of some great shots from Vogue's past. It brings you from the early days, through the "royal" period (gag!) into the 90s. Those who are into art and fashion photography will find the portraits interesting, and the history of the magazine itself is evident in the accopmanying narrative.
   
   Worth the few dollars you'll spend on it.

1 comments about Atget, Paris (Taschen 25th Anniversary Edition).

1. This is one of the more unusual books on my shelves, in that physically it is designed to bear a resemblence on its exterior to some travel guides. The photograph above doesn't do it justice. The material is kivar-like, and his famous photograph of the entrance to the Moulin Rouge is tinted in red and yellow. Inside, the photographs are arranged thematically, according such topics as Salesman and Traders on the Streets of Paris, or Trades, Shops, and Window Displays, or interiors of Parisian homes, or, my favorite, Old Paris.

   As the introduction of the book points out, Atget was the great photographic recorder of Old Paris. It is to Paris of the turn of the 19th to the 20th century what Weegee was to lower Manhattan. The pictures in this book are nothing short of remarkable, and to look at them for any length of time helps transport one, to the extent that that is possible, to a world that no longer exists. This is not beautiful, genteel Paris. It isn't the Paris of Proust. It is more the Paris of Baudelaire fifty years down the road, the Paris of Toulouse-Latrec.

   This without any question the finest inexpensive edition of Atget's photographs currently available, and since Atget is the predominant photographer of the Paris of a hundred years ago, the best inexpensive book of photographs of Old Paris.

5 comments about Perception and Imaging, Third Edition: Photography--A Way of Seeing.

1. While it is true this book is somewhat erroneously subtitled WRT to the Photography bit -it is relevant not only to photographers but also painters, illustrators and others- there is a wealth of information presented in a detailed and well-illustrated manner. This book covers everything from color relationships and meaning, to "geometric" fundamentals such as symmetry and gestalt grouping, to the human physiology behind why some things appeal to our eye and others do not.
   
   In short the book provides not only examples of what works in photographic composition (or a painting's composition), but explains *why* it works, without boring you to tears with a doctoral thesis in every chapter. Some books (such as Itten's color tome) do exactly this and it makes them almost painful works to finish, even though the information is valid. It provides just enough scientific context to give understanding, and then gets out of its own way by providing real-world illustrative examples (be they photos, drawings or illustration) to demonstrate the current concept.
   
   And there *are* many references to things specific to photography such as a sub-section on color management systems and how color is controlled in the digital world. Is it the same as reading one of Bruce Fraser's works on color manegment? No, but it gives you enough to put it in context and understand why it's important. So it is with all the other chapters in the book. Highly recommended if you are an art student or photography student, or even a professional looking to hone your skills.



2. I know that I will draw a great deal of critique for this review, but personally i did not find this book worth my time.
   
   For how well it might be written, for how easy and understandable the examples might be, for how precisely documented it is, it does not have what I was looking for in it: a partly theoretical and partly practical toolbox to expand my creativity when I create an image.
   
   The text is, as I said in the title, little more than a collection of well-catalogued, wide-ranging information regarding different fields of perception. Some of them are overly and uselessly technical, some are little more than tautologies, few are actually useful or stimulating. I could not find any reference, for instance, to "the rule of the thirds" (which might not be the ultimate principle of composition but is still an important starting point) but on the other hand there were more than a dozen paragraphs on colour notations and names, constantly moving between the obvious, the superfluous and the merely technical.
   
   On a sidenote, I do not understand why American writers in general assume that their readers have the attention-span of a goldfish and try to fit everything they have to say on an argument in half a paragraph, only to start a completely new one immediately after. It doesn't help, it creates unacceptable over-simplifications.
   Teaching is not made of putting on the table individual information, sweetened by a profusion of quotes and aphorisms. Teaching is a sequential activity, it involves a long propaedeutic phase, it entails the creation of foundations and builds upon them to get in the end to the real content. A book that teaches well cannot be accessed randomly at any page without missing any context. Useless to say, this one can.
   
   
   Andrea B., Verona



3. Encyclopedic in scope, but equally shallow and choppy.
   
   This is a textbook. Illustrations are student grade, margin notes are random, and exercises are strained. May be useful if you never took a basic design class or thought much about perception. Book gives a survey, oriented toward defining terms and concepts, but it never takes them anywhere.



4. This book takes you--step by step with clear and often startling examples and with exercises to apply them--through the fundamentals of perception. That is the most basic of a photographer's necessary skills. Understand the concepts, practice seeing, do the exercises, understand your perceptions. Become a better photographer and, in the process, enrich your daily life as you see and understand your world in new ways. Highly recommended.



5. New edition of a classic textbook by a well-known expert. Quite theoretical but very instructive. People take too many pictures unthinkingly, and should read on theory.

3 comments about Michael Freeman's Top Digital Photography Tips (A Lark Photography Book).

1. This is a decent book if you don't know anything about photography. Half of the advice is pretty helpful. But the other half is overly verbose and common sense. For example, 9) Situational Awareness (no duh!!!), 10) Stay with the Situation (duh!). There are of course some helpful sections Color, Composition, etc. In the end I found the organization of the book to be too random for my taste. For example, the author intermixes his stories with the topic that goes off tangent, and throughout the book he keeps talking about how important it is to do post processing.
   
   He's also an advocate of HDR (high dynamic range) using expensive softwares, and has many pages dedicated to using software to make the picture better, even though it really belongs in the processing section. Look, if I'm really interested in post processing, I'd buy a post processing book. Overall, not very impressed with the book.



2. It's great to see a book about how professional photographs are really taken. There are oh so many books being churned out by people who aren't even photographers! Just wannabe book writers. This guy shoots for top international magazines and publishers, and the pictures here show it. Like all Michael Freeman's books, this is the real thing - no-nonsense, professional, no talking-down, written for other intelligent photographers.



3. There's nothing new about a list of tips, but of course it depends on who's making it. I too am getting frustrated with an increasing number of books about photography by NON-photographers. If I want to learn a skill, a craft or an art, I want to learn it from a professional. Michael Freeman is one of the very few writers who actually IS a renowned professional photographer. More like this, please! Can't wait for the next 101 great tips.

No comments about The Hyena & Other Men.

5 comments about Art Models 2: Life Nude Photos for the Visual Arts (Book & CD-ROM).

1. Since getting this book, I've done several charcoal drawings and it seems to be working out really well. The poses are varied, and easy to mask only a portion of a model (head, upper body, hands, etc). My only suggestion for future books would be to use a spiral binding.



2. I purchased this for my partner who is an artist. The book has a lot of clear photographs that are very helpful. Good lighting and clarity in the photos. Many different positions and types of bodies. I purchased the book with the CD ROM which shows even more angles of the different poses.



3. There are so few worthy art model books out there. Every-time a new one appears, it is destined to be purchased through shear lack of competition. Unfortunately, that will be the primary reason to buy this one.
   
   Good art modeling is not limited to being willing to remove your clothing. Good art models are students of body language and motion, no less than a great dancer or actor. Unfortunately, what we have here is a series of static naked people.
   
   On the positive side, the photography is well done which sets this above the dreadful "Pose File" books with their tiny, toneless snapshots.



4. This Book/CD combo is excellent. The interactive web site is also excellent, and greatly extends the book/CD. The poses in this package are from, "classic inspiration." This package is as close to having an actual model in your studio as you could ever hope to achieve. Using the photos on the CD has some advantages over a live model: you won't get slapped for getting too close.
   
   The quality of the book is good. It is thin, hardbound, and lays flat. The pages are gloss stock and hold the ink well. The photos in the book are large enough to use from the book, but the primary purpose of the book is to index the photo sets on the CD. Only four angles of each pose are included in the book. The printed photos are somewhat darker than the photos on the CD. All of the photos on the CD are in standard JFIF (JPG) format, 400 - 600 MB each. The CD includes a copy of the book, with lower resolution photos, in Portable Document Format (PDF). The book includes a proportional reference grid for two of the models, for use by digital artists.
   
   The photography is very good. The photos are sharp, high resolution, highly detailed, well lighted, from the standard 10 o'clock position. The lighting and detail is consistent throughout all of the camera angles. In one photo set, a strong shadow is cast to the model's right, which is somewhat distracting. The shadow doesn't diminish the detail clarity of the photos, however.
   
   The photo sets of each pose on the CD, (24 photos each), are taken at 15 degree intervals, throughout 360 degrees. Kudos to the models for being able to hold some of those difficult poses so consistently! And kudos to the authors for choosing not to airbrush or blur any of these wonderful photographs.
   
   The models are attractive, well groomed, relaxed, and comfortable. Only the elder gentleman has slightly imperfect extremities, consistent with his age.
   
   A lot of thought and effort went into the creation of this package to make it as useful to an artist as possible, and it very well implemented. I am VERY impressed with this package!



5. This book is full of great reference. But don't do what I did...there are two versions, one that comes with the extra cd of poses, and one without. Double check and make sure you know which one you are ordering, I didn't realize that I ordered the book without the companion disk until it arrived.

5 comments about Domicilium Decoratus.

1. I'm so glad that I didn't pay full price for this book. The Hillcrest Estate is grand and refreshingly unique; however, I have to laugh at the kid safe reference. As a mom of two young kids, I'm constantly looking for sophisticated kid-friendly decorating. I was thrilled when Kelly, herself,refers to her home as "toddler-safe and visually sophisticated". Huh?!? This home is about as warm and toddler safe as a museum. There are only a few pages dedicated to the kids rooms and only one plastic toy visible. Also, any pool fence?



2. I wish I had have taken notice of the other reviews. I loved Kelly's first book and found it very useful, however this book is entirely over-rated and I'm so pleased I didn't pay full price for it. There is absolutely no text in the book - just pictures from Kelly's house showcasing her furniture and herself and none of them look at all practical for everyday living. Save your money for the many other fantastic books on offer.



3. Kelly Wearstler is undoubtedly one of the great interior designers of our time. Her style may be too much for most, and her critics pan her for her ego-centric couture gown wearing, but she has an incredible eye for style. She has managed to create a sophisticated home that is visually arresting, textured and comfortable. No, it may not be toddler safe, as she claims, but who's is?
   Kelly Wearstler appears to live a perfect life, a globally renowned and successful interior design business, a wealthy property developer husband (who happens to throw a few projects her way), two beautiful children and a gorgeous home full of antiques and art that is a wonderful backdrop to her all-round fabulous lifestyle.
   She may not have created the style she has made so popular (see Tony Duquette, David Hicks, Billy Haines or Dorothy Draper), but her almost single-handed revival of a myriad of styles that are as far flung from minimalism as I care to think about has brought a smile to the face of all us maximalists around the world.
   I won't dwell on how disappointed I was to find out she was a playboy playmate in a previous incarnation, but it has not changed my view of her talent.
   Domicilium Decoratus is a beautifully produced book full of gorgeous photos of Kelly, her children and her home. I can't wait to see how her new home turns out!



4. As a practicing, professional Interior Designer I have to say I found Domicilium Decoratus inspiring. Being exposed to all types of design, I love it when I am actually left remembering a house...and this one is hard to forget. Although Kelly's style is not my particular taste, the house is full of beautiful color combinations, architectural details, and antiques. I would have to compare this book to looking at a Picasso--you either get it or you don't. If you are looking for a how to book, this is not the book for you. There is no text like in her first book--Your eyes have to do all the work spotting the curious, imaginative details. This is a living art book. If you want to view some images of her home before you buy the book go to her website and Hillcrest estate is under her residential projects.



5. This book really is gorgeous. Of course, most of the style and emotion in this book was appropriated from design much earlier in the century, and books on this movement are cheap and plentiful in thrift stores. However, it is really nice to be able to see what life would be like if you were a playboy playmate and married to a real-estate tycoon. I am really not trying to put Kelly down, because her vision is mind-bendingly impeccable. It is truly rare when people with wealth also have taste.

5 comments about Body Painting: Masterpieces by Joanne Gair.

1. This book is breathtaking! Using the human figure as a canvas, this is one of the best examples of creativiity, art and photgraphy all in one. A great gift for art lovers, makeup artists, photographers and anyone who appreciates beauty at its finest! Joanne Gair is truly a master of all.



2. An old art, turned new. Only a sprinkle of diamond dust could add more sparkling beauty. Body art often brings definition to a culture and Gair should be proud of her contribution.



3. Excellent! Pretty photos of pretty women. A good book to be in the coffe table. High quality and spotless. I recommend.



4. This book is a must have for anyone with an eye for beauty and art combined by using the body as the canvas. The ways of using this canvas as part of another picture, as a canvas, clothing or as camouflage are explored by Joanne Gair. This is all brought together by one person in this book covering a career involving famous actresses, models, photographers, fashion designers and politician's wives (Carla Bruni is now the wife of the French president). Maybe Joanne will paint a politician soon. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editions brought my attention to Joanne's work as before the photographers were getting the credit, however that is like showing off a photo of the Mona Lisa. The photographer is merely the messenger, here Joanne is the the real artist. Buy the book, persuade your library to buy it. Perhaps even have a go at body painting yourself.



5. Was disappointed with most of the pictures, the best was the cover picture.
   Not erotic.