4 comments about Vitamin Ph: New Perspectives in Photography.

1. Having already purchased Vitamin D and Vitamin P I was expecting great things of Vitamin Ph. I was not disappointed. This book is beautifully presented. The Artists work chosen for this book are all of a high standard. Living in NZ you are a long way away from the International art scene. The only way to find out what is happening is from books such as this.



2. This book provides a short sample of each artists work along with an explanation about the artist or the works.
   It is fantastic as a student tool to have such a range of works at your fingertips. It is also great for those just looking as the content is broad and dynamic.
   I have yet to come across a book that has such a large number of contemporary photographers along with a range of their work (rather than a single iimage job).



3. It's big, it's well produced and it's a worthy addition to a photo book collection. Phaidon is a great publisher and the production values of this book are up to their usual high standards. The concept of "New Perspectives in Photography" is an ambitious topic, given the broad variety of art photography practice around the world. If you could sum up the main trend, it would have to be the movement away from the photo document and towards a conceptual exploration of the photographic object as it relates to the human experience. It is not photography, it is photographic.
   
   Much of the work is relatively new, made in the past ten years and is representative of that shown by a certain kind of photography gallery -- one looking forward, yet rooted in the past. That said, much of the work references earlier photographs. Artists such as Gregory Crewdson and Anne Hardy create narrative, staged environments that the photograph documents, yet they look back to work from the 80's by Sandy Skoglund. Nikki Lee's work with her personal identity clearly references earlier work by Cindy Sherman. Tim Lee uses the photograph as a document of his conceptual work, a traditional way to preserve performance and conceptual art. However, there are some valuable new perspectives.
   
   Rinko Kawauchi's beautiful photographs of life's ephemeral moments indeed provide a new, thoughtful perspective -- her book "the eyes, the ears" is worth searching out (sorry, not available on Amazon, I found my copy in Tokyo). Esteban Pastorino Diaz challenges our understanding of visual devices and the way they form our perspective of the world. And Paul Pfeiffer uses a database filtering model to create meaning from a photographic practice based on images appropriated from popular media. Clearly, innovation is limited only by the imagination.
   
   The challenge with this type of overview is that it is almost too wide ranging and lacks depth -- it is without a singular point of view. It mostly covers artists who are already "established" in the gallery and museum circuit, which means you will be about five years behind the state of the art. The latest, newest work is found on the Internet, but only to those with the time, desire and domain knowledge to seek it out.
   
   While you may pick it up once or twice, it is most valuable as a point of departure for further exploration of individual artists. As the other reviewers from New Zealand mentioned, it will probably be most valuable to readers without access to contemporary art galleries.



4. This is a wonderful book. I bought it truly as a "vitamin", to give myself a kick in the pants regarding my own photography: to find some sources of inspiration that were more up-to-date than my usual heroes (Minor White, Cartier-Bresson, etc). It served that purpose admirably. The artists and photographs are carefully chosen, and the essays are well-written. Some of the essays are even in English rather than art-speak. There is an incredible range of styles represented here, encompassing both conceptually-driven and aesthetically-driven art. Because of the large size and beautiful paper and production, this book is a tactile and visual treat that would make a great gift for any photographer on one's holiday list.

5 comments about Mastering Black and White Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book).

1. As a professional photographer I found Michael Freeman's book to be the most informative and concise study on the complex and somewhat baffling world of digital photography. He is a master of his craft and opens one's eyes to the major developments. His writing and illustrations are supberb, he simplifies what could be compex adjustments and tasks.
   Excellent, a must for any serious photographer.
   Thanks Michael



2. This book is an excellent reference for intermediate to advanced photographers. Absolute beginners would need a basic photoshop book to help fill in the gaps or details to understand some techniques instead of blindly following a recipe.
   The author has brought together under one book a large variety of creative ideas and techniques that not too long ago were only available from a collection of books and magazine articles. It's written in concise 1 to 2 page sections and in many places use a sequence of images to show the different steps of a process. Most of the images are very suitable to demonstrate that technique.
   I can see how this book could seem confusing and disjointed in places as described by other reviewers, especially to an absolute beginner, but there is so much good stuff in this book that I would consider it a definite must have reference for any serious Digital B/W photographer. A second edition could fix some of these issues, e.g. key information being relegated to captions under images vs. in the text and minor tweaks to the logical sequence of a few topics. Adding summary outlines of the steps would make it even more useful for quick review and reference instead of wading through the text and images every time. However, the book is still very useable. These suggestions would just make it clearer. As a photography instructor, I have applied and taught several of the methods in this book. Using this book has further clarified my understanding of Digital B/W techniques to create compelling images.
   One area of weakness is that this book lacks a good comprehensive section on image composition. This would make it more complete as a useful class text book. B/W imagery lets you look at composition in it's elemental form without distractions from color. If the author could round up a good collection of images demonstrating various composition and design concepts in a revised edition, I would go as far to say this book has the potential to become a "standard" intermediate text on B/W Photography for the digital era.



3. This book presents an introductory exposition of techniques for producing "fine art" black and white images from digital color images. Its intended audience is amateur digital photographers and Photoshop users with limited experience. The technical depth of the discussion is fairly high-level. The book is laid out in a glitzy fashion that indicates heavy influence from the graphic arts department. In this regard, the book is better suited for coffee table display than for use as a workroom reference.
   
   The book divides its discussion into five chapters:
   · The Language of Mono
   · Color into Grayscale
   · Digital Black and White
   · Image Editing and Effects
   · The Print
   
   The Language of Mono
   This is good place to start a discussion of black and white images, by looking at what makes black and white images work. Here, the author introduces his "case study" method, where he uses an image as an example to illustrate his points.
   
   Color into Grayscale
   In this chapter, the author explores ways to use the Channel Mixer in Photoshop to manipulate the individual color channels for red, green and blue to produce the black and white tones intended by the photographer. He also introduces the technique of manipulating hues to control tones. Again, he uses case studies of individual images to illustrate his ideas.
   
   Digital Black and White
   In this section, the author explores the management of tonal ranges using Photoshop. He discusses setting white and black points to expand tonal range, and introduces methods for managing scenes with high dynamic range. Zone System is introduced, and the author briefly discusses scanning images.
   
   Image Editing and Effects
   In this abbreviated section, the author introduces ideas for modifying images to enhance mood. He also provides brief introductions to concepts including adding color tones (e.g., sepia), using duotones and other print finishing techniques.
   
   The Print
   In this final section, the author presents a brief discussion of printer types (dye-sublimation vs. inkjet). He introduces the concept of printer calibration, and goes on to introduce ink issues (mainly suggesting external ink supplies). He finishes with a brief discussion of print mounting and display.
   
   Critical Assessment
   Clearly, the real value of this book is in introducing the reader to the concepts involved in digital black and white photography. The discussions that have the greatest value are in the first three sections, where the author provides the greatest depth. Topics broached in the final two sections are passed over too lightly to add much to the readers understanding.
   
   Taking the first three sections on their own merit, however, they do justify the price of the book. Although introductory in scope, they delve deeply enough into the topics to provide real help for beginners. There is enough here to keep beginning photographers busy for some time, exploring the techniques he describes. Soon enough, however, students will reach the point where they will need additional information not provided in this book. To be fair, many of the topics the author covers lightly are worthy of books in themselves. For example: the author devotes four pages to zone system, but manages to say nothing that might actually help the reader understand what zone system is about. (I recommend reading Ansel Adams' The Negative again. Just remember, in digital photography the zone system admonition to "expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights" morphs into, "expose for the highlights, expose again for the shadows." And, while you're about reading Ansel Adams, The Print has much good information. Just skip all the lab chemistry parts.)
   
   The layout of this book is such that it is not so much read as explored. Major content is provided in sidebars and captions. The heavy influence of the graphic arts department in the layout can be annoying at times, for instance when it is unclear which supplementary text belongs with which main text, or when an entire column is devoted to a pull-quote in large type of a paragraph we just read on the preceding page. The book does not invite highlighting with a marker or scribbling notes in the margins (it would seem almost a desecration).
   
   On balance, I am glad I discovered this book. It provided me with essential help in getting started with black and white digital photography. I was disappointed that the book lacked the depth to help me with steps beyond the first, so in this sense it does not live up to its title, Mastering Black and White Digital Photography. The book would have more accurately been titled, Introducing Black and White Digital Photography, which it well accomplishes.



4. I've bought several B&W digital photography books and this one is hands down the absolute best of the bunch. He covers a wide range of information but it's not at all intimidating or confusing. Great examples. Highly recommended.



5. First and foremost this is a Photoshop book. If you don't have Photoshop the majority of the content will not be useful to you. The book is an editing nightmare. The author should be embarrassed.

2 comments about Do Not Give Way To Evil: Photographs of the South Bronx, 1979-1987.

1. The book documents the decay of the Bronx in the late 60s
   through the early 80s. Both Presidents Carter and Reagan
   visited the Bronx. I'm certain that President Clinton
   has done the same. Page after page documents the run-down
   buildings which were once proud edifices around the turn
   of the previous century.
   
   After a number of decades, the South Bronx has seen
   a considerable restoration. The Bronx Land Reclamation
   Project is put forth as a success story
   in the continuing revival of the Bronx. Many pages have
   actual pictures of local residents. Some of the pictures
   are familiar to me. The presentation is an important
   contribution to the continuing restoration of NYC and
   the Bronx in particular. The author should have stressed
   the role of "enterprise zones" in the restoration of
   inner city neighborhoods.



2. As an aficionado of New York in the 70's and 80's, as well as being a lifelong New Yorker I found this book to be wonderful. It gives a glimpse of the creative scene contrasting with the culture of the South Bronx during a tumultuous time in the city's history.I find myself looking at it over and over.

5 comments about Photoshop Elements 4 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)).

1. My husband and I are taking a beginning Photoshop class at the local adult school. Instead of a more extensive and difficult text we chose to supplement the class with Photoshop Elements 4 For Dummies. It moves in more logical sequence than the class and enabled us to begin editing our photos immediately. It also allowed us to focus on class instruction without taking notes.



2. This is a decent enough intro to Photoshop Elements 4. It doesn't cover a great deal more information than what's in the manual, but things are presented in more detail, with more examples, so it's useful. The color illustrations are helpful.
   
   If you use a Mac: this book is written strictly for the Windows version, so you have to ignore a small amount of Windows-specific material, but most of the functions and menus are identical in both versions.
   
   Oddly, in the intro, the authors say Elements 4 is NOT available for the Mac. That's funny, because I've had my Mac version for almost a year, and this book was published in 2006, though obviously written earlier. The authors then helpfully suggest you buy a Windows PC in order to run Elements! Dream on ...



3. Great companion book to your Photoshop Elements. Between the two books I feel I have all I need to know.
   Simple explanations makes it definitely dummy-friendly. Easy index makes it simple to look up whatever you have in mind at the moment.



4. I have not purchased a "Dummies" book for years and was pleasantly surprised to find color photographs among the improvements in this series.



5. Good resource. Could use a lot more illustrations to aid in understanding the text.

4 comments about Streetwise Direct Marketing: How to Use the Internet, Direct Mail, and Other Media to Generate Direct Sales (Adams Streetwise Series).

1. George Duncan's breakthrough book is a master's course in direct marketing. It's packed with e-commerce brilliance and effective classic techniques that make it a MUST-have book for every samll or large business!



2. Finally, information you can really use from one of the industry's best! I've attended many a seminar in the hopes of uncovering the kind of information that George Duncan revels here. Whether you're a direct marketing copywriter or in the job of determining and evaluating the approach - this book is for you! I know I'll turn to it every time I start a direct mail campaign.



3. The internet section of this book is not at all useful. The techniques are very outdated. For instance, he describes (not in great enough detail to help at all) how to make ad banners. Any marketer with any sense knows that ad banners don't work like they used to. People ignore them, completely. He doesn't give any information about writing copy, or how to approach direct marketing on the internet. He does, however, have lots of "useful" information on how to "get started", none of which is really useful, since it is all common knowledge. If you've never been on the web before and haven't a clue about business or direct marketing, this book is for you. He gives a great introduction to the web. For anyone with even a bit of knowledge, your way ahead of him.



4. Especially useful because it describes how Direct Marketing is different from other marketing/advertising.
   
   Many marketing books are aimed at large corporate end of town. However this book is great for both large and small businesses. In fact if you are a small business then this book may save you from wasting money on campaigns where you don't sufficient funds to get bang for your buck.
   
   The thing I liked most about the book, other than being easy to read, was that it contained loads of tips and techniques that I could use straight away in my business.
   
   My only criticism is that the book is too orientated toward physical mail campaigns. The book also covers trade-shows and internet-based marketing, although some of the internet-based methods have been somewhat superseded.

5 comments about Jeff Smith's Posing Techniques for Location Portrait Photography.

1. Jeff Smith is certainly one of my favorite authors in the field of photography. This book, like his many other texts, is well written and illustrated. Jeff breaks down posing into the simplest of terms so that anyone can follow his step by step instruction. His examples of group portraits are especially helpful and beautifully executed.



2. I received my order yesterday and started to read this book. I couldn't put it down. It had so many points I would have never considered, and wouldn't have guessed that would matter to a woman. For example, ankles are about the only thing I never notice on a woman, but they do. I would have thought leaning a person up against a rock for example would be a great shot, well, not exactly. Mr. Smith covers nearly everything from the tilt of the head to how the toes should be positioned. Also another thing is how to creatively hide areas of a person that are going to make an otherwise great shot into a reject. Great pictures of women, guys and families. He certainly brings out the beauty of the gals in his poses. (I must say though that with most of these gals, making them look good is not too hard.) Well worth the price. Amazon delivered in about 4 days. Ric.



3. While text in this book is useful at times, but you can get pretty much same stuff from most of "Posing techniques" (including brilliant books by Gomez on glamour photography) books out there (including few very good ones). There is VERY little specifics about on location posing, which book supposed to be about. Couple of chapters on how to sell your work - dont even understand why they were added, apart from making up for volume. Most of images in book are pretty mediocre, and like 70% of them reminds you of what person who just learned how to apply gaussian blur in Photoshop to smooth skin and make Orton's effect would be keep doing out of sheer excitement (and i kid you not. Image on the cover is one of very few good ones).
   
   On the whole - very few good tips and loads of repetition of other books. And very few good shots , which actually looks professional (sorry for repeating this, but its kind of strikes me. I never saw such a horrible stuff before in a book that pretends to teach people)



4. This book is not only a location posing guide because most of its tips can be perfectly applied in a studio as well.The images are really amazing and up-to-date. There is no excess, every pose can be easily used with models or common people successfully. I do recommend it even if you are a pro. It is an essential and pleasant worthy reading book. You will read it over and over again. Certanly, it is one of the most helpful books in this category.There is another similar book : The Portrait Photographer's Guide do Posing by Bill Hurter.



5. Clearly the author has considerable knowledge in his domain. What the book is lacking though is high quality instructional text.
   
   This book is probably most helpful for an experienced, but early career photographer who is looking how someone else is doing things just to mix things up, expand on breadth.
   
   For someone who has not gotten any other instruction on posing, the descriptions will fall well short of anything that can be reproduced in a repeatable and predicable fashion. It doesn't have enough detail, doesn't explain enough of the why/how.
   
   And for the seasoned pro, there is not enough new stuff in here to make it worth the read.
   
   The style of writing is much more of a pro sitting down on the porch over a drink comparing notes with someone else, than someone trying to explain how something works from the ground up.
   
   In terms of photo books, it's like showing a photo, the lighting diagram, but not explaining why those lights were placed there. Lots of those books around as well.
   
   Would I have picked it up from a book store? Maybe. Would I buy it again? Probably not. Did I expect more than it delivered? Definitely.

5 comments about Master Guide for Underwater Digital Photography.

1. Very disappointing. I was hoping for a more informative book. This was pretty basic photography. The previous reviews were misleading for me. This was a waste of money.



2. Found this book very helpful. Have some experience with underwater digital photography but found the explainations and examples very helpful. Took it to Palau...and left it with the captain who kept picking it up to read. So am ordering my replacement!



3. good basic intro to digital underwater photos and equipment



4. I bought this for my scuba diving photographer husband as a present. He said it is an excellent book as he leafed through it. Then he sat down to read it immediately. That's quite a positive reaction for him.
   
   Denise



5. This book was quite helpful learning digital underwater photography. It is a starting spot for more advanced learning.

5 comments about Magic Lantern Guides: Pentax K10D (Magic Lantern Guides).

1. This book does a much better job of explaining the features and power of the K10d camera. I would highly recommend it to anyone that owns this camera!



2. I held off buying this guide for quite some time because the reviews I read stated that the photographs it contained were in black and white instead of color, and not very good.
   
   I finally caved in and purchased this guide only to find that the black and white photographs were bright, clear and sharp (not "grainy" as I had pictured them) and - most importantly - extremely informative. The guide is an almost necessary addition to the manual that comes with the camera. The manual is steeped in detail and feels, sometimes, like a hindrance when you simply want to get on with it and take a few photographs. The Magic Lantern Guide, on the other hand, cuts to the chase and even adds a few detours that the manual does not go into. All in all, the guide has turned out to be a wise investment, allowing me to get the most - and the best - out of my great camera.



3. A very informative read to any newbie in this field of photography,throughly recommended this book
   
   
   cheers



4. Great guide if you have hours to read and digest it all. Not much for quick review of settings.



5. The Magic Lantern Guides are essential for getting to know your new camera. Nuances of digital photography. Good advice on best practices. Far better than product manual. Introduced me to features that allow full enjoyment of the Pentax K10D

1 comments about The Complete Guide to Digital Photography 4th ed. (A Lark Photography Book).

1. Well illustrated explanations of digital darkroom techniques. I checked this book out from the library and didn't get everything out of it even after renewing it several times.

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

1. 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.



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



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



4. 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!



5. 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.