2 comments about The Technique of Film and Video Editing, Fourth Edition: History, Theory, and Practice.

1. I had to buy this for a film editing class. I'm only about 2 chapters in so far, but I'm thoroughly disappointed. Dancyger seems to prefer directing techniques over editing techniques, and definitely theory over practice. The first two chapters are reiterating the basics of film history with many techniques used in the classics by Melies, Porter, and Eisenstein. I've learned so much about film history and SO LITTLE about editing technique I am definitely disappointed and unenthusiastic about reading more.



2. The Technique of Film and Video doesn't really know what it wants to be.
   
   It over emphasis on editing history and early theory would simply overwhelm first time editing students and outright bore those familiar with the craft.
   
   As a film student, I know the importance of film editing, but this entry fails to generate any interest for the technique and the practical implications for film editing.
   
   It's been said not to judge a book by its cover, and this one is no different. A screen capture of "Brokeback Mountain" does nothing to offset the heavy emphasis on film pre-1960.
   
   Just my two cents.

5 comments about Remarkable Trees of the World.

1. In fall 2006, Lansing's forestry department planted a tiny gingko biloba tree between the sidewalk and the street in front of my house.
   It had four and a half branches, all oriented in one plane like the candlesticks in a menorah. You could barely roast a wiener with it.
   I scrambled into the house for a book I had bought, by sheer coincidence, the previous day -- Thomas Pakenham's "Remarkable Trees of the World."
   Yes! There, sprawling across pages 110 and 111, was a gingko nearly 1,000 years old, still living in Tokyo, measuring 30 feet in girth and 66 feet high.
   Pakenham, a British historian with Irish wanderlust and a gentle sense of drama, has traveled the world to photograph and research the history and lore of 60 of the world's most remarkable trees.
   This oversize book, just now out in paperback, is so relaxed and un-sensational you picture Pakenham walking from tree to tree, a Haydn string quartet playing in the background, not minding the continents and oceans in between. It's a follow-up to another book that's just as good: "Meetings With Remarkable Trees," in which Packenham confined his wanderings to the British Isles. The response to "Meetings" was so warm that Pakenham packed his bags and expanded his search to global proportions.
   Pakenham's style is that of a curious, intelligent pilgrim. He pairs generous full-page or double-page images of his subjects with un-fussy, lightly conversational background information. He clearly respects local lore and legend, but doesn't go overboard with it, nor does he bog the text down in scientific details. The result is almost a set of personality profiles.
   The images are spectacular -- given the subject matter, most of them can't help it -- but sensitively chosen and framed, with an eye toward the unique setting, mood and attributes of each tree.
   It's a low-key approach, but if this book doesn't awaken your sense of awe, nothing can. That little stick of a gingko in my front yard, for example, belongs to a hyper-ancient species/order/family that predates dinosaurs. Its peculiar lineage (it's related to ferns) is betrayed by unique, fan-shaped leaves that have no central fold.
   Of course, trees have their own agenda, and don't care whether they get into a coffee-table book or not (it's tempting to think they'd rather not, insofar as books are made of paper). But it was hard not to think of Pakenham's gargantuan gingko as a thundering encouragement for my little tree's stressed-out, brown-fringed leaves and spindly trunk.
   For one thing, Japanese Buddhists believe the gingko, not the Bo tree of India, was the tree under which Buddha found enlightenment.
   If lore doesn't thrill, Pakenham serves up history and science. For example, a gingko 800 yards from the epicenter of Hiroshima threw up new sprouts even after the atomic bomb hit.
   But enough about gingkos. In this book, the reader will meet a panoply of the world's most amazing creatures: General Sherman, a mega-giant sequoia in California that weights 1,500 tons and is probably the largest living thing on Earth; ancient teapot-shaped African baobabs out of a Dr. Suess illustration; the leaning Italian cypress said to have been planted by St. Francis; wind-lashed cypresses clinging to the rocky California coast; great oaks with hollows where 20 people can sit down to a banquet; bristlecone pines now into their fifth millennium of existence.
   Some of these magnificent trees are near roadsides or chained off in parks, all but ignored by passersby. The wonder of this book is that it tunes the mind to the low-frequency, centuries-long chords only these creatures can hear. Looking at trees that have lived the better part of a millennium make you wonder whether there will be a California -- the home of a disproportionate number of these giants -- or a Lansing in 1,000 years.
   My bet's on Lansing, which is far less likely to slip into the ocean before my gingko grows up.



2. Trees are grouped by various, sensible categories that other books on trees might neglect: Giants: Gods, Goddesses, Grizzlies; Dwarfs: For Fear of Little Men, In Bondage; Methuselahs: The Living and the Dead, Shrines; Dreams: Prisoners, Aliens, Lovers and Dancers, Snakes and Ladders, Ghosts; and Trees in Peril: Do the Loggers always Win? and Ten Green Bottles. Pakenham's text is great fun to read, as can be viewed from those sectional titles, and individual tree titles such as "Tie up my feet, Darling, and I'll live forever" for the Bonsai tree that is the In Bondage section.
   
   I suppose coffee table books really shouldn't be considered exceptional items to read - view, yes; read, not so much. This is an exception. Tolkien's Ents are invoked for a handful of trees, and rightly so; geography students who get a core borer stuck and (somehow) get permission to cut down what had possibly been the oldest tree in the world just to retrieve it are warned against; and, of course, it is mentioned that any fool can climb a gum tree. I've read this about six times this year, high time I count it officially.



3. Great Book will enough the wonder hopefully they have it in the school systems or county systems



4. A very nice book, with remarkable trees, however, from the cover I suppose I wrongly assumed they would be beautiful trees. Quite a lot of the book is spent on African trees of a very strange nature, and to my husband's suprise, very little was done on the banyan tree. I was looking forward to large, ancient trees myself. All in all, it is still a wonderful book, it just wasn't what we were expecting.



5. His abiding love of trees is evident in this deeply personal account of trees he's found and ...respected enough to photograph, research and write about. I bought this because we already had "Meetings with Remarkable Trees" and we were in no way disappointed. The photos are excellent, the trees selected really are remarkable, and the narrative is engaging. Not much else to say, both my husband and I love the book, and it's on the coffee table right now. We have had guests pick it up and also fall in love... attesting to the wide appeal of this photographer-naturalist.

4 comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Field Guide.

1. I am literally blown away by this book. I have read many books on photography in general and never got the insight that Hess provides here. Not only can I use my A700 fully now, I have a much better idea how to shoot pictures than I ever have. This is simply the best book on Photography I have ever read. Well written easy to understand and a very enjoyable read. The author uses his own photos to subsidize his points with great affect. Ebay auctions, weddings, sporting events, concerts, events, portraits....all are covered here with excellent advice that can be used by all levels of users. This book is one I will refer back to for years for tips.....highly reccomended!



2. I'm very impressed by this book. Not only does it tell me how to set up, maintain, and utilize the camera, but it also offers a HUGE range of professional advice on how to take better pictures. From composition to color, technical adjustments to common sense, Alan Hess reminds us that taking better pictures is easy! Noteworthy is his obvious passion for his work, and his ability to share that enthusiasm (and lessons learned!) with others. Anyone with a camera can benefit from the easy to read tips inside this book, but those with an A700 will breeze through the set-up and immediately be able to better capture any shot. Personally, i'm impressed with the range of subjects covered that i can apply to my daily use- travel shots, candids, pets, concerts, scenery. I'd recommend it to anyone!



3. If you were to own just one book on photography essentials and advanced tips then this should be it. The chapter on lighting is especially valuable for those wanting to take the best photos for every type subject. And speaking of subects the chapter on that is a must.
   I know this will be my photographer's bible for years to come.



4. Very well set up guide. Plenty of info. with out lots of techno babble. A outstanding users gude for the new DSLR user, even vetern shooters will find it handy due to the depth of features and functions of the A700. The color photos are better then black and white as in many guides. The last third of the book is broken down into sections on 22 specific styles of photography. This also includes a "on your own" practice assignment.

5 comments about The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers.

1. I got HCB's book from the library this week and couldn't stop reading it since I started.
   Mind you this book has its pluses and minuses:
   Pluses:
   It is gives good insight in HCB's style of thinking and in general photography in his own words. He talks about his little experiences in China, Cuba, Russia and also about his friends.
   Minuses:
   The book is very brief and u yearn for more of his stories and experience. It has very less photographs, so if you are looking for that you might get disappointed.

   With all that said, I would definitely recommend all of u Photography fans to read it at least once if your local library carries it.




2. I was somewhat disappointed with this book. I expected a lot more from Cartier Bresson. I found a few paragraphs of some interest, but no more than that. It is also a very small book, can be read in a day.



3. Very interesting read. I would say a must have for fans of photojournalism and photography in general.
   Highly recommended.



4. Most photographers would find this a nice book to add to their collection.



5. Yes, this is a small book, and, possibly too much of it is taken up in verbal bouquets tossed to old friends, tourist information about side-trips to various countries, and practical advice to would-be photojournalists.
   
   But those asides aren't the guts of this wonderful book. The important message from this man, who without question was the most influential photographer of the twentieth century, is that if you want to make good photographs you need to look, and you need to internalize a kind of respect for subject, context and geometry that allows you to SEE when you look, without resorting to arbitrary crutches like the "rule of thirds."
   
   Probably the most important words in the book are these: "To take photographs means to recognize -- simultaneously and within a fraction of a second -- both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning."
   
   That's what the book is really about. Anyone who hopes to become a competent photographer needs to internalize that message.

5 comments about Fine Art Flower Photography: Creative Techniques And The Art Of Observation.

1. Cool...abstract photography. Clear pictures, great as a table book or as a useful 'textbook.' Pleasure to look at; pleasure to read. Well worth it!



2. The pictures in this book are very beautiful, but I was hoping for more discussion of the basics of outdoor nature/flower photography, like lighting and composition. This book spends a great deal of time with mutliple images and zooming and "special effects" which are interesting but not really helpful if you are trying to take better pictures of flowers. Also, it seemed sort of repetetive at times.



3. This is a fabulous book! It has great ideas. The techniques used in each photo are described in easy to understand language. I also like the fact that there is not much written information so solely focused on each photo and how to produce the same image. Great book for the money!



4. This is not really the book to start flower photography with. I say this for several reasons. It requires elaborate camera and equipment. It deliberately teaches techniques that distort the perspective that one might have using their own two eyes.
   
   I am more of a purist and believe that Nature's beauty is everywhere and that it can be captured relatively simply using new and inexpensive digital cameras particularly those with image stability and macro functions built in.
   
   I published an entire collection of photos without any manipulation except cropping to fit the page. Matt CohenZen of Watering Your Garden



5. With all due respect, Mr. Cohen, there is no photography without manipulation. The lens used, where one chooses to point it, the depth of field chosen, the film used, how digital files are processed, and as you say, "cropping," are all subjective interpretations. The only way to purely record nature's beauty is to look at and remember it. The moment it is recorded by an instrument by a human being, the image becomes subjective and interpretive and its purity is gone. It's the nature of the process.
   
   And it is a fact that the quality of cameras and lenses used directly affect the quality of the file. P&S cameras with IS really can't hold a candle to a more professional system.

4 comments about New Mexico's Crypto-Jews: Image and Memory.

1. I'll admit I am biased but this book finally puts a real human face on this southwest phenomena. Haunting images of a living glimmer of an almost forgotten people. Cary Herz performs a mitzvah by remembering us and in a small way provides help along the road to redemption of this small remnant.



2. The culmination of years of heartfelt, dedicated work by a fine artist, the photographs reveal the depth and complexity of this story with beauty and true humanity.



3. The written word with photos gives us some historic background of jews who came from Spain, because of being persecuted. While they gave up their jewish religion, we find out that many rituals were kept and practiced. Fasinating book.



4. This is a well written and very informative book about the survival of a tenacious people and about a part of the hidden history of the state of New Mexico. I would recommend it to any one interested in Jewish history, Sephardic Judaism, Crypto-Jews, Spanish culture and New Mexico history.

4 comments about Amateur College Men.

1. Anyone who collects books on erotic male nude photography will be disappointed in this volume, eighty percent of the photos are modle like shots with clothes on, or head shots. The twenty percent that are nude are quite beautiful but for the price I expected alot more. So I would say save your money for something better!



2. Am thrilled to have found this book on Amazon and ordered it as soon as I saw it here. Could not be happier with it, either. Any fans of CorbinFisher or male erotica (focusing on college-aged guys in particular), I highly recommend this book to. The photography is both erotic and tasteful and the guys are incredible. The guys and photos are also very natural and genuine, which is what the Corbin Fisher brand is known for.



3. Finally!! I have been drooling over Corbin Fisher's amazing photography and his guys for a few years now and was very excited to find this quality hardbound book! It features lots of exciting full on nudes and erotically posed photos featuring some of the hottest college age guys I have seen. It was well worth it!



4. I found this book to be a wonderful addition to my collection of american college men. Plus Being a BIG Corbin Fisher Fan.
   
   Loved the Best of Lucas DVD too.

5 comments about ABC.

1. My 5 year old son has this book memorized. He laughs everytime he reads it. It has also been very helpful in teaching him the alphabet. It is an especially fun book for us since our pet is a Weimeraner.



2. This book made me wish learning the a-b-c's were this much fun back in my own childhood. The photos are amazingly original and your kids will truly enjoy coming back to their letter lessons with Wegman's adorable dogs. A very fresh approach to teaching! NOTE: check out Wegman's fairy tales featuring his prize dogs too.



3. This was one of my son's first favorite books. He would listen to me read it as many times as I was willing, and because of Wegman's non-cutesy approach, that was many times indeed. Although the dog-formed letters aren't as clear as text, they don't need to be - there are many other instances of the letters on each page, and hearing them is as important as seeing them. Overall, a great experience in enjoying reading for parent and child alike.



4. We originally found this book at the library. We wore it out in the two weeks we had it. The only problem was when the book was put together it was not in order. My kids wanted to check it out again but I was afraid they would think that was the order of the alphabet so I ordered them their own copy. The pictures are great and they will use the phrases from each letter over and over again. It's helped my three year old recognize letters everywhere. We bought a few more Wegman books because we enjoyed this one sooo much!



5. I wondered if Wegman could surpass himself once again and he sure does. A generous treat for all ages with irresistible examples of how to find the soul of a weimaraner or two.
   An ABC changed into very heaven.

5 comments about David Plowden: Vanishing Point: Fifty Years of Photography.

1. My copy of this exquisite book arrived this morning and I immediately had to sit down with it. It is a beautifully made volume. The print quality is superb: rich black blacks and almost an infinite range of grey tones which bring out the detail in the images. The book is heavy and comfortable in the lap, with pages that open almost totally flat so that the image on them can easily be seen in its entirety. And the images: what a tribute to an artistic life richly lived ----- they are wonderful, deep visual poems about what is disappearing (or has already vanished) in America. The sense of detail on the surfaces of bridges, ships, buildings and the powerful composition of the photographs have much to teach all of us who aspire to make photographs.



2. I've been buying David Plowden's books since the early 1970's, and often give them to friends simply for the joy of sharing. His books have inspired me and provided hundreds of hours of pleasure.
   
   No book to date, however, approaches this volume. It contains the best portfolio of his photographs to date, and is, by far, the best printed. The printing quality--and the size of the prints--is extraordinary. I've been to several of David Plowden's gallery exhibitions where the prints were a fraction of the sizes of these pages. The printing quality of the Great Lakes tugboat Edna G. on page 67, for example, is amazing.
   
   Hard as it is to remember the recent past, America was once both an industrial power and a land of vibrant small towns and an efficient transportation system. David Plowden photography captures both the sheer majesty of Chicago steel mills and steam driven transportation and the pride and basic workmanship found in even the smallest small town barbershop, hotel, or railroad station.
   
   The interviews, too, lack the artifice of most "essays" that accompany photo books. David Plowden's personality emerges from his words as well as his photographs.
   
   A word about this price. It may be a bit more than most readers are accustomed for paying. However, once you hold this book in your hand, and experience the sheer quality and quantity of images it contains, you'll probably agree that the book is an excellent value. I would rather have this volume than two, or more, lesser books. It is a "keeper" volume that will inspire the next generation of photographers in your family.
   
   If you have any interest at all in black and white photography, or if you have previously found pleasure and inspiration in Walker Evan's photography, you can be guaranteed that this book will be the best photography book you buy this year.
   
   This book has no competition because David Plowden has no competition in documenting the "lost America" of the last 50 years.



3. I'm a great fan of David Plowden's work. I have a copy of his "insights". Images were beautifully reproduced. I wish I could same the same for "Vanishing Point". Reproductions are mediocre at best. I bought this to give as a gift. I would rather return the book for a refund...although I realize that it is probably too late to do this. This is not the best representation of David Plowden's work and I'm sure he would be disappointed at this effort.



4. David Plowden is the contemporary Ansel Adams in the way he captures images. The detail is superb and the overall image mesmerizing. He is also a delightful person! Thank you, David, for sharing your gift. Even if the subject in the image is gone, we have your photos to appreciate what once was.



5. A trip to the photography section of a well-stocked bookstore will yield shelves full of photographer's monographs. Countless spines arrest the eyes, each one vying to be the stylish work that convinces you that this photographer is the American Master.
   
   And then there is David Plowden.
   
   Plowden is one of the few living links between today and the greats of documentarian photography, the geniuses of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and others who participated in the Farm Services Administration's photography project during the Great Depression. Their work, seminal to the documentary style, was paradoxically emotive, evoking a minimalistic visual poetry. Plowden -- who struck up a friendship with Evans in the late '50s -- built upon this tradition, mixing a lyric style of photography with a documentary sensibility.
   
   Over the course of his career, Plowden has published numerous books, almost always organized along topical lines: great lakes steam boats, great bridges of North America, vanishing small towns. He also has a fascination for railroads, the first love on which he lavished his camera -- indeed his first published photo was in TRAINS Magazine in 1954. This love expanded to encompass all manner of industrial subjects, from steamships and tugboats to steel mills and grain elevators. Now 76 years old, Plowden is at the end of his career, and it seems natural that he would publish a retrospective volume of his photography. Vanishing Point is that work.
   
   The book opens -- after two images and a table of contents-- with a forward by Richard Snow, formerly the editor of American Heritage. Here Snow ably pens a brief discussion of Plowden's career. The brush strokes are light, and those familiar with Plowden's work might criticize it as being repetitive or unnecessary, but it provides a valuable taste of the text and photos to follow, almost as if it were a kind of abstract of the remaining book. A gentle start: so far, so good.
   
   All this changes changes with the turn of the page and a remarkable 14-page introductory essay by Steve Edwards. Edwards brings his journalist sensibilities to the fore as he spins the story of the life and career of David Plowden. In so many ways, the story the journalist tells seems almost cinematic: a troubled childhood in New England, a youth amongst railroad men, a struggle to study a discipline he hated (economics) at Yale in hopes of making himself a better railroad employee following graduation. The reader is treated to the full transit of the photographer's disillusionment with the railroad world and with more common paths of life that would eventually bring him to photography. And here he works for Winston Link, studies under Minor White, and becomes fast friends with Walker Evans.
   
   Edward's portrait is deftly penned with a light touch and a sensitivity to emotions and motives that makes the reader feel they can get inside -- if only for a brief moment -- the heart and mind of the photographer. He is sympathetic, but candid too; Plowden's single-minded devotion to his art often came at the expense of a relationship with his children and eventually cost him his first marriage. The event is part of a repeating pattern of loss that seems endemic to Plowden's drive. Edwards relates a point in 1960, after Plowden had left the studio of Minor White, feeling he had made a great mistake to study photography. The scene is rural Maine, and the photographer is standing the the cab of a steam locomotive on the very last steam-powered run on the line.
   
   "'While that engine died, I sat in the cab in Brownsville Junction and watched the gauge drop to zero,' [Plowden] says. The loss was palpable; the very thing that had provided so much joy and escape during his troubled childhood had vanished."
   
   In the space of a few short sentences, Edwards gets to the burning core of Plowden's modus operandi.
   
   After this come the photographs themselves. Plowden was once scoffed at for being a "topical" photographer; here he wears this on his sleeve, dividing the book into seven thematic chapters of plates. Each is designated by only a roman numeral, with no title, no explanatory text, no attempt at interpretation. It is only the chapter divider, the plates, and in tiny text at the bottom, a plate number and very cursory caption.
   
   Although railroads were Plowden's first love, they are not the focus of the work, and indeed the images of railroads he presents here are not the strongest images in the book. The most amusing thing about these images is the first plate, a photo of a Great Northern steam-powered freight near Wilmar, Minnesota: it violates nearly every rule of railroad photography convention, with no light on the nose of the locomotive, a broad foreground space of snow and haphazard weeds, and a line of poles and wires directly in front of the engine!
   
   In addition to the train-centric images are more domestic moments, with the engines getting washed, maintained, and fueled by engine terminal crews. These images display a cinematic quality that is similar to Link, and indeed many of the plates date from 1959-1960, around the time of Plowden's association with that famous photographic dramatist. There is, however, one key element that is notably different; while Link resorted to everything short of building a personal hydrogen-powered sun to light his subjects with Hitchcockian precision, Plowden has worked only with available light. The result? His images seem fresher and more natural than Link's, as if the events in them had taken place but a few days ago, rather than decades hence.
   
   Far more stunning than the railroad plates are the nautical images, such as plate 31, "Tugboat Julia C. Moran Undocking Liner, Hudson River, New York City (1975)". We are on the forward deck of a Hudson tug, barely seeing more than a few inches of the con. Out forward is a single man -- one of the few humans that Plowden has included in his Hopperesque de-peopled world -- unwrapping one of the ropes that holds the liner to the tug. And behind hims soars the great silver rivet-speckled bow of the hull of an ocean liner, so massive that her decks and superstructure are lost somewhere in an Olympian height beyond the view of the camera.
   
   Bridges are, of course, one of David Plowden's greatest loves, and with boyish glee he gives us great hulking massive flying piles of steel. My favorite is probably one of the closest to me, an image of Newport, Oregon's Yaquina Bay Bridge shown in plate 61. The photo looks down the empty length of the span, and flanked between two gothic concrete spires curves the steel arch of the main bridge. The top nearly disappears into coastal fog, and the far end is barely even there at all. Beyond, there is no world, no ocean, no hills.
   
   Next comes a chapter on industrial subjects, lead by a large set of photographs of the steel making process. Giant metal buckets, glowing molten steel, flashing dancing sparks. After a tour of this mechanical Hades, Plowden takes us on a journey through a litany of "back end" jobs, a hidden world of industry and commerce that few get to see. We see the great ore docks. We meet the solitary men who work in the bellies of steamships. We walk among lunar piles of coal and of iron ore. We get lost amongst the clinical inhumanity of a nuclear power plant.
   
   The fifth chapter could be best described as wastelands. The images here are perhaps the most complex and most postmodern of the book. This America is one that is decaying, where every house hasn't been painted since FDR was president and each car looks like only Richard Roundtree would want to drive it, if it were still 1975 anyway. The bleakness, the desolation, the emptiness here is almost disturbing. Every now and then, I catch a sensation that reminds me of the empty highway-spaces of Jeff Brouws. There is a vague notion of social commentary emerging here, especially in the few plates here that show people; what is the future of the freckle-faced boy from rural West Virginia in plate 132? What kind of life awaits the girl staring out the window in plate 136? The state of paint and repair of her Pennsylvania home doesn't give much hope of stewardship for the world she is about to inherit. And in plate 143, shot in 1967, even the iconic form of the Statue of Liberty is framed by power poles and trash.
   
   Love re-enters the picture in chapter six. Here is rural America, and rural Americana: the small town main street, the general store, the hardware store. This is the world that is fast fleeting, a victim of a rural populace mystified at the decline of tradition and Main Street while they push their shopping carts down the aisles of Wal-Mart. The shop-keepers -- when they appear at all -- are old, their faces as cracked as the paint of their wooden floorboards. And now and then we get children, too, and an old couple in Iowa who keep a clapboard house with Swiss net curtains, and we get the silence of over-furnished empty front parlors from houses that were built when people knew what the heck the word "parlor" even meant.
   
   Storm clouds on the plains of New Mexico opens up the seventh and final chapter of Vanishing Point. It is the same image that is used on the dust jacket, a powerful, sweeping metaphor for the elegy that is the remainder of the book. From here out, there will be no more people, not a single solitary one. Indeed the only identifiable living creature is a single horse -- pale like that ridden by Death in the Four Horseman of the Book of Revelations. It stares out at us kindly from a single small square window in the side of a barn in plate 221. We are alone now, in the plains, navigating by grain elevators. We walk freely amongst barns and inside of feed mills. It seems that dust still hangs in the air, as if someone was just here, just working, but where have they gone? There is a profound solemnity, as if in church, and each successive image shows us less and tells us more.
   
   The final image -- plate 235 -- returns us back to where we and Plowden both began. It is a railroad track. Frost once wrote of two roads that diverged in a wood, one well taken, and one rarely so. Plowden, like the poet, took the one "less travelled by". Here, though, we see the mainline -- the path well worn -- and the diverging route merging towards a switch that unites them. Are we looking backwards from the diverging route of Plowden's life, to see what has gone now collectively behind us? Or are we looking ahead, and seeing that even the route less taken eventually winds to the same common end? Take care and note: there are no buildings. There are no people. There is not even a train. There is only a track that crests over a small rise and disappears, and beyond that, empty hills bearing no promises. It is an evocative image on which to end the collection of photographic plates, especially considering that the book is meant as a retrospective of an entire career.
   
   The closing text of the work is from Plowden himself, and his voice crackles with energy. Here he is full of humor and wit, buoyant in a way that is natural to those who have such a keen sense of loss and of the fleeting nature of time. Here we are imbued in a world of technical geekdom but told in such a loving fashion that, like the sometimes nonsensical phrasing of a T.S. Elliot poem, the reader is enthralled. He tells a hilarious narrative of his bad luck in camera choices, contraptions that seemed bent on being too bulky, too complicated, or too delicate to stand up to the demands he would place on them. The notes read like a letter from a favorite grandfather that you rarely see. It is perhaps the most valuable text in the book, and as precious as any of the photographic plates bound within the book's pages.
   
   This is a heavy book, weighing in at over five pounds. The binding is stout but never gets in the way of viewing the photographic plates, even in the middle of this thick volume. The paper is strong and bright and feels good under the hand. Reproduction on the photos is outstanding with fine tonal range. The design work on the book tends towards minimalist, with subtle tones, simple font choices, and bold charcoal-hued chapter dividers bearing stark roman numerals and nothing more. All the plates are produced in a nearly full-page format, with white margins neither distractingly thin nor drastically wide. Image grouping is carefully planned; where images face each other across pages (which is most of the time), the images act as a kind of diptych, reflecting some common graphic value or subject theme, while images that are strongest on their own are displayed solitary against a blank page. The book looks and feels like every penny of its $100 price.
   
   Vanishing Point is a monumental volume befitting the lifetime's work of one of America's greatest photographers. There is no question that this is one of the finest books I have had the pleasure of adding to my collection in years. It is a shame that some in the world of high art have derided Plowden as a "topical" artist. For every avant-guard photographer the art schools crank out, few will ever achieve the richness and depth of the American soul that David Plowden has. His work stands alongside the paintings of Edward Hopper and the literature of Mark Twain as essential to understanding the uniqueness of American culture. With an outstanding introduction, a collection of stunning plates, and a precious gem of an afterward from Plowden himself, Vanishing Point proves itself the definitive work of Plowden's life. No serious photographer of American culture should be without it. Photography books this fine are rarely printed en-masse; when this book finally sells out, it will likely begin to appreciate in price steadily. Buy it while it's new, before you have to pay twice as much for a used copy.

5 comments about Photoshop CS3 Raw: Get the Most Out of the Raw Format with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Bridge.

1. 'Photoshop CS3 Raw: Get the Most Out of the Raw Format with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Bridge' is a great resource for all levels of digital photographers who want to work with images of the highest quality possible. A regular photo who takes images with their camera probably takes them saved in the JPEG file format that has been so widely known and loved for so many years. The problem with this format is that when JPEG is used their is always data lost in the compression used to save the images. This data usually is minimal and not a big deal but if you need the highest quality pictures without any loss or compression at all, you need to save these in a better format. One of those formats is the Adobe RAW format which is the data saved with no data loss at all. These files will be much bigger in size but they also will guarantee that whatever picture(s) you took, you will see everything that was intended to be seen (and saved).
   
   But simply taking the picture isn't enough, as there is tons of post-processing that goes on to get images looking even better than when they were taken. If you want to learn how to edit, crop, saturate, lighten, darken, whatever your heart desires with RAW imgagery, this is a great resource to have!! With nearly 250 pages spread across 12 chapters, this is a great introduction (in full color on glossy paper) to getting the most out of your camera and taking your images from Bs to As!!
   
   This is a great resource to digital editing, my only caveat is that I feel it could be a bit longer. Another 50 pages or so with another example per chapter could have made things even better. A small complaint (and not enough to hurt my rating for the book) but it's worth noting.
   
   If you take RAW images and want to learn how to get more out of them, this book will get you well on your way!!
   
   ***** RECOMMENDED



2. This is a fine introduction into CS3 RAW. It is very clear and easy to understand and follow. If you shoot in RAW and use ACR, this book should be in your library.



3. 
   How do professional photographers turn RAW data into fine polished results? Photoshop CS3 RAW: Transform your RAW Images into Works of Art explains how to use the Photoshop CS2 tool, surveying the basics of optimizing RAW images and deciding when to shoot RAW, how to organize and automate their processing, how to tweak the images with professional techniques, and more. Neo-pros need this - and any computer or photography library strong in Photoshop techniques will find it popular.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. I have a number of books that attempt to explain Photoshop CS3 and Camera Raw in particular. This book is, far and away, the best I have seen. It is extremely well written, easy to follow, and very comprehensive. I recommend it without qualifications.



5. Mr. Aaland does a wonderful job of explaining many of the key functions in Camera Raw. The benefit of this book over many others is the opportunity to work along with Mr. Aaland using either his examples or your own photographs and the detailed explanations associated with each topic. His approach and style are superb. As mentioned by another reviewer, some of the examples are a bit hard to see in the book, but if you work along in Camera Raw that is not an issue. This book is a great learning tool and reference manual. The best I have found so far. Highly recommended.