5 comments about Equus.

1. I was looking for a book with beautiful pictures of horses and this is not it. In fact, most of the pictures aren't even of the whole horse. You get pictures of mouths, hooves, eyes, tails, backs etc. Even alot of the "entire horse" pictures are mostly background with the horses so small you can't even tell what breed they are. Try to look through one before you buy it.



2. A friend gave this to me for my birthday and I LOVE it. It lets you use your imagination with its artistic, beautiful photography. My 7 year old daughter loved it, too.



3. Equus is a fine art book, but it is also far more than that. This book is about fantastic photography, it is art in movement. If you love horses and appreciate amazing photography this book is an absolute must-have! LOVE IT!



4. I bought this book for my 12 year old Grandson for a Christmas gift. It is a beautiful book and as a horse lover he will be thrilled with the book.



5. Equus is the most beautiful book I have ever seen. I absorbed every photograph and did the soft hummm sound many times. It struck such a chord with me. I love the equine form, but had not thought of the creature as sculpture before. I believe you have to be a 'horse lover to the bone' to appreciate all of these photographs.

5 comments about Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People.

1. Photography is extraordinary. The people featured therein, not so much. Still, it's a beautifully done publication and worth the cash but buy it at discount.
   Stylemaven



2. Flash review: The perfect gift book for this season.
   
   This new book, timed for Xmas giving, features a selection of the best homes shown in Vogue in the past several years. It is a large-scale book, filled with wonderful color photography. Although Elle Decor and Architectural Digest have come out with similar books this season, neither can hold a candle to Vogue's tome. If you are familiar with the 1968 publication, "Vogue's Book of Houses, Gardens, People", which now sells for $400 and up if you can find it, you will know what is in store for you.
   
   Maximum emphasis on homes you would love to see in person, owned by people of impeccable style: Janet de Botton in the south of France, Marella Agnelli in Marrakech, David Cholmondeley's stately, etc.; minimal number of celebrity digs done by decorators of questionable taste which you tend to see in Architectural Digest. The style and taste of the featured houses, gardens (and, yes, people) are on an entirely different plane than those shown in the new books by the other two lifestyle magazines.



3. There is no disputing that this is a sumptuous volume. Lavishly produced, its oversized 384 pages are crammed with images of exquisite rooms and lush gardens from 36 unique homes, owned by the rich and/or famous in Europe, America and North Africa and into the likes of which you and I will never set foot. (Which is the reason, thankfully, such books are produced and why we lesser mortals buy them.)
   
   There are rooms modern and rooms classic, arranged with the taste, elegance and restraint of the world's best decorators and captured by the world's greatest photographers. And yet the rooms are not museum pieces, but are demonstrably inhabited by their owners, their well-scrubbed children and their adorable dogs, such as the greyhound on page 317 filching a piece of cheese from the dinner table.
   
   My favourite room which is featured on the front jacket cover is of Janet de Botton's breakfast room in Provence, its French chateau décor a study in white, cream and faded pastel, the background, literally a wall of china - floral motifed white plates and platters displayed on white-painted, floor-to-ceiling wooden plate racks built into the walls. (Already I've been measuring my walls to see how I can incorporate something similar - though less vast - into my old house).
   
   At the opposite end of the décor spectrum is Amanda Brooks NYC loft, all kitsch and brash eye-popping colour like a Barbie Doll house with Brooks herself photographed in a Barbie Doll style gown in a Barbie Doll pose. (It's not to my personal taste but cleverly done & I had to look twice to be sure the figure lying stiffly across the bed wasn't a mannequin).
   
   If you are a fan of décor books you will find plenty more here to inspire, amuse and entertain you and your like-minded friends and family.
   
   So why did I hold back from a five star rating? My quibble is with the empty 14 pages devoted to Madonna which might have been put to better use: Madonna's cow pastures, M. with (admittedly cute) children; a gowned & high-heeled & coiffed M. feeding the chickens (as if!); M. canoodling with husband, a double-page shot of M's sheep -- & only one tiny interior shot, a sitting room that was rearranged by the photographer & does not reflect the actual décor of Madonna's house - which might have been of real interest even to a non-fan like me.
   Thus the book falls just a little short of being, for me, the epitome of the coffee-table décor genre.



4. you have to love decor and fashion to understand this book.it is Vogue after all!!!! the book is full of fabulous properties and fabulous people.I went through it already many times and got inspired by it.
   Buy it f you are a fan of vogue magazine !!!



5. I love this book, it is absolutely beautiful. Everyone with any taste needs to purchase this book!

2 comments about Time Planet Earth: An Illustrated History.

1. Planet Earth: An Illustrated History is a stunningly beautiful coffee table book, featuring full-color photography of Earth's environment and biosphere - from a grizzly bear about to catch a salmon mid-leap to penguin parents protecting their chicks to the leaping courtship of European hares and much more. The reader-friendly text describes the wonders of nature, some dazzling, some harsh, as well introducing one to the geology and climatology of the planet. An educational and informative text, enthusiastically recommended as a gift book for nature or wildlife photography lovers as well as for public library collections.



2. I first heard about this book on one of the network morning shows, which I was watching in HD, and the pictures looked amazing -- bright and vibrant, with subjects that were interesting, quirky and fun. The reality is that although the subjects really are interesting, quirky, and fun, the colors in the actual book are dull and lifeless, not the high gloss, vibrant colors I expected from the HDTV pictures.

No comments about Democratic National Convention 2008: Obama's Mile High Moment.

1 comments about Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: 2009 Wall Calendar.

1. I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. So once I saw that the '09 calendars were out, I had to get it. But then I got it home and looked at it, there's really no Harry Potter himself in it. There's all the other characters and even side characters, but no HP. Very disappointed. But all in all it was a good calendar. Mine is hanging in my kitchen. Lovely!

5 comments about Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography (Updated Edition).

1. A very good book of instruction and fabulous examples are given of creative picture taking.



2. Bryan Peterson's book is excellent for beginners like myself. He walks you through basic prinicples of design and composition with many excellent examples. Most importantly he walks you through his thought process. Each picture has information about how he shot it and often why he shot it that way. The book also includes several useful excercises to help you develop your eye. Although it could be argued that the book doesn't cover all topics and is not as thorough as other books, it accompishes its purpose which is to get beginning photographers to see the world around them differently. This book rapidly improved my shots because the examples and principles are so clear. Now I am ready to move on to more complex and complete books. I highly recommend this book to get started.



3. I would recommend this book to anyone starting off in photography.
   
   Invaluable information, well presented, and easily referenced.



4. This is a terrific book. It covers the basics in depth and in an easy to understand manner. I teach a beginning photography class for the city and will be utilizing this book.



5. The book is very good and does and excellent job of explaining what it is about. Excellent shopping experience and will use Amazon again.

5 comments about One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey (Annivers.

1. This book is written "by Sam Keith from the journals and photographs of Richard Proenneke" - so although I read it and visualized the events within as if it had all been written by Richard Proenneke, it wasn't. Sam Keith tells us in the preface: "Using Dick Proenneke's rough journals as a guide, and knowing him as well as I did, I have tried to get into his mind and reveal the "flavor" of the man. This is my tribute to him, a celebration of his being in tune with his surroundings and what he did alone with simple tools and ingenuity in carving his masterpiece out of the beyond."
   
   I've seen the PBS presentation of "Alone in the Wilderness", which uses selections from the text of this book along with movie footage of Proenneke building his cabin and living there. Those selections are read by someone other than Proenneke, but the voice is a perfect fit to the text and image. Because the text is not exactly Proenneke's and the voice of the video isn't his either, our experience of the man is filtered though these interpreations. Sam Keith hasn't shown us any unedited examples from the "rough journals" he used to compose the book, so it's difficult to know how far this beautifully crafted language matches the character and psychology of Richard Proenneke.
   
   It is an extraordinary book and was a great pleasure to read. I recommend it without reservation.



2. Excellent book to read. I believe everyone will enjoy this and the story of this amazing person. Easy to read diary-like story of Dick Proenneke's 16-month life alone in a beautiful wilderness of Alaska. Page by page you'll be thrilled to continue on reading and it even gets better at the end. You'll probably stand up and clap your hands to this amazing man.



3. One Man's Wilderness; ..... Well written, entertaining , I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure in beautiful Alaskan Wilderness .....



4. Preserving Alaska's Natural Wonder
   
   Based on the 1960's journals kept faithfully by Dick Proenneck, an archetype of the Sierra Club's advocate, this book presents an amazing story with glorious color photographs. "I don't think a man knows what he can do until he is challenged," p. 211) concludes the man who hewed out a log cabin single handedly in the wilderness. This is a succinct statement of Proenneck's motivating philosophy of personal achievement. Readers follow his non-boastful narrative of trial and error during a remarkable 18-month sojourn in wild Alaska. His survival odyssey (physical and emotional) presents him as the quintessential Mountain Man.
   
   Satisfied to rely on Nature to supply his basic needs (and more contemporary items being flown in at irregular intervals by a cheerful bush pilot, faithful Babe, Proennecke realizes his dreams of carving out a pioneer life in the wilderness near Twin Lakes. Several chapters are quite long but fall into natural, timely categories. I am always interested in How-to descriptions involving caareful planning and manual labor, so I found the BIRTH OF A CABIN chapter fascinating. Even many of his actual tools were made by his own hands, as he started from scratch; his rustic creation is now part of a State Park which tourists may admire 40 years later. The cabin, fireplace and chimney, and cache-on-stilts all bear testimony to his skill and craftsman dedication--proving that a determined man can carve out a hearth after his own heart.
   
   A conscientious chronicler of his own activities (and thoughts) Dick used both his still and movie cameras to capture the cabin in various stages of completion, as well and the flora and fauna of the relatively unspoiled Alaska. With tongue-in-cheek humor he shares his attempts (successful and otherwise) to peacefully interact with the curious or persistent creatures who tried to share his digs and provisions. He seems to feel that critters are a lot like some people-- drawing stoic or amusing conclusions about his attempts to coexist. His gripes with the callousness of humans (seasonal hunters, flown in to bag moose, caribou and Dall sheep) indicate his deep awareness of the fragility of an environment and man's duty to preserve it intact as much as possible--not only out of respect for the animals that inhabit the area, but for future generations of tourists and residents. When he was flown out after his 18-month odyssey he realized that many of the smaller creatures would suffer Hand-Out withdrawal, now that Dick's Welfare was about to dry up. Hats off to a pioneering environmentalist who made us all Aware of Alaska's potential.
   
   Sept. 2, 2008



5. This is a great book. It was delivered quickly and was in excellent condition. A must for any library.

5 comments about The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D Companion.

1. This book looked like the best alternative to my new camera's manual, and it did not disappoint. As others have mentioned, the author indeed goes well beyond the manual, with excellent examples.
   
   Ben Long writes columns for MacWorld and also has a nice website. You can preview some of his books there.



2. Ben Long has written the finest how to use a camera book I have ever read. Not only does he clearly describe the camera but he gives very useful information on the the digital world , how to better use any camera, clear descriptions of how to take better photos and how even to hold the camera properly. I would recommend this book to any Canon 450D/xsi users.



3. Unlike other camera guides to the Canon, The Canon EOS Digital Rebel Xsi/450d Companion provides a portable class on digital photography for those who use this particular model and shows how to use its special features to take superior photos. Technical savvy blends with specialty photography tips in a survey important for any Canon DOS Digital Rebel camera owner.



4. I have always had trouble with camera manuals, but this book is great.
   I understand so much more about my camera and have had fun trying different settings.



5. I have been using point and shoot cameras for some time now but decided to make the leap to an SLR. I bought the XSi without knowing anything about SLR cameras. I just knew I wanted to learn how to take better pictures and had read reviews that stated the XSi was a great entry level camera. When I picked up this book, I was looking for something that would be pretty basic, but also get into some of the more complex functions of the camera and give a basic overview of them.
   
   If what I described above sounds like you, this book is an absolute must buy. I am literally shocked at how easy it is to ready. The author has a sense of humor throughout and everything he describes is very clear and concise. If this is your first SLR purchase and you don't buy the book, I think you are making a big mistake as I learned things about taking care of the camera I would not have otherwise known or thought about.
   
   The author also gets into basic entry level information regarding ISO, shutter speed, etc etc. This was a perfect beginner spot for someone who didn't know much about those items. The book begins bye telling you how to work with/care for your camera, talks about using the automatic function built in, and then closes with more detailed instruction for manual use and also has a section on the different lenses, ad-ons. A-Z guide.

5 comments about Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs.

1. I have most of Ansel Adams' books. This is the least impressive of all. Small horizontal pages with vertical landscapes (sometimes only one 5 x 7 on a page) added up to merchandising, certainly not doing justice to this great photographer. Larger book size and orienting the photographs with the page layout would have been FAR better. We would have had to turn the book 90 degrees to view some of his works, but I would have preferred that.
   The selected photographs are quite good, but Adams' work requires a better presentation than this. Leave this on the shelf and buy multiple other volumes and be far more pleased.



2. Ansel Adams was one of the greatest photographers of his time and had a wonderful "clinical eye" to the world around him. This book catch this in a absolute way. Each photo printed itself is a learning. This book it's a real State of Art.



3. Fantastic book great representation of the entire span of the photographer's career. I would reccomend this book to anybody interested in photography or just a great coffee table book. Plus it is classy quality hardback that amazon offers at nearly half the price that the ansel adams website is selling it for.



4. Great book, prints are of excellent quality. And photos - this is Ansel Adams, the greatest landscape photographer, there is nothing to say!
   
   However, some pages are blank - photos are simply missing (about 10-20 photos). Maybe it is my bad luck and other copies don't have this problem.



5. Tireless book full of images of this wonderful photographer to look unique.
   Size good, brings good idea to shoot the nature.

5 comments about A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005.

1. After reading some of the other reviews, i have to agree with the comments about content however i believe it's important to understand that this was a publication for an accompanying exhibition at the brooklyn museum of art. It is an exhibition that is still touring around today. I saw the exhibition and was struck by the quality of the photographs as well as their diversity. It is as the title suggests, "A Photographers Life" and should be seen as such. I really liked the exhibition for it's incite into the life behind all of the famous photograph's we have come to know annie leibovitz for.



2. A beautiful and touching collection of her life and friends in her own words------photography. I have her first book and this one is just as great. A beautiful, interesting coffee table book. Every time you look through it you see it again differently.



3. I was very excited to win this book as a prize for a photo contest tied to the Annie Liebowitz exhibit in SF, CA. My photo was related to families. I acknowledge the other reviewers. The graphic layout of the photos reduced the value of her beautiful work. This book is important. It's production should have accorded it the same treatment. Who was in charge of its publication? Was Annie consulted? I can't imagine it. Actually it would make me feel better to think that she wasn't included in the approval cycle; how could you do this to yourself?



4. It's likely the first time you browse through A Photographer's Life, you will use it as a peeping tom would use a window, as a voyeur, looking in on the lives of famous people -- and perhaps that's the intention. But then, go back and gaze at the photos as art, looking for the lighting, the mood, the context. Leibovitz's photos of herself are almost too revealing, but use them as the introduction to herself as she intended. The photos she took for Rolling Stone of rock stars and politicians are as rich as the articles for which her photos were shot. Read them as you would the article itself. You will learn much.



5. When I got the book I was surprised by the size and how heavy it felt in my hands. I was even more surprised with the work inside. Annie offers us, the viewers, a very nice conception about photography when she does not separate her family and friends'pictures from her professional assignments. It's all part of her life - It might get confusing at first but as you leaf through the book you start assimilating more and more of her conception - The pictures do give you feelings, after all, that's what photography is all about. Love the book.Great work.