Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography by Brenda Tharp

This is another AMPHOTO book for learning how to do serious nature photography. As with all AMPHOTO books, this one is top quality in material and the photos used to illustrate that material. It’s eleven chapters on 160 pages is crammed full of the best pro techniques you will find anywhere, and the images you will want to take out and frame for your walls at home. I have several of Brenda’s books, and will be keeping them long after many of my other books are long gone. Her books go beyond the standard how-to information, and includes the feeling of how to add your interpretation to what is in front of you.

This soft cover book is about 8x11 inches, with 160 pages, retails for US-$24.95 – and is published by AMPHOTO BOOKS at www.watsonguptill.com.         I Rate it:       A

Photographing The Landscape, The Art of Seeing by John Fielder

This is another great book that will show you how you to can create the best landscape images, and it does it in a very easy to understand and fully illustrated way. This is a how-to book, but not with the usual tech notes on every setting used. Instead each image includes a nice piece on how and why it was shot that way, plus many tips that the pros use to get their shots. Something most other books either don’t supply, or just don’t know about. So, in this book you get great samples images and the know-how to make your own, which makes it even more valuable to any serious photographer.

This soft cover book is over 10x10 inch, with 192 pages and retails for only $29.95-US. It is published by Westcliffe Publishers and can be ordered at www.westcliffepublishers.com.         I Rate it:       A++

How To Photograph Landscapes by Joseph K. Lange

This is a very nice little how-to/reference book that shows you how to use both technical skills and an artistic eye to create some beautiful images of any landscape, no matter where and under what conditions. This book is packed full of info, captions, and some of the best illustrations you will see in any photo book around. I am still trying to figure out the reason for using the cover image, as the rest of the ones inside are 10-times better, so that should give you an idea of what you can look forward to learning from it, and the price for all that is a real steal.

This soft cover book is about 7x9 inches, with 135 pages, retails for US-$19.95 – and is published by StackPole Books at www.stackpolebooks.com.         I Rate it:       A++

Edge of Darkness by Barry Thornton

This book covers the “art, craft, and power of the high-definition monochrome photograph.” For quality and information on the craft of B&W printing, I put this book on par with those written by Ansel Adams. It is B&W only, and covers everything you need to make the best prints around. It is also illustrated with many fine images from the English country side, which I like because seeing mostly images of the US gets boring after the first few dozen or so books with them. The late Mr. Thornton was a master printer, and this book shows you how he made his prints. Practice what he teaches and you could be too. A must-have book, especially when you consider what it would cost to pay a master printer to teach you their trade.

This soft cover book is about 9x10 inches, with 176 pages, retails for US-$29.95 – and is published by AMPHOTO BOOKS at www.watsonguptill.com.         I Rate it:       A

Window Seat, The Art of Digital Photography & Creative Thinking by Julieanne Kost

When I requested this book to review I was thinking it was about something else, but I got something completely different and am I very glad that I did. The title sort of tells you what it is about, but seeing as I have never seen another book like it, it was easy to be fooled. From cover to cover every image was taken through the window of one of the hundreds of flights that the author takes every year, and they include shots from over 30,000 feet down to about treetop level. Beautiful cloud formations, farm land patterns, mountain ranges, and high altitude sunsets, all so well taken and printed that you would never know that they were shot through a double thickness of scratched, and usually dirty plastic. This is a great book to add to any photo library, and one that is sure to be unlike any others you have.

This soft cover book is about 10x10 inches, with 148 pages, retails for US-$39.99 - and is published by O’Reilly Media and can be checked out at www.oreilly.com.         I Rate it:       A+

Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS2 by Bruce Fraser

This book is filled with “industrial strength production techniques” to make using RAW work to its very best. RAW is not one of a digital camera’s easiest tools to use, but it can be easily understood and used if you have the right information to do it with. This new book gives you just that and more. It also includes info on the new Bridge, and guides for building your workflow and automating tasks.

This 7.5x9 inch soft cover book has 314 pages, and retails for $39.99-US. Published by Peachpit Press at www.peachpit.com.         I Rate it:       A+

Adobe GoLive CS2 – Classroom in a Book - The official training manual from Adobe Systems

I have been using these Adobe web design programs ever since the first one called PageMill, and I have used these “Classroom in a Book” books almost as long. The title tells it all, as its 410 pages takes you from start to finish with how to design and build your own web site, and never have the nightmare of having to learn one bit of programing language. That means web pages as good looking as any you will see online, and a whole lot easier. As an added bonus the book comes with a CD with all of the files needed to do each class lesson.

This soft cover book is about 8x9 inches, with 417 pages, retails for US-$49.99 – and is published by Peachpit Press at www.peachpit.com.         I Rate it:       A+

Through The Lens, National Geographic Greatest Photographs

I’ve always thought that picture books go on coffee tables and in bookcases, and tech books go in “piles.” One new book headed for my coffee table is Through The Lens, Greatest Photographs, from National Geographic. This new hardback book almost weighs as much as my coffee table too. At over 10x10 inches, and almost two inches thick, I would not want to drop it on my foot. The very first picture published in National Geographic was back in 1890, this book is a collection of many of the best images published in the past 50 years, or so. Its 500-plus pages showcase the work of the best-known photographers who have worked for this classic publication, and covers Europe, Asia, Africa & the Middle East, the Americas, Oceans, and even out into the Universe.

This hardback book is over 10x10 inches, with 504 pages, and retails for an incredibly low price of US-$30.00 and if a local bookstore does not have a copy you can order it from the NG web site at www.nationalgeographic.com.         I Rate it:       A++

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