Fine Art Flower Photography: Creative Techniques And The Art Of Observation

Fine Art Flower Photography: Creative Techniques And The Art Of Observation

Description:
Acclaimed nature photographer Tony Sweet helps us to see a familiar subject through new eyes in this astonishing collection of flower photography. Ranging from the elegiac to the experimental, these pictures offer a kaleidoscopic survey of innovative photographic techniques--including multiple exposures and "slide sandwiching"--along with instructions for creating similar effects in your own photography. Perfectly balancing grace and spontaneity, Fine Art Flower Photography ensures that none of us will look at (or photograph) flowers the same way again.

Customer Review:

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!

Customer Review:
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.

Customer Review:
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!



The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction

The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction

Description:
Provides direct access to the skills, insights and techniques of some of the postproduction industry's most prominent digital video colorists, delivering practical skills to the postproduction pro seeking to improve their color grading craft. The author interviews and observes 8 professional colorists as they grade a series of real world video images, describing the methods and techniques each artist uses to reach their finalized image. These video images are included on a DVD that allows you to work lockstep with each artist as they grade their images.

Though some tools provided may differ from one product to the next, the basic process of video color correction (grading) remains the same. Application agnostic and sure to inspire, The Art of Digital Video Color Correction will further your artistic skills, whether you're an editor, compositor, or colorist, and allow you to apply those skills to the grading process, making your finished image sharper, crisper and more aesthetically pleasing in general.

* Digital video color correction tips and techniques from the pros grading the films, shows and commercials we all see everyday, thus advancing the artistic coloring skills of the reader
* Is non-software specific, with lessons that are applicable to any postproduction workflow
* DVD includes samples of the same video images that the colorists featured in the book were working on, providing direct access to the techniques and process of professional grading



The Nikon D200 Dbook: Your Interactive Guide to DSLR Photography

The Nikon D200 Dbook: Your Interactive Guide to DSLR Photography

Description:
Rocky Nook Dbooks are the ideal companion for anyone who wants to get the most from their Nikon D200. With more than 580 digital pages in Acrobat format, you will discover the fundamentals on all aspects of the digital image creation process: digital photography basics, taking pictures, image optimization, lenses, accessories, and much more.

Rocky Nook Dbooks go well beyond the Nikon camera manuals and are well-organized, beautifully illustrated introductions to digital photography with the Nikon system.

The Dbooks offer clickable examples and digital images that explain before-and-after situations and clearly illustrate the individual stages of the processes involved. Navigation is easy with the built-in hyperlinks or the detailed index and Acrobat search functions. Rocky Nook Dbooks make reading just as exciting and interactive as digital photography itself. High-resolution RGB images help to illustrate subtle differences and effects which would hardly be visible on a printed book page.

Rocky Nook Dbooks also include a handy booklet for use on the road, which is filled with practical overviews of your camera and menu options.

The Rocky Nook Dbook series is a must for all serious amateur, semi-professional, or professional photographers who want to get the most out of their Nikon equipment, and who strive to produce impressive, polished, digital images.

Customer Review:
The idea of an interactive manual is a good one but I think this one got a bit lost along the way. The use of tables, pictures, and sidebars is a normal practice in printed books where you can see two pages at a time but on screen when you can only see one page at a time interruptions to the text in mid-sentence can be disconcerting. Also, buyers should be aware that the photoshop actions have to be downloaded from the publisher's website since they were left off of the cd.


Customer Review:
I love my Nikon D200 and am always on the lookout for a book that will help me to get more out of this expensive collection of hardware and glass. I own several D-200 books that are, at best, annotated, paraphrased, and rehashed versions of the existing Nikon User Guide. So it was with some degree of doubt that I approached the Nikon D200 Dbook. My first surprise was it was not just a manual on a CD. It is truly an interactive reference guide. For example, when I read the section that covered menu settings for saturation, the book not only made recommendations for the settings, but when you clicked on the menu setting (which looks exactly like the one in the camera) the photo in the book changed to reflect what change was produced. Too cool. They also include some step-by-step solutions to common setups. I especially enjoyed the section on flash photography in which they showed examples of the effects of different different flash settings and the effects that could be created. In addition to covering what appears to be all aspects of the D200, they have also included a fairly detailed course on digital photography in general. The printed book (about 30 pages) provides a snap summary of how to use the Dbook, an overview of the camera controls, and the menus.
As both an author and a photographer I think this is an excellent book that should serve as a model for all books of this genre. The only limitation is that you must have a computer to read it but if you are a serious digital photographer you already have one or more notebooks. If you are shooting with a D200 you need to get this book. Eat beans for a week or put off buying your next camera accessory, whatever it takes. This book, if you read it, will make you a better D200 photographer period.

Customer Review:
'The Nikon D200 Dbook: Your Interactive Guide to DSLR Photography' is more like a book that comes with a disc. Yes there is a hardcover 50 page book that has bright, nice pictures, but the content of how to use your camera and what it can do for you is all found on the enclosed CD with the book. Does this type of 'book' work for everyone? Probably not. It's a very niche way to teach and learn. If you are the type that likes thumbing through a book and book only to learn how to use things, this will NOT be for you. If you are the interactive type of person that wants to sit in front of the computer and flip through pictures and learn in an interactive way, the content on the CD is thorough and usable.

Recommended for those that don't care about how the information is presented and want to learn how to use their Nikon in a good way. Also recommended for those that prefer to learn on the computer. Not for those the want to do it "old school" and sit with a huge reference manual on their lap.




Rineke Dijkstra: Portraits

Rineke Dijkstra: Portraits

Description:
Rineke Dijkstra is renowned for her uncanny and thoughtful portraits series of teenagers and young adults: girls and boys of various nationalities at the beach, children of Bosnian refugees, Spanish bullfighters straight out of the arena, Israeli youngsters before and after military service, and here, documented for the first time, her series of photographs taken of aspiring, young ballet dancers. Her subjects are shown standing, facing the camera, against a minimal background. Formally, the images resemble classical portraiture with their frontally posed figures isolated against minimal backgrounds. Yet, in spite of the uniformity in the photographer's works, there is a marked individuality in each of her subjects. Dijkstra often deals with the development of personality as one moves from adolescence to adulthood, or through a life-changing or potentially threatening experience such as childbirth, or a bullfight. Portraits includes the photographer's new Ballet School series.

Customer Review:
I really enjoyed this book. I felt as if I were at a small gallery the first time I looked through it. The quality as well as the content are amazing.

Customer Review:
This book is a must have to reference a comprehensive collection of Rineke Dijkstra's work. The plates are 9"x12" with excellent color reproductions and the write-ups go beyond the regurgitated art critic articles.

Customer Review:
this ended up being a great holiday gift. good condition. I'm very happy with the purchase.



Sparkman & Stephens: Classic Modern Yachts

Sparkman & Stephens: Classic Modern Yachts

Description:
This magnificent book is a celebration of the work of Sparkman & Stephens, among the most famous yacht design companies in the US. The firm dominated the 12 meter yachting world with early winners in America's Cup races.

Customer Review:
A wonderful book with beautiful pictures. S&S at his best. A chapter is dedicated to the S&S Swans, as an owner of a S&S Swan, it's a "must have"!

Customer Review:
illustrious book with high-quality binding, interesting feature on restoring Stormy Weather, and chapters on Kialoa II, and my favorite,
Bolero, plus fast delivery 1 week to Canada, right to my door!

Customer Review:
Sparkman & Stephens: Classic Modern Yachts, glories in the beauty of their classic boats and their racing successes. Some of Sparkman & Stephens best and most successful designs are presented in superb color photographs. The book has enough gorgeous interior shots and sparkling action pictures under sail to satisfy any sailor or photographer.




Exploring Color Photography : From the Darkroom to the Digital Studio

Exploring Color Photography : From the Darkroom to the Digital Studio

Description:
Exploring Color Photography is a flexible, multiple duty text that clearly and concisely instructs students in the fundamental aesthetic and technical concepts needed to create thought provoking photographs in both the digital and the analogue processes. This conceptual approach will not be rapidly outdated, nor will it get students bogged down in complex technical matters. Coverage of Light, Design, Color, Movement, Time, and Space, and Presentation is pertinent to all levels of photographic education.

A comprehensive, diverse, high-quality art program stresses a multitude of approaches through its inspiring visual examples and well-structured illustrative informational charts and tables.

Exploring Color Photography's thoughtful assignments encourage students to be adventurous and to take responsibility for learning and working independently. The emphasis on design and postmodern theoretical concepts stresses the thought process behind the creation of successful images. Image captions give insight into how imagemakers apply technology in the service of their ideas. A "Problem Solving and Writing" chapter offers methods and exercises that help students learn to be visual problem solvers and to talk and write succinctly about the ideas at the foundation of their work.

From the journal Afterimage, November/December 2004, page 15:

"A textbook for college-level students and serious amateurs with a historical and pragmatic approach. Theory is related to practice and it is abundantly illustrated by original works form various sources and many professional practitioners and artists. The digital section has been expanded. Hirsch accompanies his "lectures" with creative assignments for the reader to complete."


Customer Review:
I bought the book, Exploring Color Photography: From the Darkroom to the Digital Studio by Robert Hirsch, and the book is excellent! The person that I bought it from, shipped it fast and in perfect condition.

Customer Review:
This book covers everything from the history of color photography to color theory, filters, film, digital photography, preservation and even breezes over some alternative processes at the end (thumbs up!).
"Assignments" thoughout the book encourages your own thinking and the development of your skills, and if you don't mind the "textbook" approach, they are very useful.

The book does indeed feel like a complete guide to color.



Cowboy Wisdom

Cowboy Wisdom

Description:
Light-hearted sayings and witty quotations about life as a cowboy, together with David Stoecklein’s striking photographs, make up this tribute to the simple code and genuine moral values of the many working cowgirls and cowboys of the West. This book imparts a valuable lesson to its readers—that of living honestly, giving back to the world, and getting the most out of what life has to offer.



Customer Review:
If I were to base my impression of the West on this book I would walk away thinking that it lacked wit and possessed very little wisdom. If you're looking for "funny" cowboy sayings that you might not break out in mixed company, or something cowboy themed to put on the back of your toilet, then this is the book for you. If you're actually interested in authentic, profound or meaningful cowboy philosophy...keep looking.

Customer Review:
The photography is awesome and the words ring true. Keep one out for visitors to enjoy. You will receive wonderful comments.

Customer Review:
Cowboy Wisdom is an absolutely marvelous addition to any library, whether you are a lover of the "cowboy way" or the slendid beauty of America's heartland! The photos are spectacular and the "cowboy wisdom" is as relevant today as it was when the West was young.
Kudos to the authors who put the photos and "wisdom" together to create a truly enjoyable coffee table book that readers of all ages can ponder and share for years to come.



Color Management for Photographers: Hands on Techniques for Photoshop Users

Color Management for Photographers: Hands on Techniques for Photoshop Users

Description:
Color Management for Photographers: Hands on Techniques for Photoshop Users, by Andrew Rodney, addresses the difficult subject of color management in a way that can help you get real work accomplished. This is the first book that moves beyond esoteric color management theory and detailed explanations of how things work to explain how to achieve a desired effect with step-by-step instructions so you can get on with creating and printing successful images. Complete with what-button-to-push-when explanations, this guide will help you navigate color management and further solidify comprehension of techniques with self-paced tutorials that enable you to practice what Rodney preaches. This practical, learn by doing approach is enhanced by the accompanying CD-Rom which includes sample files for practice as well as tutorials and software.

Written with the photographer in mind, this book is also a great hands-on guide for graphic designers, those in prepress/print and, more generally, the majority of people who feel color management is too difficult. This book will help to explain this difficult concept in terms you can understand so that you may control and enhance your photographic vision.

* Covers CS2!
* Distills theory and concentrates on the tools at hand to get the job done
* CD ROM with tutorials and software help you better understand the concepts and teach you how to use Photoshop and its CMS features correctly
* Provides the working professional with a resource in the critically important area of printing and prepress


Customer Review:
This is the other definitive resource on color management for professional creative communities. (Real World Color Management was the first definitive resource.)

Color management is a complex subject akin to rocket science and brain surgery. When you need to know particular details at a level of depth rarely covered elsewhere, this is the place to go. This is your last stop before dipping into color science textbooks or hiring a consultant to get the job done for you.

You probably want to have an overview of what color management is and why you need it before you buy this book. Once you know you need to know more about color management and you know you need to know how to get the job done exceptionally well, this is the book that will guide you through the process step-by-step with hands-on tutorials.

Andrew possesses an exceptional ability to present a complex subject in well-paced clear language. The back cover promises "less `why' and more `how to'". This is the pragmatists guide to color management. Step-by-step, how-to examples make the information highly practical.

Better graphics than almost any other book of it's kind make this information more compelling, more pleasurable to engage, and easier to adjust. In many cases Andrew tells a story about visual perception visually first with excellent illustrations, which are then supported by commentary. It's an excellent approach.

On the accompanying CD, the test files alone are worth the price of the book.

Despite excellent diction and graphics, you might find the level and breadth of this book daunting. Take it a piece at a time. Given your particular needs, there may be whole sections of this book that you may not need to read. Once you've identified the areas you need to know more about, read those sections. And, put them to use. Your images will be the better for it.

Customer Review:
This is a great book on color management. Color management is a oft-misunderstood subject and it is fair to say that there are good reasons for this - mainly that it is complicated.

Andrew Rodney does not simplify the subject, thus the reason I did not give this four stars. However, if you are serious about the subject, this book is a vital tool in trying to understand color management.

Some of the book is tedious and some of it is hard to understand, but there are large parts of the book which offer valuable and understandable information on color management and your quest to achieve this "holy grail."

My suggestion is that if you are casually trying to understand how to calibrate your monitor, this book may not be for you. If you are seriously trying to understand color management and are building a library of useful references and gleaning useful nuggets of information from several different books in your quest to achieve color management nirvana - then this book should be in your library.

Customer Review:
Nobody can deny that Mr. Rodney knows how color management works in Photoshop better than most people, but unfortunately, knowledge of a subject doesn't make you a good writer. I find the bulk of Mr. Rodney's ramblings (both those published on his website-that-time-forgot and posted to various discussion groups and mailing lists) to teeter on the verge of complete unreadability most of the time, and while my hopes were high that a good editor might tame his curious linguistic proclivities here, they were quickly dashed upon skimming through the text. What's worse, the illustrations and photos in every single copy of this book I've ever seen have suffered from severe magenta color casts, leading one to wonder why the author and his publishing company failed to practice what they preached in bringing this title to the public. If you didn't know who Andrew Rodney was to begin with, you'd likely think him full of beans based on the appearance of the plates in this volume. After all, why should readers believe consistent, predictable color in print to be a realistically attainable goal when even the guy who wrote the book on the subject can't seem to achieve it?

There's certainly some good information in between these covers, but none of it is groundbreaking in any way. You might learn something interesting about WWII by asking your grandfather to tell you some old war stories, but you'll have to suffer through a lot of pointless rambling to get to it, and that's pretty much what reading this book feels like. About the only thing this book really has going for it that its competitors lack is the nostalgia longtime Photoshop users will likely feel at the sight of the dog image gracing the cover. Since you can see that image right here for free, there's not a lot of point in paying for yet another rehashing of this subject matter, even at amazon's substantially discounted price. I have no doubt that Mr. Rodney is a very technically proficient color management consultant who can deliver $10,000 worth of results to all who can afford his services, but his efforts in the creative fields of writing, illustration and design just ain't worth a plugged nickel.

It may also be worth noting that more than one of the glowing 5-star reviews that have been posted here were planted by friends and associates of Mr. Rodney. How's that for class?



Full Moon

Full Moon

Description:
The most thrilling of all journeys--the missions of the Apollo astronauts to the surface of the Moon and back--yielded 32,000 extraordinarily beautiful photographs, the record of a unique human achievement. Until recently, only a handful of these photographs had been released for publication; but now, for the first time, NASA has allowed a selection of the master negatives and transparencies to be scanned electronically, rendering the sharpest images of space that we have ever seen. Michael Light has woven 129 of these stunningly clear images into a single composite voyage, a narrative of breathtaking immediacy and authenticity that begins with the launch and is followed by a walk in space, an orbit of the Moon, a lunar landing and exploration, and a return to Earth with an orbit and splashdown.

    Graced by five 45-inch-wide gatefolds that display the lunar landscape, from above the surface and at eye level, in unprecedented detail and clarity, Full Moon conveys on each page the excitement, disorientation, and awe that the astronauts themselves felt as they were shot into space and then as they explored an alien landscape and looked back at their home planet from hundreds of thousands of miles away.

Published on the thirtieth anniversary of Apollo 11--the first landing on the Moon--this remarkable and mesmerizing volume is, like the voyages it commemorates and re-creates, an experience both intimate and monumental.

Customer Review:
"Full Moon" is a selection of about one hundred pictures of different lunar american missions. The selection and the digital improvement has been made by Michael Light, and all has been done from an artistic perspective.
If you're looking for a very comprehensive lunar mission day-to-day, interviews with astronauts or a nice reproduction of "that" picture, this is not definitely your book.
But if you want, for a moment, walk on the moon, travel outside the Earth and dance with the stars, then buy it.


Customer Review:
This is a beautiful book. It is a series of photos from various Apollo missions, put together in a way to illustrate a voyage from Earth to the moon & back. The photos take up whole pages, or are panorama fold-outs. The photos are crystal clear. I have seen close-ups made from these photos before, but never the originals as are in Full Moon. That's when I realized the resolution of the cameras the Apollo astronauts were using was incredible.
My only disappointment was that my copy arrived with the dustjacket all scraped up and dented, and the edges of many of the pages were mangled, so I had to return it. The book still gets 5 stars because that is no fault of the publisher, or Michael Light. I'll buy it again when I can find a good copy at a "bricks & mortar" bookstore; it's worth the extra $$.

Customer Review:
I can use "picture book" to describe Full Moon, as images contributed as the major part of this book. Don't think that this book is not worth reading, indeed, it is on the contrary, this is an extraordinary book, because of the photos.

There are a lot of astronomy books contain lots of photos, but when you read them, you would find the images are not so good at all, but not because of the photo itself, because of the low resolution. And if you are familiarize with those photos, you would immediately notice that the original photo is not so small in resolution. It is really a very bad idea for the publisher and editor to ignore the importance of image resolution.

However, when you first look into Full Moon, you will find you're getting into a different world as you are already delighted by the spectacular images of the Moon taken from Apollo Mission. Normally, owing to the technological limitation in 1960s and 1970s, all images are only mostly available as hard copy and not so high resolution. However, Project Full Moon can turn those hard copies into very high resolution images. I can even tell you that, NASA even don't have such high resolution images before.

Since these reasons, I would rank this book as my list of Top 10 Astronomy Book. If you really love astronomy, you must not miss this book, miss the extraordinary journey to the Moon



Practical Color Management: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography (Eddie Tapp on Digital Photogra)

Practical Color Management: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography (Eddie Tapp on Digital Photogra)

Description:
The second book in this acclaimed series from noted photographer and digital imaging expert Eddie Tapp delves into color management, a topic that has needlessly become a mystery to experienced digital photographers, whether they're avid amateurs, serious students, or working professionals. With his easygoing yet authoritative style, Eddie sheds light on this topic and supplies an understanding of color management that readers apply to their own work.

Clear and concise, this highly visual book explains how color management is a part of the overall photographic workflow. Eddie demonstrates the three stages of color managed workflow, from choosing a color space, to calibrating your devices, to applying appropriate profiles, and shows you exactly what you need to know and why you need to know it. Color management scientist Rick Lucas contributes a chapter on the hard-core technical aspects. Other books on color management are much too long, involved and intimidating. This absorbing book sets the right tone and supplies you with key answers quickly.

Our Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography book series brings you the focused knowledge you need on specific areas of digital photography. Acknowledged as one of the premier trainers of digital imaging in the world, Eddie brings his teaching experience to bear on issues that other books gloss over or bury under general coverage. Now, you don't have to buy a doorstop-sized book to get the key information you need on color management, efficient workflow, or a variety of other specific digital imaging topics.

Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography also covers workflow setup; advanced and professional production techniques; controlling digital color and tone; creative enhancement techniques; and more. This series is a perfect complement to O'Reilly's general list on Photoshop and digital photography, and offers you focused books that cover technical issues at prices that are affordable and solutions that are quickly accessible. We're thrilled that Eddie Tapp has finally agreed to publish books -- and with O'Reilly.



Customer Review:
Eddie Tapp is a great photographer who travels and gives practical inforamation in workshops. I have attended his workshops and so I wasn't reluctent to try his book. I am glad I did. It gave me the information I needed to correct my color management workflow.

Customer Review:
One of the major hurdles of the digital imaging revolution has been learning a whole new set of concepts and their associated language. It's a very different science from the analog, silver-based photography of the last hundred years or so and it takes a certain amount of serious concentration and persistence to master. One of the core threads running through all of it is the concept of color management - the control of color data from start to finish so what you end up with is as close as possible to what your eyes saw in the first place.

This is no small order as it includes multiple input, editing, and output devices along with completely different methods of gathering and displaying color information. In addition, there's as much art as science in the process, and agreement on standards has been slow to evolve. Fortunately, we've reached a point in the technology stream where a serious photographer or graphic artist can now do a very credible job of keeping colors on track with a modicum of specialized tools and the purposeful discipline to use them.

For the average digital photographer, color management theory can be mind-numbingly arcane, even though it is crucial to setting up an efficient and effective overall workflow. If you want to color manage properly, you have to assimilate a certain amount of theory or the whole process will fail to make any sense. This is where Eddie Tapp does an excellent job of simplifying the information as much as possible, presenting it in a logical order, and is able to pack a very thorough discussion of the topic in less than 150 pages - a real feat.

The book is laid out in an interesting fashion with text on the outside third of each page and the center section filled up with colorful pictures and screen shots. Some of it's eye candy, but that's what sells books these days I'm sure. Many of the screen shots and other illustrations are valuable though as they answer important questions regarding particular selections in critical software dialog boxes, and the explanation of terms and methods is very lucid and direct. The author does an excellent job of going deep where it's important while avoiding unneeded complexity for its own sake. There's a certain amount of technical heavy lifting that one has to do to become competent in this arena, but Eddie's made it as easy as any document I've seen. In addition, the appendix contains a highly useful excerpt from the Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines and extensive additional resource listings.


Customer Review:
How do you make sure that the color you're seeing on your screen is what the rest of the world will see when you distribute your finished work? That is the question that Eddie Tapp attempts to answer in his latest book Practical Color Management.

Practical Color Management is divided into five chapters and one appendix. "The Search for Consistent Color," covers where the concept of color management came from and why it has evolved into what it is today.

"Understanding Key Color Management Concepts," explains the difference between calibration and profiling.

"Establishing a Color Management-Friendly Workflow," guides you through developing a efficient workflow.

"Three Stages of Color Management," describes breaking the basic color management into their three stages.

"Technically Speaking," brings in color expert Rick Lucas to explain in-depth color management concepts.

At first look, it almost seems that the approach will be too basic, but it builds quickly and will be of benefit to newcomer and professional alike.