EarthWorks, Photos and Essays by Steve Mulligan

EarthWorks, Photos and Essays by Steve Mulligan is a new collection of his B&W landscape images that many would consider to be more fine art than landscape. Quality of the kind that you would like to frame for on a wall instead of sit on a bookshelf. Most of the images, but not all, are of western US locations from weathered rock potholes to the baked surface of the badlands, but the book also includes the Florida Everglades and tree topped peaks in China. If you like the feel that only B&W can give, then this is one great book to add to your photo library.

This hardback book is over 12x12 inch, with 39 images and retail “signed copies” are just $39.95-US. Distributed by Photo-Eye at www.photoeye.com.         I Rate it:       A+++

Creative Landscape Photography by Niall Benvie

Creative Landscape Photography is a new AMPHOTO Book for the creative minded photographer. Like many recent AMPHOTO Books, this one contains many images from the English countryside, and other areas around Europe. I like that because it is a refreshing change from all of the American images I see most often in these kinds of books. The photos are also of the above average quality that has become a standard with AMPHOTO. Although most of what this book covers is landscapes, there are also many other image subjects that some may not consider true landscapes, such as clouds and rocks, but that doesn’t bother me a bit considering how good all of the 200 images, on the 160 pages of this book are. This is not a technical book, although there is a great deal of information in it, and every image has nice captions with each, and a lot of personal info on how they were made.

This soft cover book is about 9.5x10 inches, retails for $29.95-US, and is Distributed by AMPHOTO Books at www.watsonguptill.com.         I Rate it:       A++

Pete Turner African Journey by Pete Turner

Pete Turner African Journey is one great book by the master of color photography. I have seen Turner’s images in publication for more years than I can remember and was really happy to get this collection from his trips to Africa several decades ago. When you have looked at just a few of the images in this book you will understand how over the years Turner has received over 300 awards for his photography, and why the introduction to it is by Gordon Parks. He is one of those unique photographers who you only have to look at a picture and you can tell who created it. The ones who truly deserve the title of a “Master Photographer.” This hardback book is over 9.5x12 inches, with 206 pages and 148 color images. It is a perfect addition to the photo library of anyone who truly loves great images.

This hard back book retails for $60.00-US, and is published by GRAPHIS Press, at www.graphis.com.         I Rate it:       A+++

EXTREME Digital Photography by Jonathan Chester

EXTREME Digital Photography is a book for those who go way beyond their neighborhoods to get images. WAY beyond! No matter if you want to get face-to-face with an African lion, or a river of lava, this book covers just about all of it, and the things you need to know to get those kind of images from anywhere in the world. These places are not some sunny beach in the Pacific though. They can be the most extreme places on earth that takes a whole other breed of photographer to even attempt. If even the milder locations are of interest to you, then this new book has all of the info you will need because if you can succeed there, you can succeed anywhere.

This soft cover book is about 9x10 inch, with 192 pages, and is distributed by Thomson Course (www.thomson.com) in the US, and iLEX Press (www.ilex-press.com) in the UK. Check their web sites for the current price.         I Rate it:       A+

The Digital Printing Handbook, A photographer’s Guide to Creative Printing Techniques by Tim Daly

For those readers who do their own digital printing, The Digital Printing Handbook is one reference book that should be in your library. It combines many of the techniques that used to be done only in a darkroom, but which you can now do sitting at your desk using a computer. There is more how-to information than tech info, so it is not platform specific and anyone can learn from it. You can now learn how to recreate photo processes that used to take days of testing and work to get done in a darkroom, and now you only have to do the job once, but still make as many prints as you need.

This soft cover book is about 9x9 inch, with 160 pages and retails for $24.95-US. Distributed by AMPHOTO Books at www.watsonguptill.com.         I Rate it:       A++

The Digital Color Printing Handbook by Tim Daly

The Digital Color Printing Handbook is a new guide to creative color management and printing techniques. If you already, or intend to do your own printing at home, then you need to know all of the factors that goes into this often misunderstood process. Factors that often lead to failure with a print, and need to be known for success with all future ones. This book covers everything you need from set up to output and is packed with the illustrations and info that show you how quality printing is done. The instruction is easy to understand and learn from, and you will be surprised at how much better your prints turn out.

This soft cover book is about 9x9 inch, with 156 pages and retails for $24.95-US. Distributed by AMPHOTO Books at www.watsonguptill.com.         I Rate it:       A++

Darwin Wiggett Photographs Canada

This book is one great collection of images from America’s neighbor to the north, and it covers every province in Canada. I have seen many pictures of that land, but I never dreamed it was this beautiful, or at least Wiggett sure makes it look that way in this book. This is the third edition of a book that was originally published about 10 years ago, but I am sure that it is the best edition of all. With the first image I came to, all that came out of my mouth was, “holy - - - -” and I soon found out that wasn’t even the best image in the book. This is one extra large book and the images in it that range from half page size, to full page, and all the way up to panoramic images that go from one edge to the other. This is not a how-to book for taking great landscapes, although there are some tech notes for each image, but I am sure that it would be one of the best books that you would have in your library. If you are planning a trip to Canada there is no better book to show you what you too can see and photograph there, because most of the locations photographed were right next to the main roads, or close to them, and I can only imagine where you would get to on a workshop with Wiggett. If it weren’t for a cold related medical condition I would be VERY tempted to move there next week. This is one of those books that you literally have to see to believe that there are really places to photograph that look like this.

This hardback book is over 14x11 inch, with 127 pages and retails for $40-US / $45-CDN, and is distributed by Whitecap Books at www.whitecap.ca.         I Rate it:       A+++

Great Ghost Towns of the West by Tom Till

This book I highly recommend for both the great images it has and the info on what you can find if you are looking to shoot great ghost towns of the west. This one is by, who is one of the best photographers of the southwestern US. I don’t just like this book because I have photographed many of these old wild west sites, including Bodie on the front cover, but mostly because of the outstanding images in it. The cover will show you the quality of what is in the rest of the book.

For anyone interested in old west ghost towns, this book also has a map, which includes the locations of 109 of them from Canada down through and into Texas. The towns shown in pictures can range from dozens of buildings to just a shot of the last one standing. There are also many detail shots of mining machinery and building interiors, all of which match the top quality of the book itself. There is also plenty of information about the towns and their history. This book is 10x13 inches and many images are beautiful full-page shots that you’d love to be able to frame.

This hardback book retails for $40-US, and can be ordered from www.tomtill.com.         I Rate it:       A+++

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