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All Reviews are by Paul W Faust unless otherwise noted as Michael Fulks (MF) and Elizabeth Powis (EP).

To purchase any book or to find out pricing information, click on any of the book images. 

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Yosemite & the Eastern Sierra,
by Gary Crabbe

Here is a beautiful little picture book that is a pleasure to just sit and look through. It covers the area of California from the Owens Valley to the High Sierras and does it in all its glory. This hardback book may be small at 7x7 inches, but it is tops in the quality of its images. Almost every one of its 160 pages are full of images that will make you want to pack your bags and head out there ASAP. This book proves that a book doesn’t have to be large to be impressive. The cover image is just a small sample of what is inside, many of which are 2-page spreads. You will not find a better addition to your photo library, especially at a retail price of only US$16.95. It is published by Welcome Books and can be ordered at  www.welcomebooks.com       
I rate it:  A++ 

(Reviewed July 2005)

 

 

 

Yosemite & The Wild Sierra
by Galen Rowell

The late Galen Rowell was one of the very best landscape photographers around. His favorite place to photograph, (and live) was the Sierra Mountains of California, which was also where he died. A collection of his images from that area are now available in Yosemite & The Wild Sierra. This 112-page, soft cover book is filled with beautiful images from the Owens Valley to the tops of the area’s mountains. Many I have never seen before. The book is only 10x8 inches, but even the smaller images are so sharp you can still see the details in them. This book retails for US$19.95, and is published by Sasquatch Books at www.sasquatchbooks.com
I Rate it:  A+ 
(Reviewed March 2005)


 

  Yosemite In Time
Ice Ages – Tree Clocks – Ghost Rivers

By  Mark Klett, Rebecca Solnit, & Byron Wolfe

This new book on the Yosemite National Park in California is unlike 95% of the others you will find on this most photographed and visited park. Along with several essays, it covers the history of the nature, politics, and culture of Yosemite, but it also includes that history in old photographs that are matched with present day images taken from the same locations, at the same time of year and the same hour of the day. Some of the old images include ones taken by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, but what I found to be of real interest is how the comparison images either changed so greatly, or very little at all. In one set you can still see the very same trees still in the very same spots, although some have grown tall and strong while others are now just bare trunks. In another set, what used to be a grand vista is now completely blocked from view by a wall of trees that have grown up in front of it. The book is well printed and the old images are reproduced with top quality. A very interesting book!

    This hardback book is about 12x10 inches, with 140 pages, retails for US$45.00 – and is distributed by Trinity University Press at:   www.trinity.edu     
 
I Rate it:  A 
(Reviewed Feb. 2007)

 
You’re Not From Around Here: Photographs of Eastern Tennessee
by Mike Smith

This new book is a collection of images from those “backwoods” areas of the south that you have heard so much about, but weren’t sure if they really existed. THEY DO, and this book will prove it. Although this book only covers the hill areas of eastern Tennessee, it is pretty much like many other places in this area as well. These are not places that a city slicker would recognize, as they are of places where the poorest of the poor live, if you can call this living. These are also not copies of images taken 40 or 50 years ago like most Tennessee images. A few of the oldest are from 1987, and most of the rest are from the late 1990s, so just about every image is of a place that most likely still looks the same today as when they were taken, if you were able to find them. This is an excellent book for documentary and social issue photographers, and a real good reminder for everyone else to  appreciate what we have now .

This hardback book is about 12x10 inches, with 120 pages, retails for US$45.00, and is distributed by University of Chicago Press at   www.press.uchicago.edu         
 
I Rate it:  A 
(Reviewed Aug. 2006)

 
Zero
by James Wakefield

This book is what you would call “different.” It is a collection of pure documentary street photography, and except for a 3-page forward, there is nothing else but the images. In fact, there is not even an index or page numbers, but in this case they would probably just get in the way of some fine images that any documentary photographer would appreciate. The subjects cover people, places, and politics and I am guessing that they are all taken in New York City.

This “200 copy limited edition” hardback book is about 9x7 inches, and retails for US$59.99  – and is published by Urban Exposure at  
www.urban-exposure.com/zero       
I Rate it:  A+ 
(Reviewed March 2006)

 

ZHENG HE
By Michael Yamashita

This new book is part history, part travel photography, and all about the voyages of China’s greatest explorer, Admiral Zheng He.  Few today recognize the name, but he was a man who’s expeditions far out did those of Columbus, Da Gama, and Marco Polo combined.  He brought back exotic animals from far off lands, never before seen in other parts of the world, and did it long before Columbus even set foot in a boat.  He commanded crews in the tens of thousands, on as many as 317 ships.  This book covers that history in text and modern day photography takes you to the locations he explored.  The stories are riveting and the images are outstanding - a great history, picture book.

This hardback book is about 10x10 inches, with 447 pages, retails for US-$39.95 – and is distributed by White Star Publishing at:   www.whitestar.it        
I Rate it:  A
(Reviewed December 2007)

 

The Zone System for 35mm Photographers, by Carson Graves

The Zone System for 35mm Photographers is a guide to exposure control. If you use nothing larger than a 35mm camera, but still would like the control you would have by using the famous “Zone System” then this book is for you. It covers all of the things you will need to go zoning, from the initial film and developing tests on to the best way to meter. It is all on 130 pages in this 8.5x11 inch soft cover book. There are a few considerations you have to make when using a system that was designed for single sheet film, but you are using 36-exposure rolls, and this book will show you how to deal with them.  The zone system is basically for B&W shooters, but all of the info in it will help anyone get great exposures every time. It is more than worth it’s retail price of US$39.95    You can order it at:  www.focalpress.com        
I Rate it: A 
(Reviewed June 2005)


   

   
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