New B&W eBook From Guy Tal

Guy Tal has come out with a new ebook on digital B&W. I was privileged to get a chance to review it before the release (today) and was impressed by its thoroughness. I have a lot of respect for Guy's vision and skill and in this 59 page ebook he lets us in on his working methods for B&W.

I should start by saying this is a book for those who are serious about B&W and their art. If you are looking for a guide with 10 quick and easy tips for better B&W, this book is not for you. If you are into using Lightroom and Photoshop to do conversions and want to step it up to the next level by studying how one of the best does it, you want this book. Although it is brief it isn't light reading and I'm sure you will learn something that benefits your work even if you are already an advanced digital photographer. The insight into his thought process and methods alone are worth studying. I recommend it highly.

The ebook can be purchased at http://guytalbooks.com/catalog_show_ebook.php?bid=4


or you can use the link in the left hand column to reach his ebook page.
The photo above is a page from the beginning of the book.

New Year - New Direction

I hate to complain but 2011 was a lousy year for print sales. The pits. Not just for me but for most other nature/landscape photographers I've talked to. Ebooks on the other hand seem to be taking off big time so for the new year I am going to be offering some ebooks starting with an iPad/iPhone version of my Blurb book (link in the left hand column) which is only $4.99 directly from Blurb.

For those of you who have Android or Windows tablets/phones I'm sorry to say that so far Blurb only makes ebooks for Apple products. Apparently they are working on expanding that to Android and other platforms but I'm not waiting. I have bought a program to do the conversion to Kindle, epub, and other ebook formats myself and am looking into the distribution. My new years resolution for photography is to produce a series of ebooks, both monographs like the B&W book and some instructional books. Stay tuned.

If you have an iPad/iPhone you don't need to wait for the Adirondack B&W book. Just use the link. The photo above is from the book. It was made at Connery Pond on an autumn day. The infrared look is actually red filtration that darkened the blue sky and evergreens but brightened the reds, oranges and yellows. If you look closely you'll note that there is another photographer in the scene, in the grassy area to the right.

A new year to make photographs, woohoo! Look out 2012, here I come.

Review: "iPhone Art In My Life" by Dewitt Jones

A friend told me a couple of days ago that Dewitt Jones had published a Kindle book of iPhone photos. I immediately bought it. I have long admired his work and enjoyed reading his periodic columns in Outdoor Photographer. After looking the images I knew I had to do a review and asked for permission to use one of the images from it in my review which he granted. Then came the difficult part. Which one to choose? I settled on the one above but Plates 30 & 47 tugged at me too. There are 50 images in all, made with & processed in his iPhone and each is a gem worth pondering.

They are different from the work I have associated with Dewitt Jones in the past having only seen his traditional landscape photos. These are all processed in apps to enhance them as artistic creations with some effects layered on top of others.

The images that are lower in contrast don't work well in B&W on the original Kindle but will be terrific on the new Kindle Fire. I recommend viewing it on your computer or tablet using the free Kindle reader apps. It will be a permanent resident of my tablet for convenient and frequent enjoyment. As shown above (a screen capture) each image has a caption and below that (not included in the capture) is technical information on the image and the apps used to create it.

In the back of the book he lists his favorite apps, most of which (sadly) are not available to those of us using Android phones (maybe soon... please) and at the end there is a "Volume Two - Coming Soon" page. I'll be watching for it. "iPhone Art In My Life -Volume One" is available through Amazon for $7.99*.

* If the Amazon link doesn't work for you or you prefer to copy and paste the URL is http://www.amazon.com/iPhone-Art-My-Life-ebook/dp/B004YWSGGU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1321932525&sr=1-1

As with past reviews I was not asked to do the review nor do I recieve any consideration for doing it. It was initiated by me and represents my honest opinion and hearty recommendation.