Storm Chaser: A Photographer's Journey

Storm Chaser: A Photographer's Journey Overview

Issues of global warming continue to be relevant, and every day brings front-page stories about the weather, generating new research, raising even more questions and possible solutions. Storm Chaser is a mesmerizing look at some of the catastrophic consequences of our planet's increasing temperature, captured by an expert in the field. Through breathtaking photos, quotes, letters, and journal entries from climatologists, researchers, political leaders, spiritual advisors, and storm survivors. Storm Chaser chronicles photographer Jim Reed's most thrilling, beautiful, memorable, and dramatic adventures to date.

 

From extraordinary tornadoes to historic hurricanes, remarkable floods, geomagnetic storms, and magnificent lightning, Reed captures not only the mercilessness of America's sometimes deadly weather, but also the magnificence and meaning behind the tempests.

 

The hardcover edition of Storm Chaser received critical acclaim and wide media attention. The New York Times wrote "These are the images that demonstrate the heart of weather's primal draw, and that hold the power to make weather fanatics out of even those of us whose first instinct is to run." Repackaged as a paperback with 16 pages of new material, this revised edition of Storm Chaser provides even more incredible images and the astonishing stories behind them.

Customer Reviews

This is a superb book. Worth every penny. I bought this for my 8 yr. old grandson who inherited my love of weather science. He loved it! Photography was superb, writing terrific. Hope Jim Reed does a sequel.

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Twilight: Photographs by Gregory Crewdson

Twilight: Photographs by Gregory Crewdson Overview

"Crewdson is at the forefront of a movement in contemporary photography that has abandoned realism in pursuit of pure cinematic fantasy." —The New York Times Magazine

Twilight: in that zone between the certainty of day and fear of the dark, Gregory Crewdson sets his eerie, enigmatic photographs. A woman floats in her flooded living room, a cow appears to have fallen from the sky onto a front lawn, a gang of teenagers, seemingly hypnotized, pile up household objects for a bonfire. Created as elaborately staged tableaux, this series of images suggests the bizarre yet beautiful surrealities behind deceptively familiar suburban facades. Scheduled to accompany three simultaneous gallery exhibitions in Spring 2002 and a subsequent retrospective at Mass MoCA, this book chronicles the completion of the Twilight series, which Crewdson began in 1998. Including both production stills and the 40 finished images, all in full color, it also features an essay by Rick Moody, a novelist equally renowned for exposing the underbelly of small-town, middle-class America.

Customer Reviews

Hearing the word twilight makes many of us think of the time of day when ordinary things undergo awkward or extraordinary transitions. It is the mysterious frame of time after sunset, but before dawn. The dictionary describes it as half-light, final period of the day. It is the fine line between what is real and what is an illusion. Twilight by Gregory Crewdson captures exactly that.

Crewdson brings the world of photography to the essence of cinema as each photo shoot is intensely staged with large crews working diligently to create the sets for each photograph. Many photography enthusiasts believe that Crewdsons work is overrated and overpaid, but in his work, the ideas of these images speak louder than most photographers of the contemporary art world today. Each image Crewdson creates functions as an intensely dramatic moment with a multitude of focal points in which the narrative is constructed.

He focuses on subject matter that intrigues, confuses, and surprises his viewers. In most of Crewdson's images, a single figure is isolated giving a strong sense of despair, loneliness and even guilt. In one image, a typical suburban father is in a state of confusion as he sits in mounds of sod in his bedroom. Another shows a young woman floating in a lucid daze as her living room floods. The fact that the ideas of supernatural like encounters combined with the American suburban lifestyle evokes a rather dark and sinister feeling.

Aesthetically, Crewdson's images combine a crisp, crystal clear optical quality with a soft, calm color palette. Most of the photographs contain cool dark blues with streaks of warm yellows beaming across the image giving them that chiaroscuro effect. These colors intensify the drama of each subject. The brilliant tungsten yellows capture the attention of the viewer whereas the serene blues create an easy to view atmosphere.

Page after page of the 40-photograph set will have you closely examining each detail in Crewdsons images. Each photograph digs deep into the realm of the unknown, the untold, and displays an eerie, yet intimate scenario of suburban life with an extreme twist of the supernatural. To get the full appreciation of the wonderfully weird subject matter, one must let their eyes explore each image in depth.

In my opinion, this is an excellent body of work. I enjoy the surreal quality of the photographs paired with the terror that hides within everyday life. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the work of Gregory Crewdson.

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Nylon Girls: Erotic Fashion Photography

Nylon Girls: Erotic Fashion Photography Overview

Nylon Girls are revealed to you through the camera of Christine Kessler. She takes you on an erotic journey in the company of a harem of stunning beauties. Nylon Girls exposes the intimate secrets of these most sensual starlets. Erotic and daring, with a pinch of fetishism, for extra spice. A dish to be savoured over and over.

Customer Reviews

hotographer Christine Kessler should need no introduction to Fetishistas fans -- though if she does, our recent Darenzia portfolio is not a bad place to start.

Steen (as she's known) is one of the fetish genre's most admired 'togs, a woman whose websites (My Fetish Diary etc) and other books provide constant evidence of her reliable instincts when it comes to making fetish pin-up images both cute and raunchy.

The rapport she establishes with her models means that she often gets pictures that would be more difficult for male photographers to tease out of the same girls -- pictures that often look more like intimate collaborations than mere voyeuristic opportunism.

Nylon Girls focuses, as the title suggests, on legwear (with some lingerie thrown in for good measure), and anyone familiar with Kessler's Toe And Arch website will realise that she's eminently qualified to cover this subject.

The book itself is one of Goliath's pocket-size, A5-format Portfolio offerings. With around 100 pages of colour pictures sandwiched between padded hard covers, this series offers a touch of inexpensive luxury (typically around £10 from Amazon) that makes for perfect gifts.

Pretty much all types of women's hosiery are represented in Nylon Girls, which more or less ensures that for every viewer, some pictures are going to be right on the money -- even if, given the often rather specific nature of fetishes, not all may be.

Just in the first few pages there are popsocks, thigh-length socks, faux-vintage nylons, black fishnet stockings, kneesocks with sock-suspenders, fancy fishnet tights, white lace-topped fishnets, green fishnets, white cherry-patterned stockings, nude vintage seamed nylons... you get the picture.

Even if not all of these styles ring your personal bell, there is much to enjoy in the way they're presented. The poses are, in most cases, a delight in themselves.

There are as many models as there are legwear styles -- including Mosh, Darenzia, Emily Marilyn, Angela Ryan, Apnea, Courtney Cruz, Stoya, Mz Berlin, Jade Vixen, Miss Conduct, Hollywood Geisha, Ruby Luster, Athena Fatale, Ancilla Tilia and Ulorin Vex.

In other words a substantial cross-section of America's fetish finest, with a few visiting VIPs included for good measure.

If you're really only interested in one very particular kind of legwear -- say, vintage-style nylons à la Bettie Page -- Nylon Girls' broad content might not be the perfect treat.

But for anyone who finds that, more often than not, hosiery enhances feminine glamour and sex appeal, have I got a Christmas stocking-filler for you! TM

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Jackie Style

Jackie Style Overview

From the author of the bestselling Audrey Style

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was known by many names, but to us, she is Jackie. And whether she liked it or not, she was, and still is, the most famous woman in the world.

"No one else looked like her, spoke like her, wrote like her, or was so original in the way she did things," said her brother-in-law Senator Edward Kennedy. Her style -- what made her Jackie -- has been emulated, imitated, even occasionally reviled, but never fully examined. For the first time, this biography details the singular life that made Jackie an icon and contributed so greatly to her enduring appeal. Drawing on original interviews with Valentino, Hubert de Givenchy, Manolo Blahnik, and Oleg Cassini, as well as close friends C. Z. Guest, George Plimpton, and John Loring, and family members such as Joan Kennedy, Hugh D. Auchincloss, and John Davis, this compelling volume brings to life the private Jackie her family and friends loved.

With one hundred rare color and black-and-white photographs and sketches, and never-before-published personal letters, memos, and essays, Jackie Style re-creates not only Jackie's extraordinary history -- fashion being just one part of it -- but the world she came from, the White House she revived, the husband and children she adored, the causes she supported, and, finally, the life she chose to lead.

Customer Reviews

I was attracted to this book by its feel and the promise of learning more about that certain "something" Jackie radiates. After mentally debating the price, my lust for more Jackie style information won out and I purchased it. It is a substantial book in many ways but weak in others. The beginning of the book is awkward as the author describes what Jackie was thinking after her husband won the Presidency. How could the author know? The authors assumptions immediately made me question the rest of the books authenticity. As I read through the book however, the author changed tactics and began to describe the first lady using research that was factually supported. She discusses Jackie's upbringing, her role as young woman, and beyond. Though most of the information has been written about before, several aspects were elaborated on to add a new twist and make them more interesting. For example, I had read many times about Jackie winning Vogue magazines Prix de Paris competition, but never in the detail Keough gives. There are a number of photographs in the book but unfortunatly the way they are presented lacks impact. Many are black and white, others small for the page, few are new, and in general they don't have the luster that they could. For example, p.182 has a full size, black and white photograph of Jackie with flowers fully covering her face. If this is one of the never seen photographs Keough promises well I can see why. Another page is devoted to a full color photo of Ari Onasis. Since the full color photos of Jackie are few why not make it one of her? Pamela Keoughs previous book Audrey Style had a much better selection of pictures that made an impression! There are also some line sketches of Jackie in a pillbox. The sketch looks more like Anjelica Houston. The information in the book is broad. The author has obviously done alot of research and she relays the information with her fresh perspective. But many readers will wish for more information about Jackie's STYLE not her life history. For those just beginning to read about Jackie this will be a good introduction but to those familiar with her and the books about her this will be a rehash and retelling.

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Digital Photography Masterclass

Digital Photography Masterclass Overview

It's easy to see why digital photography has overtaken analog in popularity-it's affordable, convenient, versatile, and, above all, it makes photography more fun than ever before. Tom Ang's latest book is an in-depth, inspirational, and uniquely practical guide to every aspect of digital photography. There are assignments and analysis spreads, and step-by-step tutorials to help you hone your skills. He teaches you to look at the world with a photographer's "eye" and shows you how to get great shots every time. In short, this book shows you how to master your camera to ensure the best results in every situation and how to push the computer to keep up with your vision.

Customer Reviews

When taking a picture you can only control two things besides focus on the camera. You can control how big the hole letting light into the camera is and how long you keep it open. If this is the information you are looking for then this book is not for you. This book is for a person with an artistic eye that already understands how to make the hole bigger or smaller and how to make the camera open that hole fast or slow. So get past the fact that Mr. Ang does not dwell on the camera settings.

Mr Ang deals well with the topics of composition and exposure. I suspect that in many ways this book is better than taking a class in photography. He dispels the myth, taught as fact, about the law of thirds and helps the reader understand how to take more organic and natural looking shots. His assignments are good and if taken as a real assignment and completed will grow the reader into a very good photographer. If you are planning on reading this book but not doing the exercises then you are not going to get much from the book.

I left this book with the impression that my job as a photographer was not to just take a picture of what was in front of me but to look for ways to show what I see in my mind's eye. My photography now represents what I saw and thought while taking the picture. Often that differs greatly from what it looks like in real life but that transforms the photographs from snapshots into works of art.

I have never really been one to think that you can teach art. But if you can Mr. Ang does a pretty good job of it. I think you will enjoy this book.

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PaintShop Photo Pro X3 For Photographers

PaintShop Photo Pro X3 For Photographers Overview

If you are a digital photographer who's new to PaintShop Photo Pro or digital imaging in general, or have recently upgraded to the all-new version X3, this is the book for you! Packed with full color images to provide inspiration and easy to follow, step-by-step projects, you'll learn the ins and outs of this fantastic program in no time so you can start correcting and editing your images to create stunning works of art. Whether you want to learn or refresh yourself on the basics, such as effective cropping or simple color correction, or move on to more sophisticated techniques like creating special effects, everything you need is right here in this Corel-recommended guide. Useful information on printing and organizing your photos and a fantastic supplemental website with tons of extras rounds out this complete PSPP learning package.

* The most-trusted resource for getting up to speed fast with Corel's superb PaintShop Photo Pro software
* Fully updated with all of the new features in version X3
* Follow along with the projects in the book and start creating on your own immediately with the help of a supplemental website packed with extras such as downloadable images from the book, tutorials, links to useful information, and more!

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John Waters (Place Space)

John Waters (Place Space) Overview

This series of photography books by designer Oldham highlights remarkable people, places, and spaces and feature essays by noted critics and cultural figures.

Customer Reviews

I am so pleased with this item!!! I am an avid fan of Mr John Waters, and all of his works. My collection would not be complete, without this magazine.

It is soooo righteous! All of these photos of HIS HOME, his crazy crazy collection of weird vintage stuff. His porn, his literature, his knicknacks (his house is full of glass food!). It's just fabulous. Get it now.

If you DON'T know who John Waters is... but you like interesting voyeuristic ventures into a complete strangers interesting, flamboyant, original, awesome private home... then you too will dig this excellent bit of media. ;>

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Fine Art Printing for Photographers: Exhibition Quality Prints with Inkjet Printers, 2nd Edition

Fine Art Printing for Photographers: Exhibition Quality Prints with Inkjet Printers, 2nd Edition Feature

• ISBN13: 9781933952314
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Fine Art Printing for Photographers: Exhibition Quality Prints with Inkjet Printers, 2nd Edition Overview

Today's digital cameras provide image data files allowing large-format output at high resolution. At the same time, printing technology has moved forward at an equally fast pace bringing us new inkjet systems capable of printing in high precision at a very fine resolution, providing an amazing tonality range and longtime stability of inks.

Moreover, these systems are now affordable to the serious photographer. In the hands of knowledgeable and experienced photographers, these new inkjet printers can help create prints comparable to the highest quality darkroom prints on photographic paper.

This book provides the necessary foundation for fine art printing: The understanding of color management, profiling, paper and inks. It demonstrates how to set up the printing workflow as it guides the reader step-by-step through this process from an image file to an outstanding fine art print.

Customer Reviews

I bought this book (1) because I'm planning on buying a new printer capable of making fairly large prints and I want to get the best out of it and (2) because I've read other things Uwe Steinmueller has written and have admired his HDR photographs. The book combines information about color management, which you get in almost any moderately advanced text, with information that's specific to printing, notably on paper selection and workflow. It's a useful combination of topics. the text is well written and the illustrations are printed very well and are useful.

You do have to have familiarity with Photoshop CS 2 or later. Befroe you print, take the author's advice about calibrating your monitor, and especially about setting the brightness.

There's a logical progression from calibrating your printer up through printing and presenting the work. Although there is a lot of detail, it's presented well enough so that you don't drown in it.

The only criticism I have is that the first 55-60 pages seem to have been written or perhaps revised without good editing, so there's some annoying duplication of information about paper weight and thickness, among other things. Apart from that, it's an excellent manual for making prints suitable for display.

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One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey (Annivers

One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey (Annivers Feature

• ISBN13: 9780882405131
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey (Annivers Overview

To live in a pristine land ... to roam the wilderness ... to choose a site, cut trees, and build a home ... Thousands have had such dreams, but Richard Proenneke lived them. Here is a tribute to a man in tune with his surroundings who carved his masterpiece out of the beyond.

Customer Reviews

As one other reviewer said, "Dick Proenneke is the real deal." Yes he had help living in Alaska via once a month or so resupply via airplane. Yes if we all moved to this lake and cut down the necessary trees to build our own cabin, it would look like Ohio does now. Remember that is exactly what the pioneers did. The reason Alaska still looks the way it does without strip malls everywhere is that the weather and the distances keep things closer to what they were before we all got there.

Anyway on a cold dark winter's day, riding the bus to the cubical world I live in to feed the family and fix the world, this was a great read. To dream of going off and not having to do anything but survive, build my own shelter, hunt and cook and farm. But as a dream it's great, as the reality, nope, it'd be nuts, or rather I'd go nuts. But that's more about me than Dick. Dick's story is that he didn't go nuts, he didn't do stupid things like "Into the Wild." He was physically, and mentally prepared. He had a plan, if it hadn't worked out, he had a back up, Babe could fly him out. He'd live until then in the neighbors cabin. He had food, so that he didn't have to hunt. Ok it's beans, but you can survive on it.

What I loved about this book, was it's not, lets go into the wilderness and kill everything we see, but rather, we take only what is absolutely necessary and leave the rest alone. And that before he leaves, he makes a trip to all the hunting camps and cleans up their trash. Sheesh, you'd think that hunters would not leave beer cans and garbage in such a pristine spot.

What my wife kept asking was how did he manage without his woman at his side? and the book does not really address that.

Anyway highly recommended as a read.

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Absinthe: History in a Bottle

Absinthe: History in a Bottle Overview

One hundred forty-four proof, notoriously addictive, and the drug of choice for 19th-century poets, absinthe is gaining bootleg popularity after almost a century of being banned. Due to popular demand, this book is back in a new paperback edition. 60 color photos. 100 illustrations.

Customer Reviews

Barnaby Conrad III chose a fitting subtitle for this book: `History in a Bottle'. Absinthe conjures fin-de-siècle images of brooding poets, manic painters, and workers shorn of hope and ambition, all guzzling the milky green liquid as they headed toward physical ruin and moral decay. When a Swiss labourer murdered his family in August 1905 after indulging in absinthe (among other spirituous liquors), a movement to ban the drink sprang to life. By World War I, absinthe was illegal almost everywhere, and it became the symbol of a decadent period in European history.

There's no question that the absinthe our forefathers enjoyed in boulevard cafes and poets' dens was just short of being poison. The average batch was 120-144 proof, and had high levels of thujone, a component of the wormwood herb used in absinthe production. Thujone, in sufficient doses, could cause convulsions. But any herb-based liquor is harmful in excess, and only the hardcore `absintheurs' refrained from diluting their doses with water and sugar. Conrad suggests that absinthe, whose emerald green color spawned the nickname `Green Fairy', was the victim of a hysterical element that needed a scapegoat for the drunken murderers, crazy artists, and moral degenerates that seemed to abound. I wonder what they did when these same social problems persisted after the Green Fairy had its wings clipped?

Conrad has written an intelligent overview of this controversial drink. He traces the `cult of absinthe' to the 1840s, when the government of France issued it to soldiers stationed in Algeria as a means of preventing fevers. Absinthe quickly became popular among French workers, who embraced it as tightly as their English counterparts did gin. When it acquired a following among self-destructive writers and artists like Edgar Allan Poe, Paul Verlaine, Vincent Van Gogh, and Dadaism pioneer Alfred Jarry, absinthe was branded guilty by association.

`Absinthe- History in a Bottle' is a beautiful volume, with glossy pages and colourful images. Because the text is interspersed with attractive illustrations and packed with titillating anecdotes about such infamous absintheurs as Oscar Wilde and Vincent Van Gogh, it will appeal to the general interest reader as well as those with some familiarity with the unruly history of absinthe.

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Simple Lighting Techniques for Portrait Photographers (Amherst Media, Inc.)

Simple Lighting Techniques for Portrait Photographers (Amherst Media, Inc.) Overview

With tips for creating natural, hassle-free lighting, this reference shows photographers how to abandon complex lighting scenarios in favor of more straightforward, uncomplicated ones. Photographers will learn the advantages of simpler lighting—such as saving money by avoiding excessive equipment purchases and maintenance and making location shoots less cumbersome and more convenient. Emphasizing that photographers should imitate the sun’s natural light—not only to create a realistic setting but also to allow for genuine facial expressions from more relaxed portrait subjects—this guidebook illustrates how to create one- and two-light setups, making simple refinements with lightweight, inexpensive, and portable reflectors. Covering the basics of lighting and applying them to portraits as well as discussing the equipment available today, this resource ensures more enjoyable photography sessions for both photographers and their subjects.

Customer Reviews

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that good lighting equals complicated lighting. With that mindset, you can defeat yourself before you even begin--you'll intimidate your portrait subjects with too much equipment and frustrate yourself trying to manage it all (never mind potentially TRANSPORTING it all!). Moreover, you'll squash anything that was fluid or natural about the portraits you're trying to create. The images will end up looking "produced."

In this book, Hurter reminds us that even one-light portraits can be breathtaking--add a reflector and you're pretty much in business. The KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle pays off here in some truly lovely images that show how the best in the business are streamlining their lighting strategies for a look that is very current, very authentic, and very appealing. And, hey, it's even more ECO-FRIENDLY--fewer lights, less power!

Whether you're trying to get back to simpler shooting style or just getting started in portraiture and looking for ways to minimize your initial investment in lighting equipment, you'll find this book a useful guide.

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