Book Reviews

Composition Techniques; by Ernst Wildi; Amherst Media; 96 pages; $14.95; softbound (ISBN 1-58428-158-8)
The full title for this must-have book is Step-By-Step Composition Techniques for Digital Photographers but my guess is that the advice found in this really helpful book will work with film, too. Where it excels for digital photographers is with tips on making use of features such as scene modes that are built into some digicams. What better person to tell this story than Ernst Wildi (www.ernstwildi.com), a photographic legend, who has forgotten more about composition than most of us will ever learn, no matter how hard we try. One way to try and improve your photography is to use the techniques Wildi provides in 43 points that cover two pages each. Each tip is well illustrated with his photographs and is explained in such a way that even a casual reading of the book will improve your photographs mightily.

Painter IX Creativity; by Jeremy Sutton; Focal Press; 480 pages; $44.95; softbound with CD (ISBN 0-240-80669-7)
Pssssst! I want to let you in on a secret that the digital cognoscenti have known for a long time. Corel's Painter is a wonderful program for creating dramatic digital images, and this book is your gateway. Take my advice: buy this book and download a trial Mac OS or Windows version (www.corel.com) of Painter and it can change your life--digitally speaking. With this book Focal Press has forever shed its dreary textbook style and started down the path of producing world-class digital imaging books. Great design, excellent reproduction combined with cogent text and wonderful illustrations make Painter IX Creativity the prefect book for the digital imager who wants to go beyond Photoshop into the world of natural media.

Digital Landscape Photography; by Michelle Perkins; Amherst Media; 112 pages; $17.95; softbound (ISBN
1-58428-151-0)
This book uses a similar layout as Ernst Wildi's and is a collection of 52 two-page lessons, although its pages are unnumbered (on purpose). This is a great gift to give a new photographer who's starting to get serious and is especially interested in the landscape genre. Michelle Perkins gently holds the reader's hand and takes them through lessons that include digital photography basics and relates them to the various subgenres of landscapes images. There are eight lessons on composition, and if you want more buy this book with Wildi's, which makes a great companion volume. I also enjoyed Perkins' look at the four seasons, so much so that I would have liked to seen more. This is a compact, easy to read book that will have you making better landscape images before you have gotten halfway through, but be sure to read the entire book.

Digital Infrared Photography; by Patrick Rice; Amherst Media; 128 pages; $29.95; softbound (ISBN 1-58428-144-8)
Patrick Rice's digital infrared photography is stunning and his text will be extremely useful for image-makers who want to try this unique pursuit. While there are a few landscape and architectural images, the book reflects Rice's wedding and portrait photography, including an arresting cover shot that shows how digital IR is more than just a technique that makes tree leaves and grass white. In fact, there are no trees or grass in the romantic and involving wedding portrait on the cover! While many of the images were made with filters, some were made with a camera converted specifically to make IR images; the author even includes a one-page tutorial on how to modify a Nikon Coolpix 990 or 950 for your infrared photography. That one page alone is worth the price of the book. Rice's Professional Techniques for Black & White Digital Photography (ISBN 1-58428-149-9) makes a wonderful companion to his infrared volume.