Words Without Pictures

July 6, 2010 by specpro Leave a Comment

What a wonderful way to enjoy a lazy summer Sunday with a fine book/magazine and an ice cold beer out in the yard!

I’ve yet to finish “Words Without Pictures” but it is highly recommended. The book covers a wide range of contemporary photography topics in a very informal and online-forum-like style. Each chapter starts with an essay or discussion on a particular topic followed by “audience’ response and Q&A sections (which is not necessarily related to the chapter topic).

I found the overall tone to be refreshing and largely avoids the heavy verbiage associated with photography discourse.

Kirin Beer is golden – brewed for good times indeed!

Filed under Books, Leica M9, Leica Summilux M 50 pre-asph

“The Photobook: A History volume II” by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger

January 15, 2010 by specpro Leave a Comment

Being completely clueless about photographers and the development of photography as a means of artistic expression and document, finding this book is like striking gold.

The book is very elegantly designed and laid out.  It is divided into nine chapters organized around various photobook themes.  The first three chapters starts with photobooks from America, Europe and the “Rest of the World” citing important differences and pre-occupations in these different cultures.  The remaining six chapters are less geographically based and more theme oriented.

The chapters start with a few introductory pages to set the scene before delving into the photobooks themselves which are presented in either one, two or three photobooks per spread.

Each photobook feature is comprised of page previews, a caption with some basic book info, and a short blurb about the significance of the book.  This catalogue of photobooks approach makes for a good compliment to your more standard textbooks such as “A World History of Photography”.

Here’s some more info on Amazon:

The Photobook: A History, Vol. 1
The Photobook: A History, Vol. 2
A World History of Photography

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“Light & Shadow” by Daido Moriyama

October 29, 2009 by specpro 3 Comments

Here’s another Daido book I picked up on my recent trip to Tokyo called “Light & Shadow.”

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It is the same exact size as the “Buenos Aires” one which is also a re-release.  You can refer to my previous post on that book here.

To be honest with you I have no idea how to interpret this book. It is a dense and constant bombardment of low-fi black and white images. But that’s exactly why I love it because it’s a celebration of just that: Light & Shadow.

From what I can tell, there’s no story or theme running through it but pure unadulterated visual stimuli of the black and white variety. It’s a great way to teach yourself to see things in their own context as pure graphic elements.

I can recommend this book without any reservation!

As much as I love this copy I do envy those who own the original version:

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For previews of the book you can check this link out here.

Other books by Daido Moriyama:
“Buenos Aires”

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“Buenos Aires” Picture Previews

October 18, 2009 by specpro 1 Comment

Here are some sample images taken from the book. (It was really hard to choose there are so many good ones!)

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Here’s the link to the first edition of Buenos Aires on Amazon

Other books by Daido Moriyama:
“Light & Shadow”

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“Buenos Aires” Daido Moriyama

October 17, 2009 by specpro 1 Comment

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[UPDATE] Be sure to check out the book preview with sample images here

On my recent trip to Tokyo I picked up a bunch of photo books three of them by Daido Moriyama: “Buenos Aires”; “Light & Shadow” and “Erotica”.  I’ll first review the “Buenos Aires” in this post.

This 2009  edition is a re-release of a larger and more expensive book initially published in 2005 by Kodansha.  The original edition’s dimensions are 11.5 x 8.5 inches while this one being more portable and easy to flip through stands at 7 x 4.5 inches. Though cheaper than the original it is no less well packaged as it has an obi band and a softcover dust jacket.  The green cover you see in the photo comes off to reveal a darker greenish gray cover which on closer inspection is a subtlety printed photo.  All pages have matte finishing.

The book’s first dozen pages depicts sparsely populated streets and open spaces.  As it progresses the visual rhythm picks up and the streets get more crowded and frenetic activity starts taking over.   The restaurants and the bars become full with couples dancing – legs and bodies entwined.  Packed subway, cluttered storefront displays and a merry go round spinning wildly at night bring the book to a crescendo which then begins to finish the way it started.  Desolate streets, a pile of garbage and stray dog mark the final pages.

What I most appreciate about “Buenos Aires” is that it begs to be picked up and flipped through revealing new details and insights each time over the course of several readings.  It’s a great book for those who enjoy street photography whether Daido fan or not.

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Here’s the link to the first edition of Buenos Aires on Amazon

“Buenos Aires” Picture Previews

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“New Epson Complete Guide to Digital Printing” by Rob Sheppard

October 11, 2009 by specpro Leave a Comment

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Great book about digital darkroom and printing.  Reading now Chapter 4 on Basic Printing Workflow:

  1. Good print starts when you press the shutter button!
  2. Save as TIFF or PSD to preserve the most quality.  Can go back to this master file later if necessary
  3. Suggests to crop and rotate early to remove distractions and avoid influencing adjustments
  4. Getting the black and white points right using levels in Photoshop or Exposure and Blacks in Lightroom
  5. Adjusting Tone Curve in Lightroom to get midtones right
  6. Correct the White Balance
  7. Color adjustments with Saturation should be kept to minimum of 10-15.  Better to adjust colors individually so as not to affect other colors
  8. Make a work print early so that further adjustments can be made
  9. Then make local adjustments using layers and layer mask (gotta find that Wacom tablet pen!)
  10. Should only clean up spots and dust marks now since doing so earlier might cause problems while making adjustments
  11. Save a Master copy now before sharpening and flattening image.  This file can be used for adjusting sizes
  12. When resizing should keep the Resampling option turned off.  Then enter 200 ppi or 360 ppi to see if it’s the right size if not turn back on Resample option and enter new size and use Bicubic Smoother for size up and Bicubic Sharper for size down.  For very big enlargements should be done early while in RAW
  13. Sharpening should not be done early because it can cause problems with later adjustments.  Sharping does not make an out focus photo clearer but increases the inherent contrast between light and dark pixels.  Unsharp Mask is the most common

That’s just a quick summary but you really need to read the book to get the specifics and how tos.  Here’s a link to Amazon for more product details: New Epson Complete Guide to Digital Printing (A Lark Photography Book)

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