Five stars for the photography alone!!!
923984
A really stunning film. Perhaps some see it as a bit of new age nostalgia from 1973, but it's relevant now as it ever was. The cinematography is done by the same people who now do alot of IMAX films, McGillvray/Freeman. One comment on the DVD I will make and that that the sound is pretty poor-for some odd reason it's all in mono(!) and the result is it sounds "far off" and you need to turn up the sound to hear things.
2665761
It is humbling to be able to own a book containing images that one would never otherwise have a chance to see.  This book is full of HUGE color photographs of Nebula, stars, planets and galaxies that are truly awe inspiring.  I did, however, find myself a bit dissapointed.  Many of the Hubble telescope pictures that I was hoping to see, were tiny on text pages while the big, blown up pictures were somewhat grainy and repetitive.  Commonly, there were several pages in a row of the same majestic body shown from different perspectives.  With so much universe to see, I think I would have preferred one fabulous picture of each individual celestial object instead of so many pictures of fewer ones.  Still, an enjoyable, overwhelming book sure to make you wonder...what else is out there waiting for us to discover?
528125
It was simply Ms. Maier's passion for photography that created this wonderful book (Out of the Shadows) for all of us to enjoy. She captured life on the streets.
She was simply there....waiting for the moment.....
The sad thing about her story is that it took her death to bring her talents to the forefront. And just maybe I never would have appreciated her work as I do if she had lived. She would just have been another photographer.

All of her work being left in a storage area and then sold for auction when she never picked them up. A treasure just waiting to be found. And now a treasure to be enjoyed my many - again and again and again.

She had an absolutely incredible eye!
3793822
This could have been a truly amazing book but I don't understand why a book about forensic details is totally lacking details in the photos. Better shots could have been taken with a Kodak box camera with roll film and a light bulb!!! There is no excuse for the lack of depth of field and the out of focus and limited views.
This exhibition is in need of a 3-d virtual tour!
Considering the amount of work and attention that went into the making of these scenes, I am incredibly disappointed in this book, and can only hope for another show sometime.
2360955
If you have no experience with horimono, this book gives some excellent images focusing mostly on the works of three masters (only one, Horiyoshi III Sensei of Yokohama still actively tattoos).  The book is worth buying for the images alone.

And I wish it were the images alone. The captions are often naive, bordering at times on offensive.  The author at best over-exotifies and at worse verges on ridiculing some of her subjects, and seems to know very little about the tradition, history, and mores of Japanese society and horimono.  Add to that an introduction that is almost unexplainably ludicrous (by an author with no bio!) and you have a book that's great to look at, just not to read.  I'd give it 5 stars if it was just the photos.

Read Takahiro Kitamura's books as well as Donald Richie's for better information.
4668400
I have now done as thorough review of the image quality as I can.  Using a tripod, with the subject about 8 ft away, a poster of Chinese characters, I took three shots on a timer at 4:3 aspect ratio, about 20-24mm focal length, using the D-LUX 5, an older Lumix DMC-FX33, and a Canon 550D with an EF-S 18-200mm lens.  Then I looked at the images zooming in to the max.  The Canon was by far the best, followed by the little FX-33, with the Leica trailing behind, not very crisp at all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 July 2011:  Final update.  I think there is nothing wrong with the camera.  Like other things, you just have to know its limitations.  It is unreasonable to expect it to perform as well as a Canon DSLR.  In retrospect I had unrealistic and amateurish expectations.  With the various test shots in the previous update, I have now looked at them with both Lightroom 3 and Paintshop X3, both RAW and JPEG (FX33 JPG only).  When I zoom in on each of the pictures, I get basically the same results as I did when looking at them via the on-camera LCD.  But when I print A4 or even A3 size copies of shots I took along the Singapore River, the results are very satisfying.  I'll keep it and would recommend it to others.  A bit pricey, but you get Lightroom.  I am still surprised that the Lumix DMC-FX33 compared so well to the D-LUX 5.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 August 2011:  After using it now for two trips to the USA and back here in Singapore, I must say that this camera is great and exactly what I was hoping for.  The color rendition seems very good to my eye, the clarity of the image is very pleasing, it does a great job of sorting out that difficult balance of the sky and the earthly objects.  I am a bit embarrassed for my earlier weak assessment.
4898169
The photos are exquisite! The only draw back is that there are only mini photos from the original trilogy. I am well aware that the costumes were nothing spectacular in the original films but they were the basis for the second trilogy and deserved a bit more acknowledgement!
4907946
Excellent quality photos, but so many bewildering features that I can only master about 20% of them. My biggest complaint is that the camera comes with no owner manual. Yes, I downloaded one, but it runs 52 pp. when printed out on ordinary size paper. That is not handy for study purposes or to take along on a trip.
758730
I have always really enjoyed McCurry's photography and I own several of his books.  The photo reproductions in this book are high quality with very nice, rich, colors on bright, glossy paper.  The only real drawback in the book production is that there are lots of small bits of paper on the dark parts of the photos (left over from the pages being cut?).  I guess I'll try to use a microfiber cloth to gently clean them off... because the white spots do not help the dark areas.

Honestly, only 1/3 or so of the photos selected for this book really live up to best standard of what McCurry usually puts out.  I wonder if that's not because of the effort to limit them to the subject of reading.  FYI, the things I generally really admire in his photos are the overall beautiful composition and vivid colors, the strong human element, and the rich secondary points of interest in the surroundings (except in some close portraits, which stand on their own).
1815366
First off, the pictures are stellar. I am an amateur user with a critical eye. This camera shoots awesome pics. No question. I researched different cameras and read as much as I could. I did read about the video noise problem with this one...some people had it, some didn't. I went with the benefit of the doubt and got the camera. Lo and behold, damn it. It does have a serious noise problem during video. I know, people have separate dv cameras for shooting video. So do I, but I don't have it with me at all times. I love being able to shoot impromptu videos. Alas, I am returning this camera because of this noise problem. And no, it is NOT caused by a finger over the microphone. Guaranteed. I want to love this camera. I would love it to work. If anyone could give me advice as to how to fix this problem, I would forever be in their debt. But for now, I have to let it go. Anyone have a good alternative?
1585002
As the photographer of the family there is little evidence that I exist in our family album! Haha!  Now we can get a good family shot without hiring someone.  Only downfall is that you have to be in just the right place to make it work.  Also the laser sometimes can be seen in the photo, but "red eye" editing can be used to erase it easily.
1823371
I really wanted to have this book, now i got it and I love it, but always is a but. I think than some pictures has too much color saturation, I thought that was his style but when i turned the page i saw the same photography session but with the correct color, that's a shame, the b&w pictures are beautiful, but some of them has a little green tone. Another thing is there is a picture with a zoom in and you note that is a 35mm sensor size and it lost definition with the zoom in. And finally, sometimes It seems like you are seeing the same picture, and sometimes is true and sometimes the picture a veeery similar to another one 10 pages before. The good of the book?.... wow!!, Nabuco is a good photographer with good ideas and very fine and sensual pictures, with the potential of show a bit to us but letting want more and more. All the models are so gorgeous, you really will want a girlfriend like they. The locations are very nice, I visited Rio last year and is so beautiful like you see in the pictures...and the snakes!!! They gives a touch of the wild life of the Amazonas. You will really like this book and of course you will wanna go to Brazil, both of them worth.
4616694
My Likeness Taken has all the makings of a great book. The research, writing, and image selection are of the highest quality. If not for the problem outlined below, I'd give it five stars.

Quite simply, a good portion of the photographs are out of focus. You might say "These are daguerreotypes, are you sure that it's not the photographs themselves that are out of focus?"

I am sure - on the worst instances, it's quite obvious that both the case and the image are equally fuzzy - if it was just that the dag was blurry, the case for it should still be in sharp focus.

By my count, about 13% of the images are obviously out of focus, while another 17% appear to not be as sharp as they should be - all told, 30% of the imagery in the book.

This simply isn't acceptable in this day and age - especially in something produced by a major university press.
3904928
The two pillars, if not the only two, that an exceptional image stands on are light and composition. I own several books about these two key elements of imagery and this book is another addition to my repertoire.

I don't buy photography books for an explanation of exposure, f-stop or ISO. There was a time when I did but it's long gone. Thus books that contain everything but the kitchen sink seem like a waste of paper, and my time, to me. What I look for is is an explanation of what attracted the photographer to the scene. How he connected to the scene and worked it. Given a million ways to make an exposure, what're the choices he made to convey his personal vision though the final image.

Mr. Dykinga is a veteran photographer who has received several awards for his imagery. In this book, it is clear that his decades of experience in the field has developed in him a true caring for nature, that he relates to the scene in front of him and clicks the shutter only when he's ready to tell a story with his own spin on it. Quoting from the book, "I cannot not photograph, and I can't stop the internal movie. I see images all the time; even in my dreams.". This is what I look to learn, this is what that the multitude of people with expensive cameras in auto mode don't understand.

The book discusses various elements of design, namely lines, near/far perspective, framing etc. The images are very high quality; by that, I mean high in photographic value not high resolution, at least not so on Kindle. Each image is accompanied by a note explaining why the author was attracted to the scene and sometimes, how he worked it.

I took away one star from the review because of the disconnect between basic EXIF data (focal length, aperture, shutter speed) and the images. Looking at an image and seeing the technical information helps the reader understand why the photographer made the creative choices that he did. The technical information are at the end of book, requiring the reader to flip through the pages to connect an image with the EXIF data. This hampers the flow and defeats the purpose of having that information in the first place.

Barring that one problem, this is a good book to add to your shelf if you even have a passing interest in landscape photography.
1266756
Barbara Norfleet concentrates on a rather under-appreciated aspect of American photography, the local commercial photo studio found in most towns across the country.  This book is an extension of her first book `The Champion Pig', which examined  studio photography from 1929 to 1960.  `When We Liked Ike', with 170 excellent photos, covers the years from 1945.  The author explains how these photos were taken to please those who commissioned them and they basically show the attitudes, values and aspirations of the white middle class.  There are plenty of family gatherings and social events but also examples of outdoor commercial activity, the Florida studio of Joe Steinmetz  produced excellent architectural work like the drive-in hamburger unit on page 126.

Nearly every photo is worth studying for the detail they contain, they are not blurred, grainy or gimmicky, this is a record of what the subject wanted (and paid for) not how the photographer felt about the subject.  The only details provided about the images are the photographer's name and sometimes a date, this lack of information can be annoying at times, page eighty-seven shows a woman smoking a pipe, her head surrounded by smoke, just why did Jack Gould take this picture in 1946?  Page thirty-three shows a (pin-sharp) photo of a traffic jam in Main Street, Somewhere USA, why was this moment captured for ever?

The book is well designed and printed though I think the cover design is unimaginative and the photo (two senior citizens in swimwear enjoying a smoke) rather inappropriate to sum up post-war America.  As well as the fascinating `The Champion Pig', `Wedding' is another Barbara Norfleet book using work of the local studio photographer.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
4737770
The camera and kit lens are amazing. Easily 5 stars by themselves. Most everything else in this bundle is complete trash. You're better off getting the camera alone. Along with a $50 bag and a $50 tripod. They're serviceable, just won't last long. The t6i is an amazing dslr, couldn't recommend it enough.
1811705
I was fortunate enough to see the exhibition of these photographs at the International Center of Photography a few days ago.  If you can, go to see the show before it closes.  If you can't, buy this book and get a glimpse at the power of a photograph.
Though no expert, I enjoy the art of photography.  I am particularly interested in portraits of real people.  Mary Ellen Mark has the ability to capture people with extra-ordinary depth and feeling.  Almost without fail, her images are moving.  With a skill beyond the normal artist, however, her images have the ability to be thought-provoking.
Consider a photo labelled "Aryan Nations, Hayden Lake, Idaho, 1986."  Three pleasant-looking, smiling women--the cherubic face of the woman on the far right particularly draws the eye--set in counterpoint to their white supremacist garb.  Or consider the series of photographs of Tiny who has clearly experienced many things in her life but who face, amazingly, holds the same soul in each image.  Or consider the contrast between the photographs of Julie d'Aquili and Cynthia Galves despite their similar poses.  Julie is a healthy young woman but her somber expression stands out starkly against the cancer-ridden Cynthia who still manages a smile.
I believe that I could write something about every single photograph in this collection.  Let me instead just say that these photographs will grip you and hold your attention for hours.  You will come back to them again and again.  And, unlike reproductions of paintings in a book, photographs do not suffer from the process nearly as much.  I would encourage anyone with an interest in photography to take a look at this book.