Customer Reviews

America's Parks

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm lucky enough to live in the American West, and have visited most of the western parks. When I go there I don't even take a camera and I've often asked why. In answering I simply point to a book. In the past this has usually been an Ansel Adams. In the future it's going to be this one. My own picture taking ability is so pathetic when compared to these that I have to say 'why bother.'

In the past I've found the black and white photographs from Adams and others to be better than color. With this book, that has changed. The pictures here are in color, but color with a richness that has to be seen to be believed. I can't imagine what M. bourseiller has done to get such rich reds, such subtle greens, and restful blues. I can only imagine the time he must have spent looking for the right spot, waiting for the sun to be just so, even for the moon to appear just under that arch. The printing quality has likewise matched the photographic quality. It has changed my view completely.

This new book consists of relatively recent photographs of some 53 National Parks. I've been to most of them, and this book is a better way to remember them than any picture I could possibly have taken. It's simply magnificant.

This was a gift for my husband and he loves it. The images are pretty amazing. The book itself is a little oversized and not very easy to hold. Also it would be better if each image had a little blurb to explain where exactly and when the image was shot. Otherwise I'd recommend this book for any keen outdoor types who love photography.

A book with truly beautifull pictures. If you haven't been to the national parc's yet, you feel compelled to go.

I initially bought this book for friend of mine and I ended up ordering another copy for myself ah!
Amazing photographs, high quality prints... One of the best book I bought (twice) this year!

As a professional photographer this type of book is what inspires me to get off my butt when I've been sitting in the office too long, focusing on Photoshop or other things, and go do what I love: photograph nature! As a collection of compositions this book is outstanding. Just make sure those kids or guests wash their hands first so they don't get their grubby little grease prints all over the more darkly lit shots! ;-) The book is that nice: you'll want to keep it well preserved for many to see.

A few minor glitches: though the book arrived in good condition with the binding fully intact and tightly wound (with plastic wrap still intact, in fact!), there were maybe 8 or 10 shots where either the color image did not translate well at all from film scan to CMYK press, or where the authors just made a bad choice in presentation. For example one of the shots of an Aspen grove is completely over saturated and has an almost false-color look to it. I believe this is a result of the CMYK process as the natural warm tones of the fall foliage fell outside of their printer's gamut, so they compensated by shifting and saturating the colors to something that was in-gamut, but it didn't work out too well. :) Also several shots could have benefitted from noise reduction / retouching after being scanned. I say scanned because it appears to my eyes that these shots were taken mostly on 35mm or medium format film. The grain has a certain character that doesn't look like digital noise, but which still could've been easily remedied with a little post-production, without changing the original character of the image.

All in all though a fantastic coffee table book (it's pretty huge though so make sure you have space - would be a shame to squirrel this thing away somewhere, in a drawer for example).

This is a great book to give someone who loves nature. Great pictures.

A book of that will have you looking at the photo's over and over again, never tiring of their beauty.