Customer Reviews

California the Beautiful

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The other review for this little book is flat out wrong, so I'll give mine. The photographs are why you want this. Galen Rowell is in my opinion one of the best nature photographers of the last century, and he knew California. He also knew how to show very clearly the feel of the state; you don't just get the visual image in his photos, you get a different emotion from each one. Every picture is amazing in its own way. The text isn't as stunning, but fits well, and the layout and typography are fitting to the photographs. I highly reccomend this for any coffee table or for any lover of California or photography or things of beauty.

This compact size coffee table book with outstanding photography by Galen Rowell makes a great souvenir for visitors to beautiful California. The diversity of this great state is depicted in all its spectacular beauty from the desert to the majestic mountain peaks; from minute wildflowers to the towering redwoods. Prose and verse from famous & not-so-famous Californians & visitors add pleasant reading which accompany the lovely images.

I purchased a number of these books as "thank you" gifts for various friends we are going to visit in Europe. I was so excited about finding a picture book on California, I didn't read the description thoroughly -- note that the books are only about 7"x7". Even so, their small size makes them perfect to carry in a suitcase. The pictures are quite nice and, even though the coloring is enhanced a bit, they truly show how beautiful California can be. My ONLY complaint with these books is that the price is printed on the back of the dust jacket! This means that if you're giving them as a gift, there's no way to cover up how much you paid (or could have paid) for the book. (I guess I can come up with a cute stick-on label ... )

The photography is beautiful.
The book catalogues the best of California through pictures. We take this book with us on our trips through out the state as part of our guide and potential itinerary. It makes every trip, a trip to a beautiful location.
A great coffee table book.

This book is well worth buying, but not for Galen Rowell's photographs (as they are "printed" here)...the text is actually more indicative of the power of California's beauty and meaning.

Rowell's use of super-saturated colors, whether accomplished with filters or digital editing, only serves to show just how MORE beautiful these scenes, at these times of day, are in reality!

Subtle was not in Galen's vocabulary, apparently, yet the beauty of nature is often extraordinary AND subtle. I guess my thought really is that Galen Rowell and his 35 mm cameras, found amazing sights (and sites), and took their picture(s), but the essence of many of those sights, he lost because he wanted them to be even more "perfect" than they "really are".

Trust us, Galen, they're even more perfect without all the color saturation effects....

I don't know if I missed it in the description, but the book is too small for a coffee table book. The pictures are pretty, but I was hoping for a larger book.

The delivery was great---very punctual and in excellent condition. I really like the calendar; it has beautiful pictures of different areas of this fantastic state. Thanks.

This is a beautiful calendar. I have followed Galen's work for many years, after discovering his gallery in Bishop, CA. He was an incredibly gifted nature photographer. This calendar offers a mini showcase of his work. Well worth the price for a year's worth of glorious images.

This book contains some of the most beautiful photographs I've ever seen. They truly feed the soul.

Peter Beren edits this gorgeous collection CALIFORNIA THE BEAUTIFUL: SPIRIT AND PLACE, pairing some eighty-five images from the photographer Galen Rowell with the voices of some fifty California writers from Maya Angelou to Ray Bradbury and Henry Miller. A lovely, keepsake edition for any California collection.