Customer Reviews

Galen Rowell's Vision: The Art of Adventure Photography

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

 

 

It cannot be helped ... I'm partial to Rowell ... have been, ever since I started serious photography in '89 ... His photographs have always left me in awe ...

So you can imagine my surprise, when I found myself reading the words with as much care as I was looking at the photos ... Rowell carefully describes his preparations, his thoughts and preferences ... he writes as he photographs ... in a direct manner, with few affectations and no gimmicks ... The reader learns not so much about f-stops or apertures, but is introduced into the mind set of an adventurer, an exceptional photographer ... whose approach to image making is both pragmatic and inspirational ... the photographs are more instructional than usual ... but an exceptionally good read!

The book is great. Rowell's essays are very informative, fun to read, and give a lot of insight into the world of adventure photography. However, the binding from Sierra Club Books is terrible. I'm halfway through the book and the glue came apart, leaving me with hundreds of loose pages. This is especially frustrating since I planned to use the book as a reference, frequently re-reading and looking up pertinent information.

Galen Rowell's columns are a lot of fun. They explore the whys and hows of photographys, but more importantly, provide insight to how the best photographers work. This densely packed volume range from equipment tips to philosophical discussions, and is highly recommended as a beginning Outdoor Photographer's second book

If you wish to become an active, thoughtful photographer, one who is conscientious about seeing, especially from another point of view, and you are willing to take the time and effort to get a shot, this book is for you.

Galen Rowell's essays are richly entwined with clear strands of philosophical, technical, and artistic perspectives.

Like Galen has done most of his life--explore and adventure--the book is an exploration of inner and outer realms. Throughout the 60 essays, we explore the outer, physical world, as well as the inner thoughtful and emotional world that accompanies aesthetic photography.

Galen becomes our guide as he shows us new pathways of exploring photography. We learn to think about creating visual order out of chaos. We see the relationship between thoughtful preparation and capturing an image. While commonsense techniques are suggested, we learn to validate old technology as well as recent innovations. We are apprised of ethical issues when shooting. And most important (for me) we explore the resonance between spirit, content, and form through photography.

This book, with its exquisite images and stories behind them, will likely help you see better, become more contemplative as a photographer, and encourage you to capture that which you see with greater emotional integrity and technical competence.

I've read thousands and thousands of books of all types, and this is my favorite one of all-time. This converted me into being a Galen Rowell fan. The photos were great as usual, but what got me was his writing. He is an amazing author! I have learned so much from his writings, and I still learn everytime I re-read the book. He is funny and in addition to being intelligent. His passion comes across clearly in this book. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes to read, and you'd probably become a photographer afterwards.

Galen's book offers the novice and experienced photographer inspiration and "common-sense" advice about observing our world. He articulately describes how he does not merely use his view finder to see, but how he becomes involved in his subject. I have seldom read such a superbly crafted book.

This is a great book that must be enjoyed one page at a time. Literally. While the writing is wonderful, and the photography is breath taking, the physical construction of this book by Sierra Club Books is the worst I've ever seen. Immediately upon opening this book, the binding failed and the pages all separated from the cover and from each other. Perhaps the publisher felt it was best to enjoy this product in a loose-leaf format, or maybe they believe that glue contributes to global warming, and to use any in this product would have harmed the planet. I've never before owned a book that disintegrated immediately as this one did.
If this book had held together I would have rated it five stars without question. However, due to the poor quality of construction by the publisher, I'd have to recommend you save your money.

This Galen Rowell's book is another one to have in your library. Very interesting and with a lot of great stories about photography and adventure related to photography. It is especially useful to those of you who enjoy photographing off the beaten track, in extreme environments. Galen gives you many ideas to carry your gear and techniques to make that "one in a lifetime" shot. Although the book is excellent I recieved my copy damaged on the back, it looks like the book was not new, it was thorn in the upper right corner. As I am a customer from Spain, it would cost me too much to send the copy back and ask for a new one, so I kept the copy. I wanted to write it down as I don't want other customers to suffer from my unluck.

Ok, this book maybe isn't Mountain Light or The Inner Game of outdoor photography, but again Galen Rowell hooks us onto the chair, and makes us travel around the world, not only the physical world, but also the photography and composition worlds. The only but important complaint: after some days of reading, the pages started to fall of the book, and I had to re-glue it...

He was one of the best. Best climbers and best photographers. This is a good book for anyone who like wilderness or photography.