Land of the Canyons: A Photographer's Guide to Utah and Arizona, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

Laurent R. Martres (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999

Land of the Canyons, Second Edition, combines a vast quantity of information on numerous sites on the Colorado Plateau with a photographic perspective.

- exciting new locations include Coyote Buttes, the Wave, the Subway, Lower Anetelope Canyon, Taylor Creek, Double Arch Alcove, and more - all national and state parks of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona - 96 photographs - 20 detailed maps - how to get there - how and when to get the best shots - lots of travel tips, even for the non-photographer - optional companion CANYONS CD-ROM to "previsualize" the sites.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in Paris and based in Los Angeles, Laurent Martres is President of Graphie International, Inc., a software and multimedia consulting firm he founded in 1982. He sits on the Board of Directors of several other software companies, including ASD Software, Inc. and Alsyd Corp. Laurent has spent a large amount of time criss-crossing the planet - and in particular the American West - on roads, 4x4 trails, footpaths and horse trails. He wrote this guide so others could benefit from his experience. Laurent also serves as a moderator of CompuServe's Photography Forum. As a photographer, he prefers the 6x4.5 Medium Format. His work can be seen at http://www.phototripusa.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Graphie International, Inc. (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916189074
• ISBN-13: 978-0916189075
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #491,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book, packed w/places to visit for the adventurous!, November 3, 2001

By 

Shineylewis "shineylewis" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Land of the Canyons: A Photographer's Guide to Utah and Arizona, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

I bought this book prior to my 21 day vacation to the Southwest. With few exceptions, I taylored my entire trip around the suggested places mentioned in this book, and visited most of them. The majority of suggestions are off the beaten path and a little aventurous, which I prefer. The author pays a lot of attention to photographic concerns, which helps immensly if you are a photographer, but you need not be to benefit from this book. I found the directions to be very accurate, although route finding skills were still necessary for some of the more remote hikes, such as The Wave, in the Paria Wilderness Area. This book is perfect for getting ideas of places to visit, including numerous slot canyons, and then following up with some additional info from the internet. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone visiting the Southwest, who wants to visit places you've only seen in photography magazines. You won't be disappointed!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful guide to visit some beautiful spots of the West, March 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Land of the Canyons: A Photographer's Guide to Utah and Arizona, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

I had already been visiting the West for 3 times and I've got a lot of information about this area, but this guide was really very usefull to organise my last summer trip and I discovered this time several fascinating nature spots (like Coyote Buttes / The Wave !) that lots of tourists miss (even if they are very close to them) if they have only got classical touristic guides.

This excellent guide gives you detailled information about how to find theese fabulous sites, how long you need to hike (without backpacking), what moment of the day is the best to take pictures, what is the opinion of the author about each site, where you can find more information...

So, I've been hiking (not too hardly...) in a lot of theese sites and I can promise you that following the advices of this guide will really improve a lot your next trip in the West (North Arizona and South Utah), even if taking artistic pictures is not very important for you!

Pictures in this book are black and white so I rate this guide 4 stars (comparatively to guides with color pictures), but for people who don't care about color pictures and prefer very good information, I can rate it 5 stars without a doubt.

I sincerely hope that Laurent Martres will soon write new guides about other areas of the West of United States.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Basically a Reprint, March 24, 2006

By 

Robert B. Landry - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Land of the Canyons: A Photographer's Guide to Utah and Arizona, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

I would give it 5 stars for content, but I gave it 4 because it's a condensed combination of two of this author's photography books that I already own, with a few changes in the photographs. Those are photographing the Southwest Vols. 1 & 2. They are excellent photo guides and I have planned three trips using them. I was a little annoyed that this volune was represented to cover primarily the slot canyons of Arizona, because of the title and the cover photo. That being said....

It's a wonderful guide for the landscape photographer that hasn't been to a particular area and doesn't want to spen the entire trip driving around looking for photo ops. The directional information is amazingly accurate, down to distance between points and bumps in the road. I'm truly amazed that one person has had time to go to all of these places and document such detail.