Customer Reviews

The Photographer's Guide to Puget Sound: Where to Find the Perfect Shots and How to Take Them (The Photographer's Guide)

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

 

 

I have to respectfully disagree with BookGeek.

Before a two week vacation/photo trip to Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula I bought about 10 books through Amazon. Several had awesome photos (like Art Wolfe's book), but none gave much detail on exactly where a given photo was taken.

That's the purpose of this book, on the other hand. I felt (as I often have in real life) I had met a fellow photographer that was happy to dole out his local experience. My son and I spent several days on the Olympic Peninsula, and because of the book visited several places we otherwise wouldn't have - with great results (Rialto Beach and Sol Jardin for example).

I'm already on experienced photographer, and thus don't really need the input on wide vs telephoto, but I don't see anything wrong with his recommendations.

In summary, I think the book is great, and as an owner of probably 100 photo related books, this one stands out in practicality for what I like to do.

As a photographer who has lived in the Puget Sound region for over 40 years I was astounded by the numerous locales detailed by Mr Barbee that I have not(yet)visited. I found his directions and suggestions to be clear and concise and very user friendly. I particularly enjoyed Mr Barbee's unpretentious and conversational style of writing sprinkled with subtle humor.

I am a bit confused by "BookGeeks" negative comments. The purpose of this book is primarily to detail many of the exceptional photographic opportunities in the Puget Sound area. Certainly, for me, that task is well accomplished. In addition, Mr Barbee has included a substantial amount of very useful suggestions regarding the more technical and practical aspects of photography both in general as well as locale specific. I would also disagree regarding the quality of the photography in the book. Admittedly this is not a "picture" book and so does not highlight Mr Barbee's considerable photographic talents and yet I found many of the images to be exceptional and inspirational.

If one is looking for a "how to" book of photography there are many other books out there that will do the task. On the other hand, if one's plans include photography in the Puget Sound area this is the book to get.

For those who live in the Seattle area, this book will be a great guide to some not-so-well-known (as well as some VERY well-known) locations in Western Washington. I've already used it to plan several shoots to locations I never thought of before, and have been delighted with the results.

Now for the caveats: first off, this is for full-time residents of western Washington, not the summer tourist to Seattle. Unless you're visiting for a month or more, have no intention to do anything other that photograph, and have access to your own vehicle, you simply won't have the time to hit more than a handful of the locations listed here. Second, and this is my biggest gripe, while the book covers Puget Sound and the Olympic peninsula, there's only one location listed in the Cascades, and NO coverage whatsoever of Mount Rainier! Considering that this is probably the most spectacular area in all of Washington for nature photography, its omission is a little like a tourist guide to U.S. cities leaving off New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. I wish the author/publisher could have seen fit to expand the volume to include Rainier, as well as other mountain areas such as Stevens Pass and the North Cascades Highway.

I will be extremely busy this year. I like that the guide concentrates on the "non" typical areas of the Sound. We all know that Mt.Rainier is the bomb. It can have it's own book. This book covers the areas a local would most likely seek out versus a visitor. (ie Bremerton, Poulsbo etc) As a local I'll be spending a lot more time than usual on the Olympic side of the sound this year. Very good detail on times of year, day and lenses types for the various locales. All in all very thorough and for 10 bucks! what a bargain.

Can't decide where to go? Even though this book is dated, it has some great idea's of places to visit.

I loved this book! The author shares many great secrets for finding out-of-the-way places to photograph. If you are looking for a book on technical how-to photograph, get another one. This book is all about location.

For the experienced photographer, this book gives the locations of likely places to find a great image. For the novice, the author gives useful tips on the usage of equipment and other technical infomation as well as places of interest. This publication is very helpful to me in planning my trip to the Northwest.

This book helped me to plan our 2 1/2 week vacation touring the three National Parks of Washington State. The travel between parks will be enhanced by stops at many of the places suggested in this book. Now we will look forward to places of beauty both in and out of the Parks. The book is well organized, well illustrated, and easy to read.

I spent a week in the PNW and wanted to do some exploring and photo making. This book came in handy, saved me a lot of time. Didn't have to waste gas looking for the opportunities. I recommend it....

This is a helpful book. It lists quite a few photogenic locations around Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. For many spots, Barbee offers transportation directions and for some places public transportation options. A few locations also get suggestions on what to photograph and conditions to look for. The tone of the book is chatty and personal. The book would benefit from more photos. Less than half of the locations listed feature an accompanying photo and many of the included ones show only closeups that don't give a feel for the place. Still, it's useful and offers even a local like me some good suggestions for photo ops. As a photo book, I give it 3 stars but since it does a good job of listing interesting locations for outings, I'll bump that up one.