Customer Reviews

Roadside Photography Guide to Glacier National Park

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

 

 

I just received this book yesterday, and today it is on its way back to Amazon. This is an amateur effort. It has less information than any standard travel book on Glacier. The photographs are marred by a number of amateur mistakes: lack of focus (how basic is that!), over- or underexposure, poor composition. There are a few decent photos but these are certainly not worth the price of the book even at a discount. Don't waste your money. The author is referred to as Dr. Jack Walker, which I suppose should have been a warning signal; I hope the author is a better doctor than he is a photographer.

I was expecting a book that helped me understand when and where to be to catch the great pictures that can be easily reached from the roadside. Yes, there is a map and mile markers to tell you where to stand, but no time of day and no time of year.

So, a nice little picture book (even tho' some are fuzzy and color is bad). But in no way is it any sort of guide for a photographer.

The photos in this book range from average to very, very bad. After flipping through it once I'm not sure now if I should throw it away, give it away, or try to get my money back. I cannot believe that these images ever made it into a book. I will see if there is any way I can get my money back from amazon.

Not only are the majority of the photos awful in this book, but the place names for said pictures are wrong!!!! How did this book even get published!?!?!? This book was a means, simply, to cash in on the tourist industry of a wonderful park that this unfortunate book was made about. Out of focus and blurry shots (apparently from a moving car) are simply not acceptable for a photography book, especially at that price!!! That you misidentified the locations of the shots is unimaginable for someone who supposedly spends so much time there and lives so close. Was this book proofread? Did you simply think no one would notice? For shame doctor...

The reviews for this book seem to be at one extreme or the other - either people like it or hate it. I think it depends on what you are after. If you are a serious photographer like me you will probably be disappointed. The key word is probably "amateurish" like one reviewer said. This book basically says, "Go to this pullover and take a picture, now go to the next pullover and take another picture." There is no information about time of day or weather conditions, etc. I can go from one pullover to the next myself. Also, for the most part the pictures are very poor. As mentioned before, some are out of focus, underexposed, overexposed, washed out, poor composition and taken at the wrong time of day. It almost seems like the author just went along the route and took pictures just to get them in the book without regard to waiting for the right time of day or conditions.

So why did I give it three stars then? Because I suspect that a casual shooter might find this book perfectly acceptable. If the reader's only goal is to take pictures of their vacation and they want to make sure they don't miss any of the iconic photographs, then I think you will be perfectly happy with this book.

If I could give two ratings I would say if you are a casual shooter just wanting snapshots, then I would give it 4-5 stars. But if you are a serious photographer, then I would give it one star because I don't think this will provide the information you are after.

I'll agree that some of the photos aren't of the greatest quality but I would still recommend this book. This book will definitely be going with me the next time I visit Glacier National Park! And I really like how the author included the odometer readings along with the photographs.

I bought this book to help me plan a trip to Glacier National Park. It is nice when people tell you that you "must see" but actually seeing the pictures to know where you are going and what you will actually be seeing makes the trip must more pleasurable for me. Great book wonderful pictures.