20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Inspiration and a Joy, November 27, 2005
This review is from: Sierra Club 2006 Engagement Calendar (Calendar)
I am a photographer and a writer and the author of numerous books on photography and I have had a copy of the Sierra Club Engagement Calendar on my desk every day for more than 20 years. I find this calendar to be an inspiration in terms of both its beautiful photography and its wonderful geographic diversity. I've never had a photo published in the Engagement book, but I've probably gathered more inspiration and ideas from these little calendars than from the hundreds of how-to books in my office.
The photos in these engagement calendars are the cream of the cream of the crop of the world's best nature photography. Master photographers like the late Galen Rowell, who had many dozens of photos published here, consider it one of their finest showcases--and who can blame them. Sierra Club has never relented on the quality of the reproduction of these superb datebooks and considering there are more than 50 photos in each book, the price is a bargain.
I have used this calendar as a journal and a diary of my writing progress for, literally, decades. And whenever my brain starts to freeze after writing about photography for weeks on end and I need a new idea to write about, I simply flip through the calendars and I can discover hundreds of them in the work of many of the greatest modern nature-photography masters. Also, when I'm looking for travel ideas, places to go to shoot new pictures for my books, I also look here for inspiration and ideas. The Mojave Desert, Monument Valley, the Everglades, the Sonoran desert--these are all places that I learned about in great detail from these datebooks. You learn more about a place by seeing great photos of it than you ever will by reading about it--or so I feel. (Of course, you learn a great deal more if you hop on an plane and go see it!)
Finally, I gave my mother the engangement calendar for Christmas every year for around 20 years and she used them as a daily journal. I still have every one of those journals and they are a great joy to flip through and see what she was up to each day.
Why this long winded (and very sincere!) endorsement for such a simple product? Because I owe these caldendars (and the Sierra Club) a debt of gratitude for inspiring me day after day, year after year, with the greatest photography in the world. If you have a young photographer in your life, inspire them, show them how spectacular photographs of the natural world can be. For an investment of under $15 you can change their perceptions of nature and help educate them about fine photography. Someone gave me my first copy of this calendar many years ago and I've been grateful ever since.
Of course, I have to warn you, once you look at some of these photos you'll want to put your camera up on Ebay :) But don't do it! Instead, use these photos as your photographic inspiration and your goal.
Jeff Wignall
Author, The Joy of Digital Photography (Lark Books)
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't leave home without one, December 1, 2005
This review is from: Sierra Club 2006 Engagement Calendar (Calendar)
I am an environmentalist, and once served as an officer of my local Sierra Club chapter, although I later parted ways with them on account of their anti-private-sector views and tendencies toward "Political Correctness", and I now favor less-radical groups such as The Nature Conservancy. That said, I still continue to purchase one of these little spiral-bound Sierra Club engagement calendars every year--they're just so handy, and the photography is beautiful. There's usually also space on the facing page (with the photograph) to make additional notes.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Great calendar! Only $5 from Sierra Club for 2006, November 13, 2006
This review is from: Sierra Club 2006 Engagement Calendar (Calendar)
I have this calendar - it's great. I always buy the Sierra Club engagement calendar. I happened to notice that the 2006 price by private sellers on Amazon is quite high, while you can get the 2006 calendars from the Sierra Club for $5. If for some reason you want a 2006 at this point, go to the Sierra Club.
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