GEAR

Holiday Book Guide

Find the perfect book for the outdoor photo enthusiasts in your life with OP’s annual collection

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With so many photography books hitting the shelves every year, the trick is figuring out where to begin. From how-to guides on the latest imaging software and equipment to large-format hard covers showing majestic landscapes from all over the world, you’ll find a little something on all things photography this holiday season.

A topic that continues to be of growing interest is the environment, with much of the focus on global warming and its effect in various corners of the planet. Remember key moments in history with a collection of photographs from the vast archives of National Geographic and Getty Images; take a crash course in Photoshop CS3 or travel to the ocean floor. What follows is a roundup of the books that we gave a second look to this year. Whether for your coffee table or someone else’s, a book of stunning images always makes for a nice gift.

Pictorials

100 Days in Photographs: Pivotal Events That Changed the World by Nick Yapp (National Geographic Books, 2007; ISBN: 978-1-4262-0197-4). National Geographic and Getty Images teamed up to produce this vast collection of images recording the most prolific moments in modern history. From the opening of the Suez Canal and the Wright brothers’ first flight to the fall of the Berlin Wall and Hurricane Katrina, the images show moments of profound human achievement and devastation. Historian Nick Yapp delivers an engaging narrative going beyond the facts to provide unique, little-known details of each moment.

Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs (Little, Brown and Company, 2007; ISBN: 978-0-316-11772-2). Ansel Adams’ pictures defined modern photography. This career retrospective of 400 black-and-white images shows the development of Adams’ photography from his first-ever picture of Half Dome at Yosemite National Park to his most famous works of America’s national landmarks and picturesque landscapes. The photographs are arranged chronologically into five major periods showing his artistic development. Select photographs are accompanied by short essays, which provide insight into Adams’ life.

Bloom by Ron Van Dongen (Chronicle Books, 2007; ISBN: 978-0-8118-5756-5). Long-celebrated for his black-and-white photographs of flowers, Van Dongen now offers his first collection in color. The dramatic photographs show flowers from around the world, capturing the palest powder-pink of the Helleborus x hybridus to the wine-dark Papaver “Black Cloud.” Van Dongen’s work has been exhibited in galleries around the world, including the United States, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom.

David Plowden: Vanishing Point: Fifty Years of Photography by David Plowden (W.W. Norton & Company, 2007; ISBN: 978-0-393-06254-0). Author of more than 20 photography books, Plowden has captured America from behind his lens for half a century. This black-and-white retrospective shows what Plowden focused on most of the time: rural America. Through images of grain elevators, train stations, abandoned houses and an extensive collection of bridges, his works depict the grit and beauty of rural life.

The Garden at Night: Private Views of Public Edens by Linda Rutenberg (Chronicle Books, 2007; ISBN: 978-0-8118-6133-5). A collection of 160 beautiful color images taken of botanical and public gardens at night, complemented with excerpts by poets from the Romantic period. From the cacti and agave in the Desert Botanical Garden to the conifers of the San Francisco Botanical Garden, this book shows a vast array of flora and fauna with an essay by Christopher Dewdney on the meaning of gardens.

Oceanic Wilderness by Roger Steene (New Holland Publishers Ltd., 2007; ISBN: 978-1-55297-9990). This astonishing hard cover features more than 600 photos showing some species of marine life never photographed until now. Five years in the making, the book explores the oceanic world, from aerial views to cavernous reefs, from midocean to tropical lagoons. The master underwater photographer gives a detailed tour of the Caribbean, Western Pacific and the Austral-Indonesian archipelago he has been exploring for some 40 years with marine scientists like Gerald Allen.

The Red Volcanoes: Face to Face with the Mountains of Fire by G. Brad Lewis and Paul-Edouard Bernard de Lajartre (Thames & Hudson, 2007; ISBN: 978-0-500-54340-5). Kilauea in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Piton de la Fournaise on Réunion Island are the most visited and active volcanoes on earth. Documenting their astonishing lava flows and eruptions, this compilation of more than 100 compelling photographs shows the power of one of nature’s most hazardous natural phenomena.

Through the Eyes of the Condor: An Aerial Vision of Latin America by Robert B. Haas (National Geographic Books, 2007; ISBN: 978-1-4262-0132-5). The award-winning National Geographic photographer has spent more than two years shooting Latin America from the air. By leaning out of open doors in small planes and helicopters, Haas captures patterns in the land and its wildlife that are possible only from this point of view. From flocks of flamingos and large crowds of people to the Mayan ruins of Belize City and the glaciers of Peru and Chile, Haas’ beautifully crafted book contains more than 100 large-format photographs.

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