The folks over at Blurb, who make it super easy for you to create a high quality photo book, complete with dust jackets and end flap info, have gone deeper into the realm.
Along with the creative support they give you on the site , they have started an offshoot called Photography.Book.Now which is a bit more of a purist look at the art of the photography book. Made by you.

You know why we already dig this company; they have a passion for the visual book and are dedicated to to giving you the tools, at all levels, to create your magnum opus.
And we love our books.

If you’ve ever thought about selling your book to the public, you have to check these folks out. You get the software AND the selling service to go end-to-end with your creative vision. In other words, they help you create, publish and sell your book. How cool is that?
And if you’re just considering making a book to pitch with, or want to see if your vision truly translates, this is the company to use.

OK, back to Photography.Book.Now. A simple idea, brilliantly executed. You created it, they give awards for it. And discuss how to do it better, if you like.
They just had their first awards show.
Here is the grand prize winner, In The Garden by Beth Dow
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Click on the cover for a preview.

Plus the organization also wants to help you by having symposiums, where you meet with publishers, photographers and designers to guide you on the way to making a successful book.
Getting those photos off of your computer and onto someone else coffee table is not a bad thing.

So when you need to move up from the iPhoto books, you have to give this a shot. Maybe it’s your project for the fall.
I know it’s mine.

Hmmm…holiday gifts?

If you’d like to attend the awards ceremony here are the details:
Friday Sept. 19th.
Bimbos 365 Club
1025 Columbus Avenue (at Chestnut Street)
San Francisco, CA 94133
415.474.0365

I know exactly where I was, and what I was doing.
Sitting in the home office, very early on the West coast, prepping for calls to the East.
First cuppa joe, and turned on the tube.
The first tower had been struck.
The horrible events that followed will always be burned in my memory, along with the rest of the world .
That was 9/11/01.
The reactions were brutal and pervasive, as we all tried to contact loved ones who may have been in the area, and wondered what would happen next.

On that day, our lives changed in so many ways.

Seven years later we should all remember that day. Historic events fade from memory as time marches on, and we are left with emotional touchpoints to trigger that feeling we had in the moment, lest we forget.

The power of the still photograph comes into play in memory of this tragic day. We may not need to see video tape of the planes brutally slamming into the buildings, or the Tsunami of smoke as they came crashing down.

I think the still images allow you to slowly remember the day. Not peacefully, but introspectively.

[photopress:bf0079.jpg,full,alignright] A book of photographs that celebrates the heroes of that day is from photographer Joe McNally and Life magazine, called Faces of Ground Zero:Portraits of the Heroes of September 11,2001
Sure you’ve read about Joe running around with a ton of speed lights and creating lighting magic on the run.
But I will always know him from this collection.
Having seen this life size exhibit in person, you can look into their eyes and sense from their stature the horrors they saw. Many of them first responders, or survivors. You should seek out this book. We are currently trying to get some in our hands so we can pass them on.

From the publisher:
“In a studio just blocks away from Ground Zero, longtime LIFE photographer Joe McNally, architect of some of the largest photographic productions ever attempted in the magazine industry, created a stunning series of portraits of the heroes of Ground Zero. In that studio, is a one-of-a-kind Polaroid camera, measuring 12 feet long by 16 feet high. The color photographs it takes-larger than life, at four feet by nine feet framed-are unforgettable in their striking immediacy and clarity. Over the course of two weeks, approximately 200 people came before McNally’s lens: survivors, firemen, policemen, volunteers, doctors, nurses, widows, children. Not, in a dignified tribute to the heroes and victims of Ground Zero, 150 of McNally’s compelling portraits are collected together in Faces Of Ground Zero, including those from the acclaimed touring exhibit and several portraits seen here for the first time.
This book features a foreword by Rudolph Giuliani and includes an original essay by McNally on the historic Ground Zero project. A portion of the proceeds will go to charity.”
[photopress:intro.jpg,full,centered] Joe McNally on his Set

Perhaps these heroic portraits will let you relive the day a little easier.
Just never forget the event. At least, take a few moments to remember.

For more digital information on 9/11, you can click here.

We also commemorated this last year. There you will find more links, and another book that may give you another kind of memory.

Or, you never HAVE to say goodbye. We mean to your digital files.
[photopress:103_product_image_437136666.jpg,full,alignright] This week we have great CD-ROM from the folks at Software-Cinema – Lightroom Workflow:Creating Bulletproof Archives of Digital Photographs
OK, not only are you going to learn the optimum way to use Lightroom, but in this CD-ROM, you’ll learn a necessary habit called workflow.
That means when ever you bring your digital photo files into your computer, you have to set-up proper back-up, add metadata (keywords and numbers to help you find images easier), catalog them and BURN A DVD FOR FURTHER BACK_UP!!!!!!
OK, Lightroom has a TON more stuff to make your photographic life easier and better.
The tools that are at your fingertips are crazy good.

Take it from someone that just had a 1Terabyte drive go bust. Lame-o. Deceased. Belly-up. Stopped working. Oh sure, I could have spent $1500. to get the data recovered.
And I would have If I hadn’t back-ed it all up on another drive.
I’ll tell you one thing, I’m thinking triple back-up now. Plus the DVD back-up.

Lightroom Workflow: Creating Bulletproof Archives of Digital Photographs is a CD-ROM you should have. Heck, I want to be bulletproof. I’m sure you do, too.
Learn how to make certain that your irreplaceable digital photographs are actually safe.
It’s 1.6 hours of learning goodness. All withing one of the best workflow programs around, Lightroom.

And we want to give one of you a copy.

Signing up for the NEWSLETTER is the first step to be eligible to get this gratis.
Then on Weds. morning at 9:00AM PST, you’ll get an email with all of the instructions.

Winning it or not, you should check into this one. I still have negatives from when I was 8 years old,
Not as lucky with all of my digital images. And Software-Cinema does a great job in the teaching dept.

And all of the winners in the “Books are, for lack of a better word, Good” question in the NEWSLETTER, have been contacted.
Wall Street was indeed the referenced answer.
Thanks for playing and we’ll have more of those coming up.

Before we tell you about the life threatening danger this man is in for his art, we’ll take a look at the art itself.
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Nick Veasey doesn’t use a Nikon. Or a Canon. Or Hasselblad. Not even a view camera.

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Detail of a full shot of a bus

He creates using X-Ray machines. By using these specific cameras ordinarily used for everything from chest x-rays to checking cargo containers for contraband, Nick has been photographing objects and scenes for the past 15 years, showing the viewing a deeper view. All the way to the bone.
You’ve seen his work before no doubt.
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The Adobe Photoshop CS2 box displays some of his work with flowers.
Pretty cool, right?

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In his current exhibit at the David Gallery in Culver City , California you can see a broad range of his subjects ranging from teddy bears, to football players, to his magnum opus – a Boeing 747 complete with personnel and hangar.

This video, although in German, will give you all a visual explanation, of the process.

Ok, on to the danger part.
We’re taking X-Rays. Radiation. Too much exposure will kill you.
And he’s been doing this for 15 years.
He wears a special lightweight aluminum suit. He doesn’t use assistants. Too much liability and possible danger. He gets checked out regularly and has never exceeded the safe level of exposure.

But think about this for a second: what about all of those skeletal revelations in his work? Are those people in continual danger?
Nope. They are all real skeletons posed and photographed. No live humans are used in those images.
Too much pulling the curtain back to reveal the truth?
Not really.
You should take a closer look at these photographs, especially the larger units and be amazed at the amount of time, consideration and artistry involved.
Once the shot is set, he leaves the room or environment, takes a shot and then tales about 10 minutes to process the image to see what he’s got.
Most images are series of 11×14 sheets of film. Shots are overlapped and comped together to create the final image.

This is a truly unique vision.
His book is called, well, “X-Ray: See Through the World Around You” and will be released in Oct.
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and the exhibit runs Sept. 6-Oct.18, 2008
David Gallery
5797 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA.
90232
Tel: 310.939.9069