AAUG Reviews

by Joan Nunn, AAUG Member

This is an excellent book for the beginning or intermediate photographer. The book is at the right technical level and easy to read, with lots of graphics and well-placed screen shots. The book begins by explaining the basic terms of digital photography and then transitions to the purchase of a camera. It is not always obvious to the novice that how one will use the camera and what kind of photographs will be taken should determine what kind of camera to purchase. This book helps with that very basic decision by explaining the features of typical point-and-shoot cameras and then going on to explain the more advanced compositions that one would want to know how to perform with a digital SLR camera.

Basic filters are explained in easy to understand terms and there are simple but good sections on photographing people, landscapes, animals and objects, with suggestions for the composition of each.

Most of the pages have special “Tips” listed which were most interesting as well as being extremely useful. Another good feature was the way the book presented each procedure with a “Quick Steps” box listing the exact steps to take to create certain imaging processes.

The book introduces Photoshop Elements 5.0 and the many useful editing techniques that are available, as well as the steps necessary for the processing of RAW images, and the basics of enhancing and correcting images and working with layers. (more…)

by Kathleen McCoy, AAUG Member

This book makes an ambitious claim in its title: how to do everything with podcasting. And you know what? The authors do a pretty solid job of delivering on that promise. The book is cleanly edited throughout and well organized into five parts that advance progressively but very manageably into more sophisticated material.

Part one introduces the uninitiated reader to what a podcast is, explains how to find some that suit their interest, how to download them onto a computer and then transfer them to a mobile device. This is the only aspect of podcasting that I am familiar with. I am addicted to them from places like the Harvard Berkman Center on Internet and Society, or from UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism - both places invest a lot of energy hosting the best thinkers on new media and change, then package their talks in easy-to-access podcasts. I load up my iPod and walk to work listening to the best minds on new media.
And, even though I am aware of podcasts, this book introduced me to several Web sites that serve as podcast directories. I dialed up www.blubrry.com and pretty soon was enjoying a decent talk about meditation.

Part two takes a reader through how to create their own podcast. This includes a look at the necessary hardware and software. Under hardware, the authors do a credible job of presenting nuts and bolts details on equipment. I like the fact that they don’t try and sell a newcomer on top-of-the-line equipment. They frankly state that $20 worth of equipment can get you started; if you find yourself intrigued and desiring improvement, they present a range of gear in tiered dollar amounts - low, middle and high. I was able to analyze the sound gear we are using at work on videocasts, and I will use these pages as reference guides as we develop more skill and want to improve our quality. (more…)

by Lelinda Bourgeois, AAUG Member

Again I found myself thinking, “The stuff that is in this book is outdated.” The cameras that he says are new were true for the time but not now.

This book did a great job of explaining to me, the history in cinematography. And again for me, if I was interested in history it would have been a decent book, hence the moose 3. However, I am new and getting into this field of digital cinema and I didnít find it as useful as I would have liked. I think this kind of stuff really is better learned on line and from websites and web blogs.

I read up on Mr. McKernan and apparently he is looked at in high regard for his quality and wealth of information. So that in it-self must make the book at least half good. I did enjoy learning some of the lingo. It was an easy to read and understand book. It was laid out in a fashion I could follow. It taught me things like interlacing and frame rate, camera choice (for its time), film is digital, small info about final cut, and a host of other things that will be helpful I am sure.

I believe the greatest piece of info in the book for me was chapter 10 on the indie films. This is more along the lines of what I was hoping to get in this book, but then again, it was only dedicated seven pages. So I got somewhat of an overview of independent film making. The book itself read as an overview, as each of the chapters were only allotted a mere 8-10 pages each. Not a lot of information can be conveyed to help someone learn if the first few pages of the eight are given to the history.

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