Book Review - Exploring North American Landscapes

I recently purchased "Exploring North American Landscapes" by Marc Muench.  This is one terrific book that any landscape photographer should have.  It includes a wonderful collection of Marc's images, from places as diverse as Monument Valley in Arizona and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.  There are shots taken from Rocky Mountain peaks and from the feet of giant Sequoias.  Images of action-packed snow skiers and placid lakes abound.  One of my favorite shots in the book is of a silhouetted horseback rider set against a North Dakota sunset.  The diversity of subjects is amazing--the quality of the work is typical Marc Muench!


In addition to being a collection of beautiful images, this book is full of shooting and workflow
lessons that will help new photographers learn and experienced photographers get better.  The subtitle is [i]Visions and Lessons in Digital Photography.[/i]  Reading how Marc Muench creates a landscape shot is not as good as seeing him do it in person . . . but it's a good substitute. He offers his insight on light metering, ISO selection and using the camera's histogram.  Great stuff!  In my opinion, the workflow lessons are even more useful.  One of my favorites is his discussion (with screen captures) about using the Graduated Filter tool in Adobe Camera Raw.   I have benefitted from Marc's use of this tool, having learned it from him at a shoot at Acadia National Park.  This single step has made one of the biggest differences in the way I process my own images.  


If I had no other book in my photography library, it would be this one.  It may be too late to ask for Santa to bring you one, but I recommend you make buying and using Marc's book a New Year's Resolution!