Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series has become a genuine phenomenon in pop culture, approaching the popularity of the Harry Potter series. In 2008, 10,000 pilgrims descended on Forks, WA, the town of 3,100 people that is the setting for the books. After the fall 2008 release of the record-setting Twilight movie (which made more than $70 million in its opening weekend alone), many more fans are expected to arrive in Forks in 2009. Twilight Tours is a photographic guide to this mystical place. Included are 90 photos composed by noted photographer George Beahm, who also contributes the accompanying text. The pictures range from moody scenic shots of the rain forest and nearby tribal lands described in the four novels to photographs of the actual high school, police station, saltwater beach, and a certain vintage red pickup truck.

This is an elegant book, designed and printed in Germany, with an essay by Terence Pitts, of the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona. It presents 180 of Weston's finest images, including many--such as the pines of Point Lobos, the sand dunes of Oceano, and his stark, unadorned nudes--that have become icons. Whereas the photographs of Man Ray and Moholy-Nagy were, to Weston's eyes, hopelessly mannered, his images are elemental, organic, and in harmony with nature's rhythms. Weston spent most of his working life in Mexico and California, and much of his work, replete with shadows, is illuminated with the harsh light of those places. In 1932, he and Ansel Adams founded the influential photographic collective Group f/64, named after the lens-aperture size that exposed an image at its most detailed and clear. This was Weston's aesthetic: to show the real world in its unrelieved integrity rather than create an imaginary construct. He was concerned with visual truth, not with character or storytelling

"Life" has brought Americans the world in pictures for nearly seventy years. Now, in this very special gift book, "Life" treats us to the most romantic photographs ever to appear in the magazine-a passionate gallery of hugs, kisses, caresses, and embraces. From an old couple walking hand in hand to young lovers sharing a tender moment in a graveyard, from tentative first kiss to tender nuzzle, every picture tells a story and captures one of the many faces of love. Beautifully packaged in a square-format hardcover, LIFE & LOVE is the perfect way to say happy Valentine's Day.

Already well-established in the fields of fashion, journalistic, and portrait photography in his native Berlin, Bernd Obermann moved to New York City in 1996 to experience the city’s vibrant mix of culture, ethnicity, and race. For the next five years he ventured out of his apartment nearly every day, camera in hand, to explore what New York had to offer. The results of these walks through city streets, parks, and neighborhoods are collected in this paean to a place whose energy and spirit are as palpable as they are memorable. "When I take a photograph of somebody I am also making a photo of a deeper level of myself." Says Obermann, "I believe in acceptance and not in analysis." From the Bronx to the Battery, from poor to rich, young to old, Obermann’s images reflect his own fascination and sense of discovery.

An illustrated guide, in both book and CD-ROM, of landscapesseen from commercial airplane windows across the United States.This is a guide to what an airline passenger sees from his seatwhile flying over the United States. Through its ingeniousconstruction and a map of preferred flight paths, it's easy to findthose pages that correspond to whatever flight a passenger happensto be on, and then to identify features that can be seen from theair. The book marries geology, natural history, and human historyfor a glorious portrait of the continent, from the Atlantic CityBoardwalk to Mount St. Helens. Each two-page spread features anaerial photo with captions identifying features passengers will seeand an essay interpreting the features. Each chapter is a FlightCorridor, with pages sequenced to follow a trip from takeoff tolanding. Because many flight paths overlap, the fifteen corridorscover the forty most heavily traveled flight segments in thecontinental United States, plus many others. In many regions of

It's simple question,but there's no simple answer-indeed,each of the 280 photographs in this wonderful book offers its own,unique answer,distilling subject,setting,and cerative skill into a single arresting moment that cap-tures the viewer's imagination.And though we may find this elusive quality hard to define,we recognze is imme-diately and instinctively. William Albert Allard,one of the essayists in the book,writes,A fine portrait has the potential to tell something about the spirit of the subject that can be sensed by someone half a world and a different language away.something universal and simple:This is another person in our world and I'd like you to meet him or her. Culled from National Geographic's extraordinary archive,this collection spans more than a century and explores every cornetr of the globe and every aspect of the portraitist's art.The pictures here represent both the special visions of some of the world's finest photographers and the universal appeal of our shared humanity in all i

Greece's historical and cultural legacy is set amidst landscapes and seascapes of breathtaking beauty. Noted photographer Rainer Kiedrowski's luminous color images reveal the wonders of Greece both natural and man-made in this stunning visual survey. His beautifully composed pictures capture everything from the mountainside monasteries, unspoiled villages, ancient olive groves, white beaches, and ludicrously blue-heaven waters on the blindingly bright islands, to the paradox of modern life in ancient Athens. This portrait of a country unique in charm and beauty will be the perfect keepsake for any traveler. Superb collection of color photographs that captures the wonders of Greece both natural and man-made. This is the third in teNeues' successful color version of its Photopocket series.

Adult/High School–The enormous variety of things that people do for survival and sustenance is impressively represented in this book. Neither doctor nor lawyer is included, and only a small number of white-collar jobs make the cut. Instead, readers see clover collectors in Yemen, bootblacks in Portugal, ice fishermen in Russia, coal miners in West Virginia, and salt miners in Ukraine. The volume is arranged in geographic sections: Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Americas, and Islands. Interspersed among them are three thematic portfolios: agriculture, extraction (mining), and manufacturing. Protzman contributes engaging and helpful introductions to each geographic section, as well as brief notes introducing the thematic portfolios. With few exceptions the photos are captivating and of high technical quality. Most were taken within the past 20 years, although some are historical, including a few early-20th-century images by Lewis Hine. Many of the images display poverty, hardship, and oppression (especial

ANSEL ADAMS: 400 PHOTOGRAPHS presents the full spectrum ofAdams' work in a single volume for the first time, offering thelargest available compilation from his legendary photographiccareer. Beautifully produced and presented in an attractivelandscape trim, ANSEL ADAMS: 400 PHOTOGRAPHS will appeal to ageneral gift-book audience as well as Adams' legions of dedicatedfans and students. The photographs are arranged chronologically into five majorperiods, from his first photographs made in Yosemite and the HighSierra in 1916 to his work in the National Parks in the 1940s up tohis last important photographs from the 1960s. An introduction andbrief essays on selected images provide information aboutAdams'life, document the evolution of his technique, and give voice tohis artistic vision. Few artists of any era can claim to have produced four hundredimages of lasting beauty and significance. It is a testament toAdams' vision and lifetime of hard work that a book of this scalecan be compiled. ANSEL

The secret to taking great “people pictures” is to observe your subjects, connect with them, and use your camera to its best advantage. Here’s how to work with lighting, location, angle, composition, physical characteristics, environment, and countless other variables, including the unique challenges of photographing babies, group activities, and action. Learn to capture facial expressions, tell a story with a series of candids, add interest to large-group shots, and more. Apply these techniques and watch your subjects come to life.

In 1950, Robert Frank left his job as a photographer in NewYork to travel through Europe with his family. That summer hearrived in Valencia, Spain, which was at the time a humble, bleakplace enduring the austere conditions of the postwar period likethe rest of the country. The pictures Frank took of Valencia depictthe daily life of a fishing village. His portrayal is so naturaland clear that further verbal explanation seems superfluous; theysimply reflect, in the photo graphers words, the humanity of themoment. The photographs in this book, many of which have never beenpublished before, allow dignity to override poverty. Robert Frank,a key figure in photographic history, was born in Zurich in 1924and immigrated to the United States in 1947. He is best known forhis seminal book The Americans, first published in 1959, which gaverise to a distinct new form in the photobook, and his experimentalfilm Pull My Daisy (1959). Franks other projects include the booksBlack White and Things (1954) and The Lines of

This compelling book chronicles the most influential ideasthat have shaped photography from the invention of thedaguerreotype in the early 19th century up to the digitalrevolution and beyond. Entertaining and intelligent, it provides afascinating resource to dip into. Arranged in a broadlychronological order to show the development of photography, theideas that comprise the book include innovative concepts, culturaland social incidents, technologies and movements. Each idea ispresented through lively text and arresting visuals, and exploreswhen the idea first evolved and its subsequent impact onphotography.