I have just been experiencing a wonderful new book of nature photography from the United Kingdom, 2020 Vision. European nature photography is a little different than what we see in the U.S. I am not sure I can explain that, but if you see the imagery, you will see something unique at times compared to what you see in the U.S. I find that creatively inspiring.
2020 Vision is a very positive book that showcases the good things happening to preserve, conserve and restore natural areas in the UK, but even if you have no interest in the area, the photography is inspirational and stunning. It is worth checking out just for the range of beautiful photography from macro to landscape to wildlife and more.
And if you don't yet have an iPad, this may be a good extra motivation to get one. This is a book that has been beautifully designed to work quite nicely on the iPad. The iPad is such a wonderful way of displaying photography, and e-books like this really show that off. This is going to be an increasingly important way to look at everything from your own portfolio of images to movies to photo e-books and much, much more.
2020 Vision shows off the potential of iBooks Author, too. One of the challenges that we all face as we look into using these new technologies for our photography is that it is new technology. It can be hard to know what is possible beyond what your own efforts provide because you don't know what other people are doing yet. It can be difficult to find truly interesting photo e-books that actually use the potential of the iPad because this is still new. I get inspired by seeing what other people are doing, both the photography and the way a photo e-book is put together, and this photo e-book definitely does both for me. I learned a number of creative possibilities for using iBooks Author that had not occurred to me before.
I think this is important, especially if we are to reach younger audiences with photography and our messages about nature. Research is showing that simply creating a photo e-book without some sort of touch interactivity does not appeal to younger audiences (and there is some evidence that this is less appealing to older audiences as well). 2020 Vision does some really cool things to encourage interactivity without being obvious or too cute, which you see in some e-books and apps.
I recommend you check out the book even if you don't have an iPad yet -- click here to see it on the web. And if you don't have an iPad, find someone who does and get them to check out this book so you can see it, too.
A quick note on something completely different: I am now doing photo instructional videos on a new website, Skillfeed.com. This is a place where photo instructors post videos on specific photo related techniques, skills and knowledge. I am gradually posting material there. Right now, I have new courses on Winter Photography and Understanding Black-and-White, as well as some older material, including my old videos on Lightroom 2/3. I plan on doing a lot more over the next few months, including Lightroom 4 Essentials. The cost is low, and once you sign up, you have access to any and all videos at any time for no extra cost.
