Review: Images: Jack Dykinga’s Grand Canyon

Images: Jack Dykinga’s Grand Canyon is another photography book in a series from Arizona Highways. Unlike the Arizona Highways Photography Guide (reviewed here) which is instructional, this book is a work of art.

This 11-inch square book begins and ends with essays by non-fiction writer Charles Bowden and geologist and author Wayne Ranney, respectively.

Bowden’s opening essay describes the canyon with an almost holy reverence. It’s a beautiful tribute to a place the author describes as timeless. A place not for worship but for exploration and meditation that nourish the soul.

The closing essay by Ranney gives us a geologist’s view of the Canyon. It’s less poetic than Bowden’s but no less interesting (at least to me) as he shares insights into the formation of the canyon that made me marvel at the time and energy, virtually beyond human comprehension, required to form it.

And in between these short essays the book is filled with beautiful color photographs of the canyon by Jack Dykinga. From snow-covered plateaus, storms,

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Review: Arizona Highways Photography Guide

Arizona Highways Photography Guide

The Arizona Highways Photography Guide was written by the editors and contributors to Arizona Highways magazine. It’s broken down into three parts of about 100 pages each: The Basics, Types of Photography, and Places for Photography. Read on for a short review and how you can get a free copy.

This book covers a broad range of photography topics and, while it doesn’t go very deeply into any of them, it does provide a lot of very practical information. Every single page is filled with beautiful color photos that are used to illustrate a point and are each accompanied by a useful tip.

For example, page 40 includes this tip under a photo of a fast-moving motorcyle rider: “By using a slow enough shutter speed and panning with the motocross rider’s movement, the photographer was able to blur the background to heighten the sense of speed,” and it includes the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture settings.

Page 78 discusses depth of field and hyperfocal distances with helpful and clear diagrams. The tip on page 138 explains how color plays an important role in the composition of a photo of a bobcat at the top of the page.

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