Today for the first time I noticed that there is a single review of Photographer’s Guide to the Fujifilm FinePix X100 on the book’s product page at Amazon.co.uk. It’s not a terrible review, and the reviewer makes legitimate points, but I wanted to post this response to some of the statements. (I tried to post a comment at the review page, but I was not able to because I have not purchased anything from Amazon.co.uk. I purchase many things from Amazon.com, but it doesn’t make sense for me to purchase from Amazon.co.uk, since I live in the U.S.)
The reviewer stated that the book works well as a user’s manual, but does not succeed as “an inspirational guide to creating great shots with the camera.” My response to that point is that my Photographer’s Guide books are intended to be user’s guides. They go beyond the manufacturers’ manuals and explain not only how controls and features work, but when to use them and how to use them, but I have never pretended to provide inspirational guidance for achieving great shots. I leave that advice to the many other books with that sort of approach.
The reviewer also stated that many of the images in the book are too small, are “low res,” and are images of “household items” taken indoors. It is true that many of the images were taken indoors, though I don’t really consider the objects to be household items. I used various models, figurines, a Ferris Wheel, and other objects of various colors and shapes to illustrate various points. There are images that were taken outdoors on pages 47, 60, 68, 95, 137, 145, 156, 157, 166, 223, 231, 232, 233, 234, 239, and 240.
As for the resolution of the images, every image in the book was submitted to the printer at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch, which is certainly not considered “low resolution” for printing. There are limits to how good an image can look in a trade-sized paperback book, but it would not be economically feasible for me to print these books at larger sizes or with glossy paper.
If any purchasers of the book, including the reviewer, would like to see the images at larger sizes, I invite them to contact me at contact@whiteknightpress.com, and I can arrange to get you access to the PDF, Kindle, iBook, or Nook version of the book; in those formats you can view the images at considerably larger sizes.
I also invite any potential purchasers of the book to take a look at the reviews at the Amazon.com product page for the book.
