O’Reilly’s Digital Media Holiday Gift Guide 2006

Hey Peeps! If you are looking for the perfect gift for the creative designer, crafter, or photographer in your life, look no further than our O’Reilly Digital Media Holiday Gift Guide. Featuring some of our favorite picks from the digital design and phootgraphy world, holiday shopping couldn’t be easier!

The Ultimate Reference for Scrapbookers:

Photoshop Elements 5: The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage, $39.99

For the Photoshop Elements 5 users on your gift list, here’s a book to help unleash their inner scrapbookers. Engaging insider tips for all the cool scrapbooking tools make creating multi-page documents, fancy photo arrangements with real-world-looking frames, and personalized layouts a snap. In addition, the book covers the tools the pros use to make their photos shine.

A Holiday Must-Have Book from a Master Digital Photographer:

Stephen Johnson on Digital Photographyby Stephen Johnson, $39.99

Inspire your favorite digital shooters with a beautiful new book illuminating the pioneering techniques, ideas, and artistic inspirations of an acclaimed landscape photographer. An early adopter of digital technology, Johnson has challenged the new medium throughout his career to help him translate his creative visions into art. With this book, Johnson shares for the first time his stimulating ideas about balancing composition, science, craft, and artistry. Equally important, he encourages readers to trust their personal artistic sensibilities.

Walk the Talk:

Practical Color Management: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography by Eddie Tapp, $29.99

Color management is a subject every digital photographer needs to know more about, not just pros–yet the topic has become needlessly mysterious. In this handy, 150-page compact guide, one of the nation’s most popular photography teachers explains how color management can be integrated into the overall workflow. “Practical Color Management” is the second in a five-book series, following “Photoshop Workflow Setups” (O’Reilly, US $29.99).

Insider Tips and Tricks:

Digital Photography Expert Techniques, Second Edition by Ken Milburn, $44.99

Who doesn’t crave more megapixels, interchangeable lenses, and larger, noise-free sensors? With huge price drops in digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, folks in record numbers are buying these tricked-out devices. Yet many owners of pro-quality digital SLRs find it daunting to acquire the technical know-how necessary to get the most out of their new gear and software. This master photographer shows how anyone can shoot and display compelling images–from family and vacation albums to artistic collages.

For Frequent Flyers:

Window Seat: The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking by Julieanne Kost, $39.99

Here’s a thought-provoking book from a creative thinking guru and Photoshop expert. Julieanne takes her own experiences of shooting images some 35,000 feet above the planet and produced a unique portfolio of lush and graceful photographs. The photos are accompanied with commentaries describing her experiences and thought processes. A technical appendix includes details of the images were shot, manipulated, and prepared for printing.

Some Like it Raw:

Photoshop CS2 RAW Using Adobe Camera Raw, Bridge, and Photoshop to Get the Most out of Your Digital Camera by Mikkel Aaland, $34.99

If you know what you’re doing, working with a file format of the uncompressed data file captured by a digital camera’s electronic sensor brings greater flexibility and control to the editing process. In this guide, Mikkel Aaland, author of eight books, explores the entire RAW process, focusing extensively on Photoshop editing techniques targeted to professionals and photo hobbyists alike.

Turn Every iPodder into a Power User:

iPod: The Missing Manual, Fifth Edition by J.D. Biersdorfer, $19.99

With 68 million iPods out there, no doubt they’re one of the most popular and defining devices of a generation. Yet many folks don’t know that iPods can do so much more than play music. Fortunately, New York Times tech columnist J.D. Biersdorfer helps iPodders of all ages and skill levels squeeze more enjoyment from their Shuffles, Nanos, and video iPods. Concise explanations paired with color graphics make this inviting book an excellent choice for every iPodder, young and old.