Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Photo Bookage!

I got a package the other day. It was from blurb. It made me happy.

Yes, my photo book has arrived, all 108 glorious pages of it! I greedily tore through the packaging, and cracked open the covers.

After going through it for a full day, handing it to every co-worker who walked by, and letting my Editor-In-Chief give it a stern looking through. Everybody seems to really like it, and a few people are telling me they want a copy. COOL!

 

The soft covers are glossy. Very glossy, and pickup fingerprints like they are going out of style:

 

I'm not terribly thrilled with the binding on the softback version, but I guess you get what you pay for in this regard:

 

The pages are thick enough so that you don't get any see-through bits, but not quite as thick as normal book-store photobooks.

Black and whites look pretty dang good, with little to no color cast:

 

 

The color images look pretty good as well:

 

Detail of the photos is pretty good overall. There are definite printing 'spots' when you look close, but are mostly unnoticeable when viewing from normal distance:

 

Any subtle gradations (read: skies) have a little bit of chopping, but there isn't much to be done about it.  Overall it looks pretty darn good. Most of the photos are a little darker than they appeared on screen, and the saturation didn't seem to be as high as my screen, but I'm guessing that is a problem on my screen's side. Either way it isn't a big enough problem for me to go through and try to correct them.

 

I did have some minor issues with the bleeds (where they cut the pages around the edges), but nothing horrible, and is hopefully resolved now.

 

So I went ahead and ordered a hardcover version as my personal copy, and set the book as public so that anybody can purchase a copy. It is available in three different cover choices, Softcover for $29.95+s/h, Hardcover with Dust Jacket for $41.95+s/h, and Hardcover with ImageWrap (no dust jacket) for $44.95+s/h. This is at-cost, as I have no intention of making a profit on this little guy.

 

If you are interested check out the link below, where you can also preview the first 15 pages. :)

8 comments:

Melissa said...

Oh my god, Tom, congratulations!! :D That's awesome. Man, I love your photos (and that seriously wonderful pic of DaNece).

I want to buy a copy *absolutely* but need to wait until I feel safe spending money freely again. :)

Granny J said...

Congrats, Tombo. I didn't realize that you had ordered a book!! BTW, you'll never get the kind of saturation on the printed page (or photo paper) that you can get with transmitted light -- a great truth learned in the age of slides vs. kodacolor prints...

Anonymous said...

Tom, Congrats again. It's a great feeling ripping open that UPS package. Preview of book looks good. Yes the glossy finish attract the finger prints. I scrub down my copies with a soft cloth everytime I send one of my portfolios out! Hey enjoy the fruits of your labors.

TomboCheck said...

Melissa - Thanks! And I totally understand the need to wait. I'm planning on leaving the book as public for a while, so no rush. :)

GJ - Good advice. I'm so used to staring at computer screens that I sometimes forget that paper printing will be markedly different.

Tony - Thanks. :) I'm too damn lazy to wipe it down all the time. I'll just call it 'character' and learn to live with it. :)

Granite Street Garage said...

Cheers, good work Tombo!

TomboCheck said...

Thanks PrescottStyle!

Kitty said...

How did I miss this post last year?! I know ... you posted it a couple of days after I moved house and I had no internet.

Looks great Tom - congratulations. I really must crack on with the one I'm doing of the blog.

x

TomboCheck said...

Kitty - Yeah, you had more important matters going on. :-) Funnily enough, I don't even have this book any more. The more I looked through it the less I liked my own layout for it. When DaNece asked if the should keep it, I was all too happy to oblige.

I've thought about making another, but haven't gotten up the energy to tackle it yet. I look forward to hearing about yours when you do get it slurped together.