When a photography book has "digital" in the title I generally treat it as a marketing ploy. After all photography is photography irrespective of the media. In this case the reason for the digital title is to emphasis the effect digital has in the workflow and business of architectural photography. The case is well made and the book still works for those who use film for image capture.

There are three main sections to the book. The first is a section on the equipment to be used and a description of digital terms. If you are well up on photographic equipment and understand work flow and RAW files this can largely be skimmed, though I found that it provided a different take on subjects I knew about or added new information. New comers will find it a comprehensive overview.

The second part deals with taking pictures and how to interpret a brief and how to compose. It is liberally illustrated and I particularly liked that the same buildings are used to illustrate different techniques. For example, it is easy to see the effect that a long shot has versus a telephoto one, or how adverse weather can alter a picture. Also it illustrates how many different ways a building can look which I feel inspires creativity. The number of pictures used means that though a few buildings are used a number of times there are a large number of shots of other buildings to stimulate creativity and illustrate concepts.

Having taken the photographs an in depth look at workflow and post processing is conducted. This is very Photoshop biased, but could be translated to other programs. Several additional bits of software are mentioned as well. Outside the basic workflow I found that a lot of this is best tapped into when you have the particular issue being discussed to achieve. I still recommend reading it to familiarise yourself with the potential techniques even if they aren't to be used immediately.

To conclude I consider this an excellent introduction to architectural photography and well worthy of five stars. I feel that everyone from beginners to advanced photographers will gain something from it.

A number of areas that can negatively affect the lives of mothers of school children such as stress, boredom and fear are explored. The application of Buddhist techniques to improve happiness in these areas is discussed. The style is very approachable in its conversational type dialogue. Revealing aspects of her feelings and dealing with her family and wider society makes the advice more pertinent as some of it comes from practical experience of the issues involved.

The areas covered do seem to have been influenced by those that affect largely affluent, well educated mothers bearing a significant share of child rearing (i.e. if not staying at home then not working full-time) living in Sydney. Many of these areas will also be felt by other mothers, but possibly they will have different balances and other issues may be of importance as well. Although the book does very clearly state "Mothers" in the title it would be great if there was inclusion of the issues faced by fathers; possibly for another book.

Overall the book will offers a good insight into how Buddhist teachings can assist in achieving happiness in general. The road to successfully utilising these teachings will take time. Reading this book will convince you of the worth of pursuing them further. Although it does offer some practical advice I feel that more than can be easily summed up in one book is required.

In A week at the Airport Alain de Botton reflects on the week he spent as writer in residence of Heathrow Airport. He applies his typically lateral insight into the working of an airport tying his experiences into a diverse range of subjects promoted by the events he saw and the people he interacted with. It is quite a slim volume but within it the reader is called upon to question views about topics not normally associated with airports. If you want a book that will make you pause and think about things in a questioning, non threatening way this is ideal.

Guy Kennaway introduces us into the world of psoriasis sufferers using humour and wry insight into explaining how it affects an individual. He speaks both from his point of view as a sufferer and as an observer and interviewer of others. He takes us through how it has affected him and uses experiences of others to illustrate how different people have dealt with the condition.

Anyone who has psoriasis, or knows someone well who does will recognise many feelings and issues raised. If you are lucky enough not to have any direct experience this will give you a good start to understanding it. Many of the characteristics of dealing with psoriasis raised in the book will be shared with other chronic illnesses, giving it wider appeal.

Much of the book deals with the image aspect of psoriasis. It shows how important image can be to the self and how differences from the 'norm' can cause distress and behaviour that might not immediately be associated with a chronic skin condition. More open and frank discussion of these issues would help and maybe lead to less of a reliance on arbitrary definitions of perfection.

In Exposure Simon Garfield attempts to expose the life and inner workings of Bob Carlos Clarke. The format used is to splice up interviews and words of people who knew Bob, Bob himself and Simon. This gives a picture of the world in which Bob worked. Along the way there are also insights into how photography has developed as a business over the years. There are some thought provoking views on the effect of digital on the profession.

That said there the format of splicing narratives together detracted from a good analysis and narrative summary and meant the book isn't as cohesive as it could be. I didn't really feel connected to the people and this is where I feel more effort could have been placed on putting things in context, explaining events or places that the speakers were well versed with but readers may not be. I don't really feel the state of BCC leading up to his suicide was explained particularly well. Also while not being a book about the BCC's work, it would have been useful to have more photographs of it, and interspersed throughout the book, rather than in clumps in the middle.

Ben Rich describes his time at the Skunk Works, Lockheed's facility for designing and producing high performance, specialised military planes. He starts with the development of the stealth fighter, the first major project he took on after taking the reigns from the legendary Clarence "Kelly" Johnston. The technology behind the planes is described in plain language as is how the project came about and the development of the idea to a successful plane.

After this he returns to how he joined Skunk Works and other projects the Skunk Works handled, such as the U2 spy plane and the SR-71 Blackbird. These are fascinating as each of them was dealing with creating something on the edge of our technological capabilities with many difficult challenges to overcome. In explaining the operation of the Skunk Works Ben gives a passing insight as to why they were successful and able to achieve so much. It doesn't quite go so far as explaining how to set-up a similar operation rather gives pointers to areas to consider. Also described are the politics and current events of the time which place developments in perspective. It also gives background information and analysis about well known events, such as the shooting down of the first U2 plane. Throughout the book there are contributions by others involved in the project; test pilots, air force commanders, politicians and other Skunk workers.

I'd recommend this book to anyone with a passing interest in aviation or people who like a well written account of working in an innovative area pushing technology to the limits.

In the Pleasures and Sorrows of work Alain de Botton gives us his insights into a number of jobs. He spent considerable time immersing himself in each and has had access to a multitude of areas within each one - for example following a tuna from being caught in the Maldives to served up on a dinner plate in the UK. From this he has stood back and given a typically Bottonesque view about the occupations, free from the day-to-day involvement that often dissuades such examination, providing insightful observations on the nobility or futility of the cause. Mostly it comes across as futility. There is a good amount of humour - well I found a lot of it quite funny - often at the expense of people involved. Any signs of self-importance are exposed and cut down to size.

Examining several different occupations provides a rich insight into many areas of life illuminating one into operations and practices previously unaware of or unaware of their full extent, subtleties and integration into the whole of society. Each on its own causes the reader to pause for thought and reflect. As a collection the message is less coherent than some of his other books, but none the less well worth a read. A notable point is the inclusion of a copious numbers of photographs; - he teamed up with a photographer to produce and almost photo-journalistic essay. These are a welcome inclusion though I wish the reproduction of the photos was of a higher standard.

I admit that when I first heard of Status Anxiety I thought it was an oddly titled book about shallow people who were more interested in keeping up with the Jones than real life. Then I got round to reading it.

In Status Anxiety Alain de Botton takes a look at the tendency we all have to judge ourselves against others or what we perceive to be the view and judgments of others. In the first part of the book he carefully shows the many ways this anxiety takes form, some subtle some not. He shows how the development of Western Society has exacerbated and contributed to the development of status anxiety, while trying to improve the lot of all.

The next section of the book discusses the various ways we can overcome this anxiety, by changing your viewpoint. He gives different ways of looking at life in order to free one from the restrictions on status anxiety can induce.

Along the way Alain introduces us to a wide range of ideas and history. This is done in a highly readable and enjoyable way. I have enjoyed several of Alain de Botton's books and rate this close to "The Consolations of Philosophy", my personal favourite. If you enjoy his works, this will not disappoint. If you are new to him, it is an excellent starting place.

Window Seat is primarily a book about a creative process taken to produce some stunning photographs. These photographs were taken out of the windows of commercial airplanes over a period of 5 years. The photographs in themselves are gorgeous; many with an abstract, ethereal feel to them. What is most inspiring is how and why they were taken; as a creative outlet when author spent significant portions of her life inside airplanes and hence had little time to explore other avenues. The book consists of a lot of photographs and few words. There is a description of the project and what motivated her to take it up, discussion of the execution of the project and at the end a discussion on image manipulation techniques used. The imaging techniques all use Adobe products; this is not surprising as Julianne Kost is an Adobe evangelist. The workflow and techniques described are outlined and aimed at someone with a moderate amount of knowledge of the subject matter. They are very useful in seeing effective ways of working and I feel most readers involved in image manipulation will either directly learn something or be pointed at a new way of doing things.

To my mind the greatest benefit of this book is that it shows how something beautiful can be created out of a rather sterile environment. If photographs this great can be created from pointing a camera out of the window of a commercial airliner, what can be accomplished in other environments by applying some creativity?

Guide to building your photography business covers pretty much all you could ask for when thinking of starting a photography business. It starts with looking at why one would want such a business and gives a taste of the diversity available for photo businesses through interviews and experiences of professional photographers. The book is aimed not only at aspiring professional photographers but also those in the business who are looking for new ideas or inspiration. Topics discussed include deciding on a speciality or area to work in, starting a new business, marketing, sales, technology, accountant issues. Vik has a successful studio based business and I feel there is a slight slant towards studio based work. That said the advice is solid and with thought can be applied to almost all photo businesses.

In addition to covering the mechanics of starting a business a profile is given of most categories of business - wedding, architectural, commercial, photojournalism, portrait etc. These cover the way the business operates; start up costs, where the business operates and so on. Throughout the book there is practical advice from someone who has actually run a business and made some of the mistakes she now warns others of. Efforts have also been made to describe the profession as accurately as possible; the glamour with the gore so the reader can assess if a photo business is for them. At the end of the book a couple of chapters (appendixes) are devoted to getting the reader fired up and taking action to achieve their dream.

I only have one minor quibble. The book is a 2004 book and so sections detailing the impact of digital are a little out-of-date. Updating a couple of chapters with how digital has changed the market place would be useful, and would take my rating from a 4 to a 5 star. All in all this is an excellent book about running a photo business.