Category: Books

Stories about books, including book reviews and interviews with authors. This is a subcategory of the broader Travel Category.

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Excerpt from a story in the Books category

Just in time for your fall and winter celebrations is the new cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen (ATK). Released just last month, the Complete Autumn and Winter Cookbook is so popular, it’s the No. 1 book for Thanksgiving cooking. If you’re looking for creative new ideas for your upcoming holiday meals, here are a few sample recipes.

About America’s Test Kitchen

America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) is the most-watched cooking show on public television. Each of its shows is watched by an estimated two million viewers. Launched in 2001 as a half-hour program, America’s Test Kitchen is hosted by Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster. Since Season 19, America’s Test Kitchen is filmed with a real working kitchen in Boston’s vibrant Seaport District. Each of the seasonal recipes is tested dozens of times by ATK chefs to ensure premium quality. In fact, each of the recipes displayed on ATK’s cooking show are tested 40-60 times before being presented.

The ATK Brand

Today, America’s Test Kitchen publishes cooking magazines like Cook’s Illustrated, cookbooks and informative websites. ATK also hosts an online cooking school, kids program, podcasts and online store. If you’re interested in participating in the online cooking school, you can sign up for a 3-week free trial. With more than 320 courses, you will have several to choose from. What’s more, these courses fall into categories like Cooking Basics and Recipes Lessons. Breaking the courses even further are selections in three levels of difficulty, from beginning to advanced.

ATK’s Complete Autumn & Winter Cookbook

The Complete Autumn & Winter Cookbook features more than 550 fall and winter recipes to fit any occasion. Packed with full color images and easy to understand instructions, it’ the newest offering in ATK’s Cookbook Series. This 450+ page cookbook has it all, from soothing soups and stews to centerpiece dishes and festive drinks. Moreover, it’s described as the only complete cookbook for covering every cooking occasion during the cold season. To put it differently, it may just be the only cookbook you need for the fall and winter months.

Another excerpt from a book story:

Haven’t you always wanted to take better pictures with your iPhone? If you’re like most iPhone users, the clear answer is yes. But how can you take photos that will not only impress your friends and family but also impress professional photographers? And where can you find the most practical and reliable information on digital photography? To answer your questions, here are some expert tips to improve your iPhone photography skills from Scott Kelby. In fact, he’s the world’s best-selling author of photography technique books.

SCOTT KELBY is the world’s No. 1 best-selling author of photography technique books, as well as Editor and Publisher of the highly acclaimed Photoshop User magazine. He is co-host of the influential weekly photography talk show The Grid. Additionally, he teaches digital photography workshops and seminars around the world. Scott is an award-winning author of over 60 books. Notably, How Do I Do That in Lightroom? and How Do I Do That in Photoshop? Equally important are The Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers and Digital Photography Book series. In detail, Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers, and Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It.

For more on Scott, visit his blog. (bio courtesy of Scott Kelby)

About Scott Kelby’s New iPhone Photography Book

Just released this month, The iPhone Photography Book: How to get Professional-Looking Images Using the Camera You Always Have with You is Scott Kelby’s long-awaited book fully dedicated to iPhone photography. For photographers of all levels as well as anyone with an iPhone in hand, The iPhone Photography Book will take your camera roll and Instagram grid to the next level! (excerpts courtesy of Scott Kelby)

Q&A With Scott Kelby

Is The iPhone Photography Book Practical for All iPhone Users?

At its heart, this is a photography book first—your camera just happens to be an iPhone—so it’s not so much about which iPhone model you have. That being said, there are some things that are specific to newer iPhones (anything from the iPhone X on up) included in the book, as well. But as long as you have an iPhone that was released within the past few years, and you’re using one of Apple’s recent iOS updates (which Apple’s stats show the vast majority of iPhone users are), you’ll be all set.

Are There Important Aspects of The iPhone Photography Book That You’d Like to Briefly Point Out?

A lot of what this book focuses on is teaching you the techniques pro photographers use to make their images look awesome. It’s not about a bunch of things you add to your iPhone. It’s more about composition, and lighting, and how to shoot in natural light or tricky lighting situations. And it’s about posing and things that really make a bigger difference than you’d think.

What Apps Do You Recommend for iPhone Photography Editing?

I love Lightroom for the iPhone. It’s what serious iPhoneographers use as their main tool. But in the book, I also uncover the surprising power of Apple’s own Photos app. Another app I would recommend is called Lens Distortions, which is a horrible name for an amazing app that lets you drag-and-drop special effects onto your images that will take the look of them up a big notch. It’s awesome and very inexpensive.

Can You Offer Any Tips on iPhone Photography for Use on Social Media?

Absolutely! Here is a list of Scott Kelby top five tips to keep in mind when shooting images that you’ll share on social media:

Super-Quick Lighting Fix

Getting your tone right—where your photo isn’t too dark or too bright—is a big thing when it comes to getting great photos with your iPhone. And it’s actually really easy to do (once you know the secret). After you tap once on the screen (right on what you want to be in focus), you can make the image brighter by holding your finger on the screen and dragging it up to make it brighter, or down to make it darker. This makes a bigger difference than you’d think.

Making Your Photo Fill the Screen

Have you noticed that when you take a photo with the iPhone’s camera it doesn’t capture the entire screen? It leaves blank areas at the top and bottom (if you’re shooting vertically) or on the left and right (if you’re shooting horizontally). If you want an image that fills the entire screen, there’s a trick for that: switch your Camera app to shoot in Video mode.

What’s Next

You’ll notice two things: (1) the video fills the entire screen, and (2) once you hit the red record button, there’s now a little white shutter button that appears onscreen. When you tap that white shutter button, it takes a still photo, and like the video, it fills the entire screen.

Shooting Video by Default

When you shoot video, by default, it zooms in closer than the regular camera does, so your still image will be zoomed in a bit closer as well. But, it’s better than just cropping a still image because cropping your still image would make it smaller, and it wouldn’t fill the screen like this video trick does, so it’s definitely worth trying. I know a number of iPhone photography pros who only shoot in Video mode for that very reason.

Keep the Flash on Your iPhone Turned Off

Here’s a pro tip: If you want better-looking shots, just leave your iPhone camera’s built-in flash turned off all the time. Having a flash that is physically located so close to your camera’s lens creates some really unflattering photos, especially of people, where it should only be used to get even with somebody. So, it’s best to just avoid using the flash altogether and either use Night mode (available on newer iPhones) or just let the camera automatically expose for the amount of light that is available, even if it’s dark where you’re shooting. (it does a surprisingly good job in most cases).

January 28, 2022April 12, 2023 Randy Yagi Books, Restaurants and Food, Travel

National Pizza Day: New York/Chicago Old School Pizzerias

National Pizza Day is fast approaching and pizzerias across the country will be plenty busy. But what city has the best and best pizza style? Everybody has an opinion on where you can find the best pizza in America. Some say New York, with its thin crust is by far the best. On the other … Continue reading National Pizza Day: New York/Chicago Old School Pizzerias

December 10, 2021October 24, 2022 Randy Yagi Books, Business and Technology, Family Friendly, Holidays, Travel

Holiday Gift Ideas From Acclaimed Toy Designer John Reale

Have you already started shopping for your children’s must-have toys? If not, you should start soon as possible as some popular toys are already selling out. Take for instance hot items like Sony Play Stations and Disney Doorables. Be that as it may, some toys are much more practical, particularly educational gifts offered by Little … Continue reading Holiday Gift Ideas From Acclaimed Toy Designer John Reale

October 5, 2021May 20, 2023 Randy Yagi Books, Family Friendly, Restaurants and Food