“Camera Raw 101: Better Photos with Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom” is a new book by digital photography expert and PhotographyBLOG contributor Jon Canfield. In Camera RAW 101, Jon explains everything you need to know to make the most of RAW captures using the newest versions of Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom. You’ll find out how to get the most detail from your RAW files – whether it’s correcting shadows and highlights, fixing white balance, or getting rid of noise. You’ll learn how to convert RAW images using both basic and advanced techniques, as well as how to download and organise the images, and put the finishing touches on them after conversion. Packed with beautiful images, solid instruction, and working examples – including screen grabs and before-and-after contrasts that show each step – this is a must-have for any serious amateur photographer who wants to take better, more creative photographs. The book has a list price of $24.99, but it is currently available from Amazon for $16.49.

Website: Camera Raw 101 on Amazon

Rocky Nook has just announced a new title, “Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style” by Alain Briot. Following his successful first book, Mastering Landscape Photography, Briot goes beyond the conventional rules of composition and takes on a fresh, new approach to teaching the art of photography. Based on his personal experiences as an artist, teacher, and photographer, he opens new doors to the reader—doors leading to new ways of seeing and composing images, the publisher says. Briot approaches fine art photography as being a combination of art and technique, and in this book he addresses both. On the artistic side, Briot introduces artistic concepts that have been rarely, if ever, associated with photography. On the technical side, he presents numerous tools that can help you learn to create better photographs and he provides technical solutions to common photographic problems. “Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style” is available from oreilly.com for $44.95 USD.

ScanMyPhotos.com has announced a partnership with Mixbook for creating photo books. Tens of millions of photographs scanned by ScanMyPhotos.com’s photo scanning service are now to be turned instantly into bookstore-quality photo books using Mixbook’s photo book software. With this partnership, ScanMyPhotos.com customers will be able to use their digitised photos in photo books created directly on Mixbook’s Web site. For more information about the partnership, visit: http://www.scanmyphotos.com/photobook.html.

LIFE’s newest title, Wonders of the World, is a photographic compilation of the Top 50 Wonders in the universe. These contain the original Seven Wonders of the World conceived in the 5th century B.C. by the Greek historian Herodotus, seven new man-made wonders and seven runners-up chosen by almost 100 million voters in a global poll fielded by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, 14 of nature’s wonders, 14 modern wonders of engineering and construction and One Lone Wonder - the magnificence of the Northern and Southern Lights. LIFE Wonders of the World, which retails for $29.95 U.S./$34.95 Canada (hardcover), will be available online and at bookstores nationwide on October 20, 2009.

Tiny Prints have teamed up with the photo book expert, MyCanvas.com, to launch a premium photo books service. With the premium photo books from Tiny Prints and MyCanvas, consumers can now take their favourite snapshots and create charming, one-of-a-kind photo books using fresh and modern design templates exclusively from Tiny Prints artists, while also adding a variety of borders, embellishments and more. For more information, visit the website below.

Website: Tiny Prints

Datacolor, a global leader in digital colour management technology, has brightened the lives of underprivileged children in Chile with the production and sale of the photography book, “Colors of My Life.” This is an 80-page hardcover photography book, which began as a simple photography contest sponsored by Datacolor’s European office.  As part of the contest, consumers submitted two photographs that incorporated colors they felt best depicted their lives or personalities.  The final images—60 images total—worked so well as a single body of work that Datacolor decided to create a portfolio in the form of a book. “Colors of My Life” can be purchased through Blurb at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/750811 for $22.82.

‘How to Market Your Photos’ by Rohn Engh is a new eBook / eCourse on CD. The eCourse consists of 21 units and pulls together new strategies that successful photographers are using to take advantage of the Internet as a tool to make more sales. “Photobuyers have learned to circumvent the large stock agencies and use search engines to go directly to a photographer’s website who has the exact picture they need,” Engh says. “The secret to getting this photobuyer traffic is in knowing how to position yourself.” Engh’s e-Course, ‘How To Market your Photos,’ is priced at $89.95, and he is having an Early Bird sale up until 7 August making the eCourse available at $69.95.

Website: How to Market Your Photos

AdoramaPix have announced the availability of high-quality hardcover photobooks, printed on real photo paper. Pages and covers are printed on Fujifilm Crystal Archive Album paper, and the books also have lay-flat bindings for seamless double page spreads and panoramas. AdoramaPix also offer an online book creation program called PixPublisher, which boasts features such as a colour-picker to precisely match background to images and an “entire library of backgrounds, frames, fonts and embellishments”.

Photographer and author Jason P. Odell, Ph.D. has announced the immediate release of “The Photographer’s Guide to Silver Efex Pro”, a comprehensive resource for making black and white images with the popular plug-in module by Nik Software, Inc. This 218-page PDF tutorial includes 15 instructional videos narrated by Dr. Odell, each of which reinforces concepts illustrated in the pages of the eBook. The instructional videos are embedded directly in the PDF file, which means that users don’t need to worry about separate video files or media players; as long as they are using Adobe Reader 9 or later, the videos will play directly from the eBook. The Photographer’s Guide to Silver Efex Pro is available directly from the publisher, Luminescence of Nature Press, as a digital download for $19.95 USD.

AsukaBook USA, a division of Kubota Photo Design Inc., has announced a new album choice, a new book size available in all lines and faster turnaround time on orders for professional photographers and designers. AsukaBook USA now has a total of six different book lines available from which to choose. The new Book Bound EXD line allows the photographer or designer to custom design the slide in box for the book with images, text and more. AsukaBook also introduces today a new size of book, featuring a landscape/horizontal layout, available in all book lines. This new horizontal book format measures 8 x 5.5”. In addition to new product offerings, AsukaBook now guarantees that a photographer’s order will be shipped within 3 weeks of their final approval date.

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel T1i/500D Companion is a new book written by Ben Long and published by O’Reilly. Although the Canon EOS Digital Rebel T1i/500D comes with a manual, Long explains why you might need this book to get the most out of your camera. “Knowing what each button on your camera does won’t necessarily mean you can shoot great pictures. Personally, I know the basic concept of a paintbrush, but I can’t paint a decent painting to save my life. To use a creative tool well, you must understand both the technique and the craft of the tool, as well as have some sense of artistry when you use it.” The book sells for $24.99 USD, £18.99 GBP, but it is also available as an ebook for just $19.99 USD.

The Centre for Railroad Photography & Art has just released an illustrated guide to North American railroad history, featuring 50 images, including copies of daguerrotypes. Each image is accompanied by a description that explains the photograph’s importance and how it relates to railroad history. The guide traces the history of railroads in North America from its beginnings, illustrated by a copy of a daguerreotype of the locomotive “Tioga,” to today’s preservation movement, illustrated by one of noted photographer David Plowden’s early photographs, a Canadian steam engine that now pulls excursion trains. Copies are available for $19.95 plus shipping and handling.

Website: Centre for Railroad Photography & Art Publications

Architectural Photography by Adrian Schulz is a new book from Rocky Nook. It is a step-by-step guide to architectural photography both for the aspiring amateur photographer interested in architectural photography and for the professional photographer wanting to expand his skills in this domain. Adrian Schulz, both an architect and a photographer by training, uses real world projects to teach and illustrate how to capture outstanding images of buildings, inside and out, choose the right equipment and use it effectively, compose architectural shots, work with ambient and artificial light, and process images in an efficient workflow. The book is available for $44.95/£34.50.

Along the Water’s Edge, published by the Gallery of the American Landscape, is a volume of exceptional photographs made over the past twenty years by medium/large format photographer Timothy Wolcott. The author is a fine art landscape photographer and pioneer in pigment photography, who has captured images of rivers, streams, waterfalls and oceans like you have never seen them. Many of the original photographs comprising the book’s 79 images have been exhibited in museums, private corporations and fine art galleries worldwide. Along the Water’s Edge is available now in three versions via the web site at: http://www.galleryoftheamericanlandscape.com/book.html.

Photographer Francois Nicaise travelled the world to capture all 340 breeds of dog in the world for a photographic study published by Eukanuba. The book consists of two volumes, Dogs A-G and Dogs H-Z. “These books celebrate each of the recognised breeds in all of their beauty, diversity, physical prowess and intelligence,” Eukanuba claims.

Blurb, the creative publishing and marketing platform that enables anyone to design, publish, share and sell bookstore-quality books, today announced the release of PDF to Book, available immediately. The new PDF to Book workflow allows photographers to design books using the application of their choice, save the file as a PDF, and upload it directly to Blurb. You can design books entirely in CMYK, while utilising native file formats such as TIFF, EPS, and PNG in the book’s contents. PDF to Book workflow is available for all book sizes and cover types (Hardcover ImageWrap, Hardcover Dust Jacket, and Softcover). Blurb will be showcasing books created with the PDF to Book workflow at the HOW Design Conference in Austin, TX, June 24-27.

In a new book entitled ‘Truckers’, seasoned truck-industry trade writer Mary Richardson and her ensemble of photographers pair interviews and narratives with colour and black and white photographs. It’s an artistic, photo-based book that examines the physical, emotional, technological and environmental consequences of the trucking industry by humanizing the men, women and families that keep the engines running. Not many people know that, without these drivers, we wouldn’t have any of the daily utilities we’ve grown so accustomed to. The book includes gritty, candid photography and true tales of the road from the truck drivers themselves. The 128-page book is available now for $32.95.

‘99 Ways To Make Money From Your Photos’ is a new book released by Photopreneur. Packed with insider tips, practical strategies, and case studies, “99 Ways To Make Money From Your Photos” shares 99 creative ways to make images that generate cash. Each chapter reveals what to shoot, how to break in, and where to go to generate sales. Readers will learn how to sell stock, approach galleries, host their own exhibitions, earn money with Flickr, shoot for social networking sites, create and market photo products, form joint ventures, upsell their event photography etc. The 340-page softcover book has a list price of $34.95 and is available on Amazon and by visiting the Photopreneur website.

Website: Photopreneur

Peachpit has just released a new book, entitled Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks by Scott Kelby. In Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks, readers learn the secrets behind the most closely guarded Photoshop CS4 special effects—the same ones seen on TV, in magazines, and on the Web. Using Scott Kelby’s simple, step-by-step methods, readers see exactly how it’s all done and discover how to create these effects on their own. A free sample chapter of the book is available for download, while the book itself retails for $44.99. Scott Kelby himself warns in his blog that this book is explicitly about special effects and not about topics like Camera Raw, colour corrections, sharpening or printing.

Rocky Nook has published a new book entitled Mastering the Nikon D700. This book is another title in the Nikonians Press series—the new, joint venture between Nikonians and Rocky Nook. Co-authored by information engineer and avid photographer Darrell Young and technical writer / Nikon photographer James Johnson, Mastering the Nikon D700 explores the features and capabilities of the D700 in detail, surpassing basic user manuals by providing step-by-step menu setting adjustments coupled with illustrations and logical explanations for each option. Frequent references to user manuals provided by Nikon (complete with specific page references) are included. The book is distributed internationally by O’Reilly Media and costs US$39.95.