Landscapes of the Davis Mountains

Books Now Available on Blurb

I have moved my book sales to Blurb and my previous two books, Hill Country Landscapes, released in 2009 and Landscapes of the Texas Plains & Canyons, released in 2010, can now be purchased directly from their web site, along with my latest book, Landscapes of the Davis Mountains.

My love affair with the Davis Mountains began with a short trip to the area in 2011 to cover the recent wildfires that ravaged the region. This seemingly random event opened my eyes to one of the most beautiful and majestic regions in our state and an area that calls to me like a bee to honey.

Join me as I explore the rugged outback of the Davis Mountains and surrounding area with its rich history and unique geology and geography. From the verdant plains to the highest peaks, it’s a region like no other.

Landscapes of the Davis Mountains
Copyright © 2015 Jeff Lynch Photography
Click on the image above for a book preview.

Follow @jefflynchphoto

Discovering Instagram

Yes, I’m a little slow when it comes to adopting new technologies. Remember how long it took me to “go digital” and stop developing my own black & white film? It should come as no surprise to you that I’m just now discovering the world of iPhone photography and how easy it is to post an image via Instagram.

I’m also fairly amazed at the post capture processing power of this unique little iPhone App and how easily it integrates with Blurb, my favorite book-making software.

You can follow me on Instagram by searching for @jefflynchphoto.

Something New on the Horizon

I apologize for being cryptic and short in my post yesterday and for more of the same today, but my work has reached an “inflection point” and my personal compass is spinning wildly. But in the midst of all this chaos there is something new on the horizon.

More to come in the days ahead . . .

Creating Your First Photo Book

I’ve been putting off this post for almost six months now because it’s less about photography and more about marketing and publication. Lord knows this has changed dramatically in the past year as we’ve seen the likes of David duChemin become the godfather of self publishing and promotion.

Name me one photographer on the planet that hasn’t bought at least one of Craft & Vision’s eBooks and I’ll buy you the first pint. The whole idea of photographers self publishing, self marketing and self promoting their work was unheard of just a few short years ago and now the industry is running on all cylinders.

However, I want to warn you not to get too far ahead of yourself. There is only one Scott Kelby (possibly the best author/marketer/publisher the world’s ever seen) and only one David duChemin (the unabashed king of eBook self publishing). For that matter, one Chase Jarvis, Zack Arias, David Hobby, David Ziser, Matt Kosklowski, Joe McNally, Jeff Revell, Kirk Tuck, etc.

You’re never going to get rich publishing your own “coffee-table” photography book but that doesn’t mean you can’t create something significant and lasting without breaking the bank. With the advent of digital imaging and digital printing, self publishing short run or even single copy books is now available to anyone.

Why Blurb?
There are many self publishing providers in the market today. Just leaf through the last few pages of any photography magazine and you’ll find ads for most major firms. So why did I choose Blurb for my books? After looking at ten different self publishing firms, I chose Blurb for three main reasons; available book sizes, free software and last but not least, price!

BookSmart
Blurb offers free software that works with their printers called BookSmart. This simple little program allows you to create almost any type of book as simply as writing a document in Microsoft Word Apple’s Pages application. They have dozens of book templates available in the program and every template is easily customized to fit your particular needs.

The “coffee-table” style photo book templates make it very easy to get started. Just import your images (correctly output from Lightroom in the right size, resolution and color space) into BookSmart and drag & drop them into the page template. You can make an image bleed to the edge (full page) or span two pages (double truck).

You can also crop and resize within BookSmart but I recommend importing the images already sized to fit each page as closely as possible. Remember, most publication printers use 240 lpi resolution so any JPEG image you import should use the same resolution.

Blurb also makes it very easy to create a professional looking jacket for your hard-cover books as shown below. It’s your book’s first impression with potential buyers and a well designed jacket is vital to enticing readers to actually buy your book.

And when your book is finished the BookSmart software will upload it to Blurb and optimize it for printing. I highly recommend buying one “proof” copy to review for any new book you create. Images that look fine on your PC or Mac screen may be too dark or too light in the printed book. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and money if you review a proof copy thoroughly before buying any large quantities.

Blurb’s pricing is among the lowest in the industry. They price by the type of book (hard-cover or soft-cover), size and the number of pages. They also offer quantity discounts on any order over 10 copies.

Quality
You will be astounded by the quality of Blurb books. The paper used is very high quality, the book’s bindings are very tight and strong and the colors in your printed images look very close to the original. All in all, Blurb offer the what I consider to be the best overall value in the self publishing industry.

I’ve tried others but always come back to Blurb for their quality, price and software. And to answer your question, I am not sponsored by Blurb or any other company for that matter.

I just call ’em like I see ’em . . .