Photographing San Francisco and California's Central Coast

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful -- and not too deep!
Review: As an avid vacation photographer, I've read many books on photography - but I've never watched any videos. This photo expedition by Don Gale - given to me as a present - was actually my very first. I thought it was excellent -- and entertaining.

The photos are masterful and breathtaking. They are colorful and moody. Don tells you where to go - and what time of day to be there -- to capture similar shots for yourself. He talks briefly about equipment and film without being too intimidating. The shots he takes are great - and he makes it all look so easy.

Since I live in California and have traveled up and down the coast extensively, most of the scenery in this video was very familiar to me. It brought back many fond memories of my own visits to these very magnificent places.

As extras, there's a slide show with more of Don Gale's California shots; an instructional section where he gives some tips on how to photograph Yosemite's Half Dome; an interview with Andrew Hudson that highlights Mr. Hudson's similar travel photo books; and a section pushing Don's own outdoor photography workshops.

The video clips along nicely and never gets boring. His before-and-after shots with-and-without filters were very illuminating. This is, overall, a very nice travel video - and instructional photo video - combined.

If you're planning to journey up the Central California Coast and take pictures - you'll probably find this DVD to be hugely inspirational. I certainly did!