Window Seat

By Julieanne Kost
First Edition February 2006 
ISBN: 0-596-10083-3
152 pages, $39.99 US

Window Seat: The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking is a complete view of a creative project from the artist's perspective. Julieanne Kost, a Photoshop and creative thinking expert, has taken her own experience shooting images out of commercial airplane windows to create a unique creative seminar:

The first section of the book, The Art of Creative Thinking: The Principles, outlines Julieanne's method for staying creative in an increasingly complicated world. In her personal stories, advice, and philosophies, you'll find inspiration if you're stuck or just can't get started. You may recognize some of your own less-than-productive thought processes as she describes her own struggle to let go of the everyday flotsam of life to find a quiet mental space in which she can think, dream, and create.

The second part of the book, Window Seat: The Portfolio, is a collection of images culled from over 3000 photographs Julieanne shot from commercial airplane windows over a period of five years. The photographs are accompanied by brief commentaries addressing various aspects of the process, from the original inspiration to issues of control, subject matter, image selection, and manipulation.

The Appendix contains technical information: a discussion of the equipment and media Julieanne used to shoot the photos; how she processed the photographs using Adobe Camera Raw; the Photoshop techniques she employed to correct, retouch, and manipulate the images; her personal file management system; and how she prepares her files for printing.

This book is essential reading for photographers and artists looking for ways to stay creatively awake, aware, and alive.

Sample Excerpt and Related O'Reilly Articles

Member Reviews

Window Seat: The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking
Reviewed by Michael Roman
I had the good fortune to hear Julieanne speak at the NECCC conference last summer and found her not only informative, but very entertaining as well. It was encouraging to find a fellow computer nerd who had the social skills to be able to convey technical information in an engaging way such that the audience was not only still awake at the end of the session, but enthused by the content and the delivery. It seemed there might be hope for the techno-geeks among us! Alas, my bubble was burst by Window Seat. It quickly became clear that Julieanne's skills with the written word make her an artist and teacher first. She might still be able to claim the title of nerd, but few nerds can convey her passion for photography and creativity so eloquently. Window Seat is inspirational from not only the perspective of the photographs but also form her point of view and showing what can be accomplished when a photographer sets their mind on a venture and lets the creative juices start flowing. There were so many great points she made in the book that I don't know which one(s) to quote here in order to do the book justice, but here is one that struck a chord: "The hardest part of working with the digital medium is that because it offers so many options for exploration, you must learn discipline. With Photoshop, the paint is never dry, the exposure is never fixed, and the print is never final. All of it can be done differently at any point, so part of the art form is knowing when to stop Ð realizing when youÕve said what you set out to say." And another from the non-technical side: "... the camera is calibrated to neutralize light, not to capture emotion." Going through the book was a wonderful journey through the visual sights of Julieanne's airline travel, but it was also a very enjoyable journey learning how Julieanne's creativity works, where it comes from, and how she makes it presentable. Oh, and the 22 pages of Imaging Techniques in the appendix are very useful, too. This book is a clear 10!