The HDRI Handbook 2.0

[mistermonday]

Some folks may be interested to know that Christian Bloch's new book was released in last month and is now readily available.
I believe it is the most comprehensive book on HDRI that has ever been published - 660 pages of high quality paper stock plus a DVD full of goodies and weighing about 3 Kilos (6 lbs). The quality of the content and writing is equally high.
The book has an excellent flow to it, starting with a thorough explanation of what HDR is, reviewing the HDR tools and s/w including all of the popular HDR apps, actual capture, tonemapping, and post processing. While you do not need to be a tekkie to enjoy the book, every topic has very detailed technical information / explanation for those who want the additional depth. After the first 434 pgs of regularHDR, there is a 110pg chapter on panoramas and it is mind twisting in places. The last chapter on Image Based Lighting and HDR is aimed mostly at CGI artists.
The physical book with DVD lists for $59 US but can be purchased online from Amazon or Chapters in N/A for between $35-39. I would expect it to be equivalent around the world.
For those who prefer e-books there is a e version with DRM from Kindle and Kobo for around $10. I bought the Kindle version as well as the hard copy. The DRM e-version is pretty disappointing and I do not recommend it because the conversion is not great the image quality is poor and a two page huge table comparng all the key attributes of more than a dozen HDR apps is microscopic and can not be viewed using the Kindle reader for Desktop PC let alone a Kindle mobile device. It's also clunky and slow. I think that Photography books such as these were not really meant to run in e-form.
There is however a DRM free version available from O'Reilly at $19 which is in Adobe PDF format where the images may possibly be scalable, not sure. Also note the DVD and all of its contents are only available with the hard copy book.
For those who are primarily interested in the info and the theory, the text in all the e-versions is readable.
If you would like a detailed description of the content of the book you can find it here directly from Christian:
HDRI Handbook
You can also get some sample extracts from the website of the publisher Rocky Nook whose link can be found at the link above.
Conclusion: Is this book for you? Is it worth the money?
The book has way more value than its cost for the tremendous content - practical, technical and referential. If you really want to understand and learn about HDRI this is an incredible value.
If you are looking for a quick recipe on how to photograph images and merge them in an HDR app, you can find that for free here in the HDR forum or on a number of other websites. If HDR is a quick passing fancy / "let's give this a quick try", you might want to try it and buy the book if you become serious. If you are someone who can not learn from text books, there may not be any magic in it for you.
If you have an interest, the entire table of contents is available for you to view and I always recommend you do that. If you have specific questions you can email the author who is a really nice guy.
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with this book, its author, its publishers etc..etc..
Cheers, Murray

 

[ann]

I have his book "The HDRI Handbook", perhaps it is the first edition. It is a great book with valuable information.