Daily Picture Show

From Owls To Grunge: Photo Book Gift Ideas

December 22, 200911:03 AM ET

The Picture Show is going on a hiatus this week, but we wanted to leave you with something. The following are five gift ideas based on photo books we've covered throughout the year. If you've already made all your holiday purchases, you could consider treating yourself. Or if you are a bit behind, call it a New Year's gift. It works every time.

1.) For that adventure-seeking nephew you almost left off the shopping list: Paul Nicklen's Polar Obsession.

Raised in an Inuit community, Paul Nicklen has had an affinity for both the cold and for outdoor adventure from a young age. Today he travels to remote polar locations to capture rare scenes. In this photo, a mother walrus and her newborn pup rest on a piece of multiyear ice in Foxe Basin north of Hudson Bay in Nunavut, Canada.

Photos by Paul Nicklen/National Geographic
A leopard seal patrols a penguin rookery near Anvers Island, Antarctica. Nicklen uses special equipment to capture images half submerged in water, with a deep depth of field above water to focus on distant landscapes, and a sharp, shallower focus on wildlife below.
In one Antarctic adventure near Anvers Island, Nicklen befriended an enormous female leopard seal. In Nicklen's words, a seal's natural response toward an intruder is "breed or feed." After realizing that Nicklen was nonthreatening, this seal tried to feed him penguins, not knowing how else to interact with him.
When Nicklen refused to eat the penguins, the leopard seal became more and more insistent in her efforts to feed him. "She's trying to make it a beautiful package," Nicklen describes. "She's trying to make herself look elegant ... doing these ballet-like moves."
Over the course of a five-day photographic study, she brought him approximately 30 penguins, beginning with live penguins, then weaker penguins to make it easier for him, dead penguins — and even demonstrated how to eat one.
Two adult bowhead whales, each more than 45 feet in length, rest by a floe edge after diving under the ice to feed. Nicklen tells one story of accidentally parking his boat on top of a whale at night.
Parked on a whale's back, Nicklen barely escaped disaster by slowly backing up as the whale arched its back and curled its tail, dumping hundreds of gallons of water into his small boat. Rightfully overwhelmed, Nicklen did not snap a photo. But here, a bowhead whale dives to feed on copepods in Baffin Bay, Nunavut.
Elephant seals are a very large species that Nicklen photographed in the Antarctic. During breeding season, the males, distinguished by large proboscis noses, become disproportionately aggressive, attacking anything in sight to protect a beach of female seals. Two seals battle here at St. Andrews Bay.
Nicklen tried for weeks to get a close-up portrait of a male elephant seal. Because the creatures are so aggressive during breeding season, it was a dangerous endeavor. In one instance, he barely escaped death when a bull attacked him. He eventually got his shot of this bull cooling off in fresh water in Stromness Harbour.
With all the attention received by polar bears and penguins, it's easy to forget the other important species in polar ecosytems. Here, a winged pteropod feeds in the open water.
A kittiwake soars in front of a large iceberg in Svalbard, Norway.
Nicklen writes in his book, "Of all the animals I have ever photographed, the Arctic's narwhals are the most mysterious, unusual and elusive. Because of their incredibly shy nature and advanced echolocation, underwater images of these magnificent creatures are rare."
Nicklen's friend, the female leopard seal, greets a fellow adventurer near Anvers Island.
Admiralty Inlet breaks up in early July. Nicklen's hope is that his photographs will inspire viewers to care about something that they may never see in person.

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$50 at the National Geographic store or $29.25 via Amazon.

2.) For that binocular-addicted "bird watching" neighbor: Theodore Cross' Waterbirds or Paul Bannick's The Owl and the Woodpecker.

A young boreal owl

All photos by Paul Bannick
Ferruginous pygmy owl chicks
Three flammulated owl chicks
A male snowy owl glides back to the nest with a lemming on an Arctic summer night.
A great gray owl, also known as the great gray ghost.
A great gray owl jumps onto a tree.
A female northern pygmy owl pops up from the depths of her cavity.
A ferruginous pymgy owl chows down on a Texas spiny lizard.
A snowy owl fluffs out her feathers.
A burrowing owl.

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Waterbirds; $58 at Barnes and Noble. The Owl and the Woodpecker; $17.79 via Bannick's Amazon store.

3.) For your Americana-loving aunt: Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera.

Launch Photo Gallery:

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The Runaway, 1958, is an example of Rockwell's photorealism. (Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust) hide caption

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The Runaway, 1958, is an example of Rockwell's photorealism. (Norman Rockwell Art Collection Trust)

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$40 at the Normal Rockwell store or $21 at Amazon.

4.) For that cousin who is always talking about Cuba: Ernesto Bazan's Bazan Cuba.

"This was my first good picture in Cuba," Ernesto Bazan says of this girl playing bride in Havana in 1993.

As a girl shows off her nails, another girl appears between them.

A man peers around the corner at a Santeria altar, Havana, 1995.

A woman dances during a Santeria ritual in Camagüey, 2002.

A dog observes slow-dancing couples as a boy sleeps at a private party in Havana, 1995.

What makes this a metaphor for life in Cuba, Bazan says, is that you can't see the pool.

A man showers on a hot summer day, near Giron, 1996.

A soldier emerges after breathing through a reed underground, during special troops training. Los Palacios, 2000.

A cigar factory worker begins her shift by rolling a cigar in 1997.

This is one of Bazan's favorite images because "you don't know who is more dead, the fisherman or the fish."

"The sea represents a big wall, that many Cubans aren't able to overcome when they try to escape from the island illegally," Bazan says.

This is the last photo Bazan took in Cuba. His twin boys are in bed with their dog, contemplating leaving the island the next day.

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$80. You can impress your relative by being one of few people who know how to get ahold of the book. Email ernesto_bazan@hotmail.com directly and make your request. It should eventually arrive.

5.) For your Cobain-loving brother, in honor of the dirty plaid he once wore. Michael Lavine's Grunge.

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, 1992

All photos by Michael Lavine/Courtesy of Abrams

Mudhoney, 1988

Soundgarden, 1989

Beat Happening, 1988

Chris and Katy, Seattle, 1983

Motley Crew, Seattle, 1983

Slide, Seattle, 1983

Sonic Youth, 1988

Dinosaur Jr., 1989

Happy Spaz, Seattle, 1983

Trashed, Olympia, 1983

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$16.47 new on Amazon, though you can get a truly grungy older version starting at $8.

Is there a photographer or photo book you hope to see on the blog in the coming year? Now's the time for suggestions in the comments.