A superb portfolio of pictures by one of Canada's greatest photographers. Canada's landscape is like no other. Its sheer diversity is staggering: vast prairies and forests, impressive coastlines, majestic inland lakes and rivers, and urban parklands. Each season adds its own dimension of beauty. As much as it reveals the geography of a country, landscape photography also documents the random events, whether fleeting or grand, that capture the essence of a country. This magnificent collection spans 20 years of the work of Canada's renowned landscape photographer, J.A. Kraulis: a flash of lightning exploding across a summer sky; a sudden winter storm descending on an otherwise tranquil coastal bay; the surface of a lake, caught in a moment of stillness, mirroring the world around it. These 200 handsome color photographs record the vast and beautiful Canadian landscape. They tell the tale not only of a country, but also of the photographer's inspiring relationship with it. [starred recommendation] Stunning imagery takes readers on an impressive visual journey in this ... coffee-table book. (Mary-Jo Anne Benson Library Journal 2007-03-01) The endless diversity and awe-inspiring beauty of the place we call home is the subject of [this] must-see book. The images in [this book] never fail to captivate. It's the stuff of arresting beauty. (John Arkelian Artsforum 2006-10-01) Canada's landscape is like on other... [this book] captures all this majesty with a magnificent collection of photos by lensmaster J.A. Kraulis. ( Kitchener-Waterloo Record 2006-01-14) Sumptuous book... dramatic skies and sweeping views... rich color pictures. (Louise Abbott Montreal Gazette 2005-03-12) Kraulis has an edge and a feel for the unusual and obscure... magnificent shots... astounding pieces of art. (Nick Martin Winnipeg Free Press 2005-12-18) The name J.A. Kraulis is synonymous with the Canadian landscape... sweeping portrait of the land. ( Ottawa Citizen 2005-10-16) Its large images are well seen and impeccably printed... extraordinary images in awesome lighting conditions... an inspiring book for the landscape photographer, and would also make a lovely gift. (Joy McDonell Canadian Camera ) 200 stunning photographs... presented as pairs, a visual technique that often produces surprising lessons about the shape of the country. ( Globe and Mail 2005-12-10) Stunning in its beauty. (Sheldon Kirshner Canadian Jewish News 2005-12-15) This beautiful picture book... showcases Canada au naturel... everything that is spectacular about this country. (Diane Dakers Victoria Times-Colonist 2005-12-18) J.A. Kraulis has captured images of Canada that call forth big appreciative "oohs" and "aahs." The colors in his photos are often unearthly. (Rebecca Wigod CanWest News Service 2005-11-26) The stunning result of 25 years of criss-crossing the country in search of the perfect photo... The juxtapositions are magical... Gorgeous! (Liz Grogan Good Times ) J.A. Kraulis , among Canada's most prolific and talented photographers, was raised in Montreal, where he earned degrees in science and architecture at McGill University. His work appears in magazines such as Audubon , Canadian Geographic and Equinox . He has been the principal photographer of many books, including Canada from the Air Introduction The photography in this book was conceived some four decades ago in the dark bedroom of a modest bungalow in suburban Montreal. It was there, at about the age of fourteen, that I spent many evenings dumbfounded, gazing at huge, soaring mountains. My sister had returned from a summer job at Lake Louise with several boxes of colour slides from her mountain hikes. With only the whir of the projector fan intruding on my reverie, I couldn't get enough of the scenery shining on the wall, nor of the wistful fantasy that someday I too would walk those trails in the Rockies. This was my first experience of the power of photography. Mountains had been transported to my bedroom. Or I had been transported to the mountains; no distinction need be made there. I was inevitably pulled west, first to the wonders of Jasper, Banff, Kootenay, and Yoho. Four summers spent working in Yoho -- where a chance meeting led to my eventual marriage -- bonded me heart and soul to the Canadian Rockies forever. On the Trans-Canada leaving Calgary, there is a hill that still sends shivers up my spine, and sometimes even provokes a tear, every time I crest it. At the sight of the dramatically serrate horizon, eighty kilometres away, Gordon Lightfoot's lyrics always come to mind: "Wild majestic mountains alone against the sun." My westward momentum took me to the wild coast of Vancouver Island, another kind of unspoiled paradise. In those days, a dirt logging road was the only land route to Tofino, where the young and free-spirited took up summer residence on broad Pacific beaches, sheltered beneath driftwood and plastic tarp. Soon I vent