2005 Christmas reads: Coffee table

The Southern Alps
By Craig Potton
(Craig Potton Publishing $79.99)

Craig Potton is the master of wilderness photography and if you're interested in mountains — whether as a climber or an armchair Ed Hillary — you'll love this book. It's beautifully printed in an extra-large format to give full rein to Potton's glorious record of the mountain chain which forms the backbone of the country.

Canterbury
By Arno Gasteiger
(Penguin Viking $69.95)

If you're a Cantabrian forced to live in enemy territory — or for that matter someone interested in the New Zealand landscape — this would be the perfect present to yourself. It's a beautiful record of Canterbury from its sweeping plains and lofty mountains to its picturesque towns and chilly beaches. The historical pictures are interesting and Arno Gasteiger's photos of the area today are simply superb.

Coromandel Landmarks
By Mario Gavalas
(Reed $29.99)

The photographs aren't anything special but together with a well-informed text they do succeed in making this a useful guidebook to the wonderful Coromandel Peninsula. If you're planning a holiday there this summer this would be a great book to take with you.

New Zealand, Land Of Clouds
By Masaya Ohara
(Reed $29.99)

Clouds are the unheralded stars of the New Zealand scene and visiting Japanese photographer Masaya Ohara has done a fine job of capturing them in all their diversity. These are beautiful pictures which demonstrate clearly how much the beauty of our landscape depends on the marvellous interplay of the light and shadow provided by cloud formations. They're actually worthy of something better than this softcover format.

The Maori World
By Margaret Kawharu, James Heremaia and Serena Stephenson
(Reed $16.99)

The strength of a book with several authors is that it usually has diversity. The weakness is that quality can vary. This book has a great range of photos of Maori lifestyle in the modern world — from carving and fishing to haka and marae life — as well as scenic places of significance to Maori. It's an attractive record of the Maori role in New Zealand today but one which is marred by the inclusion of a number of pictures which are not up to standard and others that don't seem to fit the theme.

Spectacular New Zealand
By Mike Hollman
(Hachette Livre $30)

If you're looking for a good picture book on New Zealand scenery that won't break the bank to give to the overseas rellies this is the ideal choice. The text is a bit pedestrian but Mike Hollings has taken a series of mostly good photographs which cover all the obvious sights from Cape Reinga to Stewart Island.

New Zealand Birds in Focus
By Geoff Moon
(Reed Publishing $49.99)

Moon has been photographing our birds for more than 50 years. In this slim volume, he goes back to the beginning, when he was a boy living in marshland Essex, fascinated by creatures that lived there and longing for a camera. He swapped three white mice for a box camera, and he was off, eventually emigrating to New Zealand in 1947. Moon has pioneered techniques for "shooting" birds and this is a sample of some of his most stunning work, accompanied by technical information and anecdotes. The diving kingfisher and the feeding kokako chicks are particularly impressive.