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Good Reading : August 2017
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GENERAL NON-FICTION / FOOD Capturing the World: Stories, tips and secrets from a lifetime of travel photography Nick Rains AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR E veryone is now a photographer, given the ubiquity of smartphones. But not everyone takes good photos, which is why professional photographers still exist, despite predictions of their demise. Photos taken by travellers can be especially awful, but the dedicated reader who diligently practises the advice in this book will see a marked improvement in the quality of their images. The book contains some of the usual technical instruction about how to improve your photos but, as the author points out, you can find more than enough of that info in other books. A 30-year veteran photographer, Nick Rains instead concentrates more on other less technical factors that will improve your travel photos. Better Brain Food: Eat to cheat dementia and cognitive decline Ngaire Hobbins, with recipes by Michelle Crawford AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR D on’t think that you can escape dementia just by eating your way out of it. As Ngaire Hobbins, a qualified dietitian and the author of this book, points out, there are many factors that contribute to the onset of cognitive decline, and a poor diet is only one of them. Probably the best thing you can do to reduce the likelihood of dementia, she writes, is to stay physically active. There is a maxim among gerontologists that says ‘what’s good for the heart is good for the brain’. So if you’re already exercising regularly and avoiding foods laden with saturated fat, you’re helping to protect your brain as well as your heart. Given the number of unqualified and f this uninformed bloggers and lifestyle gurus who dispense nutritional advice to the gullible, it’s understandable that the author takes pains WOM word of mouth Many people are terrified at the prospect of taking photos of strangers, but if you’re going to take a collection of travel photos that come alive, you will need to get close-up shots of your fellow humans. Nick shows you how to negotiate this sometimes tricky territory. Sunrise and sunset have long been known by photo experts as among the best times of day to get great images, and to that end Nick recommends an app called The Photographer’s Ephemeris, which tells you when the sun rises and sets anywhere on the planet. There are tips on the type of gear you need to take, the importance of planning – for the whole trip as well as for individual shots – and hiring a guide. It might seem like an extravagance, but Nick says that a good local guide who understands a photographer’s needs knows things that could take you days to find yourself. Get this book. ★★★★ Hardie Grant $49.99 Reviewed by Tim Graham here to underscore her scientific credentials and point out that all her claims are based on scientific research. But at no point in the book does she cite any studies to substantiate her claims. Contrast this with How Not to Die by Dr Michael Greger, which was reviewed on these pages in April h cl B ci cl to 2016. That book contained more than 130 pages of citations of nutritional studies. It was, admittedly, a hefty book, but Ngaire Hobbins could have directed readers to a website on which she cited the studies that support the claims she makes here. But she didn’t, and as a result I was left feeling patronised and as if I were too stupid to evaluate the scientific evidence for myself. Tha Putting that issue aside, many of the recipes included are sufficiently tasty, but her inclusion of salt, sugar, eggs and bacon in some of them left me wondering about the quality of the scientific evidence she was relying on. ★★★ Murdoch Books $39.99 Reviewed by Tim Graham GOOD READING AUGUST 2017 53
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