DeleteMe Uncensored (“DMU”) is one of the most active groups on Flickr and a vibrant community of photographers from all over the world. I’m one of the members there and it is the only group on Flickr where I am active. At the center of the group is a photography critique game. Those who want to play submit their photographs to the pool so that other members can comment on it and choose to “save” it or “delete” it. The game goes on until the vote counts reaches either “delete10″ or “save10″, in which case the photograph stays in the collection the DMU group calls “Lightbox.”

Last year the community decided it might be a good idea to actually print some of these saved photographs into a book. It’s one thing to look at pictures on a monitor – it’s another thing to actually look at them in print. This is how “Save10 – The Lightbox Collection” was born. We collected the photographs from those DMU photographers who were willing to participate in the project, and we ended up with 75 photographs from 40 photographers that was compiled into a book (you can see it here).

We liked the idea enough the first time around that we decided to produce the next volume that would cover 2010. We again invited anyone who has photographs in the Lightbox to participate by submitting their work for the book. Strangely enough – once again, we ended up with 75 photographs from 40 photographers – totally at random.

To publish the book, several of DMU members helped to gather all the images and then design the book using self-publishing platform Blurb. Gathering so many photographs and then arranging them in one volume was no easy task, but the results were worth it.

The Volume II of “Save 10 – The Lightbox Collection” is now officially out, and is sold through Blurb at cost. You can buy yours here.

In case you missed it, I wanted to let you know that one of my favorite landscape photographers Don Smith recently published another ebook, Refined Vision, 50 Lessons Designed to Improve Your Digital Landscape Photography, this time it’s available both in PDF and print version via Blurb. I wrote earlier about Don’s book on Big Sur, and this time he published a book that has slightly different content and contains his advice to those who love shooting landscape photography.

Here is what I loved about the book.

First, I’ve read many books on landscape photography in an effort to educate myself. They are typically targeted towards beginners, and cover such topics as why one should be shooting with a tripod, how to get a good exposure, and how to handle color. Usually, you read one, you’ve read them all. Don’s book goes a step further and includes various topics typically not covered in this book, such as how to measure perspective, how to space elements, how to choose foreground or how to get the best shots at night (his chapter on shooting moonbows is worth the price you’ll pay for the book alone). Don also spends some time sharing how his creative thoughts work in the field, as well as his workflow from shooting to print.

Second, the book provides a good balance of text and photos. It is 161 pages long, and includes a great collection of outstanding landscape images. On top of that however, the pages of the book are full of good text, and the advice that Don typically shares with his student during his workshops. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of text, because this is where in my mind the book is the most valuable.

Third, Don designed a book in a way that each lessons builds off each other. This is a logical way to present them and makes the flow of his vision easy to follow and easy to read.

To read more about the book or purchase your copy, please visit Don’s site.