(07-01-2011 19:07) Cate Facey, UK: Thanks so much for all your help with my order.
I absolutely love my DVDs. In fact, I thought they were so great, I bought a bigger and better TV to do them justice! After just 5 mins of watching Blue Seas I felt completely relaxed. My lung collapsed last year so I haven’t been able to get out much and I’ve really been missing the sea. It has been fantastic seeing the sea and sunsets again, even if only on DVD. It feels just like being on holiday.
Thank you so much and keep up the good work. |
| (06-23-2011 11:36) Tracey, Sydney, Australia: I absolutely love the Rainforest Creeks DVD. The peaceful sounds of the water flowing over the rocks and the serene and green images of the rainforest make such a relaxing background scene. I've only had this DVD (and others) for five days but I have they have been in constant play on my DVD player. As a city dweller, I love how I can be transported to such beautiful places without having to travel for hours to get there. I would recommend them to anyone. |
| (06-22-2011 18:27) Jane, USA: You're work is incredibly gorgeous! I've bought quite a few DVD's from your Ambient Collection, and each one is so distinctively beautiful. You have such talent & creativity and, combined with your chosen professional equipment, your work is absolutely mesmerizing. Thank you so much for bringing the beauty of the ocean to so many of us who cannot actually be there as we'd wish. |
(06-08-2011 14:47) John Riordan, Denmark: Honest Recommendation and Criticism
In writing a recommendation for these DVD’s firstly I should point out that so far I have purchased 48, which alone says something about how good they are. In all of them without exception Tony Helsloot is to be praised for the wonderful photography and colour and Liz Jones for the marvellous productions and I can highly recommend these Isis Visuals. The company is to be trusted and processes the orders on time. They are packed well, and only once was there some damage in the post, when the plastic casing of my “Cascades” DVD looked like it had been trodden on by a postman, which was most annoying, but the DVD was luckily undamaged. This I hasten to add was not the fault of Isis Visuals, but of the postal system. Nearly all of the DVD’s come with a choice of natural sounds or music, so you can select to suit yourself, and in some cases you can have both at the same time.
I am not going to review each of my 48 DVD’s as others have also reviewed most of them, but I may be able to give a pointer to those who are overwhelmed by the staggering choice which is available since choosing one or more will probably be your largest problem because they are all good. The main factors to consider are your personal preferences and what you intend to use the DVD for. Most it appears intend to use them for relaxation or therapeutic purposes, whilst others are interested in the subject matter, nostalgia and the fitness journey series. No two people are the same so this is difficult. Personally I think if it is relaxation you are after you can do no better than to purchase “Cascades” and “Rain”, as there is just something special about the sound of water which is calming. “Flow of Nature”, “Duck Ponds and Swan Lakes” likewise are very soothing. If it is small children you wish to calm down, “Butterflies and Flowers”, “Tropical Gardens and Butterflies”, “Duck Ponds and Swan Lakes” and any of the aquarium DVD’s would probably be your best choice. “Kaleidoscope” would probably work well too.
In the Ocean series, I personally found “Ocean Tranquility” to be the best. In many of the others the waves were too noisy or the music “too busy” for my taste, but others may prefer that.
There are many DVD’s of natural scenes, all filmed beautifully, so it is often a case of which type of accompanying music you prefer as an alternative to the natural sounds. “Midsummer Night Stillness” all very tranquil but I felt the accompanying Wellness Music was not appropriate to the scenes, however others may prefer this. In “Alpine Elements” there is no music only the sounds of water, which on occasions could be a little overpowering or too harsh for the scene. Unfortunately in the mountain lakes scenes there were more pictures of clouds than there were of the lakes, however in the Autumn scenes, despite having a little too much water sound there was the sound of wind, which was great, as wind sounds seem to have been a forgotten element in these DVD’s and I look forward to the day when they produce a DVD of wind and storms, which could be in the same high class category as “Rain”. “Flow of Nature” and “Lotus Pond” were probably the most soothing, but for relaxation or romance choose “Sunset Moods”. For just relaxation with natural scenes “Forest Seasons”, “Seasons Winter and Fall” and “Seasons Spring and Summer” would be good choices. In the latter one can almost smell the hyacinths in one of the flowers scenes. Most of Denise Young’s piano accompaniment is great although however in the scenes of lavender landscapes I found it most monotonous and it nearly sent me bananas – but there again that is only my taste.
From the aquarium series for striking colour you will not do better than “Tropical Aquarium”, but if you are into fish there are many other aquarium and fish DVD’s so make your choice.
For winter cosiness or romantic evenings there are several fireplace DVD’s and any one is as good as the other. One has the addition of candles and another has Christmas music, so the choice is yours.
“Japanese Gardens” is beautiful but unfortunately far too much time is spent looking at the fish in the fishpond or at temple structures in the garden. It is expressed by a reviewer on the website and I have also heard this myself, that there should be a whole garden series. Many for example are interested in the English thatched cottage gardens one finds in Devon and Dorset, then there could be stately home gardens, formal gardens from France and Italy and many more.
The Fitness Journey series only contains natural sounds and you can choose where you want to “run, walk or cycle”. I found “Through the Forest” to be the most interesting, and this was because there was only a short distance before you came to a bend you could not see around which made you wonder the whole time what was round the next bend, which was far more exciting than “running” through a fairly straight flat shrubby landscape. I found the pace for walking a little too fast, (wouldn’t it be great if one could control the speed at which your fitness DVD played, to suit each individual?), but the “walk” was very pleasing. On some of the other journeys it would suddenly page over to another scene just as one expectantly arrived at a bend and wondered what was round it, which was a trifle frustrating, and in some of them I thought I would never get there. A great addition to this series would be a run in spring through some of Vermont State’s (USA) gravel country lanes, with bends around the mountains, shady maple trees, across covered bridges, past grazing cattle and across flowering alpine pastures.
I have 2 DVD’s which are not part of the Ambient collection. “No Stress – Earth Flight” and “No Stress – Desert Light”. Whilst the photography is excellent I felt the accompanying music was either completely wrong or far too busy for the scenes being shown, and the clouds moved far too fast, although I expect they did that for artistic effect.
I hope this may have assisted you in making your choice, but rest assured ALL the DVD’s are good and I look forward to seeing more new ones in the future. I wish you luck with your purchase and hope that you will enjoy your Isis Visuals DVD’s as much as I do. |
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