throughout Bermuda, $38.

Making its appearance well in time for seasonal giving is an impressive new collection of Bermuda photographs by Scott Stallard.

With four books already to his credit, the well known photographer has decided, this time around, to capitalise on the huge success of his preceding book, `Bermuda Aerial Views', with a new volume of dramatic aerial shots. As he writes in the introduction, the sell-out of that edition forced a decision: he could go for a second printing or produce a completely different collection. Well aware that there were still hundreds, if not thousands of vistas -- many of them never seen before -- crying out for his selective lens, he chose the latter. The result is `Bermuda From The Air' and if the initial sense of shock and almost voyeuristic sense of discovery of the first book is lessened, he still presents a wholly absorbing view of this endlessly fascinating island.

Bermudian-born Scott Stallard, who has received numerous awards for his photography both here and overseas, is currently working on his first book of international photography, with special emphasis on the Far East and Africa.

He has compared the thrill of photographing from the air with his recent adventure of filming wildlife in the Serengeti in East Africa. Many of the images in this book certainly reflect that sense of exhilaration as he hovers high over his island home to capture the undoubted `curve' of the ocean, the panoramic stretch of sandy bays along the south shore, the dramatic sight of swirling boiler reefs, ancient wrecks clearly -- and miraculously -- revealing their watery locations for perhaps the first time in hundreds of years.

Curiously, there is no apparent progression in this volume: one moment we are reflecting on the huge amount of land taken up by the airport and then, after a thrilling view of the Causeway thrusting like a grey snake through the azure waters, we are suddenly in Hamilton, gazing at the jam of buildings which have all but eradicated the colour green from its environs.

From then on, it is a somewhat eccentric tour, flying from one parish to another with apparently no flight plan, usually above astonishingly beautiful and always (to our land-locked eyes) unusual aspects of familiar places. There is a preponderance of close-up views of moguls' palaces in the Tucker's Town area. Ironically, his inclusion, also, of many old Bermuda homes which were allowed to evolve in harmony with the land and sea around them, serve only to illustrate that grandiosity is rarely a substitute for beauty.

Even so, there is no lack of beauty in this volume, with Mr. Stallard lingering lovingly over hitherto secret, fantastical gardens, marshy ponds, beachside hotels, hidden coves, and especially wonderful shots of Bermuda's oldest edifices, the forts on Castle Island.

As Mr. Stallard notes in his introduction, luck always plays a part in the career of any photographer. In his case, it was on his side when he spotted the huge Horizon liner in St. George's, producing an unusual shot as he `spied' on the crowded pool deck, and a superb series of the luxury schooner Fleurtje , casting its regal shadow on a coruscating sea. Loveliest of all, perhaps, is his discovery of two small boats, both painted the palest of blues and floating in the calm emerald waters of Riddell's Bay.

Some of the most stunning pictures are `inland' and, again, serve to remind us of how stunningly beautiful Bermuda must have been before the developers' bulldozers moved into high gear. There are still a few, but only a few, tucked-away places where the earth, rich and red, ploughed and planted with rows of green crops is surrounded by thick forests and hedges of oleander. If nothing else, this book should prove, to those who need proof, that this beautiful island is already frighteningly over-developed.

Throughout, the quality of photography is quite superb, technical competence being complemented by the photographer's inborn sense of composition and colour.

PATRICIA CALNAN BERMUDA FROM THE AIR -- Photographer Scott Stallard, whose new book of aerial views of Bermuda has just been published.