Photography eBooks for the iPad?

After Apple finally announced the iPad last week, I have been thinking of nice ways to use it for viewing pictures and photo-eBooks.

As a consumer, I am looking forward to hours of relaxed flickr-browsing, reading eBooks on photography and picture eBooks (like Neil Creek’s Australia roadtrip eBook). I love viewing photobooks, but sitting at my desk I have a hard time focusing on the pictures instead of checking email, reading articles etc… you know what I mean. While the iPad has a browser and email, sitting on the couch or lying on the bed makes all the difference for me. But there is something I’m even more excited about: a new way to show my photos.

Everyone wants to show his or her photography to as many people as possible. It’s the reason we are on flickr, write a photoblog, post on twitter and whatnot. The question is: what’s the most appealing way to make my photography available for iPad users? Sure, they could just read my photoblog. I might wait for a iPad photo viewer WordPress plugin (or modify shutterbox). But I could also try reaching out to iPad users by offering them free themed photo-eBooks sized just right for the 1024×768 4:3 iPad screen (this is where the native 4:3 aspect ratio of my Olympus E-620 DSLR comes in handy!).

Style, style, style. I’m sure offering iPad-optimized photo-eBooks would secure my reader’s attention far better than a blog like this ever can. Maybe he or she will even share it (I would publish under a creative commons BY-NC-SA license) with family and friends. They will hopefully find their way back to my website and more pictures by just clicking the link on the last page. So?

This leaves me with the question what software to use for designing the eBooks. I had a look at Scribus, but being the spoiled Mac user I have become in less than a year, I’d love a native application for this job and am open for suggestions. Pixelmator? Pages? NeoOffice?