Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History

Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History Feature

• ISBN13: 9780810959408
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History Overview

New York City's American Museum of Natural History is a national treasure, attracting four million visitors annually. Its dioramas-a dazzling mixture of nature, science, and art-have inspired young and old alike, and are world-renowned examples of the unique diorama craft: art in the service of science. Now, in the only book of its kind, readers get an insider's view of these "windows on nature," witnessing their creation step by meticulous step.

More than forty of the museum's finest dioramas are featured here, depicting the fauna and flora of myriad ecological environments. Stephen Quinn, a diorama artist at the museum, introduces the explorers, naturalists, painters, sculptors, taxidermists, and conservationists behind these three-dimensional marvels, and explains how their collaborations make the displays so lifelike. This enchanting book is the perfect gift for nature lovers, art enthusiasts, and museum goers everywhere.

Customer Reviews

My father introduced me to the wonders of the American Museum of Natural History at the age of five.The Hall of African Mammals was the highlight of my first interest in the 1930`s.The dinosaur exhibit and ocean life can capture the imagination and fascination of any child.
Windows on Nature is a must have in the library of any one with an interest in Natural History.

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Digital Restoration from Start to Finish, Second Edition: How to repair old and damaged photographs

Digital Restoration from Start to Finish, Second Edition: How to repair old and damaged photographs Overview

Digital Restoration: Start to Finish 2nd edition guides you step-by-step through the entire process of restoring old photographs and repairing new ones using Adobe Photoshop, Picture Window, and now Elements. Nothing is left out, from choosing the right hardware and software and getting the photographs into the computer, to getting the finished photo out of the computer and preserving it for posterity. 

LEARN HOW TO:
Scan faded and damaged prints or films
Improve snapshots with Shadow/Highlight adjustment
Correct uneven exposure
Fix color and skin tones quickly with Curves, plug-ins, and Hue/Saturation adjustment layers
Correct uneven exposure and do dodging and burning-in with adjustment layers
Hand-tint your photographs easily
Correct skin tones with airbrush layers
Clean up dust and scratches speedily and effectively
Repair small and large cracks with masks and filters
Eliminate tarnish and silvered-out spots from a photograph in just a few steps
Minimize unwanted print surface textures
Erase mildew spots
Eliminate dots from newspaper photographs
Increase sharpness and fine detailand
Maximize print quality

* NEW Photoshop Elements included for those that don't own Photoshop
* NEW layout to make it easier for you to understand the step-by-steps
* MORE solutions for you to solve the restoration problems you are facing

Customer Reviews

I've been reading this book for the past couple of weeks and am very nearly finished. It presents a lot of helpful tips and tricks laid out in an easy-to-follow format, and the writing is straightforward but not dry - I have found it to be quite entertaining reading for being a how-to manual, and it has re-energized my enthusiasm for photo restoration. I think it will be a much-used go-to book on my desk.

However, if you are new to Photoshop (like me: I've been using Jasc/Corel's programs forever, and have always found Adobe products off-puttingly daunting and clunky, but am now biting the bullet) or just getting used to CS4, there will be a little bit of frustration due to figuring out where some of the controls are. Often, Ctein tells how to do something, but not where to find the tools to do it. This isn't bad since it makes you have to figure it out (which is better than being spoon-fed), but it's something to be aware of if you're not wholly familiar with PS.

That is a minor downside, though, since most of the information presented would easily translate to other photo-editing programs.

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Leroy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s

Leroy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s Overview

Capturing the perfect wave

"The book has the effect of a time capsule, bringing back an era that continues to resonate for us in shades of Technicolor and black and white." - Los Angeles Times Book Review, Los Angeles

At a time when surfing is more popular than ever, it's fitting to look back at the years that brought the sport into the mainstream. Developed by Hawaiian islanders over five centuries ago, surfing began to peak on the mainland in the 1950s, taking America--and the world--by storm. Surfing became not just a sport, but a way of life, and the culture that surrounded it was admired and exported across the globe. One of the key image-makers from that period is LeRoy Grannis, a surfer since 1931, who began photographing the scene in California and Hawaii in the longboard Gidget era of the early 1960s.

Customer Reviews

This is one of the few coffee table books that can give you a rush of adrenalin just by flipping the page.

Leroy Grannis may not have been the sole architect of the late twentieth century surfing culture phenomenon, but he certainly was among the dozen or so people that projected the image of surfing beyond the enthusiasts to almost every nook and cranny of our globe. Kids in Omaha bought surfing-styled duds, listened to surfing music, and went to some really hideous Hollywood surfing movies. Grannis, and the publications that used his photography, took surfing away the beach and showed the landlocked how much fun they were missing.

Whether you lived the lifestyle, emulated the lifestyle, or just want to know how cultural trends can capture the imagination, this is a great book.
The Shut Mouth Society
The Shopkeeper

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David Busch's Canon EOS 5D Mark II Guide to Digital SLR Photography

David Busch's Canon EOS 5D Mark II Guide to Digital SLR Photography Overview

"David Busch's Canon EOS 5D Mark II Guide to Digital SLR Photography" is perfect for those new to digital photography or those who just want to make sure they get the most out of their Canon EOS 5D Mark II. The book is a complete guide to this digital SLR camera, including how to utilize the amazing 21 megapixels of resolution, enhanced high-ISO performance, and many other features unique to the 5D Mark II. After the introductory chapters designed to create familiarity with the camera, the book delves into various shooting situations and recommendations on how to get the best possible shots with full-color photos to illustrate each. Readers will discover a wealth of tips and information not found in the user's manual, so new users and pros alike will find "David Busch’s Canon EOS 5D Mark II Guide to Digital SLR Photography" an indispensable tool for achieving the best possible photographs.

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The Devil's Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood

The Devil's Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood Overview

Veteran film critic for The Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon presents a juicy inside look at the making of the Hollywood mega-flop Bonfire of the Vanities. Salamon reveals how success, fame, and enormous amounts of money can be catastrophically mismanaged for the sake of ego.

Customer Reviews

The Devil's Candy is the story of the making of The Bonfire of the Vanities. It is the best (and possible only) book in recent times to describe how a movie is made, in depth, from inception to casting to production to editing to screenings and focus groups through release and box office.

The subtitle, "The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco" is misleading. This is not a book that analyses why a movie production went wrong. It is a journalistic look at how a movie is made, any movie, and this book uses the example of the Bonfire of the Vanities because that happened to be the production Julie Salamon was invited to observe from beginning to end. Tellingly, the original version of the book was subtitled instead "Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood" and the new subtitle was obviously added for the paperback version to try to pump up sales.

Most of the other reviews have said this book is for industry insiders, but it isn't. For insiders, there is nothing new here. This book is for people on the outside who want to know how the movie industry works. And what we learn is that for all the glamour, movie production is mostly meetings and sitting around sets doing endless takes of scenes that eventually get cut.

Assuming you're interested in learning how Hollywood works, from the endless scouting of locations to who is responsible for carrying the director's thermos of coffee, you will be educated. This book, at more than 400 pages, goes into gory detail, from just about everyone's point of view, from the director to costume manager. It's written as you would expect from a journalist on the banking desk at the Wall Street Journal (before she became the movie critic) - straightforward, inclusive, and accurate, not the breathless style with plenty of italics and exclamation points characteristic of showbiz books. But it is also the weakness of the book. There is too much detail that isn't important, too much describing the color of every carpet in every room visited, what kind of shoes everyone wears, and who is holding De Palma's coffee thermos at at every moment, too many people's points of view to keep the narrative flowing.

Overall, if you're looking for a juicy, fast flowing story about Hollywood disaster, you will be entirely disappointed. However, if you want a textbook on how a movie gets made, want to learn how Hollywood really works, this is *the* book.

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