Digital Enhancement for Landscape Photographers

Book Description

Even with the latest and greatest cameras and equipment, rarely does everything come together to capture a landscape to perfection. But using only a PC or Mac, the most basic image software, and these smart techniques, you can turn everyday snapshots miraculously professional. Thirty-two simple projects, all illustrated with "screen grabs" (pictures of the computer screen, taken at key stages), as well as before and after images, show exactly what a difference digital technology can make. The projects grow progressively more difficult, allowing photographers to learn and develop their skills at their own pace.

Customer Reviews:

A Poor Choice for Digital Photographers.......2003-12-12

This book is at best a beginner introduction to digital photography and Photoshop. The author shows how he "enhanced" a range of photos using Photoshop. In many cases, the enhancements are questionable and/or so subtle as to make little difference to the result. I learned nothing from it. There are far, far better books available for digital photographers who wish to learn how to use Photoshop to enhance their photos. Give this one a pass.

Book Description

When Tony and his TV crew find themselves shooting in an actual haunted house, all hell threatens to break loose. Locked into the house overnight, can Tony keep the diabolical controling spirit from turning the crew against one another in an orgy of blood?

Customer Reviews:

What To Do When Your Ghosts Refuse to Stop Dying.......2007-08-09

Smoke and Mirrors is the middle novel in the Smoke trilogy which tells the continuing story of two characters from Tanya Huff's Blood... series. Henry Fitzroy is a vampire, retired nobility and romance writer who, with lover/friend Tony Foster, has moved to Vancouver. Tony is the real star of these stories - grown up from a trouble making street kid into an adult determined to make his way in the city's vibrant filmmaking business. Tony has landed a job as junior assistant gofor in the production company of a vampire detective TV series. A production company with a knack for falling into supernatural traps.

Tony discovered that he has the makings of being a wizard in the previous volume. Despite this potential, Tony really just wants to be your basic production assistant with a cute boyfriend. Unfortunately, life (or rather, unlife) has different plans for him. Sure enough, when the company rents a spooky old house to film in for a week you can bet that it's not just the atmosphere that is spooky. A whole host of ghosts lurk in the corners re-enacting their violent endings. It seems that the house has a particularly unpleasant history. Lurking in the basement is something that wants everyone to die screaming and fuels its effort to ruin the neighborhood.

Tony, as a neophyte wizard is the only one who is aware of all that is going on. In short order he is trying to keep everyone alive (fails), keep the cameras running (fails), and get the ghost problem under control (fails). Henry flies to the rescue, but this is a locked house crisis, and the simple fact is that Tony must work through his personal issues and solve the mystery of the strange force in the basement all on his own - or with the aid of a few helpful ghosts and some very paranoid movie people.

Tanya Huff is too well established a writer for it to be necessary for me to laud her skills. Smoke and Mirrors, like all the volumes before, continues to present an approach to the vampire/supernatural thriller that combines an intelligent story and good characters into a whole that will always please a reader interested in more than blood oriented bodice rippers. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume, and believe that you will quickly become a fan if you aren't already.

Best one of the trilogy.......2007-08-06

I loved this installment to Huff's Smoke trilogy. Tony and crew head to a real haunted house to an episode for the series Darkest Night. Although, some may view the haunted house as a cliche, I loved the irony of it. The jaded view of the film industry was so funny. I laughed out loud many times throughout the book.

well done.......2007-06-26

I have read several reviews complaining about this book and the series in general, the focus of disappointment being Tony, the main character, supposedly dull and uninteresting.

Tony is a young adult (in Ms Huff's fiction he is 24), not particularly educated, a past of street urchin and gay hustler. Within the set circumstances the author makes a full rounded character of him, giving him depth and consistency. He does not behave the way I would, but I am 37, college educated with a sound family in my past and no addicting relationship with a 450 y.o. powerful vampire who is not able to really let me go in my present.

Of course I am annoyed at him at times (as if he were real - good job Ms Huff!) and I am annoyed at Ms Huff's throwing him in the arms of several men to keep the sexual tension of the story from abating.

An extremely skilled writer would have been able to stick to Tony's crush for the handsome Lee making meaningless one night stands of the others.

A better author would have given us better rounded side characters and more thrill in the depiction of the haunted house.

Ms Huff is good and gives us instead a no nonsense no problem quick read, well crafted and entertaining, at least for those readers who like supernatural/fantasy/vampire fiction and make no fuss about gay characters.

Funny & Frightening Paranormal Adventure.......2007-04-03

Smoke and Mirrors, by Tanya Huff, is the second book in her new Tony Foster series, highlighting the mystical adventures of a production assistant (and junior wizard) who occasionally pals around with vampire Henry Fitzroy in his off time. The first book was quite good; the second book is fantastic. A traditional "haunted house" story, it simply explodes beyond the confines of the genre, primarily through the strength of Huff's writing and characterization. Fans of shows like Forever Knight or Buffy: the Vampire Slayer or even Blood Ties--based on the Vickie Nelson/Henry Fitzroy series by Huff--may find great pleasure in the affectionate skewering of the type in this book. Smoke and Mirrors has a wry sense of humor. It's laugh-out-loud funny in some places and genuinely horrific in others, manipulating reader's emotions deftly as Tony and his hapless companions set out to save the day.

Some readers, I know, have been disturbed by the fact that Huff's hero is gay--unabashedly so--and some reviewers have mentioned discomfort with Tony's active, on-page love life. I personally found nothing distasteful about Tony's interactions with other men, which are no more explicit than I've encountered in many other books of this type and *considerably less so* than some (Laurell K. Hamilton, anyone?). If the idea of men kissing is a buzz-killer for you, you probably ought to look for another series. For me, the protagonist's keen interest in his love life just contributes to his three-dimensional nature. I find him charming.

Smoke and Mirrors dazzled me from very nearly the first page, and I read the whole with tremendous pleasure. It goes on my "enthusiastically recommend" list, and I will be looking forward tremendously to my opportunity to read Installment 3.

The Show MUST go on..........2007-02-13

The house was great for the next episode of Darkest Night and CB Productions had rented it for the whole week. It was the perfect turn of the century, last century, mansion and was a great setting for the ghost story.
Only problem Tony Foster had with it was that it really had ghosts. Lots of ghosts. Many who had died in the house. The house, or something in the house, fed off the ghosts. And it wanted more food.
Now Tony, without Henry Fitzroy to help him, must find out what is going on, get the rest of the crew to listen to him and get out using his knowledge of how the house works and what magic he knows. Before too many people die.
Dark humor, not that scary unless reading it at night, good, dirty, fun. In some ways I enjoyed this more than Smoke And Shadows.

Steam, Smoke and Steel: Back in Time With Trains

Average customer rating:

A great book for my son and me
El
Innovative and Entertaining Presentation of Train History
Trains,Trains,Trains

Steam, Smoke and Steel: Back in Time With Trains
Patrick O'Brien
Manufacturer: Charlesbridge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0881069698

Book Description

All aboard for a history of America's trains! The hissing steam, billowing smoke, and sleek steel engine of the train have long captured the imagination. In this informative book, a young boy looks back through time to give a guided tour of his family's history on the railroad. Each generation is introduced by a detailed illustration of a train of the era. Facts and anecdotes about trains and the people who make them run follow each showcased locomotive. Discover how steam engines work, learn why a brakeman's job is so dangerous, and even witness a train robbery in this tribute to that nostalgic, enduring, and fascinating mode of transportation--the train.

Customer Reviews:

A great book for my son and me.......2007-05-08

This a great story of the history of trains as seen through the eyes of a family of engineers. Well written and the artwork is fantastic. A recommended read.

El.......2005-09-15

My little newphew loves, loves trains. At this time this is his favorite train book. We read only every other page. The other pages are to long, but he loves it. And I like the theme of the story.

Innovative and Entertaining Presentation of Train History.......2004-08-07

When my son found this book at the local library, I couldn't wait to write a gushing review. I am really delighted with this book. The more we read it together, the more impressed I am with the author and illustrator.

This book is organized so that you go back in time, viewing the trains of earlier and earlier generations. (This is much more interesting than it sounds. Stay with me!) The narrator is a boy who says that when he goes up, he wants to drive a train like his dad. Then we hear about how his dad also wanted to be an engineer because that is what HIS father was, and so forth. We are brought back in time all the way to the earliest American trains (and the boy's great great great great great grandfather--kids love the repetition too). The final scene is a futuristic train that the boy imagines driving when he grows up.

Every other page spread on the book contains short text about a child wanting to drive trains like his father (or mother in one case!) and a gorgeous illustration of a train. If you look carefully, you'll see that every scene is shown from the exact same vantage point, with the same mountains in the background. Not only do the trains change, but so do the stations, the tracks, and the buildings around them. The illustration style is lush, and every one of these images features a different cat somewhere in the scene. My son loves to search for them.

The alternating page spreads contain extended text and additional images about the era of train history depicted on the previous page. I have read many, many books on trains because my son gobbles up anything we can find on them, and yet I learned many new things from this book. For instance, did you know that when multiple engines are used to pull a train, they are called a "consist"? Or that brakemen on old trains had to run along the tops of the cars to set the brakes on each one manually? The level of detail is not a whole lot greater than most other non-fiction train books for kids, but it seems to find the most unique and telling details.

I would recommend this book for any train child ages 3 and up. You won't mind reading this one over and over. For younger children, just read the text on alternating pages and the captions of the pictures on the more detailed sections.

Trains,Trains,Trains.......2001-01-25

I checked this book out at the library, and now have to purchase it for a nephew who loves trains. It is a great book that details the history of trains, but adds in a story (a family with many generations working on the trains) to keep the interest of children. Beautiful illustrations with a cat on every page my kids had to find.

Average customer rating:

Smokejumper one to ten
Brilliantly Written and Illustrated

Smokejumpers One to Ten

Manufacturer: Margaret K. McElderry
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0689841205

Book Description

ONE lightning bolt, in a flash, strikes a tree.

TWO pilots radio in what they see.

THREE rings, the dispatcher answers the call.

FOUR eager smokejumpers race down the hall.

What are smokejumpers?

They are trained wildland firefighters who parachute into remote areas to extinguish fires. They are men and women who are on the front lines fighting forest and wildfires in order to save the environment from fire destruction. They are strong, dedicated, and brave.

With action-packed pictures and a simple, informative text, volunteer firefighter and fine artist Chris L. Demarest shows us how smokejumpers perform their unusual and difficult job of keeping all of us safe.

Customer Reviews:

Smokejumper one to ten.......2007-01-16

My two year old grandson loves the book. His parents are smokejumpers and not only does he look at the book he also names the jumpers using his parents name but he also can count and repeat some of the words on his own. He knows the story well. He use to take his sisters book to his room all the time how he has his own. It gets used a lot. The book contains some inaccurate information in what the smokejumpers are doing.

Brilliantly Written and Illustrated.......2003-05-22

I must say that I was apprehensive about a book about smokejumping. My 3 and 5 year old sons are the progeny of former smokejumper parents. They really know smokejumping! Since they loved Firefighters A to Z I knew we had to get this book, though.
Needless to say we weren't disappointed. The illustrations are large, brilliant, and true to life in their portrayal of the work of the smokejumper. The text is accurate, simple, yet elegantly descriptive. Oh yes! And the kids love to count along with the pictures and text. My son brought this one (proudly) to preschool and it quickly became such a favorite amongst the kids that the the teacher had to purchase her own copy for the school.

Africa - Up in Smoke 2: The Second Report on Africa and Global Warming from the Working Group on Climate Change and Development

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Africa - Up in Smoke 2: The Second Report on Africa and Global Warming from the Working Group on Climate Change and Development
John Magrath , and Andrew Simms
Manufacturer: Oxfam Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 190488217X

Book Description

Too much or too little rain can be a matter of life or death in Africa. At different times and in different places across the continent, climate change threatens both. This briefing brings up-to-date the original report from the Working Group on Climate Change and Development, Africa--Up in Smoke?, released in 2005.

The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Sinister Smoke Ring (Berenstain Bear Scouts)

Average customer rating:

The Smoke Lesson by Chris C. Geneva, NY
Corny dated book bores kids to tears
Pretty Good

The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Sinister Smoke Ring (Berenstain Bear Scouts)
Stan Berenstain
Manufacturer: Apple (Scholastic)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0590944738

Customer Reviews:

The Smoke Lesson by Chris C. Geneva, NY.......2003-02-05

Book Title: The Berenstine Bears

In this book the Berenstein Bears are trying to stop Smokey the Moose from selling tobacco to children. Four children and their papa bear went out to stop the moose. On their way they found two kids,Joe and Sammy, smoking the Mooses' tobacco that he sold to them. The children had a meeting with Smokey to try to get him to stop selling tobacco to small kids and adults, but the meeting didn't work. finally the children and the papa decided to get the police involved.

I think this book was very good. It tells children that they should not smoke. Sometimes things look cool because the person selling them looks cool, but it can kill you. I think the children were smart to go after someone who is bad on the inside that was selling things that could hurt them. You should buy this book for your children because it teaches them how harmful smoking can be.

Corny dated book bores kids to tears.......2001-11-28

This book is extremely out-of-date and cheesy in its depiction of Bad Guys Who Smoke. The only reason I read it to my son was because it was assigned by the school (who'd gotten free copies from the state. I can see why they were free). I would urge people NOT to bother buying this book. Of course kids shouldn't smoke, but I think this book will backfire with its corny lingo that was fit for another era. Smoking stinks, but let's find a more up-to-date way to tell our kids.

Pretty Good.......2001-08-16

It teachs kids about smoking and peer preasure. It has a pretty good moral except it has brother bear (eight or nine) smoking which is pretty well.. extremely unrealistick. Except for that it is pretty good, except the action is only in the last 1 or 2 chapters.

Crowtet 2: Second-Hand Smoke & the Lesser Magoo (Green Integer, 62)

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Crowtet 2: Second-Hand Smoke & the Lesser Magoo (Green Integer, 62)
Mac Wellman
Manufacturer: Green Integer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1931243719

Book Description

These two plays are the second of Wellman's award-winning quartet of plays involving, in one way or another, characters who have taken up with or have been highly influenced by birds-particularly crows of the nation of Rational Biped. With wit, humor, nostalgia, and just plain American orneriness, Wellman's second quartet will delight readers and theater-goers alike.

Living in Brooklyn, New York, Mac Wellman teaches at Brooklyn College. He has had over 40 plays produced and has won major awards for his work including several Obies, McKnight and Rockerfeller Foundation grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim foundation. His most recent novel is Q's Q, published by Green Integer earlier this year.

Theatre of Tennessee Williams Volume 2: Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Summer and Smoke, the Rose Tatoo, Camino Real (Theatre of Tennessee Williams)

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Theatre of Tennessee Williams Volume 2: Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Summer and Smoke, the Rose Tatoo, Camino Real (Theatre of Tennessee Williams)
Tennessee Williams
Manufacturer: New Directions Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0811211363

The Phone Book: Instant Communication From Smoke Signals to Satellites and Beyond ...

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The Phone Book: Instant Communication From Smoke Signals to Satellites and Beyond ...
Elizabeth MacLeod
Manufacturer: Kids Can Press, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1550742205

2 HBs by Shana Abe: The Dream Thief & The Smoke Thief

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2 HBs by Shana Abe: The Dream Thief & The Smoke Thief
Shana Abe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V0AC3O

Product Description

Hardbacks

2 LITLE SURVIVING THE BREAKUP & BEYOND DIVORCE

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2 LITLE SURVIVING THE BREAKUP & BEYOND DIVORCE
JUDITH S. WALLERSTEIN , and JIM SMOKE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000U5TU60

Product Description

TWO BOOKS * BEYOND DIVORCE THE POSSIBILITIES OF REMARRIAGE ** SURVIVING THE BREAKUP. THE BOOK THAT REVOLUTIONOZED AMERICA'S THINKING ABOUT CHILDREN AND DIVORCE.

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