Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting



This highly respected text, now in paperback (and now also for Kindle), has been thoroughly updated and revised. It introduces a logical theory of photographic lighting --- one that teaches beginning photographers to predict results before setting up lights. This is not primarily a how-to book with only set examples for photographers to follow. Rather, Light: Science and Magic provides the reader with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light to allow individual photographers to use lighting to express their own creativity. Numerous photographs and illustrations provide clear examples of the theories delineated within the text, while sidebars highlight special lighting questions.

Although styles of photographic lighting continue to change, Light: Science and Magic does not go out of fashion because it is not based on style; rather it is based on the behavior of light. These principles will not change until fundamental physics does.

*Now in paperback
*Highly respected text on lighting theory covering the principles, applications, and equipment for informed lighting decisions
*Sidebars highlight special lighting questions


Customer Review: Jam-Packed

This book is a terrific exposition about the science of light (in simple terms) and why it matters to photographers. It is so jam-packed with information I read it twice in one month! If you're looking for a book about the "best" films, cameras, lights, or other equipment, then don't buy this book. If, instead, you're looking for timeless book about lighting principles and how to handle difficult lighting situations, then this is the one for you.

Customer Review: The "handguide" to lighting well...

amazing users guide to the basic principles of how light falls upon subject matter. If you ever want to know how to create better images using better light, then start with this book.



the book is laid out in easy to understand chapters, image examples and lighting diagrams. I had no problems trying out many of the lighting scenarios discussed in the book.



Recommended, especially if you are studying photography in high school or college.

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Kindle, Photography, Light, Lighting

The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II

The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II


The battle for Moscow was the biggest battle of World War II -- the biggest battle of all time. And yet it is far less known than Stalingrad, which involved about half the number of troops. From the time Hitler launched his assault on Moscow on September 30, 1941, to April 20, 1942, seven million troops were engaged in this titanic struggle. The combined losses of both sides -- those killed, taken prisoner or severely wounded -- were 2.5 million, of which nearly 2 million were on the Soviet side. But the Soviet capital narrowly survived, and for the first time the German Blitzkrieg ended in failure.



This shattered Hitler's dream of a swift victory over the Soviet Union and radically changed the course of the war. The full story of this epic battle has never been told because it undermines the sanitized Soviet accounts of the war, which portray Stalin as a military genius and his people as heroically united against the German invader.



Stalin's blunders, incompetence and brutality made it possible for German troops to approach the outskirts of Moscow. This triggered panic in the city -- with looting, strikes and outbreaks of previously unimaginable violence. About half the city's population fled. But Hitler's blunders would soon loom even larger: sending his troops to attack the Soviet Union without winter uniforms, insisting on an immediate German reign of terror and refusing to heed his generals' pleas that he allow them to attack Moscow as quickly as possible. In the end, Hitler's mistakes trumped Stalin's mistakes.Drawing on recently declassified documents from Soviet archives, including files of the dreaded NKVD; on accounts of survivors and of children of top Soviet military and government officials; and on reports of Western diplomats and correspondents, The Greatest Battle finally illuminates the full story of a clash between two systems based on sheer terror and relentless slaughter.



Even as Moscow's fate hung in the balance, the United States and Britain were discovering how wily a partner Stalin would turn out to be in the fight against Hitler -- and how eager he was to push his demands for a postwar empire in Eastern Europe. In addition to chronicling the bloodshed, Andrew Nagorski takes the reader behind the scenes of the early negotiations between Hitler and Stalin, and then between Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. This is a remarkable addition to the history of World War II.




Customer Review: Mildly satisfying

The Greatest Battle is well worthwhile if only to focus our eyes on a monumental event that strangely has received lesser attention in this country than the battles of Stalingrad or Leningrad. At the same time, the author over-reaches in attempting to cover the thinking and strategies of two arch antagonists, the order of battle of two great armies, and the collatoral political and social upheaval. It's good but not great--more of an extended article than a book. The result is a worthwhile read that also leaves one wanting greater depth, analysis and understanding.


Customer Review: Thoroughly Engrossing Account of an Epic Battle

Nagorski has done a remarkable job telling the story of a pivotal aspect of WWII that many of us know very little about. The book is thoroughly engrossing, drawing you into this epic battle through historical narrative, behind-the-scenes insights and fascinating first-hand accounts.

Personal remark: might help to remedy and dismiss the legend of D-Day as the main event in "liberating" Europe and defeating the Nazis...

Start 2008 with a good laugh: Buddy Buddy

Buddy Buddy
Customer Review: Really funny!!

This is one of my favorite Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies. It is up there with the Fortune Cookie and other great ones.



Sadly this movie was never released in DVD. It needs to be.



Walter has really acted brilliantly here as a crusty professional assassin who keeps getting fouled up by the incompetent suicide attempter (Jack Lemmon).


(((oh, and this is NOT for Kindle... *lol*)))

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (A Marketplace Book)

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (A Marketplace Book)




Few investors have made and lost fortunes to equal those of the legendary Jesse Livermore, a notorious stock market speculator during the first half of the 20th century. Enjoy this highly readable, entertaining chronicle of one of history's boldest speculators.



Written in 1923 by Edwin Lefevre, this work is cleverly written as a narrative biography. Independent-minded investors today will enjoy and even profit by Lefevre's shrewd, witty book. His observations of human behavior and market trends are as wise and accurate now as they were 75 years ago. There is nothing new on Wall Street, Livermore observes, "Whatever happens in the stock market today has happened before and will happen again.



yeah, well, 'nuff said... Or 'nuff sad?
No matter. Some insights into an ugly world... Worth a look.

Stephen Hunter: The 47th Samurai (Kindle Edition)

The 47th Samurai: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel


In The 47th Samurai, Bob Lee Swagger, the gritty hero of Stephen Hunter's bestselling novels Point of Impact and Time to Hunt, returns in Hunter's most intense and exotic thriller to date. Bob Lee Swagger and Philip Yano are bound together by a single moment at Iwo Jima, 1945, when their fathers, two brave fighters on opposite sides, met in the bloody and chaotic battle for the island.



Only Earl Swagger survived. More than sixty years later, Yano comes to America to honor the legacy of his heroic father by recovering the sword he used in the battle. His search has led him to Crazy Horse, Idaho, where Bob Lee, ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, has settled into a restless retirement and immediately pledges himself to Yano's quest. Bob Lee finds the sword and delivers it to Yano in Tokyo. On inspection, they discover that it is not a standard WWII blade, but a legendary shin-shinto katana, an artifact of the nation. It is priceless but worth killing for.



Suddenly Bob is at the center of a series of terrible crimes he barely understands but vows to avenge. And to do so, he throws himself into the world of the samurai, Tokyo's dark, criminal yakuza underworld, and the unwritten rules of Japanese culture. Swagger's allies, hard-as-nails, American-born Susan Okada and the brave, cocaine-dealing tabloid journalist Nick Yamamoto, help him move through this strange, glittering, and ominous world from the shady bosses of the seamy Kabukicho district to officials in the highest echelons of the Japanese government, but in the end, he is on his own and will succeed only if he can learn that to survive samurai, you must become samurai.



As the plot races and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that a ruthless conspiracy is in place, and the only thing that can be taken for granted is that money, power, and sex can drive men of all nationalities to gruesome extremes. If Swagger hopes to stop them, he must be willing not only to die but also to kill.


Customer Review: The Samurai Sword

Imagine the bloody battle at Iwo Jima which a tough US Marine fought with a Japanese officer. The American survived and was highly decorated. He also took the Samurai sword of the Japanese officer. Fast forward 50 years. The son of the Japanese officer turned up in the States to look up the son of the US Marine named Bob Lee Swagger who was also an ex-US Marine, looking for the sword. Out of a sense of honor, Bob Lee Swagger found the sword and brought it to Japan. The sword turned out to be a legendary sword in Japanese history. With such a promising start, Stephen Hunter has delivered an exciting novel about Japanese culture, Samurai, Japanese sword, the Yakuza and of course, the CIA in Japan. The plot is fast moving. Hunter interspersed the novel with juicy tidbits about Japanese culture. It is like watching a movie and suspending belief. Like in many Hong Kong Kung Fu movies, Bob Lee Swagger learnt Japanese sword fighting in one week and was able to kill the Yakuza topmost assassin who was also their master swordsman.



The story of the 47 Ronin is one of the most celebrated in the history of the samurai. Ronin is a samurai without a master. This story is about Asano Takumi no kami Naganori (1667-1701). Lord Asano was chosen by the shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, to be one of a number of daimyo tasked with entertaining envoys from the Imperial family. Unfortunately Asano did not get along with the ranking master of protocol, Kira Kozukenosuke Yoshinaka (1641-1702). This interpersonal conflict came to a head in April, 1701 when Asano threw his sword at Kira. Kira was not wounded seriously. However, this was a serious matter and the Shogan ordered Asano to commit hara-kiri and all his lands in Harima confiscated. They were all buried in Sengakuji.



Asano's samurai were disbanded and became ronin. However they plotted together and on the snowy night of 14 December 1702, 47 of them marched to Kira's mansion. Kira was beheaded by the same sword that Asano used to kill himself. It is this sword that is the centre of Hunter's novel. They then carried Kira's head to Sengakuji, where Asano was buried. Then they turned themselves in. The ronins were ordered to commit suicide. The Legend of the 47 Samurai is very popular in Japan and many plays, novels, mangas and movies were based on it. The still a popular spot in Tokyo and a place who many feel were the finest examples of samurai loyalty to emerge from the Edo Period.



A good thriller with fast moving action packed scenes of Japanese sword fighting (first time I read about Japanese sword fighting action in English). I give it a four stars.

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Stephen Hunter, 47th Samurai, Ronin, Japanese Swordfighting, Samurai Sword