Book Description
This book explores the impact of Bloomsbury personalities on each other, as well as their legacy to the 21st century. Frances Spalding presents over twenty fascinating biographies, all of which are illustrated with paintings and intimate photographs created by members of the Group.
Book Description
Experts in photographing weddings with a journalistic eye provide their photographs and tips for taking spectacular and unique wedding photos. Michael Ayers, Frank Cava, Robert Cavalli, Frank A. Frost, Kelly Greer, Travis Hill, Elaine Hughes, Phil Kramer, Heidi Mauracher, Martin Schembri, Monte Zucker, and other master photojournalists offer advice on everything from lenses to lighting to photographing the preceremony excitement and the ceremony itself. In addition to tips and sample photographs, this book details the equipment, planning, and keen sense of observation needed to capture all the wonderful moments of the wedding.
Customer Reviews:
Must Have.......2007-08-23
If your doing weddings or want to start, this book is excellent. It will get you thinking outside the box.
Wonderful.......2007-07-09
It truly provides you great techniques and shows you how one can really take the best photos in a wedding
Worth every penny, even more........2007-06-08
This trade seems to be flooded with newcomers, and there's a number of authors that are taking advantage of them with publications of all kinds that are high on promise, yet weak on content. This book is NOT one of them. Profiling the techniques and personal philosophies of the trade's top photographers, it offers the Zen of great wedding photography. Inspiring, educating and one of the best stimulators to the creative mind available on the subject today. This is a top notch book with much to offer, even to the experienced professional. A refreshing change, and truly a high-dividend investment to any wedding photographer, regardless of experience level.
Very good book, especially for someone who has never done weddings or done only a few........2007-03-03
This book has good layout and detail of the photos included. Even though most of the pictures were taken with Nikon cameras, the subject doesn't change, it's still based on shooting weddings.
It starts with the pre-wedding planning and finishes with the album and it's design. (As most of the wedding photography books are) It's a fast read and has some good photos to learn from.
If you were an assistant to a photographer, you probably know more than this book covers, but it's a great start for anyone who's just begining.
Buy it for the pictures!.......2007-01-30
I really loved this book and read it avidly from cover to cover. However I found it pretty light on "technique" To my mind statements such as "it is a good idea to have a selection of white, silver, gold, and black reflectors" or "as your groups get bigger keep your depth of field under control" are a little broad and far too basic to be "technique"...I guess I expected something a bit more technical, though as I write this it seems overly picky. Never mind, it made up for that with the beautiful images, and it was a very interesting read, but it was more of a what you could do than a how to, if you get my meaning. I mean if you don't know which depth of field you should use in a group you probably shouldn't be photographing someones wedding!!
But again it gets top marks for looking at the unstaged philosophy of wedding photojournalism and backing that up with beautiful appropriate images.
Book Description
An all new sourcebook for Babylon 5: The Roleplaying Game including a new and ready-to-run campaign for Earthforce characters spanning the galaxy.
Book Description
After a multi-decade career helping readers to appreciate and laugh at the glories and oddities of our language, beloved language maven Richard Lederer has collected his very best pieces in Word Wizard, a career-capping anthology of essays to enlighten, inspire, and tickle the funny bone. From his hilarious collections of bloopers to his hymns of praise to English, these pieces are Lederers brightest gems. Word Wizard includes new essays as well as old favorites, a new introduction, and a new preface to each essay. With classics like The World According to Student Bloopers, English Is a Crazy Language, and The Case for Short Words, and new pieces such as The Way We Word, Word Wizard is sure to delight English lovers and Lederer fans everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
Well Done!.......2007-01-07
Well packed and arrived in a timely fashion. A pleasure to do business with.
"WORD WIZARD" TERRIFIC!.......2006-06-28
Internationally renowned linguist Richard Lederer has packed his new book, WORD WIZARD, with a collection of brilliant, side-splitting essays from many of his 30-plus books on word play, language idiosyncrasies and anomalies -- plus some brand new hilarious material. If you like to smile, chuckle and laugh, this masterwork is a must read. -- Tyler Kaus, author and former national magazine editor and advertising creative director
Book Description
The classic work on film directing, now fully revised for the millennium
with a foreword by James Garner
introduced by Robert Wise
The Boston Globe said The Film Director ìis more than a solid nuts-and-bolts textbook. It is a fascinating behind-the-kliegs look at the director's world. Backstage raved, At long last, a book about directing written by a successful full-time practitioner of the craft. The New York Times called The Film Director, "Interestingly written as a clear and well-illustrated handbook for the beginner", and Film Reviewer exclaimed "The aspiring director and the student could not find a more expert and practical guide to the mastering of the directorial craft".
Now, award-winning Hollywood director Richard L. Bare's invaluable work on craft and craftsmanship has been completely revised and updated for a new generation of filmmakers. In it, they will not only learn to direct, they will also perhaps more importantly ñ find out how to get a job directing.
A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at moviemaking, The Film Director uses firsthand examples from giants such as Hitchcock, Wilder, Kubrick, Stevens, and Vidor along with discussions of the working methods of Cameron, Scorsese, Spielberg, and Nichols. The mechanics and techniques of staging and handling the camera are examined, the art of keeping a story moving is explained, and working with actors so that they can give their personal best is analyzed as Bare did with the volume's foreword writer, James Garner, whom he discovered. Richard L. Bare brought George Lucas and Robert Altman to his Hollywood shoots so that they could see how industry professionals really work; now anyone who picks up this book can learn, too.
This is a must read for the beginning director on the way to a first big break, as well as for anyone interested in the challenges and triumphs of the director's art.
Customer Reviews:
good, but not great...........2006-09-19
I did enjoy reading this book but after a while Bare's stories about his more "famous" friends got a little tiresome. And I always found myself wondering, who is Richard Bare? Is he responsible for any of the greatest films of all time? The answer is no. In fact, Richard Bare's greatest achievement was directing all of the episodes of Green Acres. And that's it, most of credits are for television, not film. Personally, if I were to read a book about film directing, I'd like to read a book by a reknowned director, like David Mamet's "On Directing Film". Mamet was able to get through everything that goes into directing a film in a slim 107 page book. I'd recommend that book over this book any day.
LIKED it, but didn't LOVE it..........2002-01-29
The strength of this book is that Richard Bare tells a lot of very entertaining stories that he or other directors have had to face. In doing so, he engages the reader and invites us on his personal journey through his career in making motion pictures. In particular, his stories about Spielberg & Lucas are engaging. Also, I think that the chapter on the two different forms of acting was particularly good.
The weakness of this book is that it is more a collection of "war stories" applied to chapters that are supposed to be instructive. In other words, he has chapters including: "Camera as a directors tool", "working with a film editor", "creating a job for yourself", etc... however, these chapters are not particularly insightful in teaching one about the topic. Part of this is the result of being laid out in what feels like a random order, instead of each chapter building on the previous one. Additionally, the book gets bogged down in that it tries to cover so much that it is only successful superficially.
Again, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Thus, I would highly recommend it as a read to anyone that is seeking pleasure. However, if you are after the true "directors" insight... I would refer you to "Making Movies" by Sidney Lumet. "The Film Director" is to "Making Movies" as "Mobsters" is to "The Godfather".
This book ended my film career before it started!.......2001-09-07
In 1972, I was real excited about going to a film school and becoming a filmmaker. In the back of this book, there was a list of colleges offering film degrees. I chose one of those listed, the University of Oregon in Eugene. After a freshman year of fun, I went into my counselor and said I was ready to declare my major in film. "We don't have a film school here." he solemnly stated. "But it's in the book!" I exclaimed. I immediatly tried to get into UCLA, but the wait was 1 1/2 years. Thus endeth my pursuit of a film career (I'm now in TV advertising). I found this book recently in a bookstore and sure enough...it still lists U of Oregon as offering a film degree!!
Inspiring and Practical.......2000-10-03
Richard Bare does a tremendous job in inspiring the novice director giving him/her a down to earth look into what it takes to be a successful director. The insights and historical facts to the realities of movie making made me aware of the passion and courage many directors must have to bring their vision alive. Mr Bare is forthrite and yet encouraging in revealing the truths to what will make a great director. The book is practical and gives a step by step guide to the role the director must play in dealing with cast and crew from pre to post production. I highly recommend this book.
Very good, covers a lot of ground.......1999-05-16
This is a very good book. Bare's knowledge is from experience and is not garnished from other books. Well worth the price.
Average customer rating:
- Of incalculable benefit... Valuable for use and pleasure.
- Of incalculable benefit... Valuable for use and pleasure.
|
Concert Life in Puerto Rico, 1957-1992: Views and Reviews
Donald Thompson , and
Francis Schwartz
Manufacturer: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
History & Criticism
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0847703207 |
Customer Reviews:
Of incalculable benefit... Valuable for use and pleasure........1999-03-17
The benefit for an understanding of musical politics, for standards of performance, for audience civility and for musicology in general, has been incalculable, and it is hard to see how existing standards in any of these fields can be maintained, much less improved without continuous and patient prodding and the occasional outpouring of bile from such a source. Let music lovers, makers,administrators and editors, all please take note! " Concert Life in Puerto Rico" is therefore valuable for use and imporvement but also for pleasure. Who can resist a book that contains cracks like, "the orchestra sounded like a faulty zipper," or that compares the first act of Tosca to La Boheme played backwards?!
Of incalculable benefit... Valuable for use and pleasure........1999-03-17
The benefit for an understanding of musical politics, for standards of performance, for audience civility and for musicology in general, has been incalculable, and it is hard to see how existing standards in any of these fields can be maintained, much less improved without continuous and patient prodding and the occasional outpouring of bile from such a source. Let music lovers, makers,administrators and editors, all please take note! " Concert Life in Puerto Rico" is therefore valuable for use and imporvement but also for pleasure. Who can resist a book that contains cracks like, "the orchestra sounded like a faulty zipper," or that compares the first act of Tosca to La Boheme played backwards?!
Average customer rating:
|
Snappy Jazzy Jewelry
Katie Gayle , and
Jacqueline Russon
Manufacturer: Sterling Pub Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Decorative Arts
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Crafts & Hobbies
| Arts & Music
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Crafts & Hobbies
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Jewelry
| Crafts & Hobbies
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0806938544 |
Book Description
"...craft-hungry girls...will find this book filled with doable ideas....Showy and jazzy are the perfect words to describe Gayle's wild designs, most of which can be constructed without too much difficulty..."--Booklist. "A delightful, enthusiastic, and colorful craft book requiring inexpensive and easily obtainable materials....Kids can make many of these pieces of jewelry with little or no help or supervision....numerous full-color photos, illustrations, and diagrams...help interpret the written directions....chock-full of great ideas for art teachers, scout leaders, and craft kids."--School Library Journal. "Tin cans, buttons, clay and plastic bags are only a few of the materials used...Instructions for more than 60 easily made projects are illustrated with bright color photographs and small drawings."--PW. 48 pages (all in color), 9 1/2 x 11 1/2.
Average customer rating:
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Snappy Jazzy Jewelry
Gayle
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ON143K |
Book Description
A snapshot of today's B2B selling environment: Sales cycles are chaotic and getting ever longer. It is impossible to predict results and plan for the future. Customer bases are eroding. Satisfaction and retention rates are dropping, and customer relationships are not expanding.
In The Prime Solution, author Jeff Thull presents sellers with the integrated, cross-functional approach required to develop and deliver compelling whole solutions, and profit in today's complex B2B environment.
The Prime Solution leads B2B sellers through major components of the value promise system, such as the creation, marketing, selling, implementing, and measurement of whole solutions, or prime solutions, that fully deliver on their promise to customers.
The Prime Solution shows sellers how to turn value fulfillment into a core competency, because they've helped customers understand and achieve the full value of the products and services they've purchased. The power of this model rests in closing the ""value gap"", or that frustrating division often created by sellers who have either been unable or unwilling to fulfill the promises they've made about their products, and by customers who are unwilling or unable to comprehend the total value received.
Author Jeff Thull describes a disciplined, ""all-hands"" approach that involves all the teams in an organization connected to the customer: R&D, marketing, sales, and service. This practical, whole solutions approach has been used with astonishing success by small to midsized companies as well as major corporations worldwide.
Whether in technology, manufacturing, professional services, health care, or finance, this is a guide for professionals involved in creating, marketing, and delivering complex B2B products and services. Senior management, sales and marketing managers, technical specialists, product managers, customer service and account managers will find new ideas and tactical solutions in The Prime Solution that will go a long way in closing the ""value gap"" and increasing revenue.
Customer Reviews:
This book is a MUST HAVE.......2007-10-04
I couldn't put this one down!!! I am in a "complex sales" industry and the group that I head up are working on implementing Jeff Thull's Prime Solutions, based upon his Diagnostic Business Development system.
I read "Mastering the Complex Sale" (another must read), and will be diving into Jeff's other book, "Exceptional Selling"
I know for a fact that the information that I garnered from "Prime Solutions" will be our differentiating factor from our competition and will put us into the leadership quadrant of IT consulting companies here in our region.
Thanks Jeff for a great book!!!!!
Cheers
Michael Keen
Sr Solutions Architect
Enteprise Architecture Group
Insightful!.......2005-07-06
Jeff Thull is a highly regarded consultant whose client list reads like a who's who of big business. He is also the author of the insightful book, Mastering the Complex Sale. Does this new volume live up to the promise of that one? It depends on what you are seeking. Given that its title, The Prime Solution, sounds like a brand of steak sauce, be prepared to chew your way through terms like "decision acuity" (i.e., help your clients understand what's really going on), "solution opportunities" (i.e., answers) and "value promise delivery" (i.e., implementation). Such stylistic nuisances aside, the book diagnoses and documents a "value gap," the shortfall between the value that buyers receive versus what they feel they bought. Thull attributes this gap primarily to flaws in how providers of business-to-business products design, sell and execute their complex "solutions" or offerings. He suggests ways to address those flaws, along with many useful cases and good practical advice for consultants, particularly in the last three chapters. We recommend this book to experienced consultants who sell solutions. Our one caveat: just don't beef about the vocabulary.
Thull's Masterpiece (Thus Far).......2005-04-04
Many of the same core concepts in this book were previously discussed in Thull's Mastering the Complex Sale: How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High! However, what we have here is a much sharper focus on two of the three objectives specified in the subtitle: close the value gap and increase margins while winning the complex sale. In the Foreword, Greg Lewin does a skillful job of explaining the need for this sequel, offering his own conclusions about customer value: "[begin italics] First, value should be added to the customer's entire business, not just a specific part of it...Second, the value created for your customer should be easily identified and owned by your customer...Third -- and this is the main objective of Thull's Prime Solution -- the value you promise must be delivered...Fourth, the `secret sauce' is the heart and soul of your organization -- the people! [end italics]" According to Thull, Prime Solutions deliver optimal results which leverage value to the highest level of each customer's business, ensure that customers are provided with the best answer to the given problem, and provide solution implementation and value-enhancement strategies that enable customers to achieve the ROI that they anticipated.
Presumably Thull agrees with me that getting beyond customer satisfaction and even loyalty to what is widely referred to as "customer evangelism" requires that what he calls "robust solutions" must be provided consistently, time and again, whatever questions must be answered, whatever problems must be solved. To sustain that relationship, therefore, Thull recommends three separate but interdependent protocols: value maximization of product, process, and performance; decision acuity which enables customers to recognize -- and thereby appreciate -- the tangible benefits of the solution(s) provided; and optimization of a measurable ROI. I agree with Thull that what he calls the Prime Solution Cycle (please see pages 179-194) requires a cross-functional effort; that is, communication, cooperation, and collaboration between and among all areas within the provider's organization.
In Part I, Thull explores the environment in which complex solutions must compete. Then in Part II, he shifts his attention to an analysis of how to translate the demands of that environment into the three protocols which define, guide, and inform prime solutions. Finally, in Part III, Thull responds to a question which each reader is probably asking as she or he arrives at page 125: "How can my organization develop and then deliver prime solutions to our own customers?" Four chapters are devoted to Thull's response. First, he recommends a process of discovery and engagement which will reveal opportunities among those prospects currently experiencing insufficiency of the value offered. Next, diagnose and quantify what is needed. Then, design and produce what will fill (solve) the given need. Finally, deliver, measure, and improve on the solution(s) In this context, I am reminded of Neil Rackham's acronym, SPIN, which suggests the nature and sequence of diagnostic questions to be asked to determine the Situation; Problem(s) to be solved; Implications (i.e. benefits of solution or negative consequences of non-solution); and Need fulfillment, immediate and on-going). Actually, once having carefully explained the diagnostic phase, Thull goes far beyond it. After the determination of need(s), HOW to design and produce a "robust" solution with cross-functional communication, cooperation, and collaboration? How to market it? How to deliver it? And then, how to ensure that the given customer derives maximum ROI...and knows it? Thull's answers to these questions will guide and inform his reader
When concluding this brief commentary as I have with others, I now presume to offer caveats. First, beware of what Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton characterize as "The Knowing-Doing Gap" in the book which bears that title. More often than not, decision-makers fail to convert knowledge into action to achieve the desired results. In this context, I am reminded of Coach Darrell Royal's assertion that "potential" means "you ain't done it yet." By all means absorb and digest the information and counsel which Thull provides in abundance. You and your associates must then focus together on formulating and then providing what each customer needs. Also, when seeking buy-in within your organization, expect to encounter resistance to change initiatives. For example, resistance which Jim O'Toole characterizes in his book, Leading Change, as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." If I understand Thull correctly (and I may not), he urges his reader to think in terms of cross-functional teamwork which involves customers as well as everyone within the provider's organization. Granted, that is an ambitious objective but I wholly agree with him that it is also an "achievable reality."
Making the Complex Sale Work for Both Parties.......2005-02-21
Some sales are not complex. You need gasoline and you find a station based on location or price or perhaps a brand name. But other sales are much more complex. When you are selling a product that doesn't yet exist, Boeing's next airplane perhaps, or Intel's next computer chip the task is much more difficult. You have to sell yourself, you have to sell your company's history, and the buyer has to make a decision based on other factors such as past experience with the company.
The problems come when the seller presents a value proposition, and the customer buys, that the resulting solution cannot deliver.
This book continues the story begun by the author in his best seller, Mastering the Complex Sale. It could well be titled, Delivering the Promise Made in the Complex Sale. The book is filed with stories from the real world where complex sales have paid off for both the seller and buyer.
Well written and informative.
Turning Sales Promises into Reality for Systems Vendors.......2005-02-11
The Prime Solution begins with the simple observation that most complex products and services that are provided to business customers either fail to work at all . . . or fall well short of the sales promises upon which the investments were made. Anyone who has been near a major corporation knows that sad reality.
The Prime Solution goes past that sorry track record to suggest in detail how vendors need to change their sales, product and service offerings to become effective in terms of the customers' realities.
I thought that the book went beyond what I had read before on this subject. Basically, you need a new business model that customizes what you do for each customer (like Dell does) and fills in for any weaknesses that customers have in using what you offer (either by offering the necessary training . . . or becoming an outsourcing supplier).
The positive examples, unfortunately, were few and far between. Based on my own research I know that there are a lot more examples. I suspect that Mr. Thull wanted to use examples as illustrations rather than to give readers a broad view of what can be done.
The negative examples were almost all in the systems and process areas (such ERP and CRM) so I felt like this book would mean the most to those who are systems providers or integrators.
The book has several weaknesses that limit its potential value. First, there's a lot of repetition. You will hear about value gaps repeatedly . . . more than you want or need. John Kotter's book is almost a "seminal" one. And so on.
Second, most of the book is taken up with describing where selling and value delivery used to be . . . and shouldn't be any more. This material should have been edited down by about 80 percent.
Third, most of the benefit in the book comes from the last three chapters. It would have been nice if that material could have been developed in more detail with more examples. As a result, you may feel like you are reading a book with content about equal to 2-3 business magazine articles rather than a whole book.
However, any systems provider whose sales force is still selling unfounded promises for organizations that haven't taken the time to figure out how to really help customers will certainly learn a lot of useful lessons for this book. Let's hope those firms make this book required reading.
Books:
- Buddhist Reliquaries from Ancient India
- Building Ohio: A Traveler's Guide to Ohio's Urban Architecture (An Orange Frazer Roadbook)
- Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms: Third Revised Edition
- By Appointment Only: Writings on Art and Art Dealing
- Catalogue of the Drawings of Parmigianino (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures)
- Catalogue of the Tiepolo Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum
- Cellblock Visions
- Cezanne: The Late Work
- China's Renaissance in Bronze: The Robert H. Clague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes, 1100-1900
- Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Mechanics of Flight
- Kindness: A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents
- Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose
- Lest Darkness Fall & Bring the Light
- History: Fiction or Science
- Introduction to Computational Chemistry
- Nazi Millionaires: The Allied Search for Hidden SS Gold
- Life in the Cold: An Introduction to Winter Ecology
- Lincoln's Admiral: The Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut
- Golden Poppies of California: Incelebration of Our State Flower
Snapshots of Bloomsbury: The Private Lives of Virginia Woolf And Vanessa Bell
Bloomsbury Recalled
Bombay to Bloomsbury: A Biography of the Strachey Family
The Letters of Lytton Strachey
Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Garden
