Amateurs wedding photographers & portrait photographers of all kinds learn how to maximise the beauty of natural light in this first-ever technique book from acclaimed photographer Elizabeth Messina. Natural light is by far the favourite choice of most amateur wedding & portrait photographers but many stick to conventional approaches leaving the myriad gorgeous possibilities of natural light unexplored. This first-ever book by popular wedding lifestyle & portrait photographer Elizabeth Messina shares her secrets on capturing flattering natural light in any lighting scenario to create luminous portraits that appear lit from within. ...

This is the second book in The Lunar Chronicles" series by Marissa Meyer. This is not the fairytale you remember. But it's one you won't forget. Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. The police have closed her case. The only person Scarlet can turn to is Wolf a street fighter she does not trust but they are drawn to each other. Meanwhile in New Beijing Cinder will become the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive
- when she breaks out of prison to stay one step ahead of vicious Queen Levana. As Scarlet & Wolf expose one mystery they encounter Cinder & a new one unravels. Together they must challenge the evil queen who will stop at nothing to make Prince Kai her husband her king her prisoner... Red Riding Hood-meets-Percy Jackson in a thrilling new spin on Grimm by Marissa Meyer the author of " Cinder"."
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In the 1760s a group of amateur experimenters met & made friends in the Midlands. Most came from humble families all lived far from the centre of things but they were young & their optimism was boundless: together they would change the world. Among them were the ambitious toy-maker Matthew Boulton & his partner James Watt of steam-engine fame; the potter Josiah Wedgewood; the larger-than-life Erasmus Darwin physician poet inventor & theorist of evolution (a forerunner of his grandson Charles). Later came Joseph Priestley discoverer of oxygen & fighting radical. With a small band of allies they formed the Lunar Society of Birmingham (so called because it met at each full moon) & kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Blending science art & commerce the Lunar Men" built canals launched balloons named plants gases & minerals changed the face of England & the china in its drawing rooms & plotted to revolutionize its soul. This exhilarating account uncovers the friendships political passions love affairs & love of knowledge (and power) that drove these extraordinary men. It echoes to the thud of pistons & the wheeze & snort of engines & brings to life the tradesmen artisans & tycoons who shaped & fired the modern age." ...

Deep within the heart of the Moiraean Mountains lies the town of Opum Oppidulum
- home to the freezing Lake Beluarum & it's rumoured
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Join the wonderfully weird Otherhand family & their faithful guardian Edgar the raven & discover the dark secrets of Castle Otherh&. Solstice & Cudweed are appalled to find their father has appointed a new school master. But things get even worse when the grumpy viciously mean teacher actually arrives. The Otherhand children are sure theres something more to him than meets the eye
- the trouble is who will believe them? No one it seems. Except perhaps Edgar. Winner of the 2011 Blue Peter Book Award for Most Fun Story With Pictures LUNATICS & LUCK is the third story in this hilarious six book mystery series (with a touch of goth-froth) for 9 year olds from bestselling author Marcus Sedgwick with quirky black & white line illustrations from new talent Pete Williamson. Dedicated website on Raven Mysteries: www.ravenmysteries.co.uk
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This excellent new book tells the story of the Lancashire witches in detail fleshing out the characters & events in a way which really helps us to understand what sort of people they were & what their world was like at the time of their persecution. Uniquely the author also explores how the witches have been portrayed through the centuries revealing that their image has changed dramatically over the 400 years since the infamous trials. In folklore literature art theatre & elsewhere they have been variously seen as demons objects of pity figures of fun cartoonish caricatures & beautiful temptresses. But what has remained constant is our fascination with them. The lure of the Lancashire witches it seems is as strong as ever. ...

Is he the man to melt the ice queen? Nothing in Sydney Haywards background of wealth & privilege has prepared her to take the helm of her familys company. The pressure leaves no room for complications... Mikhail Stanislaski is definitely a complication. The rugged carpenter comes from a world so different to her own & he challenges her on every decision she makes. Sydney likes being in control & shes keeping her distance from Mikhail
- but opposites cant help attracting!
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No artist has been more ruthlessly driven by his creative urge nor more isolated by it from most ordinary sources of human happiness than Vincent Van Gogh. A painter of genius his life was an incessant struggle against poverty discouragement madness & despair. Lust for Life skilfully captures the exciting atmosphere of the Paris of the Post-Impressionists & reconstructs with great insight the development of Van Goghs art. The painter is brought to life not only as an artist but as a personality & this account of his violent vivid & tormented life is a novel of rare compassion & vitality. ...

Great for boys with a huge collectability factor bolstered by the cards in the back of the books & links to an excellent interactive website. Something horrible lurks in the Yellow Marshes! Malvel has created Lustor the Acid Dart to fight Tom. This giant Beast can shoot acid
- & his aim is fixed on Tom! Is our hero fast enough to win?
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Rome 63 BC. In a city on the brink of acquiring a vast empire seven men are struggling for power. Cicero is consul Caesar his ruthless young rival Pompey the republics greatest general Crassus its richest man Cato a political fanatic Catilina a psychopath Clodius an ambitious playboy. The stories of these real historical figures
- their alliances & betrayals their cruelties & seductions their brilliance & their crimes
- are all interleaved to form this epic novel. Its narrator is Tiro a slave who serves as confidential secretary to the wily humane complex Cicero. He knows all his masters secrets
- a dangerous position to be in. From the discovery of a childs mutilated body through judicial execution & a scandalous trial to the brutal unleashing of the Roman mob Lustrum is a study in the timeless enticements & horrors of power.


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