Chasing The Light

An intimate memoir by the controversial and outspoken Oscar-winning director and screenwriter about his complicated New York childhood, volunteering for combat, and his struggles and triumphs making such films as Platoon, Midnight Express, and Scarface. Before the international success of Platoon in 1986, Oliver Stone had been wounded as an infantryman in Vietnam, and spent years writing unproduced scripts while driving taxis in New York, finally venturing westward to Los Angeles and a new life. Stone, now 73, recounts those formative years with in-the-moment details of the high and low moments: We see meetings with Al Pacino over Stone's scripts for Scarface, Platoon, and Born on the Fourth of July; the harrowing demon of cocaine addiction following the failure of his first feature, The Hand (starring Michael Caine); his risky on-the-ground research of Miami drug cartels for Scarface; his stormy relationship with The Deer Hunter director Michael Cimino; the breathless hustles to finance the acclaimed and divisive Salvador; and tensions behind the scenes of his first Academy Award-winning film, Midnight Express. Chasing the Light is a true insider's look at Hollywood's years of upheaval in the 1970s and '80s.

Light. It's the most transformative tool at any photographer’s disposal. Whether the lens is turned to people, wildlife, or landscape, the creative use of light is often the difference between a snapshot and a powerful photograph. In Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography with Available Light, renowned photographer, writer, and educator Ibarionex Perello shares his unique insights for partnering with natural light to create evocative digital images. He brings his palpable passion and personal approach rooted in decades of experience, and reveals his honed techniques for controlling focus, exposure, white balance, and sharpness to create beautiful and impactful photographs. In an industry so obsessed with gear, this book bridges the gap between the technical and the creative and returns to a personal, inspirational narrative about perceiving and photographing light. This book will enlighten photographers of all levels about • the elements of exposure, metering, and ISO • light’s impact on color and controlling color balance • combining brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, and pattern enhancing portraits with available lighting • direction and quality of sunlight and shooting in rural and urban landscapes • the power of light in black and white

It's the early 1930s. Antarctic open-sea whaling is booming and a territorial race for the mysterious continent between Norwegian and British-Australian interests is in full swing. Aboard a ship setting sail from Cape Town carrying the Norwegian whaling magnate Lars Christensen are three women: Lillemor Rachlew, who tricked her way on to the ship and will stop at nothing to be the first woman to land on Antarctica; Mathilde Wegger, a grieving widow who's been forced to join the trip by her calculating parents-in-law; and Lars's wife, Ingrid Christensen, who has longed to travel to Antarctica since she was a girl and has made a daunting bargain with Lars to convince him to take her. Loyalties shift and melt and conflicts increase as they pass through the Southern Ocean and reach the whaling grounds. None of the women is prepared for the reality of meeting the whaling fleet and experiencing firsthand the brutality of the icy world. As they head for the continent itself, the race is on for the first woman to land on Antarctica. None of them expect the outcome and none of them know how they will be changed by their arrival.Based on the little-known true story of the first woman to ever set foot on Antarctica, Jesse Blackadder has captured the drama, danger and magnetic pull of exploring uncharted places in our world and our minds.

“Cloud Cult’s grand, unkempt indie rock is at once jam band, emo, and avant-garde. Their songs, born out of personal tragedy, are otherworldly lessons in being human.” —Pitchfork During the past decade, Minnesota-grown band Cloud Cult has become one of the most inspirational indie bands, with a deeply devoted fan base and an approach to music and the environment that is hard not to admire. Beyond a musical biography, Chasing the Light tells the story of the heartbreaking yet affirming journey of lead singer and songwriter Craig Minowa and delves into the career of the band known by music lovers as the least cynical and most idealistic band in the country. Tracing Cloud Cult’s rise to critical acclaim, author Mark Allister details the band’s defining moments, beginning with the death of Craig and Connie Minowa’s two-year-old son and the hundreds of songs that grew out of the tragic loss. Allister describes the band’s unique philosophy and principles, including how Minowa created a zero carbon footprint for the band’s recording and touring, adopting DIY and green-sustainable practices well before the ideas became mainstream. Allister also presents a first-person account of a day in the life of a quintessential indie band and conveys the immense emotional impact of Cloud Cult’s albums and live shows. Described by a fan in the book as “the anthem for the soul searcher in us all,” Cloud Cult’s music and message are both stirring and sincere. Featuring rarely seen photos from Cloud Cult’s history and passionate testimonials by fans, Chasing the Light is a testament to the profound influence one band’s personal evolution can have on its followers and on indie rock aficionados in search of beauty, meaning, and redemption.

KEN DUNCAN's new book, "Chasing the Light - AUSTRALIA WIDE" features his latest images from all over Australia, along with a few timeless classics. The book invites the reader to join Ken on a very personal journey to many favourite corners of our diverse island continent. Ken's expansive "panographs" captured on film (for which he is most famous), are gloriously showcased along with a selection of his latest digital images, displaying his mastery across a variety of photographic media and formats.From family events to intrepid adventure tours or simply a leisurely holiday, we all collect images that ultimately illustrate our life's story. In his text Ken suggests how images can be presented and explains the importance of archiving and cataloguing to leave a photographic legacy for future generations. And for photography enthusiasts, he has included detailed notes on every photo, plus technical information about the equipment he uses.

The Koh-i-Noor diamond known as the Mountain of Light, the world's largest diamond, was found in India, traveled from Golconda to the Mughal palaces in the north. Fought over, cursed at and occasionally lost, it finally reached the Sikhs in the Punjab, only to be seized by British agents eager to please young Queen Victoria. It now lies in the Tower of London where some say its curse controls the fate of the Windsor family. In Chasing the Mountain of Light, Kevin Rushby pursues the dramatic career of the Koh-i-Noor on a journey to the heart of Indian culture meeting dealers, smugglers, and petty crooks along the way. It's another adventure from Rushby whom the Washington Post recently compared to William S. Burroughs and Arthur Rimbaud.

The full story of how our relationship with light shapes our health, productivity and mood. 'A sparkling and illuminating study, one of those rare books that could genuinely improve your life' Sunday Times Since the dawn of time, humans have worshipped the sun. And with good reason. Our biology is set up to work in partnership with it. From our sleep cycles to our immune systems and our mental health, access to sunlight is crucial for living a happy and fulfilling life. New research suggests that our sun exposure over a lifetime - even before we were born - may shape our risk of developing a range of different illnesses, from depression to diabetes. Bursting with cutting-edge science and eye-opening advice, Chasing the Sun explores the extraordinary significance of sunlight, from ancient solstice celebrations to modern sleep labs, and from the unexpected health benefits of sun exposure to what the Amish know about sleep that the rest of us don't. As more of us move into light-polluted cities, spending our days in dim offices and our evenings watching brightly lit screens, we are in danger of losing something vital: our connection to the star that gave us life. It's a loss that could have far-reaching consequences that we're only just beginning to grasp.

Any student or engineer working in optics or the field of laser technology will find this a fascinating read. The book begins by addressing the properties of light as seen in the everyday world: events such as refraction in a pool, lenses in the form of glasses, the colors of objects, and atmospheric events. Latter chapters explain these events at the atomic and subatomic level and address the use of electron and optical microscopy in observing the worlds unseen by the unaided eye. Exercises and activities will be found in an appendix, but the primary volume can stand alone if the reader so desires.