We were doing one of our “virtual drinks and dinner” with friends from Denver last night and, as always, our conversation turned to what shows we were watching. I created this list for them and figured I would share it here, too. The first section is Netflix and the second are some of my favorite YouTube channels. — Douglas
Categories: Announcement, Education, Electronics, Entertaiment, Fun, My Favorite Things, Subscribed, Technology, Television, TV Worth Watching, Video, YouTube Tags: favorite, Netflix, Television, video, watching, YouTube
Another, great, free, online resource for the art lovers among us. I can say I have flipped through many of these books at the Getty over the years so it will be great to finally spend some leisurely time reading and viewing them. — Douglas
In 2014, Getty Publications announced the launch of its Virtual Library, where readers can freely browse and download 325 art books from the publisher’s backlist catalogue. The Virtual Library consists of texts associated with several Getty institutions. Readers can view extensively researched exhibition catalogues from the J. Paul Getty Museum, including Paul Cézanne’s late-life watercolours, when the painter raised the still life to a high art (Cézanne in the Studio: Still Life in Watercolors, 2004), as well as the woefully underappreciated Flemish illustrations of the 15th and 16th centuries (Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript, 2003).
The collection also contains detailed treatises on art conservation from the Getty Conservation Institute, and scholarly works from the Getty Research Institute, both of which include a multitude of books on specialized topics. Fancy reading about the relationship between Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder, the two legendary 17th century painters who lived in the Netherlands’ city of Antwerp? There’s a book on that.
Categories: Art-Architecture, Books, Education, History, LA, Los Angeles, Museum, My Favorite Things, Shared Items, Technology Tags: 01 To Be Posted, 02 Share Now, Feedly, IFTTT
Do you macro?
I find that closeup major photography can be the most challenging photos I take. Focus and depth of focus are a constant challenge along with the fact that the breeze almost always picks up when I am shooting.
Digital Photography School always has the best advice and tutorials. Check out their entire site! — Douglas
This article will detail five camera settings that are essential and which all macro photographers should know. It was inspired by Will Nichols’ excellent tips Five Camera Settings Every New Photographer Needs to Know. You will notice two main themes in this article – ensuring a perfect point of focus and ensuring maximum sharpness. Both of which are critical in macro photography.
Included in the list of settings are Manual Focus, Manual Mode, Live View, the self-timer, and burst mode. By familiarizing yourself with these settings, your macro photography will grow by leaps and bounds.
Want to learn more about macro photography? Check out these books from Amazon!
* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library
An interesting link found among my daily reading
Categories: Art-Architecture, Creativity, Education, Garden, My Favorite Things, Nature/Outdoors, Photos-Photography, Shared Items Tags: 01 To Be Posted, 02 Share Now, Feedly, IFTTT
My Favorite Things: The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature Digital Archive
I am not sure exactly where I stumbled across this site, but it is amazing — especially if you are interested in or researching children’s literature. The digital archive allows you to page through books from the comfort of your own home without ever visiting the University of Florida’s Libraries. Of course, you could also visit and see the books up close.
Some example covers
The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature in the Department of Special Collections at the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries contains more than 130,000 books and periodicals published in the United States and Great Britain from the mid-1600s to present day. The Library also has manuscript collections, original artwork, and assorted ephemera such as board games, puzzles, and toys. The Baldwin Library is known for comparative editions of books, with special emphasis on Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim’s Progress, Aesop’s Fables, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Library also has the largest collection of Early American Juvenile Imprints of any academic institution in the United States.
Other strengths and distinctions of the Baldwin Library include: marginalia and inscriptions, the Hans Christian Andersen Awards Collection, Little Golden Books, religious tracts, and illustrated editions from the Golden Age of Children’s Literature. Scholars worldwide use the Baldwin Library for research in fables, fairy tales, alphabet books, morality tales and religious tracts, conduct of life, gender roles, comparison of editions, adventure stories, and boys’/girls’ series books.
As always, let me know what types of interesting items you would like to see and I will keep an eye out for them especially. — Douglas
Get new shared links as I find them via my social media feeds:
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Free art books online from the Metropolitan and Guggenheim Museums from MetaFIlter
Free is good. Free is even great, when the free items are of such high quality as these books from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum. Yes, all of these are older and mostly out of print editions, but they are all evergreen publications that still retain almost all their value.
One standout item is this Tutankhamun publication from 1976 filled with amazing photographs and explanatory text.
You’ll need to poke around a bit in each site to find publications that interest you most, but there is something here for nearly everyone — from Impressionism and Illumination to Klee and Kandinsky.
From MetaFilter…
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim offer 474 free art books online. 99 art catalogs from the Guggenheim. 375 MetPublications. An example: Masterpieces of Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
A few of the exceptional gems to explore from the Met: Images of the first big museum blockbuster show (worth checking out): “Tutankhamun”: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 34, no. 3 (Winter, 1976–1977), Origins of Impressionism, The Art of Illumination, Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800 …and more!
Previously on Link Focus:
Link Focus is a series that comments on some of the links I share on my social media accounts and here on the web site. To get these links as I find them, subscribe to me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and elsewhere. Also look for the “My Favorite Things” posts that appear regularly in the blog. These include collections of links for each calendar month.
Get new shared links as I find them via my social media feeds:
