Books about Landscape from Amazon.com

Permaculture is a verbal marriage of “permanent” and “agriculture.” Australian Bill Mollison pioneered its development Key features include:

use of compatible perennials;

non-invasive planting techniques;

emphasis on biodiversity;

specifically adaptable to local climate, landscape, and soil conditions;

highly productive output of edibles.
Now, picture your backyard as one incredibly lush garden, filled with edible flowers, bursting with fruit and berries, and carpeted with scented herbs and tangy salad greens. The visual impact is of Monet’s palette, a wash of color, texture, and hue. But this is no still life. The flowers nurture endangered pollinators. Bright-featured songbirds feed on abundant berries and gather twigs for their nests.
The plants themselves are grouped in natural communities, where each species plays a role in building soil, deterring pests, storing nutrients, and luring beneficial insects. And finally, you--good ol’ homo sapiens--are an integral part of the scene. Your garden tools are resting against a nearby tree, and have a slight patina of rust, because this garden requires so little maintenance. You recline into a hammock to admire your work. You have created a garden paradise.
This is no dream, but rather an ecological garden, which takes the principles of permaculture and applies them on a home-scale. There is nothing technical, intrusive, secretive, or expensive about this form of gardening. All that is required is some botanical knowledge (which is in this book) and a mindset that defines a backyard paradise as something other than a carpet of grass fed by MiracleGro..
Price: $15.60 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The latest edition of the Ansel Adams wall calendar reproduces, in impeccably printed duotone, thirteen breathtaking images by the master photographer, chosen to reflect the changing seasons. With a mix of well-known and less familiar photographs of the American West, this splendid calendar will delight loyal fans of the previous twenty-four calendars, as well as attract new buyers..
Price: $10.41 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"This book is for teachers who have good days and bad — and whose bad days bring the suffering that comes only from something one loves. It is for teachers who refuse to harden their hearts, because they love learners, learning, and the teaching life." — Parker J. Palmer [from the Introduction]

For many years, Parker Palmer has worked on behalf of teachers and others who choose their vocations for reasons of the heart but may lose heart because of the troubled, sometimes toxic systems in which they work. Hundreds of thousands of readers have benefited from his approach in THE COURAGE TO TEACH, which takes teachers on an inner journey toward reconnecting with themselves, their students, their colleagues, and their vocations, and reclaiming their passion for one of the most challenging and important of human endeavors.

This book builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique but is rooted in the identity and integrity of the teacher. Good teaching takes myriad forms but good teachers share one trait: they are authentically present in the classroom, in community with their students and their subject. They possess "a capacity for connectedness" and are able to weave a complex web of connections between themselves, their subjects, and their students, helping their students weave a world for themselves. The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods but in their hearts — the place where intellect, emotion, spirit, and will converge in the human self — supported by the community that emerges among us when we choose to live authentic lives.

BONUS: Includes an audio CD featuring a 45-minute conversation between Parker Palmer and his colleagues, Marcy Jackson and Estrus Tucker from the Center for Courage & Renewal. They reflect on what they have learned from working with thousands of teachers in their "Courage to Teach" program (www.CourageRenewal.org)and with others who yearn for greater integrity in their professional lives..
Price: $14.93 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Offers down-to-earth advice on painting gorgeous outdoors scenes through 10 step-by-step demos Teaches painters how to master the art of observation Shows readers how to translate field notes and sketches into fully realized studio paintings The overwhelming beauty of the outdoors is one of the most inspiring - and elusive - subjects for painters. With Landscape Painting Inside and Out, Kevin Macphearson first shows readers how to see like an artist, then teaches them how to recreate their vision into stunningly realistic outdoors scenes. His insightful process encourages readers to focus on the small details to achieve big results..
Price: $18.80 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This unique book of thirty-six spectacular houses and gardens—whose owners come from the worlds of fashion, music, art, and society—draws not only on stories that have appeared in the pages of Vogue and VogueLiving over the past two decades but also on images that have never before been published Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People takes you to these style-makers’ private realms around the world, captured by such celebrated photographers as Miles Aldridge, Cecil Beaton, Jonathan Becker, Eric Boman, Oberto Gili, François Halard, Horst P. Horst, Annie Leibovitz, Sheila Metzner, Mario Testino, Tim Walker, and Bruce Weber, among many others. Their dazzling photographs bring to life interiors and exteriors, modern and classical, that are both inspiring and transporting. Writers like Hamish Bowles, Joan Juliet Buck, Dodie Kazanjian, Eve MacSweeney, Julia Reed, Marina Rust, and Vicki Woods take us behind the scenes to give us an intimate view of the owners and how they live.

Here are Madonna’s romantic rural retreat in the depths of the English countryside and the Oscar de la Renta’s coral-stone Palladian mansion on the coast of the Dominican Republic; Michael and Eva Chow’s epic Los Angeles manse and shoe maestro Christian Louboutin’s magical houseboat on the Nile; Donna Karan’s Zenlike Manhattan aerie and legendary tastemaker Marella Agnelli’s enchanted villa and gardens in the Palmeraie of Marrakesh; Julian and Olatz Schnabel’s operatic downtown loft and childrenswear designer Rachel Riley’s miniature château on the Loire; celebrated landscape gardener Fernando Caruncho’s innovative Spanish gardens and Houghton, David Cholmondeley’s magnificent English stately home; Janet de Botton’s idyllic Provençal estate; and four decades of Karl Lagerfeld’s endlessly surprising houses, both innovative and palatial.

Lavishly illustrated in full color, Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People is an irresistible voyage through some of the world’s most beautiful and private gardens and interiors.

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Price: $43.55 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book defines over 5,000 terms relating to architectural design, history, and technology It is the only dictionary that provides concise, accurate definitions illustrated with finely detailed, hand-rendered drawings, each executed in Mr. Ching's signature style..
Price: $27.75 [Notify me when price goes down.]

ANSEL ADAMS: 400 PHOTOGRAPHS presents the full spectrum Adams' greatest work in a single volume for the first time, offering an entirely new perspective on his monumental career..
The photographs are arranged chronologically into five major periods in order to convey Adams' development as an artist-from his first photographs made in Yosemite and the High Sierra in 1916 to his work in the National Parks in the 1940s up to his last important photographs from the 1960s. An introduction and brief essays on selected images provide information about Adams' life, document the evolution of his technique, and give voice to his artistic vision.
Few artists of any era can claim to have produced four hundred images of lasting beauty and significance. It is a testament to Adams' vision and a lifetime of hard work that a book of this scale can be justified. ANSEL ADAMS: 400 PHOTOGRAPHS is a must-have reference and gift book for anyone who appreciates photography and the allure of the natural world..
Price: $22.29 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Blue sky, turquoise water, endless white beachesand not a soul in sight. Rows of palms, dramatic ocean sunsets, the feel of putting the world on hold and kicking back in your own private paradise. After a sellout debut, Islands is back with another year of sunshine and cool island breezes. Every day comes a stunning new image of tranquility: sun-soaked tropical islands, rugged Mediterranean islands, romantic retreats where its just you and the mesmerizing sound of waves lapping the shore. Now this is getting away from it all. Size: 6.25" w x 7.25" h..
Price: $10.19 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Create an Oasis describes how to quickly and easily choose, build, and use a simple greywater system. Some can be completed in an afternoon for under $30.

It also provides complete instructions for more complex installations, how to deal with freezing, flooding, drought, failing septics, low perk soil, non-industrialized world conditions, coordinating a team of professionals to get optimum results on high-end projects, and "radical plumbing" that uses 90% less resources..
Price: $12.98 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A master photographer's guide to capturing the natural landscape -- written for hobbyists and pros.

Step-by-step instructions, pictograms, and before-and-after comparisons provide a complete course in capturing a landscape's natural beauty. Renowned photographer Tim Fitzharris reveals foolproof techniques he has used through decades of fieldwork in a wide variety of settings. His own outstanding examples are accompanied by detailed information on the equipment, exposure, film, shutter speed and filters used.

The book is designed for use with the latest digital as well as traditional cameras. Fitzharris encourages photographers to rise above technology and remain sensitive to a landscape's changing moods. Everything needed to achieve professional results is covered, including:

• The best equipment and how to use it
• Digital camera considerations
• Detailed field techniques for a wide variety of natural settings
• Using filters
• Fine art composition, simplified and diagrammed
• A step-by-step guide to recognizing and finding great scenic shooting sites
• Getting a correct exposure every time
• Recording mirror-like reflections in lakes and shooting postcard-perfect sunrises and sunsets
• Creating high-quality panorama images
• Post-production basics, including image selection and color correction.

Filled with tips and strategies, this outstanding guide includes all that's required for taking professional-caliber photographs of great landscapes.

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Price: $15.65 [Notify me when price goes down.]