One shot, one kill.... day three

 This one went to war

Original exposure.

This lemon decided no one's gonna take its juice... it got all painted and armed and decided to fight for its freedom... It didn't help to much. This lemonade is so refreshing. (gulp, gulp, gulp... aaaghhh!)

I actually shot this one with the camera handheld... I missed a bit on the framing... not too much, though. And, obviously I couldn't help not applying a levels command. The original exposure wasn't so bad either. I like where this project is going.

More in 24 hours.

R

One shot, one kill.... day two

Green frog wants green

Original exposure

Alright.. we have a first fail on the project. I miscalculated the white balance with this one... thank God for Photoshop. That Variations command never lets me down. I'm not really happy about how this one came out in terms of exposure either. I mean... my frog is clearly overexposed (Renoni Vice: You should just zip your fly.... haha! Me: I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer.) and there's really no way of successfully fixing that, even if you're shooting raw. I originally wanted to do something using natural light and shoot something with the camera handheld, but daylight just fades so soon these days. Spring is still out there somewhere; it's just a matter of time now.

I case you don't know already, green is my favourite colour, which means I own a lot of green stuff (oddly enough, very few green clothes), like a green bag, two green frogs, 4 green walls and a ceiling, a green desk lamp, a green pen and a few other things. What's really great about this green thing is that many of my friends know about it, so whenever they make me a present, there is a great chance they'll go for something green. I really appreciate that.

Here's the setting of the shoot.... Another shot tomorrow!

R

P.S. Renoni Vice said something today while I was typing. In case you don't know who she is... you'll tune it out soon. I'll write something about her one day. She keeps bugging me about that...

One shot, one kill.... day one

I have always envied the precision that photographers who work with film have. Their precision is rooted in the fact that they cannot waste shots. They have to save film for whatever is important. In the digital age we have no need for such things. I can store more than 400 shots on my 2 GB card and can shoot up to 1000 shots without recharging the battery of my camera. Of course being able to photograph more with less is a good thing, but it can make you less aware of things happening while you're photographing, mainly because the camera allows you to shoot again without too much concern about memory space or battery life. It can lead to being a bit sloppy and relying too much on post-processing. Of course you can easily straighten a photograph or make a few colour adjustments, but what happens when you have to straighten... let's say 300 shots. Take it from a guy who learned this the hard way.. you never want to have to do that.
That's why I'm starting a project today. I will take 7 shots, one each day of this week and upload them to my blog. I will tweak the photographs using Photoshop, but I will also post the original exposure. The photos will be taken on manual mode and will probably include very different subjects and light conditions. I will not post any technical regarding the exposure settings. If, however, somebody requires it, I will be happy to provide. I am sure there will be a few failed shots and I will post them too... I do believe you can learn something from every photo you take.I hope to learn something this week.

I started by working with a tripod. I find it reassuring and it was a good way to get started. This is what came out of it:

Abstract artist

Original exposure:

That's all for today.. six more to come....

R

memories of snow

Throughout school, my literature teachers kept telling me that the poets use snowfall (and other types of precipitation) in their poems to convey a feeling of uneasiness, almost claustrophobia... I have no idea why they would do such a thing. The only thing I have ever thought of during the heaviest of snowfalls I witnessed was how cozy that felt. I always bitch about the snow and about the salt people throw on the sidewalk and that keeps ruining my shoes, but, the truth is that whenever the snow melts away.. I miss it.

What's true with people, is (in this case) true with snow... they fade, but memories remain...

R

A good day for science

Remember that episode from "Dexter's Laboratory"? The one when he kept saying "Today was a good day for science"... until it wasn't anymore.

Today was not by any means a bad day. It was somewhat peculiar, though. I find it strange how lonely city life is becoming. Maybe it has always been this way and I just failed to notice it before. This makes life sad in some way but it also makes it so peculiarly wonderful when human interaction does spontaneously occur. Today, for example I helped an old lady carry her bags from the supermarket while we made small talk and she rewarded me with three tangerines which I later ate without sharing with my colleagues just to brake even on the scale of goodness of the day.

If you think that my life must be incredibly boring if I have to blog such an event, you have no idea... it's actually infinitely more boring... tomorrow's going to be better though... I have classes all day. Boy, just imagine the fun that awaits me. Oh, well... I'll just send this into the void before falling asleep to another episode of Friends (don't judge me! I'm only human!).

Good night, dear void! I hope we'll have another talk sometime soon.


R

P.S. I am writing in Romanian on this blog: dă-i foc!
I've been only writing about photography and photographers, but... more to come..

winamp test

Alright... a few updates regarding this blog and the (3 or 4) readers of it (including myself)... From now on, I'm going to write only in English... that is because I will write in Romanian on another blog (to be disclosed at a future date). The posts will continue in the same random order and on the same random subjects.. no change there, eh? I encourage you to also comment in English, but that's really up to you... there's no international audience to be offended...

Without further ado... I was tagged by Erika in the Winamp Test, which involves me opening my Library in Winamp, setting it on shuffle and then giving the titles of the songs that come up (randomly!!) as answers to questions about, well.. me. It's a way of finding out what your music says about you.

Well, not really... but it should be fun, anyway...

The official rules:

1. Put your music player on shuffle.

2. Press forward for each question.

3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesnt make sense. NO CHEATING! (even if it's an unknown song - put a youtube link)

4. Bold the questions and with the answers, give your own comments on how it relates to the questions.

1.How are you feeling today?

Miro - Emotions of Paradise

Yeah.. that's a nice way of putting it... I fell pretty good, though... Does my Winamp really know me? We'll just see about that....

2.Will you get far in life? (a bit nervous about this one... what's with the big questions, eh?)

The Last Goodnight - Pictures of You

That's clearly a NO. Oh well.. you can't win them all.

3.How do your friends see you?

Gnarles Barkley - Smiley Faces

Any comments, guys?... I know this is not true on Mondays, but maybe for the rest of the week...

4.Will you get married?

Metallica - Whiskey in the Jar

This means 'Yes, and it's gonna be fun..."

5.What is your best friend’s theme song?

dZihan and Kamien - Homebase

Interesting... :-?

6.What is the story of your life?

Eloy - The Midnight Fight/The Victory of Mental Force

Yeah.... as Yuri used to say (in that video game about his revenge), 'The mind is quicker than the eye.' It's a pretty cool song, though... I like where this list is going...

7.What was high school like?

Metallica - Phantom Lord

It wasn't so intense, really... But this song captures some of the days I enjoyed throughout high school..

8.How can you get ahead in life?

François K feat The Alchemist - On the Way

Just as long as you're on the way... you're good ;)

9.What is the best thing about your friends?

Ocean's Twelve OST - What R We Stealing

The best one yet!!! =))

10.What is in store for this weekend?

Sabres of Paradise - Smokeblech II

oooo... smooth... I like it! This weekend's going to be great. The next one, I mean... this one is already over. Come to think of it... I'm visiting my grandparents next weekend... it is going to be smooth, indeed...

11.What song describes you? (the one I've been waiting for...)

Piero Umiliani - Crepusculo sul Mare

Waaay too smooth to describe me....

12.To describe your grandparents?

Metallica -Sad but True

The title doesn't really fit, but the song... oh, yeah!! It's just so powerful however you look at it...

13.How is your life going?

Finley Quaye - Dice

It sometimes feels like a game of chance...

14.What song will they play at your funeral? (I really don't care, because I won't be able to listen to it, but let's see..)

Ich+Ich - Pflaster

they chose well.. it's all I'm going to say...

15.How does the world see you? (great! I've always wanted to know...)

Tom Petty - Square One

Really???? Oh, c'mmon!

this is such a disappointment...

16.Will you have a happy life?

Outkast - Ms. Jackson

=))... I guess this means 'Yes, but you're not going to get along with your mother-in-law'

17.What do your friends really think of you?

Metallica - The Prince

I really hope that's not true...

no way to find out the truth, though... unless I learn to read minds... I'll google it... :D

18.Do people secretly lust after you ?

Frank Sinatra - Pennies from Heaven

can this thing be more ambiguous???

19.How can I make myself happy? (don't even think about what I know you're going to think about!)

REM - Mad World

Mad people are sometimes happy... I don't know if that's the thing for me, though...

20.What should you do with your life? (this is the last one... phew... it took a while)

Metallica - The Unforgiven

:-<

So.. that's it... this was fun..

I have to tell you, though... I cheated just a little bit... I didn't use ALL the music I have on my computer. I left out jimi hendrix and jazz piano history, because I only listen to those on special occasions... I used the music I listen to most. It might have been interesting to stumble upon a song I never listened to, but it's too late now... this is how my Winamp test turned out...

Who wants to be tagged next?

R

Facts vs. Fiction

'You never kill anyone that you want to kill in a war.' (Ernest Hemingway, 'For Whom the Bell Tools')

I was talking with a friend the other day... he said he didn't like horror movies mostly because they are so full of violence and well... the first thought that popped into my head was... 'don't read a history book, then!'. I touched on that thought (using other words, of course... [yes! I CAN be polite.. I don't have to say EVERYTHING that pops into my head just the way it does... I don't always have the energy to do so, but that's another matter entirely]) and as I was poking around the subject of violence in human history, he said that one day he was actually appalled by a documentary on national television... something about religious wars at the end of the Middle Ages... there! My theory has just been confirmed. Plain history can be just as horrifying as a horror movie. You just have to take a look at it.

Sometimes I just wonder what makes the concept of war so attractive to us... is it just because it's an excuse to unleash violence and then make of it an act of courage...? I think it just might... the only time people tend to agree that it might just be okay to kill another person is in war. That thought is so frightening to me I can barely stand it, but it is true.. I remember thinking at some point (I was 4 or 5) that a war wouldn't be such a bad thing... I mean... I could have the opportunity to kill someone and get away with it. I can't say it wasn't appealing in what is now to me in a very frightening way, but so it was. And it must be true for others... I remember the last line of 'The Hurt Locker'. It went something like 'Because war is a drug'. If it is, it has the ugliest side effects...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_7r6eALGyg [careful with the lyrics...]

R

P.S. As I was trying to put down a few thoughts on Hemingway's novel I came up with this:

Words drip out of a pen

Making an unbearable noise.

Writing with blood is the tool of my trade!

Does it make any sense?