Killer Songs

Random, Bokeh shaping, random

Started playing with a make-shift light box one afternoon..

My sons dump truck

My favorite lens right now

SB-700, getting an external flash is an eye-opener. So much more to work with. So much more to learn.

My wedding ring

My friends lamps

_DSC6759LPA

More bokeh shaping… still have a too-large mask which the aperture cuts off..

This is just random

Getting this out there a little late, I know. But I’ve been really busy trying to be a dad and also trying to be an engineer. I wish I had listened to more albums of 2011. I’ve been trying to catch up now in January, so if I were to wait with doing this list its likely it would change. But but, that’s neither here nor there. On with the list! (Oh, and I haven’t bothered rating them. They’re all great.)

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

You shouldn’t be surprised since it’s my favorite artist and this latest album was awesome. I would've included the live album unless I counted it a little unfair since some of the songs are the same.

Veronica Maggio - Satan i Gatan

I feel like I should say I’m embarrassed to put this commercially successful pop-princess among my top 10. But I am not. I think it’s a stellar album with a nice mix of happy and sad, both feeling equally real and relatable. Lovely voice. Nice production by Christian Waltz.

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

I will say it’s not as shockingly amazing as the debut, but its fantastic.

Bright Eyes - The People's Key

It’s all in the first guitar riff. Love the Bright Eyes.

Jonathan Coulton - Artificial Heart

The wonderfully hilarious and nerdy JoCo is doing it for real this time. I [artificial heart] this one!

Florence and the Machine – Ceremonials

Massive, grand, stunning.

Dan Mangan - Oh Fortune

A new discovery for me, singer/songwriter Dan Mangan is a welcome addition to my stable of guitar playing males.

Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind of Fix

BBC change it up and although it sounds very different from Flaws, its another really satisfying release.

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

Swedish sensation. Saw her live as well in 2011 and love-love-loved it.

Radiohead - The King of Limbs

Well, honestly I havent listened to this as much as I would have wanted but I’m pretty sure it is one of my 10 favorites.

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If you want the whole list as a Spotify playlist it’s HERE

So, had I been a more active listener in 2011 I think PJ Harvey and Tori Amos would have been included….

Now it’s time for daddy to clean-sleep-getup-gotowork

//Peace

More Bokeh Shaping…

Did a little bit more: You can see that the cutout was larger than the 1.8 aperture this time so the whole star doesn’t fit… Meanwhile, this is what I’m listening to mostly:
"It's not a real heart"

Bokeh shaping is fun!

Tried this thing I’ve recently come in contact with; shaping the out-of-focus light dots that show up when taking photographs. Simple enough as a first test, I just cut round pieces of black paper that fit onto the plastic lens shader on my nikkor 35mm 1.8. At the center I cut shapes, just by hand for this first test. See the results below. Some lessons learned are: the shape of the cutout is really what you get so If you want a “pretty” heart, better have a nice stencil and a sharp cutter. Mine look like shite.

Street light

Christmas lights

A Sorta Margerita

First attempt at drink photograpy. Simple setup with drink set on a makeshift table with a sheet background to avoid the corner. Lighting with a softbox from above. Lessons learned:

- The Depth of Focus is a little shallow with 1.8 aperture.

- Lighting is tricky. Had to block the internal flash even though it was set only to trigger the external one.

- The sheet in the background was a little crumpled which really becomes a distraction if it is lit. Instead I had to keep it completely black.

Ideas for the future:

- Coloured backgrounds

- How can I achieve back-lighting?

Comments or suggestions are of course welcome.

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And this is just dessert from yesterday when we had a belayed NYE celebration since the 31st got messed up by fever and rivers of snot.

Morga Hage Fall Day

Fall days

Aye, Scotland!

Time for another little list of tips. Since I have a soft spot for Scots and their music, here are a top five of awesomeness:

- The Blue Nile with the album Hats was imprinted on me as a kid and I wont bother analizing why I find it great. When I listen to it now it so obviously comes from a different time. That sound is such an early nineties thing, but the songs are, to me at least, timeless.
- The Twilight Sad I've pushed for before so I will just say that they have an album coming out early 2012 which I am really looking forward to.
- King Creosote is someone I'd describe as creative and uneven. The album Bombshell is an exceptionally sweet treat for the ears though without much experimentation going on. Just solid songs and fun, honest lyrics.
- Frightened Rabbit, with the album Midnight Organ Fight, are beyond amazing. Just listen to it. Lyrics are sharp and grimy at times, beautiful at other times. Great singer. Fantastic music.
- Finally, Mogwai. Staying on top of their game and making instrumental music that never gets dull or repetitve. Stellar.

Here are the links:
http://open.spotify.com/track/5QdCF787uW936z4VVwxoqP
http://open.spotify.com/track/18Z7Ehcka2EmyD1ugCimvQ
http://open.spotify.com/track/73DeoMexuW8pe79TbhSyAP
http://open.spotify.com/track/6CLeKKBEbzeCLZuT8qj3F0
http://open.spotify.com/track/3aJwMPwAwlFZLn2gpn3oPV