Dаz
94/365 # Portland revisited
Yesterday I spent most of the day - and night - playing around in Photoshop, so today I just wanted to get a shot off that didn't require much attention.
Luckily the weather was pretty good today so I joined Disco~Stu and his family and we went for a walk around Portland.
There's so many great locations on Portland to shoot a self portrait so I really had to hold back - having said that I still had four or five variations of shots that I ditched in favour of this one.
I thought I had a camera full of decent shots until I got home and downloaded them onto my computer . . . so I was gutted to find that I'd horribly underexposed 99% of them (plus one that was completely blown out) and there was no chance of the SOOC shot I wanted to post.
Luckily I didn't have to fiddle around in Lightroom too much to get this shot looking a bit better, I just selected a preset and customised it a bit. It still looks very dark at this size though so you might get a better view clicking the big on black link down at the bottom of my babble. There's another version of this shot with a different treatment and I couldn't decide between them so, as I always do when I'm looking for a definitive and decisive opinion, I asked Lydia, who chose this one.
What I wanted to do today was get a landscape shot as I haven't had a chance to use the kit lens at it's widest angle yet. I can't remember if this is at it's widest or not, the D50 I'm using has an 18-55mm lens and I've been mostly using it at 50mm or thereabouts because most of the shots I've done using it have been inside in confined spaces.
Oh and I've found a band that I really, really like today. They're called Glasvegas, I've heard of them before but today I had a chance to listen to their whole album and it just blew me away. They're from Glasgow and they sound like . . . well, nothing I've heard before! 50's style melodies and chord progressions backed by a huge synth sound and a Phil Spectoresque wall of sound. It's like listening to The Proclaimers on downers!
Has anyone heard of The Proclaimers? I reckon most Brits would've heard of them, they're a Scottish folk duo, twin brothers, and they had a few hits many years back. They're still going as well, they have a huge Scottish fanbase and here's my claim to fame - my Auntie Marion went to school with them! Anyway, back to Glasvegas. They're awesome, check 'em out. I'll be listening to them for the next week or so non-stop I expect.
The standout track from their album for me is a song called Daddy's Gone. It's so powerful and bleak and touching at the same time, those of an emotional nature will be blubbing their eyes out every time they hear it - it's just the most beautiful song I've heard all year, sung in a broad Glasweigan accent and all the better for it.
I get a lump in my throat listening to it, and that's what great music does - it taps into something deep inside you and provokes a reaction.
I've heard they're influenced by the Jesus and Mary Chain, so I'm going to get hold of some of their stuff to listen to as well. They're one of those bands I've always wanted to hear but never got round to it.
And speaking bands I've heard of but never actually heard I also heard a few tracks by My Bloody Valentine today and was pretty much blown away by how good they are too. And I think they've been a direct influence to one of my favourite bands Type O Negative, particularly their album October Rust which was the album that first got me into them.
So all in all I've had a great day! Back to work tomorrow? Bugger.
94/365 # Portland revisited
Yesterday I spent most of the day - and night - playing around in Photoshop, so today I just wanted to get a shot off that didn't require much attention.
Luckily the weather was pretty good today so I joined Disco~Stu and his family and we went for a walk around Portland.
There's so many great locations on Portland to shoot a self portrait so I really had to hold back - having said that I still had four or five variations of shots that I ditched in favour of this one.
I thought I had a camera full of decent shots until I got home and downloaded them onto my computer . . . so I was gutted to find that I'd horribly underexposed 99% of them (plus one that was completely blown out) and there was no chance of the SOOC shot I wanted to post.
Luckily I didn't have to fiddle around in Lightroom too much to get this shot looking a bit better, I just selected a preset and customised it a bit. It still looks very dark at this size though so you might get a better view clicking the big on black link down at the bottom of my babble. There's another version of this shot with a different treatment and I couldn't decide between them so, as I always do when I'm looking for a definitive and decisive opinion, I asked Lydia, who chose this one.
What I wanted to do today was get a landscape shot as I haven't had a chance to use the kit lens at it's widest angle yet. I can't remember if this is at it's widest or not, the D50 I'm using has an 18-55mm lens and I've been mostly using it at 50mm or thereabouts because most of the shots I've done using it have been inside in confined spaces.
Oh and I've found a band that I really, really like today. They're called Glasvegas, I've heard of them before but today I had a chance to listen to their whole album and it just blew me away. They're from Glasgow and they sound like . . . well, nothing I've heard before! 50's style melodies and chord progressions backed by a huge synth sound and a Phil Spectoresque wall of sound. It's like listening to The Proclaimers on downers!
Has anyone heard of The Proclaimers? I reckon most Brits would've heard of them, they're a Scottish folk duo, twin brothers, and they had a few hits many years back. They're still going as well, they have a huge Scottish fanbase and here's my claim to fame - my Auntie Marion went to school with them! Anyway, back to Glasvegas. They're awesome, check 'em out. I'll be listening to them for the next week or so non-stop I expect.
The standout track from their album for me is a song called Daddy's Gone. It's so powerful and bleak and touching at the same time, those of an emotional nature will be blubbing their eyes out every time they hear it - it's just the most beautiful song I've heard all year, sung in a broad Glasweigan accent and all the better for it.
I get a lump in my throat listening to it, and that's what great music does - it taps into something deep inside you and provokes a reaction.
I've heard they're influenced by the Jesus and Mary Chain, so I'm going to get hold of some of their stuff to listen to as well. They're one of those bands I've always wanted to hear but never got round to it.
And speaking bands I've heard of but never actually heard I also heard a few tracks by My Bloody Valentine today and was pretty much blown away by how good they are too. And I think they've been a direct influence to one of my favourite bands Type O Negative, particularly their album October Rust which was the album that first got me into them.
So all in all I've had a great day! Back to work tomorrow? Bugger.