Summer Tunes.

As promised, here are some tunes that have inspired my summer so far. Here are the tracks:

1. MGMT - Time to Pretend

2. Dana Fuchs - Heltor Skeltor

3. Bob Marley - Rainbow Country

4. Seu Jorge - Life on Mars

5. Jay-Z featuring The Verve - Dirt off your Shoulders

6. Jason Lytle - Brand New Sun

7. Utada - Come Back to Me (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)

8. Cuban Cigar Crisis - Love Between the Sheets

9. Billy Idol vs. Basement Jaxx - White Romeo

10. Crystal Castles - Untrust Us

11. ABBA - Dancing Queen

12. Sneaky Sound System - I love it

13. Amy Winehouse - Me and Mr. Jones

14. Scissor Sisters - Filthy Gorgeous

Enjoy!

Tattoo

This past weekend, I got one of the last tattoos I plan to get. Below you'll see the images scrolling that I chose to combine to make my design. Also, it seems like summer is here on occasion, so here is a little music for the coming heat wave--I'll be honest, its just my playlist from Hawaii in an semi-abbreviated form. I'll have a new one later.

The first is of a skeleton bent down with a heavy background of peacock feathers. This reminds me of a fallen saint. The way the skeletons head is held downward suggests shame, while the background suggests a great amount of pride. Peacocks have long been symbols of pride and royalty. So perhaps this "saint" was too prideful and has been shamed. Either way, the design is spectacular.

The quote I chose came from my favorite Lord of the Rings character--Galadriel, who Cate Blanchett, my favorite actress, portrays in the films. The quote is "And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the dawn. Treacherous as the seas! Stronger than the foundations of the Earth! All shall love me and despair." Not only is this haughty and a tad ridiculous, but it fits perfectly with the idea of the shamed saint. Also, its in elvish.

Fashion Friday #3

Its Friday! Time for a healthy serving of fashion commentary, but first, I'm feeling refined this morning, with a cup of tea, laced with milk and a tiny bit of sugar. To celebrate, here is a life soundtrack for you.

Let's continue.

As you know, I thought I'd experiment with the whole nautical theme. I just found out that its extremely popular and I feel sort of like an uninformed douche, however, I cannot let this stop me--I just have to make it mine. For example yesterday, I wore some canvas pants and shoes paired with a striped navy/cream v-neck, a cerulean cotton vest, and a jean jacket. Adding something that is uniquely you will always set you outside the pack.

My girl Molly is always 12 steps ahead of me with knowing what's going on in my world--she's just good like that. Just last night she sent me an amazing set of fashion photography, which perfectly illustrates the popularity of said style. Go to men, then select Butterfly Caught.

Below is an outfit I'll use to demonstrate how to make your own.

I like the idea behind the outfit. Its thin, slimming, and neutral--very italian chic goes to the beach for a stroll sort of look. What I do not like are the shoes and hat. I find hats on men to be obtrusive and those shoes are a little biblical for me.

Now for myself, I like the length and material of the cardigan, but I'd go for a solid rather than stripes. Maybe white or beige. The pants would be a chocolate and the shoes would be a canvas faux laced slip on--in let's say...red for fun. I'd put a sheer tank underneath the cardigan, I do not care to be that revealing; I blame it on my southern upbringing. Let's trade the hat in for some serious eyewear, you know the kind that covers your whole face. The outfit also needs something to accent the whole outfit. A bag is always good to tie things together. Men who are afraid of a good bag usually have bulky pockets. That's a golden rule you should remember, nobody likes fat puffy pockets. I would wear something a little funky for a bag, just to be me. Something like what is pictured below. I actually got this free from TopMan, its simple yet loud and eco-friendly.

There you have it! A way to make something yours. Let's go over my rules in simplified form.

1. Find an outfit you like--take a picture, steal from a magazine or online etc.

2. Gather pieces you have that are similar or go buy cheap replicas.

3. Add something that is uniquely you, something people have commented on positively.

4. Add one or two accessories or subtract one or two.

5. Work it.

TGIF, people.

Ambient Gray Romance.

The rain, the rain, the RAIN! I'm very tired of it, but it makes for interesting things to happen in the in-of-doors--take that for what you will. Here is a little inspiratory music, enjoy.

Photoshopping.

This past weekend, I took some shots in a grave yard and I was thinking of doing some odd editing to them. Luckily, through stumble, I came across this little number. This site also has a varied list of techniques to do things. I'm going to post a couple projects I did with their help.

This is the orginal photograph. Its nothing truly amazing, but it was a good stock photo to mess around with.

Above is the infrared effect. I like this one best. I imagine this is what the world looks like to someone who is colorblind. Or maybe dogs? Its amazing how the detail is still captured in the picture, even after all the tweaking. This took me about 10 minutes to do. A very easy project.

This is my next favorite--the gritty effect. This effect is really (apparently) meant to be used on people. It worked nicely on this picture, I thought. Its very simple, but adds some need drama to an otherwise boring picture. Its sort of like the infrared picture, but the graying out of certain colors makes the texture really pop. Another easy project.

My least favorite was HDR or High Dynamic Range. It would have been better had the site with the top twenty something best photoshop tutorials not chosen one from Romania. Good lord, the English may as well had been Arabic. It took me about 30 minutes just to read and decipher what I needed to do. Anywho, the end product is something like technicolor/Wizard of Oz. Its cool to see background colors brought to the forefront.

Try some of the easy projects to make your more lackluster shots a little more dramatic. Its fun and most of the time easy.

Happy Monday.

Camera Testing.

For my birthday I got a Sony A750 DSLR. I'm so excited about it! Its the best camera I've ever owned. So in celebration of crossing over into my mid-twenties, here are some new shots taken from my camera.

You'll notice more people than usual. I'm still trying to break-up my issue/shyness with taking pictures of unknowing people. Anyway, enjoy. Let me know what you think.

Fashion Friday #2

I just had some superficial inspiration. I recently did a list of things I wouldn't leave the house without. Instead, I'd rather do a fashion spread of things I don't leave the house without! The fashion part is mainly the bag I use, which is pictured below. My bag isn't black it is actually this grayish-green color--use your imagination, think man colors.

Now for the cake. This is what is usually inside my bag at any given time:

1. My portfolio--I have a small one and a large one.

2. Camel Lights: My dirty habit, but a grand and deathly stress reliever.

3. Orbit Gum.

4. Domo-Kun: My tiny patron saint, he may be childish, but I love him.

5. Sony headphones...my god, the bass in these is better than at the gay clubs.

6. A notebook, the cheap kind. Never know when you're going to have some inspiration.

7. Numerous pens.

8. Sony A700 DSLR.

9. Lighter.

10. Chapstick for ashy lips.

11. Keys, the most important thing for home.

12. Giant sunglasses. Incognito is best for when taking sketchy pictures and in general.

13. Scarf, just because. I'm cold a lot, I don't have a reason.

14. Iphone! My goodness this thing is useful. A gps and email!

15. Cologne, never know who is smelling you, so its best to smell fabulous always.

16. Yes. I have a clear umbrella. So what?

17. Finally gummi anything! I need sugar or else I may be a royal super bitch.

You'd probably think this is a lot of stuff, but its not always all of it, and most of it is light. Let me know what you cart around all day!

Happy Friday.