When you blink your eyes...

Over the latter half of 2005 I became good friends with an Oklahoma City band called The Stock Market Crash. The first time I saw them play back in June I was really impressed, no one else in Oklahoma City had a sound like that.

I took a few photos at that first show that I didn't really think were that great because the lighting was so red. But, they saw the photos and really seemed to like them. I met them at another show and we talked and we shared a lot of the same musical interests. They're really great guys. They asked me if I could do band portraits of them. I hadn't really done anything like that before but I wanted to give it a try and since I liked their music I wanted to help them out. They liked the results of the photos and they use them today for promotion and in newspapers.

I later took photos of them at Bell Lab's recording studio in Norman, OK while they were recording their album which would later be titled "Geology". They also use some of those shots on their website.

Last Friday TSMC had a CD release show and started on a 2 month east coast tour. I went to the show and took some photos. With a new light setup they had going I was pleased with the results. Also in conjuction with a lot of research and practice I've been doing on photoshop and post-production work lately, I think this is one of my better live music sets. It helped a lot that the venue was packed out and there was great energy all around. Hopefully that shows in the photos.

I also heard that several of my photos were in local newspapers. Last week's Gazette and Friday's daily Oklahoman. Their manager said he was also putting them in other newspapers in cities where they would be playing.

Here are a few of the photos I took the other night, click on one of them to see the entire gallery:

This is one of my favorites because it reminds me of an old photo of Ian Curtis of Joy Division

The following photo was not originally intended when I shot it, I accidently had it on a 4 second exposure but kept holding the camera to see what would happen. This is what turned out. I liked the result and went ahead and processed it.

For the last day of 2005 I decided to try to get at least 1 good self-portrait. I often have a hard time taking photos of myself. I am very critical of my photos of other people but even more so of images with me in them.

In my frequent viewing of flickr I have become a fan of 2 people who have developed a good style of depicting themselves in photos. One of them is a single mother in Iceland, Rebekka. It seems she is pretty much an online celebrity on flickr and has quite a large following. Take a look at some of the photos she's taken of herself. Another I have recently started watching is an Italian man Paulo, who goes by Tsunami Notes. He has a great rough look about him, makes me think of Jean Reno. Often has a cigarette in his hand with smoke going across his face. Take a look at some of the photos he's taken of himself.

I ended up posting 2 self-portraits that I thought were good enough. I don't normally smoke, but I like how the cigarette looks in photos so I tried one with a cigarette out on my balcony. The light was getting pretty low but I liked how the setting sunlight was coming from behind. I took a lot more shots than I wanted to in getting this one. At first I thought about just trashing all of them as I often do when trying self-portraits. But I left them for awhile and came back and decided this one was good enough even though its slightly blurred due to the longer exposure needed with the low light. It was shot on a tripod with a cable release.

Before I knew that I was going to even use one of the cigarette ones I tried a few others of myself in my bathroom mirror. I liked the way the wild hair looked. I had a black hooded sweatshirt on and it reminded me of Jake Gyllenhaal from Donnie Darko. I decided to play the song "Killing Moon" by Echo and the Bunnymen while taking the photo. That song can be heard at the beginning of the film. I wanted it to be kind of devious looking like Donnie's face. I was holding the camera just below the frame at my chest. I had an external flash bouncing off of the wall to the left side of the frame, I wanted it to have a harsh contrast with no light coming from the ride side of the frame. I was also happy with the hair in this final one because it reminds me of the way the younger Bob Dylan's hair looks after having recently watched "No Direction Home" again recently.

So these are what came out this time. I feel I can definitely do better next time, but I was happy to come out with 2 that passed my criticism level. I sent a message to Paulo thanking him for the inspiration and he was kind enough to respond. Its interesting to me to see the contrast in the 2 images. I think the one with the cigarette makes me look really old and I look younger in the other one. It seems a bit conceited to take photos of yourself, but I think its a good excercise.

Anyone who I've talked to about music in the last month or 2 has probably heard me mention the band Wolf Parade. A couple weeks ago I was talking with a friend and I was trying to explain what the sound was like and I thought of the phrase Drunken Calliope Trance. I wanted to write down why I like this sound and what it means.

I read a review on pitchfork awhile back (can't think of which one right now) that said something that has stuck with me. The writer made an observation that a common tie between many of the greatest rock albums is that they sound like they have the ability to fall apart at any moment. Something is on edge, or of kilter about it. Something unpredictable. You're not sure how long this will last but you like it. When I came across this Wolf Parade album it gave me that feeling. I'm not saying Wolf Parade instantly deserves to be among the greatest rock bands or anything, but for me it has quickly moved up high on my list.

Apologies to the Queen Mary was produced by Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. Reading the review in Pitchfork of Apologies to Queen Mary they mention that it gives you that same feeling of listening to the great early Modest Mouse albums. You're not exactly sure what you're hearing at all times, but you like it. I agree with this. The Wolf Parade sound isn't exactly ground breaking. But it brings together many different influences to a really great and interesting sound. For the music I find myself often listening to it was close to the perfect next step. I've talked to many people who agree with me while others think its too poppy or sounds too much like their influences. Yes, at times it has fun dancy atmosphere to it, but to me on the whole it is more dark than that.

The drunken calliope trance sound makes me think of this manical, carnival barker with wide glazed over eyes. Wolf Parade to me has these crazed trancy chants that kind of slur together at times. Its not exactly droning, but a driving sound that starts to gain momentum as it goes off the side of the cliff. I get the sense of a goth-influenced sound with many Wolf Parade songs. They are not goth by any means, but you can hear sounds similar to Interpol at times. Who are sometimes considered "Post-goth" or some such category. Interpol in contrast has much more of a polished sound to me, they share the same driving almost trancy type of sound. But they don't have the calliope/carnival sound like I think of with Wolf Parade. You can hear in many WP tracks that they have 2 keyboards playing at once which really adds to this sound I think. I've always thought that most goth or goth-type music I've heard reminds is derivative of Jim Morrisson and the Doors. I do hear some of those influences here.

I was telling someone about WP and they asked me if it was post-punk, I thought about that and it wasn't an easy question to answer. Interpol is definitely post-punk but WP is on a different tangent. I would say they have a lot of similarites with the post-punk sound but not necessarily in that category.

Another recent album that has made me think of my crazy calliope interest is Animal Collective's Feels album. Its definitely a lighter album, but possibly even more weird. Neutral Milk Hotel who is often mentioned in comparison to Wolf Parade also makes me think of this sound. As well as the aforementioned earlier Modest Mouse albums especially Lonesome Crowded West. Walkmen are another band who love and I would say are coming from a similar place to WP with their vocals and use of keyboards/pianos and atomospheric sound. Arcade Fire is another that makes me think of this carnival type of sound. I've heard some say they sound too much like Arcade Fire which I really disagree with. I love Arcade Fire and have listened to them a lot since I saw them in July of 2005. They definitely share some influences and are a part of the same Canadian scene. But, WP does things for me that Arcade Fire never did.

I know WP has gotten a lot of hype and attention and have recently started to gain some commerical success. But, I don't think that should stop people from listening to or appreciating this album. For me, it has been a big influence lately and has given me a sound I can't quite hear anywhere else.

I've been thinking about getting a good photo printer for awhile and finally went for it yesterday. For the most part a lot of the stuff I've done I display online. But I've been having more of a need for making prints lately. I wanted something where I can get a good idea of what an image is going to look like in hard copy before I invest the money to get a really large print done. I did some research, c-net, e-pinions, etc and decided to try the Canon iP8500.

I just got it up and running today and I'm very impressed so far. At first I thought there was a problem with it because the prints didn't look that great and I could see a few small white lines in the output. It turned out the problem was just that I hadn't chosen the right paper and it was printing in draft mode instead of high quality. Once I figured that out I was off and running. It is pretty easy to use and the results are amazing for 4x6-8x10. This is going to save me a lot of time and potentially some money in having to send photos off to be printed. So far I would recommend this one. It does cost more than some of the lower models but reading the reviews and specs on them all I felt like this was the one for me to start with. I always like to invest in something a little better if at all possible. This one also has the ablility to print onto a CD as well which I think will be really handy for the compilation discs I like to make for people.

I've closely examined many prints so far and I cannot tell any loss in quality over one printed say from kodak or other digital printing services. Its really great to get that instant feedback when I'm trying to see what something is going to look like in print. I didn't do as many prints before because it was just a pain to have to upload them and wait for them in the mail or go pick them up somewhere. Also, you never know exactly what they're going to do with color correction. Now I can get the color correction the way I want it myself, and if I want a larger print done I can have it sent off somewhere and know what its going to look like as long as I can tell them not to mess with it.

I'm relaxing on a foggy, overcast Sunday afternoon listening to The Smiths and Morrissey albums while drinking espresso. There is just something very comforting to me about listening to Morrissey sing over the jangling guitars. I also find the lyrics inspiring and helps me to think about not just accepting things as they are. I've heard people say The Smiths are sappy or cry baby music, to me that's just silly. The Smiths hit harder than most heavy hard rock bands with their wit and and sarcasm. There are times when I like the harder music but The Smiths have just been more lasting to me and I can listen to it more often.

I've just updated my current music list with some albums I've bought in the last couple of weeks. I've probably listened to the Deerhoof and Aphex Twin discs the most so far, all 4 actually turned out to be worthy purchases. Every album Deerhoof has released that I've heard is always really solid. They have a knack for moving themselves forward each album but still maintain their style. I got to see them in concert last month and it was a really great show. I was impressed. Very tight sound and great energy. I've also listened to that Aphex Twin EP Come to Daddy quite a bit. I have heard a few of the songs before but haven't actually owned a copy and given it my full attention until now. I really love it. The first 2 songs alone are worth getting it. Starts with an evil devious song with the first Come to Daddy mix then goes into a soft beautiful song on the next track. It just makes me really wonder about Richard D. James. I mean, I've always thought the guy was insane, an evil genius. But, it really shows that he has an appreciation for beauty. The contrast between good and evil there is really compelling to me. I think Richard D. James may be an interesting person to make a movie about. I've heard so many rumours about crazy personality traits and things he does. I don't know really what all is true or not.

I've been working off and on for the last several months to try and complete the new design for my website. It was a big task was integrating Gallery2 into the design to display my photos. I created a custom theme for it and finally got it to look like something I liked.

A few weeks later I decided I wanted to start up a blog again but the old format I had just wasn't cutting it. I wanted something that was going to be saved in a database and allow me to have complete control over the way it looks. Preferably written in PHP. I read up on the subject tried out a few packages and decided I would go with WordPress. I'm happy with how its set up. However, the theme I started my custom theme from had some kind of CSS formatting that made it hard to get used to at first. Once I spent the time to dig into it and make it look how it want. This is what came out.

I decided to call my web log "When You Blink Your Eyes" or "Blink" for short. It comes from a song by Clinic called "Distortions". It has one of my favorite phrases in a song. I don't think I've heard it anywhere else. It says "I love it when you blink your eyes". That also has a meaning to me in the way I think about photography, that one great shot happens in the blink of an eye.

So, I'm starting to use flickr. I've seen many photographers have been using it to show there work and get feedback on it. I'm planning on putting a lot of stuff on there then using my domain as the place to get my very best stuff, portofolio quality photographs, etc.

I went ahead and got the pro account for only $24 a year you can have unlimited number of pictures. I like how they have the tags and photo sets set up. I wish you could do more with the look of how the photos are displayed. But, overall its a very solid, fast platform. Its cool how you can link up with everyone else and choose favorites, leave comments and stuff like that.

My link is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephrussell/ I'm going to be posting more and more stuff there and cutting down the photos on this domain to be what I think is my best work.

The last 2-3 weeks have been really busy for me....

Work has been insane. On a project that is very frustrating at times and everything has to be done NOW. It hasn't been like this until now but I do think it is temporary, so hopefully that will be over soon...

However, I've seen 3 great shows recently. Wilco, The Shins, and Rilo Kiley. All well worth the effort of going to them. Wilco and Rilo Kiley I just decided to go at the last minute when I found out there were tickets left, I'm glad I did. Also, I've met some really cool people recently.

I'm excited about the chance to do a lot more photoshoots this summer. I want to really explore what I can do with a camera. I love the idea of people being able to see through my eyes through photography. I also want to get more into some video work at the same time, I enjoy both mediums. Editing photos and editing video really have some complementing aspects and are both just a lot of fun for me to do. I think it was nice that I kind of developed my still photography skills before going into video, I think it made a big difference in my composition on video.

Here is a picture I took awhile back of my good friend Deb. I love it because it captures her attitude so well.

I have been researching a new computer system for awhile and finally went ahead and ordered most of the pieces last night. First of all something has gotten a bit jacked with my old desktop machine, I think a bit stick of memory or something. It can be unstable at times. So, I need something more reliable. Also, I want to get into more video editing and very stable environment to do a lot of photoshop work. I went ahead and got something that should have a good amount of power, reliability, and a lot of storage for all my data.

Here are the parts I've ordered so far:
Motherboard: Asus P5AD2-E Premium
Processor: Pentium 4 3.0Ghz LG775 with 2MB cache.
Memory: 2 x 1024MB Kingston DDR2 memory
Video: PNY Quardo 540 PCI Express 128MB w/ HDTV output
Storage: 2 x 160MB SATA Hitachi Raid 0 for video capture/editing, 1 x 250MB SATA Hitachi for other data, 1 x 80MB SATA Hitachi for operating system and program files.
Optical: Plextor external firewire/USB 2.0 dual layer DVD burner.

I still need to decide on a new case. I'm planning on getting something with a 500W power supply with a lot of cooling for all this equipment. Also, I would next want to get 2 LCD Monitors to go along with the dual DVI capabilities I have but I may wait a bit on that since that is going to be probably the most expensive piece of the whole system.

The motherboard is one of the top of the line boards from Asus right now. It does have 1394b (800mb/s firewire) and dual 1 Gb integrated lan adapters. Also, of course the PCI express to host the new video card. I made sure this time the memory I bought was on the recommended list because I've made the mistake a few times of trying generic memory, its never worth it.

I'm also considering getting an entry level professional sound card. Depending on what I find in my research I may just end up going with a creative labs audigy or something. I used to work there and I feel they have pretty decent sound products even though I know there are higher end cards out there.

I'm excited to get it this, fortunately I found one reliable vender that had all of this with free second day shipping so I should receive it pretty soon.