Deftones 2013 – Single Image Sundays

Deftones 2013, a photo by rsmithing on Flickr.

Saw these guys last weekend. Got this photo. What a gig. One of my favorite bands ever.

Dynamic Light App Review

Dynamic Light App

The iPhone app Dynamic Light byMediachance has become one of my favorite photo manipulation tools. I create many black & white montages, and Dynamic Light’s unique filters (especially “solarize,” “edgy,” and “re-exposure”) almost always yield interesting results — either for montage fodder or even standalone images. It saves at full resolution, is very fast, and improves with each update. It adds an element of randomness to the photo editing process that I enjoy, yet its effects are actually very sophisticated, particularly for producing distressed or distorted-yet-recognizable treatments. I recommend it for anyone looking for a simple, yet very unique bag of tricks to add to their photo manipulating repertoire, for less than the price of a soda ($.99). Here are some before and after examples of my favorite filters:

Edgy

Re-Exposure

Solarize

Video: Dynamic Light in Action

What do you think? Ever used Dynamic Light? What are some of your go-to photo manipulation or photo editing apps? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

• Surreal Photo Manipulations by Ceslovas Cesnakevicius (emorfes.com)
• Flashy photography apps for iOS (reviews.cnet.com)
• Fun photography masking tools on iOS (reviews.cnet.com)
• Crazy Photo Manipulations That Aren’t Made With Photoshop(designresourcebox.com)

Forward, Behind, Today

Forward, Behind, Today, a photo by rsmithing on Flickr.

Either way; whatever it takes. My great grandfather's pocket watch, sky from a vacation and my own hand, with textures and noise.

Call Me A Hole: Nine Inch Nails + Call Me Maybe = Awesome

I was seriously not expecting to like this as much as I do, but holy cow; this really is great. Nine Inch Nails is some of my favorite music ever, and I also enjoy a good pop hook. This combines them both in a crazy, mind-expanding… and extremely catchy way. I’d love to know what Trent Reznor or Carly Rae Jespsen think of this.

Here’s my favorite interpretation so far, via k2b at Gawker:

“First thought – this is a charming combo because it mixes up presumed oil and water in a fun and silly way that makes it hard to take it too seriously. I like fun and silly, and avoid taking things like pop songs too seriously. Second thought – it kind of suits, because I liked NIN as much as anybody in my teens and twenties and still enjoy it from time to time, but not as much, because I am older and do not relate to it so much. And I realized that the mashup doesn’t offend me, because the level of emotional maturity involved in both songs is so similar that the juxtaposition really strikes me as one of style – they are two sides of the same coin. In short: it’s all angsty teenager/YA stuff, even if one is more poetical.”

Image by rsmithing w/pics by Lunchbox LP & ClintJCL via Flickr. Free for use via Creative Commons.

The Connection? The Producer!

Dave ‘Rave’ Ogilvie at The Warehouse in Vancouver, where ‘Call Me Maybe’ was mixed.
Photo: Adam PW Smith viasoundonsound.com

The music to Call Me Maybe was produced by Dave “Rave” Ogilvie — industrial music legend, and collaborator of… wait for it… NINE INCH NAILS! Yes, the one-timeSkinny Puppy member now uses his musical powers to assail radio with four-on-the-floor kick drums. My jaw literally dropped when I learned this at boingboing.net via user OtherMichael. Absolutely astounding.

Read the mind-boggling, intricate craftsmanship Ogilvie applied to this track.

What do you think? Are you a fan of mashups, Nine Inch Nails or Call Me Maybe? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

• Call Me Maybe, Trent Reznor? (animalnewyork.com)
• Trent Reznor Announces the Return of Nine Inch Nails: Extensive Touring for 2013 and 2014 (pitchfork.com)
• Trent Reznor Reboots Nine Inch Nails With Members of Jane’s Addiction, King Crimson + More (loudwire.com)
• Today in Internet victory: This Carly Rae Jepsen/Nine Inch Nails mash-up(music-mix.ew.com)
• Nine Inch Nails “Closer” – Classic Tracks (soundonsound.com)

Making Things Happen: Now Featured by WeAreJUXT

Making Things Happen, a photo by rsmithing on Flickr.

Two things I’ve been doing lately: travelling and listening to Beats Antique (often simultaneously). The music is, for me, a perfect mood-setter: stimulating, forward moving, and compelling without lyrics. I saw the band twice in 2012, and captured this image of Zoe Jakes at a gig in Asheville, NC. This snapshot makes the perfect foreground for this vista from above the clouds off Florida’s Gulf Coast, brought together via iPhone with the masks & textures of Photoforge2.

Update 3/3: Now Featured by WeAreJUXT

Big thanks to the folks at WeAreJUXT for including this image in their weeklyshowcase! This is the second image of mine featured there (here’s the first) and I’m totally flattered, since they constantly and consistently highlight such great creations with insights from their creators (and I’m not just saying that because I’m there). You should definitely check out the whole JUXT site. Here’s what I say about this image over there:

My favorite art is the kind that gets the viewer to consider things in new ways. I believe that’s the most exciting thing about sharing creativity: the opportunity for a mind-expanding experience. That can happen for me through words, music, or with visual art as in the works of my favorite artists, Salvador Dalí and Jerry Uelsmann. The story behind this image is that I was on a business trip last month and happened to be in the air at just the right time to capture a glorious sunrise from above the clouds. I knew I wanted to remember the moment, but didn’t know what form that would take. This week, the vision hit me: a dancer amid the clouds with selective lighting and textures was what I wanted to make happen. I instantly thought of this silhouette image I shot last year at a show by one of my favorite bands, Beats Antique, which happen to be on heavy rotation during my recent travels. The mysterious form in the foreground is the troupe’s Zoe Jakes as shown backlit from behind a screen with exotic costume accents. The spell-casting pose along with textures, layer modes and and masking in Photoforge2 makes the mind-expansion thing happen.

Related articles

• ArtStack: Curation and Social Image Sharing Refined. Interview with Co-Founder, Ezra Konvitz (rsmithing.com)
• Your Own Personal Grammys (rsmithing.com)
• Laughing Seed Café in Asheville, NC, is Looking for Local Artists to Hang Their Work (carolinaartsnews.wordpress.com)
• Mextures: Free Textures To Grungify Your iPhoneography (cultofmac.com)
• Beats Antique: Spring 2013 Tour (jambase.com)