If you are thinking: ‘Why is this guy writing a blog about photography? He isn’t anything NEAR professional, I am probably a better photographer myself’ then you are right. I am not necessarily trying to teach you, I just want to inform you on my thoughts and look upon photography.

So,  let us get started.

I see two kinds of pictures. There are pictures you take, and there are pictures you make. I used to prefer taken pictures, but the possibilities of making a pictures (especially when you are not a professional) are far greater.

Taken pictures are pictures that you take. That sounds simple, and it is.
Example: You are strolling through town at dusk when you notice a bridge over a little stream you didn’t know was there before. You stand in the middle of the bridge and you look out over the stream ending in a puddle surrounded by colourful flowers. You happen to have your camera with you, you shoot the scene. That is a picture you take.

Made pictures are pictures of scenes that are less pretty/interesting or maybe even disappointing when you see them in real life. You optimise the picture.
Example: Again you are strolling through town at dusk when you notice a bridge over a little stream you didn’t know was there before. You stand in the middle of the bridge and you look out over the stream ending in a puddle. On one of the edges there is a somewhat muddy yellow flower. You walk beside the stream, to the flower and wipe off the dirt. Then, you take your camera and take a couple pictures from different perspectives to see on which the flower comes out best. You make this scene look at least a special as the one from the taken picture. The only difference is that the actual scene wasn’t pretty at all. It had potential, and you used this. Of course you can Photoshop it at home.
You can of course make a taken picture prettier by photoshopping or using the ISO-value for the right light and such, but in the end the beauty of a taken photo comes from the scene.

Posed pictures of people and animals are made, non-posed pictures are taken.

I hope you found my view upon the subject interesting.
I haven’t copied this from anyone. ‘Taken’ and ‘Made’ pictures are terms I came up with myself.

Anyone can shoot chaos. But the most perceptive photographers can make compelling pictures out of uninteresting moments. - Alex Tehrani

Have a taken day (:

Ok, Leute, aufgepasst! Es kommt wieder mal ein Filmtipp von mir:

96 Hours (dt. Titel) bzw. Taken (engl. Titel)

Es handelt sich um einen wirklich genialen, sauspannenden und echt brutalen Vergeltungsthriller. Die Hauptrolle spielt Liam Neeson, der in dem Film abgeht wie ein Berserker! Da ich nicht vorausgreifen möchte, soll die Story hier nur ganz kurz anskizziert werden: Die Tochter eines ehemaligen Topagenten im Ruhestand (Liam Neeson) wird im Urlaub in Paris entführt und ihr Vater versucht, sie wiederzufinden Klingt jetzt nicht sehr innovativ, aber was der Regisseur daraus gemacht hat, ist ein rund 90-minütiges Actionfeuerwerk der Superlative, ohne dass der Film allzu übertrieben und unrealistisch wirkt.

Fazit:

Wer auf Actionfilme à la Bond, Crank, Lucky Number Slevin oder ähnliches steht, wird an diesem Film nicht vorbeikommen!

molch

I was a big fan of the original V-series back in the mid-eighties so when I heard that a remake was in production I was horrified, but also a little curious. So I just had to watch it.

And after watching the pilot episode of “V” 2009-style I was hooked. I’m not loving it as much as the original, but I still like it a lot. It sadly doesn’t have the same eerie kind of score and the special effects varies from excellent to really terrible, but the writers has added an interesting twist to the story and the series is packed with a lot of great actors from other TV-shows.

Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), and Joel Gretsch, (4400 and Taken) stars as FBI agent Erica Evans and catholic priest Father Jack Landry. The incredibly beautiful Morena Baccarin, who I already love after seeing her guest appear as Chloe on How I met your mother, co-stars as the V leader Anna.

But even if there are a lot of great actors, I do think that the characters they have to play aren’t as great as the ones from the original series. I especially miss someone like Ham Tyler, brilliantly played by Michael ironside, or Mike Donovan, played by Marc Singer.

Marc Singer as Mike Donovan

Only four episodes have been produced in the new series as some kind of test to see what ratings it would get. And since it started off with the biggest rating a new show has gotten in a long, long time I think we will get a full season starting March 15 2010, when the fifth episode is scheduled for broadcast.

And hopefully by then, the writers has added some new, cool characters. I can’t wait to see.

Qual não foi a minha alegria quando li pela primeira vez que um dos meus filmes favoritos da época de ogrinho seria refilmado! Isso mesmo, você leu “alegria” e “refilmado” na mesma frase. Não sei porque, mas tenho levado muita fé nesse remake do mega clássico de 1981 “Clash Of Titans” (“Fúria de Titãs” aqui na República das Bananas).

Talvez seja pelas proporções colossais que o filme pode tomar por conta de um orçamento generoso. Quem sabe pela escalação dos fodásticos Liam Neeson e Ralph Fiennes como Zeus e Hades, respectivamente, e de Sam Worthington – que me convenceu de que dá pro gasto depois de sua atuação em “Terminator – Salvation” – como o protagonista Perseu.

Aliás, aproveitando o ensejo sobre o elenco, é muito bom ver mais uma vez Liam Neeson num papel de destaque. O cara é um montro, tem uma imponência única, e nada mais justo que ele ser o responsável por dar vida ao deus supremo da mitologia grega. Se você ainda precisa ser convencido do quanto esse ator é um badass motherfucker (Há!), assista ao último filme de ação estrelado por ele, “Taken” (“Busca Implacável” pros lados de cá). Simplesmente um deleite pros fãs do gênero.

Mas o que realmente me fez colocar ainda mais fé em “Clash Of Titans” foi o trailer recentemente lançado. Acredito que podemos aguardar algo épico, grandioso mesmo. Ótimos efeitos, trilha sonora magnífica e a promessa de sequências de ação de tirar o fôlego (clichê detected, há!) são os destaques do vídeo liberado pela Warner Bros.

Esse é o momento do post em que eu deveria resumir o enredo do filme né? Não, me recuso! Estamos falando de  um clássico dos anos 80 e se você ainda não assistiu, corra até a sua locadora e alugue. É requisito básico para qualquer amante do cinema com mais de 20 anos de idade. Mordi!

“Clash Of Titans” é dirigido por Louis Leterrier (“O Incrível Hulk”) e estréia dia 2 de abril de 2010. Alguém aí está tão ansioso quanto eu?

The school bathroom paradox

Graph by: InnocentLily via Graph Jam Builder

This is the truth!  My hats have been taken over by rainbows!  Not really though, they are just retextured models.  (remember my post?) If you need a rainbow hat, ask me.  Here are some:

Now, here is the reason it is a post.  I am going to try to make a place full of people wearing my rainbow hats!  I am now creating artwork from Robloxians, and need your help.  If you are willing, PM me for info.

-Meeee634

A convicted drug dealer has lost his cabin cruiser boat and car bought with the proceeds of crime…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: boat charter. The blog is also related to: boat transom.

Police are appealing for information after saddles worth 10,000 are stolen from a farm on the edge of a Teesside town…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: farm. The blog is also related to: farm.

Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin is stripped of his Olympic road race silver medal after a positive dope test…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: airport shuttle. The blog is also related to: travel tickets.

Thieves break into a store at a shopping village in Staffordshire and steal thousands of pounds worth of clothing…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: clothing shopping. The blog is also related to: going shopping.

Thieves break into a store at a shopping village in Staffordshire and steal thousands of pounds worth of clothing…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: fashion accessories. For a different topic see bra types. The blog is also related to: fashion dress.

Mother arrested in missing girl case – 11/15/09 – Raleigh News – abc11.com
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7118982

IS ANYONE LISTENING?

You have to wonder who in their right mind would include theirself into this mess? It really makes you question the moral integrity of people.

I mean isn’t there one person who has a heart that knows or have seen this, meaning what is going on? I mean like a family member, a family friend, a neighbor, shoo anyone who has the sense that God has gave them to just leave a hint, a call, anything to help get to this little angel? God knows the longer this takes the least likely it will turn out good for Shaniya.

As for me I wish there was something more I could do for her and I don’t even know her. But having children of my own, I would be turning over heaven and hell just to get her back.

She’s just a child who has her whole life in front of her and she doesn’t need to be scared or damaged by the very people who suppositly love her.

A damn shame I tell you. So Shaniya may God send his angel to surround you and bring you peace. A peace that only He can provide. So all those who believe in the power of prayer let your knees be tested and reach out to the One who can get her back safe.

Standing by in faith… Until then. Be blessed

More than 7,000 primary school pupils in Northern Ireland have sat new grammar school entrance tests…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: instructional. The blog is also related to: teaching course.

Depending on the version of MSN/Windows Live Messenger/etc you use (assuming you use any form of instant messaging … but let’s discard that and assume you do), there are different options for your ’status.’ You can be ‘online’/'available,’ ‘busy,’ ‘on the phone’/'in a call,’ ‘away,’ ‘out to lunch’ (but never out to dinner, out to brunch, or even ‘insane’ – but that’s another bone I have to pick with the program[s]) … Has anyone ever seen “available” as a status and thought, “Actually, no, I’m taken” (other than me)?

Just a thought – maybe I’m the only one …

David Dimbleby misses chairing BBC One’s Question Time for the first time in more than 15 years after being injured in a "minor farming accident"…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: farm. For a different topic see bra types. The blog is also related to: farm.

A mediados del año pasado , si no recuerdo mal, se estrenó en nuestras salas  ‘Venganza‘, que pasó sin pena ni gloria por nuestras. Esta película cuyo, título fue desastrosamente traducido (‘Taken’ en el original), ha sido tachada de carne de videoclub casi instantaneamente. De usar y tirar. Y puede que tengan razón, pero yo no estoy de acuerdo. Quizá sea porque me tocó la cuerda sensible, pero a mí me encantó.

Venganza es cine de acción en estado puro. Vale que su argumento, o mas bien, su “excusa para desarrollar la acción” sea bastante flojo, pero ¿y qué?. Simplemente busca hacernoslo pasar como enanos, y joder, lo consigue, vaya que sí.

El principal motivo por el que vi la película fue claramente Liam Neeson. Éste es un actor por el que tengo especial debilidad. Imaginadme, yo, un fan de este hombre, me encuentro con ese poster tan chulo, con Liam Neeson con cara de pocos amigos y una pistola, y con ese título: Venganza. Me vendieron la entrada al instante.

La historia es sencilla, y si quieres saberla, busca en Wikipedia, que lo poco que tiene no te lo quiero desvelar, querido lector (vale, tampoco tengo muchas ganas de ponerme a explicaros la película).

En la película hay mucha mas acción que en esta imagen incluso

Liam Neeson está genial (como siempre, por otra parte), y es increible la capacidad física de la que hace gala este actor, que ya está entrado en años. Neeson demuestra aquí que es capaz de lo que sea, desde salvar judios del holocausto, hasta ser un caballero jedi. Solo le faltaba probar el cine de acción, y aquí, aprueba con buena nota. La hija, que es encarnada por la rubia de perdidos, cumple su función y consigue que nosotros, los espectadores, no queramos que muera (no al menos durante toda la película) de lo pesada, llorica y repelente que es… bueno tal vez sí lo queramos, pero oye, ¡al menos está buena!.

En cuanto a lo que buscamos en realidad cuando vemos una película de este tipo, la acción, ésta cumple con nota mis expectativas (y tiene unas cuantas secuencias memorables). Personalmente, las escenass de acción me han recordado a la saga Bourne, lo cual es un cumplido, evidentemente.

En fín, ‘Venganza’ es una película que te lo hace pasar, como dije, como un enano. Es una descarga de adrenalina continua, y te dan ganas de meterte ahí a dar ostias también (en la película no se libra ni el apuntador). Por eso creo que no se puede la valorar en el mismo ámbito que en el de las demás películas, pues si la compraras con ‘El Padrino’, evidentemente sale perdiendo con creces. Pero como no busca ser un Padrino, sino ser una película de acción decente, pues le doy cuatro choco-estrellas. Porque yo lo valgo y porque es de lo mejor en acción que he visto últimamente.

Here is the first trailer for “Clash of the Titans” a re-make of the classic 1981 film.

The new version stars  Sam Worthington (Avatar) and Liam Neeson (Taken). The film is directed Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2, The Incredible Hulk) What do you think?

Lukas Eggen

Hottie AnnaLynne McCord marks Veteran’s Day in Times Square by launching the Kisses for the Troops campaign. The young actress puckered up to kiss a postcard, then moved outside to re-enact Alfred Eisenstadt’s famous VJ Day in Times Square photograph, taken on VJ Day in 1945. The campaign, held in conjunction with Maybelline New York and Cosmpolitan magazine, offers consumers to kiss a postcard for delivery to troops serving overseas. The companies have pledged to donated $1 for each kiss collected.

Too happy about a stolen gingerbread man.

—
“How the middle class are shoplifting to keep up appearances “
Middle-class shoppers who have been hit by the recession are stealing hundreds of millions of pounds of expensive food in an effort to maintain their high standard of living, according to a new survey.

Quality cuts of meat, fresh fish and high-priced cheeses are being taken by mostly middle-class women from speciality food and convenience shops, where thefts have risen sharply in the past year. Thousands of retailers have found that luxury foods are being stolen for individual use rather than to be sold on.

The information comes from more than 42,000 shops in Europe with combined sales of £262 billion, who were questioned by the Centre for Retail Research, an independent organisation, for Checkpoint Systems, the retail security specialists.

They found that shoplifting in Britain has increased in the past year by nearly 20 per cent to almost £5 billion, £750 million more than in 2008, keeping Britain at the top of Europe’s shoplifting table. Clothing and fashion accessory shops were hardest hit, with branded designer goods high on thieves’ shopping lists, closely followed by DIY stores.

Neil Matthews, vice-president of Checkpoint Systems, said that he was astonished at the rise of middle-class shoplifters. “We are not simply looking at your traditional shoplifters here. We are seeing more instances of amateur thieves stealing goods for their own personal use rather than to sell on than before,” he said.

“This is epitomised in the recent uprising of the middle-class shoplifter, someone who has turned to theft to sustain their standard of living. I suppose people want to carry on with their lifestyle but cannot afford the expensive cheeses, fresh cuts of meat or nice fish that they used to be able to afford and now they just take it. This is the first year we have seen a huge rise in theft of these items and we are being told it is for their own consumption rather than to sell on.”

He added: “The UK’s retail industry has seen its largest ever increase in shoplifting over the last 12 months, and it comes at a time when the industry can least afford it.”

The report, which surveyed more than 1,000 retailers worldwide with sales of £514 billion, found that 43.5 per cent of all stock that went missing was stolen by opportunistic thieves and organised gangs, but employee theft was on the rise. Britain is behind only the Irish Republic in Western Europe for the most dishonest staff.

I love when movies get stuck in my head. I seem to have a very selective memory for movies – I can usually judge how much I enjoyed a film by how much I can remember of it. I have been known on some occasions to completely forget I’ve even watched a film, later re-watching it and discovering why. I guess that’s a problem.

The opposite of that though is that when I love a film, really love it, I can’t stop thinking about it. It happens rarely, and often for completely different reasons. However three recent occurrences of this spring to mind…

*  *  *  *  *

Taken

I resisted watching Taken for so long; such a familiar synopsis:  A former spy relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while travelling in Europe. Guns, bad guys, revenge. The type of film you could easily predict, and easily forget.

When I eventually succumbed to watching it one pizza night, I was proven wrong. The whole film was an edge-of-the-seat thriller and I’m pretty sure my heart was racing from the moment the kidnap happened, right until the “end boss”. I loved it.

I’m not very good at constructing long and clever sentences to describe films, but all you really need to know it that it was frantic, brutal, and Neeson Kicks Ass. Two weeks after watching it the first time I caught myself replaying the kidnap scene in my head, remembering Neeson’s message to the bad guys;

I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career; skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you…

…and I will kill you.

Chilling!

I watched it again that night. It was so nice to see a film like this that didn’t muck about, wasn’t filled with gimmicks and clichés, got the adrenaline pumping and just – well – kicked bottom. Like good thrillers ought to.

Human Humdrum recommends Taken for any Pizza Movie night. Give it the full home cinema treatment.

*  *  *  *  *

The Lake House

The idea of The Lake House is total crap:  Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock live in the same house, but two years apart, and they fall in love whilst sending each other letters through a postbox that apparently can bend space-time to deliver them. Even as a Sci-Fi geek I don’t buy it. Yet the makers of this movie managed to pull it off somehow. There was something really nice about these simple letters, about every day observations, going backwards and forwards between two people who had never actually met, and in our modern world of emails and Internet that is something which is believable.

There’s a really nice part of the film where they take a walk through the city together. Of course they aren’t really together; Reeves, in the past, has made notes about his favourite places on a map, and Bullock takes his tour of the city physically alone, but reading his comments on things along the way. I realise that sounds pretty lame here on your screen, but I think they did it very well in the movie.

There are plenty of questionable bits of plot – for example Reeves at one point plants a tree in his time, and then it magically appears right next to Bullock in her time. But once you manage to put all the stuff you ever read/watched/learned about paradoxes and alternate time lines out of your mind, these little things are just nice touches in a movie which is just really… nice.

In any case, this movie was one that I was still thinking about the day after, rewatched the week after, and still thought about the week after that. I consider it a bit of a guilty pleasure: a movie which I know isn’t going to win many awards and my friends will probably think is lame, but I enjoyed it all the same. And after all, that’s all that matters.

Sunday afternoon viewing and – while it’s a romantic film – it’s not your cheesy chick flick so boys, don’t be too scared!

*  *  *  *  *

Before Sunrise

I have a memory of being a young teenager, up late watching TV in my room, seeing a movie in which a man and a woman were spending a night walking around some European city. They had just met, but had fallen in love, and would have to go their separate ways in the morning. I wasn’t really at an age where I appreciated ‘grown-up’ films, or had even seen many, yet this film made a real lasting impression on me.

While I forgot completely what the characters looked like and what they did in the movie, I never forgot the emotions and the way the film made me feel. Years after I would tell people about this film I’d seen where two people meet, spend one night together, and then go their separate ways. But no one else ever knew what I was talking about.

Earlier this year when I was talking to a colleague of mine about movies, he asked if I had ever seen Before Sunrise. The second I said “No” something clicked in my brain. It turned out that the movie that I was starting to think I had only seen in a dream, was this ‘Before Sunrise’ and other people had actually seen it! Finally knowing its title I got myself a copy and when off work recently with a dodgy tummy, I sat down to watch it.

It was like watching it for the first time – I remembered none of the conversations and situations, yet everything was so familiar. It was the movie that I remembered from all the way back in, like, 1996.

The plot isn’t clever, there are no twists, no surprises. Mostly the film is just showing a conversation between two people who have just met. It isn’t glamorous or controversial, but instead there’s awkwardness, shyness, and the nonsensical babble that you get in real life when meeting someone for the first time. Movie critics know how to put this a lot better than me, but it just feels very ‘real life’.

About half way through they have an encounter with a gypsy palm reader. I’ve no idea why, but this character fascinated me, and I replayed the sequence a couple of extra times. There’s one thing she says that I love:

“You need to resign yourself to the awkwardness of life. Only if you find peace within yourself will you find true connection with others.”

Crazy old lady aside, this really is one of my favourite films. Yeah I know, it’s another romance and I’m a girl so you’re not surprised. But I’m not a fan of sickly-sweet romantic movies, and I usually hate films where nothing really happens. But I love Before Sunrise and I’m going to watch it again in a few months.

Watch it. Watch it when you have 105 minutes to yourself and you know you won’t be disturbed. There was a sequel made 9 years later, called Before Sunset, and you will probably be temped to watch it straight after. But leave it a couple of weeks. If you can.