Photographic Update

Some recent or not so recent photos. :)

 Tina x

A song

I found this song today. Thought I'd share.

Tina x

Bits and bobs

This week I took quite a lot of photos for my Fashion blog, and I thought I'd show you my favourites.

A Topshop Crop Top :)

Spike necklace from Regal Rose. Love lovity love love.

Head over heels (heels? get it?) with these shoes.
They're ASOS AVA booties.

Cool Ear Cuff. I'm getting another similar one from ASOS though 'cause I really liked it too. 

Oh, I love these shorts.

Part of a little activity we did in the Fashion Foundation course I attended last March.

Poster Design: Chair

This is another part of my course work. We had one session in a lighting studio where we photographed two Chairs, The Panton Chair and this one below which I don't really know the name of...

But yeah, we had to take photos of the chairs and then create a poster using the photos and the word 'Chair'. I might tweak around with the title in the version below because I think it's too much to the left, but I have so many versions I'm getting a tad confused now. 

Update: I've decided to upload two slightly different versions. Really, the problems in my life. It's crazy.

Haha. Tina x

Photographic Update

I've just noticed that apart from it being a while since the last time I posted, it has also been some time since I did one of my photographic updates. I admit, I haven't been taking as much photos as I would like. The thing is, I have nowhere to put them. I have 300 Gigabytes worth of photos on this laptop and the red bar next to my Local Disk icon is probably a warning sign that I should get some form of storage where I can put this great chunk of photos. 

Furthermore, one of my assignments this semester is to take photos of Marsaxlokk, a fishing village sort of place that located in the South of Malta, which makes things slightly problematic with regards to storage. Anyway, with that being said, I have a few photos I took on a visit there. Also, there are more to come. I'm going again this week to shoot a couple of panoramas so you can expect a few of those too. 

Also, I'm trying to be more creative with regards to editing. I don't use pre-set filters as such, only combinations of gradients and lighting adjustments. I still have to find what I like and what works for me though.

Tina x

Digital Imaging II

Digital Imaging II is one of the electives I have this semester. I love it, in fact it's one of my favourites. The First Assignment we had was to take photos representing points, lines and planes. Now, the only reason I haven't posted this here is because whilst I have taken photos for this assignment I still haven't decided on which photos to actually present.

Today, however, I shall post a teensy bit about what I did for my second Assignment. The Assignment instructions were as follows:

"Use the same 12 images (4 point, 4 line and 4 plane). Open a new project in Photoshop, (A3, landscape 300dpi, RGB) and transfer your images to this canvas. Create a digital interpretation of your images by reworking the images without the aid of Photoshop filters."

So basically, we had to create a graphic rendering of our image. Below I have uploaded a 'before and after' of an image I reworked on Photoshop:

I might have included more detail than was necessary but I think it was important in translating the image well. And that's all for today. I now have to go sketch more designs for my Xylography project. We'll start carving in wood soon enough and I still haven't decided on what design to choose for print. Hoping that inspiration hits soon enough, hah. 

Hope you had a great Weekend, I know I did. You know, it's amazing how much fun you can have just sitting down with a few friends over a drink or two. Really.

Tina x

The Piano

A couple of piano played songs.  I actually play the piano myself, and listening to these songs is what keeps me motivated. 

Very high in my list of  my favourite  piano pieces is the one from The Piano. Good film but very sad film. It did have a happy ending though... so that equals a happy me haha. (I'm still really annoyed at whoever decided on that HORRIBLE ending for the film Atonement. Shame.)

Another song is Nuvole Bianche by Ludovico Einaudi. Love this composer. His pieces are quite simple really, but played well they can be really expressive and that's something I 'get'.

:]

Helvetica

The god font or a cliche, boring and inanimate?

I found the documentary film 'Helvetica' about the font type Helvetica is good for various reasons. One is that apart from showing Helvetica's rise(s), it shows it's falls and faults. Some people don't like it, they think it's boring, and I should also mention that some of these people are famous top-notch designers who make money just because their name is in something. 

Personally, I think there are places for Helvetica, and there are other places for more creative approaches.

photo from here

Another thing that this film made me realise mostly, is how good it is to be aware of what's around you. Not what is happening, but simply how things look, the effect they have, the mood they give.

10 things

If you attend the UoM (University of Malta) you'd know that a short while ago Semester 1 ended. For me, that meant getting rid of nagging deadlines and mountains of due work. However, it also meant the beginning of a new phase in my course, which I kind of like till now. Below are a few things I loved this past week. :)

- Spending an hour or so in our garden on Sunday morning, hunting for photos for the photographic assignment I mentioned here.

- Watching RTW Fall/Winter shows. Love, love, love Burburry Prorsum, Ralph Lauren, Rachel Zoe (see my blog post about this collection) and Helmut Lang. Can't wait for Paris Fashion Week. :D

- Spending a day at home, reading, drawing, editing photos, doing research and blogging. I find I do need a quiet day at home once in a while. :)

- Dressing up. I've got these burgundy coloured tights I've been wearing for so many times! Not to mention my cosy ZARA blazer. :3

- Waking up to two kitty cats curled up beside you. (Not before a mini fight erupted between them. Doh.)

- The rain pattering (more like pelting) outside. Although not really when you actually have to go outside- yesterday I got drenched. What I loved after that is coming home and slipping into those heaven-on-earth pjs.

- Going chez le best friend before going out, doing some catching up, getting ready together just like we used to do in summer, laughing, talking. :) I miss Summer because of that mainly.

- Seeing photos of all of us on le best friend's photo mash up on her wall! Ohh seriously. :D

- Going out for drinks with friends, just talking, having fun.

- New music and a new playlist I did a few days ago. :)

Photographic Update

A few photos I hadn't put on here yet. I have a Photographic assignment for this week so I will be showing you that too once it's ready. Our assignment consists of taking photos representing points, lines and planes, composing them into a square frame and creating a composition with these photos on an A3 sheet.

Window in the Skies.

Click on it. Go on. :)

Weekend Playlist

I have compiled another weekend playlist today. There's no specific theme to it, except maybe an upbeat alternative and Indie theme. I've been liking such songs like Bohemian Like You by Dandy Warhols (this was in my other weekend playlist) and Lonely Boy by The Black Keys. I've listened to The Black Keys in the past but I had forgotten about them lately. Of course there's also St. Vincent- A new and awesome band with their awesome singer/guitar player Annie Erin Clark. I've discovered her through Gossip Girl, since she played in their Valentine's Day Episode, and I'm liking what I'm hearing till now. Another new find is Lana Del Ray, her song Video Games is beautiful. Anyway, here's the songs in the playlist:

Marrow- St. Vincent

Lonely Boy- The Black Keys

70 Million- Hold Your Horses

Grounds For Divorce- Elbow

Paradise- Coldplay

A Girl Who Loves Her Smoke And Wine- Flight Brigade

Mountains- Biffy Clyro (Acoustic)

Sesame Street- Joshua Radin

Vapour Trail- Ride

Scarborough Fair- Simon and Garfunkel
Sweet Disposition- The Temper Trap
LIFEGOESON- Noah And The Whale

Wheatus- A Little Respect

Video Games- Lana Del Rey (Love love love this song)

Hope you had an awesome weekend. :)

Visual Awareness

On my Fashion blog, Voilà, I mention that I had a lecture today which I really enjoyed. Here, I will post bits and pieces which we were shown. It was an excellent lecture on Visual arts and perception.

One of the things I really liked was the part of the presentation related to perception. For example, this, below, is Beethoven's 5th Symphony:

However, this too, is Beethoven's 5th Symphony:

Even this is:

Work by William Anastasi called 'Beethoven's Fifth Symphony'
Image from here.

Perception. Visual arts and artistic skills depends the context of a work. You cannot understand a music sheet if you're not trained in it, so you cannot really percept what that means. But by listening to a piece you understand and fully perceive it. This is food for thought. You might think it's pointless, like maybe art is to some people, or philosophy is to others. But being more rich in thought, isn't that a purpose unto itself? It's something that someone said in class, that art doesn't have a point. Really, SOK is there for this precise reason and if we're not learning about these things from it, I really don't know why it's there in the first place. 

Anyway, I have two videos that I think are remarkable.

Awesome, right?

And now a good song with a great music video.

Disclaimer: Ideas for this post were taken from today's lecture.

Tina :)

Silence

Picture from here

Picture from here

Composition

All photos taken by me.

Photographic Update

I've been going through my archive of photos these past few days, to analyse what I took, edit and upload some photos. So here are my latest. A few are a bit 'past their prime', and you'll see why, but I like them, so I put them up anyway or they never will be.

The Perks of being a Wallflower.

This is truly an amazing book. Since my post about my reading list here, the book The Perks of being a Wallflower has arrived through post. I read it. I loved it.

Picture from here

First of all, a Wallflower, as defined in the book, is someone who sees things, who notices stuff. As I get it, these are people who understand.

"You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand."

The book is a series of letters that the protagonist, Charlie, writes to a 'friend' whose identity we do not know. Charlie has his way of seeing things. He's shy, unpopular and by convention, weird. In the book, we see Charlie make friends, grow, experience things and go through some rough patches.

Picture from here

Picture from here

What I love most is Charlie's intent quest on making people happy. It is not a good thing. He screws up, but he gets to learn why. Most of all, the reader learns why.

"It's great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn't need a shoulder. What if they need the arms or something like that? You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and thing it counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things."

What I also like a lot in this book is that Charlie mentions all these extra books that his teacher, Bill, gives him to read. These are: To Kill a Mocking Bird, This Side of Paradise, Peter Pan, The Great Gatsby, Separate Peace, The Catcher in the Rye, On The Road, Naked Lunch, Walden, The Stranger and The Fountainhead.

They're in the order in which Charlie read them, too. Yes, I'm so busy that procrastination is at it's best. Bill also gives him a list of movies to see. Which, of course, I've looked up the names of: The Graduate, Harold & Maude, My Life As A Dog, Dead poets Society and The Unbelievable Truth. I really want to read those books, and watch those movies. When I have time. Which I don't. Right now.

I have also put together a playlist of the mix Charlie makes. This mix was part of the 2 sided mix tape he gives Patrick (a friend) as  part of a Christmas Present.

Asleep by The Smiths

Vapour Trail by Ride

Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel

A Whiter Shade of pale

Time of No Reply by Nick Drake

Dear Prudence by The Beatles

Gyspy by Suzanne Vega

Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues

Daydream by Smashing Pumpkins

Dusk by Genesis

MLK by U2

Blackbird by The Beatles

Landslide by Fleetwood Mac

"And finally...

Asleep by The Smiths (again!)"

That's all about the book. I really suggest that people read it. It's good.

Anyway, coincidentally, they are doing a movie adaptation of this book. It is being directed by Stephen Chbosky, the author himself. I'm a bit wary, as with any adaptation of any book really, but still looking forward to seeing it. I just hope they do the book justice. There isn't even a trailer yet. I won't even put up the movie poster or anything. I really like reading books first, and then watching the movie adaptations. It leaves you free to make up your own version of how things look. 

That's all folks. :)

x

That's sick. Love-sick.

Call me a girl (which I am, actually), but one of my favourite things to do when I've had a particularly stressful day, is put on one of those soppy romantic films. Actually, my best friend got me into this habit. My idea of a good film really is of the likes of Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Alice in Wonderland, Hot Fuzz (Damn good Film. One of my friends had suggested this some four years ago.) and Indiana Jones.

However, I will today give you a list of some of my favourites from the Romance/ Romantic Comedy Genres.


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

• Joel: I can't see anything that I don't like about you.
• Clementine: But you will! But you will. You know, you will think of things. And I'll get bored with you and feel trapped because that's what happens with me.
• Joel: Okay.
• Clementine: Okay.

500 Days of Summer
I'm kind of in love with the male protagonist. Those eyes.
"To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die" - The Smiths

50 First Dates


Love and Other Drugs
"You meet a thousand people, then you meet that one person and your life is changed."

No Strings Attached
!!ashtonkutcherrr! HAHA.

Love Actually
Haha this is so whimsical and sweet.




Walk to Remember
DIE Leukaemia, DIE. :(

Beauty and the Beast
Yes, heck yes. :)

And I leave you with that heck of a toothy smile. *bares teeth* :D

A Weekend Playlist

I have put together a small playlist for this weekend. The creation of this playlist reflects things which went on this week, including stuff and songs I found randomly, read or rediscovered. :)

The Daily Mail- Radiohead
Shelter- The xx

Bohemian Like You- Dandy Warhols
New Shoes- Paolo Nutini

Tubular Bells- Mike Oldfield

Somebody That I Used To Know- Gotye (feat. Kimbra) I know I linked this some months ago, 
but only now people are actually listening to it. 

Psychobabble- Alan Parsons Project
How To disappear Completely- Radiohead

Otherside- Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Dakota- Stereophonics

We Never Change- Coldplay

Folding Stars- Biffy Clyro
Heartbeats- Jose Gonzalez

Here's a link to the YouTube playlist. :)

Ways to Stay Creative

I came across this through StumbleUpon a while ago and I loved it. It's called 'Ways to stay Creative'. Actually, since I'm doing a credit on Creativity myself, I think I will also do my own list of ways to practice creativity. For now though, I'll leave you with this, as I have an assignment due next week and I'm a bit behind. Oops.

Taken from here

Bookish Updates

I've been buying quite a few books lately, so I thought that telling you about what it is I'm reading at the moment would be a good idea. Books I buy are generally all in English, something that I do wish will change this year. My 1st language is actually Maltese, and I'd really like to find good books in this language.

Photo from here

Anyway, on with the books. First and foremost is possibly the most important book of the year.

Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye

by Rudolf Arnheim

This book is amazing. The author goes through various elements of perception; shape, form, line, balance and analyses the psychological part of vision and how the eye sees. It's not only words, he gives examples, and some of the points you will come across are really something.

Design as Art

by Bruno Munari

Bruno Munari was an Italian Artist/Designer. In this book he covers a lot of different things, including the 'Useless Machines' he used to make, symbols, the use of language, the form of objects we use and the design with its relation to art. Reading this book is a challenge to how we are commonly taught to see and think about things.

Photo from here

The Fashion Photography Course

by Eliot Siegel

The Language of Things: Understanding a World of Desirable Objects

by Deyan Sudjic

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

"So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be." 

This seems like a really good book. It does have quite some positive reviews on Amazon as a matter of fact. I just bought it, hope it gets here soon. Haha.

The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy

by Douglas Adams

No, haven't read it yet. Seems aaah-mazing though:

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still thing digital watches are a pretty neat idea."

Music update

Awesomely mellow song. Give it some time, it turns out real nice. :)