My Year In Music (kinda)

Happy NYE! There was a time I used to create a long-form album breakdown of all the things I've listened to over the year. I think, although without looking, I did it in 2013 and 2014. I fell away from that in 2015, but I'm brining in back for 2016...somewhat. It's not everything I listened to, or as long as previous reviews, and I'm only including 5 albums to my previous list of 10, but it's back! ...somewhat...

The Album Review

I like only having 5 albums, it's bit of simplicity, and I also tend to find a very select few of albums on constant rotation via iTunes/Spotify over and over again. So that means I listed to these tunes a lot... I couldn't tell you why, It's just my style apparently. Anyway...

One of those albums I listed to a lot was - Moby's Long Ambients1: Clam. Sleep.

This is an amazing album (I hate the word "amazing" but there's no chance avoiding it here). I love ambient music. If you know me you know how much I appreciate (and listen to) the music of BVDUB. So seeing this was probably no surprise. Moby's 2016 release is really wonderful. In it's immediate appearance it's really mellow, but it's complexity is revealed in the length of the compositions and the evolution of the songs as they grow. He also released the whole album for free in 2016 and that is simply unheard of. I'm thankful he gave it away and this is an important album of 2016 for me. Thanks @thelittleidiot #thelittleidiot

Another one, Bon Iver - 22, A Million

I really like this album. It's maybe somewhat different than his other work, but feels like another step for Bon Iver. For good or bad it was hyped like mad. I probably didn't play it as much as some of his earlier work, but it hit the "now playing" fairly often in the tale end of 2016.

Sia - This Is Acting

I don't think Sia can do any wrong at this point. Her work is strong and the shear power in her vocals is unmistakable. I discovered her long ago with Breath Me on Colour The Small One. Now it's undeniable, her presence in music has been made. A Tour De Force for sure. Maybe smaller at the point of Breath Me, but she is a force now. I cannot help but be moved when listening to her music. I don't think anyone cannot.

Don't Let Me Down - Illenium Remix (and yes, specifically that one) The Chainsmokers, Daya, Illenium

Yes, I'm well aware it's a single, and yes, it's super pop culture-ish, and yes, I might be too old to listen to it, but yes, it's an really fun mix of that song. I do like a lot of electronica. It makes me want to bounce and dance. Or pedal faster on the bike. Or just plane go biking. So deal with this choice. Or put it on tonight because it's perfect to bounce and dance along with.

Christopher Bakriges Quartet - Clear and Present

I like jazz quite a bit. For those of you who saw LaLa Land and when John Legend asks, "Where are all the young people?" I'm here! It's me! Kinda...as noted earlier, I might not be THAT young anymore but I still dig the classic sound of jazz. And this album hit my radar in 2016. I dig it. Curious Birds is a great track. Go listen.

This is a bit of bonus...obviously I couldn't have listened that much as it just came out but I wanted to throw it out there. Again, not much of an album, but it's Ryan Adams, and yes, I'm bias, I dig his music no matter the context.

Ryan Adams - To Be Without You

And this is a bonus, bonus. I've been working on this list for awhile, I thought I should share it. I don't know why I didn't think of making this mix earlier but it was made in 2016. This is a playlist of "only first tracks" from Soundtracks. With the exception of one, which is too beautiful to not be on there. You can find it if you want and call foul, but it's my list, so I can bend the rules a bit. And I did. I think including it is nice and I think you'd agree. If you even notice : )

So there you go.

That's a bit of my sound in 2016. I hope you have a great 2017. Go have a drink and hug one another because it's a bit scary out there. We need some more good tunes and happy times. Do good things and I'll see you on the flip side.

Happy New Year!

16/17

It's fast approaching the lull between Christmas and New Years where, unless your an EPL fan, it's a gap of time that seems largely different from the rest of year. It doesn't quite fit with the normal hum drum beat of everything before it. If you're an EPL fan, the frantic pace of the games over the next week are in the very least, something to talk about. Or at worst, something to be desired. That being said, I hope the Arsenal can do what Stella did circa 1998, and get their groove back. COYG.

But as thoughts drift, as they tend to do this time year, I am still overwhelmed with the amount of change this last year has brought. And yes, it's a mellow dramatic sort of reflectance because a) everyone says it's a need at this time of the year, as opposed to say, February, which when you think about it, why not February? I mean, it's got it's own things going on. And b) in the eyes of many, most change is small, or even insignificant. But in the eyes of the few, particularly my own, it's impossible to miss, and even still, impossible not think about. Life in all of it's majesty. Cue sunset, or as us in The Mitt know, cue sunset in 4 months or so.

As this blog progresses with thoughts and images I did want to pause for a moment and say to you reader, whoever you are, where ever you are, I hope your day is merry and bright. I hope that you are well, with family and/or friends, you eat well, and you drink well. I hope you're able to smile and be nice to each other. And if not today, maybe tomorrow, because while it's not a holiday, it's another opportunity. And I raise my glass to you : )

Next week I hope to post my top 5 albums of '16. Because it seems 10 is too much these days. Maybe, we'll see...

More to follow... cheers!

The Noise Out There Is Loud, But Not Here

Every time I turn on the news (read, "NPR") or log into Facebook (and read "irony" as i'm posting to fb) I'm blasted with politics. It's simply overwhelming. And unless you unequivocally follow the president-elect, there's bound to be something that irks you, or most things, or everything. Most of the time I want to turn it off or log out or move on. At least when I read the WSJ or the NYTimes the voice I hear is mine and remarkably less aggressive. Imagine that. Still, the current events are bleak, so I've been striving to find the good lately (see last post as well). But I think I found something.

I'm really thankful when something cuts through the din out there and Lil Buck did just that. I love this segment. The Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris, Lil Buck, and Nowness have really presented a beautiful, quite moment. I watched it, and then watched it again. Really wonderful.

I remember how beautifully simple a performance Lil Buck did with Yo-Yo Ma years ago... It's stuck with me ever since. I'm happy to see another one (there's probably many but this just hit the radar).

Well that's my bit for the day. Go out and have yourself a Wednesday. Always dance a bit more. Always more to follow...

Basil Bob

Lately things have been busy. There's no other way to put it. Getting a moment behind the desk to settle into a rhythm has been challenging. To add to the stress of personal day-to-day norms, the news hasn't been great either. Upon reflection, the news was probably never about "feeling good" but it's been truly trying lately.

Thankfully there's lots of good in life and one of the many things has been the introduction of a house plant. Basil Bob happens to be a very tiny joy in what has been a stressful time. Basil Bob is a seed container that I purchased probably... over a year ago... probably longer, and promptly forgot about in the armrest of my car. It was an impulse buy for $2.50, on clearance, in a checkout line at Lowes, or Home Depot, or something...could have been Meijers (it was so long I don't remember). For ages, it sat there. Hot car. Cold car. It sat there in the armrest of my car.

Recently I found Bob while looking for my water bottle (sadly still lost), and thinking the seeds had long ago passed, planted them anyway in the interest of curiosity. And after a week or so, they sprouted. I've always been in awe of nature, Mountains out West, Oceans on the coasts... Even on the extremely small scale, like basel growing in a plastic cup. But since planting they have sprouted and grown rather well.

It makes me tremendously happy that Bob has grown. And yes, there is something odd about calling multiple plants Bob, or personalizing plants at all, but nothing's perfect. All-in-all how can you not be enamored by a name like Basil Bob?

As I think about it, giving up on the seeds would have been a little easy and seen as mostly reasonable. In the same vain, letting the news and day-to-day dealings bring me down would have been easy. And I'm aware that maybe the idea is a bit trite in the scheme of current affairs, global politics, and life in general, a house plant is not those things... but small steps... not giving up on the seeds, not feeling glum about news... it proves that action and a little love will always bring more joy than not. And more joy, no matter the form, is better. #tuesdaythoughts

More to follow...

Election Day!

So much change is happening! Get out there and vote, and when it's all said and done, make sure you hug your family, friends, neighbors...even strangers...everyone...life is way too short to not be nice! Happy Election Day!

Stand Out Photography Forum

Yesterday turned out to be quite the adventure.

I drove to Chicago for the Stand Out Photography Forum sponsored by PhaseOne and various other vendors. It appealed to me because I had been to a lot of conferences for education but very few with the focus on being commercially active.

And while my expectations were open, of all the things I didn't expect was to hit a rather simple construction gap between new pavement and old pavement on i-90 (just before hitting i-94) and it shaking my muffler loose. The "bump" caused my muffler to completely dislodge from my car. I ended up dragging the bulk of my muffler for the last bit of the trip before I landed at the conference. It was unexpected and through my day off a bit.

But I managed to recover and I only missed part of two presentations. I was going to hear a select few talks, get my sensor cleaned, and to hopefully learn a thing or two. I did just that. I was able to have my firmware updated, sensor cleaned, caps replaced, and I talked with some great people. A success on many accounts.

The forum was pretty neat. I managed to meet quite a few photographers. I was really surprised that people like Clay Cook and Jeff Rojas were so accessible. I had a solid conversation with them. That was pretty special and I was thankful to speak with them both. The legendary Albert Watson was there as well but I didn't manage to speak with him personally, just hear his talk (still good!). All of their presentations were great, informative and heartfelt. I also got to sit down with Erika Blatt from Wonderful Machine. I'm always thankful when I can have a one on one conversation about marketing and photography. Thanks Erika!

All in all it was a solid day. Photography discussed and the trusty steed was fixed for another day... shout out to Teloloapan Muffler for a fix on the go... they were totally awesome and managed to fix my car as I drove in with a dragging muffler. Classic little adventure. Have a solid weekend out there! More to follow.

Classic Fall

Time is moving quickly... photographing, projects, etc... lots of things changing...leaves included... I was happy to get out an photograph a bit of the fall color. Andrea Wallace is a tremendous athlete and mom. We spent a few hours playing in the leaves. Well, maybe one of us did ; ) I played around with a bounce card on a rather cloudy day. More to follow....

Oh, and let's hope the cubs get another win tonight in critical Game 7!

Michigan Fall

Lake Michigan is looking pretty fall-ish these days.

I'm really into slow shutter speeds lately. This is a rather beautiful image from Northern Michigan. There's been a lot of travel lately but it seems things are going to slow down for a bit. Hopefully I'll be able to dive into a few images sitting on my drive that I haven't had a chance to look at. That being said, it's the weekend. Have a good one. More to follow...

On The Road...

Things have been pretty busy lately. Seems that I've been on the road quite a bit. Traveling from one place to another. I feel like I needed to make a rather still image. While I was in Chicago I was able to "walk my camera" ( #walkyourcamera ) and slow things down. I was able to walk around without much of a goal in mind. It's always refreshing when you get a moment to photograph with no other goal than to simply look. More to follow this week...also, go Cubs.

The Weekend Rush...

I seriously have no idea where the week went. Time flew. And while the weeks are full, the weekends tend to be just as busy with a whole new list of things to do.

Busy times. And Lydia just blew town to head to Cali before the Artprize madness that is GR for the next 3 weeks. Hollar if you're out and about at Artprize and see me! I tend to hit the usual spots.

And all the best to Lydia! I can't thank her enough for working with me while in the mit.

More to follow...

Kelly and The Sun

Yesterday I spent some time with some footage I filmed forever ago. It truned out to be a little fun vignette. As we slip into the very last late days of summer I hope to get a few more projects finished. More to follow...

Landscape in the Abstract

As I sort though images, and look at some of my more recent landscape work, I feel I have a tendency to look at the land in the abstract (if you will). I like sprawling hills and wide vistas, but sometimes it's the details, in the rocks and water, these smaller landscapes within the whole that interest me. And when I photograph these details, I reduce the factual information such as "where" and "place" to the nuances of the water moving in the space or the rocks that curl on the cliff. These images speak more about individual elements than broad landscape photographs. It's fun to think about.

The color in this image hasn't been twisted...Maui has a tendency to be full of color and saturation. Some of the greens in the trees and leaves literally jump out of the image. I suppose it's the nature of a tropical climate. This is a fun little aside to look at some of the volcanic rocks that made the island. More to follow...

Looking at the Land

Time seems to accelerate when I sit at the desk. It seems I only sit down to have to be on the move again, but I'm looking at more images... some new, some old but I'm really enjoying editing these days. This is another aside from Maui. I have a deep fascination (as many can attest) with waves. I could watch them for hours. Big, small... it doesn't matter. This is a wonderful little tide pool I stumbled upon. I love all of the small details here. I might have to print this one big just to enjoy them. More to follow...

An Update of Sorts...

Things have been a blur of activity this summer but I'm now going to get back to blogging here. Posting about what comes to mind. Should be exciting times...er...or as exciting as blogs can be. More to follow...

Also, check this landscape out from Maui. There will probably be more than one of these to show up...

Viva SPE

Now safely at #spenational in Las Vegas my eyes have turned away from the hill and back on the world of photography. While I have one foot in the commercial world I also have another in the world of photographic education. Working with new ideas and conceptual thoughts helps stoke the creative fires that be. SPE is a great forum for that. I'm looking forward to meeting up with some more old colleagues and hopefully making a few new ones. There's already been more than one surprise or two.

It's also hard to believe it's 80 degrees here in Vegas when a mere 48hrs ago I was looking at this...

The Canyons

Life never ceases to amaze. More to follow...

On The Move

A life on the move is a busy life indeed. Before this year's #spenational conference I had the opportunity to spend a little time in Park City. It's been amazing opportunity to get away and throw down some turns. Look for a shot or two more as I'm somewhat back on the grid. This is an ever-present iPhone shot. More to follow...

The Canyons

Slow Sunday

The week has positively flown by. Looking towards a busy week I'm thankful to be able to have a minute with a slow brewing Chemex and sip some coffee before the impending business of the week.

Here a moment from Los Angeles that I never posted but made my buddies stop at least four times along our walk at the Griffith Observatory so I could find the "right" angle. They were good sports about the whole thing.

Griffith Observatory

Have a good Sunday everyone. 

Past and Present

There's always things afoot, but lately it seems there's a lot going on. Always bouncing from one thing to the next. I've been spending the evenings editing and going through old work. It's been fun to think about how my craft and vision have changed with time. It's been insightful to say the least. Here's a quick one from one of my favorite places to stand an make an image. Lake Michigan is incredibly big and beautiful, I'm always compelled to make an image. I'm looking forward to capturing more landscape work. It's something I haven't been spending enough time doing. More to follow...

Lake Michigan

The Everday Artisanal

I often think about how so much of our lives is manufactured. How many machines make the things we use, eat, and share. To move away from that usually involves a cost. To get back to the handmade we usually have to spend money to involve the person. Lately I've been enjoying more and more Lattes and it struck me while waiting for mind, that this is the simplest most wonderful ways to get back to the handmade. For the 3 minutes or so the barestia labored to create this thing for me. Both tasty and beautiful. Artisanal. Whenever I get a latte I'm incredibility thankful to share my gratitude with the person who made it and enjoy the moment to drink it.

Have a good Sunday. Hopefully your day is full of friends and family... and perhaps, a latte.

A Race For Time

Sometime in the Summer I noted I was going to post "regularly" and add all sorts of content. Clearly that didn't happen. Things got rather busy and that goal slid to the bottom of the list. Such is life...

But (!) as things are, I'm going to give it another go... We'll see what happens but I'm looking to be able to finish other projects (rather quickly) and still have a moment to post here. I'm hopeful this time!

I'm rather active on Instagram so you can always check in there @natertype ...stay close for more to follow here...

Here's a larger image of the most recent Instagram post... Talented @kennsuarez of the @matthewagency. Really beautiful moment. I'll post more from that series and others over the coming days...

Kennady Suarez