Cinematic Photography

Every once in a while I come across a photo online that's processed in such a way, that it looks like someone hit the pause button on a blu-ray and then took a screenshot. Excluding the most actionless of scenes, that of course would not be as high a quality as a traditional still photo is, but you get the idea. As I've said before, I'm a huge movie fan and I love taking pictures, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I think photos styled this way can be very dope. Oddly enough, other than a Phlearn tutorial from last year, I haven't seen much talk about this particular style before now. Last weekend the guys over at Fstoppers posted an excellent article, in which they interviewed 2 of the more popular photographers shooting this way today, and so naturally, last night, I finally sat down and began trying to learn the technique myself. Here's a look at my first attempt, but ignore the boring composition. This photo was never supposed to see the light of day, but it was one of the first photos I came across in my library that I thought would be receptive to this kind of processing. To be honest, I suspect most photos are, and I'm just ignorant to the fact.

Straight out of camera

One way I might process it normally

 First attempt at a cinematic look

For a first attempt, I think it's okay, but I know I can do better with a little practice. Not to mention going forward I be able to shoot with this technique in mind, so hopefully I'll get better.

Update: The black bars go unnoticed on Blogger, so my Flickr page is the best place to check it out.

Book Review: Lexicon by Max Barry

Lexicon by Max Barry

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Were this the first book in a series, as opposed to a standalone entry I might've rated it a little higher. But it's not, so I won't.

I'll say up front that I don't have a problem recommending Lexicon, as it's an easy, quick* read, that won't annoy you with what it does. I ultimately liked it, though my review may make it seem otherwise. Simply put, I just didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did the idea of it.

Lexicon takes place in the modern day United States and Australia, and in this world the human mind can be controlled or subverted by certain individuals with an aptitude for it. People that show the skill, or talent are recruited by a private school in the D.C. area, where they learn to hone their skills, and maybe more interestingly their defenses. For the sake of spoilers, that's all the table setting I'll do for this book. If that premise doesn't sound interesting, it's probably best to move on to something else.

I said Lexicon wouldn't bother you with what it does, and while that was true for me, my biggest gripe lay in what I felt the author didn't do enough. He gifted us a really interesting mind control element, which for lack of a better term, is essentially a magic system, but he never used it in a way that actually felt satisfying to me. For much of my reading time, I kept expecting this ability to be demonstrated in some unique, other-than-obvious way, but much to my disappointment, it never was. There were also other elements of the book that only scratched the surface of their potential, in my opinion, such as clandestine organizations, or shady international characters being introduced late and removed far to abruptly, etc. One last thing that should probably be mentioned is that the timeline can be a bit confusing, as at times the story is being told in the present tense, and then other times it shifts to the past tense, without warning. This was sometimes disorienting, but I think that was intentional, and eventually I grew used to it.

Addressing 1 or 2 of these issues, would've made a big difference in my opinion of Mr. Barry's book. As I said, overall it's enjoyable, as long as you don't expect too much of it.

Concept: A
Execution: B- to C+

*I took almost a month to finish it, but you could easily start the book on a Monday, and be looking for your next read by the weekend.



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Book Review: The Good Dad: Becoming the Father You Were Meant to Be by James Daly

The Good Dad: Becoming the Father You Were Meant to Be by James Daly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I picked this book up at the library based solely on the cover photo catching my eye; it was just a whim, really. It wasn't shelved, but was instead on a table of other books that someone or someones were trying to highlight that day, and I'm really glad they did. In the spirit of full disclosure I feel like I should mention that I'm not a father, nor do I normally read books such as this one. However, I do have a ton of opinions and ideas on what it means to be a dad*, and a lot of this book resonated with me. It manages to stroke that sweet spot where it presented the author's opinions and ideas in ways I'd never considered, while avoiding coming off as too preachy. Jim lost his mom at a young age, and then several dads(including his biological one) over the years to follow, but he doesn't harbor any ill will or resentment as it comes across on the page. Something I appreciated about this book is that Jim freely admits when he needs to work on becoming better at something, or when someone else, such as his wife's method of parenting is better than his. That kind of honesty is pretty apparent from the start. Though he speaks from a Christian point of view at times, as I said earlier, it's never preachy, and it mostly comes up incidentally. Not once did I close this book feeling like it was trying to make me anything but a better father.

I'd recommend 'The Good Dad' to anyone with even a remote interest in parenting, regardless of sex, experience, or religion. It's a quick read and the pages fly. I could've finished it in one long sitting, but I split it up into 4 quick ones.



*The saying "no battle plan survives its first major encounter with the enemy," is a belief I hold firmly, so I'm not too beholden to these ideas.



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Life

On August 18, 2012, I was the driver in car accident with an 18-wheeler in which my girlfriend lost her life. It's never been a secret, and most know the basics as I've never had a problem talking to friends about it. However some don't know about it at all, and while I'll be explaining some portions of it for most of my foreseeable life, this post is in part to help with the struggle of trying to explain to people that probably won't ever really know me.

The intent of this is not to eulogize. I wouldn't do that here, so this is not that. And like that older post, this may also be deleted or moved at some point, as it's far more important than the stuff I normally post here. I know the tone is kind of terse, and I don't mean to come off as ungrateful, I just don't want to be misunderstood. 

Book Review: A Hungry Heart: A Memoir by Gordon Parks

A Hungry Heart: A Memoir by Gordon Parks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book I'd been meaning to read for a few months, but when it was mentioned recently in one of my favorite photography podcasts, I decided there was no time better than the present. If you want the short answer on whether this is worth reading, the answer is a resounding yes, immediately! As I'm a hobbyist photographer, I approached this from that angle, and the book truly came alive once Gordon purchased his first camera, as a young man. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but I will say it's almost unbelievable all the things Mr. Parks accomplished and all the people he met and befriended in his time. If you've seen the movie Forrest Gump, Gordon's tales can seem very Gumpesque, only Gordon's are real and even more common, and that's both good and bad, at times. Not to mention that given his brown skin, the era he lived in and the issues he was trying to expose and change with his camera, his real life is far more impressive than any movie character's fictional one could ever hope to be.


My original rating of this book was only 4 stars, because Goodreads doesn't allow half stars, and I wanted to give myself a day or two to think on it, to avoid being a prisoner of the moment. I've done that. I'm not. This is a 4.5-5 star book. Go love it.


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Book Review: Long Division by Kiese Laymon

Long Division by Kiese Laymon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When a book is really good, I'm excited to get to the end to see what happens, but when a book is great, I'm most anticipating reading it again in the future.

In Long Division, Citoyen 'City' Coldson is a wave brush-toting, slick-talking high schooler, growing up in present day Mississippi. After getting into a bit of trouble at school, City somehow finds himself reading a book titled Long Division, in which the main character is also a teenager named 'City,' in 1984.

I absolutely loved this book, from the first page, and I don't think I've audibly laughed from a single book so many times in my life. It's told 1st person, from City's point of view, and he's hilarious in thought and voice. He's kinda wordy, which may turn some people off, but it makes his sentences seem oddly balanced, to me, as if at a certain word in the sentence, there's a pivot, and the second half drops. I doubt that I'm expressing that clearly, and it probably doesn't make much sense, but just know that it's a good thing. Another thing, I especially appreciated, is that this book doesn't get caught up in the magic of it's fantasy elements, and doesn't make that the story. It's less important why or how these things are happening, but that it's happening and how it affects the characters, that makes this book special. Long Division touches on everything from, love, to hate, from sexuality, to racism, and responsibility, but is only ever really about one of them. Give it a read, seriously.


This is one of those books that I know I'm going to read at least a few more times in my life. I picked up my copy at the library, but I know I'm going to buy it. All things considered, it's the least I can do...

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I Should Know Yours

My Dear Child,

     You'd be about about five months old, today. I can't tell you your exact birthday, but I can tell you we would've shared the birth month of March. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, when I realized that. Your mother on the other hand, took it as a sign that you were already picking up your father's habits. Five months would be just old enough for me to convince myself it was fine to start passing on the hodgepodge of idiosyncrasies, that is your dad, and just young enough, that none of what I said would make a lick of sense to you. It would've been perfect. Today is Sunday, so we might have gone to church this morning, as I always wanted you to have the spiritual relationship with our maker, that I never did, at your age--or at mine, really. I would've figured that out for us. After church, we would've sat outside in the shade that the porch provides, enjoyed the breeze and watched as your older cousin struggled to ride his first big boy bike. He'd eventually get it, and then you'd know how to do it, when it was your time. We can be a little different like that. Your mother loved your grandmother's cooking almost more than I do, so we would've had family dinner today, I think. You wouldn't have struck me as the meat and potatoes type, just yet, so I would've mushed up some green beans, to give you a taste. I'd even have some mushy green beans myself, just so you wouldn't be alone. Just a little different.


     Sadly, we never got to spend today or any other days together. I never got to see you come into the world, the way I'd always hoped. I never caught your first tears in the lights of my most recent, or saw your first smile. You never looked on me with new eyes, and I didn't get time with you, in which to impart my seemingly nonsensical life lessons. We didn't watch your cousin struggle outside with his bike today, and I didn't have mushy green beans with you at dinner tonight. Reservations were already made for you. God had plans for all of us, really. Only God knew that I'd hoped for you two to be closer than he and I ever were. One year ago, today, he invited you to his house, to his dinner table, and then exactly one week from that day, he bought your mother home, to be with you. Though not here with me, there's no place I'd rather you two be more than Heaven. It's a much nicer home than I could have ever given us.

    Dearest ones, I love you, more than a simple blog post could ever express. I wasn't blessed with the gift of the written word, as much as I hope I am with that of thought, and you two are ever in mine. Truly, I do not know what it's like to want something as much as I want you...want us. Although I'm not privy to it, and I don't claim to understand it, I promise there's a plan, and that we'll be together eventually. There has to be. I've lived on that truth, almost exclusively, since you left...it's a  real thing. One day we'll see who's been picking up whose habits. We'll be together.


Lovingly,
Marvin

P.S. You should also know my smile. :)