R27.CREATIVELAB / Blogspot

A sweet surreal pastiche of a Frankenstein style tale, a lonely newsagent makes his ideal woman from the produce in his shop. 3D stop-motion animation made entirely out of newspaper (except from Mr Gumbley himself).

onedotzero_adventures in motion festival trailer has arrived! We are thrilled to announce this years Festival Trailer is now complete and is online.

2009’s festival theme of ‘convergence and collaboration’ inspired W+K’s idea to take advantage of onedotzero’s vast fan base and constant, global, online conversations to create this identity. They are harnessing and bringing together these live conversations from a diverse range of conversational sources (Twitter, Flickr, Vimeo, Facebook and blogs.).

These aggregated words and opinions are being channelled via specially produced software (devised by computational designer Karsten Schmidt) through colourful strands that move organically as if alive – they gravitate towards invisible paths that will ultimately mirror onedotzero’s font and logo: a living, breathing identity that encapsulates the themes of the festival. A snap shot will be used to create the print and a recording will be taken to create the festival trailer content. The agency is also working on a live interactive version for the duration of the festival on the Southbank in September.

The first of a four-part guest blog series


When Rajesh (from R27 CREATIVELAB) extended the invitation for me to guest blog a series on photography, I confess flattery and a fear that my readers would be privy to how much I still have to learn about this trade. There are photography masters, (many of whom I have had the privilege of interviewing for Pay It Forward Photography Resource Blog) and then there's me. Yet I parked the apprehension of sounding idiotic and I now provide you with the following disclaimer: I am student of photography, self-taught, no expert and this is simply the scrappy way I do what I do namely, take pictures, tell stories with images, and run my own photography business. That I CAN do.

The goods
Let's start with equipment. You'll want a good DSLR. Many reasonably priced options are out there. I have always fired a Nikon and used their lenses. Initially a quaint 35mm Nikon N65, then I bit the digital bullet and fell in love with the Nikon D50. Last year, I upgraded to the Nikon D300 which was like going from a crayon box of 24 colors to the gigantic 64 box with the little sharpener thing. Totally noticeable quality improvement. Ultimately, what you use needs to reflect your budget and your photography goals. (I see an upgrade in my future...:)

Next you'll need to make sure you have quality "glass." This is what we photogs call lenses. I use two primarily, although I want dearly to add a wide angle lens to my bag very soon. I like an image that draws you in to a focal point in an image like the eyes. AF NIKKOR 50mm 1.8 does that for me as well as the AF-SMicro NIKKOR 105mm 2.8 VR.

Images with the 50mm 1.8 lens:


Images with the 105mm VR 2.8:


Because my business requires some photo journalism, I now have a greater need for a wide angle, full screen type image which often is taken in a setting with spacial constraints. So I am seeking that lens...and that capital :) The key is learning what type of photography you enjoy and finding a lens that lends itself to your individual style.

Mindset
What comes next is less tangible, so bear with me. Conjuring your creativity means letting it out of the cage. Free your mind, spread your wings, and leave the nest.

For the first 6 months into digital photography, I would consider myself a copycat. I perused photography forums, learned about super cool photographers and techniques, and then tried to emulate them. Most of the time, I was totally off. In fact, the feedback that I got from these forums served as de-contructive criticism. So, I shed the sameness and started to trust my gut and develop my own style. Ultimately, you'll hone into a style of your own that never needs faking. Your personal method will evolve along the way as photography and style are always in flux.

Practice, practice, fail, practice, succeed
If you gain one nugget of wisdom out of the piece, let it be this one. You will learn MORE from your failures than your successes so do not fear them hold them up to the light. Once while on a photo shoot I forgot to check my ISO in preparation had 1000 for a full sun shoot and my images simply sucked. While inconvenient and a pride bruise, I redid the shoot for the client gave them their money back and nailed it. Because of that failure, I have a loyal client who trusts that no matter what, I'll make it right for them. And I never shoot without taking 10 minutes prior checking ALL settings on my camera.

Many people sweep their failures under the rug, but without looking at why/how that they happen those failures are libel to reoccur. Successful people fail. But move forward with important knowledge to increase their odd of succeeding.

In fact, any feedback on the images in my current website or above are greatly appreciated. Honestly, I still struggle over proper exposure as well as management of light on my subjects and settings. Once a learner, always a learner!

School up
As I mentioned, I have had to create my own education in photography although I will be attending some fabulous workshops through WPPI. For the first time they are offering a 4 city, WPPI Road Trip in addition to the Las Vegas 2010 event. These are not to be missed.

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Reading material that helped me:
Hugely fond of anything from one of my idols, Bambi Cantrell. (Her essential photography books are crisp, well written and gorgeous. Also, I own all of Scott Kelby's books and find him witty while simply informative. Here is his blog as well. Another newbie must read is Bryan Peterson's, Understanding Exposure. He made the photographic triangle stick for me.

I hope you found this introductory photography information helpful. Next in this four part guest blog series, I'll tackle (in my own blond silly way) photographing personalities. See you then!

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Click here to go to www.fleurdeleighphotography.com
Blog : Fleur de Leigh
Follow me on twitter @fleurdeleigh

Stella Artois have gone retro with this ad campaign (Aug 2009) focusing on recycling. Simple, focused and great use of the "less is more" when creating a very apt layout.





Agency: Mother, London
Client: Stella Artois
Photographer: Nick Clements
Photo Agency: WiB
Designer: Cristiana Couceiro

A little animation inspired by the wonderful music of Olafur Arnalds, the song is called Ljósið, and you can listen to it at: foundsongs.erasedtapes.com

Beautiful, haunting, inspiring and mesmerising.... what more can I say...



Quotes are from many sources, including Brian Eno, Stefan Segmeister, Albert Einstein and a few more....

Esteban Diácono is an Argentinian motion graphics designer based on Buenos Aires. He's been working for over 12 years in the design / motion graphics / postproduction industry.

Contact Esteban or even better hire him: hola@estebandiacono.tv
Linkedin Profile: linkedin.com/in/estebandiacono
Website: estebandiacono.tv (under perpetual construction)
Blog: estebandiacono.tv/365

Let Yourself Feel by Esteban Diácono is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

I've created 30 absolutely pointless wallpapers for the iPhone and iTouch. Let me know what you think.... I'll be creating more in the coming weeks so stay tuned...

Download the entire collection by clicking here or individually you can of course click on the image itself, the choice is yours... Happy wallpapering!!!































Happy wallpapering!!!
All images are protected via Creative Commons.org

Zena Holloway was born in Bahrain in 1973 and raised in London. At 18 she traveled the world working as a SCUBA instructor and developed a passion for underwater photography and film.

Self-taught Zena's images are beautiful and striking. She has a great understanding of the medium and the technical aspects that revolve around it. Her work has appeared in The Observer Magazine, 125, Tatler and Dazed & Confused and much more. She also managed to acquire a few international awards an has a client list that includes Nike, Umbro, Polydor, Sony, Epson, Herbal Essences and Jacuzzi.

Have a look at her full portfolio here: www.zenaholloway.com

A small selection of paper engineering from Johann Volkmer if you want more check out the main site: www.faltjahr2010.de. Also check out www.johannvolkmer.de for his "Around the Spot" animation (see below) and other cool projects...









Around the Spot