Taking the time to try and do it right

I’ve had my Canon DSLR for almost a year now and I’m embarrassed to say how little I still know about how to use it properly.

So much of what I do is run and gun stuff; interviews, B roll, etc. The kind of stuff that doesn’t always lend itself to sitting down and really creating a look in-camera. That’s how I’m rationalizing how bad some of my stuff has looked lately, anyway…

Today, though, between other projects, I was able to sit down and spend some time with my camera. Specifically, I took it outside (in preparation for a project I’m shooting for our Christmas Eve service at Crossroads) and really focused on shooting in sunlight.

The first thing I did was put a polarizer on the lens. From there, I spent some time on white balance and setting my ISO and shutter speed properly. All of this time spent tinkering in the camera was also helped along by downloading and installing Technicolor’s Cinestyle color preset, so that when I did start shooting, I’d end up with a nice flat image that would give me a lot of latitude for color grading.

Here’s a shot I took of my friend Tim:

Totally flat. Now, here it is after I’ve gone in and done some color grading:

The look of the second picture is pretty close to what I’ll be going for in my Christmas Eve project (and yes, it’s purposefully dark and un-Christmasy. You’ll just have to trust me on this one). Starting with a really solid, flat image gave me tons of room when it came to grading.

Nothing groundbreaking happened today and I definitely didn’t do anything I shouldn’t always do when starting a project - but when you finally do take the time to take steps towards doing something right, it feels good. So I’m putting this here to remind me; the next time I hit record without taking the time to properly set up a shot, I’m ultimately undermining what I’m trying to do.

10 In 20 - Sunday Valley

My favorite local band contributes to the 10 in 20 project with a new song called “Goodbye.”

Great as always!

Flex Mentallo

Thanks to the digital age, there are very few comic books out there that I want to read but don’t’ have access to.

One book that does fall into that category, however, is Flex Mentallo.

Flex Mentallo was a four issue mini-series that spun-off of Grant Morrison’s run on DC’s DOOM PATROL comic. It featured the adventures of a character based on Charles Atlas. Though this early collaboration between Morrison and artist, Frank Quitely was published in 1996 with little controversy, years later Atlas’ lawyers later filed a copyright infringement suit against DC comics. The suit was dismissed, but DC has since seemed hesitant to republish the mini-series in America.

Until now.

Earlier this year, DC announced they would indeed be re-releasing Flex Mentallo as a hard cover collection with bonus materials. It comes out next month! Here’s the cover:

It’s been a long time coming, but my body is ready.

10 In 20: Matt Duncan

Last month I posted the new song from Coralee and The Townies from the 10 In 20 project. Here’s this month’s from Matt Duncan. I got to see Duncan play live at CD Central a few months back. He and his band are great. Check ‘em out:

Never doubt Lexington makes great musicians!

Community > Parks and Rec > All Other Sitcoms

I love Parks and Rec, but for all its charm, it doesn’t have gags that are three seasons in the making. Each of these clips is from a different season of Community:

I’m sorry, but this can’t go away. What is wrong with you television-viewing public?

An Unwashed Nook By Any Other Name…

Sara has been shopping for a new perfume lately, and true to form, she’s going about it in the completely adorable and totally immersive way she does most things. For a couple of weeks now she’s been sitting on the couch at nights, ordering perfume samples online and reading blogs dedicated to reviewing perfumes. Specifically she’s been spending a lot of time reading katiepuckriksmells.com.

By all appearances, Katie is a funny, likable lady who has carved out a niche for herself doing the seemingly impossible: writing meaningful, detailed reviews about how perfumes smell.

It was hard for me to take very seriously at first, when I would eavesdrop on Sara as she watched videos on Puckrik’s Youtube channel; all the detail she was drawing out from a spritz of toilet water seemed… overwrought. Like the guys who tastes a dozen different notes in a glass of wine. Really? Nutty? Floral? Are you sure it doesn’t just taste like wine?

Ultimately, though, it would be silly of me to assume that something doesn’t exist just because I haven’t taken the time to try and detect it.

What really won me over, though, was Sara asking me to read one of Puckrik’s reviews and then letting me smell said perfume on her. Here’s how the review starts:

One of the rewards of writing about perfume is that I learn stuff. Useful stuff. In my last post, for instance, I was answering a query from a fellow who wanted to “create the façade of an active sex life” to make his ex jealous. He needed to know if there was such a thing as a “sex scented perfume”.

I obligingly created a list of coital scents, including trampy tropicals (Vivienne Westwood Boudoir, LesNez Manoumalia) and ripe creamies (Etat Libre d’Orange Putain de Palaces, Guerlain Attrape-Coeur).

I also solicited input from sensory psychologist Dr. Avery Gilbert, and he told me about something called “competitive mating scenario”. It boils down to Jilted John spraying around the perfume of his ex’s best friend to make the ex jealous.

That’s just the introduction. She goes on, when describing one of the perfume’s notes, to use the phrase, “unwashed nook.” You really have to read it to get the full effect. And then you have to smell the perfume. And then you have to admit that there really is a lot going on in some bottles of perfume for those who have a nose to smell it.

And then you have to be thankful for a wife who puts this much thought into buying sexy perfume.

All you need to know:

Pat Robertson seems confused by people wanting to eat macaroni and cheese; assumes it’s a “black thing.”