audio goodness– bombay bicycle club

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I actually posted about this video on EFoG in December, but thought it was worthy of sharing on here as well. For people who are hoping that this video is pervy, you will be disappointed. Despite the sort of racy thumbnail of the video, it is very tame. Here is what I said on EFoG.

I came across this vid the other day on OEN. I have to say that I was quite fond of the track and the imagery in the vid. Beyond having an older euro-spec Audi, this video (shot with a pair of Canon 7Ds), offers up a captivating cut that melds well with the song. The track is by Bombay Bicycle Club. It’s called “Lights Out, Words Gone.” The video was made by Karim Huu Do. Enjoy it, below.

 

happy friday

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This took me a little longer than I had anticipated, to make. So, it’s kind of late. But it is still January, so whatev. Here is a little video slideshow recap of our 2011.

Have a great weekend!

audio goodness– rjd2

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I can’t say that I love everything RJD2 does. But I like enough of it to keep some of his tracks on my playlist most of the time. He isn’t your run of the mill 00’s dj. As odd as it may sound, I like a lot of his “live” stuff better than what he does in the studio. I particularly like a breezeblock set that he once did for the BBC’s Radio 1. But it’s 28 minutes long. So, I’m not going to share it on this post. I feel like a lot of the stuff on his albums is a little bit too overproduced and busy. Anyway, as I mentioned above, he has enough good stuff to keep him interesting. The track that I’m sharing today is from “Since we last spoke.” It’s called “1976.” Which is a dope year. Listen here.

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for the new year…

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I have gone “full Brooklyn” with my facial hair (or full state trooper, depending on the glasses I’m wearing).

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Ok, maybe not for the full new year. But at least for the party tomorrow night. Happy New Year!!

my pet owl

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I hate to be the kind of person who brags about what I got for Christmas…. But, checkout this awesome little USB pet owl. I just plug him into a USB port while I’m working at my desk and she dances and flirts with me. I made a little video below.

Merry Xmas

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I have traditionally been one of those grinchy types when it comes to this time of year. Christmas/New Years would just stress me out because of all of the traveling and the drain on the bank account. I have to say that this year I’m really looking forward to things. We didn’t do cards this year (which was a huge load off). We aren’t traveling until after the new year. And when we do it will be for snowboarding. Even though we have a lot of things planned for both weekends, they aren’t stressful things. Have a happy and mellow Christmas!

audio goodness– prop the cassette

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This is a bit of a twist on the normal AG post. Also, it is several days late. Notwithstanding those two items… two amigos of mine are working on a project that I feel like is noteworthy. I wanted to pass it along. For anyone else who is a Gen-Xer, you know how the cassette tape change the world. When I was young, I had stacks and stacks of tapes. It (is) was an amazing medium. I had a dual cassette boombox during my breakdancing phase circa 4th-5th grade that I brought with me everywhere. The term “mixtape” (i.e. the medium that launched careers for guys like 50 Cent), came from this quasi-obsolete medium. Without droning on for too long (apologies if I already have), please check out the kickstarter trailer for this fantastic film that my friends are attempting to bankroll. If you are feeling a little bit of the cassette in your heart during this holiday season, please go the extra mile and donate a bit of cash, as well. Peep the film below–

weekend recap– arnette and other good stuff

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I hate to talk about the weather. Because it always seems petty or boring. But, growing up in a place that has four seasons, there are certain sentiments connected to the cold weather (as with the other seasons). The only thing that I can really compare it to, would be something like those instances where you step into the elevator with someone wearing the same perfume that your first girlfriend wore. Although, I don’t think that anyone really wears Liz Claiborne anymore. Not sure if it even exists anymore, hahaha. Anyway, the first really couple of cold days in winter have a similar effect on me. This was that weekend, for me. The temps dipped into the subfreezing range and jackets were no longer optional when making a run to the corner bodega.

Speaking of good times in the winter months, this weekend we booked a snowboarding trip for January. This will my be first trip dedicated entirely to riding, in longer than I would like to admit.

Arnette just launched a couple of new frames. One of them, “Glory Daze” (above) I shot with my homey Sam on Sunday morning. It isn’t the first time that Sam has agreed to model eyewear for me. I have to say that the story, this time around was a lot more fun. Enjoy a few more images, below.

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Have a great week!

video– utah & ether

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Some impressive footage of Utah and Ether painting some daytime throwups in Bankok. Why am I sharing this? I have always been fascinated by this duo. They are like the Bonnie and Clyde of Graff. They both got pinched back in 2008 after a stint in Europe, presumably after participating in the same activities depicted in the vid below. Check it.

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audio goodness– cut copy

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Possibly one of my fav’s right now, I like so many things about Cut Copy. The vocal style is reminiscent of so many of my favorite 90’s faves. Actually their style altogether is very 90’s-esque. I also give ’em extra points for being Aussie. The track that I’m sharing today is from “Zonoscope.” It’s called “Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution.” Spin it.

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video– not your average bag of freestyle skate tricks

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This dude’s style reminds me a lot of the very early “freestyle” skating that inspired the modern skateboard shape. It is such a bummer that the video is so low-res. I guess that even though all of our go-pro cams come from Asia, not all Asian skaters have access to them. Watch below and have your mind boggled.

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audio goodness- sun 60

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I was thinking about doing a Christmas song theme for every Tuesday in December. That is what initially caused me to revisit the band Sun 60. They have that song “Merry Xmess” that was popular in the mid-90’s. Actually, I think it was probably their only popular song. When I say popular, I mean it was played  a couple of times per week, for a few months on some alt rock radio stations. When I dug out the disc (one of the handful of physical CDs that I hung onto before purging my entire library last summer), I remembered a different song on the disc that I liked much better. So, that is the one that I’m sharing. There goes the whole Christmas idea for this month. Maybe I’ll pick up with it next week. Until then, here is “Treasure.”

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new fott vid– ‘motorcycle. better than breakfast’

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This video was the perfect start to my Friday. The Video is by Fott, called ‘Motorcycle. Better than Breakfast.’ The title sums it up. I doubt that there are many red-blooded males out there who would choose shoveling down some oatmeal over blasting around a pre-dawn Moscow atop a cafe racer before morning rush hour. If that was my breakfast, I would eat breakfast every day. Anyway, check out the vid.

PS: My brother arrived safe and sound this morning. He also brought along his lady friend, who I was able to meet for the first time this morning. I think it is going to be a good weekend.

happy december

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Since lately I haven’t really shot anything worth crap, I have to post other people’s images. The above snap belongs to none other than the infamous Tommy Ton, of Jak & Jil (among other things). The dude is hands down my favorite street style photographer. Unlike most of the street dudes in NYC, I have only ever seen Tommy once in real life. Not like it is a competition, but I think that Tommy’s flavor kills Schuman. Plus, Tommy isn’t a pompous, self-absorbed douche. Not sure how this post became about street style photographers, but looks like we are going to be stuck with that for at least a few more sentences. I would have to say that my other favorite street style dude is William Yan. Besides being a friend of mine, I am a fan of William for the street wear flavor that he brings. Not only does William shoot crazy good street style, he is constantly involved in some new collaboration project with boss street wear fashion houses. I have loads of respect for him. All of these guys, of course, take a back seat the the OG Bill Cunningham. I’m sure that they would all agree with that statement (except for maybe Schuman, who probably thinks that he is much better than Bill).

Ok, so the image above is part of Tommy’s set from Paris FW. The reasons that I love it, are: A- the way it is cropped; B- the camel jacket; and, C- because of the cigarette. Have you ever noticed that there are certain places in the world where the two most prevalent objects in public view are sexy early 30s/late 20s humans and cigarettes? You know where I’m talking about–the West Village, Rio, etc.. Anyway, I have been a bit obsessed with shooting hot people smoking, for the past several months.  I also have a pinterest album of such images that I have come across. Yes, I just admitted that I have one of those P-word accounts. Add some winter clothes into the cut and I can barely contain myself. The funny part is that I can’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke. I hold my breath when I get stuck walking behind someone who has a lit butt. I didn’t say it made any sense.

Speaking of butt, my brother comes to town tomorrow morning. Last time he was here was during armory week. We spent the whole time hanging out and shooting art installations. I’m not sure what we will do this time around. No doubt something good will come up.

i want this– SX-70 land camera

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I know that there has already been large amounts of camera-speak on Jake’s Mag, this month. But, I saw this fantastic looking camera today, and began to covet. According to Hypebeast:

Parisian boutique colette has teamed with The Impossible Project for a limited number of (50) SX70 Cameras and PX680 Film Kits. Distinctly bold from a physical standpoint, the camera has already been tested out by a number of professional shutterbugs including Mark Borthwick, Lisa Eisner, Vava Ribeiro, Ed Templeton, Todd Selby, Matt Jones, Olivier Zahm and Terry Richardson. These original Polaroids will then be showcased at the colette store. The SX70 Camera retails for €540 EUR (approximately $720 USD)

I have a pair of Polaroid 230 Land Cameras, and love them. Even though my past experience with Impossible Project has not been the best (the film is super temperamental), I would be willing to give Impossible Project another chance, to be able to shoot a bit with the SX-70. I’m even more inclined, since it apparently already has the stamp of approval from Ed Templeton and Terry Richardson.

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extremely biased holiday camera gift guide part deux

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Camera gear guide part II.

This post will focus mostly on Canon EOS compatible lenses. All of the disclaimers from the last post still apply.

Before I get to the lenses, here are a couple of awesome accessories:

Canon RC-6 Wireless Remote Control– $25ish

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I have the older version of this (RC-1), and love it. This thing is the perfect solution for those botched timer shots. This remote control is compatible with most Canon EOS SLRs, as well as a handful of point and shoot models. It has a setting for a 2 second delay, in case you need to press the button, then hide remote out of the shot.

Intervalometer– $50ish

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Perfect for nerds. This tool allows photos taken in increments of 1 second to 10 hour, etc.. I have wanted to get one of these forever, to make time lapse films of very slowly occurring things (think of plants growing). Did you ever see that video the guy did of his flight from San Francisco to Paris, with the northern lights? I’m sure that he used something like this.

Manfrotto Pocket Tripod– $30ish

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This thing is awesome. It is sturdy enough to hold a metal body SLR with a modestly heavy lens. I use this thing like crazy when I travel. It is seriously perfect for timer (or remote control) shots. It is small enough, that you can leave it mounted to the bottom of your camera with the legs folded in, and it still fits in the bag.

Moving along to lenses– First, here are a couple of prime lenses I like (fixed focal length):

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8– $100ish

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This lens is a great and inexpensive way to expand your arsenal, if you are looking to get away from that kit zoom lens. This focal length is generally considered to be the “standard” or “normal” focal length. However, if you are working with a cropped sensor, it is good to take into account that a 50mm will effectively be a 70ish mm. In my opinion, prime lenses are awesome. A prime lens forces the photographer to work for the shot (since they can’t just zoom in or out), and pay more attention to composition. This lens is also dope because normally you have to pay the big bucks for an aperture that goes any wider that f/2. Not, here. You can get that super buttery bokeh, and low light shots with this lens.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4– $500ish

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Normally I wouldn’t suggest buying a non-canon brand lens. But in this case, I deviate from the norm. This lens is pretty awesome. At 30mms, it gives you a 50ish mm equivalent on a cropped sensor (all Rebel SLRs). This lens was specifically designed with cropped sensor cameras in mind. In fact it vignettes so bad on a full frame, it isn’t even worth using on one. For what you get, I think that it is also pretty affordable. It is about $800 less expensive than the closest Canon brand equivalent. The lens is very well made, and comes with a hood, and padded case. The aperture opens all of the way up to f/1.4 making it awesome in low light. I have found that the AF isn’t quite as tight as with the Canon L-series. But what is? I have had this lens for a few years, knocked it around quite a bit, and it still gives me great images.

Canon 50mm f/1.2L– $1500ish

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This thing is amazing. Couple Canon’s L-glass with a giant 8 blade aperture and you won’t get any better 50mm lens.

Here are a few zoom lenses for people who are serious about photography, or are starting to get serious about it:

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L– $800ish

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This is the most inexpensive Canon “L” zoom on the market. Don’t let the low price fool you. It is an awesome lens. I use this thing all of the time. At f/4 it is not the best lens for low light, or shooting indoors w/o flash. But, on a cropped sensor, the wide angle options this lens gives are fantastic. Throw in the L-glass, and get some tack sharp images. This lens comes with a hood.

Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L– $1400ish

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Chances are, you already own this zoom. It is probably the most versatile of Canon’s high-end zoom lenses. You get wide and telephoto angles, both with a relatively large aperture. Again, to top it off, you also get that L-glass, making this lens well worth the cash. For those looking to upgrade from a regular EF zoom to a pro-quality lens, this is hands-down the best pick.

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View all parts of this series here.