Just wanted to point out that my friend The Delusionist just completed a project in the style of a radio show. He calls it “Philly and Back Again”and is a comedic, modern interpretation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I had the pleasure of contributing my voice to the project, as the character Gloin. Download the audio on his blog.
Category Archives: Comedy
The Theater of the Mind
I hate Peter Jackson. More specifically, I hated that he made the Lord of the Rings films before allowing me to read Tolkien’s books. I’m now halfway through The Fellowship of the Ring text and unfortunately my Middle Earth is “colonized” by Elijah, Ian and Viggo. I cannot expunge their faces, features or frocks no matter how hard I try. And their voices (their unforgiving voices!) play over every conversation in Tolkien’s dramatic text. O return to me my hijacked mind! I will create my own characters, thank you!
Ways to Take Your Photography to the Next Level
How do you set yourself apart from your peers? How do you create something relatively unique? How do you take pictures that can’t be replicated? You already know the typical responses to these questions: Practice. Patience. Time. I’m not talking about any of that. If you want a straight answer, there are 2 ways to take one’s photography (or filmmaking) to the next level:
Fancy Equipment
An easy example: With a prime lens with a low f-stop you’re going to have an advantage over the guy with the kit lens when hunting mice in the dark. Take that further. If you have an waterproof shell for your camera, you’re going to produce shots that are impossible for a normal DSLR owner. If you purchase $5000 of aquatic gear, you’ve virtually separated yourself from 90% of all amateur photographers in the world—you can go underwater. Thing is, you need a truckload of cash to implement the “fancy equipment” principle. There’s also no guarantee that you’ll actually be good at using the hardware.
Balls of Steel
Don’t have cash to burn? Don’t worry. Just gird up your loins. Do something so insane that your peers will not be able to replicate it. Jump in front of a charging lion. Or rhinoceros. Or train. I’m kidding—but you get the idea, right? Truth be told sometimes the ballsiest thing you could do is to ask a total stranger if he/she would be your subject. Without taking risks, you will end up collecting photos of your own family, your own friends, predictable scenery and of course—food. You might get to shoot weddings once in a while, but you’re still shooting when “allowed to” or “permitted to.” Nothing against wedding photography—it pays the bills and hones the skills—but very few people pick up visual art with the end-goal of shooting weddings. On a final note, I hope you sense the comedic tone in this post because I’m no Braveheart myself.
I got the picture below from Boston.com/bigpicture, my favorite photojournalism site.
A demonstrator uses a slingshot against security forces during clashes in Bangkok on May 15, 2010. (PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images)
