I love the public’s contribution to the statue of Wellington and horse Copenhagen outside Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art . So much more memorable. (Thanks to tweet from @DunningDesign who mentioned dual coneheads).
random thoughts
Edinburgh & no camera ?
A relaxing family weekend in Edinburgh did not mean image creation with no camera was impossible, I just had to be fast with the iPhone. Some shots from George St, Edinburgh.
Look cor blimey its Mary Poppins ! No cheese in the Church ?
Burn your fur-coats, its summer Hello ? Comrade iTunes, this is Spotify
The first iPod, iPhone or iPad is a joy. Plugging-in to iTunes to upload your own music ripped from CD or add a credit card to buy music, apps and even movies. Doing so crowns the iTunes account as le grande fromage, the great dictator, one iTunes to rule them all. It works well – for one person.Your second iDevice means you sync with the current iTunes dictator or you rebel and create a second iTunes account on another computer. But beware comrade.
Buying content like music, apps, movies, audiobooks etc. in iTunes binds the purchase to the iTunes account. You can’t sync across different iTunes libraries.
In my family this means we have one iTunes politburo opened in 2003 which contains:
- Key photography albums & slideshows
- My vinyl and CD collection
- iTunes music including Amazon purchases
- Movies and TV shows
- Audiobooks, Podcasts, PDFs and iBooks ((An iBook bought on iPhone, stored in iTunes but not viewable from iTunes on the desktop!))
I decided to sync all devices with one iTunes library because it meant greater sharing of purchased media on many devices ((One iTunes with apps is very useful where the children can share games etc)) and simplified backup . iTunes has command and control of our family of iPhones, iPods, Airport express and Apple TV.
The issue is every device owner has to use the same computer (mine) when updating playlists and apps. So I make the changes because I don’t want young children running amok in a 1-click purchase environment.
So please comrade iTunes, let me buy music and let my family sync it onto their device from a different computer in our house? Also:- Simplify transfer of camera media between devices and iTunes. Nothing is intuitive here.
- Cut the iTunes USB umbilical cord for synchronising, at least for music.
- Fix the rental source problems with Apple TV and iTunes.
- Allow transfer of photographs and movies captured on a device to computer wirelessly.
- Shake the dandruff out of iTunes, its begining to feel like a Sony remote control.
Spotify subscription music
This blog post is in part-response to discussions I’ve had with Jer White. He is a technical writer based in Edinburgh by day and creator of the worlds biggest Blog on Spotify. Which is the worlds largest paid music subscription service. It has been growing new features and benefits so I consulted Jer on how Soptify may work in a family setting. See his blog post here of my dilemmas.I took the free 7-day trial of Spotify Premium, playing-down my reservations of subscription music. It is working on all computers and iDevices and works very. While writing this I heard it was Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday. Fired-up Spotify and bang! now listening to a live Dylan recording from 1961. Not only did I want Spotify to stand in front of comrade iTunes tanks, I wanted freedom from managing the families devices. Does it ? …almost.
With a daughter off to France for a week she turned excitement to 11. The prospect of bathing in Spotify’s 14m+ tracks and cherry-picking music for her iPod nano was teenage heaven. Sadly for her iPod devices will only sync owned and not subscription music. Spotify joy for her elder brother however. Using the Spotify app on his iPod Touch he sideloaded (or cached) a playlist to his device over WiFi for listening on his paper round. I repeat: music streaming and syncing over-the-air.I Spotified my iPhone. Watching a WiFi sync of music brought a smile. My son and I used different macs too
Take Glasnost and Peristroika comrade iTunes.Spotify unlimited gives desktop access for £5/month. Spotify Premium provides desktop and mobile access for £10/month. ((includes over the air stream or sync of music)) Spotify does not break the iron curtain fully, some wrinkles in an Apple world:
- Spotify app paused playback when iPhone was docked in my TomTom car cradle and the screensaver kicked in. Road-tested an update today and this appears fixed.
- Cannot send music to an Apple TV (Rev 1) from either an iPhone or Spotify on the desktop which is unfortunate. Sometimes its good to rock-out to the same tune coming from various audio devices around the house. Soptify app on iPhone worked with a few drop-outs to AirPort Express.
- Spotify desktop app has no option to stream music to your AirPlay devices eg. AirPort, Apple TV.
- Only one device or computer streaming music at a time .
- Built-in discovery features appear good, but run out of steam fast e.g. the What’s New slider, repeats albums and has a myopic view of its 14m tracks.
iTunes or Spotify
The Spotify trial changed my view about music subscription. Its keenly priced, has a good range of tracks and integrates well into an Apple world. Consider a movie rental at £3-5 per 3 hours experience, or buy a DVD for £10 and watch it three times. Now consider 30 days of unlimited music choice out of 14m tracks for £5-10 ! For a music lover its very good value and restores joy and serendipity to music discovery. Be sure to checkout Jer White’s blog to discover tips, tools and updates to the Spotify library on The Pansentient League.
Spotify has set the bar for subscription music and over-the-air iDevice syncing. Can Apple democratise iTunes, cut the USB sync cable and offer music rental over the ethercloud ?
Any experiences positive or negative in integrating Spotify into your world ? Please add your comments below.
Summer storm hits Clackmannanshire
Today’s storm was very destructive. Passed by this tree, fallen in the power of natures unpredictable weather. Owner not harmed, emergency services were too busy to cut it down until later.
(Earlier on I was upset to have a willow tree fall, now not so bad)UPDATE May 26, 2011: Some more trees downed by the storm
Andrew Huggan singer: music, photography & video
Musicians are talented. They create vibrations in air which make sense to the ear and evoke emotion. How does a photographer using light capture a creator of sound ?
Andrew Huggan is a Scottish Folk singer songwriter from Clackmannanshire who wanted new promotional visuals. He didn’t want a Jonny Ive white studio look (as if lit by a thousand suns) which was my beat. After nosing around online for ideas and listening to Andrew’s thoughts, I decided we would do a ‘stop and shoot’ ((like a “stop and chat” as invented by Larry David)) in open and nature-rich settings. This gave me a choice of backdrops, perspectives, tones and lighting.
Shot on a pavement in Dollar with two strobes to give nice shadow drama During this shot (above) children walked-up to us and offered some money, wee souls. Thought we were busking!
low key high key My goal is to create interest within a rectangular shape. Outside that shape is visual trivia, but can add spice. Context matters if it affects what appears in the frame. Since we are greatly affected by our surroundings I find unusual surroundings can add that something extra. I used that here. These two shots above were taken in front of a Toilet block! The door is finished in a fantastic dimpled aluminium finish which can add gorgeous light to a shot. Here its main effect was to set the Client off-balance when told “now we’re going to shoot in front of a block of toilets”. In the first shot there is mild suspicion and doubt, perhaps even distrust and adds intensity to the expression. This worked well with bundled-up clothes and a low key (dark) tone. Even though it was in full direct sunshine. The high key shot was taken less than sixty seconds later near the same spot, and a lighter relieved expression is revealed.
I was worried the pink cherry blossom might be too ‘cheesy’, but it does work. Andrew sings often of the elements in nature like spirit, Selkies, etc
Sound from the environment Musician Photography
How dow you record visually something audible? Include the tools and the person.
You see the vibrations, the prelude to sound and music in our ears ? Live music is best!
We ended the day shooting scenes in forrest settings around Gartmorn dam.
I must thank @mrmacmusic, @MitchellDesigns and @Landscapess365 for sending Andrews Twitter appeal for a photographer my way. Social rules 😛 Oh and I knew that photographing musicians was not a path to riches thanks to Brad Trent on David Hobby’s site. I enjoyed the experience of shooting a musician playing live in my outdoor studio.
Behind the scenes video:
Clackmannanshire’s bhanana fields
Note the silent “h’ in the title 😛 Rapeseed blooming early this year and is so tall I must fit a bell to the dog because she gets lost. Again the iphone shines as a grab shot camera. Lovely splash of colour in the rolling countryside now winter is gone.
(Click on the photograph and navigate using arrows at bottom or press LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys)
The first iPod, iPhone or iPad is a joy. Plugging-in to iTunes to upload your own music ripped from CD or add a credit card to buy music, apps and even movies. Doing so crowns the iTunes account as le grande fromage, the great dictator, one iTunes to rule them all. It works well – for one person.
So please comrade iTunes, let me buy music and let my family sync it onto their device from a different computer in our house? Also:
With a daughter off to France for a week she turned excitement to 11. The prospect of bathing in Spotify’s 14m+ tracks and cherry-picking music for her iPod nano was teenage heaven. Sadly for her iPod devices will only sync owned and not subscription music. Spotify joy for her elder brother however. Using the Spotify app on his iPod Touch he sideloaded (or cached) a playlist to his device over WiFi for listening on his paper round. I repeat: music streaming and syncing over-the-air.
Take Glasnost and Peristroika comrade iTunes.
(Earlier on I was upset to have a willow tree fall, now not so bad)
