Let me be blunt – I'm a truly shameless self-promoter. So much so, in fact, that I actually hired a poet the other day (technically, a poetess) to compose an ode to everyone's favorite mildly obscene-looking photography accessory.
Errrrhhhh... That would be the Nasty Clamp.
Now, poetry might seem like an odd medium to use for promoting a somewhat phallus-shaped photography tool, but the simple fact that poetry is an odd medium for promoting such a product makes the promotion (and the product) stand out. And – what the hell – I've been wondering just what a "Nasty Poem" might look/sound like.
The whole process of hiring and having the poem created took just a few days, and words alone cannot express just how pleased I am with the poem – truly, truly inspired. Also, I absolutely love the dramatic reading that "Miss Optimistic" (the poetess) posted up on YouTube. Here 'Tis:
Wow! Absolutely perfect! So good, if fact, that I'll soon have Miss Optimistic wax poetically about the Nasty Flag. Watch for that post within the next few weeks.
Also, if you'd like to hire Miss Optimistic to write a short poem or rap for you, be sure to check out her "for hire" page here.
Stay Nasty!
An Odd Lil' Site About Photography, Making Stuff, and Building a Business...
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The Nasty Flag Was Just Announced Today...
A new Nasty product was announced today.
It's called "The Nasty Flag."
It's really cool and insanely handy.
When it's goes up on the Nasty Clamps site, you'll want to purchase one.
But that's not what this post is really about...
It's called "The Nasty Flag."
It's really cool and insanely handy.
When it's goes up on the Nasty Clamps site, you'll want to purchase one.
But that's not what this post is really about...
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Nice & Nasty on the Escalator...
Zeke Kamm is a very nice man...
Sooooo nice (as a matter of fact) that he writes, designs, edits, and publishes a wonderful online magazine entitled: "Nice Photography Magazine."
Zeke has been kind enough to feature Nasty Clamps in his magazine, on his Facebook page, and -- just this past week -- over on his YouTube channel site.
Earlier this month, while we were both attending the huge Consumer Electronics Show (C.E.S.) in Las Vegas, Zeke asked if I'd be willing to give a videotaped "elevator pitch" about Nasty Clamps -- a brief lil' 30 to 60 second outline of the clamps and their capabilities.
I said, "No."
I then said that -- rather than doing an elevator pitch -- that I'd be "more than happy to give an escalator pitch."
Here's the result of that...
Obviously, I'd been drinking a LOT of coffee before riffing about the clamps.
Sooooo nice (as a matter of fact) that he writes, designs, edits, and publishes a wonderful online magazine entitled: "Nice Photography Magazine."
Zeke has been kind enough to feature Nasty Clamps in his magazine, on his Facebook page, and -- just this past week -- over on his YouTube channel site.
Earlier this month, while we were both attending the huge Consumer Electronics Show (C.E.S.) in Las Vegas, Zeke asked if I'd be willing to give a videotaped "elevator pitch" about Nasty Clamps -- a brief lil' 30 to 60 second outline of the clamps and their capabilities.
I said, "No."
I then said that -- rather than doing an elevator pitch -- that I'd be "more than happy to give an escalator pitch."
Here's the result of that...
Obviously, I'd been drinking a LOT of coffee before riffing about the clamps.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Cold, Wet, and... Errrrhhhh... Nasty.
There's a new Nasty Clamps video for you to check out, and it's entitled: "Cold, Wet, and Nasty."
Yes... That's what it's called.
The original title for the video was going to be "Wet and Nasty," but that just sounded horribly, horribly wrong. Also, neither the Nasty Wife nor the Nasty Children approved of that particular wording.
Despite the somewhat questionable title, the video is completely work safe, and is actually quite informative -- as it highlights the fact that a Nasty Clamp can be used in the water.
Here's the video:
Also, for those who watched and are now wondering... No! This was not shot in December or January. Filming took place during a sunny (though still quite cold) day in September. Hypothermia started to kick in right around the third and final take.
Yes... That's what it's called.
The original title for the video was going to be "Wet and Nasty," but that just sounded horribly, horribly wrong. Also, neither the Nasty Wife nor the Nasty Children approved of that particular wording.
Despite the somewhat questionable title, the video is completely work safe, and is actually quite informative -- as it highlights the fact that a Nasty Clamp can be used in the water.
Here's the video:
Also, for those who watched and are now wondering... No! This was not shot in December or January. Filming took place during a sunny (though still quite cold) day in September. Hypothermia started to kick in right around the third and final take.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Aimee Mann's "One More Drifter In The Snow" Is The Only Christmas Album Worth Listening To, Even AFTER Christmas Is Over
The singer/songwriter/guitarist/bass player Aimee Mann has been on my musical radar for nearly twenty-five years, initially popping up on the television screen with her much-played video for the song "Voices Carry" during the mid-1980's. And though her style of songwriting has undergone some fairly dramatic changes these past two decades (as has her hairdo), Ms. Mann continues to make intelligent music with sharp, witty lyrics. Her song narratives are always well thought out. She's an excellent musician and -- just as a quick side-note -- she's also happens to be REALLY quite good in concert, so I do recommend catching one of her shows if she comes through your town.
But that's not why I'm writing this blog post...
As luck would have it (at least, with the holiday season upon us), Aimee Mann is perhaps the only artist I know of who's somehow managed to release a full album of Christmas music that's absolutely, completely, 100% listenable from the first song to the last. Even after the holiday is over!
Please -- excuse me while I gush -- but Aimee Mann's "One More Drifter In The Snow" album (Amazon Link, BTW) is absolutely brilliant. Honest! Ms. Mann has taken a collection of well know (and not so well-known) Christmas tunes -- many of them written more than fifty years ago -- and somehow managed to make each song sound fresh, modern, and timely.
In order to achieve the impossible (i.e.: making old and overplayed Christmas tunes sound fresh and new), Aimee Mann surrounded herself in the studio with a great collection of side-musicians in supporting roles -- and a special shout out needs to go to the amazing Duke Levine for his guitar, banjo, and mandolo playing. If ever there were a "player's player," well, Duke Levine is the man, and if you (the reader of this blog) are in any way a self-acknowledged guitar geek, then repeated playings of "One More Drifter In The Snow" are absolutely mandatory.
From a singing/performing point of view there are several tracks that stand out on the album, though the true highlights can be found in Aimee's reworkings of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," and "You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch." Duke Levine's guitar playing is especially effective on "Winter Wonderland" (probably the only time that you'll ever hear a country/hawaiian/rockabilly guitar solo applied to that particular song), and Aimee's singing on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is completely heartfelt -- an absolutely gorgeous version of an incredibly emotional song.
From the "Wow, I wasn't expecting that" department, Aimee's version of "You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch" is the album's unexpected gem and a holiday classic in the re-making. Silver-tongued Grant Lee Phillips (in the role that he was born to do) serves as the song's narrator and co-singer, both chewing up -- and spitting out -- the twisted rhymes of Doctor Seuss with fun and abandon. Great, great stuff -- and completely worth it just to hear Mr. Phillips and Ms. Mann harmonize on the lines: "You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch/With a nauseaus super-naus/You're a crooked jerky jockey/And you drive a crooked horse/Mr. Grinch."
Be sure to check out this YouTube performance of Aimee Mann and Grant Lee Phillips on the Conan O'Brian show (though do ignore the last four minutes of the video, during which a freeze frame image of the credits sits parked on the screen):
As a quick little side note (and a somewhat related factoid): My grandmother was the next-door-neighbor of Theodore Geisel (a/k/a: "Dr. Seuss") in La Jolla, California.
As a second little side note: Aimee Mann's husband -- Michael Penn -- is another artist who's quite good in concert, and worth checking out if he comes to your town. He also composed one of the standout tunes on the album, a song entitled "Christmastime."
As a third little side note: "One More Drifter In The Snow" was originally released in 2006, though it's the sort of album that's worth digging out every holiday season.
As my forth (and final) side note: Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, "One More Drifter in the Snow" is simply a great album -- sung and performed by absolutely top-notch musicians.
But that's not why I'm writing this blog post...
As luck would have it (at least, with the holiday season upon us), Aimee Mann is perhaps the only artist I know of who's somehow managed to release a full album of Christmas music that's absolutely, completely, 100% listenable from the first song to the last. Even after the holiday is over!
Please -- excuse me while I gush -- but Aimee Mann's "One More Drifter In The Snow" album (Amazon Link, BTW) is absolutely brilliant. Honest! Ms. Mann has taken a collection of well know (and not so well-known) Christmas tunes -- many of them written more than fifty years ago -- and somehow managed to make each song sound fresh, modern, and timely.
In order to achieve the impossible (i.e.: making old and overplayed Christmas tunes sound fresh and new), Aimee Mann surrounded herself in the studio with a great collection of side-musicians in supporting roles -- and a special shout out needs to go to the amazing Duke Levine for his guitar, banjo, and mandolo playing. If ever there were a "player's player," well, Duke Levine is the man, and if you (the reader of this blog) are in any way a self-acknowledged guitar geek, then repeated playings of "One More Drifter In The Snow" are absolutely mandatory.
From a singing/performing point of view there are several tracks that stand out on the album, though the true highlights can be found in Aimee's reworkings of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," and "You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch." Duke Levine's guitar playing is especially effective on "Winter Wonderland" (probably the only time that you'll ever hear a country/hawaiian/rockabilly guitar solo applied to that particular song), and Aimee's singing on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is completely heartfelt -- an absolutely gorgeous version of an incredibly emotional song.
From the "Wow, I wasn't expecting that" department, Aimee's version of "You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch" is the album's unexpected gem and a holiday classic in the re-making. Silver-tongued Grant Lee Phillips (in the role that he was born to do) serves as the song's narrator and co-singer, both chewing up -- and spitting out -- the twisted rhymes of Doctor Seuss with fun and abandon. Great, great stuff -- and completely worth it just to hear Mr. Phillips and Ms. Mann harmonize on the lines: "You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch/With a nauseaus super-naus/You're a crooked jerky jockey/And you drive a crooked horse/Mr. Grinch."
Be sure to check out this YouTube performance of Aimee Mann and Grant Lee Phillips on the Conan O'Brian show (though do ignore the last four minutes of the video, during which a freeze frame image of the credits sits parked on the screen):
As a quick little side note (and a somewhat related factoid): My grandmother was the next-door-neighbor of Theodore Geisel (a/k/a: "Dr. Seuss") in La Jolla, California.
As a second little side note: Aimee Mann's husband -- Michael Penn -- is another artist who's quite good in concert, and worth checking out if he comes to your town. He also composed one of the standout tunes on the album, a song entitled "Christmastime."
As a third little side note: "One More Drifter In The Snow" was originally released in 2006, though it's the sort of album that's worth digging out every holiday season.
As my forth (and final) side note: Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, "One More Drifter in the Snow" is simply a great album -- sung and performed by absolutely top-notch musicians.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
I Think Tank, Therefore, I Am...
Just a really quick post for today, letting you all know that the fine folks at Think Tank Photo (makers of some mighty fine camera bags and accessories) are having what they call their "In A Bag" contest, where all sorts of really cool photography accessories are being placed into one of Think Tank's Airport Security V 2.0 Roller Bags, and then -- on December 20th -- one lucky person will be chosen at random to win the bag, along with all of the awesome accessories inside.
As luck would have it, there are two Nasty Clamps going inside the bag today (December 15th).
Want to enter the contest? Of course you do! Just follow the link below...
Think Tank Photo "In A Bag"Promotion.
As luck would have it, there are two Nasty Clamps going inside the bag today (December 15th).
Want to enter the contest? Of course you do! Just follow the link below...
Think Tank Photo "In A Bag"Promotion.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Portland Strobist Gathering Meets The DIY Christmas Tree Light Ringlight
************************************************************
Note: This is the last part of a three part series that I'm posting about my DIY Christmas Tree Light Ringlight. Originally, I'd written the articles back in 2008 for my (now retired) Global Photography Blogsite, and this particular post was one of the most popular on the old site. It's certainly worthy of a repost, especially with the easy availability of Christmas Tree Lights at this time of year.
*************************************************************
This past Sunday was an opportunity for Strobist fans in the Portland, Oregon area to get together once again when Smashbox Photography and Me Take Photo hosted and organized the second "official" PDX Strobist gathering here in the Northwest. Around twenty five people showed up for the meet-up (a really fun group of folks, btw), and our time was spent shooting tons of pictures, playing around with various lighting tools and equipment, drinking lots of coffee, drinking a variety of more adult-oriented beverages, being social, and running through a series of small four and five person camera/lighting workshops. It was a great event -- a chance to meet some of the other strobe and lighting enthusiasts in the Portland area -- and a way for people to trade real-world knowledge about pictures and picture-taking in a way that helps make all the participants better photographers, better gaffers (a/k/a: "lighting techs"), and more aware of what other camera folks in town are doing...
For myself, the two most outstanding features of the meet-up were: 1) it gave me the chance to work with real, live, breathing models -- something that I've never really done before. 2) It was an opportunity to pull out my brand spanking new homebuilt DIY Christmas Tree Light Ringlight and see how well it would work with real, live, breathing models.
Whoa! It worked great!
The picture that you see above (of the very lovely and talented Aimee) is one of the first photos that I snapped at this Sunday's event and -- dang' -- I'm mighty, mighty happy with it. The quality of the light on Aimee's face is just amazing... I absolutely love the ringlight sparkle reflected in her eyes and the way in which all illumination just drops off sharply at the edge of her face and hair. Nice! I'm also kinda' fascinated by the texture that the light adds to Aimee's hair -- an almost 3D effect.
Here's a behind the scenes image of Aimee and the ringlight in action:
The ringlight itself is made up of 300 individual Christmas Tree Lights which have been hot glue gunned onto a quasi-circular masonite board. The real selling point of this DIY project -- and what makes it truly unique from other DIY sorts of ringlights -- is that the hundreds of individual Christmas lights create a bright sparkle in people's eyes, glasses, goggles, or any other sort of shiny surface that the light is pointed at, and these hundreds of sparkles end up looking almost like stars or fireworks when reflected back. Here's a perfect example using "Ameana Acid," a roller derby gal with Portland's Rose City Rollers:
Pretty dang' cool...
Saving the best for last, I really, really, really like the photo shown below -- a "Strobist Throat Exam" of sorts -- and I have to say that I'm simply stunned by the quality of the light that can be created with a simple piece of masonite and some glued on Christmas Tree Lights. I'm also kinda' stunned by "Ameana's" healthy tonsils and uvula.
Had I known what could sort of lighting could be achieved with such a basic set-up, well, I probably would have built at least two or three of these crazy lil' ringlight devices.
Matt
P.S.: Just to clarify my overall lighting technique a bit, in all of the above photos I'm using a single "ringlight" to key my subjects (i.e.: Aimee and "Ameana"), and then placing a single Vivitar 285 at 1/16th power (and heavily gelled) behind the women and pointed up to give a bit of illumination on the backdrop behind them.
Note: This is the last part of a three part series that I'm posting about my DIY Christmas Tree Light Ringlight. Originally, I'd written the articles back in 2008 for my (now retired) Global Photography Blogsite, and this particular post was one of the most popular on the old site. It's certainly worthy of a repost, especially with the easy availability of Christmas Tree Lights at this time of year.
*************************************************************
This past Sunday was an opportunity for Strobist fans in the Portland, Oregon area to get together once again when Smashbox Photography and Me Take Photo hosted and organized the second "official" PDX Strobist gathering here in the Northwest. Around twenty five people showed up for the meet-up (a really fun group of folks, btw), and our time was spent shooting tons of pictures, playing around with various lighting tools and equipment, drinking lots of coffee, drinking a variety of more adult-oriented beverages, being social, and running through a series of small four and five person camera/lighting workshops. It was a great event -- a chance to meet some of the other strobe and lighting enthusiasts in the Portland area -- and a way for people to trade real-world knowledge about pictures and picture-taking in a way that helps make all the participants better photographers, better gaffers (a/k/a: "lighting techs"), and more aware of what other camera folks in town are doing...
For myself, the two most outstanding features of the meet-up were: 1) it gave me the chance to work with real, live, breathing models -- something that I've never really done before. 2) It was an opportunity to pull out my brand spanking new homebuilt DIY Christmas Tree Light Ringlight and see how well it would work with real, live, breathing models.
Whoa! It worked great!
The picture that you see above (of the very lovely and talented Aimee) is one of the first photos that I snapped at this Sunday's event and -- dang' -- I'm mighty, mighty happy with it. The quality of the light on Aimee's face is just amazing... I absolutely love the ringlight sparkle reflected in her eyes and the way in which all illumination just drops off sharply at the edge of her face and hair. Nice! I'm also kinda' fascinated by the texture that the light adds to Aimee's hair -- an almost 3D effect.
Here's a behind the scenes image of Aimee and the ringlight in action:
The ringlight itself is made up of 300 individual Christmas Tree Lights which have been hot glue gunned onto a quasi-circular masonite board. The real selling point of this DIY project -- and what makes it truly unique from other DIY sorts of ringlights -- is that the hundreds of individual Christmas lights create a bright sparkle in people's eyes, glasses, goggles, or any other sort of shiny surface that the light is pointed at, and these hundreds of sparkles end up looking almost like stars or fireworks when reflected back. Here's a perfect example using "Ameana Acid," a roller derby gal with Portland's Rose City Rollers:
Pretty dang' cool...
Saving the best for last, I really, really, really like the photo shown below -- a "Strobist Throat Exam" of sorts -- and I have to say that I'm simply stunned by the quality of the light that can be created with a simple piece of masonite and some glued on Christmas Tree Lights. I'm also kinda' stunned by "Ameana's" healthy tonsils and uvula.
Had I known what could sort of lighting could be achieved with such a basic set-up, well, I probably would have built at least two or three of these crazy lil' ringlight devices.
Matt
P.S.: Just to clarify my overall lighting technique a bit, in all of the above photos I'm using a single "ringlight" to key my subjects (i.e.: Aimee and "Ameana"), and then placing a single Vivitar 285 at 1/16th power (and heavily gelled) behind the women and pointed up to give a bit of illumination on the backdrop behind them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)