Danbusha

Guide to using the office microwave

Calvin and Hobbes

Photographer Christoffer Relander (previously here and here) returns with the third installment of his beautifully executed multiple exposure photographs that blend aspects of nature with portraits of people. Titled We Are Nature Vol. III, the series continues the Finnish photog’s experimentation with layering images in-camera using his Nikon D800, without the use of Photoshop. Prints available on request.

My Portland home

Samuel Rodriguez


Samuel Rodriguez


Samuel Rodriguez

Samuel Rodriguez

Using a large piece of spandex (representing spacetime) and some balls and marbles (representing masses), a high school science teacher explains how gravity works.

The bits about how the planets all orbit in the same direction and the demo of the Earth/Moon orbit are really neat. And you can stop watching around the 7-minute mark...the demos end around then.

Update: Here's another video of a similar system with some slightly different demos.

Tags: physics   science   video

In a clip from Eye of the Leopard narrated by Jeremy Irons, we see a female leopard kill a baboon. And then the leopard notices the baboon has just given birth to a tiny baby. Her reaction is unexpected:

Tags: Jeremy Irons   video

Life as a tennis racket

Where no man has gone before

Don’t forget to write

Erin Whittaker via Grand Canyon National Park

Mayberry Photography

Mayberry Photography

Mayberry Photography

Mayberry Photography

Mayberry Photography

Last week on November 29th the Grand Canyon experienced a rare temperature inversion where cool air began to rise from the bottom of the canyon and met warm air above creating low level clouds. Apparently this type of thing happens once or twice a year, but almost never with clear skies which provided an unprecedented once-in-a-decade view of the canyon filled to the rim with fog. Several photographers were on hand including Ben Mayberry who captured some amazing panoramic shots, and Paul Lettieri managed to shoot a timelapse of the event. (via My Modern Met)

Best left alone

die Bibliothek

The Art of Negative Space: Illustrations by Tang Yau Hoong

Illustrations exploring negative space or the concept of a drawing within a drawing.

An Australian cabin

Dirds (Dogs + Birds)
+

Hilarious photo manipulations combining birds with dogs and somehow, they work.

Greece Santorini

Taupo, Waikato, NZ

New Zealand

Muriwai, Auckland, NZ

Motuoapa, Waikato, NZ

If I had to spend the rest of my life trapped inside a photograph, there’s a good chance I might flip through a stack of photographs by Andrew Smith (previously) to make a selection. Smith shoots mostly in locations around his home in New Zealand where he captures breathtaking oceanside landscapes both in and out of water. Smith photographs almost exclusively with a Nikon D800 and then processes his images in Adobe Lightroom, something he documents in detail on his Before and After Lightroom Blog. These are some of my favorite shots from the last year or so, but you can see hundreds of additional photos by Smith over on Flickr.

Meet me here.

Where am I

[Mild spoilers] During the production of Gravity, Jonas Cuaron (co-writer of the screenplay and Alfonso Cuaron's son) shot a short film that shows the other side of the conversation that Sandra Bullock's character had while in the Soyuz capsule. In the film, an Inuit fisherman struggles to communicate with the distressed voice on the other end of his radio.

The short was filmed "guerrilla style" on location on a budget of about $100,000 -- most of which went toward the 10-person crew's travel costs -- and Cuaron completed it in time to meld the dialogue into Gravity's final sound mix. The result is a seamless conversation between Aningaaq and Ryan, stranded 200 miles above him, the twin stories of isolated human survival providing thematic cohesion. Still, Jonas says he was careful "to make it a piece that could stand on its own." Should both get Oscar noms, an interesting dynamic would emerge: Two films potentially could win for representing different sides of one conversation, to say nothing of having come from father and son.

Tags: Alfonso Cuaron   Aningaaq   Gravity   Jonas Cuaron   movies

Horse and Rider © Patrick Gries

Opah © Patrick Gries

Cheetah © Patrick Gries

African Elephant © Patrick Gries

Rattlesnake © Patrick Gries

Mandrill & Humbolt’s Wooly Monkey © Patrick Gries

Orca © Patrick Gries

Lemur © Patrick Gries

Flamingo & Water Monitor © Patrick Gries

© Xavier Barral

© Xavier Barral

Created in collaboration with the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, Evolution is an extraodinary collection of images by photographer Patrick Gries that tells the visual story of evolution through 300 black and white photos of vertebrate skeletons. Unlike a textbook approach to photography, the skeletons Gries’ photos appear to have been reanimated, artfully posed and lit in lifelike scenarios resulting in images that are both beautiful and haunting.

In addition to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, Gries acquired anatomical specimens from numerous veterinary and natural history museums throughout France and Monaco to round out the series of photos that are accompanied by passages from writer and scientist Dr. Jean-Baptiste de Panafieu. Evolution is available through Editions Xavier Barral.

All images courtesy Patrick Gries. (via Photojojo)

Gaia, The Birth of an End © Kirsty Mitchell

Part tribute, part conceptual photography, part exploration of costume and set design, Wonderland is an ongoing series of portraits by UK photographer Kirsty Mitchell. After the loss of her mother in 2008, Mitchell found herself in need of a creative outlet to grapple with the emptiness that often follows the death of a loved one. To fill the vacuum, Mitchell began to revisit fragments of fairy tales her mother would share with her as a child and decided to use them as a starting point for a series of elaborate portraits that would make use of her background in fashion design and costume making. The resulting images would form a storybook without words, a sort of visual narrative that people might project their own stories onto.

Everything you see in Mitchell’s photos from the costumes to the sets have been sewn, painted, glued, and assembled completely by hand, requiring up to five months of preparation. By the time of each photoshoot, which generally happens in the woodlands around her home, an elaborate scene has been constructed that the photographer says is akin to a miniature movie set, complete with lighting and assistants, let alone her absurdly patient models.

Gammelyn’s Daughter © Kirsty Mitchell

Gammelyn's Daughter a Waking Dream © Kirsty Mitchell

The Ghost Swift © Kirsty Mitchell

The Last Door of Autumn © Kirsty Mitchell

The Guidance of Stray Souls © Kirsty Mitchell

The Faraway Tree © Kirsty Mitchell

The Storyteller © Kirsty Mitchell

The Queen’s Armada © Kirsty Mitchell

A Floral Birth © Kirsty Mitchell

Now five years later the Wonderland project has practically consumed Mitchell’s life. The photos, which total 69 pictures, have gone thoroughly viral around the web and have opened up entirely new avenues in her artistic career. Mitchell has just announced a collaboration with FX Media, who is helping to shoot a full-length documentary about the final 10 photos in the series, including a 5-minute behind-the-scenes clip detailing the preparation for each image, the first of which, Gaia, you can watch above. Mitchell also recently exhibited with Italian Vogue and was made Nikon UK’s Ambassador of Fine Art Photography in July of this year. You can learn more about her work via her website and get info on limited edition prints here.

Lastly, please do not use Mitchell’s Wonderland images on your billboard, t-shirt, coffee mug or shower curtain without her permission. Seriously. She’s an exceptionally kind person to speak with and will be thrilled to hear all about your amazing ideas for her work. All images above courtesy Kirsty Mitchell. (via PetaPixel)

I’ve watched this about 10 times already.

So awesome!

Also check out the behind the scenes videos:

Butterfly. 25″ x 14″ x 22″ H. Legs: bike brake parts, pieces of windshield wipers, bike chains. Abdomen: old acetylene light tank. Thorax: car suspension part, small spoon parts, cream chargers. Head: headlights, bike parts. Butterfly trunk: clock springs. Hair: pieces of a typewriter daisy wheel. Antennae: brake cables, drawer knobs.

Butterfly, detail.

Butterfly, detail.

Rhinoceros beetle. 13″ x 11″ x 6″ H. Legs: bike brake parts, bike derailleur chain, bike chain ring. Head and horn: small bike brake, pieces of a typewriter daisy wheel. Antennae: small bike parts. Thorax: shoe tree, bike Luxor headlight. Abdomen: motorbike light, shell-shaped drawer handles.

Rhinoceros beetle, detail.

Three-spined stickleback. 34″ x 5″ x 13″ H. Body: moped fenders and chain guards. Bones: tablespoons. Gills: car door parts. Fins: cake tins, fish slices, compasses. Tail: motorbike silencer, fish slices. Eyes: flashlights. Head: Solex front fenders.

Moth. 31″ x 16″ x 7″ H. Wings: moped chain guards (rusted and patinated). Abdomen: motorbike headlights. Thorax: very old car headlamp. Legs: large upholstery tacks, car boot hinges, pieces of windshield wipers, bike brake parts, chain guards. Head: old rear position lamps, bike parts, pieces of a daisy wheel. Butterfly trunk: clock springs. Antennae: aluminium heating resistor.

Moth, detail.

Wasp. 11″ x 6″ x 16″ H. Abdomen: steel tips for boots, bike headlights. Thorax and head: steel tips and bells from bikes and typewriters. Eyes: vintage watch case. Antennae: spectacles arms. Legs: bike brakes, bike chain, spoon handles. Wings: glass.

Red ant. 25″ x 16″ x 9″ H. Thorax and head: sauce spoons, car parts. Eyes: marbles. Abdomen: bike or motorbike headlights. Antennae: small bike chains. Legs: cream chargers, brake parts, chains, alarm clock feet, spoon handles.

Dragonfly. 37″ x 49″ x 15″ H. Abdomen: patinated copper/brass bicycle pump, car horn part, parts of old acetylene bike lights (at the ends). Thorax: two motorbike rear lights, shell-shaped drawer handles, big upholstery tacks. Head: car or lorry old stop lights, parts of acetylene bike lights, parts of a daisy wheel for typewriter (hair from the mouth). Legs: tubes, bike cable guide, wing nuts, wire. Wings: umbrella ribs, wire, wire netting for hen coops.

Dragonfly, detail.

When looking at these perfectly assembled sculptures by French artist Edouard Martinet (previously) it’s difficult to believe the raw materials he used ever existed in another form. Yet every head, thorax, leg, wing, and eye from these assorted creatures was once part of a car, bicycle, typewriter, or other found object. Reading through his material lists it becomes clear how completely thorough and judicious Martinet is in selecting the perfect objects to realize his vision, truly a master of his craft. Via Sladmore Contemporary:

His degree of virtuosity is unique: he does not solder or weld parts. His sculptures are screwed together. This gives his forms an extra level of visual richness – but not in a way that merely conveys the dry precision of, say, a watchmaker. There is an X-Factor here, a graceful wit, a re-imagining of the obvious in which a beautifully finished object glows not with perfection, but with character, with new life. Martinet takes about a month to make a sculpture and will often work on two or three pieces at the same time. It took him just four weeks to make his first sculpture and 17 years for his most recent completion!

If you want to see these new pieces up close, Martinet opens a new exhibition at Sladmore Contemporary in London, November 27 through January 31, 2014. You can see several additional new works on his website.

"[A]lcohol hits people harder in their 40s and 50s than it did during their 20s and 30s. The reasons...

Calvin and Hobbes

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City>

Photo by Gianluca Giannone courtesy Blinking City

When he was just 16 years old Luigi Prina entered and won a national aircraft modeling competition. When he went to collect the prize money the organizers asked the boy why his father couldn’t come and collect it himself. Nearly fifty years later the now successful architect met a painter and boat builder named Eugenio Tomiolo and while they were talking made a bet that perhaps Prina could take one of his small model ships and make it fly like an airplane. Tomolio accepted and it wasn’t long before a small flying boat was whirring in circles around his small studio that coincidentally had clouds painted on the ceiling. A new passion was born and Prina has since dedicated nearly 20 years of his later life to building flying model boats, bicycles and other unconventional aircraft.

The folks over at Blinking City along with photographer Gianluca Giannone recently sat down with the model building for this beatiful photo essay and video. (thnx, Andrea!)

Ranking the children

Fogo Island Inn by Saunders Architecture

A five star inn located on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada. The 29-room inn was designed as a timeless piece of architecture but also as a means toward the island's economic and cultural survival.

The Inn includes a restaurant, directed by one of Canada’s best chefs, together with a lobby, a library, a small movie theatre and an independent art gallery on the ground floor; four floors of rooms above ground level; and a sauna and spa facility on the top of the building.

Emma McNally