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Archive for December, 2012

Branch Out: 20 Organic Tree Houses Are Naturally Amazing

31 Dec

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

Treehouses main

Woven huts made of living saplings, artistic hotel rooms resembling bird nests and cabins dangling from 300-year-old spruces are among the stunning organic structures built from, in, and onto entire trees. Tree houses like these 20 incredible structures indulge our childlike impulses to climb and view the world from a bird’s point of view, and blur the lines between nature and human habitation.

5 Bent-Wood Tree Houses by Romero Architecture

Treehouses Romero 1

Treehouses Romero 2

Treehouses Romero 3

Romero Studios creates incredible organic tree-lofted structures including huts, homes, porches and platforms, some with a very rustic look and others more finished. Natural branches are often used, some still covered in lichen, enabling these magical forest getaways to blend into their environments.

Living Trees Shaped into Buildings by Patrick Dougherty

Treehouses Dougherty 1

Treehouses Dougherty 2

Patrick Dougherty gently shapes flexible saplings to form swirling structures that look as if they could have been painted with an artist’s brush. The saplings grow into each other as directed by Dougherty’s hand, making them stronger than they would have been had he simply woven thin branches together to form the huts. Some of Dougherty’s structures look like complex tree trunks, as if they might have been formed by nature, while others resemble cathedrals.

Trunk House: A Tree House on the Ground

Treehouses Trunk House
This may not be a tree house in the traditional sense, hanging high above the ground, but it’s a tree house all the same. Paul Morgan Architects created the distinctive Trunk House with wood found on the owners’ Australian property that was naturally split into Y-shapes. Integrating these into the exterior of the house makes it look as if it were built from standing trees.

Alnwick Gardens

Treehouses Alnwick

In the gardens adjacent to the Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England, one of the world’s largest and most complex tree houses can be found. The treehouse complex measures 6,000 square feet and includes a restaurant, an education room and rope bridges. The treehouse was made from sustainably-sourced Canadian cedar, Scandinavian redwood and English and Scots pine.

Naturally Curved Tree Homes by Roald Gunderson

Treehouses Whole Tree Building 1

Treehouses Whole Tree Building 2

Roald Gunderson builds beautiful eco-friendly homes using entire trees rather than milled wood, the curves of the branches giving each structure an entirely unique shape. Not only does this technique give the homes rustic charm, save money and put less strain on the environment than more conventional home-building methods, it also results in stronger houses. Gunderson chooses weak or invasive trees that wouldn’t normally be logged, and the natural curving structure of each whole branch is more structurally stable than that off milled timber.

Temple of the Blue Moon

Treehouses Temple of the Blue Moon

Among the lodgings offered at Treehouse Point in Issaquah, Washington, Temple of the Blue Moon looks like a rustic cabin that has been elevated dozens of feet up a 300-year-old, 160-foot-tall Sitka Spruce tree. In addition to a rope bridge and a balcony, this treetop getaway features skylights and built-in cedar beds.

Nendo’s Tree House Apartment for Birds

Treehouses Nendo

This modern white tree house by Nendo doubles as a ‘bird apartment’, offering 78 individual nest boxes in the trees at Japan’s Ando Momofuku Center. The coolest thing about this particular tree house is the fact that humans can creep up the ladder and into the main part of the structure to get a look at each nest through peepholes.

6 High-Flying Rooms at AirHotel

Treehouses Airhotel 1

Treehouses Airhotel 2

Treehouses Airhotel 3

At the Time Circus Airhotel in Belgium, you can choose from 6 different types of highly unconventional and fun high-flying hotel rooms. Made from recycled materials, Airhotel’s artistic tree houses each have their own theme, ranging from ‘love nests’ made of flowering branches to a sphere that looks like a lantern, but folds out into a flower shape. ‘El Ambassador’, the VIP room, looks like part of a steampunk airship with its wooden cocoon-like shape and glass skylights.

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[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Posted in Creativity

 

Beachtek DXA-5DA: Pro Audio for HD-DSLR cameras – an IQ Exclusive Review

31 Dec

John Hess reviews the Beachtek DXA-5DA – a pre-mixer that adds professional audio recording capabilities to your HD-DSLR camera rig. For the full review and a link to purchase check out filmmakeriq.com
Video Rating: 5 / 5

 
 

7 Photo Projects to Start on January 1st

31 Dec
Photo credit: Melina Souza

As soon as the ball drops and you’re done kissing your sweetheart, you are probably already wondering: What in the world am I gonna do in 2013?

How about starting one of these seven photo projects with the New Year? Project 365 is a classic choice, but you might want to peruse these twists on that classic long term photo project as well.

Find something just right for you this year, no matter what sort of commitment you’re looking for. Take a peek at these ideas and select the perfect one to help your creative juices flow like champagne on New Year’s Eve.

7 Project Ideas to Start off the New Year

p.s. We’re re-posting our most favorited Tweets of the year! Follow us on Twitter to see what our best photography projects, stories, and tips of 2012 were.

1. Project 365

ingred-smThis is the time honored photo-a-day challenge, and it definitely deserves a mention. Fair warning: it’s not for the faint of heart.

Never fear though, we’ve got lots of tips on how to do it. If you’re in the habit of taking pictures all of the time anyway, and you take your camera with you everywhere (and yes, phone cameras are REAL CAMERAS!) why not give it a shot?

Some ideas to make it less daunting:
ingred-sm

  • Phone-ograph your days. Commit to an Instagram or Hipstamatic 365, and odds are you’ll never be without your camera.
  • Pick a theme. Photographer Kelly DeLay honed in on clouds, with beautiful results.
  • Look at details. Even the mundane can become interesting from the right perspective, like this yarn that’s part of Mark Seton’s 365 collection.

2. PROJECT LIFE

ingred-sm If you’re crafty, this might be just right for you. Project Life is a scrapbooker’s answer to documenting your days. It’s almost like a grown up yearbook!

Our friend Jodi McKee has been using Project Life this year to keep track of everything from her baby’s firsts to internet meetups.

  • Instead of whole pages for a single event, a binder full of divided pages marks weeks as they pass.
  • look at the pictures on your camera and create your pages based on what you’ve shot during that time period.
  • The great thing about this is that it can be done in retrospect.

3. PROJECT 52

paint-smProject 365’s baby bro, a weekly photographic project. Anything you can do with Project 365, you can squeeze into a package 1/7th the size.

  • A jumping off point if you’re a newbie looking for photographic goal this year.
  • If you’re looking for inspiration you should check out Lucia’s collection of unexpected self portraits.
  • Melia also has a set of colorful and fashion-y pics, check her out if you want to be influenced.

4. PICK AN OBJECT

paint-smInstead of committing to a specific time frame, commit to an object to record over time. Kevin Day did this watched (and documented!) the landscape changing around this tree over 5 years.

  • Use cameras specifically made for time lapse shots.
  • For another spin on this idea, pick a public place to photograph and follow it as it fills and empties of people.

5. LOOONG EXPOSURES

Try your hand long (we mean LONG) exposures like Michael Wesley has in New York. He captured 3 years of construction in a single frame!

  • Learn how to shoot low light long exposures with this tutorial.
  • Shoot long exposures with your camera phone (apps like Slow Shutter help).
  • Try layering with double (or triple, or more!) exposure images.

6. EVERY HOUR

paint-smInstead of shooting every day, make it your goal to collect a picture from each hour of the day. This will flex your photographic muscles, and make you work with all sorts of conditions, like low light.

  • Explore what photographs can look at at any time, light or dark, rain or shine.
  • Give yourself a week or a month or even a whole year to do it.
  • Establish as many (or few) rules as you want!

7. DO IT DIGITAL

There are so. many. apps. that can help you stay motivated to keep up with these new projects.

Here are just a smattering:

  • Get blasts from your photo past with Timehop and the Photojojo Timecapsule.
  • Collect is an iOS app that helps you track a photo a day.
  • If you want to go the self portrait route, don’t forget Everyday app.
  • For journaling, Day One is a great alternative to a diary that lets you attach an image to your recollections.

Photo credits: 1. Melina Souza, 2. Kevin Day, 3. Kelly DeLay 4. Mark Seton, 6. Jodi McKee, 7. Lucia on Flickr, 8. Kevin Day 9. abnormalbeauty on Flickr

Related posts:

  1. Let Auld Projects Be Forgot: Photo Ideas For The New Year! Extra photos for bloggers: 1, 2, 3 The New Year’s…
  2. End-of-Summer Photo Projects in Celebration of the Human Body Small monkeys madeAugust’s Photojojo possible. (Really) ~Have a cool photo…
  3. A Family Portrait Project You Can Start Today If we could turn back time, we’d find a way…


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Posted in Equipment

 

Agniputhri – Agniputhri 03-09-12

31 Dec

Agniputhri 03-09-12

 
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Posted in Photography Videos

 

Art & Design degree shows 2012

31 Dec

Check out these visual art images:

Art & Design degree shows 2012
visual art
Image by University of Salford
Our MediaCityUK building is the venue for the Art & Design degree shows from 13-17 June 2012.

Art & Design degree shows 2012
visual art
Image by University of Salford
Our MediaCityUK building is the venue for the Art & Design degree shows from 13-17 June 2012.

 
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Posted in Photographs

 

Nexst RIP

31 Dec

Nekst RIP

“In the graffiti world, there is a status pyramid. At the bottom you have the Toys, beginners to graffiti who have not yet earned respect nor established their art or name beyond a fundamental/amateur level. At the top, you have the Kings, who have established themselves as the best of the best through years of hard work, determination, talent and aligning themselves with other great graffiti writers.

Nekst was an All-City King. Everywhere he went, he did it big and owned the city with his graffiti. He started here in Houston. His crew here is/was DTS (Def Threats). He went on to New York City, but also hit New Orleans, San Francisco, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami and many other great cities along the way. He became part of the MSK crew (Mad Society Kings), which includes some of the best and most notorious graffiti artists in the world. He began writing his name as Next in 1996, then evolved to Nekst.

Perhaps his best and most traditionally artistic work was done during a six-month detention in a Dallas-area prison, during which he drew dozens of touching and contemplative portraits of his fellow prison inmates with simple pencil and paper.

We offer our condolences to his family and crew. May he forever rest in peace.”

Houston Press


Thomas Hawk Digital Connection

 
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Posted in Photography

 

16×9 – End of the world: How to survive Armageddon

31 Dec

A profile on people who build underground bunkers to prepare for the end of the world whether it’s nuclear, environmental or biblical.

 
 

Eye-Fi Mobile X2 Card Shooting Wirelessly to iPad 2 in Direct Mode

31 Dec

Terry White demos the Eye-Fi Mobile X2 card shooting wirelessly from a Nikon D7000 to an iPad 2 in the NEW Direct Mode without the need of a wireless hotspot.

 
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Posted in Nikon Videos

 

Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden – “Where the hell was Laura?” – Ep. 4.11

31 Dec

Season 4 (Summer of ’96 Continued), Episode 11. The janky bonus video… taking you all the way back to the Class of 1996?s graduation. So just where was Laura-the-goth? Why did she skip her graduation? And just what was she doing? — Season 1 of OJBG is now in “The Vault”! Don’t worry! To get your fix, you can purchase the episodes and the script eBook here: bit.ly If you’re in the DC area, you can watch OJBG on DCTV on Mondays and Saturdays at 10:30pm EDT on Comcast 95 / RCN 10 / Verizon 10! Ultimately, Otessa, the creator of OJBG, believes that Season 2 is a great place to start with the series as it was always envisioned as a better/stronger/bolder season and gives a better sense of the show to come. — Website: OJinBG.com Twitter twitter.com Facebook: www.facebook.com Telly, LA Web Festival, and Webby honoree award winning teen web series following the lives of 18 kids as they grow up and get down in grunge-era Washington DC. “The bad things we do. The things we get caught for–and how they are never the same.” — Directed by Otessa Ghadar Writing credits Otessa Ghadar Episode Cast (in credits order) Hannah Goldman … Laura-the-Goth Andrew Cohen … Travis Episode Crew Produced by Otessa Ghadar …. producer Cinematography by Otessa Ghadar (director of photography) Film Editing by Lauren Burke Dylan Myers Sound Department Jorge Franzini …. post production sound Otessa Ghadar …. post production sound Camera and Electrical Department Xiaoyi Zhong …. director
Video Rating: 3 / 5

 

Unboxing: Nikon MB-D11 Multi-Power Battery Grip

31 Dec

++ DISCLAIMER – I pronounce Nikon (NICK-on) not (NYK-on) and you should too. An unboxing and overview video of the Nikon MB-D11 Multi-Power Battery Grip and the EN-EL15 rechargeable lithium ion battery.
Video Rating: 5 / 5