Last week I took this outfit post inside as it was raining really heavily as usual. I stupidly started taking these images at 8 o'clock at night, so by the time I had finished, like sun had pretty much set, thus the lighting is completely messed up all these images. However, I went with my usual motto of waste not, want not, and thus tried to make something out of it by editing the pictures as I liked the colour palette of the shoddy images.
Last night, as my GCSE music exam is only 2 days away (eeek!), I was revising minimalism in music and it inspired me to apply some of the characteristics of minimalistic music to my editing. I found it really interesting how you can just slightly alter a simple idea with a systematic, mathematical process to create something new with an almost hypnotic and entrancing feel to it, as it is with minimalistic music. Also, made me kid myself that I was actually doing revision when I was wasting time on this blog.
Repeating ostinati/cell
I have expressed this by using the same photograph over and over again.
Layered textures
I put layers of the same image on top of each other to create a new texture.
Metric displacement
This is basically you start the same idea, but slightly after the first occurrence, so you achieve a canon effect.
Static harmony
Since I have used the same colour palette in all my piece, so the harmonic feel of the images are all constant.
Retrograde
Okay, this isn't a feature of minimalism, but I have inverted the images by turning them upside down to form mirror images.
I edited these images in probably with the dumbest method there is. The first image was easy enough - I simply pasted the picture into Microsoft PowerPoint, duplicated then flipped the images. However, the ones that are layered were done using a very idiotic method. When you click and drag an image, a preview of what the image is going to look like appears, but it is translucent. Thus, what I would do is click and drag the image on top of itself, and then press print screen to capture what it looked like. I think this is hinting to me that I should really download some actual photo editing software and learn how to use it. Anyone have any suggestions?
Some other minimalistic methods I would really like to try out if I actually learnt how to edit properly:
Phase shifting
This is basically when something starts together, but becomes increasingly out of sync, before going back into sync again. To work out when something will synchronise you use lowest common multiple - I find it quite interesting applying mathematics to physical situations.
Metamorphosis
This is when something gradually changes into something else, one step at a time.
Note addition/subtraction
Adding or taking away one note at a time so a melodic part fades in/out.
Note augmentation/diminution
Slowly getting longer/shorter in note value.
My smiley face necklace is actually a trolley token.
My violin music teacher was telling me about how I should think about what colours I am trying to produce with my violin in the pieces that I play, and I think I finally understand what she means. It's really quite interesting how different mediums of art are all pretty much linked and can be intertwined.
Wow, this has been quite an abstract post, but oh well. I hope you guys understand my logic behind what I'm saying. If you don't I hope you enjoy the images.
Rebecca x
P.S. Thank you to the lovely Maria for putting my blog on this UK blogger map, which I think is a great idea.
P.P.S. Argh, study leave has started but it means endless exams are looming - PANIC.
P.P.P.S If I had to chose a song that reflected on the overal aura I'm trying to convey with these images, I would chose Oblivion by Grimes.
*Feel free to skip to the end if you aren't bothered about me rambling on*
A little long side note to start...I have been writing on this blog for 4 months now (a third of a year, gasp!) and I feel like now is a turning point in my blogging life. From the outset, I did have in mind of making it slightly more fashion based, but it had been something that I logistically couldn't do, but now I can. I love doing the fashion posts, but I feel like that outfit posts don't really reflect the person behind the lens. You don't get to know their personality, what tickles their fancy or what floats their boat - in my case it is cheesy idioms - hence why I am doing these types of posts too.
I know I have a lot of new followers to my blog, so I am a bit apprehensive if I should publicise my personal life to stranger, simply because I doubt many people who don't know me personally would be interested in my measly life. The last thing I wish to do is to discourage people from following my blog! However, this blog is for own personal space where I can write whatever I want, and I am going to write whatever I want, regardless of what the expectations are for a "fashion" based blog. In the end, I am blogging for my personal enjoyment, rather than to see if I can get the most views/followers (even though of course that is fantastic too). This blog is going to be for my satisfaction rather than to please others - yes, I am selfish.
Cut things short as I have been rambling for sometime and I bet I'm boring you to death, I was going to start another blog solely for fashion related posts, but then I realised that I have barely anytime to tenderly care for one blog, let alone two. Therefore, I'm going to keep all my posts on this blog. If you are only here for outfits, you can press the little x in the corner, read no further and I am truly sorry for wasting space on your dashboard. But if you want to carry on reading, please do so!
Anyway, back to the actual post...
I'm sorry guys! I am a total of 4 days late for my monthly summary,
simply because I have been so busy with work towards/revision for my
GCSEs. Better late than never eh? Click here for my March round-up.
In April I have:
Had an awesome trip to Paris with my parents. Click here for my Parisian daily diary. Oh how I wish was I was still chilling in the streets of Paris, rather than drowning under the vast amount of revision I need to do.
Went to London for MK's birthday for ice skating and a Vietnamese dinner :).
Started fashion blogging and have finally got more followers than my age! Yipee.
Finished my resistant materials GCSE. Yipee.
Okay, it seems like I haven't much this month, but I spent half of it in France and half of it working my behind off.
Goals for May:
Get some darn good GCSEs. Okay, now that we are pretty much on the home stretch, the last push will really make the difference between As and A*s so it's time to knuckle down and stop writing pointless blogposts like this and start to do some intense revision.
Revise
Revise some more
Revise even more
Succeed in my exams - I have a total of 14 of them.
Get some decent quality outfit posts up.
Carrying on from my last goal, I have finally sorted out my camera issues. My genius father made this really, really long extension chord with some wire, attached a switch and thus made a remote for his Nikon camera, so I can actually be in focus in my images! I have also digged out a tripod, so fingers crossed, the quality of my blog posts will improve drastically. Exams also mean study leave, which means that I will not be going into school everyday, which means, I will not have to wear uniform everyday, which means MORE OUTFIT POSTS OF BETTER QUALITY.
Current obsession: Grimes
Okay, I realise this doesn't quite fit in with this post, but since it is pretty much all higglety pigglety already, I thought I may as well add in someone that I have really been getting into after an spellbinding performance on Later.. Live with Jools Holland, one of my favourite television shows. She's called Grimes and I saw her mentioned in the ASOS magazine being described as "two-parts forest pixie, one-part Lykke Li". If you didn't know, I absolutely love Lykke Li, so I was keen to search her up. The fact that she had green hair with a totoro on her shoulder also drew me in to find out more about her.
It turns out Grimes is nothing like Lykke Li - the only similarity I can find is the fact that they both have high pitched voices and are really hot. The closest comparison I can make is to Blood Orange, but less R&B influenced and almost Oriental sounding with her use of the pentatonic scale on the synths, and obviously with a girl on the vocals. She creates a electro, atmospheric, entrancing sound that is topped off with her baby-sounding vocals. I'm not sure why, but I reckon a really low female voice would also go well juxtaposed with her synth-ey sound, but her high pitched wails do the trick. Her image is just weird enough to be alternative and edgy without being weird freaky - I love it.
If you have made it through this marathon of a post, I congratulate you.
Rebecca x
P.S. I decided to change up the tabs under my header and also added a "FAQ" and "About" page. The fact there is one pixel between the header and tabs randomly is really pissing me off! Any wizzes at HTML know how to get rid of it?
P.P.S Outfit post tomorrow!
