Tracing Your Footsteps

I had some time to spare yesterday afternoon and took the chance to head out to a park I haven’t visited in a while too look for some new imagery for wallpapers and I came up with a few sets worth to share. To start things off I have these silky shots of bamboo. I have seen plenty of bamboo images out there so I tried to take a slightly different approach and left things minimal as I usually do with wallpaper images to leave rom for your thoughts and icons and the like. This was toward the end of my time walking around the park and I was really starting to feel the heat of the day, Its been SO hot lately, whew. Thankfully the music I had in my ears and the excitement of getting some nice shots to share kept me going. I will have a couple more sets in the coming days so keep an eye out for more!

To download the full resolution images for your desktop simply CLICK OR RIGHT CLICK HERE to download a zip which also contains ipad and iPhone (retina) resolutions as well. Please respect the terms of use included which basically state that no commercial use without permission and re-hosting of the full resolution images here on your site is not at all allowed. Please, if you would like to feature these images on your wallpaper blog simply use lower res versions and link back here, thanks so much for your understanding!

iPad version direct access: ONE TWO
iPhone version direct access: ONE TWO

Twelve South

I don’t write too much about tech here on 50ft anymore and that is simply because I feel like there are plenty of people out there reporting on the latest and greatest and I figure its best left to the tech blogs to cover such things but I do find myself in a position somewhere between the photography world and the tech world because the large majority of my readers are here looking for great new imagery for their devices so why not poke my head into the tech side of things from time to time. Those of you who have followed along for a long while know that I have pretty high standards for products that I decide to spend my money on. One such product is a portable stand for my iPad, something I have been looking for since I first bought mine but none of the ones on the market really impressed me at all or were too expensive to even consider.

Sometime last week while picking up something at the local Apple store I noticed way up on the top rung of the accessories wall a really slick iPad stand simply called Compass made by Twelve South and was immediately drawn to its sturdy looking simplistic approach that would allow for use with the Speck Candy Shell case I use for it at times. I took a chance and bought it on the spot and I have been really happy with it. The stand is able to function in two different ways. One, as a slightly elevated and tilted surface for typing and two, a tall upright easel like position that is able to support the iPad in either orientation. It accomplishes these two functions effortlessly using simple mechanics and a minimal approach that I love. There are two small rubberized arms that fold down out of the stand in the bottom for its taller standing position which I find get in the way while in the typing position but I find that the rubber pad at the top of the stand does a fair job of holding it in place while I type without these little tabs poking into my palms as I type. The construction is incredibly solid and has a really nice weight to it. Im sure this will last longer than the iPad itself.

The only negative I could speak of is something that is unavoidable with this design style and that is the fact that if you tap with any force int he top edges of the screen while its on the stand it does shift in position a bit but I quickly adapted to this and tap lightly when using the upper corners of the display. The only other thing that has happened during its use is that if pushed back slightly in its taller setting the supporting leg in the back starts to fold in on its own and a couple of times I have had the stand collapse but again, its something I was able to quickly realize was happening and adapt to. These negatives are simple compromises for such a wonderful minimal design and I am overjoyed to have such a perfect portable stand that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to use in public hehe.

Also worth noting is a little black sleeve that it comes with that further added to its obvious inspiration a compass meant for drawing perfect circles. The sleeve is a nice tight fitting affair and while I wish there were a small snap rather than a little piece of stretchy material to hold its flap I still find it a really useful addition to the package that I did not expect to find in the package.

When I first bought the Compass I tried to find information on it online and was surprised no one had reviewed it or talked about its release but that was quickly remedied as I have seen it popping up all over the tech web the past couple of days and there is a product page in place now for it. Im sure they will sell well so get em while their hot. I can easily recommend this to any one looking for a great portable stand for their iPad!

50ft Under Attack (Updated)

It has been brought to my attention that 50ft’s wordpress installation has been compromised and some readers are being forwarded to annoying virus protection sites and equally annoying other sites. If this happens to you at any point browsing the site PLEASE send me an email john(at)twistedsun.net to let me know. I found a bunch of malicious code in my database and cleaned it out but something is apparently still lingering. This is affecting some users sometimes but not all the time. Im not sure if its on any browser or just select ones.

I know very little about such things and I am doing all I can to track down the problem so if you have any suggestions or have any troubles let me know. I am sorry for the mess, it is really really frustrating that hackers would exploit simple wordpress pages for their own gain… Thanks for understanding and bearing with me as I get through the issues at hand.

UPDATE: Things are under control now as far as I know, I have cleared out nearly every file in the site and replaced them as well as cleaning out my database of all hacked code. Took some time to find it all but it seems to be taken care of and more security has been put in place to prevent future incidents.

I am so very sorry to anyone effected by this, the reason for it happening, turns out, was a server venerability where hundreds of wordpress users on my server were effected. I will be keeping a close eye on measures they take to prevent it from happening again. I can’y have my readers at risk because of that!

Thanks for everyones help with the matter, it was greatly appreciated.

Hiding In The Rain

Sorry for the long haul between new wallpapers! I was without my 5D for a while then work kept me too busy to shoot new images and while I am still pretty busy I did find a moment that I thought would make for a nice wallpaper image. We have not seen too much rain around here this summer but there is the occasional thunderstorm and I love them. I found myself sitting around in my car a lot today, listening to music and the rain pounding down on the roof of the car as well as watching the world go by cautiously in the rain. Its been a while since I have had a nice slow day and it was well appreciated. One of the heavier moments of rain lead to these shots where I focused slightly beyond the glass which picked up the flecks of water bursting away from droplets of water as they landed on the windshield of my car. The blurred, twisting shape in the background is a tree. I decided to shoot one with the wiper in it for a different perspective. I like images like this through glass as wallpapers because it feels like a window into something. I should keep a closer eye out for shots like these.

To download the full resolution images for desktops, iPads, and iPhones (new resolution!) simply CLICK OR RIGHT CLICK HERE to download the zip which also contains my terms of use the most important parts include, NO commercial use outside of using the image for your personal electronic devices wallpaper without my consent.

PLEASE DO NOT re-host these images at high resolutions without asking first! I don’t mean to seem strict about it but its simple, just link back to this post where your readers can get the full resolution files. Traffic has picked up a lot over the last couple of months and its harder to keep track of my images than ever and it can get frustrating as an independent artist supplying images like this free of charge or annoying ads all over the page. Its frustrating because people seem to be posting my images on sites full of ads which in essence is making a profit from my work which is not OK. I really appreciate your understanding on this and if you see an image of mine somewhere without credit let me know, I appreciate it :)

Thanks for hanging around during these slow to post times, I am still hard at work on my site refresh in the time I can find to work on it!

iPad direct download: ONE TWO
iPhone direct download: ONE TWO

The Wind

Ironically, thanks to the flash video wars, the video above wont work on the iPhone, I will put up a link when I have it somewhere that does.

I have not come across many opportunities to capture something nice with my new iPhone 4G camera but while I was at work this weekend at a concert in the mountains I looked up above me and saw this long flag slowly blowing around in the wind set against this beautiful sky and pulled out my phone to record for a few seconds before going back to loading a truck full of audio gear.

The thing that caught my eye was the fact that I knew YoungDoo would enjoy its peacefulness and the vibrant blue of the sky so I think it’s good some of her influence has rubbed off on me. Pushing me to find that light sort of peaceful touch in my imagery at times I feel is a good thing because I often gravitate toward the darker, shadowy side of things which is great but too much of it just gets old I think and I love to push myself all the time to learn new methods and approach subjects in new light.

So enjoy the video, I will have some new wallpapers up this week I promise! Also, thanks to everyone who tossed their hat into the ring and claimed one of the prints.

A Few Prints For You

First off, pardon the mediocre photo above, it was taken with my iphone in low light, I have actually been without my 5D for a couple of weeks now as I loaned it to my brother over in Memphis for some work he needed it for. Thats part of the reason for the lack of new wallpapers around actually.

At any rate, the photo here is of 9 prints, small ones (5“x5”) that I had made as simple proofs when I had the last couple of 120 film developed. I have scanned and posted most of these here or on flickr already and was sitting at my desk yesterday thinking to myself that it may be nice to give some prints away to readers. Just for the sake of giving and sharing art and kindness and the like. If you would like to exchange one of my prints for one of your own that would be great! But not a requirement.

I considered selling them but they are simply small matte prints that would have just been stuffed onto a shelf somewhere and not been looked at so why not give them away right? If I decide to sell prints of these images in the future they will be bigger and sold through an edition available but for now, I have these proofs and an urge to spread some kindness.

Also worth noting, I rounded the corners when I got them back from the photo shop (yes, a real one, notice the space between words there)  because I thought that it looked nice so they will probably best be suited to simply be taped up onto a wall or a fridge but I still think that some of you would enjoy having them around. They are a bit lighter in contrast than the ones you see online but I like them all the same.

The only trouble is that I don’t have a lot of extra money to throw around so I will have to ask anyone that would like to have one of these prints send me $3 USD through Paypal so I can cover shipping. I am pretty certain that this will cover the cost of postage and an envelope to pretty much anywhere in the world.

They are first come, first serve so if you are interested then don’t hesitate to jump in and claim your print while they are here. There is only one of each and I think I should limit one per person to make it fair.

Simply leave a comment here with which one you would like and I will get back to you via email with Paypal information. This way it’s easy to see who’s first and whats available.. If no one wants one thats ok too ;)

To say which you are interested in simply mention the number of the photo you like in your comment based on the numbers below:
-1-2-3-
-4-5-6-
-7-8-9-

Update: Im off to sleep, the only two left are 1 and 3 so anyone who wants to claim them with agreement to pay that little shipping bit to help out is welcome to them! I will check in the morning and then send off mails to those of you who put your name in tomorrow afternoon.

50ft Radio | Volume Two

First off, work has me running a bit behind on site updates but I will get back into the thick of it soon. New wallpapers are lining up in my ‘to post’ folder and the new design is looking good so far, I just need to sort out some of the logistics and make some tough calls to make sure its just right before pushing it out there and I would rather get it right than launch with a rushed design.

That out of the way, the new 50ft Radio mix is here! I have been working away on it for the past month or so and it’s changed shape a couple of times. I set out wanting to make a mix for the summer, for road trips, for hot nights and being played loud and booming. Something full of energy and heat.

This lead to the music selection to be nearly all electronic in nature but I tried to still make it fairly accessible to those not too into the genre. I was looking to make a departure from my usual quiet music mixes and let it hang out a bit and have some fun. With a couple of last minute additions and shuffling this afternoon and some time to listen to it through in its completed form a couple times (a must for any mix I share with anyone) I feel like it’s ready to push on out for everyone to enjoy. The idea is to spread some energy in these hot months through some great music. There are a lot of recent favorites on here and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

The 50ft radio mixes are presented in an advanced AAC format that includes chapters for different songs as well as changing cover art, information and links to the artists page from within the file. I will not be sharing these songs as individual files because I am not here to re-distribute music, I simply want to share some great music with friends and followers of the site to explore and enjoy. If you enjoy it check out the artists sites and show them love!

To listen to the mix simply click here. Track list is included in the zip.