50ft Radio Volume 3

Well, it’s the end of the year and one thing you start noticing all over the web are the top stuff of the year lists. Everyones chance to speak up and lay claim to the highlights of the year within the realm of consumable goods. Among my favorites to look through are the music lists. Offering up opinions of the best music from the year. It is incredible to me just how much music is released each year now in the digital age of music distribution. I often try to write up a best of the year post to counter the big name lists but I thought this year I would simply release a 50ft Radio Mix that have been working on.

This year was one of the best years in recent memory for new music and I was astounded with the amount of amazing new music found this year not only by old favorites but from new artists to the scene. It was hard to keep up! For me most of the year was spend in a good mood and so my usual quiet sensebility was pushed aside for a lot of electronic/dance music as it kept my senses wired and my energy up as the year moved quickly along. I had a great mix of some of my favorite new electronic music to share but the more I thought about it the more I decided to hold off on that upbeat mix for a little while and release something more appropriate for the cold of the winter. Something for the quiet nights staying warm at home, the slow movement of snow falling, the hope and anxiety brought on by a new year and another hopeful fresh start.

So with that in mind I have this great new collection of songs which I have slowly compiled over the past couple of months until it felt just right and in the spirit of the winter and of quiet nights, let’s press on, shal we?

I encourage you to listen to the mix as a whole before digging into the track listing, Just imagine having a dusty old radio on. I think it’s distracting to the music to fiddle with your curiosity too much. Let that urge to be the person that already knows all the music or worries if its worth an hour of your ears concentration slide and have a listen. I love finding new music that way and the track list will be there waiting when you need it. Of course, thats simply a suggestion, your free to do as you please and I have included the track list below.

Listen, share, love, support artists you admire, and enjoy! A zip of the mix is right here.

Note on the file type: This is shared as a single enhanced AAC file which is broken into chapters with alternating artwork as well as links to the bands websites who are featured in the mix. This type of file works beautifully on an iphone/pad/touch/tunes. Please, share music responsibly and support any artists you enjoy here. A PDF track list is available in the zip file.

White Sands Pack

Here we have it, the elusive White Sands wallpaper pack. I have done my best to pick a nice well rounded selection of images for everyone to enjoy. The location of this beautiful spot is in southern New Mexico in a national park called White Sands. The park is simply a beautiful place to explore and offers a million or so different vantage points for great images. Even more interesting is the fact that over time the landscape changes so it could be different from year to year which offers photographers a truly dynamic space to work with. I also wanted to mention an interesting fact about the sands as quoted from wikipedia: ”Its white sands are not composed of quartz, unlike most desert sands, but of gypsum and calcium sulfate. Unlike other desert sands, it is cool to the touch, due to the high rate of evaporation of surface moisture and the fact that the sands reflect, rather than absorb, the sun’s rays.“

YoungDoo and I arrived late in the afternoon about an hour before the sun set and we could not have asked for a more beautiful experience. We both left with countless images making it really difficult to choose between which ones to share. I hope that everyone finds something to enjoy. My favorite of the bunch is the one previously posted here on 50ft as a ‘One Shot’ post and I know there are a lot of you that have been waiting quite a while to get your hands on that as a desktop and I thank you for your patience.

I will do my best to add direct links to the images for those visiting on an iPad or an iPhone directly soon, feel free to nag me for that If it doesn’t show up here soon.

To see all of the images within the wallpaper pack (ten images in all!) as well as the download link to access them click through the read more link below:

(more…)

Holiday Guestop

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, one great new photo, to post on the website… la la la. You see what I did there with the post title? ;) Anyways, I saw this photo taken by YoungDoo and simply had to ask if she would let me share it with everyone for the holiday week. I don’t have much in the way of festive imagery but I think this is just a wonderful explosion of light that I’m sure many of you will enjoy. The stretched out bokeh is courtesy of a Lensbaby Composer Lens which she bought while here in the states. You couldn’t ask for a bokeh Christmas light shot with more personality than this and I am happy to share it here with everyone.

To download the wallpaper simply CLICK OR RIGHT CLICK HERE to download a zip containing crops for your desktop, iPad, and iPhone/touch. Please mind the terms of use, even if this is a guest image it still lives with the same usage rights which state you can only use this for personal use as your desktop wallpaper and no re-distribution is allowed. Just write and ask if you have any questions. Thanks, happy holidays, and enjoy!

iPad direct access.
iPhone direct access.

The Look

I have been feverishly working on getting the new design over to my coding guru to still hit my deadline for the new year but I can not help but get a bit distracted when I get eight new rolls of film developed to scan and play with. Now I have half of the film shot while on my last road trip developed, still ten rolls of black and white film to develop on my own which I need to buy some more chemicals for so I will have patience.

The above shot was just one I really enjoyed and I wanted to share it here with everyone. It was taken in southern Yosemite among the giant trees which where quiet and covered in snow the morning we explored the area. As soon as the clouds cleared from the snowfall during the night a beautiful sunlight was shining through the cracks in the trees and as the snow and ice melted the trees in the sun were steaming and foggy and made for a truly beautiful experience for YoungDoo and I, one I won’t soon forget.

I am also on the verge of having not one but two new 50ft radio mixes ready to go, just need to set aside a couple hours to mix one of the two together. I actually have a loose collection of winter/christmas songs as well after a suggestion from a reader to make a christmas mix. Anyone interested in that? Im sure I could do a quick mix of christmas music and share the link over on twitter if there is any interest. At any rate, Enjoy the photo and I will see you again soon with some great new wallpapers this weekend.

Leftovers

These images had been posted here on 50ft without having time to make full size desktop imagery for you guys but I had a ton of requests for them to be made into wallpaper so here we go! The one missing is the white sands image but rest assured, that pack is still coming and it’s going to be a wonderful one. Hopefully that will show its face this week along with one of two new 50ft radio mixes I have been working on for what seems like forever. Sorry about the lack of news last week, I ended up being away from home traveling for work non stop and simply did not have a minute of time to spend with new updates. I know I don’t have to mention such things around here but I like to let everyone know whats going on. I am just one person after all and I do the best I can. I plan to be clearing more time to dedicate to keeping things fresh when the new version hits at the end of the month.

To download the two images above simply CLICK OR RIGHT CLICK HERE to download a zip containing both images in all three crops for your convenience. You will also find the terms of use which plainly state that you may not re-distribute these images in any way or use them for any commercial use without permission. I have direct links to the iPad and iPhone versions below for those of you visiting from your iDevice and the same terms apply. Thanks and enjoy!

iPad direct: ONE TWO
iPhone direct: ONE TWO

Sideways

One of my favorite spots to explore out in Utah is hidden down a few rough dirt roads that I probably had no business heading down in my little 2wd car. Hiding among the seemingly ordinary canyons are three extraordinary slot canyons which I think are slowly growing in popularity. When I first visited them years ago on a solo trip out west I may as well been the only person who had ever graced the narrow canyons. This time around, however, the walls were marred by black boots and graffiti scratched into the face of the soft red rock. A sad sight to see in a place so beautiful. The photo seen above was taken in my favorite of the three. A canyon so narrow that you must squeeze through the crack sideways so keeping an eye on the camera hanging around my body was a bit tricky at times. I remember how claustrophobic I felt the first time slowly pushing my way through some of the more narrow sections and having to contort into strange positions to get underneath debris washed through by a flash flood.

Photos can be tricky inside these crevasses, its best to use a tripod because they can get pretty dark down there! This shot was handheld though as we didn’t bring one down so steady hands are a must but luckily there is always a wall to lean on. I’m happy that the highish ISO used didn’t leave me too much annoying digital grain.

It’s a classic subject for photographers traveling through the west but most seem to gravitate to the now infamous Antelope Canyon in Arizona. The amazing thing about canyon country in the western U.S. is the never ending amount of amazing territory to explore. Heres hoping the new film 127 Hours scares away some people. Keep the secret spots secret. ;) One of my favorite aspects of these areas is the endless land to explore and the ever present risk that keeps you thinking and cautious yet with every new corner your turn or canyon wall you shuffle down your curiosity and adrenaline kick into high gear and you can’t help but want to keep pushing and pushing until you hit a spot you cant get beyond. I guess the lesson to learn here is to always respect nature and the landscape when trespassing among its spoils. We make think we have a total dominance of the world we live in but thats simply not true. Doesn’t matter how much your fancy GPS emergency call unit costs. Something I learned on my time alone in the winter out there years ago.

To download the image above in its full resolution wallpaper glory for desktops, iPads, and iPhones simply CLICK OR RIGHT CLICK HERE do grab the zip containing all three versions. DO NOT re-host these images anywhere else online without my permission. These are for your personal use only! I have had troubles recently with people stripping my images of the tiny tags in the corner and redistributing them with no credit. Its not about hte vanity of it, its about trying to make a living doing what I love and in order for me to continue to do this I need to trust the people of the internet and my readers as much as I can. Thanks so much for your understanding and enjoy!

iPad version direct access.
iPhone version direct access.

Zion

Zion National Park in south west Utah is one of my favorite places on earth. More captivating, accessible, and varied than the Grand Canyon in my eyes and worth anyones time that is traveling through the west. I wrote about this trail once already recently so I will spare too many details this time around. I was just realizing though that I have now seen this beautiful place in the summer, winter, and now the fall all of which hold their own unique set of wonderful things to captivate your senses. Rather than post yet another standard landscape photo of the area I thought this would be a nice image to share. I realize fall is on its way out but personally, I feel that the colors of fall are amazing no matter what time of year it is.

To download the full resolution image in desktop, iPad, and iPhone crops simply CLICK OR RIGHT CLICK HERE to download a zip containing everything in one tidy little package. Please note the terms of use found in that package and understand that the images here are for your personal use only so no commercial use is allowed without asking. If you share the images found on 50ft simply link back to the post where you found them and never re-host the full resolution images. Thanks so much for your understanding and enjoy!

iPad direct access.
iPhone direct access.