The Art of Food Photography!!!!

In this age of social transparency, chances are that 5 out of 10 profiles that you will stumble upon, on a networking site, will describe the person as a foodie. And more often than not, half of those foodies will claim to be amateur photographers as well.

Such probabilities shouldn’t be too baffling, considering ‘Food’ is something more than just for survival for Indians; while photography is appealing for its freedom to portray the world through a personal perspective.

Once you club the two together, Food photography is born.

Food photography is a still life specialization of commercial photography, aimed at producing attractive photographs of food for use in advertisements, packaging, menus or cookbooks. Professional food photography is a collaborative effort, usually involving an art director, a photographer, a food stylist, a prop stylist and their assistants.

Most recently, the prevailing trend in commercial food photography is to present the food as simple, clean and naturally as possible and with little props, often using effects such as selective focus, tilted plates, and extreme close-ups.

The actual photography takes place in a studio under controlled lighting conditions. The light, background and setting is carefully prepared so as to present the food in an as attractive way as possible without distracting from it. The color and texture of the background is selected so as to effectively complement that of the food and to assist with its lighting.

Watch the Youtube video for a behind the scenes look at a food photographer and his team as they create sumptuous images out of fresh ingredients that seem to jump off the page.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HMAHlqm4GU

Further reading: Food Photography Blog – This is a place where you can go to learn more about food photography. http://www.foodportfolio.com/blog/food_photography/food_photgraphy.html

Source: http: //www.youthkiawaaz.com & http://en.wikipedia.org

History of Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day.

The Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, is a music festival taking place on June 21.

The World Music Day began in France in 1982, it is today celebrated across the world. What is special about the World Music Day is that the concerts are all free and musicians both amateur and professional share their passion with audiences.

The idea was first broached in 1976 by American musician Joel Cohen, then employed by the national French radio station France Musique. Cohen proposed an all-night music celebration at the moment of the summer solstice. The idea was taken up by French Music and Dance director Maurice Fleuret for Minister of Culture Jack Lang in 1981 and first took place in 1982.

Its purpose is to promote music in two ways:

•             Amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets. The slogan Faites de la musique (Make music), a homophone of Fête de la Musique, is used to promote this goal.

•             Many free concerts are organized, making all genres of music accessible to the public. Two of the caveats to being sanctioned by the official Fête de la Musique organization in Paris are that all concerts must be free to the public, and all performers donate their time for free.

Despite there being a large tolerance about the performance of music by the general public of amateurs in public areas after usual hours, the noise restrictions still apply, and can cause some establishments to be forbidden to open and broadcast music out of their doors without prior authorization. So the prefectures of police in France can still forbid them to install any audio hardware in the street.

The Fête de la Musique has since spread to many countries including India.  And in Bangalore the World Music Day 2011 is being celebrated @ Alliance Francaise,  Vasanthnagar.

Pls check the link below for more details abt the event @ Alliance Francaise, Bangalore:

http://www.buzzintown.com/bangalore/event--world-music-day-alliance-francaise/id--391729.html

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Music_Day

Photo courtesy :  www.downtownmoncton.nb.ca

"Through Kurt, I saw the beauty of minimalism and the importance of music that's stripped down" ie Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters 4U......

Foo Fighters the American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II, which were known collectively as foo fighters.

Prior to the release of the Foo Fighters' 1995 debut album Foo Fighters, which featured Grohl as the only official member, Grohl drafted bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith, both formerly of Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as fellow Nirvana touring bandmate Pat Smear as guitarist to complete the lineup. The band began with performances in Portland, Oregon before gaining popularity. Goldsmith quit during the recording of the group's second album, The Colour and the Shape (1997) when most of the drum parts were re-recorded by Grohl himself. Smear's departure followed soon afterward. They were replaced by Taylor Hawkins and Franz Stahl, respectively, although Stahl was fired before the recording of the group's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999).

The band briefly continued as a trio until Chris Shiflett joined as the band's third guitarist after the completion of There Is Nothing Left to Lose. The band released its fourth album, One by One, in 2002. The group followed that release with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and heavier material. Foo Fighters released its sixth album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, in 2007. In 2010, it was confirmed that Smear had officially rejoined the band after touring with the Foo Fighters as an unofficial member between 2006 and 2009.

Over the course of the band's career, three of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album, and all six albums have been nominated. The band's seventh studio album, Wasting Light, was released in 2011 & has sold 235,000 in its first week of release and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, becoming the band's first number-one album in the United States.  

Take a listen to one of their songs “Best of You” ( click on the link below ) & post in ur feedback & comments!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_L4Rixya64&NR=1

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Fighters ,  Youtube.

Photo courtesy : www.entertainmentwallpaper.com

Long Live The Legends of Music from South India!!!!

Still young in his voice, SPB celebrates his birthday on June 4^th & Ilyaraaja on June 2nd. It is more than coincidence, and appropriate that SPB and Ilayaraja celebrate their birthdays within a gap of a couple of days. For the duo changed the face of South Indian film music like never before. The combination has verily created magic for listener’s world over, and no amount of words can do justice to the duo’s impact. A generation of listeners has been shaped up by them. More pertinently, a generation of singers and musicians has been impacted by them. This is a testimony to their undoubted talent, style, professionalism and beyond all their simplicity.

Balasubrahmanyam's association with Ilaiyaraaja began in the late 1970s when the latter made his cinematic debut. Balasubrahmanyam began to record more songs in Tamil especially for Ilaiyaraaja. The Ilaiyaraaja-SPB-S. Janaki trio was considered to be highly successful in the Tamil film industry from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The trio went on to work in films based on classical music like Saagara Sangamam (1983), for which both Ilaiayaraaja and SPB won National Film Awards, Swathi Muthyam (1986) and Rudraveena (1988).

Both SPB and Ilayaraja share another common feature — they are not formally trained in music. This makes their achievements even more remarkable.

Long Live The Legends!!!!!!

Pls click the link below to take a listen to one of their compositions & post in u r feedback & comments!!!!

Video Courtesy : Youtube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5EAlr_W2yg

Picture Courtesy: Ilayarajainfo.blogspot.com