#i just want some plain black or tubular grey

[scribblesnsketches05]

the struggle of not wanting to feel single but not wanting a relationship in any way

[amunetred]

Black and Blue

A/N: I’m writing my Leorai week in the form of an ongoing short story.  Be sure to read Black & Blue Chapters 1-6 first.

Two souls are sometimes created together and in love before they’re born. 

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter 7

Homecoming

The last time I’d tromped through these woods had been with my Leonardo.  This time it was with the shadow of him, a crazed version that for some reason thought we were two parts of a constellation.  One insane idea backed by another.  He wanted to kill April. And she wanted me to lead him right to her.

The slow burn between my eyes had spread up and across my brow, then began to radiate out with every telepathic word April spoke.  Lure him to the cliff.  We’ll be waiting.  Tell him it’s our rendezvous point.

Okay already. Quiet down, O’Neil.  You’re tearing my head apart… and the whole talking to me while not being here thing, it’s creepy.

What’s creepier is that I’ve been with you since you set out on this mission.

What?

I had to figure out a way to repair the seam, to send back all the spirits that do not belong here… while keeping myself alive by the end of it.  That meant I needed a lock, and I don’t know if you’re going to like it but I think I found one.

Why am I less than thrilled about this?

Because it’s a pretty permanent solution.  Maybe it won’t be so bad, if it works.

I groaned and Dark Leo’s eyes narrowed on me.  “You’re quiet.”

I shrugged.  “I’m meeting my friend in the woods so I can help you kill her and combine mystical energies somehow so we can repair a rip in the universe and return to our celestial home.  You know, I’ve done some crazy shit but this ranks pretty high up.”

He bore some kind of unreadable stern expression that made my stomach turn.  He didn’t move like Leo, or talk like him, yet he was him.  Or he was in there.  My heart knew it more than my pounding head did, because with every step closer to him, to our cliff, an ache began to build inside me.  One way or another, maybe even one universe or another, we would be together.

As we breeched the clearing, April was nowhere to be found. I approached the cliff, a pang in my heart at the remnants of ash from a fire long burned out.  What was I doing?  

It was hard to look over the valley, the rise and dips, a grey world beneath a sunless sky.  Everything was dying.  All that was green was brown.  I closed my eyes, feeling the breeze on my face, the ache in my heart great.  If I could find Dark Leo’s version of me, whatever April’s plan was wouldn’t be warranted.

Yes it would.  And we’re here, you just can’t see us.  Stand in the circle.

What? Who’s here? Why can’t I see you?  And stand in what circle?

You’re exhausting you know that?

My teeth ground together.  I’m getting sick of you in my head, O’Neil.

From the sound of it Dark Leo was stomping around. “Where is she?”

We’re all here, even Michelangelo.  Stand in the center of the fire pit.  

I barely stopped myself from gasping.  My heart picked up pace.  Michelangelo is awake?

He is. He’s okay.

“Where is she? You said she’d be here!” I ignored Dark Leo’s complaints, so relieved to hear good news.  I opened damp eyes, turning my back on the mountains.  April, why can’t I see you?

Well, for better or worse, it’s uh some combination of physics and— oh just let Donnie explain it later.  Get in the circle.  

As I took a step toward the soot, Dark Leo marched toward me, one hand reaching for his weapon. “Where is she?”

Where I should feel fear, should be stricken and terrified of him, of losing my life, of losing this long, endless battle, I wasn’t. He’d revealed too much.  Told me what he believed to be true, whether it was or not, it gave me an iota of power and that was more than enough.  I stepped into the circle as he closed in. “Are you going to kill me, Leonardo?  Is this it? You’ve come all this way, been through so much, to take me down here, now? Why? Because she’s a few minutes late?”

His heels dug into the soil, puffs of dirt wafting around his feet.  His eyes grew wide, his features soft for a second, but he didn’t lower his hand as a breath later he steeled himself, pulling forth his weapon.  “I will. I can, and I will.”  

Catch, Karai!

Catch what? Before I could react my tanto seemed to materialize in thin air.  Oh! This was the work of Donatello for sure. I grabbed my weapon as Dark Leo took his first strike.

He scowled, eyeing my tanto.  “How did you do that?” Our swords clashed as he glared at me over the sharp of his blade.  “Has this place put some power in you?”

Get him in the circle!

His eyes darted over me, searching for some explanation. A slight smile graced the corner of my lips and he snarled, wheeling back to launch forward for another strike. “I will kill you! I will! I will and this hurt will die with you!”

I blocked his strike again, my feet sliding, my heel breeching the edge of the ring.  I thrust my weight forward, digging in, pushing him back too far.

Hurry up, Karai, I can’t hold this field much longer.  We’re all about to be exposed and if he’s not in before that happens, all hell will break loose.

I grunt, struggling to hold my ground.  Hasn’t it already?

The circle, Karai!

I’m working on it! “Oh, come on, Leo! I know you’re in there damnit!”

Dark Leo let out a roar as if willing himself to engage me. I edged back, letting him in close, dropped down, and executed a precise kick to his sword wielding hand.  His palm opened releasing the weapon, which I kicked away.  He ground his teeth together, lunging toward me as he entered the ring.

But as I leapt to my feet, his hands closed around my throat. I looked him in the eye, my heart pounding.  “I love you, Leo.  I know you’re in there and I need you— I need you.  Help me help you.  Please—”

A bolt of lightning branched across the sky, lateral above us rather than reaching down for the earth.  It bore piercing white arms with crooked limbs, bringing with it clouds that rolled in like gathering cattle.  The breeze grew to a strong wind, dirt swirling at our feet as one by one our family appeared.

“I am the dragon of the east.” Donatello’s eyes were closed as he and his brothers sat in lotus, April completing the circle.

“I am the bird of the south.” Michelangelo echoed, his eyes closed as well.

Raphael glared at his lost brother’s face. “I am the tiger of the west.”

“I am the tortoise of the north.” April strained to repeat her words again and again in cadence with the brothers.  “We are the guardians of the elements, of cardinal directions, the keepers of the seasons and of one another.”

Dark Leo’s eyes flashed, darting to April. “YOU!  I’ll destroy you.  You are not me.  You are nothing!”

April’s eyes glowed bright white.  “I will return you to where you belong, to who you are, with the one you love, and I will become something new, the yellow dragon at the center, guardian of earth.”  She reached out, touching Leo’s leg.  “I am the yellow dragon.  You are the tortoise of the north.”  

Karai, tell him you are the snake.

The winds surrounding us grew to hurricane force, trees bending in half, a dark circle opening at the funnel above us.  Oh gods.  My nightmare.  It was happening.  Hair whipped across my face, I felt two hands, one on each of my calves, looked down, Michelangelo and Donatello.  Raphael had Leo by the opposite leg from April.  All were still chanting, and my body began to transform, taking its serpent shape.  “I am the snake, lover of the tortoise, keeper of his soul as he is keeper of mine.”  

My eyes were wet.  If I had to go with this creature, to be with Leo, I would.  I looked to his face, his eyes were closed, the space surrounding him calm as if he’d gone into a trance, but the winds grew ever fierce lifting first April, tearing her grasp from Leo, Donatello released me to grab onto her to stop her flying away, he was sucked up too, Michelangelo grabbing his ankle, and Raph onto his.  There they were being carried into the sky.  Then everything seemed to slow to fractions.  I looked at the swirling heavens, recognizing yin and yang represented in night and day, light and dark.  At its center the black hole and my family coasting right toward it.  

My entire being began to shake, my knees threatening to give. I wasn’t going to lose Leo, I was going to lose everyone.  I reached for Leonardo wrapping my tubular body around him so that he was tight in my embrace our two heads cheek to cheek.  “I’ve got you, Leo.”

Black smoke emerged from his nostrils, floating up. As I exhaled, a long string of white slipped from my lips.  I watched as the two, shapeless spirits wove around one another before forming the tortoise and the snake.  

“And I’ve got you,” Leo whispered, lifting his hand for the sky, summoning our family to return.  “All of you.”  

The two spirits drifted through the black hole and the dark seemed sucked into the tiny space like a vacuum before closing.  Our world was our own again.  Our family collapsed around us, heavy sighs, coughs and groans as they dusted themselves off.

“Is everyone okay?” Leo asked, lifting a hand to touch my face.

“Is it really you, Leo?” Michelangelo scrambled to his feet, throwing his arms around the two of us, as I was still woven around my love. It was him.  If not for his voice and touch alone, I’d know him anywhere.  

Leo let out a tired laugh.  “Yeah, it’s me.”

Raphael tugged Michelangelo away and I reluctantly released Leo, shifting back to my human form.  

Donatello helped April to her feet.  “It worked.” She threw her arms around him.  “It worked!”

The genius turtle grinned like a fool.  “It did!”

“Oh!” She released him, near pushing him over and he fumbled then rubbed the back of his head.  “Oh.  But we have to seal the lock to make it permanent, so the Unnamed can’t do this ever again.”  She reached into her pocket, fishing out two plain silver rings.  “You two ready to get married?”

Leo’s entire body went rigid and I looked at her like she was nuts.  “What?”

April nodded.  “Oh, yeah, see ever since we lost Leo I noticed something off about you too.  But I couldn’t put my finger on it until you had the dream, then you revealed to me your first date with Leo, then he revealed the truth and his plan.  We had more than enough energy to draw power from between the five of us.  The turtle and snake are home, but to keep them there and safe, the two of you must make an eternal promise to one another.”

Leo remained silent, though I could see his Adam’s apple bobbing in my periphery.  

“Why?” I loved Leo and all, but marriage was nowhere on my radar.  I glanced at the rings she held out to us, my heart skipping beats.  Not on my radar at all.

“Because your souls mirror theirs.  Their bond is eternal, protected from their side, but if yours isn’t sealed by some act, something that locks the two of you together, you aren’t safe and therefore neither are they.” April brazenly reached out, shoving one ring in my hand and the other in Leo’s.  “Everyone knows you love each other.  Let’s make it official, because I for one never want to be used by a sentient being ever again.  Twice in on lifetime is twice too many.”

I swallowed hard as I squeezed the cool metal against my palm, exhaling a shaky breath.  This wasn’t who I am, was it?  A wife?  Was it? A lump rose to my throat, moist heat burning my eyes.  Would he want this?

It was hard to look at the former shadow of Leonardo. I thought I was starving and desperate to look upon his true face, into the heart beneath his endless blue eyes.  But to look in them with this demand thrust upon us…. My hands began to shake.  Yet as I lifted my gaze he was smiling.  

“So, you saved me for once, huh?” He grinned, a boyish grin I hadn’t seen in so long it sent a pang through me.  Suddenly it was all I could do not to wrap my arms around him and weep.  Our journey had been long, so very long, and I was tired.  

His face became blurry as my eyes grew wet.  I found it difficult to speak for the tightness, the growing pressure inside me.  “Yeah, I think we kind of saved each other.  It’s what we do.”

His eyes held me, a tumult of emotion rolling through them like an endless rising tide, uncertainty, confidence, relief, hope, love. “So you, uh—” He held up his hand opening his palm, then closed it and looked to our family.  “Can you guys give us a minute?”

Our grumbling bunch warned a time limit of no more than two minutes before a pissed off sentient might rip apart the universe again.

Leo reached for my hand, dropping the ring in my palm. “I’m not going to lie. I have thought about this.  A hundred different ways but none of them like this.  I thought I’d do something corny like—” He dropped down on one knee and my face rushed hot.  “Like this. I thought the stars would be out—”

Both our gazes lifted to the sky as it slowly faded from bright blue to black, one by one the stars shining bright.  Perhaps the black tortoise of the North had something to do with that, it did shine brightest. Huh, I could find it so easily now.

He stroked the back of my hand with his thumb.  “I imagined a lot of things, but I don’t know if I ever thought they’d be real.  But here we are.”  A flicker of doubt, no—worry, furrowed his bare brow.  “Will you marry me, Karai?”

My head was bobbing, as I dropped to my knees the words bursting from my lips.  “Yes, you stupid, annoying, adorable, loyal, dork of an honorable turtle. Yes. I just never want to see that kind of darkness in you again.”  I swiped at my eyes, opening both my hands to reveal the two rings, one large and one small.  I held his out to him, placing it on his finger.  “I will keep close for always, Leo.  Nothing will ever come between us, not even the stars.”

His hands were shaking as he placed the smaller ring on my finger.  “I love you, Karai.  Thank you for coming for me.  But understand, it isn’t the stars that kept us apart it was them that created us in the first place.”

∞

It was two years ago when our surprise marriage was thrust upon us.  Thankfully, it’s been two very quiet, peaceful years.  The only upheaval that has occurred to the Hamato clan in that time has been Raph’s continued grousing, Michelangelo’s antics, Donatello’s creations, and April’s learning not to use her telepathy to eavesdrop. Of course there was the one enormous development that occurred between me and Leo.  

I leaned against him, inhaling a mix of cedar smoke and sandalwood, peering up at the constellation that started it all.  He hummed into my hair, watching the flames dance about the fire.  It bothered him sometimes, the things he had done, because he remembered them, and he recalled Dark Leo’s life before we knew him as well.  I exhaled a happy sigh, a sentiment he echoed.  I glanced up at him and him down to me then we both looked toward the tent.

“Think she’s still sleeping?” he whispered.

I chuckled. “I think you don’t want her to be.  We wore her out with the hiking to get here.”

“What hiking did she do?  I carried her most of the way.” He grinned a somewhat dopey smile. He’d loved every minute of our family adventure.  

Moving as if we were one, we inched toward the enclosure, peeling back the flap to reveal the sleeping toddler, red-cheeked, almond-eyed, with thick black hair clinging to her face.  Her hand curled into a fist and when she stretched out I caught glimpse of the terrapin-snake shaped birth mark on the underside of her wrist.  We both held our breath, hoping she didn’t wake. That would surely involve crying, and hours to get her back to sleep.  Kameko was beautiful.  Even when she shifted, her semi-formed carapace, her little terrapin body was perfect. It had terrified me at first, her skin in her mutant-hybrid form, a glowing iridescent white instead of green. When the sun hit her carapace it reflected pearly rainbows. And she smelled so good, of baby wash, sandalwood, and jasmine.  My heart swelled.  I thought I’d never be a wife, let alone a mother.  For a while I didn’t think I’d even have Leo, or maybe any sort of life at all.  

Using every ninja skill in our bag of tricks we crept into the tent, Leo on one side of her, me on the other.  We exhaled in unison, our gazes lifting at the same time. Moments like this it was hard to believe there had ever been any darkness at all, that it wasn’t merely a nightmare I’d dreamt up.  As we drifted closer above our sleeping daughter, Leo’s rich scent mixed with undertones of baby and my heart fluttered.  Our lips met in the sweetest graze, mouths parting, tongues seeking, hearts reaching, always reaching… I was a wife, with my soul mate for a husband, and our daughter a gift from the stars… It had all been worth it.

[anfuturebusiness-blog]

How to choose your home theater projection screen.

Norman

Which type, size and format is best for you?

We have talked a lot about projectors, but not much about projector screens.

However, this doesn't mean we don't find screens interesting, or consider them less important to the Home theater experience.

Far from it. One practical reason that we don't like to talk about projector screens is: to install and handle such large and cumbersome items can be a nightmare. The other reason is that the screen market is diverse, and associated closely with specific needs and room conditions of each user, so that reviewing individual screens would seem too specific to be worthwhile.

The fact is, though, that if you get the wrong screen, your projector won��t show its advantages, no matter how expensive it might have been.

Which type should I choose?

Start off by looking at the different types of mounting options available. Here are two main approaches: Fixed frame projector screen, which is placed in a rigid frame and attached permanently to the wall, or “roll-away”, which can be rolled up when not in use.

Within the latter category there are also various sub-options we'll consider in a moment. For people lucky enough to have dedicated Home theater rooms, the fixed frame screen will often be the simplest, since the screen doesn't need to be hidden when not in use. What’s more, permanent screens stay more tautly stretched and thus produce more accurate pictures.

Roll-away screens are obviously a great solution for people trying to set up a Home theater in a room that is also used for other activities, such as a living room. Of these screens, the most basic one is called simple screen, which is attached to a roller, ceiling mount or wall mount. The user has to manually pull the screen down when needed.

Also very popular is the motorized projector screen, such as XYSCREEN EC2. It has been equipped with tubular motor, which drives the screen down with a remote controller. Some projectors carry 12V trigger outputs and IR/RF remote control, in fact, so that they can activate motorized projector screens automatically when the projector is switched on.

If a slim roll-away screen housed on your ceiling even makes you feel intrusive, a further portable option is the floor rising projection panel. These come fixed inside carry cases that you stand on the floor, so that the screen pulls out of the top and is held upright by a collapsible support frame.

Sometimes we find the floor rising projector screen may not always stand completely upright or even flat. But there a practical benefit because you can put them in a cupboard when you're not using them. You may take it to anywhere you like.

Rigidity and perfect flatness, which are so crucial to a good picture, are often one of the main reasons some projector screens cost vastly more than others, especially in the roll-away department.

Projection screen formats

Another key decision is which shape and size you should go for. In terms of the fromat, there are three main options: 4:3, 16:9, and 21:9. For Home theater enthusiasts, the old “square” 4:3 screen is almost certainly a nonstarter these days. Which leaves us with 16:9 or 21:9.

If you intend to watch a lot of HD, you will probably be best off with a 16:9 screen that perfectly matches the ratio of HDTV material. If you're a die-hard movie fan, though, you might consider a 21:9/2.35:1 CinemaScope screen. After all, nowadays most big films are shot in 2.35:1, so the majority of Blu-rays are produced with that format.

However, the situation isn't totally cut and dried. Blu-rays don't currently hold “true” 21:9 masters (instead adding black bars within the picture), and projectors don't have true 21:9 pixel ratios. So if you want a full 21:9 experience, you need a projector with a CinemaScope lens attachment – something which can add considerable cost to your projector setup.

If you really want the ultimate CinemaScope clarity, you could consider a curved screen like XYSCREEN CHK80C (below). These give a more immersive effect, focus light at your viewing position and compensate for the lens distortion you get with anamorphic lenses.

Then we shall mention screen material. We can say that selecting screen fabric is the most bewildering yet, potentially, crucial.

The first decision you need to make is quite simple: do you want to mount any speakers behind the screen? If so, you'll need an acoustically transparent, perforated fabric that enables sound to pass through without becoming muffled or blocked. But such fabric may cause problems like reduced brightness and back wall light reflections, as light passes through the acoustic holes.

No pain, no gain

After this basic decision, though, life gets more complicated. For a start, you have to get grips with the concept of gain. Some screens are high Gain, while others are low, with all sorts of ratings in between, and each gain value has its place.

Many white Home Theater screens tend to be low Gain(1.0-1.3). These Gain figures describe the ratio of reflected light of a screen, comparing to the amount of light reflected by an untreated magnesium oxide board. Therefore, a 1.3 gain screen will reflect around 30% more light than our lovely magnesium oxide white board.

The growing interest in black-level boosting screens that use a grey material rather than white is resulting in gain figures below 1.0 appearing, too. The question of whether you should get a high or low-gain screen, again boils down to matters of taste and, more importantly, room setup.

For instance, high-gain screens have reduced viewing angles versus low-gain ones, which could be an issue if viewers will have to sit to the side of the screen. High-gain screens can suffer from hot spots too, which means the centre of the image looks brighter than the rest. And finally, high-gain projection panels can damage colour balance, since they don't reflect red, green and blue equally from all viewing angles.

But before you discount them, if there's often a degree of ambient light in your movie room, the high-gain variety could be essential. In fact, a few have been developed now with extreme gain properties, specifically to try and emulate (for a fraction of the cost) the performance of a massive (80in plus) plasma screen in a normal living room environment.

A particularly outstanding example of this is XTSCREEN Black Crystal (Black Diamond).

Dark rooms might be better with standard-gain screens, though, and possibly even a grey sub-1.0 gain screen. Grey screens were extremely worthwhile a few years ago before projectors started to produce impressive contrasts, but they arguably still have a place even if you've got a good high-contrast projector.

If your viewing room is either decorated in light coloured finishes or else light furnishings, the grey screens could stop light bouncing around a room. That would be useful.

One final consideration is the quality of the screen before buying it. We've heard various cynics suggest that expensive screen materials don't really make a difference. But this is just plain wrong. We've seen that some screens can really produce sharper, more detailed images with HD than others.

Also, some screens can cause a slight Moire effect while others don't. Some screens, as previously discussed, are brighter and more reflective than others, and some are better at reproducing a convincing black colour. Some diffuse light right around your room for wide viewing angles, while others focus it right back at you. Some reproduce colours completely neutrally (and thus accurately), others can introduce an underlying tinge of their own or favour certain tones over others, leading to an unbalanced colour palette.

Now, we’re even starting to see screens appearing that claim to be better for 3D than others. This might seem exaggerated at first glance, but actually stereoscopic pictures need utter clarity for high levels of detail and really accurate colour toning to become convincing, so we can understand some screens working better with the technology than others.

[archivexhunting-hardy-brothers]

Across the Sands of Time Pt. 2

Part Two of this story, inspired by this song

Dedicated to @minxchester @my-malleable-muse @pansexualmoose

(*)

I call her name  Across an endless plain She'll answer me Where ever she may be

The second time he saw her, it was 1987.

New York was huge, one of the biggest cities in the United States, but Frank visited it so often that he practically knew this place like the back of his hand. So when he and Joe went to investigate the pickpocketing ring in the subways, it was like just another case, except this time, Frank and Joe got separated because Joe couldn’t keep his impulsive nature from taking over. His brother had jumped onto a subway train and vanished before Frank could even realize what was happening.

Wandering the streets, he grumbled to himself, checking his watch with irritation. Why did Joe have to run after one of the thieves like that? One of these days he was gonna get himself killed.

He soon made his way to a bus stop, waiting by the bench with a few others until the bus arrived, thinking that, at best, he could at least go back to the hotel he and Joe were staying in and waiting to see if Joe could get to a phone to call him. Stepping onto the bus after an elderly woman, he paid his eighty five cents and went to take a seat near the back to keep an eye on everything. Consider it paranoia, but he didn’t like having his back to people if he was alone.

It took three stops until he felt it; a familiar tingling sensation at the back of his neck. Grey eyes darted towards the window, watching the endless crowds on the sidewalk, before they were drawn to...her.

She looked like she was on top of the casual attire fashion of times, with her dark hair extra big and curly. The white shirt she was on hugged her torso, and the blue skirt looked almost like those high waisted jeans, with straps over her shoulders connected to the skirt as if to keep it on, though he knew enough of the clothing choice that it was the aesthetic. She even had bright blue knee high socks with her doc marten shoes, and she looked up then as he stared at her. The bright sunlight finally let him see her eyes, such a dark shade of brown that they were almost black, shining thanks to the dark eyeshadow.

He watched as their eyes locked, and she recognized him, judging by the little smile that stretched her lips, but she didn’t stop walking. She just kept going, walking with the crowd, and if Frank didn’t get off this bus then he was going to lose sight of her.

He yanked the string, calling for a stop, and the bus pulled over at the nearest bus stop to let him out. Silently cursing to himself, Frank hurried off the bus and headed down the sidewalk in the direction the girl had taken. It took about five minutes before he caught sight of her again, heading into an alley, and he quickly rushed after her, finding her leaning against the wall raising a cigarette to her mouth. She glanced at him, almost unsurprised, and they stared at each other for a long moment.

Finally, the girl held out her pack. “Want one?”

Frank blinked at her, but he did end up accepting a cigarette, letting her take out a lighter to hold the flame against the end of it, before she lit up her own cigarette, taking a drag. “Didn’t think you’d smoke.”

“It’s the eighties,” she replied, blowing some of the smoke out of the corner of her mouth. “What was popular in the fifties is getting popular again now.” She smirked then. “Like the hair. Totally bitchin’.”

He flushed, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious about the longer hairstyle that was popular for guys these days. “I’m thinking of cutting it short again. It’s getting kind of annoying, constantly pushing it out of my face.”

“Yeah,” the girl agreed. “Short hair fits your face structure better.”

“I guess.” He tilted his head, taking a small drag of the cigarette then as he observed her, mentally imprinting her face into his brain. “I’ve seen you before.”

“I bet,” she said.

“No, I mean...in a different time period?”

“Radical.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know.”

They stared each other down before she spoke again. “So I’ve read about you in the newspaper. Some kind of amateur detective. Pretty tubular of you.”

“Just makin’ sure my brother doesn’t kill himself by accident,” Frank replied. Which reminded him why he had been on his way to the hotel in the first place and he sighed. “I don’t even know where he is right now.”

“He’ll turn up, I’ll bet.” She finished her cigarette then, dropping it onto the asphalt and grinding it out with her heel. “Well this was fun, but I gotta motor. Promised a friend I’d go to this party to tell her ex to eat her shorts or something. I dunno. I’m going for a drink.”

“Wait!” Frank reached out to touch her before thinking better of it, pulling his hand back. “Will...I ever see you again?”

“Probably not any time soon.” She smiled, almost sympathetically. “But how’s this? If we run into each other again, crave a boon.”

He hesitated before he nodded. “Okay.”

The girl gave him a salute, winking. “Catch ya on the flip side, Boy Detective.” Before Frank could do or say anything else, she was gone, disappearing into the crowd like she hadn’t been there before, the cigarette butt the only evidence of her existence. 

(*)

When Frank managed to catch up to Joe again, he had pushed the girl out of his mind long enough to really get upset with his brother’s lackadaisical attitude about his own life, giving him a fierce lecture when they met up again. Joe just grumbled like every other little brother would -- “Geez, what’s your damage Frank? At least I tried going after the dude” -- but he did accept Frank’s overprotective hovering for a few minutes before they returned to the hotel. A good night’s rest would help them clear their minds.

Still, even as Joe was passed out on his bed and snoring away, Frank found himself staring out the window, over the city lights and the bustling of the streets, thinking of that girl again, wondering where she was.

He didn’t even get a chance to ask her for her name.

[vlrrzm]

I’ve been a cyclist for around 6 years now, and really enjoy it in my spare time. I’ve recently become a bit more serious and joined a cycling club, though I’ve been neglecting it recently due to work and going home for christmas! Anyway, around august I purchased a new bike. A tubular steel framed racing bike. I’ve been envious of everyones bike around Norwich since I moved here, at home everyone seemed to ride mountain bikes or bmx’s, so I’d never really seen one before, as even on Tour De France they’re using modern titanium frames that have a completely different style of frame to the old ones.

So, I decided I wanted to photograph bikes. I made small cards with my name, and a link to my Instagram account, a contact telephone number and a simple question: “can I photograph your bike?”. I attached them to bicycles around the city that took my fancy and waited for a response. Out of 12 tags I managed to hand out, I got 7 responses, so not bad! I arranged a date and time and then met them. I brought my own bike too so we could compare and have a ride of each others. I then began to shoot. I had them ride the bikes rather than lean them against a wall as these bikes are so beautiful they just have to be ridden! I wanted to make them seem alive, and fun. I shot on a 50mm 1.4 lens at around f/2, sometime a little higher, to really pick out the bike and blur out the background. I chose to shoot on cobbled and tiled walkways as they are very ‘Norwich’ and it just felt a bit more fun than a plain black road. It was also safer for messing about on! The photos are clean and sharp, with the focus very much on the bike. Using a wider aperture allowed me to focus on the bike itself, the only trouble was the bike frames are so slim it was hard to get the auto focus to find the correct target. 

I’m going to also hold my hands up here and admit that I shot most of my photos this term on Aperture Priority mode. However I think that’s much better choice than shutter priority for the type of photography I was doing, and it isn’t a fully automatic mode. Had I shot with Shutter priority I would not have had control over the depth of field which is a main feature of my photographs. 

Aperture priority mode allowed me to not have to fiddle with my settings constantly, and meant I could shoot when necessary and the camera be ready. As I was using a wide aperture and was shooting in daylight, it meant the shutter speed would be fast enough to catch movement anyway. If I were shooting in duller conditions the shutter may have struggled and been too slow to freeze movement. As that wasn’t an issue on any of the different shoots I could let the camera pick the shutter speed and avoid missing a shot. 

With the composition, I wanted to fill the frame and get in tight on some aspects of the bikes. I also like breaking up the circles of the bicycle wheels. Everyone knows what a wheel looks like, the curve is easy to imagine. By cutting part of the circle of the wheel out I can get closer to the bike frame as that is really the star of the image. The wheel continues out of the frame but it’s easy for the viewer to imagine it as a circle is a simple shape. By cutting out part of the wheel it can also suggest movement, and the bike is on its way in or out of the frame. Not every wheel is cut off though, and the side on front wheel with the red tyre makes a pleasing strong circle to contrast the grey background. So sometimes the circle is a good shape to keep in as it is so simplistic and recognisable. in this photo the wide shallow depth of field, the sharp focus and the strong outline of the tyre really makes the bike pop and gives the image depth. 

The photographs I made were aimed for instagram where they received lots of positive feedback. I decided this because I knew I was going to get several shots, and it would allow me to slip them out one at a time and keep my feed going with cohesive work. This is important if you want to gain and keep followers. 

I’m going to increase my presence on instagram and really push it to make contacts and use it as a portfolio. I have currently only got the one instragram account. I did have two at one point, but it just felt fake. By combining the personal account with my photography work my audience can see more of what I’m about and hopefully that will help endear them to me and my style. I will look at getting a professional looking website later on, but I’m in no rush as I want it to be right. 

Out of the Dabatag shoot, the shoot with Laura Such and shooting the bikes for myself, I definitely enjoyed all of the bike shoots a lot more. I might try and focus more on bikes next term, and see what I can come up with. Cycling shops seem to be on the rise and vintage/retro has always been cool. With an increase in people leaning towards being greener and leaner, cycling is a good combo of both. As it increases, the fashion conscious amongst us might prefer these old steel frames to the gaudy oversize new ones. Bikes as a fashion accessory is not a new concept, but bikes aren’t as commonly prized as say, a classic car. But with the endless combinations of colours, handlebars, gears, seats and other interchangeable factors, bikes can be suited to everyone.