For various reasons I haven’t managed to get to any gigs this week so there are no new images on my site.
For the last few week’s I’ve ben using an IPad and am really enjoying it. It’s a great tool for surfing the web and dealing with emails. It’s wonderful to be able to get on line the minute you pick it up rather than having to wait ages for my PC to start up. However I can’t see it replacing the PC for heavy duty stuff like processing images. It is possible to use apps to process images you have got onto your IPad but I think that I’ll be sticking with the ability to use the full versions of Lightroom and Photoshop on a large colour calibrated monitor for some while yet.
Having said that the IPad is wonderful for displaying images once you have processed them. The back lighting on the screen means it’s like seeing slides on a lightbox only with the ability to see them much bigger. The colours can be really punchy and the ability to move from image to image just by stroking the screen is a really nice touch. I can see me using the IPad as a quick easy way of showing portfolios to people. Various content providers have quickly caught on to these features and are using apps as a way to display images. The Guardian’s Eyewitness app is a great example of this. Many commentators are saying that the IPad and tablet devices like it will change the market for magazine publishing. I don’t read many magazines on a regular basis but most of the ones I do are now available as IPad versions. Some only replicate the printed copy and provide a sort of online pdf. Others have begun to work out ways to add different content such as audio and video clips. The British Journal of Photography has provided one version of a magazine of this sort and I’m looking forward to seeing further versions. This week I got a copy of a pilot issue of a new photography magazine, called Photographers i, which is designed specifically for the IPad and isn’t available as a print version. I enjoyed reading it and thought it had some interesting use of video and audio clips. I will keep an eye out for future editions. I suspect there is much more to come in this field of publishing as people work out more and more new ways of combining print with still and moving images and sound. You can find Photographers i in the Apple app store and the pilot edition costs a massive £1.49!
Given the time of year it is it’s time for our thoughts to turn to lists. Many people will be thinking about Xmas present lists. But over the last week or two I’ve gradually been re-listening to albums I’ve bought this year as I start to compile my list of Albums of the year. I’m glad I started earlier than in previous years as I think it’s helped me avoid being influenced overly by the Jazzwise Magazine’s list of Albums of the Year which was published in the latest Jazzwise Magazine towards the end of last week.
I’ve selected a Top 30 albums of the year and a Top 5 gigs of the year. I’ll be disclosing the top 30 albums ten at a time starting next Sunday. It’s not an easy task to do this and whilst I’m certain of my favourite album of the year I don’t recommend reading too much into the differences between say number 3 and number 9. Please take it in the spirit of it being a list of my favourite stuff from the year. I’ve only included albums I bought as CD’s or as downloads. This places budget restrictions on what I get to listen to and so I’m pretty certain there will be stuff out there that might have made it’s way onto my list had I actually purchased it during the year. That’s why I’ll be an eager reader of other people’s lists and why I would welcome comments from readers about albums I haven’t included or comments on ones I have.
If you don’t already know Jazzwise Magazine listed Gregory Porter’s album “Water” as it’s album of the year. I love this album, it’s much played in our house and I still have great memories of the wonderful gig he did for Birmingham Jazz and the Hare and Hounds in October. However you’ll have to wait a while to find out if it’s my Album of the year too.