Framing The Planet

John Lander – The Photographer behind Asia Images

Chris — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 13:45:52 +0000

John Lander Asia Images

One of the best photographers I have come across is John Lander. He is the photographer behind Asia Images and is based in Japan with a passion for Japanese gardens, onsen, cuisine and festivals. Credits include photos and articles published by Travel+Leisure, TIME Magaine and Forbes among others. Client list: McGraw-Hill, Hachette Media, Apple Computers, Twentieth-Century Fox.

He has a massive selection of images from all of the South East Asia region and it is a pleasure to wonder through his collection and be taken on a journey around the Orient.

He also has a very detailed and well visited blog at asiaimages.blogspot.com which is well worth a good read. Follow this link to be taken to Asia Images and below you will find just a few examples of his work.

Devotional Music, Bhaktapur

Durbar Square at Sunrise, Bhaktapur

Yubatake Kusatsu

Click here to visit Asia Images.

Learning to Fly – First Landing & Preparation for Circuits

Chris — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:01:09 +0000

Well It’s been a few weeks now since I started on the this long but exciting journey to become a pilot. I have had nine lessons and a total of seven hours flying the Cessna 152 as a student pilot, all of the work so far has been to prepare me for completing circuits and my first solo flight. Over the past nine lessons I have progressed through the early stages of the training modules from effects of control to stalling and recovering the aircraft.

Put simply effects of control is looking at what happens when you move the controls and how to use them in co-ordination with each other. This has been very enjoyable but also a huge leap in my skills base, it may sound straight forward but when ever you move one control surface this will have an effect on the others and so to achieve straight and level flight or a steady turn you have to balance each of the controls and trim the the aircraft. Once this has become something which you are comfortable with and you are able to fly the aircraft around reaming on heading and in the correct attitude and heading you can move onto stalling.

A stall is when the angle of attack (the angle at which the wing meets the airflow) is so steep that the air flowing over the wing becomes so turbulent that you no longer have a negative pressure above the wing and it stops flying. This is something best avoided but in order to recognise when you are in or approaching a stall and how to get out of it you have to induce a stall to experience it. This means you deliberately cause the plane to stop flying, something that may sound very scary but although it’s not a situation to be taken lightly as long as you have a good instructor and know what you are doing is not as bad as it sounds.

I have found the co-ordination needed to recover quickly something hard to master and have had a few instance where my instructor has looked a little worried when I glance right, never good! Performing a more risky and slightly dramatic manoeuvre is always a good way to keep your instructor awake, but we have had a few practices and I certainly feel like I’m getting there.

The First Landing…

The main reason this is so important is you are most likely to experience this when you come into land as this is when you have the plane moving slowly and are making tight turns, the perfect condition for a stall. As you will be close to the ground you wont have much time to deal with it and recover from the situation without crashing. With that in mind I had my first experience of helping to control the landing, quite an event and something I will probably remember for the rest of my life.

We had been out flying around the local area practising the stall and homing my skills controlling the aircraft in normal flight when it was time to return to the airfield. As per normal my instructor asked me to fly the aircraft in to join the circuit (the approach pattern used around an airfield, usually at 1000ft and in a rectangular patter to one side of the airfield). Once we had joined the first part of the circuit my instructor normally took control but he simply asked me to change height and heading to continue around the circuit towards the landing end of the runway. Starting to wonder what was going on I carried out my instructions thinking surly he’ll take control in a minute, wont he?

Then we made a turn onto the base leg (bottom end of the rectangle across the approach end of the airfield) and descended to 500ft. I kept thinking surely now he’ll grab the controls and take us onto final but he than asked me to make the final left hand turn to line up with the runway and continue descending. At this point I realised I was to have a larger roll than normal in landing the plane. Thankfully he wasn’t going to ask me to do it all myself but he controlled the throttle and I’m pretty sure I felt him move the rudder and I controlled the ailerons.

His instructions were perfect, he explained that I just needed to pick the point where the numbers were at the end of the runway and keep the nose pointed there. With that being my only task it’s fair to say my instructor did most of the work and it couldn’t be classed as a landing I performed but it was definitely enough for my first time. When we were nearly at the run way I was instructed to raise the nose quickly and fly along the run so I pulled back on the controls, raised the nose and we sank out of the and touched straight down on the runway. Once the plane had slowed to a halt I took a sigh of relief we had made it without incident but turned to my instructor and apologised for not flying across the runway as instructed. At that point he smiled and said I knew you wouldn’t, no one does at this stage it was just to get you to pull the nose up so we didn’t crash nose first into the runway, you did fine.

To find out how you can learn to fly at Sleap click here to be taken to the Shropshire Aero Club website!

New Funky tunes from Some DJ

Chris — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:40:48 +0000

I’ve just discovered a new dj called Some DJ, he has a fantastic collection of funky tunes and remixes on sound cloud. Here’s what some DJ has to say about his music:

“Background was djing Drum & Bass, then Electro / Breaks and now a mixture of everything. Used to dj under the name Deckstrous – thanks to Pacha London for spelling it as Desktrous one night!! Unsuprisingly my dj name changed shortly after the mispell….”

Updated regularly with Funky / Party Breaks & NuFunk tunes it’s defo worth checking out his soundcloud page at soundcloud.com/somedj right now!

Here’s Some DJs two latest tracks available on Soundcloud:

Funky Boogie – John Ozila – some dj remix

Funky Boogie – John Ozila – some dj remix by some dj

It Takes Two – Rob Bass – some dj remix MASTER 6

It Takes Two – Rob Bass – some dj remix MASTER 6 by some dj

Click here to checkout more tunes and mixes from Some DJ on Soundcloud now!

Some Storming Photography Sites

Chris — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 12:02:16 +0000

There are so many great photography sites out there that it’s hard to pick just a few but here’s a couple that have recently caught my eye. The first is one of the best stock site for images from Estonia, the photographer is Jaak Nilson who has spent all his working life photographing the stunning landscape and people of this Northern European country. He is a fellow member of Circle Stock Images and is constantly updating his site with new travel images of everything from festivals to the changing landscape.

Click here to visit www.jaaknilson.ee

The second is one of the bests sites for photo art on the web. Wenatta Badkowski is a photographer based in the USA and here ability to turn regular images into photo art is simply astounding. This is a great collection of images that I know you will find inspiring and very enjoyable to browse through. Here recent work includings some amazing close up shots of plant life and ind small insects who’s detail will open a window up on a new world. My favourite image however captures one of those moments in life which few of us would photograph but has been brought to life through this photograph.

Click here to visit http://www.singularscenes.com/

The third and final site for today has a massive collection of images from all over the world from travel stock photographer Olaf Protze. He has spent many hears travelling from his home in Germany with his camera. This has given rise to a large collection of images from all over the world including England, Germany, Italy, the Seychelles Islands, Egypt, South Africa and dozens of other countries. All of his images are of the highest standard and this site is a great place to use to travel the world from your home.

Click here to visit www.travelbild.com.

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Learning to Fly – First Take-off!

Chris — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 10:48:15 +0000

It’s been a crazy few weeks with my flying lessons, I feel like I’ve come a long way but still have a huge amount to learn. In the first few lessons I was instructed to control the take off, slightly daunted I agreed and listened carefully to my instructions. The first couple of times my instructor controlled the steering down the runway with the rudder pedals and I just controlled the throttle and stick.

Thankfully we reached our take off speed of 60 knots so I pulled back and we moved effortlessly into the air. Gaining a little confidence I found the manoeuvre comfortable and straight forward to perform. Then on the next lesson things got a little harder and I had to control steering the wheels with the rudder pedals as well as everything else. This is a little harder than it might sound, you may think if you can drive a car this should be easy but trust me it takes time to get used to steering the plane on the ground.

When you steer with your feet you simply press the left pedal to go left and the right to go right but you have to consider the steering isn’t very accurate and the faster you go the less you need to press the pedals to get the same effect. This is because as you move forward faster small amounts of steering will have a much quicker and large effect on the direction of the plane. So as you start off taxiing and at the start of the runway larger pedal movements are required to correct steering errors and keep the plane straight but as you accelerate towards take off speed progressively smaller movements are required.

Needless to say the first time I steered on take off was a little hair raising, I started to drift to the left and for some reason failed to steer back to the right. This meant we started heading off the runway and my instructor (thankfully!) took control and saved the take off. This was all very dramatic with the aircraft being pulled sharply back to the right and a very quick leap into the air before we ran out of runway. I was slightly mortified by my efforts but my instructor took it all in his stride just reminding me I’m learning and laughing about with me to put it at ease.

Since then I have controlled all of the take offs and now it has become a more straight forward manoeuvre, I am able to keep the plane moving straight along the centre line of the runway without incident. It still needs plenty of concentration and a little polishing but it’s a great feeling to think I am capable of getting a plane into the air.

To find out how you can learn to fly at Sleap click here to be taken to the Shropshire Aero Club website!

New Mix from Speedo – Sometimes we like to rinse it out proper

Chris — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:57:32 +0000

Speedo has been busy releasing a new mix now available to listen to and download for free on soundcloud. Here’s what speedo had to say:

“I have a new mix for everyone, iv managed to cram 30 tunes into 50 mins. please plug it in to some bass, and let me know what you think of it. its a BIT FULL ON, the ideal soundtrack to something that requires a bit of GRRRR!!! http://soundcloud.com/speedo/speedo-presents-30-drops-in-50-mins-bangers-com (just press the little download button and its yours for FREE for EVER! x”

Sometimes we like to rinse it out proper, Speedo presents 30 drops in 50 mins! by Speedo

Track Listing:

1 renegade – terrorist
2 marky & spy – soul patrol
3 danny byrd – shock out
4 danny breaks – volume 1 (logistics remix)
5 marky & spy – testimony
6 netsky – iron heart
7 high contrast – kiss kiss bang
8 r cola – jungle rock
9 alix perez – promised land
10 marky – 51st floor
12 die & clipz – number one
13 zinc – wile out (marky mix)
14 serum – BADMAN
15 wickaman – kermit
16 dc breaks- you and i
17 dc breaks- halo
18 logistics – flashback
19 benny page – dubplate
20 zero t – zig zag
21 break – killin time
22 the funktion -unleashed
23 chase and status – takeme away
24 ulterior motive -2098
25 alix perez & noisia – loose ends
26 spor – halogen
27 noisia – my world
28 spor – kingdom
29 dirtyphonics – lottery
30 zinc – creeper intstumental

Learning to Fly!

Chris — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:34:53 +0000

I have recently decided to stop talking about it and finally realise my ambition of becoming a pilot! I am now all signed up and have began the first step of getting my Private Pilots License or PPL from my local airfield at Sleap run by Shropshire Aero Club.

The main concern I had was could I possibly be capable of flying a plane? Is it really just learning to drive but in 3D? I was very nervous before my first flight not least because I had never been in such a small aircraft. I have flown all over the world from local flights all round the EU to as far afield as Australia and Hong Kong (whenever I’ve had the funds!) but this is always in your giant Boeing 777 and Airbus A380′s with the smallest aircraft I’d ever been in was a Boeing 737. I always found the 737′s a little unnerving due to what I considered their ‘small’ size but this flight would be in a two seater Cessna 152!

The first flight is what they call your trial lesson, this can be either a half hour or an hour flight where you have a little feel on the controls but most of the flight is operated by the instructor. As we approached the runway, strapped in nice and tight, I realised that it was too late to reconsider so I decided I had better just enjoy it and see what happens. Having wished I was on the ground many times before when my flight on an airliner had encountered turbulance I was worried this would be exasserbated as when the aircrafts small size surely we’d be more effected by turbulance.

All of my worries slipped away however as we climbed quickly off the runway and into the air and despite the aircrafts small size it was not scary at all. I think the main reason is when your in the cockpit you’re fully aware of everything that is going on with the flight and why the aircraft moved this way or that or bumped up and down. But most importantly although we are effected by wind it realy is nothing to get upset about, most flights are calm with hardly any unplanned movement.

As soon as we reached the ground I knew I had to start to learn to fly and arranged my first full lesson for the following week. To give you some idea of the costs,a trial lesson at Sleap is £85 for half an hour or £145 for the hour. Then if you decide you want to continue you have to join the club for a small annual fee and then buy your course material and lessons. There are seven books you will need to own and learn as well as a few other bits and bobs including your flying log book, charts and check-lists, Sleap provide an all in pack which costs £245 which contains the lot.

It will then take you around 65 hours flying before you will be ready to complete your PPL assessments and gain your wings, the minimum is 45 hours but if you are only flying once per week or so it will take long. The lessons at Sleap cost around £120 for the hour, this is dependant of the cost of fuel and the exact time you are in the air. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who’s always wondered, it is one of the most rewarding things I’ve done and I will keep the updates coming right here on Framing The Planet.

Click here to visit the Shropshire Aero Club website.

A. Skillz Playing Two Hour Set in Shrewsbury – Listen to 4 sets free from Soundcloud

Chris — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:42:16 +0000

Just discovered on that A. Skillz is going to be playing at the Severn Warehouse in Shrewsbury on the 14th August! A. Skillz is easily one of the best DJs out there and is definatly worth a visit. The line up for the night:

A-SKILLZ [Finger Lickin`] [2HR SET]
MARTIN DESAI [J-Walk]
GREGREG [Beat Juice]
MATT WEDDERKOPP [2Kilos]
DJ BUZZWORD [Cold Busted]
JOHNTY DEL MONTE [Beat Juice]
COLAK [Vendetta/Root Boost]
COLON [Tek Funk]
RAW [Heron Steppa]
MARK BEESLEY [2Kilos]

Tickets are on sale now priced at £8 including booking fee available from theticketsellers.co.uk.

A little background info on A. Skillz taken from ticketsellers.co.uk:

A-SKILLZ

His incredible deck talents involve fusing funk, hip-hop and breaks with his unique style of scratching and mixing. His reputation as a true party rocker has won him prime-time slots across the UK at FabricLive, Spectrum, Chew The Fat, Supercharged, The Boutique and Sugarbeat as well as gigs around the world at major events, festivals and music industry parties such as The Hit Factory (New York), WMC (Miami) and Field Day (Sydney)

In 2003 A.Skillz released his debut album “TrickaTechnology” alongside Finger Lickin`s very own Krafty Kuts. The album was a nod towards musical influences like De La Soul, James Brown and Jurassic 5, true Finger Lickin` Funk that enlisted the talents of some of the world`s best hip-hop and funk artists including Kurtis Blow, Real Elements and Ashley “Freakpower” Slater.

Record label owner, producer and DJ extraordinaire, A.Skillz’ incredible deck talents fuse funk, soul and hip-hop with D`n`B, dub-step and breaks, all sliced, mashed and cut together with a unique style of scratching and mixing. His reputation as a true party rocker has won him prime-time slots across the world at a ‘who’s who’ of major events, festivals and music industry parties including FabricLive (London), The Hit Factory (New York), WMC (Miami), Shambhala (Canada) and Field Day (Sydney).

As a producer A.Skillz has established himself as one of the most highly regarded in his scene, releasing countless bullets, including the infamous Insane Bangers series, a host of impressive remixes for the likes of stadium rockers Queen and Northern Soul Groovers Smoove & Turrell, together with singles on the legendary Finger Lickin’ Records and the now classic artist album ‘Tricka Technology’ with breakbeat heavyweight Krafty Kuts.

Alongside his globetrotting tours and hectic studio time, A.Skillz pulls the strings at the fresh and exciting new electro soul label Jam City. Structured on the foundations of the music he loves and with it’s first release unleashed very soon, Jam City is a towering prospect built to house the finest in party rockin’, road blockin’ beats.

A.Skillz Live Mix 09

A.Skillz Live Mix 09 by A.Skillz

A.Skillz INTHEMIX.COM.AU (DJ MIX)

A.Skillz INTHEMIX.COM.AU (DJ MIX) by A.Skillz

KRAFTY KUTS & A.SKILLZ “BOXFRESH MIX”

KRAFTY KUTS & A.SKILLZ “BOXFRESH MIX” by A.Skillz

A.Skillz Annie Nightingale Guest Mix 23-10-2009

A.Skillz Annie Nightingale Guest Mix 23-10-2009 by A.Skillz

Limited Edition Photo Art Canvas Prints from £45

Chris — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:00:10 +0000

At Framing The Planet we have a fantastic range of photo art prints available to own on canvas, each print is a limited edition with only 50 made available worldwide. This means you can have a peace of exclusive style without breaking the bank.

Only 100% cotton is used to produce your canvas, the canvas weighs in at a whopping great 400gsm, now that’s the best there is on the market.

Your canvas is then stretch around a strong custom built frame so it is ready to add an art gallery feel to any room in your home or business.

This is a perfect way to display and enjoy your chosen peace of modern photo art. Canvas prints are available in the following sizes:

10 x 12 inches priced at £45
12 x 16 inches priced at £55
16 x 20 inches priced at £65

All frames are 1.5 inches deep

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New Drum and Bass mix from Speedo – Full of summer energy!

Chris — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:44:40 +0000

Another new mix from Speedo, a really mixed bag, starts with a lot of summer energy, the n rolls a bit, jumps a bit, rinses out a bit, then calms down a bit! hope you enjoy the progression and sub-genre journey!

Mix July 10| (a journey around D & B) loved up d and b part 2 by Speedo

1. calvin harris – ready for the weekend
2 Camo & Krooked – Walk On Air
3 Future Prophecies – September (Camo & Krooked Rmx)
4 DC Breaks – Together
5 Mindflow – switched
6 Serum – BadMan
7 Lenzman – Bittersweet
8 Jenna G – Just Hold On (Serum Mix)
9 Sonic – Piano Anthem
10 Netsky – Secret Agent
11 Medicin – Mobius Strip (Tantrum Desire)
12 Upbeats – PacMan
13 DJ Die – Bright Lights
14 Commix – Painted Smile
15 Slam – Positive Education (Zero T Remix)
16 The Funktion -Unleashed
17 Zero T – Cant remember the name
18 Zero T – Long Distance
19 Lenzman – Fade Away
20 Netsky – Lets Leave Tomorrow