This week’s Creative Commons song picks are perfect for that next photo walk in the wilderness.
For this weeks mixtape I was going with the theme of what I like to listen to when I go out and want to take photographs. Now let me start off by saying I am by no means a professional photographer. I’m actually more of a video creative and producer. But I love taking pictures. I love being able to go back to this singular moments and look at the frozen moment of time. While I like video and film better, there is something to be said for having beautiful pictures in your home to remember the good times. So I wanted to pick music that I would want to listen to while I’m out and about, to inspire me and my photos. I think music is a great way to get inspired and for me, just putting on a pair of headphones and walking out the front door with my camera is a good day, no matter if I get pictures that I want to keep or not.
Out of Light by Portrayal (CC-BY)
I chose this because it gave me a great ethereal vibe, something that I would want to listen to as I am leaving an urban area into an open field or a wooded forest. Its got a lot of darkness and mystery about it, something that I think is captured very well in the album cover. It lends to the more contrasty and dark toned style of pictures.
Hometown by Ryan Little (CC-BY)
Definitely listen to this for the urban downtown landscapes of a city, bustling traffic, lights everywhere, people walking and running to get where they need to go. The uptempo beat lends to the style of picture that I would like to try and capture in a downtown area. It gets a little too repetitive for me but I think it has a lot of potential to start off listening to as you walk down a sidewalk.
Its A Mystery by Lee Rosevere (CC-BY-SA)
I think this still works for an urban area, especially for those shots you like to capture when it’s nighttime and lots of smoke or vapor is coming up from a grate, creating a very mysterious feeling, an air of the unknown beyond the pale shadow. The song really slows you down, especially after listening to the previous song but it does well to keep you in the current landscape area and make you reach for its full potential.
Rebel Blues by Sul Rebel (CC-BY)
This brings to mind the time when you go into a club and you want to photograph the band there. It’s smokey, the lights are low and you are struggling to get your camera to focus. So you have to get closer and closer to the band, without making them feel uncomfortable and without causing too much of a ruckus. But then the house turns on some more lights, illuminating the band and creating shafts of light, silhouetting everyone. You snap the picture and your blues band now looks like they are playing in a scene from a Roger Deakins movie.
What can I say, I’m more of a nature photo guy! Since I was just in the urban setting, I think this song is more appropriate for those photos you take when you are leaving the city and heading out into the scenic countrysides. Those great shots out the window of the passing trees, the fading light, the wind-blown hair of your traveling partner/model. It’s a great transition song and I think works to change the tone and selection of my photographs as I move from one environment to the next.
My next mixtape is going to be all about the ethereal and ambient sounds of nature. Perfect for walking around and listening to while taking photos of nature!
