I recently bought new music (Partners (2014) by the lovely Barbra Streisand and company) to add on to my growing collection of music...and oh gosh, it is such a masterpiece! Although many of the songs had been covered before, they were creatively rearranged so that they could be sung as duets (which was what this entire album's theme was about anyway). I wish I could provide a full-on review of the album here...but I think I'd keep it short for now. I don't think I'd want to go into music student mode (although I AM a music student in many ways!).
Personally, I found that the rearrangements were really creative, heartwarming, highly meticulous and thoughtful. Alongside the lyrics, the structural bits of the music (e.g. tonality, tempo, timbre, harmonies, percussiveness and so on) were really effective in communicating various emotions (amongst many others - wistfulness, joy, hope, and nostalgia). It was as though each song was telling a fascinating story with a beautiful personal touch. This masterpiece is certainly something that cannot be missed!
Partners (2014) debuted at No.1 on Billboards 200! And this meant that Barbra Streisand has had at least one No.1 album every decade for SIX consecutive decades! Now THIS is extremely admirable! And up till now I'm still in awe...and so happy for her.
"Now even the word 'legend' has become an understatement. This is seriously the greatest feat ever. Congratulations [to the one and only] Barbra Streisand!"
Anyway, before I ramble on about more music stuff, I think I should get back on track (no pun intended). See - I always get carried away when talking about music! Especially really good music! No wait - Barbra Streisand's now in a league of her own! Totally phenomenal!
Sometime back, I experienced one of the best and most dramatic sunsets ever. And this remains my favourite collection of sunset pictures. I'm so glad I actually made a trip down to the beach to catch this sunset - and I'm also happy that I trusted my intuition and didn't let work get in the way!
Although there were wispy clouds everywhere, I still managed to get a clear view of the sun setting in the distant horizon. The whole sky was just illuminated in such a brilliant orange! And just for the record, orange is my favourite colour :)
I like it when there're wispy clouds in the sky during sunsets - these really add drama to the sunsets. I hope to take a pic of a mackerel sky sunset someday too! So far I've got lots of pics of altocumulus and cirrus sunsets, and of course, clear sunsets. But no mackerel sky yet! I'll keep on a lookout for an opportunity to do so! Hopefully soon!
Here's the "aftermath" of the sunset - remaining clouds being illuminated in a brilliant shade of orange...and gradually taking on a little bit of pink hue...well at least for some of the clouds...
The pink soon turned into this vibrant red colour! So brilliant and dramatic, that even the seas were lit up in the exact same shade.
I was so happy when I found out that the swirly pattern remained swirly even as the skies rapidly darkened. It gave me lots of photo opportunities indeed! So I continued focusing on this part for some time. I really love the colour combinations!
In between swirly shots, I did take pics of other cloudscapes too. When I shifted my camera towards the right, I noticed that the clouds were equally dramatic...and didn't have the swirly pattern as shown above...
In fact, they formed all these beautiful parallel (well, almost!) lines, which was so mind-blowing! I just couldn't resist taking pics of these clouds here, and was so captivated by the colour combination in the sky. These were pretty long-lasting too!
Ah yes - an 'out-take' - the mandatory silhouette shot. Used my telephoto lens for this.
I thought the courthouse near Bather's Beach looked pretty interesting at night...albeit a little spooky. So I took a pic of it...and kind of freaked myself out. Now I'm desensitised though.
A few days after capturing those epic clouds, I went to capture some long exposure pics of waves - something which I hadn't done in quite some time...and something which I want to continue working on. One day, I'll head down South to take long exposure pics of the open ocean...that would be cool!
Anyway - I was pretty lucky. The waves that day were big, and definitely added drama to my pics...
Well...at one point it did get a bit too dramatic for my liking. I was definitely having a nice time taking all these pics, but I was also unaware of how big the waves COULD get. A split second after taking this pic (directly below), I was drenched from head to toe in extremely cold and salty water! Involuntarily of course! Fortunately I was the only one there...and no one heard me scream. It was VERY cold...I think the winds were quite strong that day too.
So I posted a pic of it on Instagram...and that led to an interesting and pretty amusing conversation between myself and my mates (names hidden)! I don't think I need to be nominated anymore...though I did end up nominating my best mate to do the challenge. And she did it!
Although I was thoroughly drenched, my camera was actually dry, as I was hugging it really close to me and had my head down (over the camera) when I got drenched. Don't ask me why I was doing that, but that definitely saved my camera from an involuntary dunking! Lesson learnt - do not go too near epic waves.
That said, epic waves are still lovely to look at! I decided to continue braving the cold (yes it was in winter AND I got dunked!) to take more long-exposure pics, as I wasn't too sure how my timetable was going to work out for the next few weeks. It was definitely worth braving the cold, and I'm actually really surprised that I didn't get sick. I told my supervisors about it the next day, and they had a really good laugh!
Ending off this post with a personal 'milestone' of mine - I finally heard Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto (Piano Concerto in E-flat Major Op.73 'Emperor') LIVE! I had been waiting so long to hear this concerto live, and when WASO (West Australian Symphony Orchestra) announced that they were performing it with Stephen Hough as soloist, I just HAD to go for it! The performance was really good...and I was particularly captivated by the second movement - which is my favourite movement. Gosh I'm so ecstatic!!
See? Music is really an integral part of my life! I hope to go for more live performances too!
Had the 'mandatory' hot choc and alchemy cake from Koko Black shortly after the concert...as I was hungry! I don't know why I get hungry so easily...
More updates to come in the near future! Do stay tuned!