Odd iTunes Genius Behaviour

Not sure what is happening with the App Store today...

On both iPhone and iPad I get this:




Then seconds later I get this:





All a little strange... Wonder if some update to the genius side of things is in progress

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone 4

Frankfurt here we come

Really can't wait to visit the Frankfurt Motorshow with Dave (@mcleanfamily88) in September now...

It’s official that BMW “officially” gave the green light to the new BMW Z2 Roadster which will launch in the second half of 2012.

Along with the Roadster version that we have been hearing about for a while now, a Coupe model will be available as well.

BMW Z2 is based on next generation 1 Series platform and it is build under the Project i umbrella and the BMW EfficientDynamics program.

The Z2 will be a rear drive vehicle, still with a front-engine approach offered with different options:

• all-electric engine
• Hybrid with range extender petrol engine
• 1.6 l 4-cylinder petrol direct injection engine developing 204 horsepower

The BMW Z2 concept will be unveiled at Frankfurt Auto Show in September

Tickets are really cheap (€20), and it is a cracking day out (Fly out and back with BA same day)...

Oh, and not forgetting the new M5

Looks like Matt paintwork could be all the range at both Geneva and Frankfurt this year.

MyMonth in HD

HD Video too

As the 2011 project requires a number of images each month to build the ‘combo’ overview, I thought it a good idea to produce a slideshow each month as an easy way to browse the shots.

Each clip will only be a minute or so long, and can be played it either HD or SD.

The images are hosted of my Vimeo Site ,and are formatted in HTML5 so will play fine on iPad and iPhone in addition to PCs and Macs.

January is available to view now - Let me know what you think.

I hope you enjoy them.

MyMonth - The 2011 Project

The time has finally arrived to announce my Photography Project for 2011.

But first a bit of an update on what I have done in the past;

Westy52 (2009)

I started a project two years ago Westy52 which was my first challenge to myself - The idea being that I chose just one image each week to post to my website.

The idea of the project was two-fold:

• To actually get me out taking photos - and having to think about what I was shooting
• To see how my photography improved (or didn't!) over the space of a year

If you haven't seen the results before, the full gallery of 52 images is still available on both Flickr and on my WestyPhotography.com website.

12 from 2010 (2010)

After the challenge (and really positive feedback) of Westy52, I decided to do something different for last year, 12 from 2010.

As the name suggests, this project required me to select just a single 'best of the month' image.

Although initially this may sound like a bit of a cop out after the scale of Westy52 it was actually more of a challenge - It made me go for the best of the best - I was also trying to be realistic with the amount of time I had.

Again, the full album of 12 images is available for viewing on Flickr

and so to 2011...

I guess the obvious thing to do would be to attempt a 365 project - I didn't go down this route for primarily two reasons:

• I didn't want the photography to become a chore, which I think can have a detrimental effect on the quality of the images you post
• I wanted something that I can build month on month, so that I can build the project into Calendars at the end of the year

So, with two days of January left, I am pleased to announce my idea for 2011:

MyMonth

I came up with the idea when I noticed how many 'letters' there are around us, be it roadsigns, logos, advertising etc.

And, as I said, as I wanted to build the project into Calendars for printing in December, it made sense to combine the two ideas.

So each month, I will be shooting images that represent the letters that make up the name of the current month:

For example,

In January, I need to take images that either look like a J A N U A R or Y, or in some way represent the letter (for example a person pointing directing at the camera could be used as a 'U' (you!).

After my first month, I can tell you it is NOT as easy as it may sound!

There were also a couple of other reasons for changing direction slightly with this project too:

• I wanted something that meant that I had to make better use of Photoshop, especially with regards to adding textures and applying frames
• I have just taught myself InDesign, so I wanted a project that would require my to layout a number of images on a page to produce one overall combined image each month

I guess the easiest way to explain what I mean is by getting you to have a look at my first months' work.

I have set-up a new Gallery on Smugmug MyMonth Gallery where I will post the 'combined' images each month, along with full sized versions of the images that go to make it up.

I would love some feedback on the images, and project idea on a whole - You can follow me on Twitter (@paulwestlake) or on my Facebook Fan page

Absolute 80s - The UK's Only 80s Music Radio Station

Absolute 80s - The UK's Only 80s Music Radio Station

A great online, DAB and iPhone radio station...