Challenge: A picture tells a thousand words... is there a song in there?

michelew
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Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:17 pm

Lynn, Ness - yep there is a limit - it used to be 2MB, I don't know what it is now.

There are a couple of other easy things that I do when I'm having trouble posting an image.

1 - I crop the image so it just contains the bit I'm wanting people to focus on. So for example, in Lynn's photo you could crop it down to the square that just contains Lynn and her dad. Of course you lose the play on the edge so that's a downside and may not have worked for that image.
2 - I pull it up on my iPhone or iPad and then take a screen grab and then again crop to the area that I want to use. I find that that converts the image to a .jpeg or .jpg (I can't remember which) which is smaller than the original.
3 - I mail the photo to myself and choose a lower resolution than the original. Then I use that image.

These are all low-tech solutions. There are more straightforward ones that allow you to reduce the size of the file directly. But the above options allow me to make images smaller using a mobile device; without having to use an editing program and my desktop computer.

So I'm guessing everyone is out there scanning their photo libraries, writing and rewriting lyrics and coming up with melodies. Right?!? :silly:

Anyone else want to give us a hint that they're working the challenge? :cheer:


TGVanessa wrote:
Yeah, that's driving me nuts often as well. :angry: As adviced by others, try to lower the resolution. Usually it doesn't work because the file is too big.

auntlynnie wrote:
Once again I cannot seem to be able to post a photo. Geez. Will figure it out later.
Lynn


spinland
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Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:37 am

Okay, so onward to part 2 of the challenge: the story.

Set the way-back machine a bit. I was in my first marriage, miserable personally and professionally. This was the point in my life where I bought my first guitar, and that purchase was probably a hint at my beginning to "kick the traces" and seek the path to taking control of my life. Between a demanding, codependent spouse and the military being what it is, things were due to blow soon.

I was stationed in Alabama at the time and, for someone with my temperament and mindset, that was also a special slice of hell. Part of my refuge at the time was the still-new medium folks were calling "the internet." As an engineering student I had already used it a lot, and I was a member of a BBS (all text, no web yet) where I spent a lot of time. In a poetry room I would sometimes post critiques (solicited by people who posted there) and got to know a lady poet who became a good (long distance) friend.

Okay. Now, fast forward a couple of years. I've gone on to grad school, the marriage had finally crumbled and I was preparing to leave with only what I could cram in my car, and upon graduation I was being sent to Upstate NY, to a town I had never even heard of, to work in a research lab. Turns out my lady poet friend had another friend who was from that very area, and she introduced me (online) so I could learn about it. Next domino in the chain: this new lady's brother worked at the very lab I was going to! How's that for the internet making the world small?

I arrived there, settled into a tiny apartment (finances were far from settled at that point), and her brother introduced himself to me at work one day. Well, here's a foreshadowing: that brother was the very Jim of the Jim and Mike guitar duo Sterling Thomas. So, yeah.

We hit it off famously, he having also recently come out of a bad marriage, and the guitar stuff gave us common chatting (and drinking) grounds. St. Paddy's Day is a huge event around here, and his other brother and both sisters were coming into town to spend the weekend, attend the Saturday parade, and party. He invited me to hang out with them.

So, you might be thinking about now: the sister I met online. Right? Actually, no. We did meet up early, and turns out there just wasn't any mutual spark but we had a great chat and some beers the Thursday before the big weekend.

So, yeah, enter sister two. Yes, instant sparks. Think "Some Enchanted Evening" across-the-room wow time when she first walked into Jim's living room. And she was single.

Starting that Monday we began emailing back and forth furiously (she lived in Salem, Mass at the time) and before long I was weekending in Salem. We're both damaged, self-aware, and know what we want and what we won't put up with. As the saying goes: find someone whose demons play well with yours. So, I did.

The picture is taken while we were riding a ferry across Lake Champlain during our honeymoon in Vermont. I had never been happier in my entire adult life, and I am still sometimes speechless at how fortunate I am to have her.

I do have aspirations to write music. I've written some lyrics in the past about things that intrigued me, and I'm slowly learning the ropes about songwriting dos and don'ts and all that theory stuff. If ever I do take the plunge, naturally a love song will be my first effort, and she the muse.

Mark


michelew
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Thu Mar 16, 2017 2:09 am

Hi Mark,

WOW that's quite a story. It's definitely worthy of a love song. I'd love to hear it if you write it.

Actually, I'd say there's quite a few potential stories in there.

The most powerful songs are often the ones that are based on strong and genuine emotions. And the ones with deep lyrics like "She loves you yeah, yeah, yeah!" :p

Good luck and thanks for sharing your personal history.

M


spinland
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Thu Mar 16, 2017 5:32 am

michelew wrote:
And the ones with deep lyrics like "She loves you yeah, yeah, yeah!" :p
I'm thinking more like, "Oh, oh oh oh oh, oh!" :silly:

Mark


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neverfoundthetime
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Thu Mar 16, 2017 8:16 am

Great thread Michele, it has the potential to spawn some interesting stories and songs, how cool would that be?! I hope folks respond aplenty. For me it will be a question of having the time and energy. I have two potential pics that are moments that could become songs. I guess I have been wanting forever to write a song for MissAle.... this would be the pic:

Image


TGNesh
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Thu Mar 16, 2017 11:08 am

:ohmy: :ohmy: What a GORGEOUS and BREATHTAKING picture Chris!!! :kiss:

neverfoundthetime wrote:
Great thread Michele, it has the potential to spawn some interesting stories and songs, how cool would that be?! I hope folks respond aplenty. For me it will be a question of having the time and energy. I have two potential pics that are moments that could become songs. I guess I have been wanting forever to write a song for MissAle.... this would be the pic:

Image


TGNesh
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Thu Mar 16, 2017 11:45 am

That's a great story Mark, you're a blessed man to have found your soulmate and partner for life. I'm a sucker for love songs, so I'd say, start writing! :P


michelew
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Thu Mar 16, 2017 3:44 pm

Chris,

I completely concur with Ness. That is a beautifully touching photo, so full of love. You look like such a proud and loving dad. Really gorgeous.

There's DEFINITELY a song in there. Pen to paper my friend. ...Somehow fingers to keyboard doesn't have the same ring. :)

If you do write something but you don't feel quite up to posting it, send it to me directly if you're up for sharing.

Thanks Chris, such a great response to this thread.

Shel
:kiss:

neverfoundthetime wrote:
Great thread Michele, it has the potential to spawn some interesting stories and songs, how cool would that be?! I hope folks respond aplenty. For me it will be a question of having the time and energy. I have two potential pics that are moments that could become songs. I guess I have been wanting forever to write a song for MissAle.... this would be the pic:

Image


michelew
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Thu Mar 16, 2017 4:31 pm

Hi everyone;

Since I threw down the gauntlet, I thought I'd better pay up another response to this multi-part challenge.

So to recap:

1) find a photo that you ready like, preferably with you in it and post it in this thread

Image

2) tell us a little about what it means to you or a little about the moment in time that it captures;

My pop died when I was a teenager. This photo reminds me of the times I spent with him; especially in his shed.

3) if you were writing a song - based on the photo - what would the theme / key messagesbe?

(That should be obvious ;) )

4) if you're inspired - write some lyrics (maybe a verse or chorus, maybe more) and share them with us


Old Photographs

Flipping through old photographs.
Black and white smiles and laughs.
I see a man who's love I knew.
Smiling at old photographs
A little me and my grand dad.
Who would I be if not for you.

I see your face sketched on mine.
You were strong, quiet and kind
Your steady love moulded me as I grew
Still young when you passed away
My memories have began to fade
But your love lives in me still

Memories of you in your dusty shed
Brushes, turpentine and cans outspread
You saw the world in all of it's hues
Sitting with you in that wonderous place
Jars of nails and screws on display
A treasure trove of motor parts and tools.

Flipping through old photographs.
Black and white smiles and laughs.
I see a man who's love I knew.
Smiling at old photographs
A little me and my grand dad.
Who would I be if not for you.

I remember the games we played
How we whiled the hours away
Checkers, chess and the darts we threw
I remember sitting by your side
You read your paper, you studied your guide
As you taught me things that you knew

Instrumental break

Who would I be today
If not for the games we played,
if not for the love that shone from you
Who would I be today
If not for the part you played
In guiding me as I grew

Flipping through old photographs,
Black and white smiles and laughs
I feel the love of the man I knew.
Smiling at old photographs
A little me and my grand dad.
Who would I be if not for you.


The lyrics are likely to change as I work on the song itself and especially as I sing it.

What's left?

5) Song - and if you're in the zone write the whole song and post a video. :)

That will come. All of my instruments are in their cases and packed away at the moment. Workmen are doing building rectification works. So it might take me a little while to get the song happening properly. But, I've made a start. :)


How is everyone else's projects coming along?

Shel


davidrfinn99165
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Fri Mar 17, 2017 10:03 am

That's great work shel... the words are very emotional and fully realised for me at this stage.

interestingly...and although this may be counter to the spirit of the thread...the lyrics would work completely without any knowledge of the photograph, or the story behind it... they do the job themselves...

i look forward to hearing the melody of course......

/ david


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