Author - Paul Schatzkin

G’Morning, Nashville

February 3, 2015

I had a 7:30 AM meeting in Belle Meade (the Starbucks, of course), yesterday morning. The sun was rising just as I got on the Interstate at McCrory Lane (Exit 192 – Pegram), and there was a glorious shot of the orange half-orb rising over the highway. Unfortunately I was not fast enough with my phone-cam to capture that at nearly 80 miles and hour. A few minutes later I settled for this coming down Hillwood Ave in West Meade. Processed on my (new!) iPhone 6 with Snapseed.

G’morning, #Nashville.
@NashvilleTN @ #january #nashville #nashvilleguru #musiccitysunsets #igersnashville #heartnashville #nashvilleTN #nashvilleinstagram #nashvilleincrowd #nashvillegram #nashvegas #tennesseeinstagram #tennessee #musiccityliving #musiccityusa #musiccity #615 #nashvillescene #nashvillesky #nashvillelife
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

Streaming Into Nashville

February 1, 2015

Paul Schatzkin

Digest, photography

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Head-and-tail light trails on I-65 from the Chestnut Street overpass.

Streaming Into Nashville
January 31, 2015 – from the Chestnut Street bridge over I-65@NashvilleTN @ #january #nashville #nashvilleguru #musiccitysunsets #igersnashville #heartnashville #nashvilleTN #nashvilleinstagram #nashvilleincrowd #nashvillegram #nashvegas #tennesseeinstagram #tennessee #musiccityliving #musiccityusa #musiccity #615 #nashvillescene #nashvillesky #nashvillelife
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

A “Band On The Brink” – An ‘Industry’ On The Edge

January 28, 2015

Paul Schatzkin

"industry", commentary, Digest, music, music 3.0

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Last night, a rogues gallery of characters from Nashville’s business and creative communities assembled at the Belcourt Theater to deliver what could be considered a start-of-the-New-Year self-assessment:

There were three parts to the evening that did a surprisingly good job of hitting any number of moving targets.

The first part was a short documentary film describing the origins, history, demise and resurrection of a band called “The New Dylans.” The film was the final, compiled installment in a year long effort to document the reconstitution of a group that broke up in the mid 1990s – and uses their tale as an object lesson on the State of The Music Industry in Nashville in the Digital Age. Read More

Greetings, New Subscribers….

January 21, 2015

Paul Schatzkin

commentary, Digest, music, personal, photography

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…and welcome to your first edition of The Weekly Digest.

The Troubadour Logo – it’s a long story…

(Oops. I got so wrapped up writing this this morning that I forgot to tag the relevant posts for this week’s digest – I thought I’d done that already. It should have included the first two posts below (Jeff T and Melrose Abbey) Doh!)

I’m sure there’s a better name for this recurring missive, but despite my vaunted creative genius that’s the best I’ve been able to come up with so far.

I am pleased to see that there have been a notable number of new subscribers to this list in the past week – which is even more notable because I don’t know who any of you are.

Most of the subscribers to this list are friends and family – people with whom I have had some form of personal contact since I started the list several years ago. But lately, I’m seeing new subs from people I don’t know, whose e-mail addresses I don’t recognize,

I[tweetable alt=””] recall reading somewhere that your ‘fan base’ isn’t really growing until it begins to spread beyond the people that you know personally [/tweetable]– so it is gratifying to see that my reach has begun to grow organically beyond a certain inner circle.

I am involved in several realms of creative endeavors. My most recent business card (I make up new ones all the time) identifies me as:

Paul Schatzkin
writer·photographer·musician·artist

…and each of those categories represents some measure of both accomplishment and aspiration.

The Joy Of Making Music: Jeff Thorneycroft

January 20, 2015

Paul Schatzkin

JOYMM, music

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Jeff Thorneycroft at The Family Wash, Nashville – Jan 14, 2014

Olympus OM-D E-M1 w Olympus 45mm f/1.8, ISO 1600, 1/45sec @ f/1.8

It’s been a while since I’ve had an assignment to photograph a live performance, so it was nice to start the New Year out with a chance to shoot my friend Jeff Thorneycroft as he played bass with Tom Mason and The Blue Buccaneers at the Family Wash in East Nashville last week.

The Family Wash is not my favorite place in town to shoot a live performance. No, I take that back, it is my least favorite place (along with several others…) to shoot a live performance. There’s really no stage lighting whatsoever – just a few bare bulbs hanging over the center of the stage, in such a way that the featured performer on the front of the stage is actually back lit. And those that are back on the stage are lit mostly from above, which can cast some pretty nasty shadows.

But, hey, my calling card says “capturing the joy of making music – regardless of the lighting conditions. Yep, that’s my job!

So I brought my very fastest lenses with me – my 17mm, 45mm, and 75mm, all f/1.8 (these are Olympus Micro 4/3s lenses, their 35mm equivalent focal lengths are 35mm, 90mm, and 150mm). And since I don’t like to push my cameras past 1600 ISO, I didn’t even feel like I could afford the the loss of a stop to f/2.8 in order to use my 12-40 (24-80 equiv) or my fancy new and hardly-used-yet 40-150 (80-300 equiv) zoom lenses.

But there was one moment when I situated myself in the hallway toward the back of the stage. Jeff turned around to make eye contact with the drummer and fiddle player… and I got the shot! Several of them, in fact. And there are some good shots of pirate Tom Mason and the rest of his scurvy crew, I’ll post some of those starting next week.

– – – – – – – – – –

Are you a performer? Need some quality shots of your live show? Visit

http://thejoyofmakingmusic.com

for details.

The Cloister at Melrose Abbey

January 14, 2015

Paul Schatzkin

photography

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I’ve been submitting some photos recently to a Facebook page called Scotland From The Roadside, which is a very active and popular page that features all manner of scenic images form all over Scotland.

I submitted a couple of my landscapes to the page and also to Instagram, so that they would show up here as well.

Then last week I opened my primary photo editor (Lightroom) and it came straight up to this image of Melrose Abbey taken on my trip to the UK in the spring of 2013.

The village of Melrose was my first stop on that trip. I spent three nights in a lovely B&B within walking distance of the town center and the abbey ruin. That afforded me the opportunity to spend a LOT of time in that one location, which explains why I have so many photos of it (only a fraction of which have I shown here or anywhere else).

This angle is looking out of the main church sanctuary into what was in the 14th-to-16th centuries an enclosed quandrangle where the monks could repose themselves for quiet meditation.

Melrose Abbey, from the Nave to the Cloister. May 2013GPS Coordinates 55.5980° N, 2.7310° W
more at http://ift.tt/1koYz4J
@bekkymott @historicscotland @welovehistory @visitscotland @GreatBritain @instagood #medieval #Scotland #UK #medievalworld #UnitedKingdom #GreatBritain #travel #ig_europe #photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #architectur #travel #awe_inspiringshots #pro_ig #global_highlights #igworldclub #ig_select #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood @instagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

The Quirang Isle of Skye

January 10, 2015

Paul Schatzkin

Digest, photography, travel

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Another recent submission to the Scotland From The Roadside page. This is “The Quirang,” a craggy valley on the northern edge of the Isle of Skye:

The Quirang – Isle Of Skye, Scottish Highlands @IsleOSkye @visitscotland @GreatBritain
#Scotland #photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #awe_inspiringshots #pro_ig #global_highlights #igworldclub #ig_select #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics #tweegram #picoftheday #instadaily #jj #beautiful #bestoftheday #followforfollow #f4f #like4like #likeforlike
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

Portals of Stone: Fountains Abbey

January 9, 2015

Paul Schatzkin

Digest, photography, travel

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It seems important to remember that the monks and masons who built these enormous cathedrals were dedicated to the contemplation of the infinite and eternal.They are truly monuments to the spiritual foundations of Western Civolization.

The entire (still evolving) collection from “Portals of Stone 2014” is here.

The West Gate of @FountainsAbbey in Yorkshire, England – October 2014@GreatBritain @GetOlympus @Welcome2Yorks

#Medieval #medievaleurope #Europe #stonebuilding #castle #fortress #abbey #ruins #instatravel #travelgram #photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #awe_inspiringshots #pro_ig #global_highlights #igworldclub #ig_select #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics #picoftheday #instadaily
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

Approaching The Isle Of Skye

January 9, 2015

Paul Schatzkin

Digest, photography, travel

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I’ve been sharing some photos to a Facebook page called “Scotland By The Roadside.” There are a lot of very talented photographers on that page. Lately their posts have reminded me how glad I am I don’t live in Scotland in the winter.

This is a photo from our trip to Scotland in October, 2012, from just after we crossed the big bridge on to the Isle of Skye:

@IsleOSkye @visitscotland @GreatBritain
Just over the bridge, coming into the Isle of Skye in the #Scotish #Highlands – October 2012#Scotland #photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #awe_inspiringshots #pro_ig #global_highlights #igworldclub #ig_select #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics #tweegram #picoftheday #instadaily #jj #beautiful #bestoftheday #followforfollow #f4f #like4like #likeforlike
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

Fountains Abbey Upside Down In Space

January 7, 2015

Paul Schatzkin

Digest, photography

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This is actually the first in what will be a short series of similar composites.

The genesis of this series started at Sweetheart Abbey in Dumfries/Galloway. I’d been on a hill above the abbey ruin waiting to see what the sunset would do for me (not much), but when I came down the hill and thru the abbey yard toward the car park (that’s English for “parking lot”), I noticed a street lamp reflected in a puddle in the walkway.

After that, I started seeing puddles every where, and set up compositions in anticipation of doing what I did with that one. Here’s one from Fountains Abbey:

@GreatBritain @GetOlympus @Welcome2Yorks @EnglishHeritage
Fountains Abbey in #Yorkshire, illuminated by electricity and starlight
The Illumination of @FountainsAbbey in Yorkshire, England – October 2014#Medievalworld #Medieval #stonebuilding #castle #fortress #abbey #ruins #instatravel #travelgram #photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #awe_inspiringshots #pro_ig #global_highlights #igworldclub #ig_select #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics #picoftheday #instadaily
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49