Binh There Done That

Three is a magic number...

2011-10-24T21:56:00.002+02:00

Binhlovesyou 3
Soulful DJing - from Binhseltown to Boogiedown

As the temperature and leaves fall, weatherproof Binh seals your noise-strangled ears with some extra mellow mellow music. Come on over if ye're kurious to catch those mysterious vibes, from sqratch to finish. As always, precisely pushing and nudging the black 12 inches to provide ye a wonderful soundtrack for downing a well deserved bottle of brewery. Riperton to Roots, Haezel to Badu - mos def you name it.

Don't walk on by, friday the 28th ye better get hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic with Panke and the Binh!

Binhlovesyou 3
at Panke, Berlin
28th of October 2011
10PM - 2AM

Untame the DJ

2011-08-26T01:49:00.003+02:00

Binhlovesyou

..and he brought his imaginary friends from the vault of forgotten tapes, namely Mettvillain and Eisack Hayes. Hey, they might even share some gems from long lost EPs and regular 12inches alike with you. If you know a couple o'lines from tracks like "Rhymes Like Dimes", "Welcome 2 Detroit" and "Everything Remains Raw" it will be a heluva night for y'all! Untame the DJ, make him backspin and drop some music love on yer eardrums. Or just sit back, relax and enjoy a nice evening at the Panke.

Come & watch glitchin' beat beasts rrrrap sum fonky soul tunes w/ the Binh!

What ye do on em TGIFs?

2011-07-26T01:53:00.006+02:00

Unfinished Binnes...

2011-04-19T10:59:00.003+02:00

Long time no... which just means that real life enhances the variety of possibilities to disturb your tedious plans you made up. Nevertheless, when you get handled lemons, you must not complain that there is no receipt for the stuff (sorry, just trailing of again).

So, meanwhile I cut down my equipment while simultaneously replacing some items with newer (and in this case also better) versions. But remember, the misleading thought of optimizing your productivity lies within itself. Just because you can do something faster, doesn't mean you will use that benefit to gain more creativity. Hence, it does not even mean that the result is as accurate as it was beforehand, when you did it the old way. So, when you accept the fact, that the most banging stuff you do might not ONLY be the result of mighty mighty gear, but also of recreational leisure time (I like to misuse my shower for a think tank e'ry day) and unpredictable connections of various impressions and thoughts - you might be on a healthy way. I say healthy, because it can get pretty darn frustrating always trying to get the last 0.5% of everything to top it of to the one hundred.

So spend your time and money wisely, when trying to boost your work efficiency.

And by the way, things are not always what other people say or want them to be. People tend to bend the perception of others to gather "like-minded" followers, make them useful tools so to say. Keep that in mind, without loosing your faith and positivity completely, 'though. Just try to stay a little more away from those folks and meanwhile: do the humpty dance or whatever is your cup of fluid.

Badu Didn't Exclude Photographers When Singing About "Bag Ladies"

2011-02-18T10:34:00.005+01:00

Equipment - mobile version early 2011 (to be updated)

While some let their liqueur leak and fill the ever so enormous belly, we still sport the gear pr0n w/ this eyecandy. At least me, that is. What you see above is my core working tool collection, stripped down from the bags and nags. Ye know, to create that stuff others call work on the fly and on the road. Consisting of the following:

*Macbook (C2D'08; 2,4Ghz; 4GB RAM; 320GB HDD)

...to be replaced with a bigger sibling and mos' def' a ssd!

*peripherical I/O stuff:

HSDPA-USB device, card reader, Wacom tablett

*handy tools, such as:

Leatherman Wave, LED Maglite, lock, BB Curve, iPod nano w/ enough digitzed mixtapes and LPs to keep me going or contemplating...

*capturing device:

Canon DSLR 50D w/ 10-22mm EF-S, 35mm EF & 60mm macro EF-S lenses

...to be backed up soon wether by a 600D (aka T3i) or a G12 as their SOS partners in crime.

*strobes:

Canon 540EZ, 2x Canon 340EX, Cactus V4 radio trigger and receivers w/ backup e-TTL cable

...to be expanded w/ further EXs and the new Cactus V5s.

*lightning / modulation:

Latolite EzyBox (40x40cm), DIY neopren tube as snoot for 430EXs, assorted gel sheets, 5-way circular reflector

*stands:

Manfrotto 055 Pro B w/ 3-way head, 2x Manfrotto 001B nano stands, Manfrotto 1051BAC, 2x Cullmann 40150 ball heads

...I really love the nano stands, but will expand on the 1051s mainly because of their stackability for transport (read: mobility convenience). Furthermore, in 9 out of 10 times the tripod stays unused as I rock the DSLR in my hands - therefor I am sometimes switching the big one with a considerably smaller carbon tripod or ditch the camera tripod accessory completely to stay as light as possible

* various items such as:

Phottix camera trigger - which is going to become obsolete due to the new Cactus V5s.

Polarizing filter, clamps, spare battery packs (can't stop emphasizing the Eneloops!), unbearable duct tape (readymade and apportioned in black and white variant for high versatility), gloves, cleaning kit (leather and brush), small bags for organizing the stuff and therefor finding things easier while also securing their health when in travel-mode, notebook & pen, chocolate and mint drops.

Of course, some may utter that the equipment is too small / too big / too heavy / too light / too cheap /too expensive. But I am still on my way to find the right combination to get maximum usability and stay as mobile as possible. Because being able to travel light with a small assortment of quality gear is still the way to go for me - to be able to create without worrying too much on reliability and weight.

But always remember to complete the physical part (gear) with the right state of mind, the open eye, or lets just use the cheased-out term spirit. Without knowledge how to tweak and use your stuff, it will become (guess what) useless.

So, what's in your bag?

Out of the box.

2011-01-30T22:43:00.004+01:00

2x Canon 430ex, 1x Canon 50D, 1x Canon EF 35mm 1:2, Photoshop CS3*.

Client: Spoken View.

*Edit: Waiting to upgrade hardware-wise, to get the CS5 juices flowing accordingly. Anybody yet to scram the sandy bridge into a mac succesfully?

Finally arrived...

2011-01-30T22:26:00.005+01:00

Speechless - that's what I am at the moment. Somehow due to the darkness which is surrounding me (don't worry, I am only speaking of the lack of lightrays, not yet hope or even my mojo). Somehow due to the beauty of the sound of the following creation:

PMC072 - Graciela Maria "Many Places" album snippet by Project Mooncircle

Since they chose me to make the whole package (press photos and design of the cover, inlay etc.), I feel the urge to push it to you. And even if I didn't put down anything desingwise on it, I still would tell ye to check it out... right HERE.

If you like what you hear, PUT IT IN YOUR CRATE.

Title.

2011-01-03T23:28:00.002+01:00

Text. Blah. Welcome. Back. Again.

End. Of. Post.

Lve.

Bnh.

Catch me if ye can.

2010-11-25T11:19:00.004+01:00

What you can see here is about 2% of the work I am yet about to finish these days. And dayumn, plans are made to be cancelled and stomped upon, that's what I'm aware of, anyway.

So, this is a greek cellist (obviously) living in Germany whom I took some images from (and for). The shooting itself took only about 3 hours in total, and we gained more than 80 good images and variations of images. I pushed him to rule out his 8 favourites which are now to be used by him for contests, concerts and what those musicians are doing all day long (besides practising, practising and some more -guess what- practising).

All done w/ my on-the-road-gear of 3 flashlight, a tiny set of black velvet, stands, clamps and knee paddings. You know, crouching on the dirty floor of music academy halls - 's what I like to do. Since I really enjoyed seeing someone absolutely loving what he is doing, I can only recommend (and go for myself at that one) to get your own lovely lady of life-enriching and fulfilling determination. That sentence was flawed. Excusez mon anglais.

Best.

Peek-a-boo w/ Dr. Nakata pt.3

2010-11-25T10:59:00.003+01:00

~~NEW, NOUVEAUX, NEU, NEU, KAUFEN!~~

Yikes, commerce, yaddayaddayae. Who still wants one of the last four shirts of this series better gets it here. If not, never mind.

Change.

2010-11-25T10:49:00.003+01:00

Times change. People do, too. Opinions are only opinions, anyway. So - what makes up for a good constant? Right, nothing else but this erratic uncertainty (some people call it life). As this ever-so distracting ambiguity also keeps us from rotting in the same ole dwell of deadlock, it moves us forward. Sometimes. Hopefully.

What I really want to say is, that I still am inviting winter more likely to a nice cup of tea than misty old autumn. And yet, I know that they're married and you can't book one without the other. Can't book 'em anyway. When live handles you lemons - you don't ask for cucumbers. Or do you?

Arrival.

2010-10-27T12:56:00.002+02:00

Now, aint this a legit excuse for a long-time-no-read up in this place? Received my little successor, and hence had even less time for tidbits and tadrats. Now, Daddy B just dropped this drawing for the midwife, since she always liked one particular piece of painted cardboard, sitting on top of my turntables. And now, excusez-moi, I've got some dipers to change.

Blessed.

Raw'n'drawn.

2010-09-12T18:16:00.006+02:00

Since I don't like (s)chit-chatting with strangers so much on journeys, I seized the given leisure/travel time on the train today with my good ol' buddy Peter Pen and his compagnion Sir Sketchbook. Which also gave me the fine streak of realizing that you indeed DO have to train your skills aside from the required lumpy e'ryday-work you settle with. And due to the fact that well thought is (not quite the opposite, but) not much more than only the lesser half of well done, I picked up my old habit of straining letters on paper, drowning them in ink. Ah, isn't nice to lick a drop of the elixir of ability - use your very own!

Grace.

2010-08-31T21:07:00.004+02:00

This is Grace, singer from Mexico, wandering many places.
Our first shooting gave us some quite nice images (this is my most preferred). But, as always, having time on your hands and understanding for the person you are working with always helps. So, for her upcoming album, we will do another shooting, which I am looking forward to, mos def.

The shooting and the album.

Creation vs. Recreation

2010-08-04T23:45:00.001+02:00

Sorry, dear folks, weeks passed by with no word on whatsoever. Plain explanation is that I had a couple o' days off (weeks, that is). And since I can not wait until my juices come back to me on their own, I do my do and did some woodwork... let's see if I finish what I started here before christmas (oh, a wooden helping hand, who would neglect that?!!).

So, let's continue right where we left, and let's sleep when we're dead (Memento Mori, anyone?). How did YOU spent your summer?

Best, Binh.

Triple Threat, anyone?

2010-07-19T22:41:00.002+02:00

Whew, dear reader, did we had a blasting weekend. Ushered by an workloaded week deluxe... and it's going to be encored, I tell you that one. So, five shootings done, but only two 've been finished w/ the postpro and all dat. I'll drop a small preview of one of the quickest shootings right here. It's good ol' John Robinson and Mr. Lewis Parker, curing their hangover / jetlag in the glaring afternoon sun of Berlin.

I do have some more stuff in the pipe, which is to be hold back due to approval from the pictured artists. So, stay smooth, enjoy the summer (int'l even), maybe hop some festivals or just try to catch a chilling breeze in the evening. I am counting the days until I find the time to relax a lil su'in su'in in a night train to Paris.

May I quote Shurik'n: "Je partirai comme un samourai"

Bless.

...ffffound it on the desk...

2010-06-27T23:04:00.004+02:00

Finally finished another design. Handdrawn, to be used for "The Find Mag", printed on a shirt once again. Sorry, another fortnight passed by without having bubbled out another tidbit of uninteresting detail of my daily in and out, up and down of my mind... guess, that's what they call summer recess.

So, what about you? Do you get all too comfy when the temperature's rising? Or do you feel your juices flow and get all wicked wild on whatever you are working on?

Nevertheless, enjoy the fresh air* as long as you can**.

*dusty, stench-wrenched, if you happen to live in a metropolis, poor you...

** and by the way, can anybody tell me, how to get invited to ffffound?

...summertime...

2010-06-13T12:29:00.002+02:00

...and the living's easy.

Well, maybe the fish are jumping, but I will stop stressing the lyrics of this song right now. Just wanted to give myself the bump of realizing that the last post is already a fortnight old. But to keep you reassured, I don't sleep! Cause sleep is the cousin of death (damnit, get out of my head!).

So, right now I'm working on a project which is already lurking in the ranks for quite a time. It's the upcoming mixtape (cassette, that is), which will be completed by the "Gratitude of Mister Nguyen"-mix. For those who're not familiar with it, you can still peep it here.

The part I'm working, is already up in tidbits for a taste:
Binh' PREVIEW for the upcoming mixcassette, read: real tape, mofos! by binhlovesyou

I've been making my first one-take-tapes back in school. I think back then I used to have a new one every two months or so, dragging around about 20 to 30 copies and handing them out to whoever was interested. For each edition I made a cover, printed the labels, and all that stuff (far from working w/ any photoshop creative suite, but I guess these are the grassroots). Since then aint much changed as far as I know, except that I don't eat pork and I do taebo (ok, no more quotes, but this one belongs to Masta Ace, and I really can not stop the lines popping into my mind...).
So, nowadays I have way higher developed tools and techniques, but the mixes now get created only every one or to years. Nevertheless... I just wanted to ask you:

Do you still own tapedecks? Maybe in your cheapskate-car (no pun intended), the bathroom or the kitchen? Or is it enough to buy a fancy retro-style-analogue-tape-design-apparel? To give you a little hint, how my tapes look like before getting dubbed, have a zip (on the left, please).

Liquid pencillery...

2010-06-01T00:07:00.000+02:00

Just my weekly blurp, showing you another fruit of a collaboration with Bioniq from Russia. He made the raw drawing for this cover of the upcoming release of rap legends Lewis Parker and John Robinson. My humble self did the postpro, typo and additional photography for more than realistic fluids on this artwork. Since I focus on implementing more handmade stuff, I finally can utilize all my various items which gathered in my numerous art-supplies-boxes over the years.

So, what about YOUR leisure time enjoyment, also got some unused brushes and pencils lying around in your new flat?

Dr. Nakata Shirt D.O.N.E.

2010-05-25T20:09:00.003+02:00

Finally, it's here!

After having spent couple o' midnight hours at my desk, drawing and refining those tiny black dots and lines, I finally received the result of my work printed on a cosy piece of garment. It was a contribution to a small new brand / project based here in Germany, which runs very limited editions of shirts with desings by a handful of dudes and duderettes (including my humble self).
My shirt is called "Dr. Nakata" and sports a collage of drawn cougars, apes, elefants, hands, pencils, tid and bit (at least parts of 'em)... nah, you can see my analogue blueprint chilling in the back. If you look closely, you can see that I switched pens three times, because they went dry one after another while working on that piece (wouldn't have happened w/ my wacom, eh).

If you are interested in one of those, try to get em here. As I know that they may run out very fast, hit me up so we can see how you get supplied. Maybe I'll do a re-press myself later on this year... and giv'em all to my beloved ones, haha.
Domo arigato.

Mo' Chun Pik Cha!

2010-05-19T10:43:00.000+02:00

And here we go with another tidbit of results:

This is the trailer to the video we were shooting some weeks ago (you can peep the cover in the previous post). It was a hell of a weekend, but never underestimate what pleasure can add to your work... boosting your stamina. Two days, 600km, a small crew with the right equipment, and so many anecdotes... don't know where to start.... (except: "THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID")

Thanks to everybody who contributed.
Enjoy.

Time Is Running Out...

2010-05-11T22:51:00.003+02:00

Whenever I do not post consequently, it just means that I'm doing some stuff (which wil be post-worthy). Just like the last days. Had a video shoot to be executed, the press pictures to be taken, the cover to be finished and so on. It is all for a project of dutch musicians, due to being released in june. You will see more of it soon, this is just the first teaser.

Had the pictures for it to be taken by another photographer (but he perfectly executed my wishes), because matching 4 people's schedules can be a real pain in the ass-ignment. But then, after getting the flix, did my postpro on it with some scanned worn record sleeves, and my combination of tweaks and freaks. Then I made my sketches and drawings for the typo (which turned out quite usable), and layed that on top of it.

So, next stop will be the editing of the video. More to come. Meanwhile, you can check out the snippet of the group right HERRRRE. Numaads - Now EP. I likey.

Who said he vanished?

2010-05-01T17:52:00.007+02:00

This coffee-stained version of paper does not taste any better than plain paper, but it indeed looks more interesting to me...

I've been toying around with different kinds of paper and a method to add some patina to the surfaces (including various ingredients you can find on my breakfast menu, too). Now I just need to step up my drawing skills a bit. A lot, actually. Made this one here with a nice calligraphic pen in about one hour. I usually get inspired by a good photography (such as Adrew Zuckermann for animal flix) and the casual mixtape plaing in the background does the rest... maybe some more food, yes - but that's mainly it.

And at least the drawing gets me away from the damn screen and all those reply-button-action within my numberous mail accounts.

Why don't you try it yourself!

Commander Bluck

2010-04-24T23:06:00.003+02:00

This is what happens, when too much vietnamese coffee finds its way into my system. Some whack selfmade wallpaper for my greasy screen, hurray. Actually I tend to stick with ugly wallpapers, so that whenever I close any of my photoshop/serato/smultron/browser-windows there is a reason for me to open up a new window and start working again. Which may also be the reason why my HDDs constantly ache under the load of new files. Sorry, buddies, but until affordable SSDs and USB3 hit my desk, you'll have to keep on. Just like me.

Quattro Stagnation?

2010-04-24T22:48:00.004+02:00

And again, I'm grabbing into the bag of old stuff to show you something. Mostly due to the fact, that my current works are bound to be finished and released in the next weeks, and I don't want to spoil them right in front of you. You'll get to see them soon, don't worry. But for now, you'll have to settle with this sequence of shots, put together for an advertising. Took me and the cuisine a good part of 10 hours to assemble these. The sketches and general preparations not included. Three flashes, some additional lighting gear and my good old DSLR on that rock-steady tripod. Did I mention, that perfect is the enemy of the good? But, what the heck, can't get that will out of me to aim and gain for the best.

Need to get me some more chocolate right now, damnit.

Who said gutter?

2010-04-21T23:07:00.006+02:00

These are from 2009, but I thought I'd share 'em with ye anyway. Actually, I made them for a contest and even ranked a place. Which is even more odd, as I finally saw the other images being committed to the sweepstake. Seemingly, I was the only one who used flashes to really modify light (despite minor colour corrections, postproduction was forbidden - read: NO PHOTOSHOP), every other contestant was riding the "yeah-I'm-capturing-the-reality-call-me-reporter" train, without taking enough care of the compositions and definitively neglecting the advantage of available light (at least in my humble opinion). But anywho, was a joy to drag out my furniture on the street and shoot at not-really-cozy temperatures. People constantly stopping by and watching for a couple of minutes - hey, sometimes reality really beats TV, right? Need to show my gratitude once again to Laure, who willingly posed in that phone booth...

...nah, 'em streets are hella fun...

B/W is not a car brand...

2010-04-21T21:20:00.004+02:00

...this is how a collaboration should work. Animalistic drawings by russian pencil-pal Bioniq, letterings by my humble self - all for a soon-to-released mixtape by Shahmen. It's like eating chocolate with a well fried vietnamese sausage - in terms of worshipping both, Photoshop AND the good old friend called "Bleistift" (German can be such a wonderful language, even when the item is actually made of graphite). After I supplied myself with a bunch of drawing utensils, it feels like being a kiddo again - observing, drawing, getting dirty hands while adjusting lines and dots on grainy paper...

Give yourself a ticket to fantasy land - grab that darn "so-offline" pen and lay down some real hand writing or even drawing... just to refine the results in your favourite image editing tool and upload it to facebook, flickr - or however you call your place-to-be in that 100101101110101001.

UPDATE:
Get the free EP right h3r3.

Up in Smoke...

2010-04-16T22:38:00.003+02:00

Since I tried to restrain my digestive tract, some flatulances appear now and then. Nah, kidding - just tried to capture some stuff, tried to expand the possibilities of utilizing my meager equipment. Speaking of which, think I might get me another gadgetry from Honk Kong (read wireless flash transmitter) to push the boundaries some f-stops further.

Ingredients: living room, lighter, candle, flash, black background, DSLR, tripod and some knee paddings - since this damn hard floor gets even harder after 15 minutes crouching around on it.

Once a week...

2010-04-10T00:55:00.003+02:00

...should be doable, right? At least.

So, a couple of days ago I was shooting some professional sportsmen. That type of sports that could easily put you in a wheelchair or a coffin (don't dare asking me about the correct name of this probably-kung-fu-spin-off). Their training group helped out filling that gym room with hot, sweat-stenching, more-than-humid "air" within half an hour of training routines. After having installed my three tripod-mountes flashes, I tried to capture some shots, before my lenses started to get blurry again.

Black Rain

2010-04-03T00:15:00.005+02:00

Welcome to the vanishing vaults, the Binh's meager attempt to share a fragment of his creations, adaptions, thoughts and actions with ye.

While he keeps travelling in the real world, caught in between times and places, this unearthed sheet of digitized paper will grasp some of his material, he would otherwise forget to archive.

Enjoy your stay, but stay no longer than you should. Reality won't wait for ye.