Food Day

Once again, today was Food Day at work.  What is Food Day?  Multiple departments typically agree on a day for each person to bring in one item.   So we're talking 15-25 people, at least.  We arrive to Starbucks coffee, Panera bagels, donuts (from me), brownies (for breakfast), etc etc...  

And then around 11, lunch setup begins with fried chicken, various dips and vegetable plates, more brownies, pasta salads, multiple soft drinks and the list goes on. 

At both my current and previous employer the situation was the same - so it's not a company culture thing.

Depsite the plethora of food, I still bring my standard sandwich, yogurt, apple and diet coke.  I just skipped the chocolate bar.   Call me a creature of habit, but I prefer a reasonably consistent healthy meal.

Here's the interesting part, for me anyway.   I work with a bunch of very analytical people.   And every time the group is always amazed at the volume of food.   "Oh, there's so much here!  How are we going to eat it all?"   The surprise is what really gets to me.   If you asked any of these people out of context how much food you'd need to feed 25 people (keep in mind we don't burn many calories sitting all day), I would think they'd all agree not everyone would need to bring something.   But this never happens.  There's some unwritten social dynamic at work here.  For some reason, it's never an option to have say 5 of the 25 people bring something on one day for five consecutive Fridays.   Guess what, you could have 4 additional food days without the waste. But for some reason, it's socially unacceptable to indulge if you haven't contributed that particular day. 

Today I brought in a dozen donuts.   By 4pm, there were 4 left and I had eaten 3.    I just don't get it.  

Change Is Coming

It may not come immediately as Obama says, but change is on the way!  It's a good day to be an American - young, old, even a baby.  

Give Blood

I donated blood yesterday for the first time.   It wasn't that bad actually.   I was a bit light headed for a few minutes, but it passed quickly.    

How Much Lower Can We Go?

Who knows what tomorrow will bring in the financial markets.   Reading the quarterly mutual fund section of the Times today seemed so out dated.   Last week alone, the major indices were down about 18%.   And we're down 40% for the year.   In any other situation, an 18% decline is a bad year.   

I was skimming a few stocks that might be worth picking up now, like GE.   The Oracle of Omaha thinks GE is a good deal.   But then again, with the whole market down so severely, I figure there's nothing wrong with simply continuing my buy and hold long term strategy with broad based index funds.   As a friend says, "Scott, we're net buyers."   

Long term, assuming you believe in the Capitalism (with an occasional bail out), stocks have been the best vehicle to beat inflation over the long term.   Otherwise, look for for a big mattress. 

I've added a couple more blog links in the right column.  NPR and PRI is putting out some awfully good programming!

Debate #2

It'll be interesting to see what SNL comes up with this weekend.   The most irritated person in the debate was clearly Tom Brokaw.   Get over the stupid time limits!   Seriously, how can 1 minute be labeled a discussion period?

The First Digital Camera

Here's a link to an interview with the guy who invented the first digital camera. Developed in the 1970's, it was a 0.01 megapixel Kodak.

Where's My Shirt?

On August 29, I ordered a Barack Obama shirt. And it still hasn't arrived! I guess Change takes time...

A Plateau

I've come to the conclusion that my progression in Jiu Jitsu has plateaued somewhat. It's still quite enjoyable and a great workout, however I'm not making much progress. Part of the problem is time. Those who progress quickly are putting in 4 hours a week at minimum. I'm averaging less than half that. But that's fine, I'm in no rush. The other problem is that I haven't been attending the more intermediate classes. And so tonight I went to the later class. The school has grown considerably so the fundamental classes are packed. The intermediate class is much smaller and affords more opportunity to focus on technique.

For something new, I'm trying a different class - Haganah. It stands in direct contrast to Jiu Jitsu. Where Jiu Jistu is much more controlled (even though it looks like it's just sweaty guys rolling around) with varying degrees of force (restraint, chokes, or broken joints), Haganah is simply about inflicting the most damage in the least amount of time to an aggressor. It's a great way to burn off some steam. There are many weapon disarms as well - so it's quite real world. But a gun disarm brings up a new problem for me. While I theoretically could disarm someone, I've never fired a gun. Perhaps a gun safety class is in order. It's probably not a bad thing to know - especially in Florida. When in Rome...

Olympic Caliber Photos

If you're tired of Bob Costas and would like an alternative way to experience the games, check out this photo blog.

Fay Finally Fades

Thursday night and Fright was by far the worst part of the storm for us. The wind was howling overnight and the lights went out a few times. But we escaped unharmed and dry. The biggest problem was that the cable was out all day on Friday. So I had nothing better to do but clean the house.

Apparently Fay set a few records. I heard it was the first storm to strike the coast in 4 places. The forecasters admitted it was difficult to predict. With the storm moving only a few miles per hour, the directional forecasts seemed accurate within about 45 degrees.

The funny thing about having 2 days off was that I got nothing accomplished. After talking to some coworkers today, I realized I wasn't alone. We all loafed around and watched the winds blow. Then it sounded like cabin fever struck us hard yesterday. I went to the beach for some photos. Even after another baby shower today, I'm still restless.

Fay Continues to Fester

As Tropical Storm Fay moves across Northeast Florida, I took these two snapshots from the front door of the house. As you can see, things really don't look that bad. It's been wet all day and the rain will continue for at least another day. The winds have picked up slightly, although these photos don't really show it.

Two major bridges have been closed (as winds have reached 40 mph in those areas). Bonnie reported the winds were much stronger on her commute home (the beer making never stops). Power outages are scattered. The beaches are a mess and have been officially closed. News stations reported one drowning after a few people went swimming (the victim was from Indiana). There's concern about flooding in the lower lying areas of the city and at the beach. High tide is around midnight. A few areas of southern FL have seen sever flooding.

I was hoping to try out the extra wind support beam in the garage. But it looks like my flood insurance policy will be of more importance at the moment.

Home For Awhile

I returned from Sacramento this evening from a quick work trip. Everything was quick except the flights. And that'll about do it for the traveling for the next few months. The dry heat was an odd change from the sharp humidity here in Florida. It was pushing 100, but it only felt like 80 here.

How Old?

How old do you think is the youngest Chinese gymnast at the Olympics? Be sure to vote in my poll.

My Civic Duty

Tomorrow I'll be heading to the Duval County Courthouse for jury duty. It's my first time ever - should be fun. I'll have plenty of reading material and podcasts to keep me entertained as the summons recommends.

iPhone 2.0

Despite the slew of articles reporting activation problems with the new iPhones and software updates on the existing phones, my update went smoothly. I was hoping the software would be available late Thursday night or early Friday morning. But not so much. Apple was dead set on getting everything timed just right. And sure enough, they got a big fat server meltdown. I waited until around 7 last night - no problems.

I had already downloaded maybe a dozen apps from the Apps Store. As soon as the software update was complete, I piled on the programs (most are under a megabyte). So far, my favorites include Weatherbug (the radar view is great for watching the afternoon Florida thunderstorms), Remote, which turns the iPhone into a remote for household computers and AppleTVs. So there's no need to get off the couch to select a new song. The New York Times app is also pretty solid. I tried a French translator program which contains a good range of phrases (complete with audio) - everything from finding the bathroom to pick up lines. And I bought the game Enigmo - also impressive, but it seems to a battery drainer.

A New Office

On Monday, my coworkers and I moved to our new office building. The move took place over the holiday weekend. Surprisingly, the move itself went smoothly. The computer servers and telephones were all back online on schedule. I thought for sure one of the servers would fall off the moving truck on the way over. But I guess not.

The building is your standard modern office construction, certainly no feat of architectural brilliance. I miss the modern art from Progressive - it's amazing how much difference something interesting on the wall makes. I'm sure it's of the same caliber of construction as any new home around the area - thrown up quickly with mediocre craftsmanship. We're also making a attempt to go green. Everyone got a new mug, no more styrofoam cups. That's a forced change that's good all around (as long as I wash my mug on occasion) And the bathrooms (only the men's for some reason) have a sound sensor that turns off most lights after about 30 seconds of quiet. Yes, that means we end up peeing in near darkness until the flush wakes up the lights. Either the sensor is miscalibrated, or the designer needs to see a Urologist.

My drive time is a little longer due to the increased distance from home, but I'm getting a better freeway mileage. Oh and the parking spaces are surprisingly tight - even for my little 325. Maybe it's a back door way to discourage all the SUV owners by scratching up their doors.

Complaints aside, my new desk is probably in one of the better places to be. I have a nice window seat away from the major traffic areas, break room and restrooms. And we're much closer to a YMCA branch. So the lunch time workouts will be a little easier to squeeze in.

After Dinner Guest

We had just finished up dinner and I was looking back outside when I saw this snake on the patio. It appears to be a Cottonmouth. I grabbed the camera for a few quick shots - not my best work, but I wasn't taking any chances and stayed behind the glass or screen. After checking out the grill, the creature headed back out towards the fence...

Yikes!

Wall-E and a New Belt

Pixar does it again with Wall-E. Go see it. With each new film the animation out does the last one. And each plot is just as brilliant. Would've thought you could get a feature film about a lonely trash compacting robot.

From a purely business angle, the soundtrack was thin on vocals with balance left to instrumentals. Not that it was a bad soundtrack, I just doubt it'll sell as well as previous sound tracks.

In other news I earned my blue belt in my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training! Yes, I was a bit surprised. Some of us squeaked through without having to do another test.

iPhone 2.0

I finally had a chance to watch Apple's latest keynote presentation from a couple weeks ago. This was a developer conference so it's a little dorky, but all geekery aside, take a look at the first section of the keynote. In it, you'll see some incredible software demos that will be ready for the iPhone 2.0 software release - via the iTunes App Store.

The software, ranging from games to medical imaging applications, is amazing! These applications aren't just shinnied down desktop programs. Instead, many are uniquely suited to the iPhone interface itself by taking advantage of the touch features and accelerometers.

Back from The Great Northwest

After nearly a week traveling around Portland, eastern Washington, and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, it's nice to be back baking in the humidity of sunny Florida. The weather was rather chilly for June. In fact, the locals are so fed up with the weather, they're referring to this month as Junuary. Of course, the day I headed back to the airport, it was started to warm up.

Portland is quite a contrast from Jacksonville. The Jacksonville city leaders might learn a thing or two about city planning if they were ever to take a visit. New construction projects are carefully integrated into the existing landscape - unlike the razed fields that mark a new housing project in much of the country.

The Coeur d'Alene resort was impressive. It's popular golf course with a famous floating (and moveable) island green was a treat! If only I played golf a little more regularly...

Dinner, Movie and a Shuttle Launch

We saw Sex and the City this afternoon. It was quite a packed theater, especially considering it was a 2:20 showing. Just about all the loose ends were neatly tied up in the 2+ hour run time, leaving very little room for a sequel. But I don't think the hard core fans would appreciate any open questions.

We left the theater just in time to catch the 5pm shuttle launch today. Skies were clear in all directions, so once we looked in the right direction, the exhaust trail was easy to see. Unfortunately, I didn't have the heavy duty camera gear on hand, but I did have the point n shoot in the glove box. I managed to catch one decent shot. That's why a smart photographer never goes anywhere without a camera.

It's a Girl!

Kind of a duplicate post from our family blog, oh well. Now the name search can begin!

Wii Fat

The Wii Fit game arrived yesterday. I just finished an initial fitness test and a few yoga poses. Most of my friends would agree that I'm in decent shape, but the Wii doesn't appear to be my friend. After entering my height, birth date (The Wii Balance Board has a built in scale), and the approximate weight of my clothes, a BMI (body mass index) of nearly 24 was returned. Oddly, that's just on the edge of normal - yes I better watch my weight. After a couple balance tests, the first run of my Wii Fit age was 43! Ouch.

I ran another test and made it down to 31 - much more acceptable.

After entering my swimming workout from earlier today into the fitness log, I went straight to the yoga. I did the first few very basic poses, one of which is simply breathing. Following along with the trainer (you can pick a male or female trainer), you work each pose while trying to hold a steady balance as indicated on the screen. The tree pose gave me a little trouble, "You're a little shaky." No kidding.

So I'll keep moving along with other forms of training in hopes of reaching my lofty goal of losing 3 pounds in a few weeks. We'll see how I do.

Tom Friedman for President

I'm tired of the political lies. We've got some serious issues to tackle. It's nice to see these issues out in the open. Thanks Tom.

A New Blog

We thought we'd start a separate blog just for family posts, news etc. Enjoy!

Back On Line

A half a dozen calls to Comcast, two technician visits, various router configurations, and three cable modems later, we appear to finally be back on line. After moving the network setup to another room in the house, the whole thing fell apart. Well, the network was fine, it was the internet connection that was the problem. I would've rather had no connection at all. But instead the connection was very intermittent. A few web pages would load, and then things slowed to a crawl. Ugh..

So finally after fixing the wiring and replacing the cable modem, the connection seemed stable, and we let the Comcast guy go home at 8pm last night.

I even made an appointment at the Genius Bar. The odds of the Apple components causing the problems seemed slim, but I figured I check just to be sure. Oddly, in the few minutes I was there explaining the problem, two customers chimed in with sound suggestions. And I thought I was a geek.

Anyway, things seem to be ok for now.

Happy Mother's Day!

We called our Mothers, as Tom Friedman suggests. I love you Mom!

The weekend was a good one, a humid one as well. The Players Championship Golf Tournament was in town. We just watched from the couch in HD - it was like being there but with A/C.

In other news, we've been rearranging the house for our new addition to the family. My new desk arrived on Thursday. It should allow me to relocate to a common room in the house. So I've been slowly migrating various items across the house, from old desk to new desk. The only irritating issue that's come up is the problems with the wireless network. It seems that my computer can't quite reach the network from the current location. I fiddled around for a few hours to no avail. Comcast will be coming out on Tuesday to reconfigure the jacks. I then downloaded this guide, which may yield a few tricks.

And speaking of Mothers, check out the new pics of Bonnie - a mom to be...

Next Step: Blue Belt

Earlier this week I earned my 4th and final stripe as a White Belt in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. So that means that the next hurdle is a belt test. Certainly, I'm making progress, but I know I have a lot to tighten up before I'm ready to test. If nothing else, I'll need to push my endurance training. The last testing session was a good 2.5 hours of pure joy.

On a side note, there's actually a Jiu Jitsu related movie coming out. I don't know much about it, but it might be worth seeing. I can't remember the last movie we went to. We've mostly switched to Netflix, AppleTV, and Discovery Channel HD.

Out Damn Spot!

While fiddling around with a few product photographs of some lens I may sell on eBay, I realized I have another 2 dust or water spots on my image sensor. This is the second time I've had a dust spots show up since I've had my D300. It's so aggravating - it's like an itch you can't scratch! These look exactly like the specks I had before - just in a different part of the frame. This time, they're way off to the right side of the frame (typically not the focus of the frame). I can't figure out how they're getting on there.

I may take it back to the repair shop that cleaned it last time. Maybe they can help me figure out what's causing them. I don't use the camera in a harsh environment. I don't change lenses that often. When I do, it's usually in a contained area. Whatever I do, I'm not taking it back to Ritz - they tried to clean it and blew more dust in it. Lesson #1 - Don't let the college kids from Ritz handle your new camera. So I ended up taking it to a place here in Jacksonville called Southern Photo Technical. The store felt more like a museum instead of a repair shop. Old projectors and old film camera items littered the store. I don't know how they stay in business.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a quick summary. Basically, DSLR camera sensors (where the film used to be) are susceptible to dust spots. Dust sneaks in while changing a lens and I think under heavy zooming (on big zooms). These spots show up only in certain exposure conditions. But when they show up - it'll drive you nuts...

Here's a link full of way too much detail, if you want to read more - I didn't.

New Links, New Friends

Check out some new entries in my "Links" section, to the right. The Coverville and Jawbone Radio podcasts are two great shows. You'll hear covers better than the originals to your favorite songs. And check in with Len and Nora of Jawbone radio - voted best podcast in Cleveland. Yes, it reminds me of home. I'm usually not much for the unscripted podcast, but the dialogue between Len and Nora is quite entertaining.

The New and Improved yorkd is run by Bonnie's former colleague in New Hampshire. I'm getting some great advice from her on the baby (she just had her second child). She's also a photographer!

And in case you didn't notice, I added a beach photo from last week.

Soaking Up Sun

The beaches opened this weekend. Not that they were closed before, but now the lifeguards are on duty. So we spent the morning on the sand, thumbing through the Times and taking a few cheesy snapshots with the point n shoot camera. Until the humidity rolls in, it's quite comfortable at the beach, with the temperature in the mid 80's and a nice sea breeze.

Done baking, we headed home for lunch and a nap for Bonnie.

The afternoon led us to Target where we picked up Mario Kart for Wii. What a game! Nintendo is going to sell a boat load of this title. It's easy enough for anyone to pick up but has plenty of tricky courses to keep the more experienced players entertained.

And tomorrow it's back to work.

12 Weeks And Counting...

It's official.   We're pregnant!   She's due around Halloween.

We've got a lot to do to get ready.   The furniture is already on the move.   And baby books litter the coffee table.   The dad book I have is interesting - the basic message is do whatever she says for the next 9 months.   You'll have to ask Bonnie, but I think I'm making progress.  :) 

Stall Shortage

Sure, our office doesn't have an abundance of bathroom stalls.   But who knew some felt so strongly in our building?   Luckily, we're moving soon.   

Taking Aim

I've never fired a gun.  But after reading this opinion piece, I think it may be worth looking into.  Florida can be a rather strange place at times.   Knowing my fellow employees may be just an elevator ride away from opening fire, doesn't help.

Dumb Deer

While driving home late Saturday night from The Villages (after visiting Bonnie's parents), we had a close encounter with a deer.    Just before picking up I4, we both saw 2 deer streak across from the shoulder.   I hit the brakes hard, very hard.   It was quite a test of my 325's stopping power - and it passed.  

Anyway, I was telling my friends at work about the encounter.   Somehow we got to talking about hunting.   I mentioned that hunting just doesn't seem fair - the deer should at least get to fight back.   Apparently, if you're dumb enough to try to shoot one at point blank range - they do fight back.

Caught a 48 Hour Bug

Yep.   I woke up Friday with a scratch in my throat.   By Friday afternoon, I knew I was in trouble. Saturday, I slept the day away.   This morning we watched a few episodes of The Wire and then Bonnie was off to work.  Finally, the symptoms are starting to subside.  

Hopefully next weekend will be more enjoyable. 

Histograms

If you use a digital camera or even a basic photo editing program, you've probably stumbled on an image histogram.    Here's a great video to explain what it all means.

What to Charge

Having photographed 2 weddings in the past few months, I've realized that I need really think hard about my business model.   Specifically, I need to determine or prepare the following:

1. My going rate per hour
2. Print price list with maybe some print packages
3. Should I offer the original images for sale (or even low resolution versions), and what price
4. A standard service agreement/contract
5. A standard model release (in progress)

The most recent wedding I shot was very spur of the moment.  The bride, a coworker of mine, didn't have much time left, so we agreed on a basic price and I prepared an invoice for a few hours of service with some 4x6 prints.   She assumed this to mean the original images would be included in this sale price. And I assumed she knew everything else was extra - as noted at the bottom of the invoice.  Realizing our communication failure we discussed some options.   I'm amazed that so many people think they're entitled to anything the photographer shoots.   Getting the message out on copyright law is another issue.

Lots of work to do...

Number Three

To my surprise, I got my 3rd stripe on Monday.    It'll be a while though before the next one.  Only one more stripe and then a belt test...

Belt Testing

Yesterday I participated in a Jiu Jitsu belt testing session.  While I'm not ready for a new belt, just possibly an additional stripe (incremental progress).    I figured I'd give it a shot.    The session lasted a grueling  2 hours.    And I can't remember the last time I was this sore.   

First, we were tested on specific maneuvers.   That wasn't too bad although I did draw a blank on one question.    Then we moved to more drill based testing followed by full speed sparring sessions.    Surviving a long sessions depends on solid technique as good technical Jiu Jitsu shouldn't be very demanding in terms of strength (otherwise it's wrestling).    My conditioning was probably middle of the road, and being at a distinct size disadvantage against most of the students didn't help.    Towards the end, my heavier partners were just as fatigued as I was, but I had to deal with them rolling around on my chest.   

We get the results tomorrow.   I don't know if I'll have passed.   Having gone through it, I don't think I was ready.   But our Professor didn't stop me from testing.     And he was disappointed with much of the session.   I figure I'm only learning by the example of senior students...

MacBook Air & TSA

Apparently, the MacBook Air design is so good that some TSA employees didn't even believe it was a real computer.   

It sounds like they've got it figured out now.   I can only imagine how frustrating this would've been.

I had heard about the blog a few weeks ago.  A quick glance suggests it might actually be worth reading.   

Cloud Covered Fire in the Sky

We set an alarm for 2:15am hoping to catch a glimpse of the shuttle launch. But after stumbling out of bed, all we saw was an overcast sky to the east. With just a couple more years of shuttle launches, I want to try attend one.

iPhone Fun to Come

I'm sitting here watching today's iPhone SDK presentation.    SDK stands for software development kit.    Basically, Apple has created a programming environment that will allow people to create applications for the iPhone.   Some of the tech speak was beyond me, but the demoed sample software was pretty slick.   A few games were shown that use the full functions of the touch screen and accelerometer.   Nintendo Wii games came to mind.  Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a few Wii games converted to the iPhone platform. 

But games weren't the sole focus.   AOL IM was shown along with SalesForce marketing tools, and even Epocrates, a mobile drug guide for the health care industry (and the consumer). Check out their consumer lookup using the link.    

Apple is also going right after the Blackberry market with the announcement of a major behind the scenes infrastructure change to the phone.  If I'm able to use my phone for work I'm sure I'll prefer using using it over MS Outlook any day of the week.   I may even want to check my work email on the weekend.   Find me a full size keyboard, and I'll never use Outlook again. 

It's also great to see that all the new applications, which we'll start to see in June, will also be available on the iPod Touch.  

The growth for Apple may be just beginning.  

Sicko

Michael Moore never fails.   After each movie, I'm ready to move to Canada.   This one is no different.   But I hadn't thought about Cuba before.   Apparently, health care is top notch there.   The film ends with a bunch of 9-11 rescue workers traveling to Havana seeking health care. 

Sadly, I doubt our sorry state of health care will change any time soon.  

Sunny with highs in the 70's

We enjoyed this weekend at Shelby's, around the beach, or shopping at the Town Center (I continue to wonder what will support the high end shopping now that the luxury of cashing out home equity is no more).   The weather has been just perfect, a little cool in the evenings, but so comfortable in the sun during the day.   The searing heat is just around the corner, so we're trying to the make the best of the weather.

Bonnie heads off to St. Louis tomorrow for a class.   So I'll be holding down the fort.   I'll have plenty to keep me busy - a few books to page through, maybe a movie (Sicko should be arriving from Netflix soon), and with a wedding assignment next weekend, I'll be double checking my gear. 

The last few evenings we've been enjoying HBO's The Wire on DVD.  As Bonnie put it, "It's like Law and Order, but a little more raw."

Note:   I'm conducting a little survey on this page.   Be sure to vote!

2nd Stripe

With a touch less fanfare, I was awarded another stripe this evening. Now I might last a little more than a minute with a senior student.   There's still so much learn...  

Fill it up

At $3.25 today, gas is getting a little ridiculous.   Maybe I should've bought a Prius instead of a BMW.   I guess I'll just make the most of my growling combustion engine while I can still afford to fill the tank!

Thank Your English Teacher

Hopefully your understanding of the language isn't nearly as poor as these blogs like to highlight:

Apostrophe Abuse

lowecase L

Lunar Eclipse

I wasn't the only one to throw a few pictures up on Flickr of the eclipse tonight.    I took a quick glance at what I shot (since it's past my bed time) and picked two images.    Not bad, certainly not the worst two on Flickr.   Maybe I'll have a chance to play with them in Photoshop this weekend.  Goodnight!

Racing Around Florida

I'm just winding down after a very busy weekend. We attended a big wedding on Saturday for Bonnie's coworker. Bonnie sang during the ceremony so, we made an appearance at the rehearsal too (with dinner at the Casa Marina on Friday). The reception was held on the 35th floor of the Modis building right downtown. Dinner was wonderful and the view was great!

Today began at 5 this morning for me. I attended a Strobist lighting seminar in Orlando.   Learning the tricks  to enhance an otherwise dull photo with off camera lighting is great fun.   The seminar was simply a hands on consolidation and review of the fundamentals.     Seeing the setups in action is probably the best way to learn.     Now I've just got to keep practicing to hone my skill.

Luckily I didn't get held up by a little race held in Daytona today.   I was quite worried about the drive since the traffic was backing up at 7 this morning.   But it seems that race fans don't leave early so I was fine on the way home.

Lens Rental - Nikon 80-400mm

While spending over $1400 on a Nikon 80-400 VR lens would be fun, it just isn't very practical.  So I decided to rent one for a week.   If nothing else, I learned that it makes a lot more sense to spring for the Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR instead (which I rented last summer for the Tips From The Top Floor Workshop).     Both lenses are beefy by any standard.   But the 70-200 is a bit more versatile and slightly easier to handle.   I found the zoom ring on the 80-400 in a lousy position up against the tripod collar - zooming was tricky on or off the tripod.    While just as bulky, the 70-200 is significantly faster and accepts extension rings, which will get awfully close to 400 mm. 

That being said, I got some great shots at the zoo and beach over the weekend.  Shooting in aperture priority typically meant shooting wide open at the zoo.   I've just realized that I don't have any images in a mid range f stop, which should technically be sharper.  Wide open, the focus plane is razor thin.   Despite that challenge, I was able to nail the focus on several images. On an animal (or model), that's typically one or both eyes.

Hopefully I'll have a few of the beach shots posted tomorrow night.     

Google Apps at Work?

Yes! With this new version of Google Apps (watch the video), Google is clearly aware of people like me who loathe the productivity options available at our workplaces. Anyone working in even a small corporate environment knows software is updated less often than Microsoft releases a new version of Windows. But virus and security patches are made daily, which are installed without any thought to the productivity needs of the employees. 

Work with me for a week and you'll hear me complain about Outlook at least twice. At my work place, we're blessed with a whopping 70 megabytes of email storage, yes - 70 MEGABYTES. As of today, Gmail is granting me 6404 megabytes - FOR FREE! The worst part about Outlook is that when it comes to finding a particular message, well just don't bother because you won't find what you're looking for. Searching in Outlook is pathetically poor.

Perhaps Microsoft is finally getting the hint as evidence by its offer for Yahoo. In the meantime, I'll be giving Google Apps a serious shot.

First Stripe

Tonight I was awarded my first stripe in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu! It's the first mark of progress in a long road of training. Practically speaking, it means I might survive for a minute before being submitted by a more senior student.

Wedding Shoot

This past weekend I photographed a coworker's wedding. Another coworker and I tag teamed the photography. Going in with two photographers certainly takes the pressure off. While I've never had a memory card or camera fail, it can and does happen. So the extra support is always good insurance. It's been awhile since I served as the official photographer in a wedding. I certainly didn't forget how, if anything I found myself more aware of the technical opportunities (or shortfalls) throughout the evening.

I figured I'd jot down my observations and hopefully send a recorded message to Chris for his thoughts. My photos can be found here. I'm making an effort to show fewer images these days (show only your best work), but in this case I've uploaded just about everything I shot. These galleries are essentially servings as proofs. The selection also yields more potential sales since Smugmug offers a great E-commerce solution.

Photographing in and outside the church presented a few challenges. The first problem was the time of day. While the weather was fine, the sun set just about the time the ceremony began. This left me no time to shoot the bride and groom after the ceremony outside. My other wedding shoots left plenty of daylight for some fun with the bridal party - one of my favorites parts of shooting a wedding. So in this case I was left with about 45 minutes before the ceremony to cover posed images in the church of the groom and family. The time I did have outside with the groom was limited and under very harsh light. But Aperture does a pretty good job of shadow recovery - even with jpegs.

The larger problem was in the church. The lighting was a frustrating combination of two color temperatures. Warm spotlights lit the alter and cool fluorescents provided the ambient light. Strobes were necessary for just about all the shots. In fact, I should've experimented with the flash at longer ranges. With the subjects properly lit from the flash (at the flash white balance) the background white balance was very off (note the yellow color cast). What I should've done was bring my strobe gels and set the camera white balance appropriately. This would ensure a uniform color temperature from the majority of the lighting. Hindsight aside, Aperture was able to nail the white balance on the foreground subjects. Even with the background a little off, it's not overly distracting, I managed to get some good shots. And the clients are happy.

The support of another photographer allowed me to experiment a bit with off camera lighting during the post ceremony formals. I set up a light stand on either side of the camera. Nikon's wireless lighting system worked perfectly. Unfortunately, I placed the lights a bit too far from the camera. The result was harsh shadows on any image with more than a few people. I'll have to read up on the light placement for group shots. Otherwise, it was fun to experiment with a 'real' group and off camera lighting.

Lighting the reception was actually much easier than the church. With a flat white ceiling, I aimed the flash straight up. The result turned the ceiling into a great soft box. And I made great use of the trusty 50 mm 1.8 lens. The image quality of this lens has got me thinking about investing in a 2.8 zoom.

Post processing is still in progress. Even though Aperture is supposed to be one of the bet products for cranking through hundreds of images, the process is still painfully slow. My goal is to have all the images up by the weekend. Then I'll go through and select a portfolio of the best images.

HD Signal

Question - If the coaxial cable is the sole input feed to a HD cable box, how does the signal get better coming out using an HDMI cable? Even my favorite engineer couldn't tell me.

Mac Tutorials

Apple has put up a nice video tutorial sub site - impressive.

Trusty OS X

The hard drive installation went smoothly, but I realized this morning that Super Duper isn't quite Leopard ready yet. It's not clear if my previously mentioned transfer process would be safe. So I considered trying Time Machine, which should work as well. But it turns out my solution was tucked right in to the Leopard Disk Utility application. There's a Restore option which allows the duplication of bootable drive. That appears to have worked perfectly. I've run Aperture, Photoshop, Safari, Mail, and iTunes with no trouble.

If I knew adding drives were so easy, I would've upgraded months ago!

At Capacity

I'm in the process of adding a 750 gb hard drive to my Mac Pro. My photo library had recently pushed my current 250 gb drive to the limit. Hopefully this will hold me over for awhile.

Thanks to this article and the published guide from Apple, installing a new drive on a Mac Pro is insanely easy. Think of it like changing out memory cards in your camera, but with 4 simple screws. That's it. The drive was in and was instantly recognized. I then formated it and I'm waiting for the transfer process to finish thanks to SuperDuper.

I remember when a drive upgrade used to be a weekend project. Instead, I can spend the weekend out taking photos!

MacBook Air

If you haven't checked out this new machine, you're missing out on some incredible innovation. In typical Apple fashion, the product gets smaller and more elegant with each iteration. What's unique about this notebook though is that the specs aren't faster. While the clock speed, ram, and drive space are conservative it's clear that the target selling point is simply size (or lack of it). I've listened to a few reviews and I can't believe these guys continue to complain about what it doesn't have. One would think they understand how Apple thinks, but I guess not.

I don't take my 12" PowerBook out much. The most travel it sees is typically from the living room to the family room. It's seen a few airplane rides and enjoys a taste of the free WiFi at Panera, but generally it stays inside. In the last year, I've probably used the optical drive no more than 3 times - once to install Leopard. Apple solved that obstacle with the optical drive sharing software (it even works on a PC). The Ethernet jack has seen even less action. My point is that if my trusty PowerBook wasn't still cranking away, a MacBook Air would be perfect. The 13" screen and backlit keyboard seals the deal. For the serious horsepower and photo work, my Mac Pro picks up where the smaller machine leaves off. And with the screen sharing in Leopard I can control my Mac Pro from the couch.

Why these guys don't get the bigger picture is beyond me. They'll probably all buy one anyway - because that's what they do (buy stuff and complain about it). Otherwise, they'd have no show.

Old Photos in a New Format

The Library of Congress is now using Flickr to display its photo collections. I just took a quick look, there's a lot of history in these images!

Funny French Lakes

It's back to the office tomorrow for me. Bonnie gets the day off. Why my line of work doesn't observe MLK day is beyond me. After the new year the holiday drought lasts until Memorial Day.

My trip out west was good but cold. Mid week, we started out at about 4 degrees. My travels took me through 3 states in a week - Washington, Idaho, and a slice of Montana. Here's a few photos. Probably the most interesting sights were the two major lakes along my route. Lake Pand Oreille, which we saw from Sandpoint, Idaho, was beautiful. What amazed me was the fact that this lake is over 1100 feet deep in some places! The great depths make this lake a unique area suitable for military submarine testing. Not much was happening on the lake now, but it looks like a hip place in the summer. Also of interest was Lake Coeur D'Alene, home to an impressive resort with golf (with a floating green), boating, and skiing.

Heading North

Northwest actually. This evening, I'm traveling to Spokane, Washington for work. What better time of the year to connect through Minneapolis than mid January? The weather doesn't look too bad today though, so hopefully the flights will be on time.

I'll also see a bit of northern Idaho - specifically Coeur D'Alene and Lewiston. The sights should be stunning as I'm looking for some good photo ops.

Who's The Boss?

If you're someone's boss, here's a guide to see how you measure up. And if you're not lucky enough to have someone to do your work, this guide tells you what you probably already know about the person in charge of your raise.

Affording Those Toys

Here's a great essay on affording those expensive hobbies. Ken Rockwell can be a little long winded, but his advice is usually pretty solid. I keep meaning to do a bit of personal finance on this blog, this is some great inspiration.