Photography Workshop

Today, I went down to Orange County for a workflowshop with Matt Saville. I had a great time and it was fun meeting some other photographers. Matt had invited a model to come by the class so we could practice some of the techniques. Here is one of my pictures of Rachel.

Playing with Photo Gear

This evening, Steve came by my house. He brought his new Canon T1i and I showed him how to use some of the feature on his camera. It also gave me the chance to try out my new lights.

OC SmugMug Meeting

[b]ecker was the guest speaker at last nights OC (Orange Country) SmugMug Meeting. He talked about passion and profits. The Costa Mesa Country Club lets the group use their banquet room, but the group has to be out by 8:30 p.m. Here's a picture I took with my iPhone, but if you check out Jasmine Star's blog, she has much better pictures. I sat next to Troy Gover and his fiance. They were "models" for one of Jasmine's workshops. I'm starting a list on the right for blogs of the people I meet at the OC Meetings.

At the end of his presentation, [b]ecker, said that there was a Cold Stone Creamery a couple miles away and he would buy ice cream for anyone that stopped by. I'm guessing that about 60-75 (if the 250 people) stopped by for ice cream. Yes, the will power I displayed earlier in the evening at Whole Foods (and when they had desserts at the meeting) just vanished and I enjoyed some butterscotch icecream with some Butterfinger, Reese Cup and Carmel mixed it...it was displayed on a huge picture as tall as me, an looked soooo yummy...and it was. I met some great people and it was fun to talk with other who were there.

Whole Foods Market

Last night, I went to the monthly Orange County Photographers meeting in Costa Mesa. I had remembered reading about a Whole Foods Market that was in the Newport area, so Bob checked out the location and directed me on how to get there. I enjoyed walking around and couldn't resist talking pictures with my iPhone of these muffins and fruit tarts...but I did resist buying any.

Yeti - The Maltese

Last night, I went to David and Anne's and got to see Yeti again...all 2 1/2 pounds. Here's a few pictures that I downloaded from David's Facebook page.

Surprise

Last week, I ordered Bob a surprise gift of a photograph that he took of me laying on a park bench when he was here. It was a 16x20 mounted photograph on 1/2" board with a black border. It arrived at his house today. He was really excited with the gift and he sent me a picture of it sitting in front of his fireplace. He didn't realize he was photographer!

Cheese Lovers...

How much would you pay for this cheese? It is described as, "Organic Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is produced in the mountains of Italy under the most idyllic of conditions. The beautiful red Alpine cows, all born and raised on the farm, roam acres of pristine alfalfa fields breathing fresh mountain air. We think their rich milk is the key to what makes their Parmigiano sweeter, more moist, and lower in salt than many others. Amazing crumbled over salads, spectacular shaved over a steaming bowl of pasta." Is your mouth watering yet? It's pretty pricey at $26.25lb...but they do offer free Express Shipping!!!

The only problem is, that you may want to find 79 friends to share it with as it is only sold in an 80lb wheel at the cost of $2,100. Yes, I'm serious...check out Dean and Deluca here to see this cheese and other treats, such as $150 cakes!

Mac vs. PC

It's taking some time getting used to my new Mac. I do like the keyboard and am enjoying the fun features in iLife 2009 such as face recognition and gps places. It's amazing how accurate the face recognition is...although I did have a good laugh when it brought up a plate of Italian food and asked if it was a certain friend who I'll let remain annonymous.

I didn't realize I was adjusting to the touch mousepad as fast as I am until I was on my other laptop and kept hitting the sensory pad to "select" instead of the click buttons on the PC. But I am still learning, as sometimes I try to use two hands on it (like my PC) and end up usually enlarging the images on the screen before I realize what I'm doing.

The documents explorer that's on the PC is something I miss and haven't figured out how to do some of the moving around of files that I did on the PC. I also can't remember how to open more than one Safari (web) page on the Mac. My Picasa also seems to work differently on the Mac...not as user friendly, or maybe I just have to do things differently.

Overall, I do like the Mac, but will be happy when I know how to use it in my sleep like a PC.

New Canon T1i

This evening, I went over to Steve's house as his new Canon T1i arrived yesterday...Canon's latest DSLR. What a great camera. A lot of the features were similar to my DSLR so it was easy to show him how to use different functions. One really neat feature that he has is HD video capabilities. We tested it out doing a couple panorama's around his family room and it did really clear pictures. It will be a wonderful camera for him.

Tapas Fundraiser Dinner

This evening, Bob and I went up to the church for a School Fundraiser. It was a Tapas dinner which consists of appetizer portions of several dishes. There was some great food. The cannolis were delicious as Kevin, the Cordon Bleu Chef (from church) makes them from scratch...including the ricotta cheese. Yummy!

Before dinner, Bob and I went to the storage facility and put the cover on the RV. What an ordeal. Not so much fun being on top of a 12 foot (???) high RV with the wind blowing. At one point, I just sat on the cover to keep it from blowing off. There also weren't directions with the cover, so as we were unrolling it, we had to turn the 40'x12' section for the roof with 10'-11' drop down sides around a couple of times. We finally got the cover on...hopefully the wind won't blow it away!

More Weekend Fun!

Here are a few more pictures from a fun weekend. On Sunday, we drove down to Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. What a great area...great views (can see Catalina Island on a clear day), nice gardens, the Trump National Golf Club, cliffs next to beaches and the area isn't crowded. As always, you can double click on a picture or collage to enlarge it.

Malibu, CA

Today, Bob and I went to church in Malibu. After church, we drove up a hill at the top of Pepperdine University. What a beautiful day.

In the evening, we went to Giovanni Ristorante Italiano. We had Caprese salad, fresh Gnocchi Loren with pesto sauce and toasted pine nuts. Best of all was the Sacchetti Black Truffle...little pasta bundles of past, filled with truffle mushrooms and four cheeses. Then covered with a great sauce, spinach and fresh Parmesan cheese...very, very delicious!

Work First, Then Just Dessert

Today, we put the license plate on the RV. Then we took it to a carwash so it would be clean when the cover gets put on it in storage. The car wash was quite an experience. Bob used the power washers while I alternated between feeding the quarter gobbling machine and driving the RV forward and backward. At one point, the air pressure got low on the air brakes, preventing me from driving the RV either backward or forward. Bob was calling for me to move it, but it wouldn't budge. I couldn't hear instructions over the noise of the water and engine, and then the machine ran out of quarters, so the job was forced to be done. After dinner, we enjoyed some wonderful Haagen-Dazs five mint ice cream. Wow! What creamy, smoothe and refreshing ice cream.

Great Company, Food and Toys

Bob arrived today and we went to dinner at PF Changs for a great meal. He had a surprise for me and gave me a gift of a light meter for photography metering. I've never used one before, but Bob showed me how to used it as I took a picture of the delicious lettuce wrap appetizer. He also brought my Apple computer (from NC) which I'm using for the first time with this post. What fun to try out the new toys.

Cute Puppy

Today, I met David and Anna's new 12 week old Maltese. They just brought it home yesterday. She was so soft, tiny (2 1/2 pounds) and snuggly. Photos are with my iPhone, so the resolution isn't the best.

MacBook Pro

Today, I finally decided which Apple Computer to go with...the MacBook Pro with the 17" screen and an 8 hour battery. Bob picked it up today in NC, so I won't actually get it until next weekend. He's wondering if I'll be more excited to see him or the Mac when he arrives! I can't believe I'm transitioning away from my comfort world of PC over to Mac. It will be exciting to try it out, but I know they'll be a learning curve.

Sheila Goes Home

Steve is back from New Zealand/Australia, so this evening he came to get Sheila. He brought me couple Christmas ornaments from his trip.

The Lights Arrived

Hurray! My Photogenic light kit arrived today..in three big boxes. I have no idea how they work, or what to do with them, but I had fun unpacking them and setting them up. The Larson lightboxes fit perfectionly with them. I was surprised how big they were. I tried testing out the light on a couple of self portraits which was difficult as I couldn't see where to shine the lights to get the best effect. I need some "models" to test on!

Desert Living

A great thing about about living in the desert is being able to see such beautiful sunrises (as posted before) and beautiful sunsets (as pictured below). I took this with my iPhone this evening, so it doesn't capture the full beauty, but it does show some of the pretty colors.

Professional Lighting

Today, I ordered some professional photolights to use with my soft boxes. Hurrah! I finally decided on a kit. I can hardly wait to get them later this week.