Worldwide Photo Walk - Dunedin, FL

OK the last post wasn't the most timely since it was announced three weeks ago but it was the easiest way to segway to this post.  I was chosen to be a Worldwide Photo Walk leader and will be leading the walk through downtown Dunedin, FL on July 24th from 10:30-12:30.  While not the most exotic location on the planet, it does have that small town charm with a Farmers Market and a Marina.  Feel free to join us since all the celebrity (Scott Kelby and crew) led walks are booked full and you would still like to meet other photographers and take lots of photos.  You can signup here.  http://worldwidephotowalk.com/walk/dunedin-fl-united-states/

Scott Kelby Hosts Third Annual Worldwide Photo Walk

TAMPA, FL – June 1, 2010 – On Saturday, July 24, 2010, the whole world will be walking again with Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and #1 bestselling computer and technology book author, in the Third Annual Worldwide Photo Walk™.
Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk is the world’s largest global social photography event in the history of photography itself. It takes place on the same day around the world where photographers of all walks of life and skill levels gather together, usually in downtown areas to socialize, learn new tips from each other, and explore their corner of the world through photograph
“In 2008, we had 241 walks,” said Scott Kelby, founder of NAPP, editor-in-chief of Photoshop User magazine, and president of Kelby Media Group. “Last year, we had over 900 walks with over 32,000 photographers participating. We did the math… your average photographer will take upwards of 300 photos during a photo walk. That means that nearly 10 million pictures were taken in that one single day that may never had happened otherwise. I think that’s pretty cool and we all can’t wait to see what happens this year.”

There is no fee to participate but pre-registration is required. Just go to the Worldwide Photo Walk site, find a walk near you, and join in on the fun. If there is no Photo Walk in your area feel free to register to lead a walk of your own.

Anyone can participate too. All you need is a camera. It doesn’t even matter what kind of camera either. People have showed up with disposables in the past, had a blast, and left with a new appreciation for photography.

How Would You Fix The Economy

This was sent to me by a friend and it made chuckle so I had to post it here.

There recently was an article in the St.. Petersburg Fl. Times. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on: "How Would You Fix the Economy?"I think this guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President,
Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage Housing Crisis fixed.

It can't get any easier than that!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes...

Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare.. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!

Passwords Hacked at RockYou

Not really sure why everyone thinks this is the Holy Grail of password analysis for hackers and so sensationalized. Who cares? This is just a little dumpy app that no one really cares if it is that secure or not. Oh my! Someone might hack it and change my song choice or pix. Not important at all and the lame password choices reflect that. I used RockYou and had a crummy password I could remember easily. Would I use that same password on my Google accounts or bank accounts? Absolutely not and neither would most people. Are there people out there who could use a little education on password security - yes. That would make a more useful story than some stupid app that could be hacked.

Long Overdue Update

As some of you know I have had to deal with an issue with my right eye. It has been just over a year since that happened. My eye has improved about 20%. Enough promise to have my eye injected with steroids again. At some point I will need to have cataracts removed because of the eventual side effects of the steroids. I gained a lot of weight laying around depressed and last summer started taking care of myself again. I exercise and pay attention to product labels now. I've gone from 252# down to 206#. My current goal is 185-190# based on how I look when I get there. I have pretty much gotten past the depression stage from my eye issue. I have become left eye dominant in the process and started (finally) carrying my camera around again. I'm not shooting everyday but I will as the weather gets better. My head is in a better place than it was over the past year. Thanks to my wife for her support. L8R

Getting Off Track

Wow - I haven't posted for over two months - talking about getting off track. It's easy to do when things go wrong for you one right after the other. I haven't made an exact list but I guess now is a good time to make one.

1. My wife's was in a car accident (she was OK) which was not her fault but her SUV is totalled. The SUV was almost paid off and still had a warranty. So much for not having a car payment for a year or two. We got a replacement vehicle but are essentially starting over payment wise and with a newer vehicle that costs us a lttle more per month than the previous payment. $$$

2. My first generation HDTV finally died and needed replacing. $$$

3. My cell phone fell apart and it needed replacing. $$$

4. My house in the Philippines got flooded from a storm and ruined all the furniture and appliances. $$$

5. It also affected my relatives in the Philippines and we sent them money to help out during this disaster. $$$

6. Now it only gets worse. My wife's step mother dies from a stroke. Probably from all the stress from the events that happened there.

7. I had to purchase last minute at the height of travel season tickets to the Philippines for the funeral. A ticket costs more that twice the normal rate plus travel expenses. We also helped pay some of the funeral costs. $$$

8. One of my good friends dies suddenly. We are still waiting for the autopsy report weeks later to find out exactly what happened. He was only in his forties.

9. My daugher is serving in Iraq and we are taking care of her cat. The cat quit eating and drinking. The cat was in so much pain he made a noise for each exhalation and was vomitting from the pain. I could not get into any of the local vets at all that day and had to take the cat to the Emergency Animal Hospital. The cat almost died from a blocked urinary tract. Luckily he is OK now. $$$

10. My Quadro FX3500 card on my graphic workstation started having issues in Vista due to a firmware issue. PNY sent me the latest BIOS to try as soon as I get some free time.

11. My pressure washer died and had to be replaced because my driveway seriously needed to be cleaned. $$$

12. My wife came back from the Philippines with the flu or something so I took care of her while she was ill.

That's all I can remember for now. Things can only get better at this point. I will dedicate some time to get things back on track such as this blog, my website, etc. I did get some time to design the business card pictured above. I didn't post the back since a bunch of text on the back of a business card would be a little boring to look at. Well enough for this post. I've got some ideas for speeding up tethering a camera to Lightroom.

Pooch Pix

I got a kick out of this dog in Orlando who not only thought he was cool, but loved to ham it up for the camera. If I could just get the same enthusiasm from photographing family members.

;-)

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did taking it. I got pictures with the dog's wheelchair bound owner after asking permission. She gave me permission and thanked me for being polite enough to ask because most people don't. If you photograph from a distance permission isn't usually required but when in close photographing someone. . . be polite and ask.

That's all I've got for today. I'll work on getting some real content here soon.