Dave Coley - PhotoGraphic Arts

Worldwide Photo Walk - Dunedin, FL

2010-06-22T19:13:00.001-04:00

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

2010-06-22T17:50:00.000-04:00

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

2010-02-08T11:28:00.003-05:00

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

2010-01-21T15:11:00.003-05:00

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

2010-01-20T15:04:00.006-05:00

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

2008-08-21T13:19:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-30T15:51:00.003-04:00

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.

Angela's Pix from the Sandbox

2008-05-29T14:02:00.003-04:00

My daughter Angela's Christmas last year actually occurred this past January. It was the halfway point of her Army tour of Iraq. I gave her a Nikon Coolpix. A few months later she has started posting pictures from the desert on her MySpace page. I'm happy to see any pix of her showing that she is OK physically and mentally. I'm sure one day she will appreciate having a camera to remind her of the past and her accomplishments.

Ansel Adams

2008-05-20T12:00:00.002-04:00

Ansel Adams photographed Yosemite National Park every year from the age of fourteen until his death. Check out the slide show at the New York Times as narrated by Adams' own assistant. Enjoy it here - http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/04/27/travel/20080427_YOSEMITE_FEATURE.html#

Catching Up

2008-04-13T20:13:00.003-04:00

As usual I didn't have time to post when I wanted but its time to make up for lost posts. Let's start with the Photowalk in Orlando. Thanks Jeff Revell for organizing a good time.

http://www.revellphotography.com/blog/

Photoshop World Orlando Day 1

2008-04-02T23:38:00.003-04:00

What an exhausting first day. The keynote movie was great with a Star Trek theme. I'm in the middle of figuring out my schedule for tomorrow. I would put up some pics but I left my CF card reader at home in Clearwater. Unless I get a spare at the show, pictures will have to wait untill I get back next week.

Photowalk Orlando

2008-04-02T23:33:00.004-04:00

Arrived in Orlando yesterday and joined in the Photowalk put together by Jeff at photowalkpro.com. We did about two miles around some classic parts of Orlando. It was a great time and when I get a chance (after Photoshop World) I'll get some pictures up here and at the Photowalk Flicker site.

Angela in Action

2008-03-03T00:30:00.004-05:00

Here is a pic I took of my daughter Angela at the Dunedin Brewery in Jan 2008. She was home on leave at the halfway mark of her tour in Tikrit, Iraq. Adjustments were made in both Lightroom and Photoshop. Nikon D200 with an 80mm f/1.8 Nikon prime lens shot in available light only. ISO 1250 f/2.8 @ 1/125 to stop the action. Wish I had a D3 ;-)

Shame on the City of Berkeley

2008-02-17T02:48:00.005-05:00

Their recent decision to say the Marines are not welcome in their city is unbelievable. And then they have the audacity to give a parking space to the Code Pink war protesters right in front of the recruiting station to harass our military as they perform their assigned duties is despicable. Here is the letter I sent to the mayor and the representatives of all eight of their districts.

What is wrong with you people? If you have a problem with the war then take your anger out on Washington and the current administration. We have free speech and you can protest the war all you want. The reason you even have the free speech is because of our brave men and women of the military. They will gladly lay down their lives so you can say what you want and live in a free society. They are citizens too and deserve to perform their duties with harassment. Allowing Code Pink to camp out and harass our military personnel is just wrong. The citizens of the United States of America can make up their own mind if they want to defend our country or not. It is not up to some fascist Berkeley regime to decide. Citizens are free to choose. If you don't want your own children to join the military then teach them that lesson in your own home. A home that our military would protect without question. You should be welcoming our brave military with open arms instead of sending out signals these brave Americans are not welcome in an American city. What about the military men and women who grew up in your city, went to it's schools, etc. and are now out doing their assigned duties in another state or foreign land in the military? Are they not welcome back home to Berkeley either? Shame on you for being so irresponsible in a position of power. I hope to God that none of you get re-elected.

Dave Coley

And if this type of abuse to our brave members of the Armed Forces angers you, feel free to write these people. I just happen to have their names and email addresses handy.

Mayor:Tom Bates mayor@ci.berkeley.ca.us
District 1:Linda Maio lmaio@ci.berkeley.ca.us
District 2:Darryl Moore dmoore@ci.berkeley.ca.us
District 3:Max Anderson manderson@ci.berkeley.ca.us
District 4:Dona Spring spring@ci.berkeley.ca.us
District 5:Laurie Capitelli lcapitelli@ci.berkeley.ca.us
District 6:Betty Olds olds@ci.berkeley.ca.us
District 7:Kriss Worthington kworthington@ci.berkeley.ca.us
District 8:Gordon Wozniak gwozniak@ci.berkeley.ca.us

Tuesday's Postings

2008-02-05T10:32:00.000-05:00

Joe McNally is probably one of the most unique photography generalist on the planet. With endorsements from Nikon and a resume including National Geographic and Life magazines he has obviously has the skills we could all learn from. He recently started blogging last month and I would bet that this will become a valuable resource to the photography community. http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/ Joe has also released a new book called "The Moment It Clicks". My copy is on the way so look for a review of this very soon.

I've been busy working around the house working on our kitchen (current valid excuse) but I'm planning to upload some pictures tonight.

Fair Tax (sorry no photo stuff today)

2008-02-01T12:13:00.000-05:00

The Fair Tax movement is probably one of the most important things that could happen to our country today.

Imagine life without the IRS breathing down your neck and still wanting more of your dwindling paycheck after paying them all year long. Imagine life without the publication to figure out the publication to figure out one small section on an ever growing tax form. Imagine the billions of dollars the government wastes from having the IRS in place today because it is so overly complicated - just get rid of the IRS and all it's money wasting bureaucracy. Yes, life minus the IRS would be much easier and one less wasted expense.

Because you have a job and pay taxes you are automatically paying for everybody else that isn't just so the government can meet their budget. Illegal immigrants, under the table wage earners, drug dealers, etc. You get the idea. With the Fair Tax that pimp is paying federal taxes on his new fur brimmed hat. The drug dealer pays federal taxes on his new Mercedes or yacht. Everybody who buys new goods is contributing for a change and not just you the law abiding citizen. Imagine a fatter paycheck to take home. I can and with a little more knowledge maybe you can too. See the Fair Tax banner in the links section to learn more.

Well . . .

2008-01-26T03:17:00.000-05:00

A lot of things have happened since my last post. My daughter Angela is home for a visit from Iraq. She is there with the Army and is currently half-way through her tour of duty. She leaves Monday to go back.

Wednesday she and her gal pal JoAnn played at the Dunedin Brewery on open mic night. I took pics and I'll be uploading them into Lightroom shortly. They were awesome despite the issues the house announcer/mixer kept causing. He couldn't maintain levels without feedback and even sang along (he had a mic) which had everybody in the house wondering where the male voice was coming from with two girls on stage. Still a great time though. I'll post a pic or two from there tomorrow.

Our family has always had a keen interest in the arts. Angela wanted to go to the Salvidor Dali Museum so Lyn and I took her. His surrealist paintings are for lack of a better word "trip". Dali knew Picasso and had even worked with Walt Disney. We've all been there a couple times before. They rotate exhibits from the gallery in New York and from other places as well. If you have never been I highly recommend a visit there when you are anywhere St. Petersburg here in Florida. http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/home.html

Merry Christma-Kwanza-Hana-mas

2007-12-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas or appropriate greeting for whatever your religious beliefs may be. Most importantly - have a safe holiday.

Update

2007-12-19T23:46:00.000-05:00

Sorry! No posts for a few days - the flu has kept me pretty sick since the beginning of the week. I'll try to get a real post up in a day or two.

CSS headaches . . .

2007-12-15T13:21:00.000-05:00

I thought I would update the look of the blog pages today. Hmm... takes a lot longer than you think it will when learning to manually code CSS. A lot of learning to make small minor changes. Reminds me why I decided not to pursue Cobol for a living back in the 90's when even though that would have been the highest paying skill I possessed at the time.

Since I was already remembering the past today I decided to post yet another item from the past. 2004 was the year that Photoshop became a real passion and not just a tool anymore. This poor girl became many things while I was practicing my new found skills. Snake Girl became my favorite of the bunch. My reminder for today of why graphics and photography are so much more rewarding that programming would have been.

Miami Beach

2007-12-14T00:08:00.000-05:00

Last month my wife and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary. We decided to go to South Beach to hit the clubs, stay at a hotel in the historic Art Deco district and wander around sightseeing. My wife isn't from Florida so we did the "tourist thing" in her behalf and stayed pretty busy.

I didn't have time to spend on practicing real photography since the purpose of the trip was to spend time together. But a man with a Nikon Addiction never leaves home with out some gear - you know for umm snapshots of the trip. Yeah, that's it . . . snapshots. Anyway here is a picture of some MIMO (Miami Modern) architechture from the Duck Tour around the beach and islands. A duck is an all terrain bus/boat so we were constantly moving. HOT TIP: Nikon's VR in Active Mode is a wonderful thing in a moving vehicle. Add a little post processing and your done. To all you in camera purist who say you don't post process - yeah right. Even Ansel Adams used post processing extensively. "Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships."-Ansel Adams.

Well enough for today. Remember to learn something new everyday even if its not photography. Feel free to leave me constructive feedback, tips, or comments.

Look . . . I posted today!

2007-12-13T14:04:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of trying to post regularly I thought I would at least hammer out a line or two and post some of my old work.

"Surfing Australia" (2004) was a practice piece combining the use of a mask I made from a map of Australia and some grid lines. They were based off of tutorials from either Photoshop User Magazine or their website. Whenever you do a tutorial on a technique you should repeat the exercise using your own elements from scratch. Many times you can combine several and come up with new ways to do things.

Those wishing to further their graphic and photo skills should consider joining the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). A link to them is on the sidebar. The membership gets you access to their website, magazine, tons of tutorials, reviews and numerous discounts on products and services. These are the same folks that bring you the world famous PhotoshopTV podcasts. Highly Recommended!

Too many sites . . . so little time.

2007-12-12T15:46:00.000-05:00

One of these days I'll get this blog in order. My goal is to discuss photography and Photoshop techniques used in some of my work so check back sometime soon.

I put links to my photography website and MySpace page. One day soon I'll actually get those finished too. I'll put a direct link to my gallery after I add a little more content.

My daughter's website (another one to do) is linked as well. If you are in need of an experienced model in the Tampa Bay area - send her an email. She is very photogenic and patient. That is her composited on the CD label above I did for a DJ's demo disc around two years ago. I was the photographer and composite artist. The backdrop is a repainted Ybor City scene combined with Elle and the DJ's car which was shot in the freezing cold rain under a causeway bridge in Clearwater, FL. Car graphics were added when the city scene was repainted. Unfortunately I attended Burt Monroy's graphics seminar after I made this. He is the master of neon lights and Photoshop.

Enough for now. Check back soon for updates.

Blog Day One

2007-11-21T11:44:00.000-05:00

Day one of my new blog. Check back soon for some content.