New iPhone

I lost my iPhone on Thanksgiving day. The real story is someone stoled it. It cost me $630 to replace it. Totally sucks but I need my iPhone. Its just like my laptop, got to have it. Can't live without it. I use my laptop to edit photos, keep updated on news and world events, watch TV on it and I use it for work daily. Amazing that my life revolves around this thing. I'll probably buy a MacPro for home next year and a Mac Mini to leave at work. This will eliminate the need to constantly open the laptop at work and at home. With SugarSync I'll always be in sync with all computers so no need to worry about not having the latest info on one of the machines.

I'm so bored I want to go back to work already.

_Vince

Staying Busy

I hate that I don't post as much as I want to. I always have things I want to share and talk about but it seems like I don't have time. This is not good. Too many things are happening in my life and I really want to share it. So I'll be making a conservative effort to blog more.

Anyways, so lets see. Some idiot ran into me on the freeway while I was riding my motorcycle. I didn't go down and I wasn't hurt that bad. Just bruised. I won't bother going after him for money because by the looks of him, he didn't have any. The dent in the side of his car will remind him to look out for bikers in the future.

I'm planning on going for a vacation in February. This is the first time ever that I will actually plan a real vacation. I won't talk about it much right now, just know that it won't be a vacation in this country. By the way, I might be going to San Francisco in a couple of weeks. Anyone want to go?? Hint, Hint??

The shot above was taken at the Miami Art Basel in 2007. Its just a snapshot but its very interesting. While I was there, I learned that there is a whole different world when it comes to selling photographs, sculpture and paintings. Photos like this can sell for thousands of dollars. I saw a photograph taken with a large format camera that wasn't interesting at all. It sold for $100,000.

I've been reading the books you recommended.

_Vince

Groovejet

This song takes me back a few years. I remember when I bought this CD. This song reminds me of when I went to Amsterdam for work. It was a totally different environment. In Europe this type of music is very popular. In fact its played there long before it gets here. Sophie is beautiful.

_Vince

eSata

I'm in a good mood. My usual Sunday mornings start by grabbing some coffee and reading on the internet. As I was reading, I looked over at my 1Tb drive and realized I need to fire it up because its been sitting for a while. I have another small portable drive used for Time Machine but I need a bootable drive at home. I haven't used it in a while because my PCI Express port stopped working after I installed Snow Leopard. Well today I decided to try to get it working....again. Last time I looked for the manufacturers website it wasn't there. Today it was. I found the driver I needed, downloaded it and it worked! Awesome!! Now I can utilize the 1Tb drive and its going to be really fast.

_Vince

Comic Relief

This makes me laugh! I've been really busy with work and personal projects lately. Sometimes I feel like I'm putting to much stress on myself but there is no other option.

_Vince

Lord of the Ants

Watching Hulu. I'll be asleep before this program is over. Never fails.

_Vince

Olivia

She is so adorable. I wish I had a daughter just like her.

_Vince

Starbucks_The Way I See It #17

The world bursts at the seems with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no"- they may not be smart enough to say "yes".

_Keith Olbermann

Herb Alpert

This song is so cool. I keep listening to it over and over. Even while I'm riding my motorcycle.

Sometimes the videos I choose have something to do with photography. Sometimes it can be creative lighting, filters or just the concept of the video that make it cool enough for me to want to share it. I love music and the instruments in the song are awesome.

You'll notice the photographer shooting a Nikon film camera. Like I do.

Someone needs to teach those people how to dance.

_Vince

School On Wheels

Last year I watched a documentary on homeless children in Los Angeles. I was immediate intrigued by the video and the stories that were being told. It was sad to see these kids who had a hard life and who struggled everyday. Kids who live in shelters, in cars with their parents or even on the streets. Going to school without eating breakfast or having clean clothes. Stepping over homeless adults sleeping on the streets. Walking through skid row to get to school. It especially hit me hard when they showed a little girl crying because she was embarrassed to tell her friends that she lived in a homeless shelter.

I did some research on the non-profit organization that was featured on the show called School On Wheels. The organization was founded by a retired school teacher named Agnes Stevens. She decided to start an after school program for homeless children. The program offers young students help with their homework as well as a safe place to learn after school. Although the kids and families are going through hardships, the ultimate goal is to keep the kids focused on learning and their education. The tutoring is on a volunteer basis.

It wasn't long after I did my research that I realized I wanted to volunteer. I had to take a class and pass a LifeScan check. Only took about 2 weeks and I was accepted. I've been volunteering for 1 year now. Last March, my student and I were awarded student and tutor of the month! Makes me feel good when I help the kids out. I've worked with 2 kids so far. On the day I volunteer, I never know if its the last time I'm going to see the student. The parents can take their kids out of the program at any time. Because of the difficult situation the families are in, they may not stay in one place too long. If they do move on, my only hope is that the kids I tutored continue to work on their education no matter which way their life turns.

This is the first time I'm sharing this with everyone. Not even my family knows I've been volunteering. Hopefully talking about it will get someone motivated to volunteer or donate.

_Vince

Brothers

Miss you Steve.

Yellow Flower

D2x_F3.5_1/125th_ISO200

I've edited this photo before. I just thought I do a tighter crop to see more of the flower. I used a 1:1 crop in Lightroom.

_Vince

Amelia's Kids

Had a great time shooting Amelia's kids today! I almost forgot how much work it is running after kids and trying to get their attention. I also had a chance to shoot the kids with their Grandmother who is visiting from Indonesia. Had a great time as usual.

_Vince

Trust Me

Nikon F5, 400ASA Film

Click on the photo for a larger view.

Random Thoughts

Well here I am. Lots of things going on. I'll start with this: I recently replaced the hard drive in my MBP. I have about 300 gigs stored on external drives. It was ok but when I needed to get to my files, I'd have to take my portable drive out, plug it in and go find the file. Not anymore. Now everything is stored on my laptop. I should have done this a while ago. Its a 7200 rpm 500 gig drive. I can access all of my data immediately. Awesome.

For those of you who want or need to clone your hard drive for back up purposes or to do a hard drive swap, I highly recommend SuperDuper!, Carbon Copy Cloner or the Disk Utility that comes with a Mac. PC users go away. For those who have an Intel MB or MBP, before you use SuperDuper! or CCC, you MUST format the drive for GUID. I had a hard time figuring this out but for whatever reason, this is the only way that the drive will be recognized as a bootable drive. Otherwise, its just a drive with files on it. Read this for more info.

I'm a Mac user. My day job uses database programs that can only be accessed using Windows software. So I have to use Windows along side the Mac. I am using VMware Fusion software running windows. It works well and allows me to get my job done. That said, I am using a Beta Version of Windows 7. Its much nicer than XP Pro. I also like how the windows show all of the drives and folders to quickly navigate to. Just like a Mac. Microsoft sure knows how to copy Apple. A few things I like about Windows7. It is fast. Files and folders seem right there in front of me with very little navigating. I know I said a few things but thats all I can think of.

I'm obsessed with Backup/Sync programs right now. I still haven't figured out a solution for quickly syncing folders to the cloud between hard drive back ups. SugarSync is a cool program and it seems to do the job. Only problem is pushing huge photo files up every time I shoot is impossible. I will take hours to do. So for now I just need to keep plugging in and backing up when I can.

_Vince

D2x_F2.8_1/1000th_400 ISO

Doesn't this guy look like he's playing football? He was waiting for me to make a move.

Just to show you how my life is sometimes strange, five minutes ago I downloaded a program on my iPhone. The program allows me to view files in my iDisk and send files from my iPhone. Thought this program would be cool because you can't do that on the iPhone yet. So I paid $.99 for it and it was loaded in no time. As soon as I did that, I read a RSS feed in my Mail inbox from Apple that told me, Apple now has an iDisk app for the iPhone that does the same thing. What the hell? If I knew that sooner, I wouldn't of downloaded the other program. Why does my life work this way?

_Vince

Back at it

D2x_ F6.3_1/200th_100 ISO

I never know how to title these post. Downtown L.A. as usual. Shooting whatever is interesting. Click on the photo for a bigger view.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you. You know who you are. Here's something to make you laugh. I can watch this video over and over forever.

_Vince

Michael Jackson Photos

Ok I guess I'm jumping on the band wagon here. I came across some photos of Michael and thought they were interesting.

Click here to view.

_Vince

San Pedro cliff

I've been using Aperture more and I really like it. Its fast and fun to use. I've noticed that Blogger tends to desaturate the photo a bit. So I have to over saturate the photo when I blog so it looks right. Shot with the D2x and 70-200 2.8VR.

_Vince