Design Challenges

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Viva Las Vegas

Great designs are something that folks look upon in astonishment and amazement. There is no greater design than that created by Mother Nature. I just flew in to Vegas for the 2009 Parker College Chiropractic Seminar and had a great experience with my flight. I can honestly say that this has been the best experience I have ever had on an airplane and with airport security, that's not saying much considering I have had a lot of awful experiences. This time I flew Delta and save the $15 dollars to check in one bag, I have no complaints, they took off on time both on my original and connecting flight and treated me first rate.

Back to design, the beauty of it all lies in the view from the plane. Due to the early nature of my travels, I left Jacksonville at 6:40AM, I was force to a nap and some peanuts for snack. Delta now has individual TVs in each seat head rest a la Jet Blue, with TV being offer free and HBO series and movies at a $6 premium. While I had a window seat, I kept the window covering down for the majority of my trip. Not only for my napping time sake, but also as to not disturb those seating near me. Contrary to popular belief I can be considerate ... sometimes. However, 30 minutes out to landing time as the announcement came from the pilot, I open the window covering to reveal a magnificent view of the Grand Canyon, the Vegas desert, and carvings made by rivers that could not come close to that which mankind has ever design. I don't have the words to describe what I saw, but you can judge for yourself on this photos.

The bottom line is that even those who are not designers can appreciate what nature has design for us. Those of us who do design can learn a thing or two on the beauty of simplicity provided to us. If we reach to nature and appreciate all the clean lines, we too can design a thing or two which would leave other breathless and speechless. A colleague reminded me that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"; for me the only thing that happens in Vegas is work and I surely would like to leave that behind, wish me luck I'll be throwing some coins into the slots.

Labels: Design, digital photography, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Web Design

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The pretty colors of fall

Summer is quickly coming to an end. One of the things I miss about the north is the change of seasons. We have been in Florida now for a year, as such, we have experience all four seasons: fall, winter, spring, and summer.

Up north the seasons are drastically different, leaves change, trees come in and out of live and the landscape changes. In Florida we have really only two seasons, hot and hotter! No matter where you go in Florida it all looks the same, flat and green, with the occasional water spot.

Today, I can officially consider my self a Floridian as we been visited by a snake. This evening my wife went to get the mail after returning from a long workout and a bit of grocery shopping. As I'm putting the last of the groceries away, I hear her scream my name. I quickly ran out to the garage where she was standing to the side of the garage door ranting about some snake, I look over to the right and in the corner was a small and colorful snake.

One thing you don't want to mess with is snakes, they can be quite dangerous and poisonous, although most statistics will tell you that only 17 bites a year in the US turn fatal. We don't want to become a statistic. Needless to say, I quickly reach for a broom and swung the snake a few feet over to the garden where it quickly faded away into the evening. My wife, the obsessive researcher that she is, wasn't able to find a picture of a snake like the one we had, but I'm pretty sure it was not poisonous. The small thing was maybe two feet long and a couple of inches in diameter, but being that it had multiple rings of color, she wanted to be in the know.

The bottom line is that if you come across an unknown your best bet is to be cautious and not to panic. Quickly find a long object to put some distance between you and the creature and shut the door as quickly as possible. Most snakes, like all animals, are usually seeking food and shelter. They are probably more scare than you are. After all you are much bigger than they are. My one regret is that in my rush to rid of the creature I didn't snap a photo, perhaps next time I'll think more clear.

Labels: digital photography, Florida, Jacksonville, snakes

Friday, January 04, 2008

Albino Whitetail Deer

A colleague sent me this and I thought it interesting enough to share. Here goes:

This was sent by a man in Rhinelander, Wisconsin

A very eventful day around here... A once in many lifetimes experience! I saw this lil' feller run out in front of a car-- thought it was a lost baby goat. Stopped to get it, and WOW!! A real Albino Whitetail Deer. Just hours old, but doing fine. No Momma deer around. Another car nearly hit it in front of me ....

Well, he is THE neatest thing any of us ever saw. And such a 'freak of nature', that only 1 in more than a million are even born. He took his bottle of food, followed us around the house, doing great So, we called the Zoo &Fossil Rim, who were both interested, but we're going to send him to a Rehab farm. Maybe he will make it in captivity somewhere and be appreciated. So rare... Sure wanted to keep him tho. but, not the thing to do. And not LEGAL either. Here are a couple of pictures to show you. He was snow white, pink eyes, ears, nose and hooves. Kids called him POWDER. He was SO small. That is my shoe lying beside him... WOW..how cool is that??

The bottom line is that there are many strange and unusual animals around. This is proof of what mother nature could bring us. In this day and age of climate challenges and changing, it is nice to see that some surprises are still good.

Labels: Design, digital photography, jagged images, Snow

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Crikey! St Augustine Croc Farm Visit

Now that the holidays are here, family has begun to arrive. I, for one, am very excited that they are here. I grew up in a household where it felt more like a hotel than a home. Growing up in the suburbs of NY we always had relatives that felt the need to stay with us when they came to visit the Big Apple. I come from a large family and found myself giving up my bed for relatives quite often.

Now that I'm fully grown and have recently relocated to JAX with my beautiful wife, we are looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas with family. As such, we have started to visit the tourist areas of JAX and St. Augustine.

My first stop was with my son Brandon, I'm very proud of him, since he joined the Air Force he has grown and matured quite a bit. I guess the discipline has done him well. He wanted to see some alligators, as such, I took him down to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. The place is designed to house the alligators and cocrodile so that they still feel like they are in their natural habitat. I wasn't expecting much as I thought it was just a local joint, but was pleasantly surprise to find that this was a full Zoological Park that was established in the late 1800's. They offer Florida discounts and the rates, thought a bit pricey, were worth it if you want the Steve Irwin experience. That is, they provide feeding and petting exhibitions where the "Zoo Keepers" feed the crocs and play with them. They called the crocodiles by name and I was amazed to see them respond.

The tour continued with the beach in the afternoon and although the water was too cold for swiming it made it for a perfect walk with the feet cooling down. Who would have thought that I would have my feet in the water in November, but the weather is still quite nice and the Thanksgiving forecast is set for the mid 70's. I still miss my Northern friends, but I don't envy the snow they are schedule to get this week.

We finished our tour this weekend at the Jacksonville Budweiser Brewery. They provide a free tour of the facilities with a little bit of the Budweiser history. Most think that the brewery is only in Milwakee, MO. However, I came across this nicely designed card at the outlet stores pointing out the JAX brewery and to my surprise found out that Budweiser has 12 different factories across the country. They also brewed more that the three flavors that have made them the King of Beers. They bottle and distribute more than two dozen kinds of beers and alcoholic refreshments. The tour is free and is designed to entertain. They take you through every step of the process. Be prepared to smell the barley and oats in the air, it is quite pleasant and makes you forget you are in a factory, a spotless one at that, and takes you out to believe you are in the Missouri fields. They round things out with a quick video and a look at the bottling, labeling, and packing machines. They move more beer than you can think of drinking and discard quite a bit just because of faulty labels. They offer a nice employee fringe benefit of three free cases of beer a month and tickets to Sea World and Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL. They also give visitors two free beers while on the facility and pretzels in a nice lounge while previewing old and new video ads. Quite a fun time, and all for free.

The bottom line is that it is great to have relatives in town. Most people take their families for granted, but it is not until you find yourself 1000 miles away that you start to miss them. As well, remember to enjoy the sites around you, you will be surprise what may be in your own town and experiences to enjoy for FREE!

Labels: Connecticut, digital photography, Florida, Holiday

Thursday, September 20, 2007

National Association of Photoshop Professionals

Three jobs and four years ago, my boss gave me a copy of Photoshop User Magazine. It was full of tutorials, opinions, and tips and tricks for Photoshop. At this point I had just started using Photoshop. Previously I had use the Corel suite of products and had picked up the GIMP, a free Photoshop want to be piece of software.

A year went by and I had forgotten how useful the magazine had been. After all I did not have a subscription and was relying on my boss to toss the magazine my way from time to time.

Recently, my employer suggested that we all pick out a few magazines to see what other publishers did and see if we could pick a thing or to to introduce onto our magazines. Being in the graphic design business, I selected very appropriately Photoshop User Magazine. I didn't realize at the time that this was the magazine I had been reading a few years back, but turns out that NAAP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) has very good SEO and as such off to subscribe I went.

Two weeks went by and I received my NAAP membership. What gives? I subscribed to Photoshop User Magazine and all of the sudden I received a huge membership package to NAAP. I didn't realize that my subscription came with a membership. At first I thought it was a scam, I was very leary. If you know me, you know that my first reaction to everything is that it is some sort of scam. Turns out it is not a scam.

I logged in to the NAAP site, after 30 seconds of trying to figure out how to register as a first time visitor, I realized that my NAAP member number is my username and password. I proceed ahead and started to check out some of the tutorials. Since I been playing with graphic/photo editing software for over 10 years now, everything seemed like a waste of time. Then I clicked on to tips and tricks and all of the sudden the value of this "free" membership became a full blown, jump up and down, exciting. I can tell you that the magazine so far is great, but is nothing compare to the site. They have so many helpful tips and have explore the nook and crannies of Photoshop. I have been on the site for 30 minutes now and have already learned about five features that I never knew existed.

The bottom line is that if you are a graphic designer, web designer, or a mere Photoshop hobbyist you can't afford not to become a NAAP member. The membership is $99 ducats and this will be the best one hundred bucks you would have spend. There is so much to be learn from this site that it is not available in the free space. Trust me, I'm just a NAAP member and not affiliated with them. Hell, they don't even offer a referral program, but I think it is well worth it.

Labels: Design, digital photography, photoshop, Web Design

Friday, August 24, 2007

Photo Resizing

Designers will tell you that photo resizing is one of the biggest challenge they find on the Web. More specifically, it is always hard to resize a large image because by the time you make it more of a thumbnail all detail is lost.

In the same manner, when you enlarge an image typically it becomes quite pixelated and details become sharp boxes thereby rendering the photo useless.

A colleague just send me a video of how new technologies are been used to approximate colors and details that are now in use to address both the resizing up and shrinking down issues.

The bottom line is that with time technology makes all processes better. I was recently discussing with another colleague how old printing terms still apply today. The technology is much advance but the remnants are still there. I'm just glad that humans are always seeking to evolve, whether is monetarily driven or not is not the concern, but if money keeps the advances coming then let the creative ones become rich and the richer ones become richer. You can watch the video here.

Labels: digital photography, photo resizing, Web Design

Friday, June 29, 2007

4th of July is Coming, get your cameras out

Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays, this is because I get together with some great friends, have a great BBQ and get to break out the camera to get some great shots.

Fireworks being among one of those things I enjoy watching the most, I don't know why, but there is just something magical about them. I remember as a tween going with my Dad to secure some fireworks. When I was growing up the good ones were not outlawed.

Now that they are and you can only enjoy the professional ones, why not take the camera with you to the town's fireworks and enjoy the show while capturing some great memories. Here is an article that provides you 10 great tips to ensure you capture the moment.

Among the tips is to setup a tripod, how to find a great location for framing your stills, setting up proper aperture and shutter speed, usage of flash, etc...

The bottom line is whether you are shooting fireworks or any other subject, you will find that your best captures are those you enjoy the most. Because you enjoy them the most, you will come prepare and setup accordingly.

Labels: digital photography, fireworks

Friday, March 30, 2007

Digital Camera toss technique

I have always been into photography, but was never into it too seriously. Due to my upcoming nuptials, we decided to go the route of purchasing a prosumer (professional camera for consumers) camera instead of hiring a wedding photographer. This way once the wedding is done, we are left behind with a little more than just a wedding album of precious moments.

I did a lot of research into buying this camera as I have more than just a vested interest, but want my wedding photos to be perfect, but in addition I want to have the best I can afford for now. As such, I narrow it down to Nikon. This brand offered the best bang for my buck in term of pixels, features, quality and comfort. It came down to the Nikon D200 or the D80. After posting in several forums, asking friends, etc., it came down to feel. Both cameras offered very similar features and the same mega pixels, however the D200 is much more heavier as it's meant for the rugged environment. I'm not going to be exposing my $1K plus toy to any danger as such I decided on the Nikon D80.

I have nothing but great things to say about this camera. I have been reading several books on digital cameras, in particular DSLR, and have to say that if you are an amateur like me, this camera will make you look like a professional once you get the whole aperture and shutter thing down.

I have also joined a couple of forums, but in particular recommend ride foto. I have learned a lot of new techniques from a lot of great guys thanks to this site.

The latest technique I tested was the toss technique. This is where you take your camera somewhere dark, with an interesting light source, set your shutter to stay open for a couple of seconds and toss your camera up in the air and see what comes out. I have to say, as someone in this forum posted I was concerned with the catch the camera technique, but after I got over my fear and took my fiance's advise and threw the camera over the bed (for landing in a safe spot) I got some pretty cool shots like this one here.

You can check out some of my other photos from this experiment here.

I also experimenting with a feature from the D80 where the shutter remains open for as long as you hold down the trigger. This featured is only available in manual mode and is called "bulb." This allowed me to get the effect, but without having to toss the camera, but instead move the camera by hand.

The bottom line is that in life if you are going to do something don't do it half ass. Dive in full force and you will obtain the best results. My motto is to always try something at least once. If your reaction is to be afraid then you will miss out in a lot. If others are doing it and they are still around to tell about it, then chances are you will too. What are you waiting for, go try something new and exciting right now!

Labels: d80, digital photography, nikon, techniques