Daily Entry

Last night's corporate party at downtown San Jose's Tech Museum was a blast! What really makes it such a cool gig is that its about a bunch of people having a good time. As for Glenn (my second photographer) and I, we had setup a couples portrait station complete with two professional studio lights and a big backdrop. We were taking prom style as well as funny couples shots 4 hours strait. By 10:30'ish we were completely wiped out. Out of all the types of photo gigs I've done, Corporate party has got to be one of the funnest - bar none!



jp

Daily Entry

Since I needed to get some batteries for this Saturday's photo event, I decided to visit my friend Glen before going to Fry's Electronics. He brought along his 6 month old baby girl, Maya, who he mentioned is a "babe-magnet".

Well when we got to the Fry's cashier counter, I had a lovely Asian gal who rang up my batteries. As I was leaving, I grabbed Maya's stroller since Glen was still paying for his purchase. As I turned around to say something to Glen, I made eye contact with my Fry's cashier gal. She saw my glancing at her and gave me a warm smile. So it's true that baby's ARE babe-magnets. lol.

P.S. I still need to get some ink cartridges for my Epson printer, so I'll probably ask Glen to come along again (and Maya, too!). 8)

jp

JPP Video

I created this sample video from my December holiday shoot. I'm planning on adding a video this year for all my photo packages.



jp

Daily Entry

Yea I got my car back from having the driver side window fixed! It was such an inconvenience to drive without being able to lower the window especially on a hot day. The reason it took so long to fix was the part that was needed to fix the window was defective. So being a European Audi part, it costs a bunch and takes awhile to ship. Although I love my Audi TT, I have vowed never to buy a European made car. They are expensive with high maintenance. My other car (that I sold last year) a Honda Element was the easiest car to maintain. When I get back on my feet, I plan on saving up and buying another Honda Element. Hopefully this year! 8)

jp

Daily Entry

I'm putting together a special website and photo coupons for the corporate party this weekend that I'm the photographer for their event. It should be fun because its being held in the San Jose Tech Museum. I hope I have a chance to take some photos of their exhibits! I promise to post some of the photos from the event on my blog. 8)

jp

Photo update

I went out to take the beagle out for his morning routine when I spotted this spiderweb with morning dew. Pretty cool.

-jp

Daily Entry

Talk about your scary weather. I read this article talking about a weather phenomenon called "Arkstorm". Based on what the article stated, this is a storm of biblical proportion. The last one that occurred in California was in 1861-1862 which is expected to occur every other century.

Here's a quote from the article, "The USGS unveiled Friday a new study of what they call an 'Arkstorm Scenario.' It's a mega-storm that would measure rain in feet instead of inches.
Playing off the Biblical story of Noah's ark, scientists say an Arkstorm is an every-other century occurrence. That might not be that far off once you look at the historical data. For the novice, it is a weather system that plants itself out in the Pacific Ocean and the "storm door" never closes. You can see the weather map in the clip in this link.
Arkstorm is a hypothetical scenario that describes a rainstorm that produces a 10-foot wall of water that could flood a swath of the state from the Yosemite Valley to the Pacific Ocean. A similar storm hit back in 1861 and left the central valley of California impassable.
Scientists didn't put a number in lives lost, but said it would leave in its wake destruction in the $300 billion range."

Here's a brief description of the 1861 storm:
"The Great Flood of 1861-1862 was believed to be the most powerful and longest series of storms in state history, lasting a month and causing severe flooding.
The Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys were water-logged and spontaneous lakes popped up in the Mojave Desert and Los Angeles basin. Nearly a third of the young state's taxable land was destroyed."

On top of the "Big One" that supposed to happen to California, now we have to worry about a killer storm! Hopefully its more speculation than a probability.

Oh and check out this video of a mudslide in Italy recently. This is what happens when the environment gets inundated with too much water.



So I guess I shouldn't complain about the recent rain we've had. Or when we have typical Sunny California weather. 8)

jp

Daily Entry

Wow! The weather flipped a 180 since yesterday. It was actually a beautiful day to take the dog out for a walk. The sun was out, there were a few clouds in the sky and the temperature was a warm 56 degrees. What a nice way to start the weekend...!

jp

Daily Entry

Nothing terribly exciting to write today. Other than the rain has been coming down steadily this afternoon. My poor beagle and I were soaked after our daily walk!

jp

Daily Entry

Continuing with my saga of the fraudulent charges on my account last week. I received two packages in the mail yesterday and Monday. On one it was a trial subscription Spanish Language lesson software. The second was also a trial coffee maker set from Gevalia. As I explained to my bank last week, I did not order either items on the alleged day since I was either asleep or on my way out of town on vacation. What really scares me is that somehow someone or some online companies illegally obtained my credit card and home address in order to purchase these items. Whats ironic is they sent it to my address. This scares me since I've been under the false assumption that all my documents on my personal computer have been secure. As a follow up to this recent incident, I ran a full virus and malware check on my computer earlier this week. After several hours, my software detected 10 severe virus and malware applications on my computer. After wiping my computer clean, I've made what I hope is the wise decision to store all my important documents on an external hard drive that is never connected to my computer when it is actively on the internet. I totally advise all of you to do the same if you want to avoid any possible similar incidents to your credit card accounts!

jp

Daily Entry

One of my favorite real-life heroes of WWII (Based on his exploits from the book and HBO mini-series "Band of Brother") Richard Winters passed away recently on Jan. 2nd. Dick, as he was called by his close friends and comrades, represents the "Greatest Generation" whom are passing away as most approach their 80's. There was a statistic in the past decade that stated 1000 WWII veterans pass away every day. I'm sure that number is getting higher, too. As the numbers recede from each WWII reunion every year, we should acknowledge their accomplishments. Because some day soon, the LAST WWII veteran will pass away leaving only their stories as a testament to their great achievement in WWII.

If you want to read more about Dick Winters, click on this link Farewell to WWII hero Maj. Dick Winters, central character in 'Band of Brothers.

jp

Daily Entry

As part of my daily routine, I always check out the latest news on MSNBC.com. I was a little surprised to see an article about Sara Palin's TLC show, "Palin's Alaska", not returning for a second season. Now until today, I never caught an episode of the show but I did see some annoying previews on cable (usually when I'm watching a history or animal planet channel). After reading about the cancellation, I decided to watch at least one episode. Well surprise, surprise. I finished watching episode #2 Just for the Halibut and #3 Salmon Run. The show was surprisingly upbeat and entertaining. Although my opinion of Palin as rather uptuse airhead hasn't changed, I do believe she comes across as sincere and honest in the show. Which I find myself a little disappointed that the show was cancelled.

I found one website which I believe sums up the entire show accurately [Sarah Palin's Alaska! (Team Red): The Final Show]. Funny but my impression of Palin has changed a bit today. While I won't be voting for her if she runs in 2012, I don't think she's a bad person as characterized as some Mainstream Media. If you don't believe, I challenge you to watch an episode or two to see if it will change your mind.

jp

Daily Entry

I just finished watching "The American" a movie starring George Clooney. It reminds me of the movies, "Under the Tuscan Sun" with Diane Lane and, "A Good Year" with Russell Crowe. What all three movies have in common is the beautiful landscape and cinematographic views of the Italy. That's probably why I have visiting Europe as one of my new year's resolutions. I have an absolute passion for European history and geography. That's not to say my own country of the good ol' US of A doesn't have its own value and charm. It's just that parts of Europe has such a longer, richer history. As a self-professed historian and photographer, I'm naturally drawn to the stories and pictures of Europe. Seeing those fantastic views of Italian country side, the grape vines of a winery and the ancient marble and stone of an Italian villa just makes me want to jump on a plane to go visit them. Than reality hits! I realize I need to plan and save up some serious deneros if I really want to visit Europe this year.

jp

Earthquake!

About 5 minutes ago, we experienced a small, typical California earthquake. It lasted about 5-10 seconds with the house shaking slightly during that time. My guess it was not much more than a magnitude 5 earthquake. Hopefully there won't be any more today!

jp

Daily Entry

TGIF! Wow the first week of the new year is almost over. I spent an hour at the bank taking care of those fraudulent charges. I'm beginning to believe that the banks make it so hard to dispute those charges just to discourage people from doing it. Oh well, its over and done with. Now I have the whole weekend to look forward to.

jp

Daily Entry

Oh bother. So I went to cache creek casino with my parents on New Years Day. Lo and behold, there were several unauthorized charges on my credit card that day. I did receive an email notification from my bank but was unable to reply until the next business day (Jan 3rd). Although I had cancelled overdraft protection last year, my bank still went ahead and tried to charge me for the 3 transactions which resulted in $50.00 worth of fees. After going back and forth with a bank rep, I finally received a fraudulent charge form from the bank which I must notarize and sign before they will refund all the unauthorized charges and fees. I still don't know how the 3 different merchants were able to charge my credit card unless someone stole my card #. sigh.

The moral of the story is that its easy for thieves to charge your credit card but its downright pain-in-the-rump to undo all the damage! I may have to start doing just cash transactions to avoid going through this again in the future...!

jp

Daily Entry

This afternoon I decided to wash my beagle as well as my mom's two shih tzu (a father and son pair). Normally I give my beagle a flea bath once a week. However with the recent cold spell, I've been doing more like every 10 days. The reason why I think this is noteworthy in my blog is that washing 3 dogs on 35-40 F' weather is in a word, COLD! Unless you really love your dog, washing in cold weather in January Winter is not a fun task. Well at least the dogs are clean for at least another week...!

P.S. After having wash the dogs (including taking a very warm bath), I think I still smell like a wet dog. 8O

jp

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my friends, readers and visitors to my blog!

There's going to be some new changes to this blog. Although I changed the format last summer so that photo related news is on my JPP Photography blog, I decided to keep this blog for all my personal stuff as originally planned. However I will now be using a daily journal style for the blog. Anything or everything interesting that occurs on that day I will note in an entry. With that said, here's the first entry for 2011:

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION
This year's resolution will be a shorter but I believe more meaningful list.
1. This get something published. I have some ideas which I will be sharing in the near future.
2. To get a day job. Last year was a tough year for my photography business. Hopefully 2011 will be better in terms of finances/economy for me and the country!
3. To travel to Ireland, Scotland and Wales. I've been wanting to visit Europe since I was a teenager. Hopefully this year I can achieve one of my youthful dreams. 8)

If anything other ideas for my new year's resolution comes up this week, I'll post them.

Hope everyone is doing great this new year...!

JP

JP's Blog Moved To A New Location

Hi Everyone,

Just for your reference, I've moved my personal blog to a new location on my domain name or http://johnpaulphotography.com/blog/

jp

Good places to drive & photograph on vacation

Scenic Summer Drives

jp

Photo Tips

10 Must Have Apps for iPhone Photography

Technology News

I'm a big proponent of green, renewable energy sources like solar power. I've personally embraced it by buying and replacing everyday items like: solar powered LED key chain light, solar powered desk light, solar powered emergency flashlight and a solar powered battery charger (from AAA to DD). The batteries are used in my MP3 player, flashlights and even my small fan for my bedroom! I'm doing my part to try to wean my household from using costly electricity created from hydro and natural gas sources. Looking to the future, I want to get a solar powered attic fan to reduce the energy that causes the 2nd floor of the house to get warm in the day especially in summer heat. Eventually I want to get regular solar panels on the roof to use for every day energy use. I'm even hoping that they come out with a Honda Element that is hybrid using solar energy.

That being said, there still is a problem on the national level with our country's solar energy usage. As emphasized in this MSNBC article, "Solar struggles in U.S. market: Lack of national policy keeps sun power in shadows".

Are you doing your part to switch from fossil fuels to more green energy?

jp

JPP Daily Photos

Welcome Home to Bustery Posey, my new beagle buddy! He's the nicest, coolest beagle...!

He's unofficially my new photo assistant. Ruff!

jp

Photoshop Tips

From my twitter friend:

jensfab

I uploaded a YouTube video -- Intuition - Intelligent Photoshop Actions http://youtu.be/nG6D4NsC7Xw?a

jp

Photo Tips

Free USPS Shipping from Mpix – Now through June 10th!

Save on USPS shipping with Mpix now through midnight CST on June 10th. Enter promo code "freeusps10" when checking out to redeem the free USPS offer!

IMPORTANT

• Promo code freeusps10 must be entered at checkout to receive the discount.

• Mpix promo codes do not apply to orders placed through ROES.

Photo Tips

I've been trying to master the art of using artificial lighting (i.e. flashgun, studio lights, etc) when I don't have the luxury of ambient light. I've shot with both Canon and Nikon flash guns. The most difficult part is using the external flash as either fill lighting (i.e. on a bright day) or as primary lighting (i.e. indoor lighting). Both have their advantages and disadvantages. From using it as direct flash [oh those horrible flat images!) to using third party adapters (Fong dome diffusers, A better bounce card, bouncing lighting). Well I found this great technique from an article on "Making the Most of one Flash [Case Study]". I'll post some photos later this week on my practice using this new technique. In the meantime, I'd recommend trying it yourself.

jp

Photo Tips

http://digital-photography-school.com/5-elements-of-composition-in-photography

jp

JPP Daily Photos

Here's some photos of my two nieces from this past Memorial Day Weekend BBQ.

jp

JPP Daily Photos

I was playing with the channel mixer tutorial I posted awhile back with some of Michelle's photos from April.

jp

Photoshop Tips

David Saffir has a nice tutorial on his blog for using Nik Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 3.0. CHeck it out. He's also hosting a webinar to cover these products.

If I have the time this weekend, I plan on signing up!

jp

Happy Memorial Day

Lets all say thanks to any vets or families of veterans who have served our countries armed forces. Especially those who have loved ones serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. hoooah!

jp

JPP Daily Photos

This is the collage I made for my wedding couple from Feb.

jp

Word or Phrase of the Day

I was just finishing up Stephen Ambrose's book, Pegasus Bridge, when I ran into a phrase I was unfamiliar with. Thanks to Google, I was able to decipher "Sine Qua Non" as,

(SY-nee kway NON)

noun
An indispensable condition; prerequisite.

Etymology
Latin sine qua non (without which no

Fancy that. I have a new phrase to add to my literary arsenal!

jp

Photoshop Tips

str8photography

The Best Photoshop Tutorials of 2009 http://ht.ly/1QWYY

Photo Tips

David Saffir has a great article Creating a Unique Portait.

jp

Photography Webinar

I just finished "Certify with Sandy Puc' - Learn how to get Certified with the PPA" webinar. This is the first step of getting certified with PPA as a professional photographer.

Here's the breakdown of how i will be approaching this goal:

1. Study the different criteria's that are part of the test from now until the test date. This means reading up, testing the technique until I am confident its second nature.

2. Incorporating the required 20 image submissions with real assignments this year (images from the type of photography I am currently advertising: portraits, product photography, etc).

3. Tentative date winter 2010/2011.

This is going to be a fun experience!

jp

Cool

met a fellow filipino, Randy, on the basketball court at groesbeck park. he's also a Nikon photographer. how cool is that?

jp

Photography Products‏

Mypublisher is offering 40% off PhotoBooks for Father's Day!‏

Check out the link here. Mypublisher is one of the two (Mpix being the other) photobook publisher's I use for my customers.

jp

Technology News

Is Flash dead?

IntotheDarkroom has a great blog article on this topic. Also see my comments at the end of their blog article!

http://intothedarkroom.com/blog/

jp

Photography Products

Good article on basics of full size sensor digital SLRs.

http://ht.ly/1NsvG

jp

Cool Photography Blog

Kerry Allan is the nice gentleman from Schoolhouse Photography who also hosts a lot of the webinars I attend from SP. Check out his work on his blog link:

http://kerryallan.wordpress.com/

jp

Photoshop Tips

I love lightning photos. Unfortunately I live in an area where we get lightning storms in frequently!

Anyways I found this twitter link to some tornado and lightning photos.

str8photography

Tornadoes and Lightnings http://ht.ly/1NphI

jp

Photography News

str8photography

Try This Photography Challenge!!! http://bit.ly/5mu0vO

str8photography

63% Off on Select Tamron Lenses http://amzn.to/bXZsoj

From my twitter. The first one is really cool techniques for long exposure lighting and flashlight tricks. The second is just a good opportunity to buy some Tamron lenses at a good discount.

jp

Photographer Networking

I found this great photographer's blog from my Photography Schoolhouse email newsletter this week.

http://phototips.alexismiller.com/

Check it out. She's got some great tips, contests and free stuff! I especially love her tips on food photography. 8)

jp

Photography Webinar

http://www.photographyschoolhouse.com/phototalk/showthread.php?t=12190 to sign up for free

webinar on how to get PPA certified. Hosted by Sandy Puc whom I've previously attended her webinar. She's a great presenter and is very knowledgeable in the photography arena!

jp

Something Cool for the Summer!

14 Cool Drinks for Hot Summer Days http://shar.es/m4yBX

jp

My ideal vacation

America’s best dude ranches

or

Jamestown Gold Mining

jp

John Paul's Professional Resume

I'm posting my resume which I updated. The cool thing is I attached a professional photo of myself at the top as part of my social media photography feature. I will also be putting together a faux magazine cover like the one that I posted earlier this year. Hopefully this will drum some interest from potential employers!

jp

John Paul’s Professional Resume

 

John Paul David

l johnpaul@johnpaulphotography.com

Marketing position in Social or Digital Media

• Highly experienced in social media including the most current social media apps such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, personal blog & social media blog.
  
• Friendly, independent, self-managed, excellent communication and personal interaction skills. Able to multi-task in a timely, efficient manner.
  

Skills

Marketing Strategies & Campaigns Product Web Reviews Social Media Marketing Product Positioning & Branding

Competitive Research & Analysis Public & Media Relations Product Photography General MarCom & Tradeshow management

Technology

Office Software: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Google Docs. PC: Familiar with hardware test & install of CPU, memory, video, optical drives, and other peripherals. Photo & Graphics Editing: Adobe Photoshop CS 1-4 & Lightroom 1-3. Video: Microsoft Movie Maker and Camtasia Studio 6. Publishing: MyPublisher, Mpix PhotoBooks and ROES. Advertising: Web Ads, Google Adwords/Adsense and Facebook Advertising.

Professional Experience

Johnpaulphotography.com – San Jose, CA

Events, Portraits and Social Media Photography

Owner & Photographer, Present

As owner, I worked with potential clients, photographing events, editing photos, hosting on website including optional products like prints, photo albums and wedding photo books. I managed up to 2 assistant photographers on big events like weddings and corporate parties.

Selected Accomplishments:

• 2010: Product Photography Gluten-free-gourmet.com, Photographer TechCU Employee Events 2005-2010 and Photo Credits for Healthnow's Gluten Sensitivity & Celiac Forum DVD.
  
• 2009: Photographer for Harlem Globetrotters Fanfoto & Printroom CEO and management portraits.
  
• 2008: Assistant Photographer for Castilleja Annual Father-Daughter Dance 2006-2008.
  
• 2006: Photographer for Brett-Hart Jr. High School Wrestling Team, Menlo Live! & Almaden 10k Run.
  

Printroom.com, Ltd – Santa Clara, CA

Digital lab service for photo online storefronts & workflow software for professional photographers

Marketing Manager,
2008 to 2009

I reported directly to our Marketing Director for social media and online tool support. My duties included: taking product photos, creating online video self-help videos, tracking both social media and photographer related sites for market analysis and trends.

Selected Accomplishments:

• Took photos of selected print products that were used for marketing campaign and website.
  
• Created a number of online self-help videos for Printroom's Pro photographer customers.
  

 

s3 graphics co., Ltd – Fremont, CA

Supplier of graphics, video and multimedia accelerators for the PC market

Social Media, Press & Marketing Program Manager,
2002 to 2007

Coordinating hardware requests, selecting and testing web reviewer benchmark applications while working closely with each web reviewer for Web Product Reviews with such prestigious sites as: Anandtech.com, TechReport.com, Xbitlabs.com.

Selected Accomplishments:

• Drove in-bound marketing for competitor product pricing/trends which was presented weekly at senior management meeting.
  
• Assisted Sr. Product Marketing Manager on new conceptional art & applications for upcoming S3 GPU products such as the Digital Imaging Project.
  
• Managed software bundling program including negotiations with game publishers like Microsoft, Ubisoft and Strategy First to bundle premium game titles with our product.
  
• Managed general MarCom activities, marketing promotion plan and trade shows including GDC (2003-2007), CES, E3 and Microsoft Meltdown.
  
• S3Gstore - Coordinating with software, legal, marketing, board team and various VIA support departments on setting up S3 Graphics first online webstore "Gstore."
  

 

s3, INC – Santa Clara, CA

Supplier of graphics, video and multimedia accelerators for the PC market

Assistant Program Manager & ISV Evangelist,
2000 to 2002

Main duty was to seed our ISV partners with S3 Graphics evaluation graphics cards. I also was responsible for reporting new issues from our ISV partner to our internal software group for validation and fix.

Selected Accomplishments:

• Supplying hundreds of S3 graphics evaluation GPUs to majority of PC game developers in North America and Europe.
  

Education

San Jose State University- san jose, CA

Bachelor of Science, May 1996

• Major: Criminal Justice Administration l
  

DeAnza Jr. College, Cupertino, CA

Associate of Arts, DeC 1994

• Major: Administration of Justice l
  

Volunteer Work, Certificates & Interests

• Certificate of Achievement for ISO 2001 Auditor Training.
  
• S3 CRT member, CPR and Standard First Aid Certified thru S.C.V. Chapter of the American Red Cross.
  
• Certificate of Completion in Total Quality Management Fundamentals.
  
• Volunteer Rape Crisis Counselor and CAP Specialist YWCA of Silicon Valley.
  
• Photography, racquetball, tennis, mountain biking and reading novels!
  

 

References Available Upon Request

Photography News

MyPublisher

INSTANT REBATE! $25 OFF Orders of $75 or More – 5 Days Only!‏

http://www.mypublisher.com/download_landing?assoc=EP

MyPublisher has been one of my favorite photobook sites. Definitely a great offer.

jp

Photography News

intothedarkroom

The Definitive List of Online Photography Magazines - http://ow.ly/1Jj6a

Photography Products

Got this from one of my twitter buddies.

str8photography

63% Off on Select Tamron Lenses http://amzn.to/bXZsoj

jp

Cool blog

My buddy, Bo, from my counter-strike 47r clan recently moved to Taiwan to quote, "I've moved to Taiwan to take on an Adventurous mission". I totally am envious that he's doing something so cool. Plus he will be updating his blog journal with photos from adventures.

Best of luck to Bo on his new venture!

http://bobomonster.blogspot.com/

jp

Free Senior Photos Photoshop Template!

http://www.burrellcolourimaging.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12_125

jp

JPP Daily Photos

So here are some shots I took with my Nikon camera when I took that walk at Groesbeck Park yesterday.

jp

JPP Daily Photos

Check out my photo

Go to http://bit.ly/dwT55O and vote on my photo if you like it! thanks

jp

Photography News

str8photography

New website that lets you submit your photos for their travel magazine. http://bit.ly/dtxlsY

Chance to get some exposure and maybe some free, viral marketing. Here's how it works,

"We are a Travel Magazine interested in showcasing the world through your eyes. If you like travel photography and writing, Picsean is the place for you!

Upload images, write stories, and share with us the best of the culture, people, places, food and more from your travels. You get paid when we feature your work in our magazine and website."

jp

JPP Daily Photos

Got this link from my twitter. Some darn good looking rain theme photos!

intothedarkroom

0 Rain Photography Examples - http://ow.ly/1DnrT

JP

Photography Webinar

My friend tremainephoto posted this twitter link to a free photography webinar, check it out.

creativeLive is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Vincent Laforet + free webinar = nerdo wetdream http://www.eventbrite.com/s/VM3

jp

JPP Daily Photos

Here's some photos I took from this past saturday's TechCU corporate party at Dave & Buster's in Milpitas, CA.

The food was good and the games were fun!

jp

Financial News

Brenda Isom's new book describes actions America must take to stop the assault on personal wealth

Read more: 'Hope: The New System Emerging After the American Crisis' Provides Answers to the Economy's Biggest Threat to Main Street America

To further emphasize the truth in her book, I found this statistic in an MSNBC article today, "Obama hasn't changed, but the country has."

"U.S. households experienced losses of wealth measured not in hundreds of billions (as Obama predicted at Cooper Union) but in trillions (more than $14 trillion by April 1, 2009). For each of the six months starting in November 2008, more than a half million jobs vanished."

I highly recommend anyone interested in the truth of about whats going in our economy (and how to make positive changes to avoid it from happening again) read Brenda's new book.

jp

Photography News "3 New Nikon DSLR’s Coming"

Nikonrumors says that they have info Nikon will be announcing 3 new DSLR’s, possibly even before the end of this month. Read more here.

Posted by MattBallard. Thanks to Matt for the latest news!

jp

Photoshop Tips

jensfab has a nice video on how to use photoshop actions. thanks to jen!

jp

A Word on the recent Airline travel dilema

"Alain de Botton, the recent writer-in-residence at London's Heathrow Airport (that there is such a thing speaks volumes in itself), penned a reverie about what the world might feel like if planes were grounded forever and we were forced back into travel that spanned days, weeks, months.

"Those who had known the age of planes," he wrote, "would recall the confusion they had felt upon arriving in Mumbai or Rio, Auckland or Montego Bay, only hours after leaving home, their slight sickness and bewilderment lending credence to the old Arabic saying that the soul invariably travels at the speed of a camel."

And when an ashy volcanic cloud from a distant land — something elemental and ancient and out of place — slows our bodies, our baggage and our lives to that speed as well, there are lessons. They're unwelcome lessons, because they tell us that we're not as in control as we'd like to believe.

That sometimes, without our flying machines and the world they serve up to us so seamlessly, in the end we are the powerless victims of our own 21st-century expectations."

I thought this MSNBC article summed up nicely my thoughts in my previous blog entry on the Icelandic volcano eruption and its affect on airline travel.

jp

JPP Daily Photos

I found a few more amazing photos from the Icelandic volcano. When I see these photos it reminds of that quote, "HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE NATURE SCORNED".

For me, this event reminds me that no matter how advanced, how much technology we Humans invent-We are still subject to Mother Nature's power.

jp

Awesome meteor video

Photo Tips

For those of you who are in Europe, there's a good opportunity to take some fantastic sunset photos due to the Icelandic volcano eruption last week. The volcanic ash cloud has already produced some amazing sunsets that can be viewed mostly in Europe. Though there is a slim chance that we in the USA may see them too this week. MSNBC has a great article on this rare event. So yea, keep those cameras handy if you see those rich colored sunsets!

Here's a sample photo I snagged from the article.

jp

Photo Tips

Yet another great article from David Saffir. Especially something near and dear to my own photography heart. To wit, black & white photography!

B&W photography is almost a separate art form of photography. Its not as simple as setting your digital camera to the B&W settings and click! taking the photo. Nope, its as much as viewing a subject in color and visualizing how it would like in B&W. Things such as the different shades of grey, hues and contrast make a B&W photo a B&W photo. What I find that helps a lot is having as much control to manipulate the settings. Granted I already have a great set in Lightroom plus some photoshop actions. But! David Saffir's article shows more in-depth way using Nik's Silver Efex Pro software on how to achieve it.

As always, I highly recommend you check out the article yourself. I know I'm going to take one of my previous favorite Yosemite photos and try to use his technique with Silver Efex Pro.

jp

Photography News

Wow! I totally missed it but last week was Adobe's world wide launch of the new CS5 suite. I've just barely got used to CS4 in the last year and now they have the next version. Sheesh, guess I have to check it out and see whats new and cool.

jp

Photo Tips

Found this great website that has free photoshop actions and other stuff.

http://ow.ly/1z6IU

jp

Photography Products

From my twitter account:

str8photography

$30 Instant Savings on Select Tamron Lenses http://amzn.to/bbffaR

Since I'm using a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens, I can testify to their sharpness, speed and quality all at a low price!

jp

JPP Daily Photos

Here's Miley having a pistachio ice cream last Friday. It wasn't as messy as a three year old normally would be having ice cream!

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Go screw yourself Apple

This was posted on my Social Media blog but I figured I should post it on my personal one, too.

Technology News

April 9, 2010 by johnpaulphotography | Edit

Normally I don’t post technology news here but on my personal blog but this recent article is relevant to anyone using today’s technology. Plus Adobe’s Platform Evangelist, Lee Brimelow, is using his blog and the press picking up the article to get his message out (Hello can you say Social Media!).

Getting back to the original topic, the reason this steams me is I am an avid user of Adobe’s products including Flash. While I am not a user of Apple’s very popular products like the iPhone and the iPad, I am an admirer of their innovation and popularity. However I am peeved at Apple’s, and by extension Steve Job’s, insidious ploy to not allow Flash to work on their products. From the iPhone to the new iPad. For me this has implications as my main photography website uses Flash. I know of literally thousands (if not millions) of websites that uses flash too. So this hits me on a personal level. Now if the premise of Lee Brimelow’s article is correct, Apple is not doing this for the good of the public or the little developers. Nope they are doing this to control the market, squeeze more profits and give the boot to a potential competitor like Adobe. Hello? Doesn’t this smack of anti-competition? Where is the US Department of Justice in all of this? You would think they would already be announcing some sort of anti-competitive investigation on Apple.

On the other hand, I do applaud Adobe’s stance on this situation. Instead of retaliating as Lee Brimelow suggests they could do, “Many of Adobe’s supporters have mentioned that we should discontinue the Creative Suite products on OS X as a form of retaliation. Again, this is something that Adobe would never consider in a million years. We are not looking to abuse our loyal users and make them pawns for the sake of trying to hurt another company.”

In short, we should be supporting the guys at Adobe that develop apps that help artists, photographers, etc. We should not be helping a company that puposely cuts out a company that could help them make their products even more amazing.

To paraphrase Lee Brimelow, “Go screw yourself Apple!”

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P.S. I added the “!” to Lee’s phrase as a way of completing the sentiment.

Cool Technology News!

As a follow-up to my recent post on the "Solar Impulse" maiden flight, Daniel Maxson of Community at Newsy was kind enough to forward me a link with more detailed info including "speculation about the implications of the project for future commercial flightspeculation about the implications of the project for future commercial flight."

Thanks to Daniel for the new info!

http://www.newsy.com/videos/solar-powered-plane-marks-first-flight

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Technology News

Newsweek has a funny article on the iPad which I wholeheartedly agree with. The title of the artitcle is, "How Important Are Apple's Updates to the iPhone and iPad? Very." By Daniel Lyons

C'mon, how come Iphones and now the Ipad does not support Adobe Flash?! Well the writer of this article pretty much answers this question and a whole lot more. Read it, if you don't believe me.

P.S. Yes this is probably the most content I've blogged ever today. 8P

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JPP Daily Photos

I posted this on my SM blog website but I thought I'd also post these delicious morsels on my personal blog here. Mmm-mmm!

You can order these delicious goodies on Gluten Free Gourmet's website.

In the near future, I'll post the local groceries and restaurants that serve Gluten Free Gourmet's menu items in the South Bay Area.

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website update

I've added a feature photos section to my website www.johnpaulphotography.com. This will be a page that links to other websites hosting my photos.

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Cool Iphone app for photos

From my friend tremainephoto

iPhone model release app, pretty cool photo friends http://www.applicationgap.com/apps/easyrelease/

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Photography Products

Ronald R. Martinsen posted a cool review of a laptop thats designed perfectly for photographers' and graphics artists'.

Whats more, at the end of the article he gives a discount code for one of the models available to purchase from Lenovo. Check out the full blog article here.

I may have to add this to my wishlist. sigh.

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Photography News

Got this from my twitter:

mashable

Google Gets Sued by Photographers Over Google Books - http://bit.ly/c0D2zx

Interesting. I wonder how the lawsuit will end up. For google or for photographers. Hm.

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Photography Tips

From my photo tip of the day link.

"The effect of applying a neutral density filter is similar to lowering the ISO setting on a digital camera. In most cases, you should only use a neutral density filter when your ISO is already at its lowest setting. (Apr 7, 2010)"

Good thing to know. I've always heard other photographers talk about using ND filter for certain situations (i.e. taking flowing water photos of a creek or river or any moving body of water) but now I know exactly why thanks to this tip!

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Cool Technology News!

Solar plane soars, slowly, on first flight

Swiss team's goal is to promote renewable energy over oil.

PAYERNE, Switzerland - A solar plane with wings as wide as a 747 and the power of a small motorboat took to the skies for the first time Wednesday, cruising a mile high at bicycle-like speeds for nearly 1½ hours in a step toward becoming the first sun-powered aircraft to circle the world.

In its maiden test flight, "Solar Impulse" — designed by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard's team — completed a series of turns, slip maneuvers and bank angles reaching 5 degrees. Most importantly, it proved able to take off and land.

The team plans to fly it around the world in 2012, the goal being to show that renewable energy can replace fossil fuel.

Click on the link above for the rest of the article....

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JPP Daily Photos

Well here are the photos from Easter Sunday Family get-together with Miley center stage. Enjoy!

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Easter Sunday

Happy Easter Sunday everyone! Don't eat too many chocolate easter bunnies. 8P

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I forgot

Happy April Fools Day!

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Free Photoshop Action from SPArtists

spartists

Only a couple more days to get your Free Grad Card Template...Coupon code is posted on the wall... http://bit.ly/bbDiWk

You have to sign up on their facebook page and go to their wall to see the code. Once you have the code, go to their website and choose one of their grad card template. That's it. It's a $19.00 value for free!

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