Things to Do...

A friend of mine put this on her blog. It is an interesting take on a "bucket list". The ones in red are the ones that I have done...

Start your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland
Held a Praying Mantis
Climbed a Mountain
Sang a Solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art form from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Grown your own vegtables
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hitch hiked
Taken a sick day when you're not ill
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Run a Marathon
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a homerun
Been on a cruise
Seen niagra Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelos David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout cookies
Gone whale watching
Got flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Flown in a helicopter
saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Had chickenpox
Saved someone's life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee
Read an entire book in one day

There are a lot of things on this list that I would like to do and some that I hope to never have to do..be in a lawsuit.

Inside Aperture

While I was in NYC for Photo Plus, I was interviewed by Derrick Story of O'Reilly Media about Aperture and the Aperture Nature Photography Workshop (ANPW) that I attended.
It was an amazing experience to be interviewed by Mr. Story. He is a legend.

One of the other winners/attendees of the ANPW was there along side me. His name is Rob Trueman, if you click on his name you will be taken to his blog. We were able to talk about the ways in which Aperture has changed post production for us and what the workshop was like.

Here is a link to the interview. Inside Aperture
You can subscribe to this podcast in iTunes as well. There is a lot of great information in this series.

Thank you Derrick for letting me speak with you about Aperture. I really enjoyed it!

Cathy

Finding something in an odd place

I was at a putt putt golf place with family and friends on Saturday. I was not playing, but taking pictures of all the kiddos playing. I decided to challenge myself and see if I could find something interesting to photograph. I did. Here is what I found...



















That has been my new challenge to myself. To look all around where ever I am at. To find something interesting to photograph, even when it seems as though there is nothing there.

Cathy

Photo Plus

I was in NYC last week for Photo Plus. One of the largest conventions for photographers. I only found out about it while in Wyoming. I am so glad that I decided to go. I signed up for some seminars.

I flew up Wednesday night, the show started at 9 am on Thursday. I hit the trade show floor at 9 am, eager and excited to start meeting people and seeing what else was out there. I started off by visiting with the companies that I wonprizes from with the Aperture Nature Photography Workshop.

First up was Think Tank Photo Bags. I walked up and introduced myself and personally thanked them and let them know how much I love my Rotation 360 bag.
Next came Drobo. I love Drobo. From them I received one of their firewire external hard drive units. It is an amazing product that works on both a PC or a Mac. And I use it for everything, not just my photos. I thanked them and we set up an interview for Friday morning! How exciting.
Then came PeachPit Press. I found them and thanked them for all of the books they shipped to me. Told them I couldn't wait to start reading them. As I do start reading them, I will talk about them here.

There were so many vendors to see. Nikon and Epson had huge booths. The Sigma booth had their new telephoto lens on display. You can pick one up for a mere $35,000!
Met lots of people.

That night, went to a great Mexican restraurant with Martin and Rob. Had a great meal. Very cutely decorated. They had great food.

Friday morning I was ready for the trade show again. Round two. This time it would be a short walk on the floor and then over to talk with Mark Fuccio at Drobo. Had a great talk with him. I was able to tell him what I love about Drobo and why it makes things easier for me. Had a class later in the day about how to make your website and blog better. Learned a lot in that class.

Met up with Filic around 4:30 and had some pizza at Lombardi's. They still cook they pizza in the same coal burning oven from 1905. I have been eating at this place for years and the pizza is still delicious. Walked around Soho and the Village. Ended up seeing a Cheryl Underwood at Caroline's. She is FUNNY!

Saturday morning I woke up early and dragged Filic down to a rummage sale in Chelsea. Not his idea of a vacation activity. We had ome across this rummage sale while in the area in July and I had seen an old Polariod camera that I wanted badly. I couldn't leave without checking to see if they had another one for sale. The guys that sell the cameras were there, set up and had left due to the rain. They wouldn't be back. It was 8:30am. Decided to walk over to the Jacob Javits Center. Had to be there by 10 am for an interview.

I was interviewed by Derrick Story from O'Reilly about Aperture on Saturday morning. I was blown away to be interviewed by someone who has written books about photography and who does podcasts about Aperture.

Overall, it was a great trip. Here are some photos:



Church door in Chelsea

Times Square

SoHo

SoHo

Couldn't resist this one...

Only a few more days

I am so excited to be heading to Wyoming. I only have a bit of time left. One of my prizes arrived today. My Think Tank 360 Photo Backpack! What is ironic is, I had just finished packing up my other backpack just yesterday afternoon. The Think Tank 360 bag is AMAZING! I am in love with it already. It is really well made, very high quality. A lot of thought went into the design of this bag. You can see it here: http://www.rotation360.com/
I will let you know how it works out after my trip. But I think that it will do just fine.

Cathy

Aperture Nature Photography Workshops

I won! Fourth place, but I won.

I am heading to Grand Teton National Park next week as part of my prize. I am going to be learning from 4 professionals, about how and why the take a certain shot. There will also be a team there from Apple teaching us all about Aperture.

Here are some of the other things that I won:

1 USB Drobo - approximate value $500
1 Lensbaby - approximate value $350
1 Premium subscription to lynda.com value $375
1 set of all current Peachpit Press Photo-related books - approximate value $500
1 ThinkTank 360 Photo Bag - approximate value $350
1 Apple Aperture 2.1 - approximate value $200
1 Lifetime Pro Membership to Photrade - approximate value $500

I will keep you let you know how the trip is when I get back.

Cathy

My new blog

I have a new blog.  Wanted to try something new.  Plus, I never liked that my full name was my blog address.  I have missed blogging and am eager to get this new one started.

Cathy