Is the sound of my mind gearing up for another season of planning our next vacation. There have already been a few obstacles thrown in the way but it is very early so those wont be too hard to sidestep or hurdle.
We have learned about taking friends and will still be inviting others to go with us. Each trip we discuss this very issue and every time we agree that it is more fun with friends there.
My buddy BBDJohn has accompanied us twice and will most likely continue to travel to our vacation getaway with us.
We are in negotiations…LOL ok, discussion with another of our friends about going together. If we do it will be into May that we will return to the island instead of or normal April journey. I don’t like waiting a few more weeks but would love to travel with this set of friends. Jeff and Bonnie are another couple from the Kansas City area that we hang out with. We get together once every two or three months and converse about family and our obsession with (ok the guys have the obsession) the island. When we are going back and what we are going to do. We are both developing business that is based on the island/s and are having fun with that too.
Soooooo we will either be going back to the island around April 15th or May 15th only issue I have with going later is we are starting to build a group of friends that are on island in mid-April and want to see them again next year. If Rob is forced to choose…..it will be….drum roll please…….. Our KC friends. To all my on island friends, sorry guys.
I am thinking this year of getting a group of studio rooms at our resort as we had some difficulties with last year’s reservations. If we get a studio I know what I will be getting and wont be disappointed. Besides I can wait till later in the year to get the studio rooms, as in once our airfare is booked.
Now for some good news….. Mary started back to work this week. This after a 6 week forced hiatus. I think she liked being away from work for a while but was ready to go back. Not so sure that this contract is for her but is only 5 months so we will be fine with it. Even better news. We are to become first time grandparents this fall. Will be early September. Mary and I couldn’t be happier as we are still young but ready for the Grandparent mode. I have already determined that I will be Grandpa Candy once they are old enough…..
Well enough for now…
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Edit, Edit, Edit....Proof, Proof, Proof
Life has gotten to a place where I can now spend some "qulity time" looking at all the pix I took while on vacation. I shot somewhere between 1500 and 2000 on this trip. Yes, I am a photo-bug. I find shooting pix a great way to relax and to see my vacation thru a different eye.
I had a great time and even got a few chuckles from my wife as I looked like a monkey going berserk changing filters and lenses to catch the same shot in different ways. No I won’t be shooting with two cameras in the future but I can see why folks do. Process was set camera take pic, change lens, take another then change filter....repeat, repeat, repeat!
Because I shot in burst mode, there are many duplicates, I have trimmed out the ones I am not fond of and am now going thru and pulling out the ones slightly out of focus or not framed correctly.
Last night I did a quick keeper review and copied about 200 pix into a new folder and will work with them to make those pix the best I can. I will be burning a disk or two to share with some friends to help me narrow down this list further. My goal here is to select about 100 pix or so of the two islands to merge with some pix from years past.
My thought process is to then make a coffee table book of our “Antilles Treasures” memories.
I know I am not a professional photographer but do very much enjoy shooting and will be taking my hobby to a new level in upcoming weeks, months and years.
With our previous trips I had a lot of editing to do to my pix to sharpen images and bring out some colors. I am amazed that with the new camera there is very little I have done or will do to the pix other than possibly to crop and Photoshop out some people. I like to see the beauty of beaches minus the heads bobbing in the surf if possible. Photoshop lets me do this with just a little effort.
I had a great time and even got a few chuckles from my wife as I looked like a monkey going berserk changing filters and lenses to catch the same shot in different ways. No I won’t be shooting with two cameras in the future but I can see why folks do. Process was set camera take pic, change lens, take another then change filter....repeat, repeat, repeat!
Because I shot in burst mode, there are many duplicates, I have trimmed out the ones I am not fond of and am now going thru and pulling out the ones slightly out of focus or not framed correctly.
Last night I did a quick keeper review and copied about 200 pix into a new folder and will work with them to make those pix the best I can. I will be burning a disk or two to share with some friends to help me narrow down this list further. My goal here is to select about 100 pix or so of the two islands to merge with some pix from years past.
My thought process is to then make a coffee table book of our “Antilles Treasures” memories.
I know I am not a professional photographer but do very much enjoy shooting and will be taking my hobby to a new level in upcoming weeks, months and years.
With our previous trips I had a lot of editing to do to my pix to sharpen images and bring out some colors. I am amazed that with the new camera there is very little I have done or will do to the pix other than possibly to crop and Photoshop out some people. I like to see the beauty of beaches minus the heads bobbing in the surf if possible. Photoshop lets me do this with just a little effort.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Oh, what a difference a good camera makes
For those of you that have followed my little odyssey thru this blog, you know I got my hands on a D-SLR camera for our trip to Anguilla and ST Maarten. I went from a little point and shoot Sony 3.2MP to a 10.1MP Canon with the standard lens as well as a 55-300mm zoom. On previous trips I have shot somewhere around 300 pix. This time, with the assistance of the burst mode I shot over 2,000 pix. Yes I do have a goal and purpose for shooting 30 pix of the same sunset but that is the fun of digital.
The good,
Quality of pix with 10.1 mp wow!
Bust mode, very nice make sure I can capture a shot
Obvious ability of being able to change lenses
Used a small portable tripod for night shots
The bad,
As good as the shots could be with the 55mm lens they were difficult with the 300mm lens. Too big and hard to steady. Burst shooting helped a lot. Was able to get several good shots but lots were out of focus because of movement.
Lack of large tripod, when using large lens the small tripod could not handle the weight and would move.
The ugly,
Rob hadn’t used more than a point and shoot in years so was a bit rusty working with aperture and exposure times.
The constant cleaning of lenses and filters….we were around sea air.
I have posted some pix from Anguilla and ST Maarten on my website. www.axarob.com
Comparison of shots from previous years….wow much better quality.
The good,
Quality of pix with 10.1 mp wow!
Bust mode, very nice make sure I can capture a shot
Obvious ability of being able to change lenses
Used a small portable tripod for night shots
The bad,
As good as the shots could be with the 55mm lens they were difficult with the 300mm lens. Too big and hard to steady. Burst shooting helped a lot. Was able to get several good shots but lots were out of focus because of movement.
Lack of large tripod, when using large lens the small tripod could not handle the weight and would move.
The ugly,
Rob hadn’t used more than a point and shoot in years so was a bit rusty working with aperture and exposure times.
The constant cleaning of lenses and filters….we were around sea air.
I have posted some pix from Anguilla and ST Maarten on my website. www.axarob.com
Comparison of shots from previous years….wow much better quality.
Monday, May 5, 2008
What time zone am I in now???
Today I checked back in to the office after three weeks of travel for business and fun. Wow what a journey.
First the fun;
We started with a flight to Dallas from KC ( still on Central Time Zone) over-nighted in Dallas and had dinner and way too much wine with a good friend. Early morning flight from Dallas (DFW) to Miami…no freaking decent coffee in DFW at that hour even Starbucks wasn’t open. From there we were off to ST Maarten (SXM) and then on to a ferry to Anguilla (AXA) for a few days (Eastern Time zone). We then went back to ST Maarten for a week of “relaxation” (still Eastern Time zone) we ran and did more than we would have liked to.
When it was time to leave SXM the fun started. American didn’t have a plane ready at 7AM so we decided that rather than swim to San Juan….not that good of a swimmer…that we would try the lovely Philadelphia airport in route to KC. What a nightmare that was….including losing luggage that we had in hand in Philly for our flight home to KC (Central Time zone once again). I got up the next morning and left for business in Lost Wages..otherwise known as Las Vegas (Pacific Time zone). While in Vegas we entertained customers so the nights were pretty late…one case 2:30AM PST which will either convert to my home time of 4:30AM CST or vacation time of 5:30 AM EST….hey that is when I get up…..now I’m so confused.
I am back home in KC but my morning internal clock says I am on east coast time and my internal go to bed clock says party on dude it’s still early. I figure by the end of the work week I will either be sleeping at my computer or getting things back to normal….
Stay tuned…have lots to share about my trips…both fun and business…
First the fun;
We started with a flight to Dallas from KC ( still on Central Time Zone) over-nighted in Dallas and had dinner and way too much wine with a good friend. Early morning flight from Dallas (DFW) to Miami…no freaking decent coffee in DFW at that hour even Starbucks wasn’t open. From there we were off to ST Maarten (SXM) and then on to a ferry to Anguilla (AXA) for a few days (Eastern Time zone). We then went back to ST Maarten for a week of “relaxation” (still Eastern Time zone) we ran and did more than we would have liked to.
When it was time to leave SXM the fun started. American didn’t have a plane ready at 7AM so we decided that rather than swim to San Juan….not that good of a swimmer…that we would try the lovely Philadelphia airport in route to KC. What a nightmare that was….including losing luggage that we had in hand in Philly for our flight home to KC (Central Time zone once again). I got up the next morning and left for business in Lost Wages..otherwise known as Las Vegas (Pacific Time zone). While in Vegas we entertained customers so the nights were pretty late…one case 2:30AM PST which will either convert to my home time of 4:30AM CST or vacation time of 5:30 AM EST….hey that is when I get up…..now I’m so confused.
I am back home in KC but my morning internal clock says I am on east coast time and my internal go to bed clock says party on dude it’s still early. I figure by the end of the work week I will either be sleeping at my computer or getting things back to normal….
Stay tuned…have lots to share about my trips…both fun and business…
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