It Never Rains in California, But It Does in Florida

Here we are at Santa Rosa Beach in Florida. Gloria and I drove down here to the gulf on Monday.We were invited by Evelyn to come and spend a few days at her new beach house. The three of us used to work in the same county...all of us school administrators- Evelyn, high school (left), Gloria, middle school (right), and me, elementary. We became good friends when we had to go on those awful administrative retreats where among other things, the top dogs tried their best to motivate us.

Even though it has rained every day, we have managed to get to the beach every evening for happy hour.

Because of the rain, we've had plenty of time to explore the area. This is my first trip to the gulf, so this is all new to me. In the past three days, we have been to Seaside, Watercolor, Blue Mountain, Destin and Rosemary Beach. The image above is the house from the movie, Truman, located in Seaside. I took lots of shots of the houses in the area..really cute...reminds me a little of those houses on Balboa Island.

One final shot of the beach. Going home tomorrow. Had a great time. Thanks, Evelyn!

Jennifer Comes For A Visit

This week, my niece from California, Jennifer, came for a short visit. In September, she will be starting her second year teaching fourth grade in Brooklyn, New York. I say that she's from California because that is where she was born and raised, and where she will eventually end up! I know she loves NYC, but we all know the weather in NYC doesn't compare to southern California.

The reason for her visit was to see Tom and me, but really to observe several veteran teachers whom I think are fantastic at the school where I worked for many years. As Eloise would say, "Here's the thing of it..." Jennifer, along with hundreds of other first year teachers didn't get to experience the first of the year chaos because many of the colleges hadn't started their fall semester. By the time they are given their student teaching assignments, public schools have already been in session for a month or so, and the students have already been informed of the rules, consequences, routines, etc. As a result, many of these first year teachers are thrown in their classrooms with no idea of what to expect that first day, first week, or the first month. Harry Wong and Ron Clark are wonderful resources, but actually being able to experience the beginning of school is so important. Some colleges do have what is called, "September Experience," that actually places student teachers in public schools for the first two weeks, before they begin their student teaching. Not Fordham.

The school year starts early in the south and in the north, specifically NYC, they start the day after Labor Day. This worked out great for us because Jennifer was able to observe and meet with several experienced, creative and amazing teachers. She arrived last Tuesday evening and we were at school early Wednesday morning. Wednesday was the last day of preplanning; the students were coming Thursday. Naming each teacher who helped her is going to be dangerous because I know I'll forget someone. Jennifer spent most of her visit with Mary D. Debbie B. also met and shared with her as well as Martha S., Sammie C. and Tracy. Cathy C., the math coach gave her a few resources and Karen P. showed her the computer lab. Patti C. took the time to gather up tons of activities and gave her tips on how to use them. The wonderful thing about this school is that ANY TEACHER would have been willing to stop what they were doing and help her.

Thursday was the first day of school for the students. Mary D. agreed to allow Jennifer to spend the morning in her classroom. We made it to school a little before the bell rang. I was hoping that they would have the morning announcements up and running, and they did! I was in the hall when I heard "It's A Beautiful Morning," play. I ran to Mary's room and watched the students do the announcements on BTV. The gifted teacher, Wana S. does an excellent job with BTV. Every school should have morning announcements on TV. The students love it and they listen. Thank you Wana! Jennifer was able to observe Mary's first encounter with the students. Really, this was the second time she met the students because "Meet and Greet" was earlier in the week...great idea, it soothes the nerves of the students and the parents. Jennifer was amazed at how much time was spent on the rules and procedures. She was also surprised to hear, "Yes, ma'am," and "no, ma'am." Southern manners...aren't they great? In fact, she told me one of the students in Mary's class said "yes ma'am" to her...her first time! Another thing that surprised Jennifer was the absence of noise in the hallways. Students enter the building quietly with little or no talking. Students do talk during lunch and some times that area gets extremely loud, but the monitors have it under control.

We left school during lunch. I think she was up to her eyes with ideas. Sharlene, a former "partner" in school met us for a relaxing lunch at a nearby restaurant. There we shared what Jennifer observed and what she wanted to use in her classroom. Mary's idea of tickets seem to be the #1 idea. Consistency and enforcement of rules, as well as positive reinforcement should be the first thing taught and discussed with students at the first of the year. Unfortunately, first year teachers are bombarded with curriculum and lesson plans, so they seem to concentrate on them, instead of "laying down the law." Okay, I'll get off my soapbox.

Martha's bulletin board idea was also a hit. Dollar Store, here we come!

That evening my friends, Penny and Karen came over for dinner. Barbara stopped in earlier for a quick visit. Karen stayed a little later, talking with Jennifer about Smart Boards. They searched the internet trying to find out the difference in Smart Boards, Promethean Boards and Activboards. Jennifer is one of a few teachers in her school who has an Active Board in her classroom. Karen, being a math coach and a veteran teacher has lots of ideas and was sharing them with her. Jennifer used this technology at Fordham and loves it. Another tool that Karen told Jennifer about was the Magic Ruler. Knowing Jennifer, she'll get right on it and figure out a way to get them. Thank you, Karen.


Before flying home to California on Friday, we did some last minute shopping. The first and most important stop was Lakeshore...a great store for anything to do with education. We bought some cut-outs in an ocean theme for her to use in her classroom. Then we went to Casabella, where I work a few hours a week and finally, Borders. I broke down and bought a book on Windows Movie Maker. I surrender. I need help.



I really want to thank everyone at Brown for all of your help. All of the teachers who I mentioned in the third and fourth paragraph, I can't thank you enough. Jocelyn, the principal, Lorraine, the assistant principal were so welcoming. Jocelyn, you didn't have to let us come and observe, but you did. What a great principal you are! Thanks also to the office staff. Nancy, you are always so welcoming and Jan thanks for giving me a copy of an invoice of an idea that we want to use! Although I'm no longer a part of your school, I have wonderful memories of my years there. You have shown Jennifer just how great a school can be. Look out Brooklyn!


I hope all of you have a wonderful school year. I know Jennifer's will.






Yes, I put her on MARTA. Hey, she's ridden subways all over the world. What's one more?

sand is not my friend

I didn't realize how good I had it shooting under the pier. Sure, the people were starting to drive me crazy, but at least I was in the shade, out of the sun and out of the wind. I had done all I could do under the pier...it was time to change locations.

After packing the equipment in the car, I drove south towards Ocean Drive. I love this site because of its accessibility and the beautiful vista. The dunes are smooth and the fence is sturdy and still standing. Having a sturdy fence was important because it had to support the golf bag with lots of clubs.

I've taken shots of golf clubs before. My California sister, Janie, gave me the idea when she accompanied me to last October's Art in the Park. Because Myrtle Beach has hundreds of golf courses, she thought tourists and even locals would be interested in purchasing images that had ANYTHING to do with golf. She was right.

For this shoot I had more clubs and a bag....a very old and stained bag. Stan, a friend of mine whom I've known since college, lent me the bag and the clubs after much begging. It took a lot of effort on his part because he had to send them from Richmond. Of course, I, the stupid girl who knows nothing, wanted him to bring them with him on his next fight to Atlanta. It sounded logical to me, but he would rather pack them with nasty cloths to keep them from breaking, in a make-shift box that looked like its previous use had been to transport cow manure. I'm being kind. Let's just say it was obvious they weren't packed by FedEx.

This shoot had more challenges. It took me a little longer to get set up because of the extra equipment. The sun was much brighter and it was windy. One more thing, people were everywhere. I took over 40 shots, trying to take them between the masses taking their perfunctory morning walk. Looking at the image on the left, you can tell I wasn't fast enough.

They say patience is a virtue..I got the shot!

I tried to get creative in the later shots. It was important to show the wooden shafts and the names on some of the heads. The names of the drivers were, thistle, dundee irons, and niblick (made in Scotland) and the wooden driver was a H.J. Vallette. My instructions were not to clean the clubs...it seems that would affect their value. No problem, you don't have to tell me twice!

Here are two tips for shooting on the beach on a sunny, windy day. Tip #1. Because I was shooting in the sun, I used a new device called the Hoodman HoodLoupe Professional. If you have taken shots in the sun, you know how hard it is to see your results in the LCD monitor. This enables you to see your shot by placing the device on top of the LCD monitor. It sure beats using your hand or trying to find a shady spot. Tip #2. Keep your camera backpack closed. I had to learn that the hard way. It looked like a monsoon had hit the beach. I'm still picking sand out of the compartments. The good thing is that I didn't need to change the lens, so at least I didn't get sand in the camera or in the other lens. Speaking of changing lenses, Tip #3. comes from my guru, Tom in North Carolina. It's not limited to shooting on the beach, it's for anywhere, anytime. He says, "Changing lenses is no problem at all..just set the camera up on the tripod, then change the lens one at a time...just have the cap in hand then press the release button....." My problem with changing lenses is having only two hands. I can take the lens off with one hand and put the cap on with the other one. At that point the camera is lensless (my new word). Stuff can fly in the body at that time, so I have to be fast. So I bend over, keeping one hand on the body of the camera as I put the lens in the bag and get the other one out. This is a real problem if I follow tip #2. and keep the camera backpack closed. Like Tom said, "just a little pre-planning does the trick in most cases." I've got to remember that.

tripod or iPod?

This really isn't about a tripod, except that I did have to use it during the first part of the shoot at the beach. Instead, it's about shooting at the beach ON the beach.

I started out early one morning. That's a HUGE tip for beginning photographers. Most gurus say it's because of the light, it's not as harsh. However, another reason I go out early is because there are fewer people on the beach. Yes, I could photoshop them out, but it's a whole lot easier if the people just aren't there. I really like to shoot at the beach in October or November; the sand is smoother, and again, people aren't there. My destination that morning was an area north of Myrtle Beach where there is a pier near public parking. It's a pain lugging the equipment blocks away from the ocean. I have shot under piers before but this time I had a plan. Let me back up and explain.

About a month ago, I met this guy (20-30 somethings would call him a dude) at Sam Flax's in Atlanta. I was walking down an aisle looking at the acid-free, archival quality mats when I saw this amazing poster size image on the framing counter. The image was a pier with the ocean looking very creamy-like..not foamy. Etheral would be a good word to describe it. The two guys who were helping him with his selection seemed to be concentrating on the colors for the mat and frame, just like they should have...very businesslike. This is where I enter the picture. I ooohed and aaahhed and began the interrogation. (Read the blog posted on June 27th....I was becoming one of them.) He told me without a lot of prodding where he took the shot, when he took the shot, and the shutter speed. I knew he had a more expensive camera, but I didn't think that would make that much of a difference. I thought I had all I needed to duplicate THE SHOT.


So, off I went on my merry way to take THE SHOT under the pier with my secret shutter speed to make the water look creamy. Using my tripod, I experimented with every selection on my camera....aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. Soon the people were waking up and taking their morning walk, thus causing frustration on my part. Why did everyone want to walk under the pier this early in the morning as I was taking THE SHOT?

I planted myself under pier with my bag and tripod. Set everything up. Took the shot and this is the result. Not exactly what I was looking for. My shutter speed was obviously too slow. My aperture was good- 32, and the ISO was 100. The problem was shutter speed.

Here is the second shot. Not really the second, I took 39 and don't want to bore you. This is the second example of my shoot that morning. This time I accelerated the shutter speed, same aperture and ISO. It's getting better. But, where is the water?

The third image shows lots more color, probably due to changing the ISO to 400, the aperture to 5.6, and the shutter speed to 1/640..that's really fast. I love the color, but it's NOT CREAMY!

This is the 4th and last image. The shutter speed is .6, the aperture is 36 and the ISO is 100. I think with some tweaking in photoshop this image will look pretty good. It's still somewhat overexposed, but I like that effect. What do you think?

I want to thank Tom, my guru for so patiently explaining my questions regarding metadata. He is a genius. I also want to thank John for sharing his image with me. It's NOT EVEN CLOSE, but maybe someday.

iPod or tripod?

Today I think I'll write about my new iPod instead of the tripod. It seems that I'm on a roll now writing about instruments related to computer technology that are really driving me crazy. I'll tell you about the tripod soon and the shots that I took at the beach....that I get....most of the time. This is more important because I know I need more exercise, but I really, really don't like to sweat. Just the thought of moving in the morning makes me tired. SO, to get me up and out the door in the morning, I bought an iPod Shuffle, the one for $49. I went to the Apple store at Lenox Square and just did it. For several months I had been thinking about buying one because the small tape player I had been using with the Jane Fonda Walkout Program is so 90's. It was simple to use, just pop in the tape and go. But, I was getting sick of walking to that marching music.

My new iPod is more complicated..at least for me it is. The one I bought holds 200 songs and that's enough for me. Do you think I would ever walk long enough to hear 200 songs? As luck would have it, the day after my big purchase, they were having a class on the iPod. My friend, Karen (she has 2 iPods, why?) and I went, sat on the stools and listened to this guy tell us the ins and outs of this cute little device. Here it is in a nutshell: download iTunes, create an account and start downloading your songs either from the store or your own CD's. TIP: when you are downloading your CD's, you really don't need to download the entire CD, just take what you like. This will keep your playlist manageable. Another thing. Buying individual songs instead of the entire CD will save you tons of money. I wish I had know that when I bought Gwen Stefani's CD. I love The Sweet Escape, but that's about it for the entire CD. Now that I think about it, that goes for just about every CD I own....except for Steve Tyrell's and Johnny Mathis'. Speaking of Johnny Mathis, I just happen to have a picture that I took of him at his Christmas concert at the Fox Theatre last December. Not that great of a shot...I had to sneak and do it. Actually, one of the ushers caught me after I had taken about 20 and almost had me arrested. OK, I exaggerate, but she told me to STOP! It was a great concert, but I kept waiting for him to sing The Impossible Dream and watch the disco ball drop, but no such luck. I saw him when I was in college, a million years ago, and when that ball dropped and the lights flew around the theatre, I thought ..well, you can take it from there.




Like I said, I bought the iPod to make me walk. So I started working on my walking playlist. I wanted to start slow and build up and then slow down again. Easier said than done. One evening I sat at my computer for hours playing most of my CD's tapping my feet, trying to determine beats per minute.


Here' s my first walking playlist:
We're All Alone-Boz Scaggs, Just the Two of Us-Bill Withers, Smooth-Santana, Night and Day-Steve Tyrell, The Sweet Escape-Gwen Stefani, Bittersweet-Peter White, Just To See Her-Smokey Robinson, Venice Beach-Peter White, and Set the Night To Music-Johnny Mathis. This playlist was 39 minutes but the first two songs were too slow. So I made a second playlist.

My second list is 34 minutes and I inserted a few songs that were much faster. Here it is: Who Is He and What Is He To You- Bill Withers, Heart to Heart- Kenny Loggins, then Smooth, Night and Day and The Sweet Escape, Brown Sugar-The Rolling Stones, Just To See Her, and Venice Beach. I figured Brown Sugar has 120 beats per minute.....way too fast for me. I've got to move it to #4, or take it out. I haven't made up my mind because I haven't walked for over a week. Something ain't workin'. I can come up with hundreds of reasons why I can't walk...tired, heat, too busy, need to pull weeds, the humidity makes my hair frizz, and on and on. I guess my reason now is that the play list isn't right. I think I'll add some Barry White and some Luther. I heard that George Michael has a new CD...maybe I'll go to iTunes and do some shopping.

By the way, if any of you who read my last post is interested, I did buy the external DVD burner. It works, but THERE IS ANOTHER PROGRAM TO LEARN. Another post for another day.

Techno Overload

I have been up to my neck in cords...cords for downloading images to my computer, cords to connect the iPod to the computer, cords from my external drive to the computer, and lastly connecting the video camera to the computer. THAT is what is driving me crazy. I will never buy or learn two new techno products in the same month. Maybe not even the same year.

Here's the problem. In the past month, I have purchased an iPod and a RCA Small Wonder. I also renewed my subscription to NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). Now this probably doesn't seem like a big deal to most folks, but it is. In this blog, I'm just going to write about the RCA Small Wonder. This is a product of a she-devil.

I mentioned going to the beach in my last post, where my husband, Tom, was going to deejay at the Ocean Drive Pavilion over the 4th of July. We (he) thought it would be a good idea to buy a small video camera so that I could video him as he played and get testimonials from his friends known as, "the folks between the posts." (This is his 25th year playing at the beach and a pretty big deal so it needed to be chronicled.) Jason, a friend of ours, gave us the idea when he sent us a DVD of Tom playing at an earlier event at the beach. He used a FLIP, similar to the Small Wonder, said it was simple to use and make the DVD's. HA!

So, I bought the SW instead of the Flip because it was $50. less. Now I'm thinking that was a mistake. On the drive to the beach as we listened to a book on tape that had NINE cd's, I started reading the directions. I multi-task. I was convinced that this was going to be a piece of cake. I was so wrong. The actual videoing, i.e. pushing the buttons, is not a big deal. But they left out lots of info that would have made this experience easier. So that you won't make the same mistake, here are a few tips that you should know. #1. Don't talk while you are taping. This video camera looks like a digital camera. You look through the LCD as you tape forgetting that the mike is on the same side. Taking still shots, you don't have to worry about sound. I had to delete several clips because...well, let's just say I should have kept my mouth shut. Get it? #2. You have to remember to go slow while panning. I keep thinking about that scene in The Thomas Crown Affair when the camera circled Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. How did they do it without making us dizzy? I'm afraid I don't have that talent and I didn't take film-making in college, so I have to remember to slow down and keep the camera level. If you're drinking, don't even try this.

After videoing for one afternoon, I downloaded the action into the computer. Here's tip #3. You have to be ready to edit and copy when it is downloaded. The editing program is in the camera. As far as I can tell, the program can't be downloaded onto your computer. You can download and save the videos, but the cutsie stuff that comes with the camera has to be done when you are downloading. I went to the web looking for directions regarding this piece of ... equipment and they all seem to think it's a plus for the editing program to be in the camera! Here's the thing...what if you just want to get the images out of the camera and into the computer so that you can start videoing again and you're really not feeling creative, or you don't want to take the time to edit?

Here's how I handled that challenge. I found Windows Movie Maker. Again, I went on the web and downloaded their editing program. This time I could actually install it in the computer ... for free! For those of you who are shaking your heads thinking that I am soooo not with it, just remember that I have been into photography, not video. This is a whole new world to me.

The Windows Movie Maker is yet ANOTHER new program to learn. Yes, it's simple, but there are a few challenges involved here. When you import video into the program, it is imported in small clips. It was frustrating at first until I discovered the timeline at the bottom. After dragging all of the clips to the storyboard and then clicking on the timeline, I was able to produce a video with no interruptions or breaks. I bet there are books on this program, I just don't have one. I really don't have any room for more books in my office, at least not until I get rid of the back issues of Martha Stewart magazines. But that's asking a lot. I just never know when I might need to know how to wash windows without Windex (can't find that issue), how to arrange garden roses (Sept.2001) or what shade of beige should be used in the hallway (May, 2007). I wish she would publish an issue on Windows Movie Maker. Do you hear me Martha? I digress.

After making the video, I needed to save it. After several mistakes, I pulled down SAVE PROJECT. That's important. The final step is copying it to a CD or a DVD. I wanted to save to a DVD because I wanted to watch it on the television. NO CAN DO. I don't have a DVD burner. I have a CD burner, but that won't work on our DVD player.

So, today I went to Micro Center to buy a DVD burner. The 20 something geek assured me that it would fit my Dell and was a piece of cake to install. I fell for it. The smart thing I did was to have one of those 20 something guys help me install it. I did and they watched. Got home, turned on the computer and I immediately got a screen that said something like, "there is something new installed in this computer and you need to get it out before the hard drive dies and you lose absolutely everything on it." OK, that's not word for word, but close. So I turned off the computer, got the screwdriver, and uninstalled the DVD burner and reinstalled the original CD burner and player. I turned the computer back on and all is well.

My husband seems to think that I can get an external DVD burner. We'll see. Just one more cord to deal with, and yes, another program. I can't wait.

tell him to wear a red shirt and a white tie....

I wasn't going to post another blog until after the 4th, but a conversation that I just had with my mother-in-law made me change my mind.

She called this morning at 8:30 asking about our plans for this weekend. She knew we were going to the beach because my husband,Tom is deejaying at the pavilion. I was wondering why she was asking such specific questions...i.e. when is he playing, where is he playing, will George (my stepson) be dancing (that's the most important question) and are tickets required. To our surprise, she is planning to drive to the beach with a friend..the friend will drive, of course, because Mattie, my mother-in-law is 85 and doesn't really see that well. It's not the age that concerns me about the driving, it's the vision, or lack of. After I answered her questions to her satisfaction, we hung up and I'm sure she started making plans.

About ONE minute later she called back to tell me something that she forgot to tell me during our previous conversation. It seems that she saw a man on television last night who was wearing a red shirt with a white tie. I didn't ask if it was a satin shirt or a bow tie, I just envisioned shiny. She told me to tell Tom that he should wear the same thing at the beach while he is deejaying (in humid, 90 degree heat, I might add). I told her that if I told Tom that she wanted him to wear a red shirt with a white tie, he would have her locked up! She laughed...thank goodness. Now where do you suppose she saw a man with a red shirt and a white tie? Are they showing reruns of The Lawrence Welk Show with Myron Florin playing the accordion? God love her.