Photography & Computer News
July 15, 2009 Issue

Hi Everyone!
Welcome to my July newsletter. Summer is here and I have a few goodies to send your way.

IN THIS ISSUE

• Photo of the Month: Egret Fishing
• Computer Help: Problemsolving Tips
• Computer Help: PrePaid Lesson Cards
• Photography News: SUMMER SALE
  
• Helpful Web Sites: Free Credit Report Confusion

PHOTO OF THE MONTH:

The Big One That Didn't Get Away
Snowy Egret - Wiggins Pass
Naples, Florida

I've been spending lots of time in the kayak so far this summer, working on new photo inventory for next season. Boy, is this a fun job! I get to spend a lot of time with my bird friends, who never fail to crack me up.

This young adult was polishing his fishing skills in a strong outgoing tide with lots of bait on the surface along the south side of Wiggins Pass. Now, if you don't know snowy egret personality very well, let me tell you that these are persistent birds who can be very territorial and really cranky when other birds come to fish nearby. He'd already chased off two other snowy egrets, a pelican and even a great white egret with great flaps of wings and a lot of irritated vocals. Cranky persistence all the way.

He caught quite a few small "shiners" - little bait fish - as I photographed him. I call those fish "one gulpers" because they go from the water to the bird gullet in one fast gulp. But this fish - well, this one really tested his skills. Much, much larger than the one gulpers, he just couldn't quite figure out how to swallow it whole. He tossed it into the air (and caught it again), he came up onto shore, dropped it, and pecked at it a few times, and he even nearly lost it when it managed to wiggle out of that scary sharp beak once over the water.

This shot caught the last flip in the air before it aligned perfectly and he managed to swallow it down. In the millisecond of a shutter release, fish and bird looked at each other in midair in that tiny space in his beak. And then...poof...gone.

One minute, you're swimming with the gang and the next minute you're lunch. It's can be a dangerous world out there.

COMPUTER HELP: PROBLEMSOLVING TIPS

Every now and then (and for some, it seems more now than then), your computer misbehaves. I thought I'd give you a few tips to help you begin the problemsolving process. The first one often cures MOST glitches!

1. Always RESTART the computer. This simple task really does cure most computer woes, especially if you don't turn your computer off every night.
   
   
2. If the problem has to do with email or the internet, look at your cable/DSL modem. That's the dark box with lights on the front that controls your internet connection. At the back of the box, there is a power cable. Unplug it. While unplugged, turn the computer back off, then plug the modem back in again. Turn the computer on and see if that fixes the problem. If you don't have all the lights lit up on the modem, you may need to call your internet provider (such as Comcast) and see if the outage is at their end.
   
   
3. Begin to jot down all the things that are going wrong along with the dates that you first noticed them.
   
   
4. Run an antivirus scan. Most of you use AVG Antivirus. To do this with AVG, double click the AVG icon on the desktop, then click Computer Scanner on the left. Click the icon of the computer next to "Scan the whole computer" and let it run. This could take a few hours. If it finds viruses, you should probably have your computer rescanned professionally, as some viruses are very difficult to permanently remove. Action One Computers does wonderful work at very reasonable prices. Even if you're not in Bonita Springs, you can call and arrange to have your computer shipped down. Call:  (239) 498-2855 for more information.
   
   
5. If you cannot send or receive email with Outlook or Outlook Express, and none of the above tips have worked, try this: Click on the Outbox (on the left). If there are emails in there, either delete them or drag them into the Drafts folder. Many times, an email can be either corrupt or have an improper email address and get stuck in the Outlox. This will cure that problem.

Hope these few tips will help you cure any problems that may come along!

COMPUTER HELP: PRE-PAID LESSON CARDS

For those of you who use my teaching services, I'm now offering PrePaid lesson cards. This is a great way to get a big discount on my hourly rates. Here's how it works:

• Purchase a 5-hour PrePaid card for $300 and get a 6th hour for FREE.
• All PrePaid lesson cards are at my $60/hr rate and can be used for my mobile (at your home) services. This is a $5/hr ADDITIONAL savings.
• These cards have no expiration date. No matter what my current hourly rate, you can use this card. I'll even do the bookkeeping!
• The cards can be used for any kind of lesson, including home lessons and remote lessons.
• Home lessons have a one hour minimum, all other lessons have a 30-minute minimum.

This offer will end August 31, 2009.

To purchase a card, just give me a call (239-498-0480) or send me an email, and I'll give you the details.

PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS: SUMMER SALE

The Side Street Artists shows are now resting until November, 2009, and I don't have any further shows currently scheduled before that time. It's time to clean out my inventory so I can replenish it with new stuff for next year, so I'm offering a summer sale on the following photography products:

• Greeting cards: $2.95 each, 6 for $15 (regularly $3.95 each, 6 for $19.95
• Latitude of Light (SW FL) DVD: $15 (reg. $19.95)
• Footsteps Along The Way DVD: $20 (reg. $24.95)
• All other photography prints, including framed prints are 20% OFF.

This sale ends August 31, 2009.

WEB SITE TIPS: FREE CREDIT REPORT CONFUSION

Since 2003, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act has made it possible for individuals to obtain one free annual credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies per year.

I know we've all seen the commercials for Credit Report services making it SEEM like it is free, when actually the web sites that advertise on TV are always fee-based.

AnnualCreditReport.com is the only site that provides free reports without any strings attached. Since each credit reporting agency is to supply one free report per year, experts recommend that you request one from each agency every 4 months. So, in January, you'd request one from Equifax. Then, four months later, request one from Experian, and four months after that, get one from TransUnion.

This way, you're monitoring your credit every four months without charge.

One more thing: please read this web site carefully. There is a lot of information there to protect you before you submit any private data to them.

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I'm always looking for new topics to cover that interest YOU, the reader! If you have ideas, just click to send me an email, or give me a call at (239) 498-0480.

Well, that wraps up another issue of my newsletter. Until next month, thanks for reading!

M.E. Parker