ME Parker Productions

Photography & Computer News
January 2010 Issue

Happy 2010, Everyone!

IN THIS ISSUE

 

 

PHOTO OF THE MONTH:


Long-billed Curlew
Estero Bay, Florida

Long-billed curlews - also once known as the "candlestick" bird - aren't exactly plentiful in my part of the world. Any day that you can find one - especially one so willing to pose - is a good day that makes the heart of any birder skip a few beats. I launched the kayak at an amazing low tide where dozens of roseate spoonbills, willets, oystercatchers, and all the usual reddish, white and blue heron and egret clans fed in frenzies in mudflats that stretched nearly everywhere but the main channels. Sucking noises echoed off the mangroves and little shorebirds flocked so thickly they looked like one large, living organism moving across the water. I came across a nice bunch of marbled godwits - not exactly plentiful here, either, and always fun to photograph with their Pepto-Bismal-pinkish upcurved beaks.

I was feeling especially fortunate with the sheer numbers and diversity of birds when this one little bird stopped me in my tracks. With its comical Pinocchio profile, the curlew's beak is an easy one third of its total length. The largest of all sandpipers - and the largest shorebird in the North America, they're also one of the fastest. Recently, using satellite tracking, one female curlew made it from the prairies of Montana to Mexico in just 27 hours.

Bird nomenclature is always peculiar. A flock of these big-beaked birds can be called a "curfew", "game", "head", "salon", or "skein". A "salon of curlews". Wonder if they give good haircuts.

One last interesting bit of trivia about these guys is that they were so plentiful in the San Francisco area in the late 1800's that Candlestick Point (and later, Candlestick Park Stadium) was named after them. By the time Candlestick Park was completed, their population was nearly extinct in the area, after being overhunted for ladies hats. One might easily deduce - correctly so - that millinery has brought more than one bird species right down to the brink of extinction, including the snowy egret right here in SW Florida.

That's the miracle of photography, really. I can bring home a catch bag to rival that of 19th century hunters, carrying birds of every description, and not a single one loses a life or ends up on my head.

Be sure to stop by the Side Street Artists holiday art fair on Saturday, January 23. I'll have many more bird photographs at that show.


 

COMPUTER HELP: Computer Buying Guide

Dave Woodsmith at Action One Computers has written a very helpful Guide To Buying A Computer. Visit the Action One Computers web site and click on the link midway down the home page to read or print this helpful guide. This is especially important since the arrival of Windows 7. Many of the laptops you'll find at the big box stores come with the 64-bit version of Windows 7. Dave covers this, so you'll learn everything you need to know - and hopefully avoid additional costly peripheral equipment purchases to be compatible with a new computer.

And for a limited time, Dave is offering my clients a very generous special. Have all your data transferred to a new computer (including your programs and virus and spyware software installation) for just $45.  Click here to print a coupon for this - you need the coupon to be eligible.

This coupon will expire March 31, 2010.

Dave also cautions everyone about viruses and spyware in today's internet. These are old rules, but they help protect your computer:

  • Never open email from someone you do not know, no matter what the subject says.
  • Be careful with pop-up windows. Don't try to close them with the "x", but instead, RIGHT click on the name of it down in the task bar, then left click on "Close Window".
  • Be careful with search engines. Just because a web site is listed in Google, doesn't mean it's safe.
  • Be sure to run your antispyware software regularly and that your antivirus software is up-to-date.

Don't hesitate to call for an appointment to learn safe web searching, safe email habits, or how to operate your antivirus or antispyware software.

 

 

COMPUTER HELP: Free AVG 9.0

I'm reminding everyone once more that AVG 8.5 is now obsolete. It is very important that your version be upgrade to version 9.0. It's still free, but to keep your protection current, the new version must be installed.

As always, if you need help, I'm just an appointment away!

 

 

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS: Taking Sharp Photos

There's nothing worse than the photo of a lifetime that turns out too blurry to be worth anything. This happens to all of us at some time or another, but most often to beginners new to digital cameras.

Much more so than "old" film cameras, digital cameras are very sensitive to vibration or motion of any kind. They also use very sophisticated auto-focus mechanisms that must be "locked" in place before taking the photo. Here are a few tips to help you stay still and lock focus.

Lock focus:

  1. Point the camera at your subject and hold the shutter release button down HALFWAY, until you hear the camera beep. A little light (often green) usually comes on also when the camera has locked focus. Holding it down halfway is what actually "locks" focus.
  2. While still holding the shutter halfway, once you hear the beep and see the green light, gently squeeze the shutter the rest of the way down. Do NOT let go until you see that the photo has been taken.
  3. Never "punch" the shutter button down. The camera will never have time to lock focus - and punching the shutter instead of squeezing it causes camera shake, and blurry photos!

Hold still:

  1. Because most "point and shoot" compact digital cameras do not have viewfinder any more, and you have to use the LCD screen on the back to compose your photo, the tendency is to hold the camera away from you at arm's length. That's fine and understandable, but once  you lock focus, be sure to move your arms into tight postion alongside your body and stand with your feed comfortably apart before you squeeze the shutter button the rest of the way. By making your body act like a tripod, you can hold the camera still and take more successful, sharp photos.
  2. If possible, you can even try to sit to take your photo. Lean your arms on your legs to form a tripod, then squeeze the shutter the rest of the way down.
  3. Try also holding your breath while taking the photo. You'd be surprised at what a difference this can make.

I hope the few simple tips can help you take sharper, better photos!

 

 

PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS: SIDE STREET ARTISTS Art Fair - Saturday, January 23

Side Street Artists is having a holiday art fair on Saturday, January 23 from 10 am to 4 pm! Our art fairs are held monthly, November-April, on Saturdays at the Bonita Shores Club just off Bonita Beach Road. For more information about this show, including examples of ALL our artist's work and show location maps, be sure to visit the Side Street Artists web site.

This month, I'm proud to say there will be nearly 30 outstanding local artists at the show, including the artists listed below (click on any name to learn more):

 
 

For myself, I hope to have some of the new photographs I've introduced you to this summer, including two new holiday greeting cards, ready for the show.

Again, this show is   Saturday, January 23, from 10 am - 4 pm at the Bonita Shores Club just off Bonita Beach Road. For more information about this show, including examples of ALL our artist's work and show location maps, be sure to visit the Side Street Artists web site.

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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

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