Today is the June 23, 2010 the first day of the Alameda County Fair at the Alameda County Fair grounds in Pleasanton, CA. I love the County Fair. My first time to the Alameda County Fair was back in 1984. My parents had moved to the area after my dad took a job in nearby San Francisco. I had gone to the Orange County Fair many times as a kids and teenager. This was the first time I got to experience a real county fair, something like you would see in an old Hollywood movie.

The Alameda County Fair has Horse Racing on the oldest one mile horse race track in the United States. I also love to check out the livestock from the 4H clubs throughout the county. The kids in the 4H clean, feed, primp and prepare their charges for auction.

Whether you like the livestock, carnival rides, exhibits, horse racing or the fried fair food whatever the reason go to the County Fair. While you are there, take a few images. If you do take a few pictures upload them to my California’s County Fairs flickr group. It’s free and fun. Here is the link to the the flickr group California County Fairs. The group has a total of 105 members, you could be 106. Hopefully I will see you at the fair, if not there, then hopefully in the flickr group.

2010 Alameda County Fair Calendar

Tomorrow is the official coming out Party for the New Adobe CS5. It is been something I have looked forward to foe a few weeks now. I have posted on a blog  few times Countdown to Abobe Creative Suite 5 Release and Adobe Creative Suite 5 Rumor. Now, tomorrow is the release date and all hell will break loose in the photo and graphic blogoshpers.

I imagine that everyone that has the opportunity to have a sneak peak will be giving the pros and con’s of the newest Creative Suite. I know that NAPP and Scott Kelby will be blogging and setting up new training at Kelby Media and Kelby Training as soon as the announcement has been made.

One blogger and Photographer has already taken a look under the hood and likes what he sees. Thomas Hawk, friend and former co-worker of mine, posted on his blog a little bit of what he likes and some new features that he has played with. Take a look here and see what Thomas Hawk says about what he saw. Here is the link to his post ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS5 BOLDLY EMPOWERS THE DIGITAL ARTIST

A few weeks ago I blogged about rumors of the release on Adobe Creative Suite 5 release. I have been on the fence of purchasing the CS4 because their has been a rumor on CS5.org about the a April release of CS5.

Well the rumors have now been confirmed. While I was reading my twitter feed I read a tweet from Sean McCormack at Lightroom-blog. He provided a link to the countdown to the release of Adobe CS5. Here is the link to the Count down. You can register to get emails and more information as it becomes available. Also, they have videos of sneak peeks and a live Buzz to see what everyone is saying about the release.

Here it the link to the previous post: Adobe Creative Suite 5 Rumor

New updated information

I just learned that the release of Adobe Creative Suite 5 will be on April 12, 2010. Here is the link to the new information: Countdown to Abobe Creative Suite 5 Release

Does anyone have any news when Adobe will release their Creative Suite 5. I started looking across the web to find a release date for the CS5. I have come across a blog called CS5.org. According to CS5.org they had an unconfirmed release date of October 2009. Well obviously they were a little off on their release date.

I did find another date that seemed be a little more realistic.  This date has been repeated form web site to blog. The date of the suspected release will be April 2010.

3. Adobe Creative Suite 5

Rumor has it that the new versions of Photoshop, Flash et. al should be with us around April. It’ll be a new era for the design suite because the Mac version has been completely rebuilt in Cocoa, and will no longer run on PowerPC chips. Judging by the sneaky peeks we’ve seen here and from what was announced at Adobe MAX 2009, designers will be whimpering with delight when CS5 finally becomes available. New goodies you can expect from the suite include ‘wet look’ 3D Photoshop paint brushes, native iPhone game compiling in Flash, and a ‘Smart Paste’ tool for Dreamweaver that makes it easier to integrate vector graphics and Illustrator-created content into your web sites. Ref: Top Software for 2010

I am really interested in the release of CS5, because I am thinking of buying the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium and I don’t want to throw my money into a product that will be out dated in two months. I learned my lesson in the past. I have purchased products and spent a great deal of money on them, when a month or two later they release a new item. Then it’s to late to return the item and it cost another chunk of change to upgrade. That happened to me on my DSLR.

I guess that is one of the questions I can ask when I head into San Francisco for the Photoshop 20th Anniversary bash.

I you have any information on a release date of any Adobe CS5 products put them in the comments.

Apple iPad

I am sure I am not the First, and I know I won’t be the last. Apple today revealed in San Francisco, in their grand fashion the new long anticipated iPad. About six months ago word was out that Apple Inc. was going to come out with a new device. And today was that day to see what the iPad would look like and how much it would cost. It seems to be a large version of the iTouch.

The size seem to be about the same as the MacBook Air just without the clam shell. The screen is 9.7 inches, measured diagonally. So overall, it’s slightly smaller than a magazine. And at just 1.5 lbs and 0.5 inches thin, it’s easy to carry and use anywhere. The high-resolution, 9.7 inch LED-backlit, IPS display on iPad is remarkably crisp and vivid. It uses a display technology called IPS (in-plane switching), it has a wide, 178° viewing angle.

iPad uses the same revolutionary technology that’s in an iPhone multi-Touch. To maximize battery life, Apple engineers took the same lithium polymer battery technology they developed for our notebook computers and applied it to the iPad. As a result, you can use iPad for up to 10 hours while surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos, or listening to music.

The iPad will be released in March with wireless, and in April Apple plans on releasing the 3G version. The iPad will start at $499 pirce tag. And iPad is available with a choice of 16, 32 or 64GB flash storage. I don’t think that will be enough storage. I have a feeling that will be a limiting factor for those of us that will be using this as a substitue when we don’t want to us our MacBooks.

Here is the link to the video if your would like to learn more. iPad

Hi,

I thought I would post this little bit of news. I was reading Scott Kelby’s new post and found a contest to get a free ticket to the Adobe Photoshops 20th Anniversary invitation. The birthday party will be on February 18, 2010 at the Palace of the Fine Art theater, in San Francisco.

Here is the link to Scott Kelby’s Blog Photoshop Insider. Read his post and sign up, maybe I will see at the party. I just got my ticket sent to me in my email.

Thanks Scott, that was fast service.

Ringed Nudibranch at the California Academy of Sciences, display tank for California Nudibranchs.

The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is offering a special event for photographers. I have been to many aquariums. The more popular the aquarium the busier it is with visitor and guests. Sometime I wished that I had the aquarium to myself so I could film the exhibits without the interference of people walking in front of your lens or bumping you as you hold your camera still for that long exposure shot, because most aquariums don’t allow tripods, because tripods can trip and injure clumsy visitors.

Another plus to a photographers only night, is you can bring flashes, light boxes and any equipment that may require to plug in. Most of this equipment is prohibited at any other time at aquariums.

Sometimes the addition of people in the image make the photo. Here is an example that I took a couple years ago at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The addition of people made the image.

For more information read below or got to Aquarium of the Pacific Events. Continue Reading →

I saw this posted on the East Bay Photography Meetup site:

East Bay/SF Photo Op – No Pants Subway Ride 2010

However the first round of the NFL Plays will be on TV, so I might not make it.

Merry Christmas 2009, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone is enjoying their day with family and friends.

Magelan and I are enjoying Christmas in San Clemente this year with my Family. As you can tell from the image I took on Christmas Eve the weather is great.

Merry Christmas, and I hope Santa brought everything on your Christmas list.

Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2010, the New York Institute of Photography (http://www.nyi100years.com) is pleased to offer the free NYIP Monthly Newsletter to photographers looking to improve their photographic skills. In addition, when aspiring photographers sign up for the NYIP online newsletter they will receive as a PDF download “NYIP’s Three Guidelines and Six Tips for Great Photographs” – a colorful collection of ideas and eye-catching photographs that will quickly and easily help photographers take better pictures. Read more…

Free Photography Tips from the New York Institute of Photography

Posted using ShareThis