State & Lake

I
had such a good day yesterday and an equally wonderful dinner with friends I returned home with an abundance of energy and ideas.
First, I finally finished looking at all of the images from my day trip to Big Bear — not many and I’ll explain later — Huntington Botanical Gardens and since I still had [...]

The other day I noted a message from one of my Twitter Friends about a site featuring photos from the iPhone.  The message was:
and that got my attention fast.  To read someone is not happy with their N82 because of what an iPhone can do, it got my attention.
I checked out the above-mentioned site http://www.justwhatisee.com [...]

Today, while driving to Castaic, I kept hearing the words of a song by Lou Reed.  The name of the song is “What’s Good” and trust me, it’s kind of weird with even weirder words.  I believe it comes from an album he did on death and dying and maybe that’s why it was on [...]

Spent the day in the mountains earlier then dropped down to Castaic Lake in the afternoon. I have always wanted to come here but thought it farther than it is. It’s actually not that far from me. Trust, I will return. What a beautiful, serene and exqusite place. Just what [...]

Renovance.tv is offering a workshop on the “Power of Light” with famed master photographer Claudio Basso.  I love Basso’s images, his fashion work and his website which is fabulous.  The intense two-day workshop promises to help you “replicate for your own clients the astonishing lighting setups that grace the the fashion, beauty and portraiture [...]

Beautiful walkway, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.
I went out Saturday to find the streets of Pasadena pretty empty. Verizon, as usual, was crowded but other stores along the way were not. Folks are shopping much these days. Since there were few people out I seized the moment and shot this beautiful walkway (Burlington) [...]

Tina Allen - Sojourner Truth[/caption]
I was saddened to hear a woman I greatly admired died last week.  Tina Allen, internationally renowned sculptor and painter, died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center of complications from a heart attack.  She was 58-years-old.  Many of her sculptures featured African Americans through history — including abolitionist Sojourner Truth and author [...]

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sits down for her first national television interview as a Republican vice presidential candidate with ABC News' Charlie Gibson in Fairbanks, Alaska on Sept. 11, 2008.(Donna Svennevik/ABC News)[/caption]
Okay, saw Palin tonight.  Underwhelmed to say the least.  I listened to her talk and she needs more of the Karl Rove Repub Charm [...]

Testing Cycorder for iPhone, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.

I’ve been using Cycorder for a while since I first saw it loaded in the Cydia installer but I never thought much about the app since it did not have sound.
The video recorder was created by the same person who created Cydia (note Cycorder) and for [...]

Chase Jarvis takes the Nikon D90 for a spin with his staff.  A lot of this video is from the D90 and it not only records video at 720, it also records sound and you can control the depth-of-field.  Sweet.
The video looks a little grainy but that could be due to YouTube’s dumbing down of [...]

RED Scarlet Video/Still Prototype for 2009[/caption]
One of my favorite photo sites on the web is The Luminous Landscape and since the Nikon D90 will soon hit the streets with the ability to shoot high resolution stills and video, The Luminous Landscape is offering a video primer for still photographers.
Just as I was a bit hesitant [...]

Canon EOS 50D[/caption]
As noted in a prior post on the Nikon D90, I am looking to purchase a new camera.  I made a decision a couple of years ago to not purchase another camera until one comes along that really strikes my fancy.  Two cameras are doing this for me now and they are the [...]

Another development, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.

This is another development in Altadena that is taking forever to complete. I don’t know when this one is scheduled for completion — maybe sometime next year — or what will go in here but gee whiz, when will they finish.
I have always seen a very small [...]

I am and there are a few sites set up to both live stream and provide blow-by-blow reporting.  These are not your typical media outlets either.
One, My Urban Report, with Amani Channel, is broadcasting live and shooting video in New Orleans.  You can keep up with all of that is happening in New Orleans from [...]

Shepard Fairey stands in front of his poster. Courtesy of Studio Number One[/caption]
A few businesses need to take a tip from this young man.  The story behind the Obama posters (pictured here) begins with a Los Angeles-based street artist, Shepard Fairey.  Fairey designed the posters for Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign and as he says, his [...]

The blogger lounge at the Democratic National Convention (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)[/caption]
This is an exciting time.  Never have I seen citizen journalists given a place at a major event like the Democratic National Convention.  I’m sure we’ll see the same at the Republican National Convention.
What has tickled my fancy was seeing blogger and comedian Baratunde Thurston [...]

Photo used to describe how dead center is deadly[/caption]
I hope to share some of my favorite photo sites here soon.  Unfortunately, I’m currently in the middle of writing a business plan and trying to get some parts of my life together and have had not time to really delve into topics close to my heart [...]

The New Nikon D90[/caption]
I have always been a devoted and loyal fan of Canon cameras and have been since my days at Columbia College.  Back then, a lot of us photo majors marched down to Helix Camera on Wabash to purchase one of the newer SLR cameras.  Once there we discovered our pocketbooks could not [...]

All Cleaned Up, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.

She’s all cleaned up and ready to go. She no longer looks like a cabbage patch doll. Talk’n bout the car wash yeah!!!

No 2 Getting Cleaned Up, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.

I finally did it. After six months — or longer — of wanting and needing to get a serious car wash, it’s done. This one looked really bad with about three inches of pollen, parrot poop (noisy San Gabriel Parrots), and an assortment of spills, [...]

My little kitty, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.

One of the little kitties that have found safe haven in my yard. This time, instead of ignoring me she began talking as soon as I exited the car. I “owled” back and she continued to talk. Finally I really started talking to her and she/he [...]

Planting trees on Arroyo Blvd,, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.

I’ve been waiting for these to show up. With all of the work and building going on, I wondered when the palms would show up and they’ve finally arrived. They were all laid out all the way to California. I’m assuming they’ll be planting [...]

She’s clean!!, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.

Here’s one of the old girl after a quick run through the water. One down, one to go. Maybe tomorrow.

Getting a wash, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.

My plans for the weekend went bust in terms of the girls night out dinner plans we had. Two of my girlfriends are not doing well. As for me, I see something good in everything — I needed the rest.
Today I felt like 95% which [...]

I meant to do this earlier in the week but just could not get myself together enough to do it.  Trailblazing reporter Edie Huggins, one of Philadelphia’s most beloved broadcasters, died Tuesday, July 29, 2008, after a lengthy battle with cancer.  She was 72.
Huggins was the first African-America woman to report on television in Philadelphia. [...]

Facebook on iPhone, originally uploaded by FemmeNoir.
First, I have not quite caught the wave of social networking. I am trying but I sense I am a die-hard loner and I have issues with words that even smell like I’m “following” someone. I dislike anything having to do with “following” another individual and vice [...]

A friend just sent this to me with the subject “cute bears”.  Personally, I don’t like to see bears in captivity, in fact, I don’t like to see any animal in captivity.  I believe they should all be out running freely whenever, wherever, living life happily in the wild.
These bears have actually learned how to [...]

NOTE, THIS IS A RANT — I recorded the entire show yesterday and before I could get into one hour I was done.  The show would have been better called “Some Blacks In America.“  Personally, I am tired of hearing the question “how many children do you have?”  It is always assumed that as a [...]