OK, it has been quite awhile since I have had a chance to post anything, so I just wanted to remind everyone that Cinco de Mayo is coming up in a week and want to make sure that everyone is taking this as serious as my dog! More to come shortly....
"Why do I need to type characters from a picture before I add a product to the cart? Typing the characters from a picture helps ensure that an individual, and not an automated program, is adding a product to their cart.
This is important because hackers use harmful programs to try to reserve large amounts of inventory, which then means inventory is unavailable to our customers. To protect the integrity of your purchase, we ask you to take this step. In most cases, an automated registration program can't recognize the characters in the picture."
You are then prompted to enter an eight digit alpha code. For all those "retailers" using scripts to grab large amounts of inventory and then sort through them while in your cart this will hopefully level the playing field for the rest of the regular users. In general this seems like a step in the right direction as I have purchased many systems off of their web site and have been frustrated more than once to see a system, selected it to add to cart to find out that it and all the rest of the items are all of a sudden gone. I only wonder if you are too slow on typing in the verification code if someone else can grab the system out from under you.
All in all I think this is a good step for Dell and I applaud them on this effort. Now if they can work on their support side I will be one happy camper!
This one is for all the golf fans out there. This is an aerial shot of the Rogue Valley Country Club in Medford, Oregon. I wonder if anyone ever thinks about this stuff in advance. And for what its worth, this is not a doctored picture, it is right off of an aerial photograph used by the City...
I just got my early Christmas present (Canon EOS 30D) a few days ago and then this morning this is what I saw outside my window. I decided I better
get a few quick snaps before it changed. Sure enough, within minutes of capturing the shots, everything went very grey and dark as the s
un rose above the clouds. It was quite spectacular to see in person, hopefully these pictures represent just a little of what the eye saw. These pictures were taken from my backyard at approximately 
7:15 AM. The lens used was a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lens. The particulars of each shot are slightly different but for the
most part I shot around an f/5.0 with an ISO of 400. Unfortunately I was in such a hurry that I did not get to shoot at an ISO 100 with an f/2.8. So far I am 
really impressed with the camera and the lens, thought the lens is quite heavy. I am now in search of a good prime lens, maybe a 14-70mm f/2.8 or faster. Might have to save a little and wait until after Christmas for that 
one, but it will be nice. 
If you have ever been to Palm Springs you will notice that it is usually warm, if not down right HOT! But high above the desert oasis are the San Jacinto Mountains and an aerial tram that will take you to the top. But don't be fooled, even in the middle of summer it can be quite a bit cooler at the top. Spring is an amazing time to go there though; the mountain has snow and clear skies but the valley is quite warm. Here are some pictures from the top. There are a few nice hikes at the top along with snow camping if one desires.
aerial lines as we climbed up the mountain. In this second picture, you can see a little bit of snow beginning to show up as we are past the halfway point. This shots are taken through the tramways plexiglass windows, so clarity is not quite what you would see at the top.
The lens used was either the stock lens or an EF 75-300 that is quite econmical but does not have quite the glass that one would need to really capture some of the finer details. Also, shooting in the snow is always challenging for white balance. Most of the shots are at an f/8.0 which gave a nice balance of depth of field and plenty of light.
down to release the shutter and then let go, I seem to create some movement that creates blur. So whenever I have a long exposure, I just set the timer, push the button and move away. This is of course a lot more difficult than a remote shutter release, but it works.
Well I thought this would be interesting to post since 1999 was a good year for Ricky Carmichael, on 125's. He won this race at Hangtown along with Kevin Windham in the 250 class (beating the King, Jeremy McGrath). I wonder if Kevin is going to call it quits soon as well...
Well if anyone read the interview with Ricky and Bubba about the Washougal race, this may explain why Ricky was getting so frustrated. I have a feeling Bubba's roost taste a whole lot worst than others...
A great day for the Lites as well at Washougal as Short goes 1-1. He made it look way too easy and Alessi was nowhere to be seen (for the most part). Tough break for Villopoto on the first moto but he looked good in moto #2. More pics to come, plus some cropping and adjustments. I am just trying to get these out as quick as I can to start with....
Not only was the motocross class an increadible race, but the Lites even had a great day. The weather was near perfect, though conditions were tough for photography. I did not have enough 
light for my telephoto shots and many came out blurred. But who cares about the photography, it was all about racing at Washougal this year. Ricky and Bubba made this one of the
best races of all times, and from listening to others, probably one of the best races of all times.
the bike, he quickly jumped back on to take a tough second, and second overall for
the day. I would say better luck next time, but this was probably the last appearance for Ricky at Washougal. Next year will be the Bubba show.
Here are a few pictures of some cloud formations around Mount Bachelor in central Oregon. This was taken in late September (the 30th to be exact) before a late evening hike up the mountain. It was a beautiful evening and the clouds helped to offer a magnificent sunset. If you are ever interested in hiking Mt. Bachelor, there is a great trail system that leaves from the parking lot and goes all the way to the top of the mountain. It offers some great views of eastern Oregon as well as the Cascade mountain range.
Here is another shot from the Canon PowerShot SD400. This is another great example of why this camera is so good to have around. It fits in your pocket yet it can produce some really nice pictures. This particular shot was taken in the late morning on the Oregon Coast. The focal length was set at 6mm (35mm equivalent of 37mm), aperture at f/2.8 and the shutter speed was 1/400s. Ofcourse this was all done in automatic mode but still quite stunning. My wife had many great shots on this particular trip to the coast, all with this tiny little camera. I know there are many others on the market and I am sure they do just as well. The beauty of these types of cameras is the ability to take them almost anywhere. Now we will have to see how well I can do in manual mode with the DSLR for the 4th of July....
