Photo Exploration: The Beach

I just bought the new Canon 5d MKII. Below are some images i shot today. so far, im very, very impressed. The 5d MKII produces beautiful image quality with little noise even at high ISOs. The 5d MKII has also incorporated a new element: HD quality video. The design makes changing modes from stills to video simple and easy. Im still getting use to the live view feature. i keep wanting to look thru the view finder when shooting video. I am thinking of getting the Zacuto Z-Finder, so i can have three points of contact to the camera, like when shooting stills, for when i hand hold video. Test video coming soon!

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All images © Marisa Guzmán-Aloia

Times They Are A Changin

It's a very exciting time for photography right now. The collaboration of still and motion photography is on the edge of something great. With technology like E-Ink, imagery for magazines, books, movie posters etc will truly come to life. In the last 5-8 years video cameras had been adopting a still photo feature. they are now at the point that they take pretty good stills. it was only a matter of time that still cameras would incorporate video. the Canon 5d MKII is a very powerful tool for both still and motion photography. check out a couple of documentaries that were made with it. they have beautiful vision created with unbelievable quality in such a small device. (GO HERE) I also just watched a video on Alexx Henry’s blog that blew my mind. Alexx did a photo shoot for Outside Magazine demonstrating how still photography is going to change with the developing technologies and how close were are to being in that next stage. take a look. This is not just the future of professional photography. This is future of photography itself.

Blog Action Day: Save the Fries

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From my guest blog post at guzmanlg.com/blog (Oct. 15, 2009)


I should start by saying that I am a glass half full kind of a person. I sat down to write this post with optimism in mind and list easy, everyday steps we can take to reduce our carbon footprint, such as: unplug your appliances, use cold water (for laundry, not in the shower), keep your tires properly inflated, bring your own grocery bags, etc. But during a twitter distracted moment, I found a link to a website listing the top 100 effects of Global Warming. I started reading down the list. It covered a wide spectrum from animal lives being endangered to the end of good French wine. As I kept scrolling down, my eyes widened and my heart whimpered as I read the words “Say Goodbye to French Fries”. The description read: “Scientists from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research say warmer temperatures are killing off wild relatives of potato and peanut plants, ‘threatening a valuable source of genes necessary to help these food crops fight pests and drought.’” What! I love animals and I am part Italian, so I love my grapes, but Global Warming is threatening french fries! Almost every child old enough to eat solid foods knows the golden arches of McDonalds. You bet they would be unplugging everything in sight if they knew it would save french fries! How many times have you said, “Lets grab a burger and fries”? I bet more than a few. So lets try reusable water bottles and compact fluorescent light blubs, if not for the animals or the grapes or any of the other 97 reasons, lets do it for the fries!


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* Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be one of the largest-ever social change events on the web. <o:p></o:p>

www.blogactionday.org<o:p></o:p>

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* Top 100 effects of Global Warming<o:p></o:p>

www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/09/climate_100.html<o:p></o:p>

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Pool Shoot

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©Marisa Guzmán-Aloia

(This is a delayed post... I probably did this shoot a month ago? maybe longer? sorry!)

This was my second underwater shoot and it was just as much fun as the first! I love the challenge. I found that if you breathe out all of your air before you drive down, you stay at the bottom easier because you dont have air in your lungs to make you buoyant. Of course, you then dont have any oxygen. Its an interesting toss up.

Im hoping to continue this "Water" series. This summer just flew by! I can't believe its October tomorrow! I have several more ideas that I hope will be applicable in the Fall. We'll see ...

Why Jury Duty Gets a Bad Rap

My guest blog post at guzmanlg.com/blog.

Their sits a man, a man in his early seventies with a balding grey head. In his striped collared shirt and his blue jeans he dawns head phones and an iPod as he rocks out to, what sounds like, country music. With all distracting sounds isolated, the man can focus on his crossword puzzle. “16 Down…” he mutters, “Ovation…”. Apparently, today’s crossword puzzle is oral. Too bad he is not reading the entire puzzle out loud, this could have been a fun group activity. I sit in my corner of the “L” shaped air conditioned trailer and wait; wait for my name to be called, wait to go to lunch, wait for something, wait, wait, wait. I’m at Jury Duty. The Jury Room clerk announces that the only people who will be excused from duty are the ones who produce their own death certificate. I guess I’m not going anywhere soon.

I continue to sit patiently in the grey, unexpectedly, thick padded chair, with my laptop open, catching up on emails and watching my tweets. Apple has just commenced one of their big events where they unveiling new products. Just a few minutes into Apple’s presentation, Twitter became overwhelmed and inactive, overloaded with Apple lovers’ excitement to spread the word of Job. That’s Steve Job. Taking a break from my computer screen while Twitter regrouped, I took in my fellow jurors who sat in our corner of the “L” shaped trailer.

A lot of reading was happening: books, newspapers and magazines. The business men and women, most whom attempted, and with little success (since they still have a pulse), to get out of their day of civic duty, tap away at their keyboards, flip through papers and cross reference information on their iPhones or Blackberrys. The man sitting in front of me is an attorney who is still not sure why legal professionals should be summoned. The man sitting next to him is a commercial airline pilot who just came back last night from piloting an LAX to JFK turn around trip. His name was called, not for jury duty, but because he accidentally left his car in neutral and it rolled out into the street. His subconscious was telling the world, or at least the Court House parking lot, that he didn’t really want to be here. And finally, the man sitting at the table: his beast of a laptop is probably three inches thick when closed. I deduced that he is a high school football coach by the copious notes he takes while watching a game on his laptop. Here we are, your jury selection for the day. All of us anxious to be excused, fearful of hearing our name called out. At least we get to go to lunch early.

Once back from lunch, a trial is in need of a jury. One by one, names are called and people rise from their chair, leave the trailer and head to the fifth floor. One woman’s name was called and her response was: “Ah Dang!”. Why is it that people look at Jury Duty as an unwanted responsibility? Today’s excuse is that people can’t afford to loose a day or more of work. It’s true, but what about when the economy was thriving? Why is it that Jury Duty has always had a stigma around it? I guess in our busy, ever quickening world, who has time for civic duty?

The Lanes

©Marisa Guzmán-Aloia


Some families are football families with a member of each generation playing at least college level football. Some families are numbers families with engineers and scientists at NASA. Well, my family is a bowling family. My grandparents have bowled ever since I can remember. They are now in their mid 80’s and still bowl in a weekly league. Over the years, my grandparents have given the grand kids (and their own kids) bowling balls, shoes and bags. Yes, I own my very own bowling ball. We are a competitive family. We just can’t help it. On major holidays the whole family comes out to bowl. Our biggest turn out is the day after Thanksgiving. But, no matter how hard us “youngsters” try, those old folk beat us every game!

This past weekend, a few of us gathered at the lanes. As usual, we had a great time getting our butts kicked by the “old people” (as I fondly call them). I brought along my dSLR and decided that it would be fun to make a stop motion movie. I have been interested in the process and thought that bowling would make a perfect starter subject. It was a great first run, especially since i was shooting handheld in low lighting conditions. Take a look. Let me know what you think!

E-Reading: The way of the future?

I did some guest blogging yesterday at guzmanlg.com/blog.


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Today the Wall Street Journal had an article about electronic books and now textbooks being offered electronically on iPod’s and iPhone’s. My first thought was “Wow, what a great tool!” How fantastic it will be for students to work on homework literally anywhere you can have your iPhone. College graduates will enter the working world with better posture now that all their textbooks combined will weigh less than one pound. And, now with the technology of the Kindle e-reader you can travel the world with multiple books without the hassle of actually having to pack them. But, the article got me thinking: will this tool, be used as just that, a tool, or will e-books become our future?

I am a huge proponent of the electronic age; I don’t leave home without my iPhone (and when I do, its like I have left my right arm behind), I text, twitter and blog. But, the thought of phasing out books feels like a crime. What will happen to the textbooks filled with highlighted key points and scribbles in the margins? The Kindle e-reader not only allows you to read books, but also newspapers. I get a soothing feeling from reading a physical newspaper and turning the pages, and maybe getting a little ink on my hands. I like reading books and folding down the corners of the page. And yes, the Kindle does allow you to highlight, write in the margins and bookmark a page, but it just isn’t the real deal. As I came to the end of the article, I felt sad at the thought that this could be the foreshadowing of another piece of the analog world becoming obsolete.

Koontz

“Do as little harm to others as you can; make any sacrifice for your true friends; be responsible for yourself and ask nothing of others; and grab all the fun you can. Don’t give much thought to yesterday, don’t worry about tomorrow, live in the moment, and trust that your existence has meaning even when the world seems to be all blind chance and chaos. When life lands a hammer blow in your face, do your best to respond to the hammer as if it had been a cream pie. Sometimes black humor is the only kind we can summon, but even dark laughter can sustain.”
— Dean Koontz

Keeping Those Options Open

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©Marisa Guzmán-Aloia

My nephew is in town visiting from Texas. This past weekend we went to San Diego for a Sea World / Zoo adventure. It was fun to share the experience with him and learn new things. Above is one of my favorite images from the weekend. My nephew and i were hanging out in the manatee exhibit with our noses almost pressed to the glass trying to get the best view through the 3 inch or so piece of glass. As we backed away to let others have a chance to see, i realized that the view five feet back was great. and then i stepped ten feet back and that view was even better. instead of only getting to see the manatee as it passed right in front of me, i was able to see the entire tank and how the manatee moved in its environment. The best part was watching others react to the exhibit and just for a few seconds be connected as group to one experience. this one happened to be nature.

Connecting to one another is important in this world of ours. Sharing and passing on positive energy is key. Im a big believer in the power of energy that is in our universe. If you keep sending out positive energy, it will come back to you. Im also realistic. I can send out positive energy all i want to bring me a dump truck full of $100 bills, but thats most likely never going to happen. I say most likely because im not ready to shut the door on it completely. I like to keep my options open. Having an open mind can bring great things, positive things, to one anothers lives. So, share your energy and connect through twitter or blogging or experience a manatee exhibit at Seaworld, because good things will come to the believers.