Technology Shift

I guess you can say that I'm pretty slow when it comes to keeping up with technology. Check out the camera and phone transitions I have gone through in the past few years.

The Nokia cell phone I had for 7 years up until one and half years ago was my prized possession, and to be honest I really wouldn't mind using this dependable little guy again.  It's been dropped in the toilet, run over, thrown across floors all during my five years of college (and two years out of college), and it still works.  As you can see from the picture, I even ordered some pimpin' green buttons from Japan.  (I couldn't source them in the U.S.).  Did I mention the original battery still lasts two days?  I'm keeping it around in case Smithsonian calls and wants it for their cell phone history display.

My OWL Shot camera was my first camera I owned through high school. I took that thing with me everywhere, and it served its purpose very well.  I took many many photos during those four years and have about 10 scrapbooks to prove it.  Unlike the Nokia, I will not be taking any more photos with this beast. 

My Nikon Coolpix camera broke last week, so I had to dig OWL out of the drawer for a wedding I attended.  I got the film developed (it cost $12 for 24 pictures), opened the package excitedly to see the results and walah...

Pixelation nightmare! 
Did you recognize LJB on the left from Jeans Boots? Her blog rocks!

Side note (Wasn't it the best getting that package film and opening it to see the treasure inside?!)  I guess the curiosity alone and excitement of seeing the photos for the first time was worth the $12 I spent, but I doubt I'll ever buy a roll of 35mm film again.

Since my camera broke and since I'm obsessed with taking pictures, I had to buy a new camera. No question. Even though my dream is to one day own a SLR and take a photography class (see bucket list), I can't really afford that right now (see college loan line item in bucket list), so I went in search of the perfect point and shoot.  I wanted a simple camera that could take great night photos, indoor photos, and macro shots. After some thorough internet research and help from some camera experts (thanks Megan, Rob and Leah), I settled on this little beauty:

Canon Powershot ELPH 300 HS.

Let me just say that so far, I am quite impressed with this powerful little camera, which made its debut in March.  Here are some cool photo effects I played with today.

Original

Color Accent Selector

Color Replacement - Yikes! 

(To all you lotion companies out there...I am available for hand modeling)

Here are some other features of my new camera:
Takes slow motion videos
Takes miniature effect video (check out this one from YouTube)
High burst continuous shots - for a fast moving target. It can capture 8.0 frames per second
Fish eye effect
Face detect - when a new face comes into the photo, it can detect it and start the countdown until photo snap.
Wink detect - It doesn't take the photo until someone winks to trigger it. (yep - it works. I tried it and laughed out loud when it actually worked!)
Handheld night scene
Under water mode - would have to get a protective case, of course.
It has the ability to record Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 videos at 24 fps with stereo sound, thanks to its CMOS sensor.
Very thin, yet still has a 5x optical zoom
Can capture 24mm wide-angle images
Long shutter
Stitch assist for panoramic shots

These are just a few features of this camera.  I'm excited to try some more features out this week as I head to Florida (especially the Beach Scene Effect).  Stay tuned!



Weekend in L.A.

My first reaction when we arrived L.A. last weekend was, "Who are all these people and where the heck are they all going at 11 p.m."  Rob wasn't kidding when he told me about the large quantity of people living in this town...er..city.  Our small town visits and hospitality along Route 66 were over and L.A. welcomed us with open arms. So let me tell you about the last and final leg of our Off the Cuff adventure.

Saturday morning was spent helping Rob unload the U-haul, signing his lease for a new apartment and meeting his new "very outgoing" future roommate.  We were curious how storage was handled in L.A. since there is barely even space for parking lots.  Instead of garage storage units like we are used to here in the Midwest, the ones in L.A. were built upwards.  We had to load everything on carts, haul them into the elevators and head up!  Both of us were so excited for the warm weather, we wore flip flops without even thinking about the move!  We did manage to make it out with no blisters though!! 

Rob locked me in the storage unit for a while (ok for about 1 minute).

After the car was FREED of the back-end-nusiance it had been hauling around for 2,000 + miles, we headed to Santa Monica Pier to enjoy the sunshine and of course, ride the ferris wheel!

Saturday night, we treated ourselves to a very nice dinner of corn-fed steak and BBQ ribs at a restaurant and then watched the waves come in on Hermosa Beach Pier. As you all know I am not a very romantic person, but this was a pretty neat evening.

Sunday came quickly and our first stop on the Lord's Day was church. Rob scoped out the churches in the area and decided on Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church downtown L.A. The mass was very long- complete with three priests, incense, and all the old traditions, but it was neat to see all factors at play to make a beautiful service. I always enjoy visiting new churches when traveling.

After church, we continued being tourists and walked around downtown to see the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The walls reflected so much light and heat that it felt like we were in a sauna standing next to the building. Rob explained that some of the walls had to be sanded down on the back side, because they were heating up a nearby apartment complex.

We then made our way to Rob’s workplace – RTKL architecture firm in the Bank of America building. Side note - Apparently Richard Gere’s office in “Pretty Woman” was in this same building. 

I get giddy any time I enter a creative “space.” (yeah, you should see me when I step into Hobby Lobby) and this was no different. It was pretty cool to see his cubicle and the projects he has been working on.

Then, the tourists ventured on to Hollywood! I’m not much on keeping up with the Hollywood scene, celebrity gossip, etc., but I was a little star struck when I met Darth Vader, Cat Woman, and Charlie Chaplin. It was also pretty neat to see the stars lining the sidewalks and the Hollywood sign adorning the mountain side. So famous yet so small! I was shocked at how tiny it appeared.

Camera zoomed in all the way!

We finished our day on the beach in Hermosa enjoying the sunshine and playing in the sand. Let me reiterate how great it is to have someone to play and act silly with!

We made our own walks of fame.

Our final dinner before my flight was at In and Out Burger – one of the best burgers you’ll ever taste. If you’ve been there before, you know they only offer about five options on the menu, but do you know about the secret menu (or "not so secret" menu as they proclaim on their web site). Yep, we got our burgers “Animal Style” with caramelized onions and extra sauce. If you are ever out West, don’t miss one of these burgers of greasy goodness. The In and Out Burger was right next to the airport, so we picnicked outside and watched the planes come in over our heads (Bucket List – check!).

And that is it my friends.  It was a great end to a wonderful trip with a great person, and I managed to check five items off the bucket list. (Visited three states I haven't been to, watched planes come in over my head, and visited and hiked the Grand Canyon). Hopefully we'll have more adventures to come. The first adventure will be figuring out this long distance relationship stuff, but I'm looking forward to the challenges and the rewards of seeing how we can grow together from here on out.

Friday: Almost to L.A.

Lack of computer connection and lack of Rob's photos prevented me from posting this weekend, so even though it's late, I'm continuing to post so I can remember our wonderful trip!

We started off Friday morning, visiting our friends, Fred and Wilma. Yup, that's right. Who knew Bedrock was so close to the Grand Canyon. And we were pleased to find that everything still looked really good for being over a million years old. I guess it is made out of stone...anyway..check it out!

We said goodbye to the Flintstones and headed...I'll let you take a guess..Westward! Onto L.A. For lunch, we stopped at a famous little restaurant in Needles, C.A. - recommended by a gas station attendant- called The Juicy's River Cafe. Our appetizer was fried fettuccine. I think I'm going to bring the idea to the State Fair this year. Delicious.

During the drive to L.A, we jaunted off I-40 down to I-10 so we could take a pit stop at Palm Springs. Getting down to I-10 was quite the drive. Let me paint the picture for you...two lane road lined with nothing but lone cacti, scattered bushes, barren rock formations and every so often, a solar powered call station. There was not a house or electric line in sight. No other roads were seen for a 70 mile stretch. We did stop to get a few pictures of the cactus.
Also, check out this sweet video I just learned how to create on my camera.  Too bad I didn't know about this feature when we started!

When we arrived in Palm Springs, it was getting dark, but we decided to do what we had come for anyway. Head up the cliffs of the Chino Canyon via the Aerial Tram. This tram ascended up 6,000 feet from the hub station in about 10 minutes, as the picture of Palm Springs got smaller and smaller and smaller. We did get some really neat views of the city lights 8,500 feet below us and got some quiet moments under the stars alone before we caught the last tram back down. 

The last two hours of our road trip to the West Coast went fast and we arrived in L.A. around midnight to stay with Rob's brother who lives there. It's a little sad for me knowing that we don't have any further to drive. This is it...I'm hoping that maybe there is a chance we can just drop off the U-haul then I can take him right back to Indiana...well, at least we still have a whole weekend to enjoy L.A. together!