So far the unit has worked pretty well for me only having issues when I was in the basement of buildings or otherwise unradio way friendly places.

I thought the Gazinia's I bought earlier this year had failed but a bit of pruning and care by Mrs. Noded has brought them back

I've downloaded the trial version of Nikon's CaptuerNX2. CaptureNX2 is imaging processing software some what like Adobe's Lightroom. Beginning to learn my way a round the interface. It does some stuff differently than I'm used to but nothing that I can't get used to. It uses a lot of smart selections to make things easy.

I'm not sure in the long run if I will switch over to it on a more permanent basis but the nice thing about the trial version is that it is good for 60 days. Gives me plenty of time to evaluate it. I've downloaded the User Manual and have loaded it on to the iPad for instructional reading.

Not as many CaptureNX2 resource but it is a good product and it does know all about Nikon's raw format. I will do things automatically that Lightroom doesn't.

The crocodile that has a taste for Captain Hook. Part of the topiary for the just completed Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. I'm trying using Nikon's CaptureNX2's image processing software. Different than Adobe products but it has potential plus since it's from Nikon it know about all the information from the raw file it originated from. I'm came out pretty good little blown out in the teeth. Got to watch out for those teeth.

Waited for a few minutes for the monorail to come into the picture. I started in just as I had lost concentration and was looking at the settings on the camera.

It took me several days to actually get to the bottom of why I felt betrayed, bamboozled, and basically had the rug pulled out from under me. It is not about the price, I was pretty much resigned willing to paying about that much every year for the continued upgrades to the one part of the Creative Suite I use, Photoshop. And I can see some really good reasons for subscribing to the Creative Cloud if I were a business with employees who would be using the software most of their work day. If I had graphic designer who I was paying $60k or $80k a year to produce art (using the term loosely) an investment of $600 per year for the latest software would be cheap. Less than 1% of the employee costs per year. If I no longer need the employee for some reason, lack of work, employee changes jobs, etc. I just cancel the subscription and I have no further issues.

As far as subscriptions go Photoshop for $240 a year probably is a good deal, I pay more than that to Kelby Training each year for my NAPP membership and my Kebly Training subscription. And that is where the rub is. I like my Kelby Training subscription, it gives me access to some wonderful training by some of the best instructors in the business including the likes of Jay Maisel and Joe McNally. I really want to continue with those subscriptions, especially the Kelby Training one because it is about a lot more than how to move pixels in Photoshop. But I am not giving Kelby Training $279.00 a year for instructions I can only use at Kelby Training.

My issue is that while I've spent probably $1500 dollars for Photoshop from Version 7 (I think) through the CS series, I probably have invested twice four or six times that amount in books and instruction on Photoshop and now Lightroom. I've spent $3K just on going to PhotoshopWord three times. Then there is the large number of hours of my time spent reading and practicing the instructions from the books and videos. I don't begrudge any of those hours or any of the dollars because I loved to learn and I love to apply what I've learned. Problem is that now I don't feel it would be worth my while to learn anymore about Photoshop if what I learn can't continue to be applied down the road if time and travel prevents me from keeping up on my payments to Adobe.

I really don't want to write a check each month for $20.00 to Adobe (forget about the first year discount). And all I have for all that check writing is, well nothing. On the same note I'm sure that Adobe's Board of Directors and shareholders would like to make a profit. I've tried my best to come up with a solution that is fair to Adobe as well as me. Personally I wouldn't mind paying out a yearly upgrade subscription if I was assured that at the end I would still have a perpetual license for Photoshop that I could still use after I no longer desire upgrades. And I would give even a bit more, say a one time upgrade fee from CS6 to CC. So in my mind a one time fee of $200 for a perpetual upgrade to Photoshop CC plus maybe a once a year $199 subscription would be something I could accept and manage. This gives me the next version of Photoshop plus it gives me 1 year to see if Adobe is really ready and willing to give us continuous improvements to the program. After that year I can make a decision if the subscription for updates is of further worth.

Was a little distracted on the back nine on Wednesday. The fire looked closer than it was and was out by the time we reached the parking lot after the round about 30 minutes later. Still it was hard to concentrate with the large column of smoke hovering over us. Didn't even smell the smoke.

or

Black and White

T-Mobile now has a no contract pay as you go system now. For $25.00 i get 30 days to use up to 1.5 gig of bandwidth. If I have a month were I don't need the card I can either drop to a $15.00 300mb bandwidth or just not purchas time at all.

I had an issue trying to get everything activated by using the web based interface. I called the toll free number and was helped by two very friendly T-Mobile reps. I'm waiting for the final activation of the card.

The other plus is that T-Mobile seems to have much better 4G coverage than Sprint so we will see how it goes.

Not sure which is more amazing, the details Disney puts into it's buildings or the detail that the Nikon D600 captures. This is a shot of the new Repunzel Tower area at the Magic Kingdom.

Perfect day for photography at Magic Kingdom. Click image to embiggen.