Farewell to 2010 and Hello to 2011 Predictions

Posted on December 31, 2010 by admin

Here are my top 10 tech predictions for 2011:

  1. The new version of the iPad will become available for multiple carriers with 3G and 4G data plans. iPad 2 will sell more than 45 million copies in 2011 and take at least 65% of the tablet market. All the others that will deploy tablets in 2011 will fight for the remaining market share. This market will increase Apple’s market value to near #1 in the US and the World. It will also elevate Apple’s computer sales (defining the iPad as a computer) to #3 worldwide.
  2. The Windows 7 mobile platform will take market share away from Android but will fail to do any better than third behind iPhone and Android. The new Palm OS will lag and its tablet platform will ultimately fail. Verizon iPhones will increase Apple smartphone activations ahead of Android.
  3. The cloud will gain a major foothold when Apple re-introduces its MobleMe platform into a partly free, partly pay comprehensive cloud application. Included will be streaming music and music purchase storage on MobleMe.
  4. Google will continue application deployment in the cloud and include this service in Android. Google will start promoting the personal cloud (calling it”gCloud”).
  5. FaceTime and Skype will battle it out for the premier real-time video chat application. FaceTime will win because Apple will introduce more compelling features and Skype will continue to be plagued by service outages.
  6. Canon and Nikon will both come out with “mirror-less” digital cameras. These offerings will blow the competition away. Only Sony will be left with any significant market share.
  7. Microsoft Kinect will continue to sell very well but Microsoft will fail to adapt the technology to other areas of technology.
  8. Flash will begin a slow death spiral and more as more web sites and game developers use HTML 5.
  9. Apple will not only adopt iOS features for the next generation of MacOS but will introduce touch style controls to the iMac. Introduction of Windows 8 will be delayed a year and Microsoft will not produce a unified OS (desktop, laptop, mobile).
  10. Netbooks will all but vanish from the consumer market to be replaced by tablets and slim laptops (e.g. MacBook Pro Air)
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Limpkin with his Lunch

Posted on December 30, 2010 by admin

Limpkin with Snail

This morning I went to the Wellington Environmental Preserve at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Everglades Habitat. Opened in November, the preserve was created by the South Florida Water Management District and the Village of Wellington.

There are 365 acres of new wetlands which was created to remove the phosphorus from the water in the same way that the Everglades system is doing. The water is cleansed by the wetlands and then goes into the Everglades.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, after whom the habitat was named, was a noted journalist and environmentalist who wrote for the Miami Herald. She fought for the preservation of the Everglades and wrote the influential book,  The Everglades: River of Grass in 1947. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and died in 1998 at the age of 108!

Birds and other wildlife are slowly moving into the habitat. Today we saw hawks, ducks, vultures, herons and limpkins. The limpkin in the photograph has captured one of the abundant apple snails and is taking it to his three juveniles in the nearby grasses.

The Apple Snail is a favorite.

The limpkin (Aramus guarauna) loves mollusks including the apple snail seen in his beak. The limpkin is similar to cranes and the males and females have similar plumage. The curved open beak is helpful in getting the snail out of his shell. The piles of empty shells now seen in the preserve is common because after extracting the snail, the limpkin leaves the intact shell behind.

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Tropical World

Posted on December 30, 2010 by admin

Drip Drop

I went on a “photo shoot” with the Delray Camera Club today to Tropical World – a nursery and garden shop. About 10 of us had free reign of the place.

I used my Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens for most of the morning. A tripod was a must with longish exposures.

This image was made of a plant whose leaf had been covered by the “rain” of the sprinkler system. Processed first in Lightroom 3. I then took the resulting image into Nik Color Effect Pro and used the Tonal Contrast filter. It works great. Saved into LR3 and then edited in Photoshop where I eliminated some of the annoying background elements.

Finally, a vignette was applied so as to focus the viewer’s eye to the main droplet. If you click on the image, you will be able to see the reflection of the surrounding foliage in the water drop.

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The End of Old Media

Posted on December 27, 2010 by admin

The Old Media

It is almost the New Year and it is time for the inevitable lists. Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, made his list of the best and worst technology for 2010. Of course, the iPad topped the list, followed by the iPhone and one of the Android smartphones.

And what with a slew, or dare I say, onslaught of  mobile apps for news, magazines and other information-based media – I pose the question: is the “old” media dead?

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‘Tis the Season

Posted on December 24, 2010 by admin

Happy Holidays

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Rolls Royce on the Avenue

Posted on December 20, 2010 by admin

Rolls Royce

This image was made during my outing on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. After photographing the sunrise, we went down the street and found this wonderful RR parked (ironically, with several parking tickets under the “windscreen” wiper blades).

I took the original into Lightroom 3 for light post processing and then into Photoshop CS5 where I used Topaz Adjust 4 and my modified filter to create a black and white version.

With the original color layer and the black and white layer stacked, I added a layer mask to the black and white layer and “painted in the color of the badges” to give the image just right touch.

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Old House in the Alley

Posted on December 18, 2010 by admin

The Alley

This old house in an alley in Corning, NY was post-processed in Lightroom 3 for the basics. The image was then brought in Topaz Adjust to give it a look more like I saw that gray day.

I used the spicify filter with some personal modifications – my “secret sauce” to achieve this effect. This is not an HDR image.

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Canada Goose

Posted on December 16, 2010 by admin

Canada Goose

This nice fat Canada goose is from the genus Branta, or black geese. Hard to tell if this is a male or female, since they are similar in coloration and size.

These geese winter as far down as Florida and generally breed in Canada and northern U.S. They eat veggies plus insects and fish. They are monogomous and will only find a mate if their’s dies.

This image was post processed in Lightroom 3 with a bump in contrast and color correction in Nik Color Effect Pro.

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Three Dresses

Posted on December 15, 2010 by admin

Three Dresses

This image,  called Three Dresses, was awarded first place in group B at the Delray Camera Club competition for November 24, 2010. The judge commented that “this photographer sees an image that others do not …”

It was made in the SoHo section of New York City. The original color photograph was converted into black and white and the dresses returned to their original color.

This is an example of my “urban” style of photography. Look carefully at the image; what does it say to you?

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Window Shopping

Posted on December 15, 2010 by admin

Headless

Worth Street in Palm Beach is known for its extravagant merchandise. But it costs nothing to window shop. Although the shops were not open at the early hour of our “photowalk” down the avenue, I capture several interesting and interpretive images that suggest the character of Worth Street.

The image to the left is the result of a serendipitous pairing of a headless mannequin and the reflection of a tree ornament.

Blue Lady Blue

Next, a ghostly head appears as a specter in the window  together with a reflection of the buildings and trees behind me.

No photo manipulation was made with either of these images, other than a bit of exposure and color correction!

What you see is what I saw.

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