I just recently finished a project which involved me developing an XML loaded Banner Rotator and I thought I’d share the process with you folks. The key features of this XML Loaded Banner Rotator is that you can add as many images as you would need, and each image can hold a hyperlink. Bloomingdales has a similar rotating banner, and so I modeled mine after what they had. If you lovely people would like to view a demo of this XML Loaded Banner Rotator, then please click here, or you can take a hike, because hiking is very good exercise.

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As most digital photographers know, the biggest drawbacks to a dslr camera is those nasty dust particles. The horrors of taking 2000 images at an event, and all of them filled with ugly dust spots. This scenario is a post production nightmare in the making, and can bring the most seasoned photographers to their knees while simultaneously wetting their pants. It’s not a pretty sight, but hopefully with the launch of the Ricoh GXR, this problem can now be solved.

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I have to admit that I fell into the world of the DSLR revolution, and have been loving it ever since. Leaving behind the comforts of the point-and-shoot, and venturing into manually controlling the camera is a milestone for every aspiring photographer. After owning my DSLR for over two years, I’ve somewhat mastered its functionality. But every now and then, laying down in bed late at night, and wearing nothing but my Hanes, I reminisce. I think about how easy it was to know exactly what I was capturing before pressing the shutter button. I remember the comforts of having a camera tucked away in my jean pockets, ready to capture at a moments notice. What happened to those days? why can’t I have my cake and eat it too? Why does the wii give me a nasty case of tennis elbow? And how come we can’t combine the ease of the point-and-shoot with the control and flexibility of a DSLR? I said Why? answer me dammit!!!

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This past August, a guy we know from True Religion Brand Jeans has asked Curiosity Media to develop a certificate application for them. This project was the first time that a company, of this size, has asked us to do work. Although we weren’t responsible for their actual website, it feels good to know that we have at least developed a useful application for a big company.

The sites main purpose was to allow visitors to view all of True Religion Brand Jean’s Certificate of Compliance of their products. I’m guessing this is because of some law for the apparel industry, or it might just be a good way for them to instill trust in their customers. The application was very basic, due to the time constraints of the project, but it still has some cool features. You are able to drill down into a folder type infrastructure, organize certificates by name, date, or hits, and search for each certificate from the search bar. I’ve also kept it easy for the company to maintain their certificates by allowing them to just drag and drop them into the ftp server. A script is running in the background that will recognize the updates, and respond accordingly.

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On September 26th, 2009, Curiosity Media had a chance to shoot their very first engagement photography. The photo shoot was over a month in the making where Curiosity Media had researched and scouted great locations. We had to recommend wardrobe for the two couple, and we looked through countless portfolios to give ourselves the inspiration for our shots.

The engagement photography session was a half day event, and was split into 3 parts. First we had an outdoor session at a local shopping center to give us some urban atmosphere. Then we headed over to the beach so we can have some romantic shots. Then finally we finished off doing some studio work, which was difficult because we had to do it in our living room.

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I found this video that was featured on yahoo that recounts a womans experience with her wedding photographer. She had said that out of the 400 pictures he gave to her, only 22 were usable.  This brings me back to my point that a wedding is a one time deal, and if you aren’t careful with choosing your photographer, you can have ruined memories for the rest of your life. You might need to save money on a photographer, but what should be more important than money is quality. If you don’t listen to this advice you might end up having your very own wedding photography nightmare.

watch the video here

Curiosity Media was invited to celebrate Jackie Nith’s 25th Birthday Party on September 18th.  It was a 1920’s themed affair where the girls had their long necklaces and the guys had on their fedora’s.  Although Curiosity Media arrived early, the party didn’t get started until around 10 pm. Everyone was drinking and having a great time, and we were happy to be a part of it.

The real challenge for covering Jackie Nith’s 25th Birthday party was that, besides the few twinkling lights, it was nearly pitch black. This gave our cameras a real problem with the auto focus, and to make things worse, we couldn’t see the controls very well. For almost half the night our camera had the exposure compensation to -3 which made most the images we took very under exposed.  Fumbling around in the dark didn’t feel very professional either.  But Curiosity Media pulled it together in the end.

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Ever have an issue where firefox puts an annoying image padding under every image?

This is especially annoying when dealing with sliced images that you’re trying to piece together.

Here is a simple solution that I found out, and it couldn’t be easier.

Hopefully this simple css code will prevent you from tying a rope to the cieling and hanging yourself.

Place this style on every page, and you should be set.

If I saved even one life from this, than I know I’ve done my job. Now will someone please give me a job?I’m broke.

Henry and Rosie celebrated 40th Anniversary years of marriage this past weekend.  This event was held at the Cerritos Senior Center, and was beautifully decorated by the daughter of the two couple, Selena Presley. The amount of detail that went into decorating each table was astonishing, which made my wedding look like a piece of turd.  I especially loved how there were bottles of Martinelli’s on each table with what looked like a tuxedo cover.  The candy bar was also something new that I’ve never seen before, and it was a nice bonus for all the guests at the event.

Being the event coordinator, Selena had requested that Curiosity Media pay extra attention to all the little details of her work. We spent a good 2 hours, before the guests arrived, photographing everything we could from the banquet hall.

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