Saturday Photo Walk: White Rock Lake

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In May, a photography buddy and I decided to do a photo-walk at White Rock Lake.   We headed out bright and early, which allowed us to capture some great photos of people enjoying a Saturday morning at the lake.

There is something I love about taking shots of random photos at parks, from the candidate shots of a person during a workout to nature to families enjoying a time together.  On this occasion I also practice my portrait skills on a photo buddy.

Runners, Walkers. Rollerbladers and Bikers …

Duckies…

Portrait Practice …

Things that Float …

Random Nature Shots …

I am not 19 any more …

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Something many people don’t know about me is that growing up I was a rollerblader.  I loved rollerblading … I rollerbladed every night … on the streets, at the skating ring, in the driveway … where ever and when ever.   I gave up rollerblading when I went to college, I just didn’t have time for it and I really didn’t have  any place to rollerblade.  

When I came home last week I found my rollerblades in my closet.  So tonight I decided to lace up my skates and go rollerblading, well, I made it for a couple of laps but then I taken a turn too fast and wiped out, as a result I have nicely scraped up and swollen leg and knee … needless to say I am not 19 any more …

Image

Dallas Farmers Market

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In the mist of downtown Dallas, you will the large public market known as the Dallas Farmers Market.   The Market was begun in late 1900s when farmers from the surrounding communities would load up their wagon with produce, livestock, and other farm goods to sales to the city folks.   By the 1930s the Market became an official city establishment.  Today the Market is made up of three barns and sales all kind of farm-produced products.   Floral and garden vendors are also located in the Market area.

A few weekends ago a photographer buddy and I adventured down to the Dallas Farmers Market to do some photography.   The Market is very welcoming of photographers of all levels.

Tech Talk Tuesday: My Favorite Apps

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All the time people ask which apps they should download for their smart phone.  I always have a hard time telling others what to download.  Instead of telling people what they should download I tell them which apps have been the most useful to me.  Below is a list of my favorite apps.  Please note I am iphone and ipad user so these apps have been used on those environments only and may respond differently on other platforms.

Amy’s Favorite Apps

Zino – The mobile magazine reader.  Since I have gotten my iPad, I have started reading all of my magazines digitally; it’s just so much easier.  I love that I have all my magazines with me all the time and that I can easily pull up any past issue I want. Zino also allows you to look through various popular magazines and read select articles for free.

Units – One of the useful apps I have found.  Units allow you enter a value in measurable unit and it converts to all relevant units.  This app saves me a lot of time and lot of frustration.  It does everything from time to volume to data.

Shazam – The app that give you the ability to tag your favorite tunes.  I am terrible at knowing the name of the bands and tunes.  I being able to just launch the app click tag and find out the name of the artist and the song.   There are many other features to the app that I don’t use.  I also use this app as a minder of which songs to download.

Run Keeper – Run Keeper allows me to track my activities in easy way.  All you got to is firer up the app and your type you are doing like running, cycling, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, swimming, and a host of other sports, pressed go and the stopwatch starts. The app gives you a number of stats on the activity screen allowing you to clearly see your time, the GPS signal (for tracking your activity), the average mile per hour, the calories you’ve burned and the total distance you have run. There is also the option to see your current pace in minutes per mile. I love seeing being able to see my running route and distance.

The Weather Channel  – Another useful app.  Anywhere I am in the world I can pull up the Weather Channel app and see what weather is doing there or where I will be traveling.  The maps are very actuate and easy to see.  The app also pushes out alerts, which will let you know when threating weather is the in area.

A New Adventure

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Tomorrow marks the end of my chapter at DB&A.  After almost five years with DB&A tomorrow will be my last day.

The last five years have been nothing short of amazing, challenging and frustrating (at times).  During the past five years I have grown professionally and learned so much and in so many ways; additionally, I have met so many amazing people, from all over the world.  I very thankful for the opportunities I have had with DB&A, for working with DB&A has truly made me the professional I am today.

Thinking back over the past years, I have accomplished a lot such as …

  • Nuclear Research for the sales and marketing department
  • Countless Network upgrades for the Marketing Center
  • Moved the Marketing Center/Corporate Headquarters to a new location
  • Upgrade memory in all the MC’s computers
  • Purchased new computers for the entire marketing center
  • Upgrade the Marketing Center/Corporate Headquarters’ server
  • Upgrade GoldMine from dbase to SQL
  • Rolled out companywide email
  • Rolled out antivirus software
  • Fixed multiple computer issues
  • Setup multiple smart phones
  • Wrote a IT policies and producers handbook
  • Implemented a photo system
  • Began a client Database
  • Took the project library from a hard copy library to digital library
  • Fixed Multiple server issues

In about a week I will begin a new chapter of career as an archivist for the city of San Antonio.  The job is my dream job – it is what I have studied and worked towards since I have graduate from my master’s program.  I am excited about the opportunities I will have with the city and I am excited about the type of work I will be doing.

While I feel like I accomplished a lot with the DB&A I feel like I have became “used up” meaning I feel like I lost my passion for fixing computer and implementing IT solutions, rather my passion is digitally preserving documents and data for the future.  Iam look forward to the awesomeness, challenges and frustrations my new position brings.

Fudge Cake

On By ajmalventanoIn baking, recipeLeave a comment

Around Mother’s Day our office had a pot luck luncheon.  My company provided pizza and pasta and we were asked to salads or dessert.  People in my office know that I am baker, so I had no choice but to bring some sort of baked good.  I had recently come across the recipe for a tunnel of fudge cake, so thought I would try it … it was big hit with my office crowd.  However, as with most things I bake, I was not a big fan of the cake, I thought it was dry, but I have to admit the chocolate fudge glaze was heavenly.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Ingredients:

Pan Prep:

1 tablespoon Dutch processed cocoa powder**

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Cake:

½ cup boil water

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 cups (10 ounces) all –purpose flour

¾ cup (2 ¼ ounces) Dutch processed cocoa powder**

2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon salt

5 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar

¾ cup pace (5 ¼ ounce) light brown sugar

20 tablespoons (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Glaze:

¾ cup heavy cream

¼ cup light corn syrup

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.  In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and melted butter.  Use a pastry brush to evenly coat the inside of a 12 cup bundt pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over the chopped chocolate.  Let stand for a minute, then whisk until smooth.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar and salt.  Combine the eggs and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup and beat lightly.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the graduated sugar, brown sugar and butter.  Beat on medium – high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the egg mixture until combined.  Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the edges of the cake begin to pull away from the pan.
  4. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 1 ½ hours before inverting onto a platter.  Allow to cool completely, about 2 more hours.
  5. To make the glaze, combine the cream, corn syrup and chocolate in small saucepan.  Heat over medium heat, stirring frequent, until smooth.  Blend in the vanilla.  Set aside for about 30 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Drizzle the glaze over the cake and let set for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Source:  Annie’s Eats

** I had trouble finding Dutch processed cocoa powder  but after doing some research I learned that Dutch processed  is basically alkalized unsweetened cocoa powder and if you cannot that either the substitution is for 3 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa = 3 tablespoons natural cocoa powder plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Tech Talk Tuesday: Adobe Lightroom 4

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With all of the photography I have been doing I finally broke down and brought Lightroom 4.  I had not used Lightroom for several years; in fact Lightroom 2 was the last version of Lightroom I had used.

I was pleasantly surprise with how far Lightroom has come over the years.  I think my favorite new addition is the all of the plug in and links to the social media sites.  I love that you link Lightroom to Flickr or Facebook and that there is plug for WordPress.  My other favorite feature is the ability to build/publish books in Lightroom.  Compared to Aperture or iPhone there is so much more flexibility in building books with Lightroom … definitely allows you to be creative.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been educating myself on the new features of Lightroom.  In doing so, I have come across some interesting Lightroom blog, which are a wealth of information.

Lightroom Killer Tips – Weekly tips, tricks, video and tutorials by Matt Kloskowski.  The video and free and easy to follow, even for the newest Lightroom user.  The site is able very searchable and contains a link the Matt’s profile which serves as great photographic inspiration

Lightroom Blog – the blog for all things Lightroom.  Managed by Sean McCormack, who is photographer and author on several books on earlier versions of Lightroom, provides tips on using Lightroom but on the best photographic techniques; several other key photographs also contribute to this blog.

Inside Lightroom – focuses on tips and methodology.  The site offers information about Lightroom Presets along with an array of tips and along with in-depth user information on Lightroom.

Lightroom Secrets – Is a blog dedicated to bringing you everything about Lightroom – tips, news, tutorials.  Information about staying on a creative path with photography is also discussed on this site from time to time.

Lightroom for Digital Photographers – Video tutorials where we show you the latest photo effects, tips, and tricks.  Some of the video tutorials are free for all to view while others are only available to subscribers

Lightroom Journal – the official Lightroom blog from Adobe is provides tips, news and tons of information regarding Lightroom and should not be overlooked.

There are tons more resources available on the World Wide Web pertaining to Lightroom theses are just a few of my favorite.  I should also mention that a YouTube search will provide endless hours of free video tutorials.

Why I blog …

On By ajmalventanoIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Here lately, I have been playing catch-up in regards to blogging.  Which got me thinking about why I blog?

I blog because…

  • It is an outlet for creative expression – my thoughts, my words, my photos, etc. – helps to keeps my creativeness flowing
  • It helps me develop and maintain my writing skills
  • Provides me away to document what is going on in my life, especially in regards to travel, photography and cooking
  • Provides me a place where I can post/share my photography
  • It’s refreshing … there is a sense of accomplishment after a blog post
  • Self-expression  – it’s my blog I can say what I want

Overall I really do not care if I have a ton of followers because I write for myself,  Blogging for me is a self-fulfilling prophecy, it’s something I do for myself.   I am thrilled if others read about my adventures and look at photography and I hope they do.

Sunday School

On By ajmalventanoIn TravelLeave a comment

The final day of my trip concluded with Sunday school and services at Maranatha Baptist Church, the church where President and Mrs. Carter attends.  President Carter regularly teaches Sunday school classes at the church.  In fact when selecting a church after leaving office, President Carter wanted a church that would allow him to teach bible study classes and be active in the church community.  On a side note both President and Mrs. Carter are deacons in the church and active in the church community at Marnatha.

President Carter’s Sunday school teaching not only tied in the weekly reading, the lesson also tied into the way President Carter lives his life, handles issues and helps/works others.

I think the hearing him speak about God and seeing how it is the foundations for his life was a good way to end the trip.  From his message my take back was that regardless where you go in life, who you met or what you do, God will be there for you and when you let God into your life and have a relationship with God you will have guidance for all the obstacles that may come your way.

Plains

On By ajmalventanoIn Patrick, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The next part of my trip took me to Plains, Georgia the hometown of President Carter.

Saturday Morning we loaded buses and headed out Plains … however it was not that simple.  First one of the buses was late and then half way to Plains one of the buses broke down.

We made to Plains, several hours late but just in times for lunch.

After we  ate, we boarded a train and headed to President Carter’s Childhood Home and Farm.

When we got to the farm, a banjo player and President Carter greeted us.

From his back porch President Carter told us stories about growing in Plains, his life on the farm, and his family.  Many of the stories he told were very similar to the stories my grandparents would tell me about growing up on a farm in Texas.

The house itself was a Sears Roebuck House.  Early on there was no indoor plumbing thus President Carter had to use an outhouse straight out  of the backdoor of the house.

The house included a tennis court.  Both President Carter and his father played tennis.

The Carter Family also operated a store and gas station on the farm.  Today a mock store still stands on the farm.

Like many of the farm families of the times the Carters grew typically vegetables and raised livestock. Today a garden is on site and the Carter Family still eats vegetables from the garden.

In addition to being peanut farmers they were also sugar cane farmers.    Sugar cane pots could be seen through the homestead.

After our visit to the homestead we loaded the buses and headed to our hotel in Americus, Georgia.   We shortly returned to Plains for dinner and square dance.   Before dinner we had some time to explore Plains, which has a very small town center.

I was able to do some shopping and bought some peanut brittle and peach jelly from the store which use to be the Carter Peanut Warehouse

I also looked around the various landmarks that commemorate President Carter.

There were also some lovely flowers in downtown Plains, which I enjoyed taking pictures of.

We had a traditional southern dinner with the Carters.  President Carter sat behind me, while Mrs. Carter mingled with the crowd.

I was not able to take pictures during the square dance, for I was dancing.  I was lucky enough to share a dance with the President.   Our night was capped off with drinks and bluegrass music in the hotel lobby (another event I did not take pictures of).