Daytona Beach, Florida has become one of my favorite places. I am sitting in the newly remodeled hotel room of the Holiday Inn Resort. The Holiday Inn Corporation has told all of the hotels in the chain they have to upgrade to the new design and upgrades or they will loose their franchise and Holiday Inn name. The new upgrades are comparable to a four star hotel and the room reflects this. Our room is on ocean front and close to the Daytona Beach pier. I can hear the ocean in the background and the Ohio and Kentucky basketball game is currently on television. My husband was watching the game but his eyes were too heavy from the long drive down.
There is a car show at the Daytona International Speedway this weekend and we are planning to visit it tomorrow and spend some time relaxing on the beach. Spring break is winding down and there are still some college students enjoying their time off. We saw some really interesting sights driving up the beach today. I wish I had checked out a video camera and brought it with me. This would be some great and interesting video. The fashion always grabs my attention and leaves me with the puzzling question of, Why? and What are they thinking? Tomorrow when we sit on the beach I plan to photograph some of the interesting fashion statements. We always have to visit the famous Zeno's and get some salt-water taffy. They have so many unique flavors. This time we just got blueberry, cotton candy, and maple, which is our favorite. After walking on the boardwalk we ate at Pepper's, a nice Mexican restaurant.
After a three hour drive to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday we leave for the Caribbean. I hope my cameras work and allow me to get some great photography. There are so many good opportunities in the Caribbean and I can easily take over a thousand pictures. It is so exciting just thinking about it.
Well, I must go and get some rest and try to catch up on my sleep. These last couple of nights of only three and four hours of sleep are catching up with me. Happy blogging! Thanks for visiting.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Dancing With The Stars
Tonight is the premiere of Dancing With The Stars. It is hard to believe this is already the twelfth season. It will be interesting this season as Kirstie Alley will be dancing with Max. Kirstie has received a lot of media attention in recent years because of her weight. Sugar Ray Leonard and Hines Ward are two sports personalities competing in this season's competition. These are the only three stars I am familiar with. It is disappointing to see that Derek Hough is not returning this season. He is one of the best choreographers on the show.
Dancing With The Stars is an excellent show to get a good idea how lighting and camera work can add or take away from the show. Sometimes the dances are so quick and all over the dance floor which requires a good camera operator to keep up with them. They do a lot of different camera angles. Lighting is a major challenge because each dance is different and there is always constant changes in props. This also plays a large impact in the camera work. To make the challenge even more intense the show is live.
The three judges, Len, Carrie Ann, and Bruno are all returning this season and always bring entertaining comments as they critique the dancers. Tom Bergeron and his assistant, Brooke are also returning. In my opinion Tom makes the show, with his quick, off the cuff, witt and one-liners.
This should be another exciting season of Dancing With The Stars as the stars and dance professionals compete each week to see who will take home the famous mirror-ball trophy.
Dancing With The Stars is an excellent show to get a good idea how lighting and camera work can add or take away from the show. Sometimes the dances are so quick and all over the dance floor which requires a good camera operator to keep up with them. They do a lot of different camera angles. Lighting is a major challenge because each dance is different and there is always constant changes in props. This also plays a large impact in the camera work. To make the challenge even more intense the show is live.
The three judges, Len, Carrie Ann, and Bruno are all returning this season and always bring entertaining comments as they critique the dancers. Tom Bergeron and his assistant, Brooke are also returning. In my opinion Tom makes the show, with his quick, off the cuff, witt and one-liners.
This should be another exciting season of Dancing With The Stars as the stars and dance professionals compete each week to see who will take home the famous mirror-ball trophy.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Trip to Nascar Media Group
Today Video II toured the NASCAR Media Group. Their top-notch facility is equipped with the latest technology. It provided valuable insight to the many opportunities available in the media industry. From receiving the media from the field to the editing of the images, adding graphics, and working with the colorization and audio to sending it out local and international clients was very fascinating. Touring the production studios and hands-on in the radio studio provided a different perspective into broadcasting.
Lighting always seems to be a challenge in studio production and in one of the production studios there was an unbelievable amount of lights. Another studio on the street level was surrounded by windows so people on the street could see the live productions. We discussed different aspects of the lighting dealing with the changes in the outside lighting from the windows as it changes throughout the day. There were curtains that could be shut as well.
Another topic was the challenges surrounding the screen aspect ratio of 16:9 versus 4:3, that is still being dealt with by producers. Producers take into consideration those that have not upgraded their televisions to the 16:9 ratio. Some stations just provide black banners on the sides and will put their station logo's or other graphics to compensate for the shows that are still produced in the 4:3 aspect ratio. One of the challenges that the NASCAR media group contends with is having room to add graphics or banners at the bottom of footage when the camera operator has framed the shot too close and not allowed enough room.
In the archive library we saw a new and unexpected process. They take the old video tapes from the 70's and put them in a convection oven for several minutes. Over time some tapes deteriorate because of the breakdown in the glue or binder that holds the oxide on the tapes. Baking the tapes temporarily restores the tape so it can be copied to another format.
Other areas we experienced were editing of the live in-car radio on race day which is on a three second delay to allow the editors to "sanitize" the audio to make it acceptable to the young audience, and the live radio broadcast for Sirrus satellite radio. This was a very informative tour that provided a greater vision of the opportunities in Broadcasting.
Lighting always seems to be a challenge in studio production and in one of the production studios there was an unbelievable amount of lights. Another studio on the street level was surrounded by windows so people on the street could see the live productions. We discussed different aspects of the lighting dealing with the changes in the outside lighting from the windows as it changes throughout the day. There were curtains that could be shut as well.
Another topic was the challenges surrounding the screen aspect ratio of 16:9 versus 4:3, that is still being dealt with by producers. Producers take into consideration those that have not upgraded their televisions to the 16:9 ratio. Some stations just provide black banners on the sides and will put their station logo's or other graphics to compensate for the shows that are still produced in the 4:3 aspect ratio. One of the challenges that the NASCAR media group contends with is having room to add graphics or banners at the bottom of footage when the camera operator has framed the shot too close and not allowed enough room.
In the archive library we saw a new and unexpected process. They take the old video tapes from the 70's and put them in a convection oven for several minutes. Over time some tapes deteriorate because of the breakdown in the glue or binder that holds the oxide on the tapes. Baking the tapes temporarily restores the tape so it can be copied to another format.
Other areas we experienced were editing of the live in-car radio on race day which is on a three second delay to allow the editors to "sanitize" the audio to make it acceptable to the young audience, and the live radio broadcast for Sirrus satellite radio. This was a very informative tour that provided a greater vision of the opportunities in Broadcasting.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Change of Seasons
Change of Seasons The last couple of years has taught me there is much more to the term "change of seasons" than the weather. As seasons come and go and we live our lives day in and day out, the world around us continues in it's routine schedules. Spring brings us March Madness with basketball fans daily checking their brackets and baseball's spring training. Then summer comes with a season of baseball and family vacations. Followed by the long anticipated football in the fall, which takes us through winter to the SuperBowl. Then we're back to Spring! Different from the seasons of the year are the seasons of life. I turned the corner at age fifty a few years ago and it brought new experiences. After working since age sixteen, I was laid off two years ago and my mother suffered her first stroke the same month. Nothing in life prepares you for the task of caring for a disabled loved one. My children are grown and the house gets very lonesome and quiet at times. I now have a beautiful grand baby that continues to attract my attention and bring me so much joy. This new season of life has brought many changes, but the one thing that remains the same is the love and closeness of our family. I am very fortunate and blessed with a wonderful family. So summer will come and go along with the other seasons, and our routine schedules will continue, but I look forward to the future as new seasons of life will continue to bring new experiences and lots of joy.
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