www.rltphotoartist.com

How to Connect your Computer to Speakers

2011-10-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

My husband gave me his big old Sharper Image speakers and I wanted to use them with my computer. So I got online and searched how to do this. I Googled some good information but not simple enough for me to hook it up because they assumed you already knew the following:

To play speakers on your computer you need an amplifier to power the speakers. You can't just hook up speakers to your computer without one. I didn't know this.

I found an amplifier at amazon.com that cost only 27.00 made by Lepai called a Hi-Fi Stereo Power Digital amplifier. The model number of mine is LP-2020A+. It's very small and has 20w of power.

Next, you need 2 speaker wires--one for each speaker and long enough to reach from each speaker to the back of the amplifier. Each speaker wire splits into two different sides -- one silver and one copper or different colors marked on the outside wire covering. Make sure that you are consistent with the wires--the same color goes to the red and the black for each speaker you hook up to the back of the amplifier. You carefully strip the covering off to expose a little bit of the wire inside. Then you pull down the bottom plastic piece and push the wire into the small hole in the middle. The wire stays tight in the center when you let go of the plastic piece. If you don't get sound, just switch things around until you do.

Plug in the amplifier to your power source. Now, you'll need a way to hook the amplifier to your computer. You need a simple connection that has a headset end that plugs into the headset jack of the computer and the other side is 2 RCA jacks --one white and one red... both male.

When I hooked this up the first time with a simple "y" connection, it worked fine when I plugged it into my iPod. But I got a loud hum when I hooked the speakers through the amplifier to my computer using the connection cord above. I remembered seeing a gizmo for sale on the internet that you could buy that would solve the humming problem.

So I went to Radio Shack and found a helpful employee that told me about a Ground-Loop Isolator, model 270-054 (about 17.00). The cord has a D Battery sized isolator in the middle of the wires that stops the hum. There are two pieces on the card--put them together until you have one end that goes into a headphone jack and two ends that hook up to your amplifier.

When I first plugged the headphone jack side to the computer, I didn't have a hum but there was a very high pitched frequency interference that bugged me. So, I played around with the volume setting on the amplifier device and the volume on iTunes and found a setting that has neither hum nor hiss.

This works fine for someone who wants to hear podcasts and isn't a super audiophile. If you are into bass that rocks the room, buy an expensive amplifier because this one is only 20W. This is the solution that works great for me for under $50.00 without driving my husband out of the house. The vintage analog amplifiers on eBay are more expensive than the new digital ones on amazon.com. I know that audiophiles can tell the difference--I can't. It's the same basic principle whether you use a small or large amplifier.

Hope this works for you.

Renee :-)

Fix for Live Streaming on Dell Computer

2010-08-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

I have a Dell Studio XPS computer and I like to record live streaming audio from the internet. After many hours of working on my computer's settings in my Roxio 10 program, I could not get streaming audio to record. No matter what I did, it would not work. What was more annoying was that I even upgraded my Roxio program to make sure that I could do this on my new computer (as I had been able to do on a previous version of Roxio on my previous Dell computer.)

After a Google search, I found that this feature has been DISABLED by DELL. I am really ticked off that Dell decided to do this without telling me they had disabled a feature of software that I paid for that has been disabled by Dell. After some additional research and trying some things that did not work on the Dell site, I found the solution for me and maybe it will help you.

You need to go to Radio Shack and buy 2 things. 1 (one) three foot 3.5 stereo 2 sided male audio cable and 1(one) 3.5 stereo Y-Cable (42-2570) I already had the 2 male end stereo cable that I use to plug my ipod into my car's audio system.

Plug one side of the 2 sided male audio cable into the BLUE line in jack. Bring the other end around to the front of the computer. You will need it soon.

Plug the male end of the Y-cable into the jack in the front of the computer. (The same one that you use to plug in your headphones into.)

Now take the other male end from 2 sided, three foot long audio cable and put it into one of the female ends of the Y-cable.

Finally, now you have one more female end of the Y-cable that you can plug your headphones into.

For those of you who need a picture, I have a drawing that I have posted to my website that I made to help illustrate for the right brains in cyberspace. http://www.rltphotoartist.com/Livestream_fix_for_Dell_Disabled_feature_for_Roxio.pdf

Disclaimer: I am a photographer not an engineer so this is the best I could come up with. I am so annoyed with Dell for disabling this feature that I wanted to help others who think they have lost their mind trying to make this work. There were a couple of ideas that were offered from other frustrated customers on the Dell site. But they didn't work. After a couple of hours, I found this solution that works. Hope it works for you.

Artists of the Month for June

2010-06-06T12:29:00.001-07:00

We are delighted to be hosting the Ribbon Recipient Winner work for the Mayor's Commission on Aging Photo Contest. It is their first of many contests to come, I am sure. Please visit my store to see this beautiful work. Thanks

New Murano Art Glass Jewelry from Italy in Stock!

2010-05-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Italy, Croatia, Turkey and Greece earlier this month. Venice was a gorgeous city and I will have views from our trip for sale in my gallery shortly.

I have some REAL Murano Glass jewelry that I brought back to sell in the store. You have to see these colors. The artisans of Venezia add real silver and gold into their glass to bring out the most beautiful designs. I have beautiful designs by a designer I found in Murano and they are for sale now in my store. The prices are great...the designs are beautiful. And they are not made in China so you are assured that you are purchasing the real thing.

Come take a look!

Thanks,

Renee :-)

Artist of the Month at Riverside Stamp and Coin Arts Center

2010-03-02T22:19:00.001-08:00

The Open House is Thursday March 4 and we are looking forward to it!

Each Month we will be highlighting the artistic works of a local artist as our "Artist of the Month". For a whole month, the artist will be able to exhibit his or her works on my visiting artist wall. More information about applying to be my next "Artist of the Month" check out this link: http://www.rltphotoartist.com/index_files/Page406.htm

For the Grand Opening and running the entire month of March, are delighted to exhibit the work of one of Riverside's Own Martin Tobias. www.tobiasstudios.com Marty's beautiful art is in my living room and I enjoy it every day.

Next month is Caron Rand www.carongrand.com Check out her website for a sneak peak as well.

Application information for display on the "Artist of the Month" wall can be obtained by emailing Renee Theuer at renee@rltphotoartist.com. Please be prepared to present digital photos with your completed information.

Keep checking in for more information about our Mural Contest with great exposure and a nice prize!

If you can, come and visit our grand opening Thursday, March 4 5:30 to 7:30 a 6730 Magnolia Avenue. The name of the Store is Riverside Stamp and Coin Arts Center.

Thanks!

Renee :-)

Grand Opening in March 2010

2010-01-14T23:23:00.001-08:00

These are really exciting times for me. My husband and I have been working for about 9 months to get a retail location in the Brockton Arcade in Riverside CA. It's all coming together in March 2010 when we complete the move to our new location at Riverside Stamp and Coin Arts Center at 6730 Magnolia Avenue in Riverside. We are next to Suelin Florist right in the Brockton Arcade.

I will have my portfolio work on display and my examples of before and after photo restorations to show what I can do to make a memory for you. My customers love to take old photos and surprise their loved ones with beautiful gallery wrapped portraits on real canvas. With a 100% satisfaction guarantee, you can't lose.

But, there will be a few surprises coming up for those of you who love to see what local Riverside Artists are doing. Keep checking back for exciting announcements to come. The Riverside Stamp and Coin Arts Center is going to be a great place to plug into the local artist community.

Premier Service Bank Business of the Month

2010-01-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

I am really getting some great samples ready for my exhibition at my bank, Premier Service Bank during the month of January.

It's a great bank on Arlington Ave., across the street from Shamel Park--(the park with the swimming pool that I almost drowned in. Note: If you are a swimming instructor and a kid tells you that they can't swim, please don't have them jump in the deep end to prove it. Who in their right mind would make someone do such a terrifying thing? Oh well, he had a hook.

But I digress....

I will have rotating samples the whole month showing the restorations I do from damaged photos and the beautiful works of art I create on real canvas from snap shots or slides. It's not enough just to take a photo and have it copied onto canvas. If you want the picture to look like a painting, there are enhancements that must be made to the picture...and I have developed a very good technique for this process. I use heavy duty, kiln-dried canvas stretcher bars and real artist canvas with paint highlights and finished with a professional 2 part giclée finish.

Once people see them, they get it so I am hoping to get more exposure from this exhibition in the lobby. I won't be there but I will be stopping by often to refresh the exhibits.

For a great bank, go to http://www.premierservicebank.com and check them out. They treat you like banks used to treat their customers. You will love them.

Creative Commons

2009-08-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

All creative work that comes out of your imagination is automatically copyrighted (© all rights reserved). All of my work is copyrighted for my use only.

However, there are a number of folks that wish to collaborate on their work and they have a site called Creative Commons.

There is a short, informative video to explain how to use the work of others that choose to share their work--there are some conditions that you need to know on some of the categories.

Here are some great backgrounds that can be used for your web site from A Million To One on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/ All you have to do is link back to his stream using this url:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grope4mac/sets/

Take a look!

Thanks for visiting my blog. Please address comments to renee@rltphotoartist.com
or visit my site http://www.rltphotoartist.com/

Google Yourself

2009-08-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Have you Googled yourself yet? I just did and found this with me in my classic pose!

http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=29004

If you aren't there yet, take a look at my previous blog on this subject...

http://rltphotoartist.blogspot.com/2008/02/helpful-seminar-for-webmasters.html

for helpful information Search Engine Optimization.

Hijacked Email on Hotmail

2009-08-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

Last night a message went out at 12:47 on my email account to all 157 customers and friends on my contact list. The message was this:

Hey ,friend I find a site to sell electronic products with very good price. Laptop ,iPhone even Motorcycle are very popular .their products are original quality with very low price as wholesale business supplier.They also can do retail business for end user now. maybe it is fit for your business . if you like you can contact them : www.wholesaler-electronic.com E-mail: wholesaler318@188.comMsn : wholesaler3188@hotmail.com

They did it by hijacking my email account somehow. I was able to get into my account and change the password. Hotmail gave me a great clue by telling me that I still had the "automated vacation response message on the account. They used this feature somehow to send this stupid message to all my contacts. Also, as insult to injury, they included this ridiculous message in my automated signature line so it would go out to everyone I replied to. Make sure you change your password to a strong one.

This message is a public service to fellow Hotmail Customers. If this happens to you,
change your password if you can. Then change the automated vacation message setting and signature line settings in your options. I don't know where they are but I sure don't want anything they are selling after this mess.

Colleen Shows us how to make her rolls!

2008-12-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

Click on the underlined title link above to see the video from
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day showing how Colleen makes those
wonderful rolls that our family devours at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I hope you enjoy the streaming video! We kind of missed the
gravy part--so we'll have to try this again on Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, enjoy! Colleen was a great sport for
letting me do this!

Love,

Renee :-)

New Mission Inn Photo Gallery

2008-06-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

I just reformatted my photo gallery presentation for Mission Inn and wanted to point it out. The newest items from our 2008 stay at the Mission Inn are mostly on page 2 of the gallery. The new rotunda and pergola shots were well received at the CBU Gala this year and silent auction for school scholarships. Everything in the galleries can be ordered from me--even if you don't see it in my store. I retired about 5 works this year have not included those (in case you don't find one you saw earlier.)

You can see the new gallery at this link: http://www.rltphotoartist.com/AdobeFlashMissionInn

I would very much like to thank the growing number of friends that follow my work. It is tremendously gratifying to create art that hangs in their own homes.

My best to all,

Renee

http://www.rltphotoartist.com/ Thanks for stopping by....

Website Publishing

2008-06-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have shopped for WYSIWYG website publishing software. Back in the olden days--I used FrontPage and Adobe Pagemaker....then Dreamweaver (I own a very ancient copy).
I bought a new copy of Microsoft Office Publisher and thought it would be just great because it lets you just plop anything anywhere. It gets tricky when you publish because things are "taken care of" on the ftp side of things.

Additionally, if you make any changes and go back through their interface and publishing "magic", you end up with a bunch of new names for your pages and the graphics on your pages and a folder/organization system that is more complicated than necessary. In fact, you spend a lot of time trying to figure out where files were uploaded by the helpful wizard.

I am looking for a program that lets you plop down graphics anywhere without worrying about tables and columns but still lets you work in source code anytime you wish. After that, I would like to arrange the files and use the FTP program of my choice to upload files my way. I have used CuteFTP for years and I like uploading my own files directly to the server without any user interface rigamarole.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks in advance,
Renee L. Theuer
www.rltphotoartist.com

Beading Enthusiasts Unite

2008-06-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

I always have admired people who could make neckaces, earrings, and bracelets and I thought it was just too hard to learn how to make beautiful things. But, we were planning to go to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show again this year and I wanted to learn how so I could buy some beautiful semi precious gem beads. My goal was to make some pretty things right in the hotel room in Tucson after each night of the show because I am into instant gratification! Aren't we all?

So, I bought a kit which featured a booklet called "Jewelry Making for Dummies." In just a few hours, I learned how to make some snazzy things with the plastic beads and base metal "findings" (pieces you need to finish jewelry such as beading wire, clasps, earring wires and hooks).
What a hoot! Now I am totally hooked and have found a couple of great companies to order beads from. I really like http://www.artbeads.com/ because the postage is included in the price and there is no minimum. Another great company is http://www.limabeads.com/. They have nice gemstone beads that are color coordinated into very attractive groups. Beadaholique http://www.beadaholique.com/ is also great. You can "feed your need to bead" there. Great findings and easy to find items on their site or at http://www.amazon.com/ including the tools you will need like cutters, pliers and special gizmos that turn a crimping tube into a bead. What a country!

The kit is available at Joann's or http://www.joann.com/. Trust me, this is something you can teach yourself. After that, all you need to do is find money to spend and friends to give your jewelry creations to. The former is harder than the latter.

ENJOY!

Digital Photography for Kids

2008-06-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time my dad showed me a print developing in a photo tray. It was magic and it changed how I viewed the world. 5 years ago, I handed my then best digital camera to a very smart little 4 year old. She took some pictures of my cats and a portrait of my husband and I that I just love.

There are a lot of cameras out there that will stimulate their interest from very young ages all the way to adult. Let them take pictures of whatever they want because they are using digital--not film. Buy them a bigger memory card than the one that comes with their camera (a 1 gig SD card can be had for around 15.00 these days) and let them have some fun observing their world. Make sure that you back up their pictures (see my previous blog about this)http://rltphotoartist.blogspot.com/2008/06/going-going-gone.html With a small card they have to erase lots of pictures so they have room for more. If you buy them the biggest card, the will literally have hundreds of pictures--thousands on many of the types out there. I just know there is a young Ansel Adams out there that needs to see what he or she took along the way.

Just a thought for those of you who have young photographers blooming out there. It is one of the least expensive hobbies there is once you set them up with some inexpensive equipment or even a camera phone. Even those hundreds of pictures that teenagers take of themselves at arm's length are documenting an important part of their lives. It's a wonderful way for them to discover and begin to study the beauty in the world around them. Go to www.bestbuy.com for a start.

Please visit my site for more examples of my work. Thanks for reading my blog and a shout out to all the young photographers out there in cyberspace.
www.rltphotoartist.com

Renee :-)

Please think before you declaw your cat

2008-06-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

Declawing a cat is not like a toenail trim. It is amputation of the toe bone near the claw and it seems to be an "American thing."
Click here for more info: http://declawing.com/htmls/outlawed.htm

I have had many cats and always nice furniture at the same time. If you spend time scolding the cat by saying no when the cat begins to scratch, you can train him or her not to do it. Cats hate to be told 'No'. If you add hitting a bit of newspaper against your own hand, this reinforces the no. Never hit a cat or spray a cat with water. They want to please you and hearing your displeasure stated firmly will do the trick.

If you train them consistently and patiently, they will learn to act properly in your home. When we get a new cat or kitten in the family, I leave them in a room without furniture when I go out, such as a bathroom or laundry room, so they can't get themselves into trouble while I am gone. I train them to use the scratcher boxes you can get at Target that they can stand on and scratch or give them scratching posts made out of rope or carpeting. I rub catnip liberally on the items that I want them to scratch and praise them for scratching these.

Each cat is different. Some are extremely easy to train and then some are just downright stubborn. Whatever the case, you will be doing your cat a tremendous favor by not amputating his claws.

Cats are very intelligent and loving creatures. I never thought they were until my husband and I got our first cat--a Siamese mix named Maia that taught me everything I know and love about cats. Please take a moment to explore these links before making up your mind to do this. They can't speak up for themselves so those of us who oppose this inhumane practice must. And if you still decide you are going to do it after educating yourself, you must never let the cat outside again as it will not be able to defend itself. As a responsible cat owner, you are responsible for keeping your declawed, defenseless cat safe indoors.
http://www.declawing.com/

Working in the RAW digital format

2008-06-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

It is bound to happen. You start printing larger and larger pictures and that dreaded pixelation becomes more and more of a problem. So, you start looking at the RAW format to get higher resolution images that won't lose their mojo when you print them. You tell your camera to shoot in that format and then you can't see them when you download the pictures.

Adobe has a plugin just for this and when you download it into the right directory, you are good to go. If you have CS3 you probably already have it. I needed something upfront for sorting out the many duplicates that I take but I had to have a browser format with a larger viewer. I searched the internet and downloaded a trial version of BreezeBrowser Pro from Breeze systems. I worked it hard during the trial period and was happy enough to purchase the full program at $69.00. http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser/index.htm

What I like about it is that you can work with the huge files, see them very clearly in a large browser window and put a check mark on the ones that you want to send to another file for producing slideshows and albums. It is very user friendly and I agree that this is the program that should have come with the camera. (The Canon OEM software is a real disappointment in my opinion and I tried very hard to make it work for too long.) Once you have reviewed and culled your pictures down, you can see them in Photoshop and do your magic there.

You can see if it is right for you with your free trial. Also I have included a link below that has more detail on several others besides BreezeBrowser Pro. I have paid more and gotten a lot less in software. It is nice when you get something that works well and makes like simpler if you end up with hundreds of files like I do.
Just make sure that your particular camera is supported and that the program works with all other programs you are using. The website does a good job of running down the features--I just know that it works for me and may be what you are looking for too.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you like digital photography and large format printing, please subscribe to my blog. (There is a widget on the upper left of my first page of the blog.) With this particular type of photography, the best information is the most current information. I have lots of books but magazines and the internet are extremely valuable for keeping up with the latest solutions.

For more information on my work, please visit my website ww.rltphotoartist.com
Also, this excellent article that will give you more background on the RAW format and some more programs to choose from. Hope this helps get you started in finding the right solution for you.
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/why_use_raw.html

Renee :-)

Going Going Gone

2008-06-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

I just finished a blog about Carbonite and how great it works. That got me thinking about the restoration work I do (click here http://rltphotoartist.com/index_restorestuff.htm) and then about picture and movie preservation in the future--say the next 25-50 years.

People start looking for their baby pictures in their late 30's and early 40's. Right now, many of those pictures are stained and discolored black and whites or faded color pictures and slides. I can bring back most of that with my restoration work.

However, I think about these same people and what they are doing about preserving the pictures of their own kids right now. So many of my friends have digital cameras and keep all of their pictures of their children in their computer. In the 50's and onward, our parents didn't have any choice but to save fairly archival quality pictures and slides and movies on good paper and film. There is some fading, but usually there is enough for restorers to work with to produce a decent result.

What I am afraid of is what will be left for the babies and kids today if parents take pictures only with their digital cameras and don't back up those masterpieces to cd or quality prints using name brand inks and quality paper. Everyone is busy taking care of their kids--running them to day care, soccer, music lessons and all that. This is just not a priority for some people.

Furthermore, just think of the changes we have been through with computers and storage already (5.25 and 3.5 inch floppies, computers and laptops that die with pictures of the family on them and no way to retrieve the pictures, VHS tapes that fade away to nothing.) Data recovery on an average consumer hard disk drive is still hard to come by and the price is pretty steep in my opinion--unless you are the FBI. This next generation of kids won't have a faded photograph or slide to take to someone like me to be restored. They may not have anything at all to remember their childhood with if their parents don't take the time to back up their data on some type of backup besides the faithful family computer with an average life span of about 5 years.

It seems like my parents took a lot of pictures of my brother and me. But there are precious few left after numerous moves in an Air Force family. I treasure the ones I have and I am grateful to have them. But, my parents never thought about preservation and how important these pictures would be to us some day. This may be the last time you think about this for the precious few years that your children are adorable little ones. Make a decision to do something to preserve their pictures for them--whether it is a cd backup in your safe deposit box, a cd backup at a friend's house and one at your house or offsite digital storage of some type. It can be as easy as uploading your pictures to Target (http://www.target.com/) , Kodak (http://targetphoto.kodakgallery.com/Welcome.jsp) or Shutterfly (http://targetphoto.shutterfly.com/) and having them make the cd and pictures for you. Whether you have it done by me or someone else, time moves on and the next generation truly deserves to have those adorable pictures of them in embarrasing poses.

Who knew that one of the few best ones I have left is of me at 2 years old picking my nose? Thanks, Dad!

come visit my website at http://www.rltphotoartist.com/
http://www.carbonite.com/ backup storage for the lazy but well meaning type.

Carbonite

2008-06-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

Carbonite works.

I needed it to work the other day when I discovered I had deleted my deerbite video (see Deer Bite in Japan.) I got it back after a mysterious process but that is ok with me.

You never think you are going to have a hard drive fail until you do. Unfortunately, my hard drive failed and then my backup storage drive failed about a week later. Fortunately, I had backed up my pictures to individual storage dvd's but it is very time consuming to get things back up and running after you install a new drive. The odds of two catastrophic failures happening within a week of each other is pretty slim. Probably like the odds of winning the big prize in the California Lottery.

What's worse is when a friend asks how you are and you start telling them about the worst thing that has happened to your data ever and how much time you have lost trying to restore things right--then their eyes glaze over and they look sad that they asked you how you were.

So basically, there are some people who will go out and get it before they need it. Then there are converts like me who have already been through that sickening feeling....twice in a week. Word to the wise--go get it.

www.carbonite.com

Renee:-)
www.rltphotoartist.com

Graduation Day

2008-06-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

I can remember attending what I am calling my "last graduation ceremony" like an alcoholic remembers his last drink. My niece was gorgeous, I was so proud of her when she walked up to the platform and received her degree. I got a wonderful picture. She has a very successful career, a terrific husband and we love them both!

But something about the insanely boring speaker and so many thoughtless and immature graduates around her throwing tortillas and stuff throughout the entire ceremony just leaves me limp and lifeless when someone invites me to another one. I have managed to survive a great number of days without attending a graduation and still have most of my friends.

So, in honor of graduation this year, I would like to send you to a link of a really terrific graduation address from Conan O'Brien in 2000 to the Harvard Graduating class--his alma mater, by the way. I don't think they were throwing stuff yet in 2000 so I imagine it was a lot of fun for everyone there.
http://www.february-7.com/features/conan.htm

Thanks in advance for reading my blog. If you come back this way again, please visit my website at: http://www.rltphotoartist.com

What is a Mobile Photography Studio?

2008-06-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

I have portable professional studio lights that travel with me on short notice. I bring my camera and set up a studio in your home or business and use my own backdrop or a favorite place in your home. Setting up a studio in a familiar environment results in beautiful, relaxed pose portraits that bring out the best in a subject.

Next, I take a minimum of 25 shots from our sitting and create an Individual Portrait Slideshow view on your own television screen. This unique DVD is yours to keep whether or not you order prints from me. Additional DVD Copies are only $10.00 each.

The fee is only $75.00 for me to bring my studio into your home and to guarantee 25 poses on a High Quality DVD Slideshow to conveniently enjoy on your own TV.

If you wish for me to print some of the pictures on portrait paper, you pay only for the poses you choose. I'll mat them and frame them for you or you can take the finished pictures anywhere else for matting and framing. Prices for additional services here... http://rltphotoartist.com/index_mobilestudio.htm

At this price, I will travel up to 25 miles. If you a slightly further away, give me a call and let's chat. Or, you can email me at webgoddess@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading my blog.
http://www.rltphotoartist.com/

Adding and Editing Music to use in your slideshows.

2008-06-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

I love making slideshows of my pictures and adding music. It is really easy to do in Easy Media Creator from Roxio--again, they do not answer emails if you get a bad disk or have trouble with your downloads so caveat emptor.

It is also easy to make excellent slide shows with a program called Microsoft Plus Photo Story. You can find it at this link if you would like to chek it out. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspxI started with this program and only moved to Roxio when I could only put one song on each slideshow. That keeps you pretty limited to about 50 slides and 4 seconds each. Moves along pretty quickly but good to work with just the same. This is a great program for those cat pictures and trip to Lake Mead to feed the carp.

You can even make a slideshow with the Cyberlink Power Director that I talked about in the previous blog. All of these programs have annoying quirks that you discover in working with them. Especially if you are trying to use the Apple iPod version of songs...M4P or Mp4 or whatever. You can easily convert songs to Mp3's and things get a lot easier when you are working with Photo Story, Roxio or Cyberlink programs. These programs have a tendency to just ignore songs in iTunes--they play dumb until you show them an Mp3 file. (Apple is a real pain in the a**--deciding which iPod can play what on which computer--what can synch and what can't...the whole proprietary "this is OUR software that you are using to play on Our iPod using Our iTunes and you will do what we say you can do and when. By the way, you have to update iTunes today or you just won't be able to play your songs until you do.) I do love my iPod even though their iTunes software does not play well with others. For more, see item #10 in this article from PC World. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130994-c,macs/article.html

For those advanced users that want to have a little more freedom with their music (shortening songs for the menu of a dvd, adding a few ditties together as one song or having the music fade in and fade out, do buy the piece of Roxio software called "Sound Edit". I have never had a problem with this little gem of a program. I just used it last night to clean up narration that I had recorded on a slideshow of my trip to South America using Cyberlink Power Director. I had clicks and noise from the microphone I used. By the time I finished working with the narration file, I sounded like a pro...well, I sounded better and clearer and louder on the narration. So, it worked for me. Give it a try. That is one Roxio program that I bought with version 8 and it has been great.

Check it out at http://www.roxio.com/

Also, check out art for sale at http://www.rltphotoartist.com/

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

Renee :-)

Converting Digital Video Movies to DVD

2008-06-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of really nicely packaged software suites out there in the affordable range ($59.00-$120.00) that promise to make it easy to take your home movies from your camera to a nice dvd that you can share with your friends.

However, all of the software programs that I have tried over the past few years have always assumed that you already understand a lot that maybe you don't.

I spent literally weeks one summer learning how to convert my own old camcorder vhs tapes to DVR dvd's. They worked just great in the DVR player that I had used to make the conversion from analog tapes to digital. Then, the real frustration began. I could not get the dvd's to work in any of my players at home. I tried every dvd player and kept getting error messages. Obviously, I did not get it.

What was the problem? I started madly searching for products that would solve the mystery of being able to make a simple, readable DVD that I could send to friends. I bought a VSO product http://www.vso-software.fr/ called Copy to DVD and discovered there are Audio_TS and Video_TS (Title Set) elements (files that are VOB/IFO type files). I saw these files when I put the DVR dvd into the computer but it still didn't make any sense. I finally figured out that the video_TS files are the big deal and they need to be double clicked over to the other side so the dvd can be created. Take a look at Copy to DVD for a trial copy. I had looked all over the internet to try to find how this works with no luck.

Then, I started to get bolder. I had a new Everio digital camcorder and I wanted to make copies of my videos for friends. The directions from JVC made absolutely no sense to me--you had to make little files on your desktop and blah blah blah. The tech people helped me but I lost everything the first time I had to restore my computer.

I figured out that if you right click on the start button on the lower left of Explorer (Microsoft) go to "explore" and then find the hard drive of your camera (make sure it is on). It is the one that says HDD. The Camera comes with a basic editor from Cyberlink called PowerDirector Express. http://cyberlink.com.tw/ It took me a very long time to edit each video because this program crashed constantly until I learned that you edit each clip and then add it to the timeline. I was putting all the clips on the timeline and then editing into the middle of the timeline. They don't tell you that, but I finally discovered it. I also learned the value of constantly saving a project.

So now, I thought I was pretty darned smart. I had learned about the files that make up a dvd and that you could edit on a timeline and create a .wmv file. It will play on the Windows Media Player (http://mediaplayer.d0wnloadz.net/) and it could be made into a cd or vcd that promises to confuse the heck out of your friends--trust me on this. That still wasn't giving me what I wanted. Then I figured out that you need to convert (render) the .wmv file into an .mpg or aka mpeg. You do this in the software. But you aren't through yet! You have a nice mpeg file but now you need to get it on a dvd in a format that your friends will appreciate. Believe me, they get really tired of you saying, well, how old is your dvd player?...or are you playing it in your computer and does your computer have a dvd player software installed in it? Uh...that leaves most people thinking that maybe they are really too busy to play your lousy cd of your cats and vacation to Lake Mead to feed the carp.

Now, this step separates the men from the boys....you have learned how to edit a dvd in Microsoft's movie making software http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx that comes with your computer or with the movie making software that comes with your digital camcorder. You have a nice movie now and what comes next?

Enter Roxio's My DVD Creative Suite--you can find it on the internet or at Costco. Be advised that they are not available to help and they won't even respond to emails if you have a problem with your disk so caveat emptor. However, they have a program that allows you to take your .wmv file and convert it to something a dvd player can read along with a nice set of menus. (A menu is that part that shows when you first put it in the player--it allows you to move up and down to select a movie or chapter.) Gotta make sure everyone is following along with me...
One really helpful thing to know that took me a while to find out is that you can make a dvd without a starting menu. The friend puts it into their player and it starts right up. This is perfect for your parents or people in a hurry like my husband and I.

I have spent a fair amount of time with Roxio's Easy Media Creator 8, 9 and now 10 version and they PROMISED all kinds of things that the new version would do that the old version wouldn't....but as soon as you fall for the upgrade scheme, you learn that you need to upgrade again for that little part of the software that is just critical for that cool thing you wanted to do all along...you know what I mean if you have ever bought anything from them. Every time you load up the program, a little box in the middle tells you the latest upgrade and how if you bought this one more thing, you would be so cool. Don't fall for it like I did. They tease you into thinking that you can make BluRay discs...then you find out that you didn't understand and now you need to buy something else.

Now, I have begun to work with the upgraded Cyberlink Power Director (from the Express version mentioned above). http://cyberlink.com.tw/ You still need to know about converting .wmv files to other formats....however, they explain each of the types of formats such as avi, mpeg1 and mpeg 2 and so on. You can edit a video or slideshow, render it to a dvd friendly format, and then create a menu or not.
After spending a summer popping DVD's in 6 different dvd players to see if they worked in all of them, I learned that all the work of editing the scenes, adding music, adding transitions and titles is useless if the silly thing won't play at your friend's house. The most important thing is that the DVD's must work in all brands and types of players--especially all the types that your friends have.

Hopefully, this will help someone just getting into the idea of taking a movie off their camcorder and making a dvd for posterity. The camera manufacturers have been working on hardware that puts all the video on a disk in one simple step. This is good if you don't care about the 30 minutes that you carried the camcorder around your neck shooting your feet. However, jump in there and give it a try.

If I can figure it out, you surely can.

PS...the URL for VSO is: http://www.vso-software.fr/
and the URL for Roxio is: http://www.roxio.com/

Thanks for reading my blog. Please visit my site at
http://www.rltphotoartist.com/ and check out the things that I do in my work.

Don't Buy Delta Airlines "Eats"

2008-05-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Back in the old days, airlines had leg room and used to feed you "airline food."
OK...this is going to sound weird, but I really liked airline food. No one else liked it from what I heard from everyone...

However, I feel that I need to make a Public Service Announcement about Delta's "Eat Right" Menu. Some chef named Todd English let Delta Airlines use his picture (in a chef's outfit) and name to lull helpless, hungry passengers into paying $8.00 for a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich. The nice "EATS" menu touts it as a "mouth-watering Parmesan Breaded Chicken Breast, Marinated Mozarella slices, Basil Pesto with parsley, and Tomato Sauce on a Rosemary Ciabatta Roll." Sounds nice, doesn't it?

But, passenger beware. It should be billed as "Ice cold maybe chicken, crusted with something (don't ask me) with a large lump of maybe tofu or maybe cheese on a very hard, very cold roll." Fortunately, it is wrapped in biodegradable paper and that is a good thing because you have a "green" way to hand it back to the flight attendant after that first careless bite. Speaking of green, you can use the handy air sick bag in the seat pocket in front of you to dispose of that bite you so trustingly made.

Oh Todd...you started with such promise when Delta issued their press release.
Thank goodness the crackers and sodas are still free.

Delta Food Press Release

Come Visit my website at
http://www.rltphotoartist.com to find out more about photo restoration services and my mobile studio.

Deer Bite

2008-05-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about Japan last year and how much fun I had--except for the unfortunate deer bite at Nara Park. They just love tourists who buy the special deer cookies. Now I know why the locals don't even pay attention to them.

I'd feed them again, but this time I would get a running head start on them when I began to run low on cookies.

Check out my video on http://www.youtube.com/

Post Card from South America

2008-04-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

What an adventure! Machu Picchu was worth the trouble to get to it. 11,000 feet hotel in Cusco...winding bus rides and a 100 year old train going through the dense jungle on rails clinging to a cliffside...not to mention just trying to breathe!

I should have some great pictures up on the website soon. Now we are heading for the Panama Canal and soon the jungles of Costa Rica to search for monkeys.

My best to all of you!

Renee L. Theuer
http://www.rltphotoartist.com/

Click on the link below to see what I bought for Cookie.

See Cookie in his Harley Davidson Hat on Amazon.com

Ever heard of Etsy?

2008-03-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

Etsy is the new eBay for people who make crafts to sell on the internet. I know this because a friend of mine who makes gorgeous jewelry raves about it. I have to admit, I have not been hanging out there much but it looks wonderful.

For those of you who are interested in making your own crafts and marketing them, here are two helpful web pages for you....

Tammy Powley offers a lot of help to those interested in making jewelry (including helping design a kit with a jewelry making book for "Dummies" that taught me how to make nice stuff for myself out of the rocks I bought in Tucson recently.)

The second link is to a neet gal who does an informative podcast through her site that is very interesting. The third is to good old etsy itself.

If you are in that rare space and time in your life that you want to create something and you have time to do it, you are fortunate. Enjoy!!

http://jewelrymaking.about.com

http://www.craftypod.com/?p=397

http://www.etsy.com

Best Regards,

Renee :-)

Digital Frame - Simplicity Redefined.

2008-03-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

I bought a 14.1 inch Westinghouse digital frame at Best Buy the other day. Supposedly you can put your camera memory card right into the slot on the side and you will have an instant slide show. This is a pretty nice thing to have if you like to change your pictures in your home frequently and get to see the ones that you don't think are worth printing. You will need a spare camera card and then you can have a nice slideshow running in a picture frame that will impress your friends until they get bored watching your vacation pictures and wander off....

So, I decide to get a card and load up my own pictures on it. I put it in the viewer and it ran for a while until it got to the picture of my cat dressed in a kimono. Then it stopped.

I checked to make sure my software drivers were up to date. I reformatted the compact flash card and reinstalled the pictures. Quite by accident, I decided to go and look the product up on the Best Buy site so I could put it into the blog. And guess what--other people are having the same problem. The product has a 2 1/2 star rating and lots of negative comments. Moral to the story? Don't get into a hurry. Check out technology goodies on the internet using Amazon.com (they don't edit any comments) or Best Buy (they probably don't edit either) and then see if you want to buy the new gizmo. This is the best advice I can offer today. As for me, I am taking this baby back tomorrow and doing a lot more research before I get another one. With a name like Westinghouse, it has to be good, or is that another slogan?

Remember when it was good enough to glue your pictures into an album? If you do remember that, you sure aren't reading this blog.

Renee :-)

http://www.rltphotoartist.com/

http://www.bestbuy.com/

http://www.amazon.com/

I have a history of insulting cats. Check out the image of Cookie ( 7 of 54 images at this writing. ) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-images/0761136193/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all/102-3650340-4053734#gallery

Back From Rainy Tucson and Saguaro Cacti

2008-02-23T08:40:00.001-08:00

Well, Tucson was great for the Gem and Mineral show. In fact, the entire town turns into the Gem and Mineral show. Every gas station window has geodes in it...every empty shop (and there are quite a few of them downtown) has rocks in it. Every hotel...every motel...it is absolutely amazing.

Last year was our first visit to this amazing rock transformation. I thought the show was only in the few hotels my sister had us visit last year. Was I ever wrong.

Take a look at their website and see if they are going to be at a town near you. If you aren't hooked on rocks, they have dinosaur fossils, petrified dinosaur poop and lots and lots of jewelry.
If you like to bead, you can get everything you need there...except findings.

Beautiful boulder opals, tourmaline, jasper, cat's eye, jade, rose quartz, lapis, rhodocrosite--just to name a few. Last year I didn't know all these different names and more. After just one show I am making my own rock jewelry out of the beautiful beads and accent items at the show. If you are already a beader, you can get some great inspiration at this show. Otherwise, if you don't have time for another hobby and you want to save some money, "stay away". If you don't usually take advice well, their website is: http://www.tgms.org/2007show.htm

Oh, and one more thing. Unless you are a pretty devout religious person, I would skip the Mission San Xavier Del Bac. One website I visited prior to leaving said that it was called the Eiffel Tower of Tucson. (http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2809760-mission_san_xavier_del_bac_tucson-i ) Uh...well...I think that may be a teeny bit off. It's nice when half of it isn't covered for restoration I guess...but I think Saguaro National Park and passing by the airplane boneyards on the way was more fun. Visit their website to learn fascinating facts about this nice ecosphere and how it was started 75 years ago. http://www.nps.gov/sagu/

Have some fun today.

Renee :-)
http://www.rltphotoartist.com/

Helpful Seminar for Webmasters

2008-02-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

I attended a very helpful seminar sponsored by Premier Service Bank in the Inland Empire. The presenter from a company called Red Fusion spoke about how to get more hits on your website by becoming more visible on Google and the other search engines.

Google and the other web search engines still use 'bots to analyze pages on the internet to test their relevance and whether or not they have a story to tell. The single most important thing a webmaster can do is to keep adding fresh text content to their pages. They can do this best by attaching a blog with backlinks to their pages. They stressed that text is the most important element and that static pages don't get the attention that constantly updated pages do.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the big thing. When you download the Google toolbar, you can see a site's ranking numbers from 1-10. The rankings have to do with many things but the more pages you have pointing back to you the better. They also emphasized that keyword ads (the ads on the right hand side of the search engine results) are the best deal on the internet in advertising. Evidently people bid for those positions on the results page and they can be very effective in driving business to your site.

I came away from the seminar with a commitment to keeping content on my page fresh by publishing a blog and adding the pictures that are becoming more popular as I go forward. This blog is offered as helpful information for webmasters looking for the way to up their rankings in the mysterious world of search engines! You can see some of the sites that Red Fusion Media has put up by visiting their site: http://www.redfusionmedia.com/ They have been kind enough to go into search engine optimization for those interested. Also, check out Premier Service Bank's site for additional information on their seminar series at their site : http://www.premierservicebank.com/

Good luck to anyone working to produce a good website that continues to improve in order to reach more people in need of good products and services.

Happy Valentines Day too.

Renee Theuer
http://www.rltphotoartist.com/

Saguaro Cactus

2008-02-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

Well, we are planning a great trip to Tucson to capture the Saguaro Cactus at sunset...or sunrise if I can get up that early. There is also a beautiful mission that is still an active place of worship called Mission San Xavier del Bac and it is known as the Eiffel Tower of Tucson if you can believe what you read on Yahoo...:-) Finally, Rose Canyon Lake looks like a pretty site. I just got a new larger format camera so I should be able to capture even more detail of the beauty we will see on the trip.

There a lot of beautiful things around to take pictures of...but I think I would just like to remind anyone who happens upon this blog to remember to take pictures of your family today. Take some pictures for no reason at all. Then, if they are digital, please back them up to a cd. I know that you have heard this before....but, speaking from experience, it is a real bummer to lose any memory at all of your happy times in life.

We are only here a very short while. I am realizing this more and more every day. I remember a survey that is well known now of people over 95 who were asked if they had to do it all over again, what would they do different in their life? Do you know that most of them said they would have taken more risks. That includes looking like a geek taking pictures of your family for no special reason. Go get the camera and make some memories.

Renee :-)
http://www.rltphotoartist.com/

Favorite Spots in Riverside for Photographs

2008-02-12T22:35:00.000-08:00

I'm looking for some new places in Riverside to photograph and I am looking for suggestions. I have really enjoyed the Mission Inn and Mt. Rubidoux as subjects. In the spring, I think there are parts of Victoria Avenue that are just splendid as well as the Gage Canal area. I have had suggestions to do a few of the Parent Navel Orange Tree and Orange Groves in general. I guess that would be a great idea since the orange groves around here are going away.

Any suggestions? Please visit my webpage rltphotoartist.com and email me.
http://www.rltphotoartist.com

email: webgoddess@hotmail.com

Thanks,
Renee L. Theuer
Photographic Artist