These are my last ramblings about Macworld 2009, I promise!
Now that I've fired up the PC and downloaded my pics & video,
I wanted to share a few funny things from Macworld.

First, my favorite Mac Genious from our local Apple store stumbled upon our booth,
and we were both surprised to run into each other so far from Otay Ranch!
I had one of the Mpix dudes take a pic w/my camera.
He didn't quite get the focus right, but I forgive him.


During the show, we would keep seeing people (and even a guide dog!) wearing
bunny ears around the trade show. Yes, bunny ears!
I've heard bunnies carry diseases, so we tried not to get too close until we figured out
what was really going on.
A quick Google search during my lunch break unlocked the mystery.
They were being handed out by PeachPit Press as part of a giveaway

I sure hope this guy won a prize for wearing those ears!!


And, finally, if you've ever emailed Mpix for help,
you've probably gotten an email back from John Rank.
What you may not know is John is "THE MPIX HOTTIE"
This reputation of John's began waaayyyy back when he made one of his first appearances
at a Tradeshow (I think it was PhotoPlus in NY in 2003 or so).
Everyone knew there was a "John Rank" from Mpix, but nobody from the lively Mpix Forum
had ever seen him in person.
Someone saw him and came straight home to post that John Rank is a HOTTIE!
The glorious distinction stuck, even through John's continued efforts to shake it.
(Everyone thinks he really likes it, though)
If you haven't had the good fortune to come face-to-face with THE MPIX HOTTIE,
no worries, my friend! I have a 5D Mark II now, and it does VIDEO!
So without further ado,
here is John Rank, the Mpix Hottie setting up the Mpix booth at Macworld this year:


If you're coming to Vegas for the first time or have never seen a tradeshow,
here's a good idea of what the booths are like, and what the Mpix booth was like
during the Macworld expo:
(yes, I had fun harassing The Hottie with video)


I'm off to see BRIDE WARS tonight,
then tomorrow I've got my first photo sessions of 2009.
I'm starting the year off with GUSTO --
a 5-session Mini Platinum Day put on by a very very nice sister.
She's bringing all of her sisters together to get them all mini sessions with their kids.
It will be fun, but when I get home after that tomorrow, it will be naptime!
Then Sunday is ALL ABOUT THE CHARGERS, BABY!!!
I asked permission and was told there is room on the bandwagon, so on I hopped!
Have a great weekend!

~Carey

I'm stuck at the house.
I can't leave.

...must

not

miss

the

FedEx truck!!!!!

Any guesses as to what that magical white truck is bringing me on Tuesday!!!???

Thursday, my new friend Joanne (owner of Island Style Images) came to play with us at the pool!
She brought her daughter, Jordyn, and her friends Ocean & Reef,
and all of the kids had so much fun!
Joanne and I enjoyed lounging by the pool, "talking shop."
She has me beat with 5D MarkII pre-orders! I have 2 pre-orders, and Joanne has 3!
We're both anxious to get them!

Joanne also confirmed what we'd been hearing all morning:
THE SURF IS COMING!
A HUGE swell is building today (Friday) and will be here FULL FORCE on Saturday.
It's a bummer that we're leaving on Saturday, but we're already seeing
the building surf today outside our cottage!
If you remember the picture of our resort from the helicopter,
imagine the distance between waves about 1/3 of what it is in the picture.
There are triple the waves, and they are at least double the size they were yesterday.
Tomorrow (Saturday) should be an amazing sight!
Hopefully we'll get to see a bit of it before we hit the road for the airport.

Thanks, Joanne, for the traffic tips on getting to the airport tomorrow!
I enjoyed talking with Joanne so much -- we both totally forgot to take any pictures!

So, this morning, I woke up early with Mat.
Mat hit the lawn to play soccer with his new buddy, Max.
Max is a really good soccer player & very nice boy from San Juan Capistrano.
I decided to to snorkeling in the bay to see if I could find a turtle before it got crowded.
It was early, and I was tired but determined.
When the water hit my knees, it felt a lot colder than it really was.
The early hour (about 8am -- early for a vacationer!) was playing tricks on my brain.
I almost went back to the sand, but I was more stubborn than woosy this morning,
and I was going to get out there and snorkel!

I made it in the water, and it wasn't all that bad. typical.
There were lots and lots of fish, but no turtles, so I kept kicking around,
letting the gentle bay waves and currents dictate my route.

Then, as if she had materialized right in front of me,
there was a HUGE SEA TURTLE! She was close enough for me to reach out and touch!
I was so excited; I was very lucky that I had my camera on a necklace/strap,
because I would have dropped it for sure!

I quickly turned it on and got three pictures before I stopped photographing
and just enjoyed scooting along with my new buddy:




The early morning suffering was worth it!
I found my sea turtle, and I got pictures! YAY!

~Carey

Sappy cheesy 80's love songs (usually something from Journey or Air Supply) come to mind
when I think about how much I LOVE my Canon 5D cameras.

I bought the 1D-MarkIII when it came out last year, wanting a camera with
more frames per second and weather sealing for all of the waves & spray at that beach.
How silly of me. I should have known that nothing can come between me & my 5Ds.
The MarkIII went back to the camera store less than a week later
because the color out of the sensor just wasn't as pretty as the color out of my beloved,
AND the crop factor was driving me NUTS! (no crop factor on the 5D)

Survivor's "The Search is Over" played when I got back home
after returning my MarkIII that day.

Well, rumor has it that Canon is FINALLY coming out with the "next generation" 5D!
They've got a website up HERE, and I've noticed that every day or two,
you can see a little more detail on that shadowed camera!

THURSDAY MORNING VIEW:

THURSDAY NIGHT UPDATE:
I just checked the site again, and here's what it looks like now:


Good job, Canon! You've got me hooked.

The sites I've seen say that the announcement is coming September 17th.
Less than a week away!

All of the rumors could be wrong, and this new camera could be another
10D, 20D, 30D, 40D or another 1D... (all good cameras, but I still love the 5D more).
Or, it could be a whole new line of cameras.

I'll be watching that site to see detail appearing more & more each day.
Will you join me?
A few days ago, I couldn't see "Canon" on that camera!

~Carey

Today I met up with some great folks.
Andrew & Rachel from La Cour (and Andrew is the genious behind ShootQ, too).


Andrew is in the brown & white next to me, and Rachel's in red on the end.

In between Rachel & Andrew are Ross & his lovely beautiful wife.
Ross is the man behind FloSites, who made this awesome custom blog for me.
Ross is also the nice guy who sent Mat all that Chelsea gear for his birthday!

This is their first time here in the US, so we had to make sure to tell him that VEGAS is NOT
a true representation of American life!!! (quite a first impression, though, isn't it?)

I'm off to bed before another day of smokey air tomorrow. Oh, how I wish Vegas were smoke-free!

Jason & I are having a lot of fun and getting to spend time with great friends,
but this smoke is getting to my eyes and my throat -- not good for a girl with a cough!
Hopefully this cough will go away before Tuesday morning.

~Carey