Who started the anti-button war???

Ok, so I LOVE my iphone... and I understand the advantages to the multiple levels of screens with a variety of button patterns and button sizes... BUT sometimes you just miss that feeling of physically actuating a button. The fact that you know you pressed on a button and it should start an immediate action of that buttons purpose/functionality. Gizmodo recently posted a short article on the application for a patent by Canon for the first touch screen DSLR.

http://gizmodo.com

This obviously will allow for a larger LCD on the camera, but I wonder what this will lead to? I mean first its the fact we've gotten rid of film and we use "D" SLRs, than we get rid of being a slave to the view finder and you can now use your LCD screen for "Liveview," now we are getting rid of buttons... will we eventually just have an oversized point-n-shoot? I mean we have to physically put on a lens, and physically turn them, and they're sooo stinkin' heavy :o)

Overall I am thrilled at the advancements in technology, and can't imagine how overwhelming this all is to our grandparents who have watched cars go from horse and buggy to Bugatti!!! from Wright Brothers to Space, and from classical music to Emo-metal-jazza-techno-core-tronica. Not necessarily complaining or praising... just in awe, and I hope that we don't get so far "Advanced" that we don't take the time to appreciate the little things in life, like the smell of rain, the oceans way of rolling in sets of waves, sunsets, the change of leaves in fall (if you live anywhere but SoCal LOL), snow, and as said in my last post, time with family.

Last month of 2009

Is it already December??? Wow, last month flew by for me... was a great month though!

I just have to say I am blessed with the most incredible in-laws and couldn't imagine anyone else's being better than mine! I had sooo much fun at Thanksgiving and can't wait for Next Christmas! If you didn't already know, my wife's family is very close. Her mom is one of 5 Pardue kids, and every year all 5 kids and their kids, and now grandkids, get together and every year it is so much fun.

However there is a schedule to all of this madness, every other Christmas we all get together, and every other Thanksgiving... and it is planned to where every year we know we'll see each other at least at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Its Brilliant! And if you marry into the family, you have to get on board with the schedule. Out of the 5 original Pardue kids 4 of them had Children, and of those 4, there is one kid in each family that is yet to be married, so if you are planning on marrying one of those remaining 4, be aware that this will be part of your life, and you WILL like it! LOL :o)

Some people might dread the thought of seeing each other every year, our Family (Pardues, VanSoests, Boerios, Ours, Hansens, Coronados, Lyons-Pardues) looks forward to it in anticipation! We all usually have a mini Christmas together with our individual familys, but the day after, it time for a big family get together where we eat and play games. All of us guys have our own tradition, and heres a look at our Turkey Bowl fun:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpardue

And I must give credit to Sara's grandparents for raising kids that raised kids that are continuing to raise kids with love and Christian Values. I hope that I can one day leave a similar family legacy.

My Dads side of the family is Also starting a tradition. He is one of 7 boys and 3 girls, and all of the brothers are starting to get together. They get together and do "Man things" like ride motorcycles, go fishing, play golf & tennis, etc. They've done this for the past 3 years or so, and this year it was in San Diego. In years past its been in Texas and Oklahoma. I was stoked that it was in San Diego this year, because I got to see a few of my uncles that I don't see too often.

So yeah, it was a family filled past two months, and Sara & I are really looking forward to Christmas where we'll spend time with my family, than we'll be back to New Mexico to spend New years with her side. I love family, and love family time, and if you don't spend enough time with your family, I would highly recommend it. I know family dynamics can be really interesting and bad sometimes, but I hope that things can work out for any of you going through hard times, because as a lot of us know, you don't want to regret not spending time with those you loved once they're already gone.

BMW commercial shot with a 5d

The 5d has been used so much in the past year, so blessed to own one, and so stoked for the projects that are to come with both the 5d and the 7d. Very excited about the announcement of 5d Mark II firmware update to allow the same 24p shooting and high-speed 60 frame rates that my 7d has as well. Learning this other aspect of Visual art is hard, challenging, but very, very fun as well!

Found this commercial at: http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/

Knowing my camera has the capability to do stuff like this makes me feel like a little kid going to Disneyland for the first time :o)

Vincent Laforet & the Canon 1d Mark IV

It's here!!! The 1d Mark IV has arrived and here are the specs:

www.dpreview.com

Drooling yet? Well last friday my business partner Ben and I got the chance to attend a DSLR video lecture with Mr. Vincent Laforet... it was AWESOME!




He arrived a little later than he had wanted to, and said he was tired because he had been working on a project all week that he was shooting at night and editing all day.

Well this was it!

gizmodo.com

Our company now has a 5d Mark II and two 7ds, we're in the process of entering this other end of the DSLR visual world, and I'm CRAZY excited!

Woozy Life

Check out:

woozylife.com

My friend Kim has got some pretty rad projects going on with the Ladies Action Sports world, and I am stoked that she's wanting me & my New Company San Diego Action Media to be a part of them!

Get your Picture taken and Donate to the Susan G. Komen Foundation

A good ride

So I went on a little bike ride today, and at one point there was this good-sized hill coming up. I knew it was there, and was battling with myself in my head, "should I do it? Should I go the shorter easier way?" I proceeded, determined to ignore the logical part of my brain; but when I'm on these bike rides I like to pray/think about things and I saw this hill as a metaphor to challenges in my life.

As some of you may know, I never finished college to instead pursue my passion for photography. I just couldn't get myself determined/motivated enough to do it. I am now embarking on a journey of being a business owner of two different companies. This also presents itself with challenges, like that hill, which I could just take the easy way out on. But while riding this hill, I tried something different than I have ever done before... I didn't look at the top of the hill, the end of the hurt that I was about to put myself through, I instead, looked at the road directly in front of me, got myself into the right gear for where I was right than, and before I knew it I was at the top!

I realized, that I need to take steps in business in a similar light. There is A LOT of work ahead, but if I set goals my goals high, but focus on the small goals directly in front of me, before I know it, I'll be where I want to be. May it be at the top or even if I fail. At least I will know that I gave it my all, and felt good about the decisions I made day to day. So be inspired today, put your head down and drive forward, work hard, and be the best you can be, TODAY!

"Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own."
-Matthew 6:33-34

Changes...

So there will be some BIG changes to Dan Coronado Photo over the next few months. I will be running Dan Coronado Photo mainly as a Wedding, Family, and Portrait Business, and all of my Action, Fashion, Music and Commercial work will be through my NEW COMPANY, San Diego Action Media!!!

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, there has just been A LOT of traveling, photo shoots, extra paper work, site building, etc. going on with work and with the changes to my two companies. I'm Soooo excited about the opportunities this will open up for both companies, and just really feel that in separating first the websites, and second the crews, we will be more productive and successful!

Thanks for reading, and if you want to see what we've done with the new site so far, check out:

www.sdactionmedia.com

what a month...

Wow... March was crazy! Amazing, but Crazy. Down in Melbourne, Australia... my second home.

4 Weddings, Kids Camps, Bands, Studio shoots, Field Hockey games, Kangaroos, and a WEEK IN THE HOSPITAL! Yes, you read that right; a week in the hospital. After 3 weeks of shooting photos down under my appendix decided to die inside me and cause a really bad infection that could have actually killed me! But I guess God wants me to continue being around to shoot photos ;o)

If it had to happen, it happened at the best time. I had 2 more weeks of shooting planned, including a trip to Sydney and more photo shoots... but fortunately the bands understood my dilema, and I was able to heal a week in the hospital, and a week out of the hospital at my best friend Jesse's house. I was definitely in good hands, but was soooooo hard to be so sick and be so far away from the wife and have to explain what was going on. Its definitely good to be home with Sara, but can't wait to go back to OZ, and take her this time!

But here are a few pix from the month, overall it was absolutely an amazing trip and I am sooo thankful to all of my friends that helped me organize it, and also take good care of me while I was in the hospital. I've heard it said "Friends are a chosen family" all I can say is, I have definitely chosen wisely, and LOVE my family of friends. Down Under & Stateside, you know who you are, and I love you all!

Osiris Girls Team Shred Day

Im due for a more in depth blog again, but here's a video of a rad day I got to be a part of before I left for Australia... Have I mentioned Im in Australia??? Probably not, but details on that, hopefully soon, lots of photowork down under. But for now:

OSIRIS GIRLS "SHRED DAY 2009" (TRAILER) from Osiris Girls on Vimeo.

It also got coverage on the Daily Habit, ESPN, and many more... such a rad day. Can't wait to do it again ;o)

Revo for Rocky

Thursday night at North Coast Calvary Chapel in Carlsbad there was an event to help support a friend/brother of many San Diegan's , Rocky Green. Rocky is currently fighting with Glioblastoma stage four brain cancer.

Special Guests at the event included:

PHIL DANYEW
JIMMY ROBESON
MOLLY JENSON
TREVOR DAVIS

The night flowed amazingly, and it was good to see so many people, those who knew Rocky and those who didn't, come out to support him.

To find out more about Rock please visit:

www.myspace.com/revoforrocky
www.myspace.com/rockygreenmusic


Pictures from the night:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coronadophotography

12 Films in 12 Months

Check out my buddy Ian's project 12filmsin12months and there's a link to some pictures I took at his movie screening at the Balboa Park Museum of Photographic Arts.

Salton Sea with Agape

This past month I was fortunate enough to be able to do a rad photo shoot with my buddy Scott Leduc for his board short company AGAPE. We set out for a day trip, not knowing we were heading out for more than we had bargained for.

Basically out in the Salton Sea, everything looks very dry, and is very dry and dead (other than of course the actually sea which is full of nasty looking salty deposit water) and when the evening comes around moisture comes up from the ground creating an alkali muddy material that we got our car stuck in... So long story short, we got to hang out there over nite until Artist/Boardshort model, Mr. Palacios' parents came to the rescue the next morning. This story is a pretty good one, ask me about it in more detail sometime, would be happy to share.

Jan. ASR & Prayer Breakfast

Had an awesome day with the wife today! Got lunch, saw a very sad but good movie, Defiance, and finished the day off by shopping around, and ended up spending only $20 on a purchase that would have cost us $285(still had a lot of Bed Bath & Beyond gift cards from the wedding). How sweet is that?

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend ASR(a big tradeshow in the Action Sports community). Before the day started though, I was blessed to be able to attend an event that Walking on Water was putting on, a prayer breakfast. It was so awesome to be in a room with fellow believers at a trade show where you would not expect to see so many. It was an amazing way to start off an awesome weekend.

Here are a few pictures of the tradeshow:

These and more at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coronadophotography

New Year, New Shoes

These are my new running shoes. This year I am planning on getting back into running. I would really like to get back into triathlons, but we'll take baby steps. Sara and I have a meeting coming up to lead a team for the Susan G. Komen 3-day. If you don't know by now my wife's mom's cancer has returned. My Grandma also had cancer. So the 3-day has become a bit more personal around the Coronado house. It has been something we've both wanted to do for a while but now we're getting ready to take all the steps that will lead up to it. If any of you know of any 5ks, 10ks, half marathons, or marathons that raise money for cancer please let me know.

My new shoes are the LIVESTRONG colors, black and yellow, and say "4PATNGMA" on the back as a reminder that I'm not just getting into running again to make a new years resolution, but that its for two ladies that I love.

I love music! Especially coming from an amusing teacher...

Got a pretty fun week this week... so a worthy photo blog is on its way... but for now, I thought I'd share this.

Looks easy, right?