Perez Studios

I am working on building a new PC and I must say it gets pricey when you want to add things like redundancy.  I have been purchasing most of the parts from New Egg which is really great with the prices.  In fact I think just about all of the parts came from New Egg except for the processor which I got from my friend.  Nothing fancy on the cpu but my friend is going to over clock it for me.  Here is what we have in it so far.

This does not count all the taxes and shipping for all the different times I had to buy this and then realized I needed this.  That is always a pain.  I plan on installing Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit on the OS.  I also have a 120GB SATA drive that I plan on hosting my OS on and using the 4 – 1.5TB drives in a RAID 5 configuration and use it to store my music, photos and documents on.  I will have another 1.5TB drive that I plan on using for Backups which I know I will have to upgrade that soon to keep all the backups on.  Thankfully I use Storage Craft to do all my backups and I must say it is the coolest way for backups. 

If anyone has any feedback I would appreciate it.  I am hoping to have this system up and running by next Friday since I have a Photography Gig coming up.  Wish me luck folks!

This is a little sample of some weddings, birthdays that we have done in the past as far as a videographer.  I am planning on uploading a video slideshow of our photography work.  The quality on the video is a little grainy because we compressed the video so it would upload quicker.

A couple of months ago I did a post about the village life in Honduras. http://perezstudios.com/blog/travel/villagelife  Our church is planning on going again and I was thinking of putting together some things for them to take with them.  I know they need money and was thinking that would be perfect but how do you go about getting people to trust you on the internet?  When I came back from Honduras I had some of my photos for sale and the proceeds went to the family in the photo.  I only made about $100 and thought I could try it again and see what I could get. 

If anyone is interested in helping out with the people in Honduras then let me know and I can take donations of any kind and make sure they get them.  If you have any questions please feel free to let me know and I will try my best to answer them.

I was listening on the radio and heard about a man who was eating a Chipotle burrito everyday for every meal for one week.  I was thinking of doing something similar to that but couldn’t come up with any ideas other than pizza or tacos.  Would anyone sponsor me or be interested in that idea?  Let me know.  Thanks again and God Bless!

Manuel Perez took this photo of la marimba while he was in Honduras with his church back in 2006.  Manuel and his church went to witness and see first hand the troubles that the people of Honduras experience everyday.  From crime to poverty, Honduras is just a small part of the issues this world has.  Manuel was at a revival on the second night in San Pedro Sulas and  a member from a nearby church brought in a xylophone made out of wood.  The member said he was walking through the jungle one day when he was a child and stepped on a piece of wood and noticed the amazing sound it made.  He fell in love with music ever since.  He made the xylophone out of wood and it makes an amazing sound.  They did a performance for the revival that evening. 

Manuel Perez took this photo while in Palm Springs, California during the week of his vacation.  He traveled to the top of Mt. San Jacinto with his wife using the Palm Springs Aerial Tram.  The tram is amazing because it takes you from the bottom of the valley  (Valley Station) which is 2,643ft to the top (Mountain Station) which is 8,516ft in about 10 minutes.  The ride is a little creepy especially when you come to a tower.  This is a photo from within the car looking up at one of the towers along the way. 

Manuel Perez was in Palm Springs celebrating his and his wife’s twelve year anniversary.  Upon arriving at the top of the mountain his wife and him went on a hike down the hill to see some of the snow play activities.  It is amazing how the Tram takes you from the desert weather which is about 60-85 degrees to the top which has weather that is about 20-60 degree difference.  Below is a photo of the snow play area.

I was going through some old photos and found this one of me while I was in Kuwait back in 1998.  We were there for an exercise and we were in some really hot weather.  I must say that after being inside the belly of an M1A1 that I have more respect for tankers!  God Bless them!  This photo of me is me manning the Tank Commander and the 50 Caliber.  While in Kuwait we experienced temperatures at about 120 degrees and the driver passed out.  They needed someone to man the driver’s seat so they put me in it.  I stripped down to my skivvies because it was so hot in there.  All I remember was a pool of sweat after we got done.  I think I lost some weight while I was over there.  I should go back so I can lose some more.  

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving of this year I was on my way to work and a semi (Yes a big rig) jumped out in front of me.  The CHP officer said I was lucky to walk away from that.  I was using my in-laws vehicle to go to work because mine was getting repaired and it was the first day of the valley fog.  The truck was carrying some hay and it jumped out in front of me.  I didn’t have enough time to stop but man did I try.  There was a bridge that I was on so I couldn’t try to swerve out of the way to avoid it either.  I literally stood up in the Geo trying to stop the car.  I ran right into the last tire on the trailer rig.  The tire of the trailer hit the front of the car and the rail along the trailer hit the windshield.  If I would have gone any farther I would have been decapitated by the trailer rail.  Just thought I would let you all know!  I am okay though.  The car didn’t have any airbags or antilock brakes.  This is a photo of the car on a trailer so we could take it back to my in-laws house.

I am grateful for being alive this year in 2009.  Thank you all for viewing.  Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Strange thing happened at work today!  The Dos Palos High School caught on fire.  Not sure what is the cause yet but it is still being put out right now as I type.  I was in the office and my boss ran out the back door and we noticed the students were all out there evacuating.  We noticed the big smoke cloud and saw that the smoke was actually blowing across the field where the students were.  Finally the students moved over to the other side of the school to avoid the smoke.  The firefighters showed up and began putting out the fire.  I am not sure if anyone got hurt yet but I will keep you posted.

Hello All!

It has been a while since my last update but I have been very busy with a lot on my plate.  I kind of wish my mom had made two of me so that I can get twice the amount of work done. 

Anyways, I have been busy with the Police Activities League Photos and the FAST 2009 Swim Team Pictures.  I just finished ordering the photos yesterday after doing all of the editing.  I am glad it is done.  I still have to prepare the envelopes and packages for the photos but that is easier than the photo editing. 

I have one major project coming up and it is not until next month.  A friend of mine has a brother that will be celebrating their 25th birthday.  I will be videotaping the event.  There is supposed to be food, mariachis and a DJ.  We will see how the event turns out.

I have also been working on a website for a good friend of mine.  They wanted something to be able to post their work on to.  I have a skeleton site up and running after they purchased the domain and hosting plan.  The site is http://maryallenscountrycolors.com.  I invite you all to check it out and let me know what you think. 

I have also been working on some evaluating projects.  I mentioned before about how much I love Adobe Lightroom and I must say it is great but I was also curious as to see if there was a program out there that a photographer can use to take the photograph from the camera and actually keep track of what type of package the person in the photograph is ordering.  Something like a portrait program that a school photographer would use.  I am trying to find an easier way to keep track of the kid in the photograph and what they ordered and when it comes time to order just run a report that tells me what and how many to order.  If anyone has something similar to what I am looking for I would surely appreciate the name and where I can get my hands on it. 

Thanks and stay tuned for future updates.