On the way to work this morning I stopped at The Oaks to check out the line for iPhones at the Apple Store. About 50 were in line. The first ones in line were four high school seniors from Westlake High School who got in line at 5pm on Thursday. They planned to keep some of the phones and sell others. Each person was allowed to purchase two phones.

While checking out the line, I saw about ten people working on laptops, but only two were using macs. This was a good indication of the appeal of the iPhone to none Mac users.



About 50 people were in line at at The Oaks in Thousand Oaks at 10:30 this morning to purchase iPhones at the Apple Store. First in line was four students from Westlake High School who arrived at 5pm on Thursday. From left are: Stefan, 17, Jeremy, 17, Thomas, 17, Harry, 12 (Jeremy's brother), and James, 17 (standing). They had to camp outside of The Oaks Thursday night. Stefan, was definitely going to keep one iPhone calling it a "Completely Revolutionary Device."

Between soccer games last weekend I was able to get a few photos of the San Luis Obispo area. Enjoy.



Chapel in Pismo Beach, June 2007. Flash Gallery

The boys NPSC U16 Alliance won the Condors Fun in the Sun tournament in San Luis Obispo over the weekend of June 23 and 24th. The scores were 1-0, 1-1, 8-0 and 7-0. The tie was with Bakersfield Gunners, a Silver Elite team. The Gunners and Alliance both ended the tournament with 31 points, but the Alliance won on the tiebreaker rule of fewest goals allowed - one versus two. The matches were at Nipomo High School.



Action in first game Sunday morning against Fusion.

In addition to posting images at dotphoto.com. I have posted a slideshow with audio from the matches. I am trying out a program called SoundSlides, used by many newspaper photographers to post images and audio on web sites.

SoundSlide Link Dotphoto link.

iPhone:

Looks like a great product and will do very well in sales. The hype is off the charts and is reflected in rising stock price. Buy.

Disclosure: I own some Apple stock.

But I am a low-end tech guy. I just want a cell phone for one purpose - make phone calls. About three months ago, I was excited to get my Nokia phone to sync with my computer contact list. Forget the text, web, built in camera etc. I do not use. Period.

Forget entertainment centers, too many remotes. My watch resets itself every time change - a present from the kids tired of doing it for dad.

Still I have my passions, photography, Photoshop, Lightroom, this web site, and tinkering with old Mac computers.

Enough of this tangent. My iPhone conclusion: it will be a big hit, but not for me - way too many features I'm not interest in.

Stanley Cup: (Warning label - bad joke)

Following the return of the Stanley Cup, National Hockey League officials were very upset with the Anaheim team. Seems the cup was full of quacks fixed with Duck tape.

Last Thursday I was able to drop in for a few minutes to see Perry Riddle's show. See earlier post for information. Many friends of RIddle showed up for the opening - bottom image.

Jonathan was one of 425 graduates Friday at Newbury Park High School. YEA!

The Newbury Park Scocer Club Alliance boys U16 team played in the Camarillo Wings tournament over the weekend of June 9-10th, 2007. The Alliance went 1-2-1 in the tournament with scores of 2-3. 0-1, 0-0 and 2-1. They ended up in 5th place. The competition was so close that only two additional goals over the 4 games could have meant first place.



Derk fighting for ball in first game of Camarillo Wings tournament. More images.

One recent email got my attention: “Award-winning Photojournalist Perry C. Riddle presents an all-new portfolio with more than 60 images revealing life, commerce and touches of whimsy in the revitalized heart of downtown Los Angeles.”

June 14th-July 5th, 2007

Continental Gallery

408 South Spring Street

Los Angeles, CA 90013
Opening Reception with the artist on Thursday, June 14th 6pm-10pm



Perry Riddle the night before his show. Concord 5340z camera 1/2 sec ISO 70.

On Wednesday evening I stopped by the gallery see how preparation was going. Only ten images were hung. His wife and several friends were helping, but Riddle planned to be up all night. Plus he still had a few prints at the lab to pick up Thursday.

Riddle is well known in the photojournalism community. He was the NPPA/Missouri POY Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 1969 while working at the Chicago Daily News.

I worked with Perry Riddle at the Los Angeles Times from 1990 through his retirement in early 1996. During the last few years, Riddle mainly worked as a night photo editor.

After deadline on Riddle’s last night, the entire newsroom came over to the photo desk and gave him a standing ovation. Since then Perry has kept a low profile around downtown Los Angeles. Now I know what he's been up to - back on the streets doing what he loves best - shooting great images.

The gallery is not staffed, so hours have to be arranged by artist. Perry says he will post hours after the opening, most likely on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Perry Riddle’s web site: www.perryriddlephoto.com.

This item was on craigslist Saturday: "Camarillo Camera Is closing it's doors and everything must go. Camera bodies, lenses, digital supplies, darkroom equipment, printers, paper. Leica bodies, F 100 etc..... Make an offer!! All day and night Saturday June 2, and Sunday June 3, 1780 Ventura Blvd Camarillo..."



I love great deals, so of course I dropped by on Sunday and scored a photo vest for 50% off. (Don’t tell my wife!)

But more importantly, Ventura County is losing one of its photography icons and I just wanted to say good-by.

Camarillo Camera has been a local Ventura County business since 1970. Original owner Gordon Cory not only had a full service camera store, but helped local high school football teams with quick turn-around of game films.

While I will have to admit I have been an infrequent shopper over the years, I still am saddened at the loss of any locally owned photography business.

Gary and Caroline Salstrom purchased Camarillo Camera in September 2001. Film sales were still a big part of the photography business then, some $3,000 a month.

As customers switched to digital, film sales faltered and the Salstroms tried to branch out into specialized services including film and video transfer, photo restoration and high quality photo printing. There is money in these areas, but not enough to keep Camarillo Camera open in its current location.

During the last two years, the Salstroms looked at other options, from downsizing the store space, to new partners, to outright selling, but nothing worked. So the decision was made the last couple of days to pull the plug.

“Basically imploded yesterday.” says Caroline Salstrom.

Business associate Stephanie Coyner and the Salstroms are still thinking about reopening Camarillo Camera in a new smaller location and building a business around the specialized services.

All day Saturday and Sunday, a constant stream of old friends and customers dropped in. Many helped by packing up items the Salstroms needed to keep. Phone calls were both sorry goodbyes, and customers inquiring about what items were left.

By early afternoon Sunday, the shelves were nearly empty. One customer inquired about a lone Canon film camera. Since everyone was busy, I was able to help by answering a couple questions regarding Canon lenses.

The customer purchased the camera for $50. Gary Salstrom jokingly asked if he owed me a commission to which I thought “MILLIONS.” But I declined, asked for one last handshake and said good-by to Camarillo Camera.



Owner Caroline Salstrom, left, with family pet Toby during going-out-of business sale. Caroline, right image, encourages a customer and long-time friend to keep counting money to purchase the chair he is sitting in.



Owner Gary Salstrom carries out darkroom supplies for a customer.



Darkroom light, timer, lens cases and other items sit on table outside of Camarillo Camera during closing sale.

Bad Pun: paraphrased from Paul Harvey....A burgler was exiting a warehouse through a vent when his foot accidently turned on the vent fan.

"This story was no longer another dumb criminal story, but a slice of life."

Legalize crime front: on Friday, Federal Courts shut down the State of California Unclaimed Property program. Turns out, the acquiring of "abandoned assets" was not being done to find the rightful owner, but as a major source of revenue for California.

From San Francisco Chronicle story: "Controller John Chiang argued the state would lose $600 million a year if the court barred the collection of unclaimed property.... "

Check the web site http://www.controller.ca.gov/ to see if you have any "abandoned assets."

Back to photos:



Los Angeles skyline on Friday June 1st. The mural at left is on the former Victor's Clothing/Hosfield Building on Broadway. ISO 400, 8/10th a second at f/5.6 with Canon Digital Rebel.