Thursday, November 26, 2009

Nik Software

Wednesday, November 11th I started working for Nik Software. They create software that help adjust the color and lighting of digital photographs. Besides creating plug-ins that work with PhotoShop, Lightroom, and Aperture, they also wrote Capture NX2 for Nikon. It's a small company with about 25 people here in San Diego and about the same number in Germany. My duties are similar to what I was doing for the architecture firm; directing phone calls and visitors and assisting the HR Director.

It's a fun, creative group to work with. Besides the professional photographers that work with the company and promote the software, many of the staff are accomplished photographers. They have employee photography contests several times a year. Although I found it ironic that at the Casino Night this past Friday, in a roomful of high-powered photographers, everyone pulled out their iPhones, camera phones, and little point-and-shoot cameras to take snapshots
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One of the perks of having a relationship with Nikon is having a whole bunch of Nikon cameras and lenses that we can check out and use. So yesterday I checked out a Nikon D200 which is a really nice camera with more on it than I'm used to, but one of the guys helped show me how it works and gave me a few pointers. I also borrowed a nice flash unit and spent much of the afternoon trying it out. For the shot above, Raymond, our warehouse guy who ships out our stuff, kindly posed in the lobby.

The picture, below, of Mission Valley was taken from a spot just up the road from our office. You'll notice the trees are a very pretty yellow proving that we do indeed have fall color here in San Diego. And if you think that's pretty weak for fall color, just keep in mind that it's late November, 75 degrees, with lots of warm sunshine and perfect for driving with the top down in a t-shirt.





Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Last Day at Life Technologies







l to r: David, Lee, Robin, Madhavi, Megan, Kimberly, Kim

With joy and sadness and gratitude I bid farewell to an amazing group of co-workers today. I started there in mid-April. And even though it's only been 7 months it seems, in a good way, much longer. While I've learned a lot about Excel and Access and data management, I've learned much more how bright, talented people get the job done with determination and a sense of humor. Even though I'm not a data guy, they were patient when I needed it and willing to listen to my suggestions when I had something to offer.

Thank you all very much. You've made leaving quite difficult, which is a good thing.