When to Go to French Polynesia

 

French Polynesia
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A long-time resident of Santa Barbara, CA, James (Jim) Knell is the chairman of the SIMA Corporation, which operates three companies. During his time off, Jim Knell enjoys traveling to French Polynesia and Mexico.

French Polynesia is a popular destination for lovers of warm weather and beaches. However, some times of the year are better than others. In July and August, for instance, the weather is dry and comfortable, but tourism is peaking and hotels tend to be quickly booked at higher costs. The outer islands are especially busy as this is vacation month for the natives who go further out into the ocean.

To avoid the crowds and find better deals without sacrificing nice weather, plan your vacation for May or June, or September or October, which are still within the dry season. During the rest of the year (the wet season), the weather can be unpredictable, alternating between heavy rain and intense heat.

Additionally, as the islands are spread out, different parts of French Polynesia offer different weather patterns so it is important to conduct research beforehand.

When to Visit Mexico

 

When to Visit Mexico
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James P. Knell, the chairman of the Santa Barbara, California-based SIMA Corporation and SIMA umbrella of companies, possesses extensive real estate investment experience. When he’s not busy overseeing the management of the various SIMA businesses, James P. Knell enjoys traveling outside of Santa Barbara, CA, to such locations as Mexico.

Mexico’s high season for tourism generally runs from around mid-December through Easter week. During these months, crowds are at their highest, especially at popular beach destinations. Beach locations raise the average prices of their hotels, and flights normally increase during high season as well. Meanwhile, inland destination prices remain consistent throughout the year, so an increase of crowds is the main difference visitors will see.

The low season for tourism lasts from around Easter to mid-December. Crowds are smaller in most places during these months and prices drop by up to 50 percent at popular destinations. However, visitors should still be conscious of visiting during holidays. Major celebrations and events draw crowds and often increase prices. Further, some areas of Mexico may be more popular than others during the different seasons.

In terms of weather, Mexico experiences a rainy and a dry season. The rainy season runs from May to mid-October, but does not affect the northern regions of the country very much. Southern regions experience increased tropical showers that last a few hours during these months. Meanwhile, the dry season lasts from mid-October to April. Mexico also has a hurricane season along its southern Pacific coast and Yucatan Peninsula. This seasons runs from June through October.

Different Genres of Photography

Genres of Photography
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Back in the 1970’s, former teacher Jim Knell invested in several residential properties in Santa Barbara, California. Thirty years later he is chairman of SIMA Corporation, his own real estate company. Aside from managing the operation of commercial projects in Santa Barbara, Jim Knell also enjoys photography as a hobby.

Photographers are inspired by anything that can be of interest visually, which is why there are so many different genres of photography. One of the most popular genres is candid photography, which captures raw moments of people or other living things as they unfold. To avoid making a subject uncomfortable and to allow them to act naturally, photographers usually use a long-focus lens when taking candid shots. Fashion photography is the opposite of candid photography. In this genre, photographers work with other professionals such as models and stylists to create specific looks or images which are, in spite of appearances, completely unnatural.

Food photographers are usually commissioned by food producers or restaurants to help them sell their products. In food photography, natural light is favored over artificial to avoid capturing unwanted elements and to bring the food to life. In yet another genre, landscape photography portrays scenes from the environment. Since photographers must deal with the uncontrollable elements found in nature, they must be prepared to adjust to constantly changing light and atmospheric conditions to get the best possible shot.

Junior Giants Baseball

Junior Giants Baseball
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Jim Knell is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and chairman of Santa Barbara-based SIMA Corporation, a real estate management firm. Outside of his professional work, Jim Knell is a San Francisco Giants fan.

The Giants, a Major League Baseball team that competes in the National League West Division, was founded in 1883 and has been based in San Francisco since 1958. So far, the team has earned eight World Series titles. The Giants organization supports young ball players through its Junior Giants program.

The Junior Giants is a noncompetitive youth baseball program that was implemented in 1994 and has grown to serve 25,000 players in 90 leagues. The program is free and open to boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 18. In addition to baseball skills, the Junior Giants program helps players learn life skills such as leadership, integrity, confidence, and bullying prevention.

The Role of an Underwriter in Real Estate

Underwriter
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Jim Knell is a California-based real estate professional with nearly 40 years of combined industry experience. After entering the industry as an independent investor, Jim Knell went on to form SIMA Corporation, a property management and development firm. As chairman, Mr. Knell draws on a broad range of industry skills, from cash flow analysis to underwriting due diligence.

In real estate transactions that involve financing, the role of an underwriter is to evaluate the risk level of the borrower and determine how much financing the lender can safely approve. Generally defined, underwriting is the process of analyzing a loan application.

Real estate underwriters conduct research into the entity applying for financing as well as the property itself. This process involves the analysis of several key areas, including credit worthiness. An underwriter will research credit history and compare that to the loan amount itself. Additionally, underwriters ensure that the property appraises for at least the loan value and evaluate the perceived risk of a borrower by analyzing existing income, debts, and other assets.

A Mixed Forecast for California’s Commercial Real Estate Markets

SIMA Management Corporation
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Jim Knell is a Santa Barbara, California, real estate executive who serves as chairman of the SIMA umbrella of companies (SIMA Corporation, SIMA Management Corporation, Swell Athletic Clubs) and undertakes property investment and management activities nationwide. Jim Knell stays closely updated on California real estate trends, with an emphasis on finding opportunities in both up and down markets.

The closely watched Allen Matkins/UCLA Anderson Forecast California Commercial Real Estate Survey of July 2016 predicts a “topping out” in California’s retail and office real estate sectors. Since a market peak was reached in mid-2014, commercial real estate has seen a slowdown that has resulted in the current diminished prospects, both in vacancy rates and real rental rate growth.

At the same time, there are positive signs in other areas, with nearly 2 percent growth forecast for California’s multifamily housing market through 2017. Activity is expected to center along California’s half-dozen regional markets along the coast.

Industrial sector real estate seems likely to experience even more dramatic growth, as demand for warehousing and manufacturing space reaches new highs. This reflects continued robust export trade between the United States and partners across Asia and Mexico.

The Origin of Tex-Mex Cuisine

Tex-Mex Cuisine
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An experienced business executive, Jim Knell received his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, Sociology, and English from the University of California Santa Barbara. An avid traveler, Jim Knell has traveled to Mexico and enjoys dining on Mexican fare.

Mexican cuisine is known worldwide for its distinctive taste, and Americans love it. In fact, there are over 38,000 Mexican-inspired restaurants across the US as of 2011. However, no matter how popular Mexican food is in the US, there’s little chance that what Americans are eating is authentic Mexican but instead, a fusion cuisine known as Tex-Mex.

How did this cuisine come to be? The history goes all the way back to America’s early years when Anglo-American settlers traveling west arrived at what is now known as Texas and stumbled upon Mexican cuisine. As more people settled in Texas, the demand for Mexican food grew and soon enough, people started experimenting with dishes, adding ingredients readily available in the Texan landscape such as beef and wheat flour. Mexican restaurant owners caught up with the trend and also started adding beef to enchiladas, thus giving birth to Tex-Mex.

Despite the long history, the term Tex-Mex only started appearing in print in the 1940s. By the 1970s, it was a household name largely thanks to food writers such as Diana Kennedy

Surfing in French Polynesia

Surfing in French Polynesia
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Accomplished real estate professional Jim Knell has served as chairman of SIMA Corporation in Santa Barbara for more than three decades. In his free time, Jim Knell enjoys attending plays, traveling, and surfing. He lists French Polynesia among his favorite travel destinations.

Situated in the Pacific Ocean between South America and Australia, French Polynesia consists of a group of five sunny archipelagos that offer great surfing conditions. Although French Polynesia features many excellent surfing locations, the most well-known are found in Tahiti, which is home to a live coral reef and powerful waves that combine to create giant tube breaks that rival those along Hawaii’s Pipeline.

With its big waves and dangerous coral, Tahiti can be hazardous for novice surfers, but the island offers several surfing spots for people with little or no surfing experience. The two best times for a surfing trip to Tahiti are from November to March and from April to October, but waves are there to catch any time of the year.

French Polynesia- A Picture of Paradise

French Polynesia, Tahiti
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Real estate professional Jim Knell of Santa Barbara, CA, is the chairman and owner of the SIMA umbrella of companies. The companies, originally founded in 1984, include SIMA Corporation, SIMA Management Corporation, and Swell Athletic Clubs. When he is not working, Jim Knell enjoys traveling to exotic locations, including French Polynesia.

French Polynesia, a group of 118 islands spread over an area the size of Europe, is located in the South Pacific. The islands, originally united as a French protectorate in 1889, are now an overseas territory of France. The islands are divided into five main groups: the Austral, Gambier, Marquesas, Society, and Tuamotu.

The lush, green islands are a picture of paradise with their white sand beaches and idyllic scenery. Many people visit French Polynesia to experience the islands’ beauty both in the ocean and on land.

Divers and snorkelers come from all over the world to experience diving in Tiputa Pass, one of the globe’s most famous diving sites. Tiputa Pass, located off of the Rangiroa atoll, is famous for its pristine coral reefs and its diverse sea life. Sharks and bottlenose dolphins are often spotted in the pass.

Visitors to French Polynesia also enjoy the many scenic waterfalls located throughout the islands. One of the most famous waterfalls is located in the Fautaua Valley on the island of Tahiti. Visitors often hire guides to take them on a hike to visit the 985 foot high waterfall.

The Art of Composition in Photography

Art of Composition
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Jim Knell, the chairman of the SIMA umbrella of companies in Santa Barbara, California, has been in the real estate business for over 30 years. In his spare time, Jim Knell enjoys pursuing the art of photography.

An essential element of good photography is composition. Composition refers to the placement of relative objects or elements within a photograph. Every photographer can utilize some basic guidelines when learning how to compose excellent photographs.

First, a photographer can organize his pictures utilizing the rule of thirds. By placing an imaginary tic tac toe grid over a photo, the framework for the rule of thirds is created. When composing a shot, a good rule of thumb is that the photographer should place the focal points of the photo at the intersections of the grid. Likewise, when composing a shot with a horizontal line, photographers should keep in mind that it should not appear in the center of the frame. Instead, it should be well above or below the horizontal center line of the photo.

Secondly, a photographer should be mindful of the lens’ aperture before taking a shot. By opening or closing the aperture, the background of a photo can be kept in focus or made softer or even blurred. When the desired object of focus is sharp, the viewer’s eye is then drawn to that point, and other less sharp elements in the photo become less important in the composition.

Finally, by utilizing leading lines, a photographer can draw a viewer into his photo. Lines created by stairways, roads, rooflines, and other elements, when placed in an intentional manner, can create a sense of movement and direct the viewers exploration of the composition to different points in the image.

As a photographer studies various techniques for improving photographic compositions, he will find that composing excellent pictures will eventually become second nature. Through experimentation and practice, the improved analysis of the subject matter will lead to outstanding pictures.