2015 Chicago Field Museum with Balanced Exposure Students

 Went to the Chicago Field Museum on Friday, February 20, 2015 with several Balanced Exposure Students.  While it was not an "official" field trip, we all went just to take some photos and to enjoy the day.  The Field Museum offered the entire month of February with free admission for Illinois residents, so we all took advantage of that.

All of my images were taken with a Nikon D4s camera and a Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens.  This camera and lens combination is my most used set up!  The images speak for themselves.

 

 

2015 Chicago Auto Show

I attended the 2015 Chicago Auto Show with one of my students from Balanced Exposure and also with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

We went on a Thursday morning which meant the show floor had a lot less people than on a weekend morning.  This made it a lot easier for me to get around on my scooter and for us to cover the show without too many people getting in our way as we took photos.

Like many other years, I concentrated on taking photos of concept cars and prototypes, but I also look for models to photograph as well.  Many of them realize I'm taking a photo and usually will pose for me as the model above did.

My goal at this show was to go with students, but only one student went with me.  Being a mid-week morning and afternoon made it difficult for those who work to go with me, but I wanted less of a crowd to contend with.  I mounted an orange bicycle flag on a fiberglass pole to my scooter so that it would be easier to spot me should we separate.  It really came in handy a couple of times!  Believe me, if you take one wrong turn, you can easily lose the other person!  But looking for the tall flag, it was a lot easier to reconnect.

The images above were taken with a Nikon D4s camera and Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens.

Out of Chicago Event - June 26-28, 2015

Right click to download this image to read the details of the Out of Chicago event.  Receive a $50 discount by using the code: balancedexposure

Apple 13" MacBook Pro with Retina Display

After years of working only with a PC, I decided it was time to purchase an Apple Mac computer.

I bought an 13" Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display at the Apple store in Woodfield Mall.

So why did I finally decide to get a Mac after all these years?  Well, students have been coming in with their computers for the past several years and I just could not help them figure out their MAC issues while they were in my Photoshop or Lightroom classes.  While the goal of these classes is not for me to teach the students how to use a computer, sometimes students just do not know enough about their operating systems to do basic functions like copying files and moving them to their desktops.  I often needed to rely on the other Mac users in the class to help them out.  I can teach them Photoshop and Lightroom, but I can't teach them how to use a Mac.

Getting this new computer should help me learn a little more about how things are done on an Apple computer.  Sure, it cost around $2000 with tax to buy this, but on the long run, it's an investment in helping my students.  Yes, I spend a lot of money on their behalf!

I'll post more about my learning experiences with the Mac in the coming weeks.  But so far, I find it more difficult to use than a PC simply because I am used to how things work on a PC.  File manipulation seems laborious to me so far.  It's not as easy as everyone makes it out to be if you are coming from the PC world.  That should improve as I get more up to speed on it.

Stay tuned!

(Image taken with a Nikon D4s, Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 and Alien Bees B400 studio lights with umbrellas.)