Museum of Science and Industry

Spent some time with my students at the Museum of Science and Industry today.  We practiced how to use exposure compensation during Aperture Priority mode to get the right exposures.  It made a huge difference in our shots!

Images taken with a Nikon D500 camera and a Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 lens.  Raw images processed in Adobe Lightroom.

The blue image is a maze made up of mirrors.  Going through it was a bit of a challenge.  Due to my bad knees, I rode a mobility scooter so I sent the students up ahead of me.  Had I tried to go first, I would have likely plowed into the mirrors!  It reminded me of "Enter The Dragon" with Bruce Lee where he had to figure out where the bad guy Mr. Han was actually at since he could see him in all the mirrors!

HDR at the Field Museum

Lighting can be difficult at museums.  These images were shot at the Field Museum in Chicago.

The bottom image is the 0 EV shot.  The top image is an HDR image made up of a combination of 5 exposures at -2 EV, -1 EV, 0 EV, +1 EV, +2 EV.  Can you tell a difference?

Image taken with a Nikon D500 camera and Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 lens.  Image processed in Adobe Lightroom.

More Field Museum images below.

The People Vs OJ Simpson

I finished watching "The People Vs OJ Simpson" on Netflix. After teaching the crime scene processing class, it sparked my interest to see how TV would portray OJ's case. I liked the show.

My only connection to this case was that the LA District Attorney's Office had called upon one of the San Diego DA's Office's deputy DA's to help make the jury understand what DNA evidence was all about. That was Woody Clark. I recall being asked by Woody to videotape a DNA evidence seminar that he put together for other attorneys and investigators during the time I was with the San Diego DA's Office. Woody was one of the best DNA attorneys at the time. Seems LA needed him to help with the DNA evidence for the prosecution's side.

I recall seeing him on TV and thinking, "Hey! It's Woody!"

I also remember being at a Best Buy at the time the OJ verdict was being read. People hovered over the TV Department to watch. I think we were all stunned when the verdict was read, "Not Guilty"! A huge silence from the crowd... and then a lot of shaking of heads in disbelief.

Watch the show on Netflix if you get a chance. It's pretty good.

Crime Scene Photography Class

Another successful crime scene processing class at Balanced Exposure!

Students learned to identify, preserve and collect physical evidence at a mock homicide.  They got to photograph the scene, process the evidence for latent prints and preserve the evidence.  It was a great night!

Alternative Girl Scout Cookies?

We all love Girl Scout Cookies, right? I went to Aldi and found these cookies which are near identical to the taste of Girl Scout cookies! Cost was $1.39 for the Fudge Mint Cookies (just like Thin Mints! - 42 cookies), $1.39 for the Peanut Butter Cookies (18 cookies) and $1.79 for the Caramel Coconut Fudge Cookies (18 cookies).

Benton's (the manufacturer) gives you a LOT more cookies too compared to the Girl Scouts who tend to fill in the packaging with plastic spacing. While this does help keep cookies from breaking, it takes up a lot of space too so you get less cookies.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing having alternative cookies to Girl Scout cookies? What do you think? You get a lot more and it costs a lot less... but is this hurting the girls? Sound off!