Rustic

Photographed on 8-19-12 during the Photography Field Trip with my Balanced Exposure students.  Nikon D4 / Nikon 60mm f2.8 micro lens.

Moolah Theater and Lounge - St Louis Missouri

This past week, I went to St. Louis, MO with my wife and daughter.  One of the things we did was go to watch The Dark Knight Rises - Batman movie.

After attempting to go in the Chicago area but being unsuccessful in getting tickets to a matinee showing, we decided to see it in St. Louis.  My daughter recommended we go to the Moolah Theater and Lounge which is in the St Louis University campus.  $7.00 per person for a matinee.  Not bad.

But the real surprise was the theater itself.  The seats were all couches!  Loveseats, mostly.  Cozy!  I'd never been in a theater with couches for seating!  Of course the balcony had regular theater seating, but this was definitely different. And, there was a guy who actually played the organ while we waited for the movie to start!  I'd never seen that before!  He was actually really good too!  It reminded me of the old theaters you'd read about in the past where someone played an organ during silent pictures.  Cool!

And after the movie was over, ushers stood near the exits with a basketful of hard candy for you to take on your way out!

Totally unexpected and gratifying experience!  My wife didn't like the loveseat seating though as she felt it gave her a neck-ache having to lean upwards to watch the movie.  Oh well, can't win them all.  But I was happy with it.  Check out the theater if you are ever in the St. Louis area!

August 5, 2012 - Field Trip Students

One of the new techniques that the students learned was how to properly do "Fill Flash" while shooting outdoors.  Just a couple more Field Trips left for 2012!

July 8, 2012 - Photography Field Trip Students

Another fine Photography Field Trip group from last Sunday!  Luckily our 100+ degree days had dropped to the mid-80's!

Fishing With Students from Balanced Exposure

Yesterday, 5 of my students and I went fishing out on the Lucky Dog.  We caught 16 fish and lost 4.  Overall, a great day!  Weather was in the high 70's... we couldn't have asked for better weather!

The bite was fast in the beginning, but then slowed towards the end of our 6 hour trip.  Still, we all got some nice fish.  My largest was a 9 lb King Salmon, but we also got one at 10 lbs and one at 14 lbs!  Besides Kings, we also caught Coho Salmon and Lake Trout.

I hope to get another charter booked perhaps in August if I can find 5 more students willing to go.

Check out Captain Jim at Lucky Dog Charters for a great fishing trip!

More HDR

Plenty of water at the Des Plaines River Dam #1, but not much by this bridge.  Both processed in HDR.

Hitchin' A Ride - The Grove - Glenview, IL

Why walk when someone else will do it for you...

Photography Field Trip At The Grove - May 20, 2012

Once again, my Balanced Exposure students and I headed out to The Grove in Glenview, IL.  While they were busy photographing the various things there, I was busy photographing them!

Sometimes, the things people do become more interesting than the various attractions at a venue!

All images shot with the Nikon D4 camera / Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens.  Custom White balanced with the PhotoVision - 14" Pocket Digital Calibration Target.

Nikon D4 HDR Images from The Grove - Glenview, IL

I took my new Nikon D4 for a test spin at The Grove in Glenview, IL yesterday and shot these images for HDR.  Using Photomatix Pro, I was able to get the images dialed in so that they still looked like "photographs" rather than over-processed art.

Each image was shot with the Nikon D4 camera and the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens.

Photography Field Trip at "The Grove" - Glenview, IL

A group of my Balanced Exposure students met today at The Grove in Glenview, IL to do a little shooting in the field.  I was very proud that all of the students seemed to know what they were doing with their cameras after having taken one of my introduction to photography courses!

I gave them some challenging things just to test them and they were all able to do it!  It really makes it worthwhile when you can see your efforts as an instructor being put in action.

While it was a bit chilly outside, we had plenty of things to shoot indoors as well.  We talked about lighting, composition, angles and other photography related things as we took our shots.

This is the first group of my students who have signed up for the Field Trip class.  More to come... every other Sunday until the end of September!

This image was taken with the Canon T2i with its kit lens.  See... I actually do have and use a Canon camera at times!  I bought it to help teach the DSLR Advanced class, but it comes in handy when I don't want to lug around that large and heavy Nikon D3 / Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens!

Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center

I spent the afternoon at The Illinois Holocaust Museum with my wife and had a "private tour" with a great volunteer named Roz. She explained the history of what had happened during those terrible years during the Holocaust.

I believe everyone needs to go to this museum to learn what happened, but also so that through education, something like the Holocaust will never happen again. Go visit: http://www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/

Million Dollar Quartet - Apollo Theater - Chicago

I had a great time tonight at the show "Million Dollar Quartet" at the Apollo Theater in Chicago.

My wife, daughter and I sat in the front row, stage left.  We were literally within a couple of feet of the stage.  I think this may have been the closest I've been to the stage of a play.  The stage at the Apollo Theater isn't raised... it's floor level, so it almost felt like we were sitting on the stage!

The music was great!  Obviously, the songs were all "standards" that we all know from Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley.  The actors did a great job imitating the legendary singers and they played their own instruments too.

The Apollo Theater is a very intimate setting. It is right next to the EL tracks so entering the theater, we were greeted by the noisy trains.  But surprisingly, inside the theater, we didn't notice the train noise.

It was fun to watch the show and spend time with my family.  Highly recommended!

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Beta Announced Today

Adobe has announced today the arrival of their new Photoshop CS6 Beta. This usually means the final version of CS6 is just around the corner. Not sure how many months this will be, but I doubt it will be within a month. They usually get feedback back from Beta users first and fix any bugs before the final release comes out. But be aware... it's coming.

If you have not yet purchased your copy of Photoshop CS5, you might want to wait. But how long is anybody's guess. Here are some highlights of what is being changed: http://www.dpreview.com/articles/2601746315/photoshop-cs6-beta-new-features-for-photographers

Also, system requirements are tougher too. While it will still support XP for PC users, you need to be sure the video RAM on your video card has at least 512MB of RAM or better. Obviously, the faster your machine the better.

For Mac users, 32-Bit operating systems will not be supported. You'll need a 64-bit operating system to run this new version of Photoshop.

Fishing - Government Pier - Waukegan Harbor

 

 

After a year away from pier fishing off Government Pier at Waukegan Harbor in Waukegan, IL, I finally got a chance to head out this morning.

I arrived around 5:30 AM this morning and there wasn't a soul to be seen out there!  But later, others started showing up.  I fished for about 2 hours and decided to leave.  It was great just getting back outside after spending the whole winter indoors, even though I didn't catch anything.  Really, I was more interested in seeing how well my Lumix DMC-LX5 camera would do taking photos out there!

These images were taken in RAW on Manual shooting mode and then processed in Adobe Lightroom 4.0.  As expected the camera did well as long as no bright light source was aimed directly at the lens.  When the sun finally came out, I tried shooting directly towards the lighthouse, but the lens flare was just too great to get any good photos.  I find this to be the biggest drawback to this camera's lens.  Other than that, the camera does a great job for such a small and compact camera!

I always shoot this camera in RAW format because the images come out so much better.  I post process all my images in Lightroom anyway, so why not shoot it in RAW?

To see what I see when out there, check out the video... also taken with the Lumix DMC-LX5.

I look forward to getting back out again in the near future!

Lightroom 4 is Shipping!

Lightroom 4 is now shipping!

I received my copy yesterday and installed it.  It's easy to figure out if you are familiar with Lightroom 3 already.  A couple of new modules have been added: a Book module and a Map module.  This should make laying out Photobooks really easy.  The new map module works with Google Earth so that you can easily find where your photos were taken, provided you have implemented a GPS with your camera.

Overall, Lightroom 4 seems to add a more powerful processing engine.  Controls seem able to make wider swings when the sliders are moved.  This should allow for some heavy duty modifications to fix images.  But because the new processing engine is more capable, computer system requirements are now more stringent too.  For Windows users, XP is no longer supported.  You need either Windows Vista or Windows 7 on your computer.  And for MAC users, your OS must be 10.6.8 (64-bit) or higher.

The nicest part though is that Adobe has drastically reduced the price of this software!  It is now available for only $159.  The academic discount version is only $79!!  Because I want my students to learn how to fix their images, I've dropped my training on Lightroom to $125.  And for continuing education students, it's available for only $60 for a two hour session.  We'll concentrate only on the Library and Develop modules during that time... the two modules that will likely be the most used.  And, for a limited time, I have the training at an even lower price!  Contact me for that!

Peter Frampton Reunites with his Lost Gibson Les Paul Guitar After 32 Years!

After 32 years, guitarist Peter Frampton is reunited with his lost 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar!  Read the story here on his 2/12/12 post.



Frampton talks about his lost guitar.

 
How they found the guitar.

Shtuff People Say To Photographers

An Unfortunate Choice of Vehicle Number

On my way to the photography school, I found myself behind an Animal Welfare vehicle.

While I appreciate what our law enforcement officers do (since I also worked in law enforcement in the past), I just thought that the vehicle number for this truck was an unfortunate choice in at least two different ways.

Can you tell why?

Nikon Announces the new Nikon D800 and D800E Cameras!

 
Nikon has announced the new D800 and D800E cameras... 36.3 MP! The selling prices will be $2999.95 and $3299.95 respectively. This camera won't have the speed of a D4, but is much more suited to those who want the ultimate in high-res images. It clearly beats out the D3x (Nikon's former flagship 24.5 MP, $7999.95 camera) at a fraction of its price.

This camera is not for everyone. It's a large megapixel camera that will make files that are about 76.5MB in size and will only shoot at a maximum frame rate of 4 FPS. I can't see a typical wedding photographer really wanting this, but I'm sure some will go for it.

For me, it makes more sense today than the D4. Having a D3 and the D800 would be a great combination for me. Use the D3 when I need fast shooting in the field with relatively good image quality, but use the D800 when the ultimate image quality is desired without need for fast shooting speed. I see this as a great studio camera. The question is whether to get a D800 or a D800E!

The D800E removes the anti-aliasing filter (which usually is used to control moiré.) This means images might exhibit moiré  problems, but the removal of the filter also means a more detailed image quality too... something that will rival medium format digital cameras.

Time will tell which of these two cameras will eventually end up in my camera case, but I can already see myself buying one of these. I'll keep the D3 at this point and add to it with the D800 or D800E.

Release dates are March and April, but I'm in no real hurry to get one. I'm going to be watching and reading the reviews as others play with the camera first.

Images borrowed from the internet.

Fishing Charter and Photography Coming Soon!

I am planning on doing a couple of fishing trips combined with photography lessons soon for my students.

I was recently in contact with the captain of the Lucky Dog Charters to start setting up a trip or two for my students.  A maximum of six people can legally be onboard (besides the captain) for any given trip.  So I'll need five students besides myself to go on the six hour charter.

The cost will be $195 per student and will cover the cost of chartering the boat for a maximum of 6 hours (could be less if we catch our limit of fish) and covers the cost of tuition for the photography instruction.

Here's where I think this is really cool.  You'll have 6 hours to hang with me to discuss fishing and photography.  You'll come back with some great photos of our fishing trip out on Lake Michigan and hopefully a bunch of Salmon to take home as well!  Considering the cost of salmon today, this is actually a pretty sweet deal!  Plus, you'll get 6 hours to ask me questions on various photography topics!  Can't beat that!

If you are interested in joining in the fun, please contact me about it.  I hope to do the first trip in late April or early May 2012.  If all goes well, I will plan another for later in the summer too.  No fishing experience necessary.  Bring your own camera gear!  And don't forget to take either Dramamine or put a "patch" behind your ear for seasickness!  The boat rocks out there and without medication, you can easily get seasick.  All fishing tackle is included in the price.  A daily fishing license to fish out on Lake Michigan is also included.

Fish on!

Is HDR Appropriate For Documentary Photography?

The Washington Post ran a story and published an HDR image on its front page which prompted the president of the National Press Photographers Association to claim that "HDR is not appropriate for documentary photojournalism."

I disagree.

Used judiciously and correctly, HDR can be more close to what we really see than non-HDR photos.  But we have all seen images where HDR is processed way too much to the point where the image looks beyond what some may view as an acceptable photograph.  In this case, I'd agree with the NPPA president.

It's an interesting debate.  Click here to read a response from one of the HDR software companies' presidents regarding this.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! - Happy Chinese New Year - "Year of the Dragon"

Wishing everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year!

"Gung Hay Fat Choy!"

New Nikon D4 Just Announced!

Nikon has announced today the new Nikon D4 camera.  At nearly $6000, this is not a camera for the faint of heart!  Super fast burst speeds, high ISO, video... it's going to be pretty sweet!

Images borrowed from the internet.

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a safe and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!  Hope you all have a safe and joyous Holiday Season!

December's Flash Class

 

Totally forgot to work on an image from the last Flash class in early December!  Better late than never, I suppose.  Here's an image of our model Jessica with a red gel for the backdrop.

Happy Holidays!

Flash Class

 
Another Flash Photography class was held last night at Balanced Exposure.

This is one of the images from the class.  I lit this photo with only one light to the right of the model and this is the result.  Adding a reflector to the other side is an option to brighten up the darker side, but this image was done simply to see what a single light source would do.  A medium sized softbox was used to soften the studio light.

Online Coupon Deals

I guess Groupon was right.

As the first Groupon deal comes to a close on December 6 (that's when the first six months coupon runs out), I'm seeing a marked increase in people enrolling in a Photo 101 class.  Even so, I can't help but notice how many people still have not signed up for class!  Groupon mentioned that I should see a lot of people sign up for classes right in the beginning, then a lull will happen in the middle months and just before the end of the coupon's time, a bunch of activity will happen again.

Still, I have to wonder how many people will simply let their coupon expire and never take the class.  That's too bad because I really want everyone who has purchased a coupon to come in and take the class!

While the weekend classes are all filling up to the max, the weekday evening classes are still relatively sparse with students.  Plenty of space for people to take the class!  They just need to come in during the weekday evenings!

The Photography Boot Camp deal that ran on Amazonlocal.com also has a lot of people who have not yet redeemed their coupons.  They have until sometime in March 2012 to take a class, so perhaps these student are doing a similar thing and just waiting for the expiration date.

According to both companies, a certain number of people will never redeem their coupons.  I won't divulge their statistics, but it's a lot of people.  I just have to wonder why someone would spend money and not use their coupons?  I know I wouldn't want to do that!

Still, I'm grateful to those who have come to class and have told me that they have benefited from taking the class.  A decent number of my students have also signed up for post production classes from Balanced Exposure.  I'm so happy that these students have decided to further their photography education beyond just the first class.  Many more have also told me that they plan to take my DSLR ADVANCED class in 2012 too so that they can learn about the other features of their camera!  That's a nice gauge for me to see if I'm doing a good job teaching.  If someone is already telling me they are planning to come back, I must be doing something right!

Besides taking the class themselves, I've had a number of students recommend the class to their friends and relatives.  These people simply buy the deal directly through Balanced Exposure.  This has helped a lot to keep me in business!  Thank you all for these referrals!

I shared this information with Groupon and Amazonlocal and they have told me that I'm doing a lot better in getting return business than some of their other advertisers.  Many times, people use their coupons and never go back again.  But in the case of Balanced Exposure, the return rate is well above the average for coupon company deals.

Because of this, Balanced Exposure will continue to work with companies like Groupon, Amazonlocal and LivingSocial to offer deals to photographers looking to learn about their cameras.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support of Balanced Exposure!

New Classes for 2012

While I'm off of teaching this week until Saturday, I'm still working!

My goal is to get all of my accounting together in preparation for the end of the year and not do a last minute rush to get everything to the accountant.  In the past several years, I've been pretty good at this. So far, I'm on track to get this finished by today.

I'm also answering phone calls from students trying to schedule their classes.  This happens daily anyway.  Other calls involve signing students up for taking a class if they did not go through an online coupon company to buy their class.

I've also been dealing with planning for the 2012 classes.  The "Photography 101" class is going to be "more compact" in 2012 (and will be called "Photo Essentials" going forward) and will move to a 4 hour training session instead of 6 hours.  This will move the class to a slightly faster pace in order to keep the information the same.  I feel it will actually make the class more interesting... and it will keep the students on their toes.  Several students have said that this is a good idea as well.

The Photography "Boot Camp" class will remain the same at 3 hours.  The main difference between the two classes will be that the "Photo Essentials" class will also discuss composition and other topics that are not specifically just about how to use the mechanics of the camera.  Boot Camp will concentrate solely on the camera's operations.

I am also adding a class called "DSLR Advanced."  This new class is for those who have already taken "Photography 101," "Boot Camp" or the "Photo Essentials" class.  It will be the continuation of those classes.  We'll cover many more of the advanced features you will find inside the "menus" of the camera itself.  There are a lot of features inside your camera's menu and it was impossible to even discuss them in the first class and still get through the main focus of the Photo 101 and Boot Camp classes.  With DSLR Advanced, we'll be able to do this now.  It will be a 3 hour class.

However, DSLR Advanced will only be offered to those who have true DSLR cameras.  Those who own "hybrid" advanced Point and Shoot cameras will not be able to attend this class as it will be specific to the DSLR.

Can you get the new DSLR Advanced Class through Groupon, LivingSocial or Amazonlocal?  No... but it will be available directly through Balanced Exposure at a substantial discount for students who have already gone through one of the first classes.  Keep an eye out for a special email announcement in January for this class.  You'll have an opportunity to get tthe discount if you respond to the promo offered via email.

Also in 2012, Balanced Exposure will drop Point and Shoot photography classes.  With so many more DSLR students coming onboard in 2012, and also to service existing students, I decided Balanced Exposure will need to concentrate solely on DSLR cameras going forward.

Hybrid / Advanced Point and Shoot cameras will be allowed into the Photo Essential and Boot Camp camera classes, but they must be truly capable of functioning like a DSLR.  This means cameras that can fully be controlled manually and also can be shot in both Aperture and Shutter Speed Priority Modes.

The calendar for 2012 is currently up on the website, but may be tweaked a little as classes are added throughout the year.  Stay tuned!

Photoshop CS5 Magic

Here is a little Photoshop magic...

I took the original photo of our model Jessica (top photo) and replaced the top of her hair with the hair from the other shot of her where I had used hair lighting instead.  (See the two images from the 10-28-11 post on Professional Models.)  I re-sized that second photo so that her head size was exactly the same, then repositioned the hair to fit on top of her first photo.  Blending things together, you can't tell that the bottom image is a composite of two images.  So now the image of her shows the image with "new" hair lighting on it.

To see a "flip" comparison, click on any of the images above and then "flip" between the two images in the resulting screen.  You'll immediately see what was done with the hair this way.

I often do a similar thing to people's eyes in group photos.  For instance, when I take a group photo, I usually shoot several of the same shot, just in case someone's eyes are closed.  I just take the "open" eyes from one of the other images and place it on the closed eye image.  Blend it together just right and you end up with a perfect image with everyone's eyes open!

Want to learn how to do things like this?  Come take a Photoshop CS5 class at Balanced Exposure!  Want to learn how to take great flash studio photos?  Come take a Flash class too!   :)

Professional Models

Here are two photos from last night's Flash Photography class.  This is Jessica who is a model for Balanced Exposure.  You'll find her working hard modeling for some of the classes offered at the studio.

As a professional model, Jessica knows how to pose and helps our students out by posing naturally without having to be told to do it.  Still, she'll take direction from students too if they want her to pose a certain way or to help find the perfect shot.

The top image was taken without hair lighting and the bottom image with hair lighting.  Also a blue gel back light was added as well.

Doyle Dykes at Skokie Theatre - Oct 14, 2011

Better late than never!

As always, I went to see Doyle Dykes perform last Friday at the Skokie Theatre.  While it is always good to see Doyle, I was a little sad not to see his daughter Haley with him.  In all the years I've been going to see Doyle perform, this is the first time that Haley wasn't there.  She stayed home with her husband Jake.

I originally had sent a message to Haley saying that I might not be able to go to this concert, but Haley told me I wasn't allowed to miss any Doyle concert within 300 miles of Chicago.  So, rearranging my schedule, I went with my friend Jerry as always.

Seeing that Haley wasn't going to be there, Jerry decided we should help Doyle at the merchandise table so that Doyle could take more time signing autographs.  Our friends Steve King, Johnnie Putman (both from WGN radio) and Pastor Steve Lyons (Moody Publishers) all pitched in as well that evening.  Steve and Johnnie had chauffeur duties and Pastor Steve brought more of Doyle's book, "The Lights of Marfa" for us to sell.

It was fun selling the CD's, DVD's and book.  All we were able to do was take cash or check that evening and we didn't have any change!  Luckily, people helped out giving us change along the way and everyone was able to buy what they wanted without a problem.  Afterward, Doyle told us he actually had change for us, but we had already started selling and he was stuck on stage setting up.  No matter... it all turned out ok.

Doyle played well and introduced some new arrangements I've never heard him play before.  Among the songs was an incredible Beatles Medley played on his custom R. Taylor 12-string guitar.  It was amazing!  Steve King told Doyle afterwards that he just has to put this on one of his upcoming albums.  I agree.  It was really great and sounded so full on the 12-string.

Doyle also spent time playing a Fender Telecaster.  The amps he used for the show were borrowed from his friends at The Guitar Works in Evanston, IL.

Overall, the sold-out Skokie Theatre audience was treated to great music that evening.

Vindicated!

I'm back to 5 stars out of 5 stars!  The single negative review has gone to the "filtered" area of the "not to be named" review site!

This reviewer only had one review to his name and so it should have gone to the filtered area like all the others, but it remained on the main viewing area for many weeks.  But checking in today, I found it had finally been moved to the filtered area like all the other good reviews I had been given that had only a single review from the reviewers.  It sure took a lot longer for this to happen though...

Edit Note:  As of 11/08/11, the "bad review" has come back out of the filtered area!  The reviewer still has only one review to his name, so really, it should have stayed "filtered" like all the other good reviews that have been banished there.  This time, I have figured out how to place a comment in the review, so I did that to set the record straight.

The "not-to-be-named review site" actually called me several weeks ago to ask if I wanted to advertise on their site.  I told them "NO WAY!"  I wonder if this is why we now see the bad review resurfacing?  Makes you wonder, doesn't it....

And yet another review goes filtered...

I don't want to beat a dead horse... but yet another one of my good reviews has gone to the "filtered"area of the "not to be named" review site.

So now... I have 3 reviews left that can be easily seen... 2 good, 1 bad and 10 good reviews filtered in the "hidden" area.

Is it me, or is this review site totally off base here?

I'm now waiting for all of my good reviews to go to filtered... just so that the one bad review stays.  At that point, I guess I can say I'd be batting 1000 for bad reviews.  Wouldn't that be interesting?

Doesn't seem right, does it?

Sometimes You Just Can't Win

Another one of my "good" reviews just got "filtered" again.  It's now 9 reviews on that "not to be named" review site that has been filtered.  While the company claims to filter reviews that are questionable, each one of these "good" reviews were removed even though they all came from students who liked my classes... not from me.

It just doesn't seem right that a person with one review to his name can have his negative review remain while another person who might have four reviews to her name gets hers filtered.  Is a negative review to be trusted more than someone who gives a good review?  I checked the other reviews from these people who have given me a good review.  A couple of theirs are "negative" towards the the other businesses.  I wonder, did they filter these negative reviews on the other businesses?  Or is the filtered review only for the ones they wrote that are positive?

It's frustrating to see that of the 13 total reviews I've had on this site, only 3 good reviews are seen and 1 bad is seen.  9 other good reviews are hidden.

Just doesn't seem right to me...

You Can't Satisfy Everyone

Over the past few months of teaching, I've learned a lot about working with people.  The number one thing is, "You can't satisfy everyone."

After a great teaching session with lots of people participating and coming up to tell me how much they enjoyed the lesson, I usually go home pretty happy.  I'd tell my wife what a great group of people I had taught that day and figured that most of them went home pretty satisfied as well.

Apparently not everyone feels the same way though.  On a couple of occasions, I've had people comment on an online review site indicating they didn't like the class.  That's to be expected I suppose as you can't please everyone.  Usually it is done by people who might have a little more photography experience than the rest of the class and expect that I'll be teaching to their level... but the class they signed up for is a beginning intro to photography class and I have to teach to the vast majority of the students there.  While they have a right to say what they please, the hard thing to accept though is when things are taken out of context and written on a public forum which influences others to either sign up for classes or not without the ability to rebut the comments so that those reading will have the full story.

For instance, one student wrote how I took so much time to get started and spent a half hour showing a diagram of my office space.  While it is true that I often take time to get started and that I do show a diagram of the 14th floor space on the overhead projector (I do it at every class really), it's done so that those who come in late can have the opportunity to not miss the most important beginning instructions that will be needed to understand the class for the entire six hours.  And, the diagram of the office is shown so that people can find the washrooms on the office floor in relation to the office space I have rented.  I do mention how in a short time, I was able to go from a small space to the largest on the floor with thanks to those who purchased my online class deals, but I guess I won't be doing that any more as it could be misconstrued.  The motivation here is a bit different reason than what is insinuated on in the online review, don't you think?

As for the comment on showing a Groupon deal during class... that's true.  But it was done because we were discussing the Groupon deals that everyone had purchased and others mentioned the deal going on and so we checked it so others in class knew what was being talked about.  That happened before the class began.  Again, taken out of context.

Another comment said that I spent time trying to sell my used equipment.  Actually, I don't have any used equipment to sell.  And yet another comment said I was pushing a friend's filters.  Well, actually, I was showing a recommended flash diffuser by Gary Fong called the Puffer which is commercially available and works well for those with pop-up flashes.  Is Gary Fong my friend?  Well he knows me and I know him, we are both Asian, but that's about the extent of it.  We are both former wedding photographers.  He lives in Canada, and I'm here in the US.  Am I helping him sell his product?  I suppose you could say that since I'm telling people that there are some products that could help their photography.  It all depends on how you look at things.  Do I benefit from his sales... no, not at all.  Does he need my help?  No... he makes hundreds of thousands of dollars worldwide on his sales already.  I don't think the few items that might be sold because I recommended them will make a dent in his overall marketing of his products.

Another comment said I was trying to figure out what to say.  Absolutely.  I have 6 hours to teach and so I reference my outline constantly to make sure everyone gets every bit of information I want covered in that 6 hours.  Struggling to figure out what to say?  I don't think so.  Making sure people get their money's worth?  Absolutely.

The whole point here is, "You can't satisfy everyone."  And, you can't believe everything that you read on a public review site either.  Where you try to do your best with the best of intentions, there's always someone who thinks you aren't doing enough or not doing it right.  Public forums like online review sites are ok, but they don't give the merchant the ability to tell his side of the story.  It's very one-sided.  So when someone writes a negative review like this, it's just hurtful.  Whereas a reviewer might justify his reasons for writing a negative review as "trying to help others," I can't help but think it is most likely being written to try to ruin someone else's business.  That's not helpful... that's just being vindictive.

I remember the person who wrote that review.  He left the class early.  Right after he left, several people in the class said, "Good Riddance!  He was disruptive anyway!"   That says a lot, don't you think?

While I might not be able to comment on the review site to set the record straight, I suppose I have my blog to use to do a rebuttal....   :)

10/05/11 Edit Note: One of the other students who was in the same class that the reviewer was in came back this week to take the Workflow Seminar.  She mentioned that she hoped that the rude disruptive person who had been sitting next to her was not going to be in the class.  Sure enough, she was in the very class he had been in.  I mentioned to her about the bad review and she could not believe it.  Basically backing up everything that I wrote here on this blog post, she said his review was definitely WRONG and inaccurate.  It's nice to know that it's not just me thinking his review was incorrect.  She backed me up and said I'm right in this account... not the reviewer.  Thank you!  :)

Russians Listen To My Music

I have several songs that I recorded over the years uploaded to a separate website for people to listen to.  Check them out on the far right side of this blog to find a link.

Interestingly, after checking my site statistics, I find that most of the people checking out the songs I recorded are all from Russia!  The one song that they seem to check out most is called "I Could Fall In Love With You" which is a song originally done by Selena.  I recorded a cover of it as a guitar instrumental and apparently the people in Russia have found it and listen to it quite a bit now.

Perhaps there's another song with a similar name that is now popular in Russia and so when they do a Google search for the song, they end up at my site instead.  Who knows.  But it's rather interesting that people so far away are listening to my recording when the people closer here in the United States are not.

Check it out for yourself and see if you like it... www.russlowe.com/music

Salmon Are Not Native To The Great Lakes

A common thing I get from people who find out that I like to fish for Salmon out of Lake Michigan is, "I didn't know Salmon was in Lake Michigan!"

Well, it isn't.  It is stocked into Lake Michigan.  The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) stocks them in and we rip them right out!  :)

Our fishing license allows us to fish for the year and we also pay a "Salmon Stamp" fee as well which helps to fund the Salmon stocking program.  From what I'm told, areas like Kenosha, Wisconsin and Racine, Wisconsin stock more Salmon than Waukegan, IL.  For years I've been saying, "Next year, I'm going to get myself a Wisconsin license and go up there to fish!"  But each year, something comes up and I just have not had the opportunity of time to do it!

This year, all of the new students coming in to take photography lessons have kept me from doing it.  No real regrets as I really enjoy teaching.  But there are days I long to get out there to do a little fishing but just can't find the time to do it!

I have yet to catch a Salmon from the piers.  No problem doing it from a boat though.  Still, I like getting out there and enjoy seeing the sunrise and sunset from the water... even if I don't catch anything.  Maybe next year....

(image borrowed from the internet)

9/11

My flag is flying today.

How about yours?

9-11-01 - We Will Never Forget

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

Everyone was affected by this terrible event.  I recall specifically where I was and how I learned about the attacks.  To this day, it brings a tear to my eye when I think about it.  We will never forget....

God bless those who serve our country in the pursuit of freedom.

Stereotypes....

I got this from my niece's Facebook link.  Enjoy!

Lake Geneva - HDR

Here are some HDR images taken with 5 handheld exposures each.  Images were shot on 9-04-11 with a Nikon D3 and Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens.  Be sure to click on each image for a closer look.

Update on the Knee Brace

Well, I wore the knee brace for about 3 days and stopped wearing it.  I had developed an allergic reaction to the straps!

I'm not sure what the straps are made of, but it looks like some kind of neoprene material around the outer edges of the strap padding.  That's the areas that my skin was reacting to.  So, off came the brace and electrical stuff!

I waited all this time and just started to wear the brace again today after being shipped a Lycra "sleeve" which could be worn under the brace to shield my skin from the straps.  Hopefully this will help.  And, I don't need to wear the electrical components during the day either now.  I was sent a "Night Wrap" which allows the electrodes to be attached to and then I can wear that while I sleep.  While it might be a hassle wearing this on my leg all night long, at least I won't need to mess with the electrical device during the day.

I'll report back once I've had a chance to wear this new configuration for a while.  Right now, my knee actually feels just fine.  But several weeks ago, it was another story... totally in pain then with every step.  Today, you wouldn't know I had a knee problem.  I don't attribute that to the brace or anything though.  I think it just naturally got  better.  Time will tell if the brace and electrical stimulus will really do the job.

My New Knee Brace - Bionicare Knee System

After a long wait, I am now wearing my new Bionicare knee brace.

This brace is supposed to help me delay a total knee replacement for a couple of years.  But it's not really the brace that is to do this... it is the electrical stimulus device that is supposed to do it.  This device gives electrical impulses through two electrodes that is worn under the brace.  Up to 12 volts of DC current is run through wires attached to the electrodes.  Given enough "wear time" it is touted to help make knees with osteoarthritis cope with pain much better.  We will see....

The brace is very expensive (approximately $2200), and there's an added cost of replacing the electrodes every 7-10 days.  I think it would have been more upfront of the company selling the device to disclose the fact that there would be an added expense of buying new electrodes so often.  While the initial cost of the brace is hard enough to deal with, adding in about $100 every month isn't something I was prepared to do.  Of course now that I have it on, what choice do I have?  I need to keep this brace on for at least 8 hours per day and rack up about 1750 total hours of wear-time with the electrodes.  After that, I should be able to eliminate the use of the electrodes and electrical stimulus system which is the heart of this device.

If this brace does what it claims... delay a total knee replacement surgery for up to 3 to 4 years, then the cost would be worth it.  My commitment to teaching at Balanced Exposure takes priority at this point, so I have to delay any surgery.  Perhaps in a few years, I can take some time off and get the knee replacement surgery for my left knee.  Of course, my right knee is just slightly better, but it's got issues as well.  Who knows when that knee will also develop enough problems to have to do all this again!

See the comments section for updates on how I'm doing with this brace system.

(Image borrowed from the Bionicare website.)

Photoshop CS5 Preferred by Most Students!

Huh!  Who'd have "thunk" it?  :)

I had thought that many of my students would prefer to learn to use Photoshop Elements 9 over Photoshop CS5 simply because of the cost difference between the two products.  But after several sessions at my Workflow Seminar, I'm finding many students telling me that they prefer to get the more expensive Photoshop version to learn!

There is one way to get Photoshop CS5 at a discount directly from Adobe.  It's called a student discount.  If you are a college student currently enrolled at a college, you can qualify.  Just buy the product directly from Adobe.com and supply them with a scanned copy of your student ID or other proof of your enrollment and Adobe will call the school to verify it.  Once done, you'll get Photoshop CS5 at a substantial discount.  How much?  Well, CS5 costs roughly $650 normally.  Get the student discount and your price drops to $199!  In fact if you do it by August 14, 2011, you can get another $20 off!  It's probably a "back to school" special...

To help with your software education, I'm also offering a discount for your training.  Contact Balanced Exposure for more details!