What I Used To Bring To A Wedding

 

I have been asked a number of times what I brought in my camera bags to a wedding.  Well, before I got smart and decided to downsize, I used to use a Pelican 1610 case (see bottom image taken with a point and shoot camera) which weighed about 65 lbs when fully loaded!

Check out my gear at the time... 3 camera bodies, a bunch of lenses, a couple of flashes and battery packs and other accessories!  There were two tiers of equipment in the case.  The top held lenses and flashes and the bottom held the cameras, more lenses and batteries!

I eventually moved to the Pelican 1510 case system which is sized to fit in the overhead compartment of a plane and what didn't fit in there, I carried on my body all day with a belt / shoulder harness system (click here to see the post with the belt system)

Lots of gear!

Griswold #5 Skillet

This Griswold #5 cast iron skillet was manufactured somewhere between 1920 and 1940.  Yes, it's between 74 and 94 years old!

The old skillets are far better than skillets made today because of their smooth cooking surface and lighter weight.  Today's skillets tend to be more textured due to the new "pre-seasoning" techniques needing that texture to allow the oils to adhere properly.

Portable Butane Burner with No Notch Lodge #6 Skillet

 

I was reading about a discussion concerning getting a portable butane burner for outdoor use... so I got one!

Went to our local Asian stores and purchased the burner for $16.99. Four canisters of butane fuel were on sale for $3.99 for four! Great deal!

I have a side burner on my propane gas grill, but it's a hassle dragging the grill outside (we keep it in our garage for storage), so setting up this small burner will be much more convenient. Sometimes, we like to cook outdoors rather than inside our home to keep the smell of frying out of the home. This is a good solution.

The images were taken with a Nikon Df camera, Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens and a Nikon SB-800 flash.

The cast iron skillet is an no notch Lodge #6 manufactured between 1910 and 1920!  It is somewhere from 94 to 104 years old!

We Will Never Forget

We Will NEVER Forget!

No Notch Lodge #6

This is a "no notch" Lodge #6 cast iron skillet.  It dates back to 1910-1920 making it 94 to 104 years old!

Not as "clean" looking as the Griswold #8 previously blogged, but considering its age, not bad.

I have two more antique skillets still coming in... a Lodge "3 notch" #4 (1940-1960) and also a Griswold #5 (1920-1940).

I will clean each skillet and season them again before using them.  But I think I'll just wait until all skillets have arrived and do them all at the same time.  Fun!

Griswold #8 Skillet

Breakfast... for lunch!

Three eggs, 2 pats of butter, chicken breast pieces and a slice of American Cheese (didn't have any shredded cheddar on hand). It was the BEST eggs I have ever had! And... totally non-stick too! That egg slid around that skillet like it was nothing!

Recently, I purchased a Griswold #8 cast iron skillet and I've been having fun with it! These eggs were the third meal I've cooked on the new skillet. Based on the trademark logo design of the skillet, this skillet is somewhere between 74 to 94 years old (1920 - 1940).  I purchased it on eBay (paid way too much for it, but I wanted a good one) and I cleaned it up using Easy-Off oven cleaner, 50% vinegar and 50% water to remove the rust, and a lot of elbow grease! The skillet was then seasoned with Crisco vegetable shortening.

The images were taken with a Nikon Df camera, Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens, Nikon SB-800 flash.

11 lb - King Salmon caught at Racine Harbor - Racine, Wisconsin

 

My two fishing buddies and I went to Racine Harbor yesterday and I caught an 11 lb King Salmon (Chinook) at 5:30 AM!  I used a Moonshine glow K.O. Wobbler spoon lure.

My Boga grip weighed the fish at 11 lbs.  I didn't get a chance to measure it in length, but I'm 5'10" tall, so you can estimate its size from the photo taken by my friend Jim with my Lumix LX-5 camera.

I filleted the fish at the harbor's fish cleaning station, but later skinned them at home.  I used my dad's old "Food Saver" vacuum bag sealing system to package up the fillets.  Actually the vacuum sealer is new since he bought it before 1998 but never used it.  It works great!  Looks really professionally packaged!

Arlington Park - Horse Racing 8-17-14

We had another Balanced Exposure field trip to the Arlington Park race track today.  Students had the opportunity to photograph the races to freeze the action (see first photo) and also to try a technique called "Panning" where we follow the horse using a slow shutter speed to blur the background while keeping the horse and rider stationary.

It is not as easy as you might think to do this.  You are more likely to blur most of the images you take rather than get a good one that freezes the horse and rider while blurring the background.  We shot these images at 1/500 second, 1/30 second, 1/20 second and 1/40 second while keeping our ISO's at 100.  Shot in shutter speed priority mode, the camera chose our apertures.

My friend Rodrigo V and his wife Terry joined our group as well!  Rodrigo was my mentor at the Chula Vista Police Department over 25 years ago when I worked there at the crime lab!  He's been an evidence technician and latent fingerprint examiner for a long time!

Chula Vista Crime Lab Photos

I had lunch today with one of my mentors from the past... Rodrigo V from the Chula Vista Police Department and his wife Terry! I had not seen Rodrigo in at least 20 years.  He and his wife came to visit Chicago and so we all went out to lunch to catch up on all the years that have passed.

Rodrigo was the evidence technician at the Chula Vista Police Department when I was there interning at the PD while waiting for a full-time position to open up.  Ultimately, I left Chula Vista PD to work for the San Diego District Attorney's Office where I got my court qualifications in both Forensic Photography and Forensic Audio.  While I was at CVPD, Rodrigo was one of my mentors... teaching me the ropes at the crime lab.

I had worked at the San Diego Police Department prior to working at Chula Vista PD and initially was a little disappointed to go from a large police department to a smaller police department.  But after working at CVPD, I quickly learned that smaller departments can actually be just as rewarding.

I recall that the police department needed to have some photos taken to show the various jobs that the crime lab did on a daily basis and so my photo was taken for that purpose.  Look how young I looked back then!  And check out those glasses!!

According to Rodrigo, these photos remained at the crime lab for about 25 years!  Just before he retired from the department, he grabbed the photos and gave them to me as a gift today!  I was so surprised to see them because I had forgotten all about them!  Amazingly, the images were in great condition and still mounted to the original display boards!

It was great to see my old friend and mentor again after all these years.  I consider the friends I made while working in San Diego among my very best friends.  Some had already retired, moved on or passed away, but they are always on my mind and in my heart.  I need to get back there for a visit!  I have been away too long!

Brookfield Zoo Images

A couple of images from my recent Brookfield Zoo field trip with my students.  Images taken with a Nikon Df camera, Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VRII lens on aperture priority.

Another Butterfly from the Milwaukee Public Museum

The latest butterfly from my class' trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum on7-27-14.

The image was taken with a Nikon Df full-frame camera on Aperture Priority with a Sigma 24-105mm f4 DG lens.  Settings were 1/30 sec, f4.5, ISO 500.

Bad Weather

While I don't normally like pushing HDR to the extreme, I thought this image looked pretty interesting doing it.

After our field trip class to the Milwaukee Public Museum, I stopped by Racine Harbor to try a little fishing. I casted perhaps 8 times and then heard the thunder to my left. I took a look and noticed this view. It would have been nice to look left first before taking my gear out! I packed up my stuff and got back in the car before it started to rain.

George Foreman Grills

I love my George Foreman grills!  I have three "Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machines"!

Several years ago, I purchased the middle-sized grill in the upper left of the photos via a Groupon Goods deal but recently got two others from my mom.  She had been using the small one in the upper right, but after moving to California, she left her grill at her home in Florida.  My sister and I recently went to Florida to clean up the Florida home and found her grill, along with the largest one that was never used.

My sister purchased the large grill for her many years ago, but she never used it.  It was still in the original box.  Since she probably will not use it going forward, we shipped both grills to Illinois for me to use.

I recently went on a low calorie, low carb diet and am grilling all of my food on the small grill.  I love these grills because it is so fast to cook on!  I just put my food on the grill, close the lid and in about 5 to 8 minutes, the food is done!  No flipping is needed since the top and bottom both cook the food at the same time.  Clean up is a snap too.  I just wet a sponge, suspend the grill over the edge of the sink in the countertop and wipe.  In just about 30 seconds, the grill is clean and I'm ready to eat!

So far, I've lost 12 lbs in about a week and a half.  My goal is to lose 50 lbs by the end of 2014.  We'll see if I can do it, but 12 years ago when I did a low calorie, low carb diet, I lost 30 lbs in 3 months.  Being older now, it may be harder to do, but I'm giving it the ol' college try!  Wish me luck!

Jake Arrieta - The Pickoff

Jake Arrieta goes for the pickoff...

Another Cubs vs Braves Image

Had to share another image...  While we were really close to the field in the Dugout section just two rows from the field, it just meant we just got to see the players backs!  Be sure to click on the image for a closer view.

Chicago Cubs vs Atlanta Braves - July 11, 2014

Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves in the 9th inning... 5 to 4!

Here is a series of images of Cubs opening pitcher, Jake Arrieta.  The images were taken with a Nikon D700 and Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VRII lens using a Nikon TC-17 E II teleconverter.

I was sitting in the Dugout Box section of Wrigley Field... Gate F, Aisle DBX19, Row B... the closest I've ever sat at a Major League game!  Just one row back from the edge of the field behind home plate!  I'm shooting through the net behind home plate, but you can't even see it in the images at this focal length.  With the teleconverter on the lens, the effective focal length of the lens became 340mm.

The camera was set to Aperture Priority mode.  Settings were ISO 200, 1/640 second, f4.8.  Images were shot at 5 frames per second.

(The third image in this series appears to have a different color saturation, but the original image before upload did not have this issue.  It seems that the upload to the blog changed the tonality.  Not sure how or why this happened.)

Here's where I was sitting... 2nd row behind home plate!

Followup To A Past Post on Undercover Boss - Season Two Episode 7 - Chicago Cubs & Rocco Caputo

Back in 2007, I photographed Rocco Caputo as he was selling beer at Wrigley Field.  I did not know him, nor would I know that later in 2010, he would be part of the television show, "Undercover Boss". Today, I was lucky enough to go back to Wrigley field to watch the Chicago Cubs defeat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 and to run into Rocco once again!

My wife, daughter, my friend Andy and I were seated in the Dugout section of the park just one row back from the field.  This was the closest I had ever been at a game!  Thanks to my wife's employer for providing us great seats!

As he normally does, Rocco was out selling beer. I had never spoken to him before, but I immediately recognized him.  In addition, someone in the row behind us recognized him as well as being one of the guys featured on Undercover Boss!  I chimed in and told Rocco that I had photographed him years before he was on the show and that I recognized him immediately when I saw him on the show!  He sold a beer to Andy and off he went.

Later in the game, I told Andy that I had to get another shot of Rocco to update my blog, so Andy ordered another beer from him so that I could get my shot.  Andy wanted me to tell you all that it cost him $8 for me to get that shot!

It was great to finally talk to Rocco.  I gave him my business card, but doubt he will be able to find my blog as it is not on the Balanced Exposure website.  I may post a quick update in the About Us section with my blog address... hoping that Rocco sees it.

Rocco, if you see this post, please send me an email at training@balancedexposure.com to let me know you saw it!

For your convenience, I've republished the blog post below from Nov 7, 2010.

If you subscribe to NetFlix, search for Undercover Boss.  You'll find the Cubs episode there.

________________________________________

(From November 7, 2010)


Like many other Cub fans and television viewers, I tuned in to watch Sunday night's episode of Undercover Boss on CBS.  Episode 7 of Season Two featured Todd Ricketts, one of the owners of the Chicago Cubs as he went undercover to see how employees of the Cubs organization did their everyday job.

One of the featured employees teaching Ricketts how to do his job was a food vendor named Rocco Caputo.  The second I saw him on the TV screen, I knew immediately that I had taken his photograph back in July 2007.  I was attending a Cubs vs. Astro game at Wrigley Field and as I normally do, I was taking photos of everything that happened at the game and that included food vendors!  I don't know what triggered me to remember his face, but I immediately knew that my photograph was of Rocco.  I did not post his photo on my blog at the time, but I still remembered his face.  You can see that post by clicking here.

Rocco was assigned to teach Todd Ricketts the ropes of how to sell hot dogs.  Despite his best efforts, Ricketts failed at selling hot dogs and actually threw away four of them just so he could go back and claim he sold all his hot dogs.  But Rocco found four hot dogs that were thrown into a trash bin and confronted Ricketts about them.  Ricketts denied it was his hot dogs, but you could tell Rocco did not believe him.  Since he could not prove it belonged to Ricketts, he had to take him at his word.

Later, after Ricketts identified himself to Rocco as one of the owners of the team, he awarded Rocco the first "Wrigley Field - Employee of the Year Award" for his dedicated work.  Now his name will forever be in the hallowed halls of Wrigley Field.  I remember watching Rocco working in 2007 and at that time he was selling beer.  I recall thinking to myself that selling beer had to be one of the hardest jobs for a food vendor because beer is pretty heavy to have to carry all day long.  Maybe that's why I remembered Rocco's face after all these years!

Congratulations to Rocco for his award for 2010.  I wonder if anyone will remember him when they ask him for food at Wrigley Field in 2011 after having watched this episode.  I hope they do.  I know I remembered him and that's even before this show aired.

Be sure to click on the image for a closer look.

___________________________

Here's where I was sitting for the July 11th game... second row behind home plate!

Moon Shot

Tonight, I held a great "Exposure" class at my school, Balanced Exposure.  One of the students mentioned that we had a great moon tonight, so I told everyone to go out and take a photo of the moon based on what we learned tonight.

Here's my version of the moon shot.  Nikon D700 / Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VRII

Alternative Lens For Full Frame Cameras - Sigma 24-105mm f4 DG

The new Sigma 24-105mm f4 DG lens is part of the new "Art" Series lenses from Sigma.

For many years, I had been using the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens as my main lens for all of my full-frame cameras.  But I decided to try out a less expensive option to see if these new lenses could compete with the Nikon lens which is often considered the best lens in its focal range.

While the Sigma is not better than the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8, it comes very close.  And at its price, you can't ignore it.  The Nikon sells for $1889.95 whereas the Sigma is $899.  At nearly $1000 difference, it would be very tempting for many photographers to consider.

My copy of the Sigma proved to be a very sharp lens!  But that's not to say it is sharper than the Nikon.

Here are the pros and cons:

Pros:
Significantly lower price
Overall, very sharp lens
High build quality
Slightly shorter in physical length than the Nikon
Constant aperture
Longer reach at 105mm instead of 70mm on the Nikon
Optical Stabilization for up to 3 times better "hand-holdability"

Cons:
Vignetting at the corners (all lenses typically have some of this however)
Not as sharp at the corners compared to the center
Not weather sealed
Zoom ring is not in the same position as Nikon... it is closer to the front element rather than the rear element.
Manual Focus ring is rather small
Slower Auto Focus than the Nikon
Maximum aperture of f 4.0 rather than f 2.8
Slight chromatic aberration, especially in the wide angle focal lengths
More prone to lens flare than the Nikon
Heavy lens, almost as heavy as the Nikon

Even with all the cons (all lenses have cons!), I'd still highly recommend this lens for someone just starting out with a Full Frame camera or for someone with an APS-C camera and considering getting a full frame camera down the road.  It's a sharp lens overall and with its Optical Stabilization circuit, you can hand hold a 105mm shot at 1/15 second without much problems!  This helps make up for the f 4.0 maximum aperture when shooting in lower light.

Give this lens a try.  Even compared to Canon's 24-105mm f 4.0 "L" series lens, other reviewers are saying it is better for Canon users.

Took Four Years To Fix This Wall

Back in April 2010, I accidentally put my head through the wall in my bedroom.  Four years later, I finally fixed the hole (in the wall, not my head).

Click here for the story of how the hole got there in the first place:

Crime Scene Processing Class 04-24-14

The Balanced Exposure Crime Scene Processing Class was held this evening.  Students learned what was involved to process a staged homicide.

Jessica, my model for several years, did her own makeup.  Rather gruesome, don't you think?

Students had the opportunity to photograph the crime scene and also to dust for latent prints on various pieces of physical evidence.  Overall, it was a lot of fun for everyone!