Tokio Pub - For Lunch!

Back on January 15, my daughter, wife and I went to celebrate both my daughter and my birthday (we share the same birthday) at Tokio Pub in Schaumburg, IL.

The deal was to have your birthday party at the restaurant on the 15th of every month and get a coupon for each person in your party worth the same as your age!  For us, our birthdays happen to be on the 15th anyway!  Click here to read about their special.

I turned 57 this year, so I got a gift certificate for $57 for use next time.  And, my daughter got one for $57 and my wife got one for $57 as well!  What a deal!

Anyway, we ordered food in January but did not get to go back until lunch today.  My daughter and I used one of the coupons and it covered all of the food above!  We ordered the following:

1. Barbeque-Braised Pork Nachos
2. Godzilla Roll (Shrimp Tempura, Smoked Salmon, guacamole, eel sauce)
3. Two bowls (one for each person) of Grilled Steak in Soy - Ramen Broth
4. Rangoon Roll (tempura fried roll, spicy shrimp, cream cheese, scallion, chilli oil, sweet and sour sauce)

The Pork Nachos were really great.  We really liked it.  We also liked the Godzilla Roll, but my daughter ate all the Salmon off the rolls since I don't eat raw fish.  I just ate the rolls minus the fish on it.  By the time the two bowls of Grilled Steak in Soy- Ramen Broth came out, we were stuffed already!  We decided to take the rest of the food home instead.

The interesting thing about this restaurant is that nobody there was Asian!  Not the servers and not the patrons (except us).  Still, it wasn't bad.  It's Americanized fusion food really.  The restaurant is part of the "Lettuce Entertain You" restaurants, so I guess I wasn't so surprised that it wasn't real Asian food.  We still liked it.  It's a bit expensive for what it is, but trendy places are like that.

Check 'em out if you want something different and try going when there is a special like the birthday specials!

All images taken with an Apple iPhone 6s +

Five Guys vs In-N-Out

How would I rate Five Guys Burger and Fries over In-N-Out Burger?

First, I'd consider taste... The In-N-Out to me is a bit tastier because it's greasier.  Some would say juicier.  But, the Five Guys has more toppings and condiment choices which are included in its price that adds tastes of its own.

An In-N-Out Burger costs around $3.45 per Double Double (two patties, two slices of cheese).  The Little Cheese Burger from Five Guys is $4.59.  It's about the same size as the Double Double.  But you get only one patty and one slice of cheese.  However, you get a lot of condiments and toppings with the price of the Five Guys burger.

The fries are more costly at Five Guys but they give you a lot more.  It is also fried in peanut oil, which to me, makes it tastier.  There was supposed to be a secret menu like In-N-Out has, so I ordered their "Cheese Fries" (which was supposed to be a secret menu item).  I was told they didn't have Cheese Fries, just regular fries.  Disappointing!

In the end, the Five Guys cost more, has less meat and cheese but gives you more toppings and condiment choices for the money.  The In-N-Out burger is less expensive, greasier but tastier.

What's important to you?

In-N-Out Burger

The Double Double is probably the most ordered burger from In-N-Out Burger.  I recall my uncle telling me how "juicy" they were.  But after ordering several of them recently on my trip to San Francisco, I couldn't help but notice that juicy really meant "greasy"!

The burgers are wrapped twice in paper, but look at the bottom photo of the inner wrapping.  Also look at the second photo and notice the sheen on the buns.  I'd call it a bit greasy.  What do you call it?

Still, the burgers are pretty tasty.  Compared to Five Guys burgers, the cost is more reasonable as well.  Which do you prefer?

2016 San Francisco - Fisherman's Wharf

I went to visit my mom and sister's family this week in San Francisco.

Lots of sights to see out there, but the easiest for me to get around with my scooter was Fisherman's Wharf.  Had to get some In-N-Out food, so I ordered a Double Double burger (two patties with two slices of cheese) and Animal Style Fries (Thousand Island, Grilled Onions and Cheese on Fries) and a drink.  Cost was $11.09 (yes, it was expensive, but you just got to do it when you are in California!)  I also ordered a cup of clam chowder at one of the street vendor's booth (got to do that too for $6 and tax). 

I saw a street performer playing smooth jazz on his Fender Stratocaster, so I had to talk to him and give him a tip.  He was really good.  I had seen him out there in June 2015 as well.  Like me, he's been playing over 40 years!

I also had to take a photo of Alcatraz prison.  I've been there before in the past (as a visitor, not as an inmate).

Also, while at Pier 39, I saw a Zoltar fortune telling machine!  Remember the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks?  If you haven't seen that movie, go check it out and you'll understand why I needed to photograph it.  By the way, all the images here were taken with a Canon 70D and Canon 18-135 IS STM lens... except for the Zoltar image.  That was taken with my iPhone 6S+.  Not bad for a phone photo, eh?

Take a look at the first name on the list of musical performers at the Lexus booth for the 2016 Chicago Auto Show... Hanna Ashbrook.

Hanna was my daughter's "stand mate" in Orchestra during middle school and high school. They both played violin. When they were young, they made a recording (singing) at my home studio. Hanna decided to go into music as a career and my daughter went on to pharmacy.

Hanna's step mom is also a Balanced Exposure student! I mentioned the coincidence to her and she was surprised! Also, two of Hanna's songs were used as "jingles" in the two most recent Nutela TV commercials. Listen for them the next time you see a Nutela commercial!

Hanna was at the Lexus booth because she recently participated in "The Voice" on TV. Didn't win, but still... not bad, eh? She played guitar and sang. She asked me for photos from that old recording session from middle school years, but I didn't know why she wanted these old photos. Little did I know that she needed it for submission to "The Voice." Luckily, I still had the photos from that recording session and also some photos of her when she was in competition during some of the violin contests from middle school.

Kids... amazing, huh?

Here's a link to Hanna's Nutela commercial. It's her song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bME8ZWwpEUQ

On Hub - Router

I recently upgraded my internet with Comcast to 75mbps.  Unfortunately, I was told both my Motorola cable modem and my Linksys router were too old to get the faster speed.  They are only 2 years old!  Apparently, 2 years in this industry is considered too old!  Because of this and the fact that my router was not the fastest available, my 75mbps was only giving about 18mbps speed.

I went to Best Buy and purchased an On Hub TP-Link router (made by Google) for $199.95.  Yes, very expensive... but worth it!  (My old Linksys router was only around $59.)  The On Hub is very simple to set up and is controlled by the On Hub app on my iPhone.  Now I'm getting 89mbps speed!  Plus, the app allows for quick remote diagnostics of the network even off-site and can handle up to 128 devices... so it can handle any of my home devices as well as a LOT of guests asking to connect at the same time when they come to our home to visit!

The On Hub has 13 antennas built into it and so the range is plenty to cover our home.  You can be anywhere in the house and get great connectivity.

Highly recommended!  Read more about it on their website by clicking here.

By the way, I did not update my Motorola modem, even though Comcast tried to convince me it wasn't good enough and too old.  Well, it is good enough because with it and the On Hub, I'm getting faster speed than I'm supposed to at 89 mbps!

Another Direct Comparison of Real Estate Images

The second image taken on auto-mode with an APS-C camera with a kit lens at 18mm (28.8mm equivalent on full frame) does not have the same width or dynamic range as the first image taken at 14 mm on a full frame camera with HDR.

The first image shows the room.  The second image only shows a bed...

Do You See A Difference Between These Two Interior Photos?

Here's an example of two real estate photos.  (Click on each photo to see the entire image.)  The first photo was taken with a Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 lens at 14mm on a Nikon D750 full frame camera in HDR and processed with Adobe Lightroom and custom white balanced.  The second photo was taken with a Canon EFS 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM lens at 18mm on a Canon 70D APS-C sensor camera in "Auto Mode" with auto white balance.  The equivalent focal length of the Canon lens if it were a full frame lens would be 28.8mm compared to the 14mm of the Nikon full frame lens.

If you look at the wall, the first photo's wall is not curved,  whereas the second photo is definitely distorted.  Also, the first image has more tonal range than the second.  The additional width of the first image makes it easier to see the relationship of the kitchen to the adjoining living room and to the patio door compared to the second photo.

It is obvious that the ultra-wide angle lens image processed in HDR is far better than the standard wide angle lens taken in Auto Mode on the second shot.

Checking the pricing of a popular real estate photography service in the Chicago area, their prices for HDR photos are: $259 for 10 photos, $319 for 15 photos and $439 for 25 photos.  Agents can do this themselves easily if they only learned how!

More About My Experiences with an Apple MacBook Pro with Retina

Time for an update on my continuing saga of using an Apple MacBook Pro with Retina...

Last night during our Exposure class, I was asked how I was liking my Mac.  Well... I can't answer that with just an "I like it" or an "I don't like it."  It goes much deeper than that.

If you have been reading my blog or even my Facebook posts about my computer, you'll know that I purchased the MacBook Pro to learn the Apple operating system since many of my students come in with a Mac to take their Photoshop or Lightroom class but they may be so new to the Mac that they don't really know how to use it!  Because of this, the class slows down and I could not help move them along because I knew nothing about the Mac either!  I've been a PC user since PC's were invented!

So I purchased the Mac early in 2015 and have been forcing myself to learn it and to use it exclusively whenever I am not at the school.  I decided that I would use the Mac the way all Mac users should use it.  I use the trackpad (which I initially hated), I learned the shortcuts.  I try my best to function like an Apple user should.

I only use a PC when I have to now.  At the school, I have a PC so I must use it.  But outside of the school, I use the Mac 100%.  So here's my current thoughts...

I am beginning to appreciate the Mac.  I didn't like it at all when I first got it because it was so foreign to me.  You can't do things on a Mac like you do them on a PC.  Is it the Mac's fault?  Not really.  It's a learning curve that you just have to accept.  Once I accepted that I must retrain myself, I started to get to know how to move quicker on the machine.

Today, I have so many Apple products, I might as well work at Apple!  I have an Apple iPod (my first Apple product from years ago).  I have an iPad Mini 3 with cellular.  My wife has an iPad Air.  We both have Apple iPhone 6s+ phones.

What I appreciate is how well all these devices work together.  I can answer my phone calls on my computer!  I can answer calls on my iPad Mini 3.  I can text and talk on the phone through my computer at the same time.  It's amazing!

I have not had any issues with the computer slowing down after use.  My PC's had notorious issues of slowing down once the registry gets messed up from excessive use.  It has gotten to the point where I had to wipe the hard drive and reload the operating system on the PC's just to get them to work at a reasonable pace again!  None of that for the Apple... so far.  I'm told I probably won't ever see that happening.  We'll see, but so far, all indications point to that as a fact.

So in all, yeah... I'm an Apple fan now I suppose.  The MacBook Pro with Retina is a 13" version.  It's smaller, lighter, never gets turned off and just sleeps when I close the cover.  It has amazing battery life.  It starts up in an instant.  No more long waiting times just to boot the computer.  I have not seen any indications of a virus on the computer (although I'm told that it's not impossible to get a virus, it's just less viruses around for Macs).  I have not seen any malware issues.

Does it work fast for all programs?  No.  Microsoft Excel still runs slowly on it.  I think it's the program's fault though, not the computer's.  You can't copy and paste quickly on it.  It takes a while to "memorize" the copy before you can paste and if you do it too fast, it will paste the previous copy.  That results in mistakes.  Not good.  But if you use Apple's own "Numbers" program which is their competitive software to Excel, it has no problems.

I don't see any real advantages using a PC or a Mac while using Photoshop or Lightroom.  There are some different ways to approach the same result, but I don't see any advantages of one system over the other.

The computers whether PC's or Mac's are only as good as the user using them.  If you master the differences between the machines, you can use both effectively.  But for now, yeah, I guess I'm more pro-Apple than I have been in the past.

Whatever You Do In Life Today Prepares You For What You May Do In The Future

One bit of advice I have given to students over the years is that whatever you do in life today prepares you for what you may do in the future.

It's true.

For myself, I have done a LOT of different jobs over the years.  When I graduated college, I helped with sales at my family's stereo store.  I have had many sales jobs since then too.  I've worked as a project manager, a director of operations, a VP of sales and marketing.  I have also collected crime scene evidence and processed evidence for fingerprints.  I have taken lots of photos at crime scenes too while working at the San Diego District Attorney's Office.  I prepared crime scene sketches of building interiors for use in court cases.  I've testified as an expert witness in Forensic Photography, Videography and Audio.  I've photographed weddings.  I've created portraits.  I opened a photography school.  I teach photography.

Looking back on all the things I've done over the years, each experience was useful for the next job I was to get.

For example, today, I own a photography school and teach there as well.  I am offering a Real Estate Photography class soon.  What qualifies me to photograph homes?  Think about what is involved to run this class...

I photographed crime scenes.  Many of these are interior photos of homes or commercial buildings.  My experience in photographing crime scenes and interiors of buildings is just like real estate photography.  The difference is that in crime scene photography, I had to tell a story of how rooms connected to other rooms.  I had to show the path that the suspect took when he went through the building.  These are the kinds of photos that are also needed in real estate photography, except many agents don't know that.

My experience in law enforcement is helping me with my current job of teaching a real estate photography class!  My sales background is helping me to market and sell the class.  My experience in managing our stereo store is helping me in running a photography school business.

Everything you do in life prepares you for what you will do in the future.  Don't think that what you do today isn't worthy or important.  It's just preparation for your future.

Carry on...

HDR For Real Estate

These real estate images were shot using HDR (High Dynamic Range) with a Nikon D750 and Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 lens.  The images were processed in Lightroom CC.  All real estate photos on the MLS should like this good, don't you think?  Unfortunately, many agents and brokers do not have the photography skills or equipment to do it.

With an investment of a basic camera, an ultra-wide angle lens, a flash, Adobe Lightroom software and training from Balanced Exposure, they can easily get similar results as you see here.  Better photos help gather interest and promote viewings.  I think all real estate professionals need to get some training to help market their listings, don't you?  I have a promotional discount for the real estate class on my website at www.balancedexposure.com.  Check it out if you need this help!