Don't drink the Apple (TM) juice!

When I first started out in digital photography I found image editing software like Photoshop, Gimp, and even Photoshop Elements really confusing. The multiple windows, and the way the tools worked were all very foreign to me since the only previous experience I had with trying to make art on a computer was Microsoft Paint.

Luckily, I found Paint.NET, which has an intuitive interface that closely resembles Microsoft Paint. It's easy enough for your Mom to use, yet has support for layers, levels, curves, etc. It's a great way to start out in image editing!

Once I figured out layers and started wishing I had a little more control over my image (at that time Paint.NET didn't have user-controlable levels/curves), I moved up to Gimp. Gimp is a free advanced image editing program that, after reviewing Photoshop CS2, I can say is very Photoshop-like. The only downside to Gimp is that it works in 8-bit color while Photoshop has some tools that will work in 16-bit. Those extra bits are important when using tools like curves and levels, an explanation of color depth is available here.

I've recently run into situations where I'd like to stretch a color or brighten/darken a photo a little more than Gimp would allow (the image gets cartoon-y looking if you stretch it too far). Using a program that could work in 16-bit color would allow a little more room, so I posted a description of what I was looking for and the question "do I need Photoshop?" to two different Yahoogroups that I belong to.

The response, overwhelmingly was that yes, I'd need Photoshop. If not now, eventually. But one person suggested I do my levels/curves processing in Canon's Digital Photo Pro (DPP) software (it came free with my Canon 30D) since it works in 16-bit, then do the rest of the editing/minor tweaks in Gimp afterwards. This option saves me $650 (the cost of Photoshop) and I still get the functionality I'm looking for! Which leads me to ask: does anyone NEED photoshop?

I think the majority of people assume that serious photographers will end up buying Photoshop eventually. I mean, the act of tweaking a photo in software is called "Photoshopping"! But, I've also found that many people who own Photoshop never put it to its full use. Before dropping that $650 (or putting yourself at risk by running a "borrowed" copy), try Gimp. -It's free, afterall, so you have nothing to lose. When/if you outgrow Gimp (and know WHY you need to upgrade), THEN buy Photoshop. -The transition between the two is relatively easy (tools may be in a different place, but icons are similar and they retain the same names/do the same things). Heck, in the meantime you may be able to skip a version of Photoshop and save yourself a $300 upgrade...

Nevermind the gardening...

I'm not going to be outside much this summer...
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gardenerscorner/issue_03/03_spring_06.html

Planning a photo.

When I bought my (first) house about 3 years ago there was a wildflower garden in the middle of the backyard. It looked out of place there, so I dug it all up and planted grass there instead. Year 2, many wildflowers and a whole bunch of tulips sprung up in the middle of the backyard again; so, I sat there digging up bulbs and roots and trying to remove everything that wasn't grass. Year 3 it looks like I got it all. So far there's only grass growing there in the middle of my backyard.

Last fall I decided I was going to plant some flowers specifically to attract butterflies and hummingbirds to my backyard in the spring for more photo opportunities this summer. So, before winter set in, I dug up a little bit of our backyard (against the fence) to use as a flower bed in the spring.

Recently, however, I've begun to give it a bit more thought. What will my background be for these photos? Fence. Doh!

So, I started thinking about putting a flower bed in the middle of the backyard...

Luckily, I've thought of another option, though. I think I'm going to buy a piece of thin plywood at the hardware store, paint it flat black, and attach it to the fence behind the flowerbed. That way, my background will be black, which should make for some striking photos I think.

Outlook 0x8007000E and 0x8004010F errors

In an Exchange 2000 environment, I had one user reporting that she could send emails, but she was not receiving new emails. When a Send/Receive was initiated, the following Outlook 2003 error occurred:

Error message when you send or receive e-mail messages in Outlook: "Sending and Receiving reported error (0x8007000E): Out of memory or system resources"

Taking Outlook out of Cached Exchange mode allowed her to receive emails, but she was still getting the following error in Outlook when a Send/Receive was initiated:

Task 'Microsoft Exchange Server' reported error (0x8004010F): 'The operation failed. An object could not be found.'

...the problem ended up being a corrupt email message. I found it by creating a .pst file on her desktop and attempting to export her entire mailbox to it. I got an error saying the "operation failed". From there, I had to figure out where the corrupt message was, so I re-exported her mailbox one folder at a time. I got lucky, it was in her Deleted Items folder, which was both near the top, and easy to fix. Rather than search through the 386 messages she had in the folder, I simply backed up the folder and then emptied it.

Afterwards I did a Send/Receive and it was successful. I tested it a few more times, it was successful each time (it was failing 100% of the time before), so I declared victory and gave the user back her computer.


This page has some other good suggestions of things to try if you are getting the 0x8004010F error: http://forums.msexchange.org/m_140040800/mpage_1/tm.htm

What I did this weekend.

The photo above can also be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/erica_marshall/425731394/

So, Ed and I had a small dinner party yesterday. While I was finishing up the last of the cooking so we could get the meal on the table, Ed's talking to Mike about my new lens. Then, he asks me to go get it and show it to him... So, I stop stirring the rice in the frying pan, and go get my Sigma 50-500mm lens. (It is an impressive looking lens.) ...I took my photo backpack out of the closet, grabbed the "Bigma" out of it, mounted it on my 30D, and handed it to Mike so he could check it out while I continued to stir the rice.

When Mike was ready to unload the 8lb beast, I took it back from him and tried to slip it back into the bag... Oh yeah, this is the one lens that won't fit in the bag while it's mounted to the camera. Grr... Rice burning... I remember the cap for the back of the lens is in the laundry room where I swapped the lens earlier, so I grab the backpack and head towards the laundry room to get everything put away. When I reach the laundry room, I start to swing the backpack up towards the top of the dryer and something flies out...

**Crack!**

Oh no. I look on the floor and see my brand new Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 rolling away across the linoleum floor!!! :-( Of course it couldn't be one of my cheap lenses...

No time to check it out, I needed to get back to the rice. The truth -I didn't want to know. I finished up the meal, ate, chatted, then cleaned up after dinner before getting a chance to take a quick peek at it.

I only got a quick glance at it, then put it back in the bag. I was just sickened by it, but I went back to our guests to talk a bit before bringing out dessert. Of course, all I could think of was that lens... Ed bought it for me for Xmas and I've been so excited to put it to use! So far I haven't done much with it since it's been so cold, but we're planning a trip to Arizona (Lake Powell, Sedona, maybe the Grand Canyon, and I was SO happy I'd have this lens for that trip! ...My next widest lens is a 28mm which, on my 30D, because of the crop factor, is actually something like a 42mm lens. In other words, not wide at all. I complained about this all last summer, and after finally getting my 10-20mm lens ...this happens.

When our guests left for the night, I contemplated not telling Ed about what happened. I looked up how much it'd cost to replace, etc while cleaning up the kitchen. In the middle of doing dishes and beating myself up about it, a thought occurred to me. There was a UV filter on the lens wasn't there? Could I have been lucky enough to have dropped this lens 4 feet onto a linoleum floor and have it survive? I tried to keep my excitement at bay as the thought occurred to me. Surely it was wishful thinking, but I went to go see it once more anyway ...now that I had some time to get a better look at it.

...I was right, it had a UV filter and I got lucky -just the filter was cracked. I gingerly removed the filter, blew the glass particles off the lens, and mounted it to my camera. I tested the manual focus and it was fine, Autofocus worked as well. Upon close inspection I see absolutely no damage resulting from the fall. Luck? Good construction from Canon? I don't know, but that was a bit more excitement than I needed.

Studio photography on the cheap

(Click on the photo to see a better version of it. Blogger is re-sizing it poorly, so it looks a little funky here...)

It's cold outside, so lately my creative juices have been flowing towards studio photography. Truth is, I have a real interest in it and I'm looking to start building a portfolio incase I get a chance to do some photos professionally.

So, this means I need practice (and hopefully some good photos). For "proper" studio photography, most people purchase light tents and photography lighting in order to get that soft light that eliminates harsh reflections as well as harsh shadows. -I'll probably buy the proper equipment eventually, but I wanted to demonstrate how I get studio shots without any investment in special equipment.

For those who are not interested in studio photography, note that the goals in studio work are the same as for portraits. It's just that for portraits, the subject's a bit bigger...

So, here's a walkthrough of a successful (in my opinion) studio shot McGyver-style.

Equipment and supplies that I used:
* Camera
* Tripod
* Shutter release cable (a self-timer works if you don't have one)
* 2 pieces of copy paper
* A white plastic garbage bag
* A 5-foot piece of wire, bent
* A paper towel
* A drinking glass and empty boxes for propping stuff up.
* A bright lamp (a halogen desk lamp is perfect)
* At least one other lamp (another desk lamp, a clamp light, or a floor lamp -whatever you have around)

I set up under a halogen spot-light that's in the ceiling above my kitchen counter. (I've also set up in the bathroom successfully -under the lights above my sink.)

I propped the copy paper up against the drinking glass so it was sitting at a 90* angle. This created the white below the bottle and pills in the picture as well as the white in the background without creating a "seam" between the two. (This works well with white poster board as well when you're shooting larger items.)

I then set the bottle on the paper, and arranged the pills around it in a non-centered way so the overall shape of the subject was more interesting -it also gave the pills a more hap-hazard look I think.

Next I needed something to filter the light through to spread it around. This is what the walls of a light tent do, so I looked around for something that'd work similar to that. What I ended up doing is taking a white plastic trash bag and some wire to make a frame to keep it flat. You could just as easily tape the corners of the bag to 4 boxes or something to keep it flat. It doesn't have to be perfect, and you don't need to cut the bag either -double-thickness (at least for the brand I'm using -regular Hefty bags) seems to work just fine. (Of course, if your light is significantly brighter or more dim, this may not be the case.

I propped my trash bag light filter up so it's middle would be over the bottle and under my halogen desk lamp. -I then turned the lamp on and checked how the lighting looked from the perspective I'd be shooting it from.

I ended up with a lot of glare on the label because it's glossy and I also had 2 bright spots on the bottle. This meant that the light was too bright. I placed a paper towel on top of the trash bag and moved it around until the highlights and hot-spots were gone.

The next thing I noticed was that, while my "trash bag light filter" made the shadows fuzzier, the shadows were still more noticeable than I liked. I grabbed a fairly dim floor lamp and propped it at a 45* angle against a chair, and aimed it directly at the bottle (from the front so that it eliminated the shadows in the front where they'd be visible in the photo).

I checked the view through my camera once again and found that this created more hot-spots, so I lowered the floor lamp until it's harshest light was below my subject, leaving it's softer (more diffused light) to fall on my subject and eliminate much of the shadows that I had a problem with earlier.

At this point, the setup was done. I was happy with how the scene looked, and the next thing to think about was exposure. -I had a fairly dark subject on a very light background which is always tricky. I knew the camera's light meter would see all that white and would try to tone it down, which would my my photo darker than it should be. -On top of that, my goal was to over-expose the background so it ended up looking all white! (but not so much that it over-exposed the white label on the bottle.) I decided I'd start with exposing the scene 1 stop above normal or at +1.

Next, I had to decide what setting to use on the camera. For studio shots I tend to go with Aperture Priority so that I can control the depth of field without worrying about the shutter speed because it really doesn't matter much in still-life photos like this one. Generally, an aperture of f/8 to f/16 is the sharpest part of any lens, so I try to keep within that range if I can. -I wanted a fairly shallow depth of field, though, so I decided to try f/8 to start with.

Last, I turned on mirror lockup. -Not all cameras have this option, but if yours does (on my Canon 30D it's Custom Function 12, for other makes and models, check your manual). Mirror lockup can help you get sharper photos when you're using slow shutter speeds and here's how it works: When you take a photo what happens is the mirror that allows you to see the image through the viewfinder flips out of the way so that the image can get through to your film or sensor. When the mirror flips up it causes the camera to vibrate ever so slightly. Mirror lockup creates a delay between when you click the shutter the first time (and the mirror flips up), then you wait and click the shutter a 2nd time to take the picture (after those micro-vibrations have probably stopped). You can get sharp photos either way, so if your camera doesn't have mirror lockup, don't worry about it; but if you do, I think it's worth playing with.

At this point I was ready to take my first shot. From start to finish I arranged the photo 2 different ways and I took about 25 shots total. -I had to play with the exposure compensation and aperture just a little bit each time before I got it to come out how I wanted.

After I was pretty sure I got a "keeper", I connected the camera to my computer, downloaded the photos, and opened it in Gimp. I used the "Levels" tool (Auto) to fix the white balance (I compensated for the warmth of the incandescent lights in the camera, but not quite enough.). After that, I used curves to just slightly adjust the darkest and lightest portions of the photo. Then, I cloned out the dust that was on the bottle. (I'm a dork -I missed the most important part of studio photography -preparing your subject to be photographed!) When I was done cloning, I applied a slight Unsharp Mask, cropped the photo to a square, and saved it.

I'm pretty happy with it as it stands right now except that I think as a result of editing it on my laptop screen, it appears that it looks a little washed out on my work monitor. I may have to go back and fix that...

A prayer to the Flying Spaghetti Monster...

Our Pasta, who art in colander,
Draining be your noodles.
Thy noodle come, thy sauce be yum,
on top some grated parmesan.
Give us this day our garlic bread, and
forgive us our tresspasses as we
forgive those who trample our lawns.
And lead us not into vegetarianism,
but deliver us some pizza,
for thine is the meatball, the noodle,
and the sauce,
forever and ever.

RAMEN

A sharp(ish) macro shot!

Best viewed LARGE to show detail...
After a run of bad macro shots, this is my first macro to turn out sharp (or really close to it) in a few months!

All day yesterday I watched the snow fall from my office and all the plows and salt they were dumping on the road simply weren't making a dent. I dreaded the drive home. When the whistle blew I got in my Jeep, put in 4WD, and gingerly left the office parking lot. Once I got to the first stop light, however, I sat there watching the snowflakes fall and stick to the (cold) windshield. They were all so beautiful!

I pulled into the first gas station I saw and parked infront of a green gate that lead to the dumpster. (I thought the green would make a nice background if it was thrown out of focus.) Then I pulled out my camera and tried taking some photos of the snowflakes on the windshield (through the glass).

Just like with the previous bug shot, I was having problems getting the shutter speed high enough to hand-hold the camera and get a sharp shot. I didn't have my tripod, so I piled a bunch of stuff up to try to set the camera on, but that didn't work. Apparently I learned some lessons from the bug photo, though -I upped the ISO (first to 400 then to 800), put the camera on manual, chose a large aperture (to get more light so I could get a faster shutter speed), exposed for appx -1 and took some shots. It was kinda working, but none came out as sharp as I had hoped. As I continued the windshield got more and more foggy. It was clear that I'd soon have to make a choice: sacrifice my comfort for this photo opportunity or fire the Jeep back up to get warm?

Another glance at the snowflakes and it was clear I had no choice. I went outside. I took pictures of any single snowflake that stood out from the piles on my Jeep, the trees, or the nearby lamp post supports. This particular shot was off the hood/fender flare of my Jeep with that green gate in the background. When I parked infront of it, I intended it to look green in my photos, but with my exposure set to about -1, it turned out looking black. I don't mind, though. I like it this way too.

After about 15 minutes outside my hands were numb (it was like -4*F out!), so I had to call it quits. I jumped back in the Jeep, took a couple more shots through the windshield, then fired the engine up hoping it'd get warm quick. Before heading back out into traffic, I hesitantly turned my windshield wipers on and smeared those beautiful snowflakes all over the windshield so I wouldn't hit the cars that remained infront of me for the next 2 hours as I inched my way home.

This morning, I went through the photos and there are only a few of any interest, this one being the best of them. I cropped it in Gimp, used "levels" on it to make the snow a little whiter and then did a very slight unsharp mask to crispen it up a bit.

It's not perfect. If the depth of field were deeper it'd be much better, but it seems I'm learning... This success has increased my confidence, although I did get some sharp macros of bugs outside this fall when I first got this lens (Canon 100mm f/2.8). In fact, I think that being outside has a lot to do with it -more available light means it's possible to use higher shutter speeds which eliminates motion blur, leaving you with the simple yet monumental task of getting the focus right. Practice. I'm sure it's just a matter of practice. (Although I'm not sure I'll be heading back out into the 0 degree weather to practice. -Let's hope it warms up!).

Well, they say you learn more from bad photos than you do from the good ones...

The making of a bad photo....

I ordered a rock for my aquarium from eBay and received it this week from the seller who lives in Texas. Along with the rock, I received this kinda cool looking bug, so I decided to use it for macro photography practice. This is the best of about 200 photos I took last night... :-\ Looking back on the session, I did a bunch of stuff wrong, but I can't say the time was wasted. -I learned a few lessons last night, and figured I'd share the whole experience here...

First, I set up the area like I usually do for studio shots: I did these on the kitchen counter, so I set up a white background to use under and behind the bug. I turned on the overhead halogen spot-light thingy for direct overhead lighting, I had a the soft light from a ceiling fan (2x 40w equivalent fluorescent bulbs) behind me and overhead, a floor lamp with a 60w equivalent fluorescent bulb leaned at about a 45* angle so it'd be pointed directly at the subject from my (lower) left, and a halogen desk lamp on the counter to my right and very close to the subject. The desk lamp is really powerful, though, so I placed my other homemade softbox in front of the light to eliminate the harsh reflections it would cause.

I then put my camera on Apeture Priority mode and took some shots of the bug on a white piece of plastic at f/16 with a Shutter Speed of 1/2 second. I got 4 or 5 shots that are fairly crisp, but after reviewing them, I found that they were boring since they involved only the bug. I needed something else to add interest... I hunted through the house, and eventually got the idea to use my wooden mannequin as a prop.

My original intent was to use a vertical framing to get more of the mannequin in the shot, but since my tripod won't allow a vertical camera position, I shot it from further away thinking I could crop it later. My technique was to set my focus, catch the bug, put him on the mannequin's hand, then when it looked like he was in a good position, hit the remote shutter release as many times as possible (if any) before he moved; then go back, review the shots, reset the focus, and try again.

First, when I backed the camera up (I was using a Canon fixed 100m f/2.8 lens), I apparently lost light because I kept the camera on Aperture Priority with a setting of f/16 and it just kept blinking at me. I ignored the settings I used on my previous shots, switched to Manual mode and did whatever I could to get the shutter speed up fairly high (1/60 to 1/125) thinking I had to stop any of the bug's motion, and then I tried to get the aperture as small as possible (preferably between f/8 and f/16) to get a deeper depth of field to make it more likely that I could get a sharp shot. This included setting the exposure to be underexpose by 1 stop (because the scene was so light with the white background). But, no matter what I did, I could never get a sharp shot. Even with the flash turned on I couldn't get anything close to acceptable. In the end I kept blaming my focus -I felt that being so far away meant it was harder to see, therefore harder to focus; so, I moved the camera in closer and framed the shot as you can see above.

I took shot after shot using the same technique as before although at some point I learned something new: by puffing air at the bug (kindof like stuttering the first part of "but" over and over at it) -he'd stop crawling around to investigate the air for a second. That was super helpful -it meant a slower shutter speed could be used! But, I felt (at the time) that "slower" meant, like, 1/60 because I tried a few at 1/30 or slower before, but saw movement and blurring. :-\

I'm dumb...
I apparently hadn't paid attention the first few photos that were taken at 1/2 of a second or I wouldn't have been so focused on trying to keep the shutter speed from 1/60 to 1/125 while attempting these shots. -I find that when I get frustrated by both not getting the shot I want (and with the added complexity of a constantly moving subject), I loose track of the technical details and stop thinking about what I'm doing. Another lesson... but one I consider "under construction" -I need to work on calming down and going through my options more carefully.

With the puffing technique (and perhaps with the bug getting tired/frustrated) I was able to stand behind the camera and manually focus when the bug was still, then take my hands off the camera and press the remote shutter to take a photo. The shots were getting better, but upon zooming-in on the LCD, they were still not usable... So, I kept doing this over and over trying to get the aperture smaller while keeping the shutter speed up to freeze any motion. After many photos, I was in another rut, but the bug kept staying fairly still... -How about an even slower shutter speed and mirror lockup I asked myself? So, I turned it on. The bug, surprisingly enough, stayed still enough for me to take quite a few shots like this. Not that they were getting much better...

Eventually, I got the one you see above and I quit. I was tired, frustrated, and going back and forth between kicking myself for buying this lens when it's obviously my technique that needs work, and remembering how well some of my first shots had been when I bought this lens in the fall...

While reviewing my shots on the computer I noticed another glaring mistake. The white background, with the light-colored mannequin made for a dull photo... Sure, the bug stood out, but the photo just didn't "pop". I guess I was too frustrated to notice. So, this morning I took a little time in Gimp to try to make white turn into blue...

I'm just angry with myself over this one. It could have been so much better. The depth of field is the biggest technical problem -it's just not deep enough for the mannequin to be obvious enough -I find myself squinting and looking for more detail there... I mean, it didn't need to be (perhaps, shouldn't have been) in sharp focus, but more detail would have made this photo a bit better. The vertical framing with more of the mannequin included in the shot would help the composition too, I think, but the bug was so far away when I had it set up like that -I don't think I'd be able to see well enough to get it in focus. Of course, if I would have let the shutter speed get lower so I could use a smaller aperture, that'd probably help...

Grr... I want to be better at macro shots :-(

I'm a cultural genious!

Today I realized that in England the song "Skip to my loo" would be about going to the bathroom.

"Xmas" vs "Christmas"

Yep. It's true, you got me. I'm one of those people who write "Xmas" instead of "Christmas". It's not even out of laziness, I'm not just saving myself from writing those extra 5 letters. It's not even because "X" stands for the Greek letter "Chi" which used to mean "Christ" or whatever that story is... Nope. I do it because I don't believe in Christ, yet I celebrate the holiday with friends and family. -It's an easy way to express the idea of a non-religious Christmas. I suppose I could start calling it "Christmas-lite" if you'd prefer...

Now, let's face it. Christmas has been drifting further and further from a religious holiday for centuries now... The killer was the inclusion of Santa Clause in the 17th century. Boy, nothing takes a kid's focus off of God faster than the promise of gifts. "Hey Tommy, who do you hope comes down this chimney tonight, Jesus or Santa Clause?"

But there's no going back, so we have to deal with the present, right? Luckily Jerry Falwell's here to tell you about the war on Christmas. Yep. He says you're "either with us or against us". Now, where have I heard those words before...

So, you don't want to be "against" the good pastor! You gotta join his fight! Here's how:

• Throw away Christmas cards that don't say "Merry CHRISTmas" (including the one fromPresident Bush.)
• Boycott Wal-Mart for changing their signs to a more inclusive message: "Happy Holidays".
• Correct people when they write "Xmas" rather than "Christmas" and remind them that the son of your god died because God was mad at us for eating an apple
  

Really, people! Once again it all boils down to "us vs them". Christian and non-Christian. We're asking the Christians to give up being singled out as the only religious group in the country, and accept the acknowledgement of other religions by not screaming like a little babies when someone says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". 80% of the country may be Christian, but that leaves 20%, or 1/5th that are not. Unless you feel it's a personal insult that we're not a 100% Christian nation, I say get over it!

According to Wikipedia, "Christian Values" are said to be:

• worship of God: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
• fidelity in marriage: "Whom God has joined together let no man put asunder."
• renunciation of worldly goods: "Gather not your riches up upon this earth, for there your heart will be also."
• renunciation of violence: "If a man strike you on one cheek, turn the other cheek."
• forgiveness of sins: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."
• unconditional love: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

How does throwing away "Holiday" cards from friends and family, boycotting businesses who cater to everyone (not just Christians), and ranting at people over their choice of names for a holiday measure up against the stated "Christian values". Hmm... I'd give you an "F", but I don't feel qualified judging you, so I'll leave you with this:

What would Jesus do?

"Xmas" vs "Christmas" -Foreword

Yesterday, on the photography_beginners yahoogroup that I own, a member felt it necessary to post this in response to someone's story about a printing mix-up when they had some photos printed for use as Xmas cards...

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.....

Not X-mas

Do we greet eachother and say "Merry X-mas"?? No!! We say "Merry
CHRISTmas"!! Christ didn't forget about you when he died on the
cross!! We shouldn't forget about him at this time of the year (or
any other time of the year). Is it too much to type the entire
phrase?? Have we become that lazy of a society??

Sorry... that's just one of my pet peeves. We don't say happy X-
anza (quanza) or happy X-ukah (hannukah).

Ralph

Ralph's response got me a tad angry, so I went and took a shower -it's where I do my best thinking... I thought of several good responses, then thought about my goal being the list owner and knew that I had to leave all the good arguements and humerous quips behind and just stop the conversation without adding my 2¢.

By not revealing my own religious prefrence, I hoped to leave Ralph thinking about why I put him on moderation (inflamatory posting about a non-photography-related subject) rather than just being angry at me as a non-Christian trying to put his religion down.

But, I need an outlet for my frustration, so I'm picking up my uh... keyboard again and will make a blog post.

To do: Photo Studio Technical Assignment

A guy on Flickr posted this lesson about

lStudio Technical Assignment
Originally uploaded by Daniel Tückmantel.

Learning to use perspective control and lighting ratios.

Right and Wrong

We, as a society are often lead to believe that the world is filled with "either, or's".

Good or bad.
Right or wrong.
Black or white.
With us or against us.
Republican or Democrat.

The reality, however, is that the world is full of grey.

Lesson #1: Learn to recognize propaganda.
It's all around you and not always as obvious as the billboards and signs put up by special interest groups. Propaganda is spread through the media, speeches made by government officials, through churches, in popular music, tv programs (including "reality shows"), etc. It comes at us from all directions along with advertisements and other things that we don't take in any more deeply than your average advertisement, yet just like we tend to pick up the brand named laundry detergent in the store, those other messages effect us as well. Consider the source of any information you get and check the statistics yourself. A quick goggle search is usually all it takes. Then, check out the arguments on the other side of the debate to make sure you have all the information before you declare your position on a topic. If you find you don't agree 100% with either side, that's good, it means you're a real person and not a "follower" (aka "mindless drone").

Lesson #2: We all have bias, learn yours and keep it in check.
There's no shame in having positions, but make sure that YOU have THEM, and not the other way around. I'm very opinionated, but I recognize that since I don't believe in a god, I tend to favor reading, watching, or listening to things that are critical of religion. At first I chose this material because it entertained me, then I realized it was strengthening my bias against religion to the point where I went beyond logic and began actively hating the church -wanting to attack it in some way, show people their God was false, discount the church's position in society, etc. -That's going too far. It's important to realize when that happens, then you need to pull yourself back, and start seeking media geared towards the other side of the debate. It probably won't change your mind, but it'll help you see that those on the other side believe in their opinions as strongly as you do. If you don't take time to listen and consider their ideas, how can you expect them to do the same with your arguments and viewpoints?

Lesson #3: Before taking any action, make sure you'll still feel good about it tomorrow.
It's easy to get worked up by the topic of the day, but if you intend to take it one step further by joining a campaign or otherwise working for a cause (including publicly advertising your opinion via T-shirts, bumper stickers, etc) make sure you know where you stand on the topic and think of it in a broader sense. -Is it really what's best for the whole country? What if you (or your child) were in the minority (or the adversary)-would you feel that the change you're fighting for would still be considered fair? -Lots of people believed that slavery was moral and that black people didn't deserve equal rights all the way up until the 1960's when the last of the laws allowing segregation of public facilities and marriage were abolished. If you were fighting to keep segregation then, you'd be embarrassed about it today. Is the topic of today the next big embarrassment of tomorrow?

Which side are you on?

Drama -I'm too old for it.

What is it about some people that makes them hold other people up while they do something insignificant? or be the one person in a group who has a problem with the restaurant that everyone else wants to go to? Does it make them feel superior? -seeing they have the power to determine where the group goes or what they do? Or, perhaps, they just aren't good team players and lack the social skills to negotiate their own needs and wants with those of the group. Either way, these are people I don't wish to be around.

I spent a 4 day weekend with a group of about 12 people, on and off. Every time a decision had to be made personal issues that existed between Mike and Charlotte meant Charlotte threw a fit and either altered our plans, held us up, or otherwise made a scene. ...and if it wasn't her, it was Kris who had an issue with the plan and had to have it altered to suit him. If either of them put forth any effort at all to think about the other ~11 people in the group rather than just themselves, the weekend would have been awesome. Instead, we spent much of the time arguing over where to go and what to do because of a few people who just couldn't put their own selfishness aside for a moment and just go along for the ride.

There was even drama between the men. I actually HEARD someone say "Albert says he'll talk to Mike if Mike comes and talks to him first." PEOPLE! are we in kindergarten here or what!?!

It's a shame. I hope they grow out of it. In the meantime, I'll be limiting the amount of time I spend with them in order to maintain my sanity.

Insurance

I got a $150 bill from my dentist in the mail and freaked out. See, I have dental insurance (from Great West), for free from my employer, so one day I figured that after 13 years since my last visit, maybe I should go to the dentist again. I had 2 cavities, needed a deep cleaning, and had some pockets they wanted to keep an eye on.

"Okay, fine, whatever. Take care of it" says I. -I was here to improve my dental health after all, the most obvious way to do that is to do what the doctor says.

So, I had the cavities filled and went back every 3 months for checkups like they suggested. Then I get this statement in the mail from my dental insurance company stating that they won't cover the entire cost of the resin fillings the dentist used to fill the cavities because they are in the back of my mouth and my checkup isn't covered at all because I'm only allowed a check up every 6 months.

Now, I wasn't given a choice about the material used to fill my cavities. I didn't even know a choice was available! How am I, as a customer, supposed to keep track of which teeth are considered "posterior" and therefore ineligable for resin fillings? I'd love to see a list of things that are or are not covered. How big of a book would that be? How much of it would I understand as a person who's not all that interested in dentistry. -Will I have my teeth for awhile longer? Good.

...And the worst thing is that this same exact thing happened with my Great West medical insurance in June. I had several bills that were denied or only partially covered and I ended up paying around $400 out of pocket. Needless to say, those little suprise bills hurt me that month -I have my money budgeted out pretty tightly.

Without the knowledge (or time) to figure out what's covered and what's not, a trip to the doctor or dentist is like a game of roulette with my money. Will this proceedure be covered? Who knows, spin the wheel, place your bets, and above all -Good Luck!

Ed's response to my rant -we should move to Canada. I'm totally for it at the moment.

The restaurant waiting game.

As I said before, we eat out a lot. When deciding where to go, my top 3 questions are:

• What do I feel like/not feel like?
  
• What area is most convenient?
• What time is it?

The type of food and location are probably normal, and those of you who live in populated areas might be able to figure out where I'm going with the time thing too...

Saturday we were looking for a place to eat. It was 6pm, a borderline time for finding a restaurant with a short (or preferably non-existant) wait. The whole concept of having to wait for a table is annoying to me. I mean, if you're looking for a place to eat at 8pm on a Saturday night, you're hard pressed to find a Denny's without a wait. It's insane! ...So you wait 2 hours for a table at a decent restaurant only to get bad service because your server is as exasperated as you are with the number of hungry people packed into the restaurant tonight. The upside for them -tips. What do I get for my wait? Nothing. The same food I could have gotten Thursday night at the same price, but without the wait. I try to plan accordingly and hit "favorite" places at unpopular times, but like many people it's often easier and more relaxing to go out to nice places on the weekend. Something has to change.

Oh, right, back to Saturday night. As you can guess from the pre-rant above, we selected a restaurant (Texas Roadhouse in Joliet) and there was a wait. 50 minutes to be exact. So, we took a number, then sat down to discuss our options. In the end, Ed and Kris were starving, so we left and went to Panera Bread instead. ...but Kris never told the hostess at the Roadhouse that we were going elsewhere.

When we were finished eating at Panera I noticed that it was about 10min or so until our number would be called at Texas Roadhouse... Hmm... Ed and Kris were disappointed that we didn't go there. They've been wanting to go all week. Who else is in the same position? -It's 7 o'clock now, the wait's probably an hour and half at least. Could we sell our number to a new or recent arrival? I wonder how much someone would pay to get seated immediately? Is there a potential business selling spaces in restaurants? I, for one, would pay $5 to reduce my wait from 45min to 15min. $10 to go from 1hr to 5-10min? Hmm...

Customer Rant?

I ran into the waiterrant blog a few weeks ago and read the whole thing! Considering Ed and I eat out almost every night, it's interesting to hear what goes on behind the waiter's smile and accommodating attitude. But what about the customer???

I've seen firsthand how rude customers can be, but I've also experienced bad service. I think we need a customerrant! I doubt I'll be that blogger, but a dining experience last night was worthy of ranting about...

We found ourselves in Plainfield looking for food. Ed and I have driven past Main St several times, noting the cute restaurant called Baci's that looks like a church. So, we decided to give it a try.

We had no idea what to expect, so we opened the doors, walked through the arched doorway, and were greeted by an 18 year old host dressed in a heavy metal t-shirt. Mmm... Okay, well, perhaps they're understaffed, I thought.

We were shown to a very private U-shaped booth that'd seat up to 6 people. On the wall was an adjustment knob for the music volume and a slider to adjust the lighting. Nice touch! The rest of the ambiance was... well, not great, but it's an old church, so what would you expect? It's kindof lodge-looking with wood paneling everywhere. It looks like they've got room upstairs and in the basement for parties or other gatherings. The bathrooms are in the basement, which might be a problem for those with mobility issues, but then again I think the only entrance had stairs too -I'm not sure.

Looking over the menu, there was the usual fair. Pizza and pasta mostly, but the choices were good -vodka sauces, gnocci, chicken, veal... You can even get pesto sauce on your pizza, which I'd love to try! The prices were high considering the ambiance, but were about right for the quaility of the food... once we got it...

Now, usually we're indecisive and have to ask servers to come back for our order, but last night we were waiting and waiting to put our drink order in. ...it didn't look like they were overstaffed at all and the place was far from mobbed, so we had no idea what the problem was.

When our waitress finally made it around to our table, we put our drink orders in and ordered our food at the same time. Once again we had to wait awhile for our drinks, but they came with bread and roasted garlic, so -cool! We downed the bread and our drinks and waited for refills. Refills took forever! While waiting we witnessed our waitress arguing with a customer over whether they said no onions on their appetizer. She swears she wrote it down right, the kitchen must have screwed it up. -Whatever, just fix it -it wasn't drawn out, but it was an indication she was having problems with more than just our table...

Finally she came around to get Ed a refill on his diet, no ice. Now, it's not unusual for servers to get the 'no ice' wrong on the refill -it's okay, we know it's just habit to put the ice in. We politely pointed out the mistake, and she left to go get a new soda. Again it took her forever to get back with the refill. She dropped it off hastily along with more bread and dashed off towards the kitchen again. -Ed takes a sip of the soda and it's regular, not diet. ...Now we're getting frustrated.

We set it on the edge of the table as an indication of a problem, but she doesn't notice. While we keep an eye out for her, we notice the smell of someone smoking... Our friend Kris points out that there was a "No Smoking" sign when we came in, but it's the HOST that's smoking! Nice... Everyone who worked there looked like they were in high school and acted like it. Their behavior would have been considered normal at Chili's, but considering the prices and quality of food, I found it to be unprofessional in this setting.

Eventually Ed and I both got refills and we started on a 3rd loaf of bread while keeping an eye on our watches. We arrived at the restaurant around 7:30pm, it was 8:30pm and we hadn't gotten our food yet! When it arrived, there was no explanation for the delay. -I understand that there are sometimes nights where a restaurant is short-staffed or the waitress is just having a bad day. As long as there's communication about the problems and status of the food, it's not a big deal. But we never heard, there was no appology, it was just bad service...

The food, on the other hand, was excellent. It all tasted great, wasn't totally overcooked (like I've found the Olive Garden lately), but we also all agreed that we wouldn't be back because of the service. It's unfortunate; I really wanted to try that pesto pizza!

Luckily, we didn't have to wait for the check! (I think they were looking to close soon.) Payment went quickly and smoothly, but I had to fight my tablemates to leave a tip (they wanted me to leave nothing). Maybe I should have, I don't know, but I left 10 % and we got the heck outta there. -It was past my bedtime! Who would have ever thought pasta could take that long???




Okay... Maybe that was more of a restaurant review than a customerrant. I don't know. This is a topic-less blog, deal. :)

Personal Blog moved to Yahoo 360

I've started a blog on Yahoo 360 about what's going on in my life for those friends and family who are interested. This blog has been kinda crazy -some personal stuff, some political, etc. I don't know what it'll be in the future, but I guess we'll find out...

Canon 30D

Here it is...


And here's the story of how it got here (drama warning).

On February 21, 2006 I found out about the 30D coming out. At that time the release date (as per Canon's USA press release) was March 15, 2006. I re-did my research about the APS-sized sensor vs full size and decided to buy it. On March 5 I put in the order with Amazon -a retailer I trust, and one I assumed would get a sizable shipment as soon as the 30d was released.

On March 10th I re-checked the status of my Amazon order and saw that their site said "This item will be released on May 15, 2006." May!?! -I rechecked Canon's press release. It said March.

Well, I thought, maybe it's a typo. March, May -it's easy to mix them up. Besides, it says the 15th -coincidence? I doubt it. It's a 1/30.5ish chance. So, I emailed them.

I just checked the estimated delivery date on this item and it says May 16th. I hope this is a typo. This camera is due to hit the shelves on March 15th, so I would think I should receive it on MARCH 16th (since I selected 1 day shipping). Could you confirm the estimated delivery day so I can either sit
back and wait or cancel the order and find another supplier for this camera? I've been literally counting down the days until it's arrival.

Thanks,
-Erica

Their response (same day):

Greetings from Amazon.com.

We apologize for any frustration you've experienced. It is certainly
not our intention for our customer to have anything but a pleasant
experience at Amazon.com.

I have checked your order and found that "Canon EOS 30D 8.2MP
Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)" is going to be released on May 15,
2006. If you do not want to wait until that period I would request
you to cancel this item from your order. We do not charge you until
the item is being shipped.

The following details about this item are available on the site.

Availability: This item will be released on May 15, 2006. You may
order it now and we will ship it to you when it arrives. Ships from
and sold by Amazon.com.

Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.

Best regards,

Bhaskar
Amazon.com Customer Service

Hmm... Could the release date have been pushed off? I called Canon and the lady on the phone said it was due on MARCH 15th. To double-check I called Wolf Camera and confirmed with them that they expected the camera on March 15th as well.

So, I emailed Amazon again on March 13th:

Here's the Canon press release stating that this camera is due to hit stores MARCH 15, not May 15: http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedata/pressrelease/20060221_EOS_30D.html

Also, I just called and confirmed this with Canon. It's supposed to hit store shelves on Wednesday, MARCH 15.

Wolf Camera says they're due to get them in this month as well.

My preference is to keep my order with you guys, but if you really aren't getting them in until May I'll have to cancel and go with Wolf since they will have them this month. The question is... with my order for this camera, I also bought a Compact Flash card to go with it. I have received the card already, but I paid for 1 day shipping in order to get the camera ASAP. If I cancel this order, will I get my shipping charge refunded/discounted? The Compact Flash card is doing me no good without the camera...

-Erica

Amazon's response (March 27th):

Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com.

I apologize for any misunderstanding about the delivery estimate for
your order. The "Canon EOS 30D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera" has not
yet shipped because it has not yet been released. As listed on our
site, it is currently scheduled to be released on May 15.

I have also checked with other online camera and photo retailers,
and I cannot find one who has the item in stock--they show not
available or ships when received from the manufacturer.

As soon as the item has been released, we'll be able to ship it to
you. As per our standard policy, we do not charge you for items
until they enter the shipping process, so you will not be charged
for this item until it is available and we have shipped it to you.

Of course, we understand if you prefer not to wait. Just click the
link below and we will be happy to cancel the order for you.

I regret the inconvenience this has caused, and we thank you for
shopping with us at Amazon.com.

Please visit the following link to provide the information we
requested:

http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-mi?c=ceautcgt3280536820&q=o2r

Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept
incoming e-mail. Please use the link above to send us your reply.

Best regards,

Beth
Amazon.com Customer Service

In the interum I found out that the release day had, in fact, been pushed out -until March 27th, the same day Amazon finally responded to my email. So, I decided to call them. After all, they should be getting them in today (3/27), right? The person on the phone insisted that the 30D would be released on MAY 15th even though I was staring at 2 online retailers that showed them as "in stock".

One of them, Canoga Camera, was selling it for about $60 less than Amazon. One day shipping was about $60. In the end, I'd save a few dollars going with Canoga over Amazon... Hmm... I did some research on the store since I had never heard of them, and I found nothing but glowing reviews. So, I cancelled the Amazon order and put my order in with Canoga around noon.

I checked back with Canoga's site in the afternoon and found the camera to be "sold out". Right before going home I received a call from Canoga Camera asking me to call my credit card company to add my work address as "authorized" so they could ship it to me there. I did so, and later that night got a tracking number from Canoga.

Today, at 10am, UPS delivered my 30D. It was less than 24 hours from ordering it to having it in my hands. Thanks Canoga Camera!

NOTE: Amazon's website STILL claims that the 30d will be released on May 15th. Weird. I won't be doing any more pre-orders with them, that's for sure!