I really believe that the Sweet 35 and Edge 80 have taken the Lensbaby products from being a niche lens into being a professional quality tool.

The latest additions to the Lensbaby family include the Composer Pro, which is an improved version of the Composer offering better movement and locking control. The Sweet 35, which is the first Lensbaby optic with an adjustable aperture and 35mm focal length. The Edge 80 is an 80mm lens with adjustable aperture and built-in extension tube for closeup work.

While I will be doing a complete review of the new products very soon, I wanted to do a quick test and see how well these new optics stake up. Since I had a model at a camera show with me yesterday, I decided to bust out the Edge 80 and see how it would perform. The first thing you should know is that these are manual focus lenses, and this can certainly present a problem when using the small viewfinder and a large aperture. The image below was done at f/5.6 using the Edge 80. The camera settings were ISO 200 and 1/100th Shutter speed.

To really do this image justice, I have cropped into the left eye to show the level of detail. Keep in mind that this was taken at 1/100th and was shot handheld. and not on a tripod.

For being a handheld shot, on manual focus, using the viewfinder, I would say that is some really sharp detail there. To say that my first impressions are good would be quite an understatement. I really believe that the Sweet 35 and Edge 80 have taken the Lensbaby products from being a niche lens into being a professional quality tool. Stay tuned for a more complete review coming soon.

Fast forward almost 30 years, and Diet Coke or the newer Coke Zero have remained my drink of choice. Surprisingly enough, I am almost 40 pounds overweight, suffer regular migraines, have high blood pressure, and am entering the risk zone for a number of other issues. My options are to continue to have health problems, or make some serious lifestyle changes.

  The Background

My overall diet isn’t THAT bad, nothing that can’t be adjusted a little without much hassle but my main vice are my drinks. I rarely drink alchohol, rarely drink plain water, if I need a drink, there are really four choices, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, or a Blue or Purple Monster Energy drink (they have 0 calories and very low carbs, so they are good for you right?) or a cup of coffee (black, no sugar, no cream).

So what’s the problem? Well, first off, I don’t want to be preachy or pretend that I am a nutritional expert, but I believe that “for me”, the root issue is Aspartame. Aspartame is the sweetener of choice for many diet drinks and while the FDA has approved it, I have researched it quite a bit and I feel that there are far more negatives than positives about it. Feel free to Google it for yourself if you are interested.

Now I am not crazy, I am not going to try to give up Aspartame AND Caffeine at the same time, plus I want to try to figure out if trying to just cut out Aspartame would have any effect or would I have to go all the way later and take Caffeine out completely as well.

So there is the background, so why am I writing this. Mostly to provide self-documentation on how it progressed but also to let other people know what I have gone through in trying to make this change and maybe help someone else that is trying to kick this habit as well.

   A Few Big Surprises

Have you ever tried to kick the caffeine habit? I certainly have and have failed each time because of the withdrawal symptoms, mostly the headaches. Well..I haven’t given up caffeine, I am drinking a coffee as I am writing this, but since the day after my last Diet Coke, I have had the migraines  I used to blame on caffeine deprivation. I am on day 5 as of right now and have not had one yet today, but I am keeping Excedine Migraine pills at arms reach just in case.

One of the more interesting side effects of Aspartame is that it messes with your brain and can actually stop you from feeling full after a meal, thus, many people who drink diet sodas often are overweight from overeating. This has always been an issue for me, I simply don’t feel full until I physically cannot fit any more food in my stomach. In the first 4 days of stopping my Aspartame-laced drinks, I have noticed that I am eating less, and getting that full feeling before I am even done with a meal. In fact, I lost four pounds in the first four days.

   Whats Else

Some people have reported mood swings, depression, anxiety, and numerous other symptoms when giving up Aspartame. For me, the headaches have been an issue and although I can’t confirm that it is related, but since day 2, I have had horrible muscle pains in my neck requiring lots of deep tissue massaging to alleviate the pain. At day 7 I will do a few checks like blood pressure, heart rate, and weight and see where I am at. It may be a little harder than normal since I am also on day two of nine days on the road with only one day at home next week. It will be interesting to see where this takes me, maybe it was a great move, maybe it was just a placebo effect, or maybe it won’t matter at all. Only time will tell.

Arrive on time
The worst possible time to have flight is a 7am scheduled flight. John Wayne Airport closes from 11pm until 7am so there are tons of flights queued up at 7am to depart. This also means the security lines are at their worst. Since the airport has now installed the full body scanners, getting through security takes a little longer. If you have a 7am flight, plan to be at the airport at LEAST 90 minutes early and two hours is a safer bet. There are lots of food choices there now so the food lines are shorter and quicker than before.

Most other flights are much better, but even the 8am flights will have very short security lines. I feel pretty safe showing up 45 minutes before a flight.

Keep in mind that your flight time is the expected take off time and boarding will about 20 minutes prior to the take off time.

Food

Unfortunately there is still no Cinnabon but there are now several bars, McDonalds, Carl’s Jr, Jerrys Hotdogs, Subway, Paid Weiss, Starbuck, and several other choices.

Power

I am very disappointed that the brand new C terminal has no power outlets while window seats in some of the older A and B terminals have power outlets behind the seats.

Overall
John Wayne Airport is not to bad to fly out of, its not a huge airport, just 20 gates so it’s easy to find your way around as everything is just in one long line. Parking at the airport is a bit pricey at about $30 a day but offsite parking is only $10.

I hope this helps someone to have a better experience here than they would otherwise. Enjoy your flights and safe travels.

The fact is, very few photographers can even pay their bills with their photography business and I actually can’t name a single photographer that I know who makes their sole income from pressing the shutter for their own business. Every photographer I know has to supplement their income with a day job, other types of work, side jobs, or by going down the teaching route.

With clients’ budgets at an all time low, this has become an even bigger issue as the price of jobs has fallen over the past few years. Add to this instructors who are telling aspiring photographers that they can easily make six figures or more or bill weddings at $10,000+ when the average photographer in the US makes $29,000 a year and you have a real recipe for disaster and disappointment.

Listen to this week’s GoCast at CameraDojo.com as I delve deeper into what’s wrong with photography education today and how to make sure your photography education budget is spent wisely.

Other upcoming dates include:

• November 27th Buena Park
• December 11th Pasadena
• December 18th Buena Park
• January 8th Pasadena
• January 22nd Buena Park
• January 29th San Diego

For more information, check out http://bargaincamerashows.com/

Thursday, October 20, 2011, 6:30 PM

Beverly Garland Holiday Inn
4222 Vineland Avenue, North Hollywood, CA (map)
Inside Beverly Garland Theatre. Hotel Self-Park to the right for $5.00 or Free Street Parking.

Kerry Garrison will demonstrate working with multiple light sources. He will start with a single speedlite and work up to six speedlites. During this presentation you will learn how to balance lighting, setup hair lights, rim lights, background lights, and more while maintaining a proper exposure.If you are wanting to move into multiple lighting setups, this will be a great primer to get you going and learn how to use different modifiers such as softboxes, snoots, grids, and other accessories to really control your lighting.

For more information: http://www.meetup.com/LASmugMug/events/36546652/

During her interview on the show, Palin said, “NPR, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, all those kind of frivolous things that the government shouldn’t be in the business of funding with tax dollars, those should all be on the chopping block as we talk about the $14 trillion debt that we’re going to hand to our kids and our grandkids. Yes, those are the type of things that, for more than one reason, need to be cut.”

In response, Ovation’s CEO Charles Segars, released the following statement:

“While it’s not surprising that those hungry for constant media attention, like Sarah Palin, would use the misguided words of one former NPR employee as fodder to call the entire organization a mouth piece for the Left, I am surprised that she would go so far as to extend this thinking to the NEA.  She has called the NEA ‘frivolous’ and said it should be cut.  This kind of knee-jerk, uninformed rhetoric is the stuff of cheap-shot campaign commercials.  America’s arts sector is a huge driver of our economy and proposed cuts to the NEA don’t take into account the substantial return on investment those funds generate in tax revenue to local, state and federal treasuries.  Shame on her for turning the arts into partisan politics.  It doesn’t take much creative thinking to work this out.  The Arts are good for America and Americans, and on Arts Advocacy Day April 5 — you’ll hear many more voices join the chorus.”

The wireless flash triggers give you about 100 feet of wireless range to position as many lights as you want.  The YN560 flash delivers professional results at a fraction of the name brand equipment.

Wedding and portrait photographers around the country have been snatching these up as fast as we can ship them. In fact, we sell a complete lighting kit which includes THREE flashes, three lightstands, three umbrellas, three receivers, a transmitter, and a reflector for less than the cost of a single Canon 580 EX II!!!

Already have a Canon 580 EX/EX II, Nikon SB-800/SB-900, Fuji, Sony, Olympus, or other name brand flash? The YN560 can be put in optical slave mode and will ignore the TTL pre-flash from your existing flash allowing you to add additional lighting to your existing kit for far less than you would have ever dreamed.

This is the same gear I am now using on a daily basis and many people from amateur to pro are now using too. If you want pro results on a newbie budget, check out my lighting products at http://blackbeltlighting.com.

One relatively recent addition to the photography market is professional photo books. I’ve found that professional photo books give my clients a really slick alternative to the traditional photo album. Photo books can be used to create a keepsake of your wedding day memories, share your daughter’s first year with her grandparents overseas, or even showcase your product offerings in a unique way.

Available in a variety of sizes, and with a choice of covers (including leather and linen), photobooks are an elegant, long-lasting alternative to traditional photo albums. I can also configure your photobook so it has a special image right on the cover, or can even have a custom imprint added, personalizing your photobook even more.

You can find more information on professional photo books over at Nations Photo Lab, one of my preferred labs for prints, photobooks, enlargements and other photo products. And of course, you can contact me if you have any questions about photobooks or you’re just ready to set up an appointment to discuss your photography needs.