The Appetizer

I am a complete and total sucker for comfort food so when I saw tater tots I really didn’t even read the description, I simply ordered them. Let’s just say these aint my mama’s tater tots! The crust is a mix of some herbs and garlic with mainly a Michigan white cheddar cheese base. They are nice and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The dipping sauce is an herb ranch mix that when combined with the tater tots is simply divine. What you see pictured is the small order, certainly enough for a couple of people to share. These are one of the best modernizations of a classic I have probably ever had.

The Entree

I also love burgers and when a burger is recommended by the waitress at a place like Harvest, I just have to give it a shot. I was not to be disappointed with this meal. The meat seasoning was excellent and it was cooked perfectly. The slice of Canadian Bacon pulled it all together into perfect symphony of burger-nirvana. But wait…there’s more…notice the chalice of fries, not just any fries, but garlic Parmesan fries that filled the area with an aroma that must have been sent from the Gods. Sadly, at this point I was so stuffed from the tater tots and burger that there was only room for a couple of fries no matter how delicious they were.

Summary

As tempting as it may be to get out on the streets of Chicago to go grab some dinner, you certainly don’t need to feel like you have to with a place like Harvest sitting on the second floor. The wait staff was friendly and helpful and the food was simply amazing. Even the lemonade was excellent. Harvest certainly deserves my top rating.

Red Flag Warning

I should have been able to figure out that something was going to go horribly wrong when it took some driving around to find a parking spot as the lot is surrounded by Earls (upscale American cuisine), P.F. Changs, and Champps and upon entering Champps to find it nearly devoid of people. This should have been enough of a warning for me to run out and go to one of the other places right there…but noooooooo.

Appetizer

I truly love Buffalo Wings and getting the opportunity to spend a lot of time last year in Buffalo, I have become somewhat of a wing snob and very very few places can hold a candle to Buffalo area restaurants like The Bar Bill when it comes to wings. that being said, I still try my chances once in a while and occasionally find some excellent wings around the country…sadly..today was not one of those days. I don’t know what dwarf chickens these cuts came from but I can tell you that they were the smallest wings I have even seen in my life. Size isn’t everything and seeing that it was a starter after all, I wasn’t going to deduct any points for size. Then I ate them. They were downright awful. I have never had such greasy wings in my life…even Pizza Hut and Little Caesars do wings better. Just look at the grease drippings on the plate. Surely the rest of the meal would fair better.

The Entree

If you want your baby back, baby back, baby back ribs…do yourself a favor and get them elsewhere. But…before we get into the ribs, take a close look at those waffle fries…they are a nice pale yellow…not golden brown..any kitchen monkey should be able to tell just by glancing at them that they are not fully cooked…Not a huge loss, I try not to eat too many fries these days but not a good omen by any stretch. Onto the ribs..I wish I was exaggerating here when I say that these ribs are most certainly, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the most over boiled, under-seasoned, poorly seared, and over sauced ribs to ever hit a dinner plate. Seriously, go to CostCo, grab the ribs, toss them in the nuker for a few minutes and you will have an complete and total foodgasm compared to this miserable slab of wet meat.

Summary

It all began to make sense, a completely packed parking lot and almost nobody in the restaurant. I would have had a better meal with a McRib and fries than this absolutely horrible meal. There was not a single redeeming quality to anything that was served. If this Champps is still in business in six months it will be an absolute miracle. Do not, under any circumstance waste one penny there.

For these shots we had a super simple setup with just a 44″ softbox umbrella with a Blackbelt Lighting BB560 speedlite in it set to 1/2 power. With the camera set to 1/250th, ISO 100, f/5.6 we were able to pull really nice light. The softbox umbrella was mounted on a lightweight boom arm so that the umbrella was positioned about 2′ above the model and about a 45 degree angle up from their face.

Part of the goal of this shoot was to try out some new modifiers from one of my favorite companies FJ Westcott. The two main products that we were working with were the 7′ White Reflective Umbrella and the 43″ Orb Softbox.

After using these two products for a day of shooting they are my new favorite modifiers. The light quality from these large modifiers is super smooth while still being controllable.

Here is a setup shot showing just the 43″ Orb being used to light the model. Because of the Orb’s large size, we only needed this single modifier. In this case we were using an Alien Bees AB1600 on only about 1/32 power with the camera on ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/250th second. This gave us super fast recycle times with enough power to still use a very low ISO setting and avoid any digital noise in the image.

I will be doing a complete review of these products on Camera Dojo soon so stayed tuned for more information. To see more of the images from this shoot, visit my SMUGMUG site at http://kgarrison.smugmug.com.

We finally relocated into a dry parking structure for some more shooting and I chose a spot with almost no ambient lighting so that I could have total control over the lighting.

In this shot, I used a single 24″ softbox from BlackbeltLighting.com and had Amanda turned directly facing the light. This harsh angle provided a nice soft light on her face while illuminating the back wall at the same time.

In this next shot, I had pulled the softbox about 15′ away from the wall so that it wouldn’t light up the wall and then used a second flash with the same 1/2 CTO gel as before pointed at the side of his head to create the hair light.

With Kelsey, I didn’t want the lighting to be quite as dramatic so I placed a third light to camera right with an ExpoImaging Rouge Flashbender as a basic fill light. I still had the 24″ softbox and gelled hair light in the same position as the shot of JK above.

Moving the gelled light from the side to directly behind Kelsey’s head. we got a completely different look with a dramatic rim light effect.

To see more pictures from the event, check out my SmugMug Gallery.

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.

Packing for this week’s trip I wanted to see what see how much I could take with me easily with the new bag. Here is the correct. Peter list of everything that I packed into the bag.

• Sigma 24-70 2.8
• Canon EOS 7D with 50mm lens and battery grip
• Canon 70-200 2.8 IS L
• Canon 580 EX II
• Lensbaby Composer Pro w/Sweet 35
• Lensbaby Edge 80
• Dell XPS laptop
• Motorola Xoom tablet
• Vanguard GH200 Pistol Grip ballhead
• Extra pair of glasses
• Cell phone

Also notice the tripod sling built into the front holding a Tonaex Kerry Garrison Signature tripod

That is one heck of a lot of gear and the camera is all set and ready to pull out and shoot. I am will see how it goes working with the bag this week. One downside…the bigger the bag, the more you can stuff in it, and the heavier it will get. I’m glad I didn’t get the Heralder 38, I would have it too heavy to carry.

You just have to give both Brad and Mary credit for finding love again with each other. They have actually known each other for 26 years and it just took this much time for the stars to align for them. I wish Brad (yes, his name really is Brad Pitt) and Mary the best in their new life together. Peace my friend!

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.

This one was recorded in our cargo van so the noise reduction makes it sound pretty tiney. I apologize for the poor audio quality.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydenIRIsUrY