Misc.

Misc. posts that don’t fit anyplace else.

Integrity Hyundai – NO INTEGRITY!!!

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No Integrity!!

We went to Integrity Hyundai in Lethbridge and found that there was not much Integrity there.

I have seldom written a complaint on here but this made me MAD!!

My daughter needed a car for school. Went in and we drove a used Sonata. Got the prices and info and we went home so she could think about it. She texts the salesperson at 7pm to say she will take it at a certain price and with the new tires he offered as well as the extended warranty package. Gets a response “I will make that happen for you” then minutes later “Just talked to my boss done”. We went in at 9am the next day to pay for it but the lady that works in finance was not in. They agreed that it was okay if she came back later that they would hold the car. My wife and her go back to pay after lunch and they changed their mind and refused to include the tires. THEN the kicker “We have someone else that is here to buy it”. They changed their deal as they got a higher offer. NO INTEGRITY at all!!! Funny thing is that I have bought two new cars from them and I have recommended them dozens of times. I hope the extra thousand dollars was worth it as I will be telling all my business associates, students and posting this on all social media!! Send this to others!!!!

It is a sad state when the mighty dollar is more important then ones own integrity!

Waterton Mosquitoes

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Waterton Mosquitoes

One type of wildlife not mentioned in Waterton are the mosquitoes! My latest trip to Waterton was June 15 & 16 2019. I was not suppose to be in Waterton but was so happy I was there. The forecast for two days of rain did not happen, the temperature was nice and the wind was low… what more could you ask for!!

I seldom go into the town site. One of my favorite stops is at Maskinonge Lake. I have a couple spots I love to park at and will spend hours there. When I got to Waterton it was clear but the clouds started to move in. I got to a spot to park and wanted to head out in the kayak but I pulled a muscle a few weeks ago and still am trying to get it to heal. Instead I watched the storm move in then went to explore.

Maskinonge Lake, Mosquitoes and all!!
Waterton June 15 2019, Maskinonge Lake
Look out mosquitoes - the Thermacell is running.

When I stopped I opened the back doors. There is a huge screen to stop bugs and it was COATED in seconds!! I carry my bear spray when I am out and was tempted to use it on all the mosquitoes.

They were THICK!!!!

I recently bought a new device that I decided to try. It is called a Thermacell and on the first try I found it works GREAT!!!!

I had another device years ago I thought was made by Thermacell and it worked good. This works amazing!!

In 15 minutes the screen was clear and I could stand under my canopy and there was not a bug to be found!!!

After the storm passed I went out to shoot and as I walked away from the Thermacell I was eaten alive. Proof how well it works!

Fly on flower
I love to photograph bugs & insects as long as they are not trying to eat me 🙂

If you like to camp or be out in nature I cannot recommend this more!!! The one I bought clips to your belt so if you are going out taking pictures you can attach it to your belt. They have other models as well. Not cheap, but effective!!!

This link will take you to Canadian Tires line. They are also available at Walmart and a few other places in Lethbridge.

Read more on my exploring

External Hard Drives – WARNING

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I am a BIG advocate of using external hard drives to store your images and data. This is of course in addition to other back-up sources. Things such as DVD’s, extra external hard drives and additional computers.

External Hard Drives

New Drive

Recently I went out and bought another external hard drive. Picked up a Lacie to transfer all my nature pictures to. That way I would have them in one place and be able to take it with me when I am on the road without taking other files. Spent a Saturday night and part of Sunday transferring and organizing the new drive. I have several other Lacie drives as back-ups and have had no problems to date. Then I took the to the studio to download the files there.

I plugged the drive into one of the studio computers and watched as it said “New Drive Detected”, “Installing Hardware”, “New Device is now ready to use”. Then I clicked on My Computer to find that the device is not there. Tried a second computer then a third, all with the same results.

External Hard Drive
External Hard Drive

That not good

I was finally able to locate the drive through a couple of backdoor routes and found that the drive was running. But after a lot of research I found that even with the computer recognizing the drive it was not accessible. After looking into it I found out that it is the way the drive was set-up from the factory.

So a word of warning, if you have an external drive that you are using make sure that it is readable on other computers! You should do this ASAP!!! I would actually try several computers to make sure if your computer should die, or be upgraded, that the external drive is accessible.

Check your drives NOW!!!

Again as a word of warning, if you have an external drive check it on another computer ASAP to make sure that it can be read, before you need the drive to work and it doesn’t. This is one of those issues that if you find out when you have a computer problem it is too late!!!

Lethbridge Journal Article

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Lethbridge Journal Article

A number of years ago The Lethbridge Journal did an article on my teaching. Click here for a large size to read.

I am always amazed at how many people are shocked to know they can take a course on photography. Years ago the only place that you could get a course was at a university or a college. I was the first private teacher in southern Alberta. A couple of my students said that I was the only one they knew about in western Canada. It seems strange looking at the teachers of today, everyone is a teacher. If a photographer has shot a couple images they will offer to teach. When I started I was so nervous as I did not know what I would teach. Back then I taught how to shoot film and two hours was a lot of time. Now two hours can barely touch even a simple digital camera.

Lethbridge Journal Article
Lethbridge Journal Article

About my courses

GREAT day of catch-up

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A great day doing so many little projects and still working on one big project. Got some small house projects done. Took the dog for three long walks. Even as cold as it was today it felt nice to just be out. AND still working on updating the web site. The web site has had a lot of work done on it and in the process I have been pulling a lot of digital images in the files.

Ending a great day, looking at old images
Ending a great day, looking at old images

Came across this one and I still love it. Old wagon wheel in my backyard. From 2005. I have a 24×30 print of it in the studio but was amazed to see how well the file holds up against even the newest cameras today for sharpness and clarity.

As a side note if you are looking for more teaching material I have added a number of files to the website under courses. You can read and even download and print for free. I will try to keep adding to this list as I write more blog posts, another thing on my to do list for 2019.

At least with it being so cold outside I am able to get these jobs caught up. Would not argue with a warm spell for a while as long as the winds stay down!

#lethbridgephotographer #canon #cold #winter #project #staywarm #business #funday #snow

Teaching Tip – bring on the bad!

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Getting to the issue when teaching

Whenever I am teaching I always ask students to bring me their bad images.  If I am critiquing work to help improve someones photography I ask to see the unedited images.  WHY?  Because anyone can luck out and get a great image, or spend enough time in Photoshop to fix an image.  But seeing the bad or unedited images will show what a person does most of the time.  This is true in other areas as well.  I don’t care what you are like when everything is going perfect, but what are you like when things are going bad?  You may be a great wedding photographer when the temperature is 20C and there is no wind or bugs, but what are you like in -10C and a 100k wind, or with a bride that is in a miserable mood?

Read moreTeaching Tip – bring on the bad!