Moonbow!
This was taken December 18 of last year and I just stumbled upon it in one of my files.
Canon 60D, 16-35mm 2.8L Lens, On Tripod, f4.5, 1/15 ISO 400
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Archive: May 2011
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The Ultimate Camera Gear Organizer!
So check it out….I have very limited room in my bag for gear and equipment, but never really liked having a second bag for all the extras. The gear I take with me depends on what I am doing.
For example, if I am shooting a video, I may need a video light, microphones, and a 24-70 2.8 lens.
If I am doing a portrait shoot, I may want all of my wide primes.
If I am doing sports, I will want a long lens and 2x extender.
If I am doing a night shoot, I may want 3-4 speedlites, a cable and tons of extra batteries.
I havent really found a systematic way of organizing all of my extra lenses, batteries, speedlites, gear etc until now. I am using a clear shoe organizer in my closet. My camera bag sits right next to it with my camera bodies, and I just pick the gear I need and throw it into my camera bag. Everything has a place here. When I am done, everything goes back to the exact place it started. The best part about it is that I was able to utilize dead space behind the door and not need another shelf or container to make it happen.
I still need to label what goes where, but for now every thing has a place.
I bought the organizer on Ebay for $12!
Now Available!! Contract Maker Elite
Now Available for the iPhone, iPad:Click Here For Contract Maker Elite on the iTunes App Store!
Android Users will want to check out “Contract Maker Pro” on the Google App Market!
Hi Everyone. It’s Keoni, the Maven App Manager. I just wanted to tell everyone that Contract Maker Elite is now available!! We are so excited to finally release CM Elite. With so many new and awesome features to choose from, we hope everyone will be as excited as we are.
While talking with Michael, we noticed a few customers requesting more placeholders. CM Elite has over 600 placeholders!
Here is a link to the full description
https://itunes.apple.com/tw/app/id456805793?mt=8
Here are some of the exciting new features!Placeholder tracking
Now when any of the Text, Roller, Checkbox, Initial, and even Date & Time placeholders are used, it turns gray. Also when creating custom templates, the placeholder shows the actual text so you know exactly what is being imported into the contract! No more keeping track of which one you customized!!
Initial placeholders now allow a part of the contract to be signed or initialed to put emphasis on a particular part of the contract.
The first screenshot of the what the client will see when prompted to sign, the agree page. The second screenshot is in the setting where you would set the initial placeholder up. It shows a couple placeholders within this placeholder. How incredible!!
Youtube Video on How to Use the new Initial Placeholders:
Now there is the ability to Bold, italic, green, red and blue font styles!!
Now you can have 3 different profiles! Each with separate templates & settings! Great way to separate different businesses!
Now Available for the iPhone, iPad:Click Here For Contract Maker Elite on the iTunes App Store!
Android Users will want to check out “Contract Maker Pro” on the Google App Market!
Vendor Paypal Fee Hot Potato…. What the….?
I cannot stand it when businesses nickel and dime customers or at least try to give their customers their problem. (The Hot Potato syndrome- I have a problem and want you to solve it kinda thing.)
Something I notice more and more is the willingness of certain businesses and vendors attempting to charge their customers an extra 3% for paying by Paypal. The reason in their minds this is justified is that Paypal charges them about 3% (its actually a little less) to process the transaction. This rate is also normal for just about any business owner who accepts credit cards.
The thing that I do not understand, is that Paypal is be super fast and convenient as a business owner. How in the world can a business logically justify charging a customer to make accepting payments from them easier? I dont get it.
When you go to any physical store location and pay with a credit card, how many of them ask you to pay an additional 3% because you are using a credit card and they want you to cover the expense of their convenience? It happens, but rarely.
When I first saw this trend for online payments, it really bugged me. It is so common now however, that when it does happen, this is what I say:
“I am sorry I do not believe it to be a good practice to charge the customer a credit card processing fee and instead I can send you a check by mail. It will take 7-10 days, and another 2-3 to clear. What is your mailing address?” I do this in hopes they see that the 3% the should be paying themselves is well worth the speed of receiving payment.
I know there are some exceptions, but if a business insists on you paying that 3% fee, pay by check and send it to them in the mail the old fashion way if you can.
Rogue Flashbenders
On my Canon Speedlite Crash Course DVD I demonstrate how to make a flash diffuser for about $2. I still have and use that same diffuser I made for the video to this day (2.5 years now!) but it is getting a little beat up and I thought I would try out the Rogue Flashbender which is made out of fabric and has 3 metal inserts that allow you to shape and bend it according to your needs.
For the most part, I have been liking this product. When it comes to using flash diffusers, ultimately the larger the surface area, the softer the shadows, and the Large model is pretty big. It also uses a strap to attach to any size flash very quickly. There were however a couple things I didn’t like about it:
1. It feels a little heavier than it should be.
2. It doesn’t easily swivel around your flash, which is a very important thing when you go from landscape to portrait orientations while using flash. I think I still like Gary Fong’s diffuser for this because there are no changes required.
All in all however, I am pretty happy with it and will continue to test it out in the coming weeks. You can find it on Bhphoto.com here:
Rogue Flashbenders on BHPhoto.com
