It was exactly a year ago that I bought a half dozen bottles of Hawaiian Tropic sunblock lotions.  I thought they worked pretty good.  I wore it religiously before I leave home for weddings.  I keep on bottle in my backup gear bag.  Sometime I don’t put on Sun-block lotion when I leave home, because the weather is gloomy.  And then, when I arrive at the wedding site, there may be a full blast of strong Sun light.  So, Sunscreen lotion is an absolute necessity for outdoor photographers.

Anyway, I am now finding out that all my Sunscreen lotions are listed in “dangerous” category.  Yikes.. this is not good.  So, I’m going to have to trash everything I have and buy a whole new batch.  This time I’m going to have to buy expensive stuff, not just the ones that are on sale.

I have a wedding coming up in 7 days.  I need to act fast and get something that will not kill me.  I need to avoid Hawaiian Tropic and stick to “California Baby” or something that doesn’t contain poison.  I cannot believe Hawaiian Tropic would sell such bad products.   The concern is with Oxybenzone. They say Oxybenzone “MAY” mess up your life.

In addition to my AS degree in Photography, I have a BS degree in computer.  As much as I enjoy photography I also enjoy computer and electronics.  When I was 12 years old I made myself a transistor radio (by soldering tiny electronic parts on the circuit board).

Photography is both art and science (and business).  This blog shows my left brain at work.

I needed to make some improvement to my existing flash light.  I thought it would be nice to install a remote trigger jack on my Canon 580EX.  I have a wireless flash system for normal wedding situations already.  With this modification, I will have more flexible lighting configuration without carrying extra flash unit.  It’s all good and fun.  I could not resist the urge to crack open and see what I can do.

This flash light is a $380.00 unit I purchased less than a year ago.  But no sweat.  The whole project was simple and fun.  I wished it was more challenging.

PS. The project took place because of two recent events:  1.) I didn’t have Internet for a few weeks.  So I had some free time to enjoy other things.   2.) I had a wedding photography job at Santa Barbara a few days ago.  The ceremony location was very dark.  I felt the need for adding one more remote flash in my line-up. 

Before drilling a hole

Case Closed

Finished Product: Now I am able to use it as a wireless system when needed

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We had a very good chemistry, the meeting went smooth.
The groom was a computer guy just like me.
They wanted a digital only wedding package, but officially, I don’t have a digital only wedding package.
So I drew up a package for them and booked the wedding.

I ordered another digital camera.
Now I need to put these cameras at work.

Digital only packages will be available very soon.
I will continue to shoot film as well.  It works for me.
My customers will now have more choices.