Last week, on Valentine’s Sunday, Melody and I planned on going to the flower district to get some flowers. It’s an easier way to get a gift rather than buying expensive jewelry, flowers and chocolates. I like to spend time with Melody, and I know she doesn’t really want anything expensive from me. So I had Melody pick out her favorite flowers, unfortunate for me they would only take cash or had a minimum purchase. So I decided to get her a bundle instead. Entrance fee to the Flower District gives you access to two buildings for 1 dollar, but beware the market closes relatively early. They don’t want to be selling unfit flowers so get there early!

I basically picked from one of the these type piles, which ended up being fresh and vigorous tulips.

The typical roses were also on sale, but we aren’t the traditional couple!

Here is the view of both entrances to the Los Angeles Flower District.

The tulips that Melody arranged herself.

My family and I visited the High Museum in downtown Atlanta to see the final days of the History of the Automobile. I was excited to see the evolution of this modern monster, and it was truly fascinating. Designs have changed significantly and also have been pretty similar. I would like to see some of these designs come back into contemporary design. We first arrived at the welcoming marble sign of the High Museum.

And we waited in line to get our tickets. It’s great because the first week of every month the High Museum allows Fulton county residence and school students to enter for free.

While waiting for the exhibit to be available for our time slot, my family decided to partake in some arts and crafts at this neat little booth. They were there in order to make vases that resemble grass.

And here is an example of the different designs.

And the finalist for the design competition.

And then we were off to wait in line for the History of the Automobile. I don’t know the makes and models but here are some detailed shots and overviews.

And the famous Corvette Stingray.

When the Automobile exhibit closed, we were forced to other parts of the museum. I love contemporary art, so we ventured upstairs.

The group that I went with. My dad, mom, Wei Wei and Jimmy.

Another strobe modifier that I really wanted to make was a gridspot. This would help me in controlling the spread of the light that my strobe emits. Well this one was a very cheap and useful modifier. First is the pricing and equipment list, and these are the things needed to get started.

• Super glue
• Scissors or a utility knife

After that, you will need to get the essential parts:

• Cardboard (I used my old iphone box) – $0.00
• Black Straws (I found at Fox Sports Grill) – $0.00
• Neoprene Koozy (found at a Georgia Tech job fair) – $0.00

1. Cut the bottom part off of my koozy so it’s a cylinder.
2. Cut the black straws into 1 inch long sections
3. Cut the cardboard to the size of your flash head.

4. Use super glue to create a grid made of straws, like the photo shown.

5. Superglue the grid inside the cardboard section created earlier. I had to tape the sections with electrical tape cause I didn’t cut the sections correctly.

6. Place the modifier on the strobe and enjoy!

I was asked to make some ribs the other day, and have done so with a lot of success in the past. It takes a lot of time to produce a rib that is deemed “fall off the bone.” So don’t be prepared to have these in just a measly thirty minutes, but be prepared to leave it around hassle free. What I started off with was a dry rub to season the ribs. I prefer dry rub over the BBQ sauce due to its unique blend of flavor that can be self made. I looked online for the combination of spices that would be needed and found an article for Memphis Style dry rub. This calls for:

• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cayenne

All these ingredients were mixed together in a plastic ziplock bag for proper distribution of spices.

To insure the dry rub will stay on, I patted the ribs down with a paper towel. This will also help with the clumping involved.

Rub the dry rub onto the ribs, making sure every nook is covered. The rub with not be wet if enough is applied but will provide a layer of delicious flavoring.

Up close view of the spices.

And an overhead view.

1. Preheat the oven, with a broil on the over head heater.
2. Place ribs inside the oven for around 7 minutes each side to sear and seal all juices inside.
3. Change temperature down to 250 degrees baking. Cover the ribs with low ceiling aluminum foil tent to prevent the ribs from drying out. Leave it in the oven for around 4 hours total time.

The dinner table is almost set, and any other dishes can be prepared during this time.

I then took out the ribs and preheated the grill. I wanted to get a seared outside after the oven.

Prepare and plate! Enjoy.

The past week I have been experimenting with the Strobist DIY beauty dish. I was somewhat happy with the results but wished there was a little more control with the light spreading. I was searching online for a more robust and adjustable beauty dish and found out how to make one. I had to make a few changes because it would be my design, and something I hope to work with for a long time. So I will first introduce the Strobist beauty dish, which is composed of a terracotta bowl, gutter adapter for the speedlight, a 50pk CD-R case and a convex auto mirror.

Now comes the second version. So I decided that I wanted a bigger bowl to get some nice directional yet diffused light. I was deciding on the size until I found some references for a 16 qt mixing bowl which has a 18″ diameter. That coupled with a reflector would be the basis for this Do-It-Yourself project. So here are the parts list for this project:
1. 16 qt stainless steel mixing bowl – $7.50
2. 9″ aluminum pizza dish – $1.50

3. Three 1/4″ – 20 x 3″ screws – $0.99
4. Two #4 -40 x 1/2″ screws – $0.99
5. Nine 1/4″ nuts – $0.50
6. Two #4 nuts – $0.20
7. Three 1/4″ washers – $0.18

8. Light switch mounting plate which I found. Sorry I forgot to take a photo of it before I decided to modify it for looks.

Painting Supplies:
1. Krylon white matte paint $4.99
2. Krylon black matte paint $4.99
3. Krylon clear satin finish – $4.99 for a protective layer on paint.

Equipment list:
1. Power Drill with 1/4″ and 5/32″ drill bits
2. Deburring Tool
3. Dremel with cutting wheel and aluminum oxide grinder

Building Instructions:
1. Make a rough stencil of my flash head, this would allow for a good fit and less light leaking from the beauty dish. A photo of the cutout can be seen above.
2. Sand both the pizza dish and stainless steel bowl to “prime” the material for painting. This will help the paint adhere to the metal.
3. Find the center of the pizza dish and create a circle outline, this will allow you to strategically place the 1/4″ holes for the reflector. I decided to make it as close to an equilateral triangle as possible.

4. Drill 1/4″ holes into the pizza plate where you made your markings.

5. Mark the stainless steel bowl for the 1/4″ posts, mounting bracket, and speedlight flash head, then drill holes for screws used for mounting.

6. Cut out the stenciled flash head area with dremel tool, grind edged to match to fit. Remember to debur the edges to prevent injury and potential equipment damage.

7. Paint in the inside of the stainless steel mixing bowl with the flat white spray paint. Also spray both sides of the pizza dish with flat white. I applied approximately 5 thin coats to get the right coverage. Flip the mixing dish, after the white matte paint has dried for the appropriate time, and apply the black matte paint. Make sure all holes have been covered up to prevent the black paint from getting onto the white paint. After all painting has been done, you may apply your clear satin protective coating.

8. Place in 1/4″ screws in their respective spots with the washer on the outside of the bowl. Tighten down the 1/4″ nut to secure screws in place.

9. Screw on one additional nut onto each screw to the same level, this will hold up the pizza dish when it has been placed on. Place the pizza dish on top and screw in the remaining nuts onto the screws to secure the pizza dish. You may want to tweak the position of the plate to achieve the best light spreading for the dish.

10. I made my own mounting plate for the beauty dish, which you made do also. I drilled another 1/4″ hole on the bottom of the plate to provide a bracket to hold the flash with the beauty dish with my existing photo flex adjustable shoe mount. I drilled the bottom of the bracket that I made to insure a proper fit with the adjustable shoe mount.