Recently we got to attend a cooking school at the home of famed chef Jeff Blank, owner of Hudson’s on the Bend.  One of the dishes that Jeff made for us was smoked quail.  He said one of the secrets to the cooking at Hudson’s was Cameron’s stovetop smoker (their restaraunt sells the smoker in the store). 

Cameron’s stovetop smoker allows you to smoke fish, game, and meat in the house quickly and easily.  It is constructed of heavy-gauge stainless steel, and at 11 by 15 inches, it’s big enough to smoke a ham or a whole fish fillet. The lid slides on for a tight seal, so food gets smoked, but your kitchen doesn’t. A cool design feature is that the handles fold along the side for storage.  It is fairly easy to clean if you remember to put some foil on the drip tray and spray it down with cooking oil. 

The first dish I made in the smoker was a simple smoked salmon–1 1/2 lb of copper river salmon, a bit of sea salt, some fresh dill and a bit of fresh sage with about 2 tablespoons of alder wood to smoke.  Twenty five minutes later–perfect salmon.   There was a bit of smoke that came out of the corners of the smoker (ok more than a bit until I figured out I had to seal the smoker tight…but with the exhaust fan going the kitchen didn’t get smokey.    You can find recipes for the smoker at Camerons Stovetop Smoker Recipes.  I can’t wait to try the smoked tomatoes.

How do I change the shutter speed on my Nikon D300? How do I bracket exposure on the Canon G9? How do I set the mirror to lock on a Canon 5D? What is the minimum shutter speed for freezing a race car? How do I set the Nikon SD-800 flash to Slow Sync mode.

Modern cameras are just small computers and as such they have hundreds of settings. Some obvious, some buried deep in a custom function. It is impractical to drag a 400 page manual out into the field and just as silly to flip through it to find the correct setting. Photobert Photo Cheat Sheets solve the problem with a simple one page laminated cheat sheet with the most important functions of a camera. I stuff the cheat sheet in my camera bag and leave the manual at home. The newer cheat sheets are in color, the older ones are black and white. Read more »

I hate scratches on my toys but large bulky cases make an elegant slim device seem ungainly.  However, it seems extravagant to pay $25 for a sheet of plastic.  I found Best Skins Ever (www.bestskinsever.com), a company that sells pre-cut shields for your gadgets.  I ordered a pre-cut skin for my Blackberry and iPod Nano to try the skins out.  I also ordered an uncut sheet for my camera screen. Read more »

Underinflated tires waste expensive gas, and shorten tire life, and frequently make your car handle badly.  Accutire’s MS-4359 is a cool tire monitoring system that allows you to quickly check the pressure in your car’s tires by touching the gauge to the cap.  The smart caps then measure the tire pressure with a 1 PSI accuracy give you a reading using 3 LED’s–green=tire pressure OK, yellow=getting low, red=needs air.  The gauge can also work as a standard tire gauge with an accuracy of .5 PSI. 

Programming the smart caps is relatively easy.  You enter the pressure you need for the tire (the device allows for separate pressures for the front and back tires) and place the smart cap on the gauge.  The gauge quickly programs the pressure into the smart cap. 

The smart caps come with a built in lithium battery with a 3 year life.  Unfortunately the battery is not replaceable so you have to replace the caps when the battery runs out.  So far we haven’t found replacement caps for the device.  This also means that you can only monitor the pressure on one car with one gauge.  The smart caps are quite a bit larger than a regular valve cap to accomodate the battery, sensor and LED’s–not exactly a sleek look. 

So is it worth it?  It is for me, I have the best of intentions about keeping the tire pressure just right on those expensive low profile tires but always get busy.  This tool makes it easy. 

One of my favorite photography magazines is LensWork–the work of Brooks Jensen (the editor/publisher).  LensWork focuses on the creative and philosophical aspects of photography rather than the technical aspects.  I am a bit of an equipment junkie and this offers a big counterbalance to just buying more equipment to improve my photography.  LensWork makes me focus on the photo itself and the work required to get a great photo.

Also, LensWork is a gorgeously printed black and white magazine.  The high quality duotone printing process results in art quality prints of the photographs–the tones and details are just so rich and vibrant that they jump of the page.   It has helped me discover several photographers early like Nick Brandt and better yet to get insight into their though processes. 

The magazine has great interviews of photographers and essays on art and photography.   A typical issue of LensWork includes three to four portfolios, two or three articles or interviews, editor’s comments and End Notes by Bill Jay.  The first section I turn to is Bill Jay’s "End Notes"–vignettes on photography and photographers. 

This magazine makes the perfect gift for you or your favorite photographer or artist.  You can find more information about LensWork at www.lenswork.com. 

We all love our shiny new gadgets out of the box but what happens when one of them breaks.  This from one of our readers (and occasional review contributors)–regarding Canon Warranty Service

I had a good experience with the "Canon Factory Service Center". My Canon Power Shot SD850 had been a great camera up to the point the focus stopped working. It stopped focusing right after being dropped. I’m calling it a coincidence.

The procedure for returns was easy to find on Canon’s web site, just 3-Clicks from the main page. Complete a short electronic form that required the Serial Number and asked what was wrong with it, and then ship it. I had to pay to ship it to them, but the return shipping would be free. They also had an 1-800 number call if I was having problems.

Based on the serial number they said the service would be covered by the Warranty, unless the problem was caused by misuse. A quote would be sent once they inspected the camera.

The camera was sent via UPS Ground. 5 days later an email from the Canon Factory Service Center indicated they inspected the camera and there would be no charge; The repairs would be completed within 7-Days.

The next e-mail, received 2-Days later, stated the camera had been fixed and included a Fed-Ex tracking number. The camera was returned via FedEx 2-Day service.

I could not ask for a more easy or quick process.

And now for something completely different…music recommendations. Recently we went to Chicago for Jazzfest and met with a friend who is a Jazz pro in St. Louis. Thanks to him we heard an amazing performance of the Mengis Big Band. I asked him for recommendations for some Jazz albums to buy to further my education. Here are Mr. Bennett Wood’s recommendations.

I am really writing a list of my top 5 or so comtemporary jazz albums. I love all of the classic jazz as well, but there are books written on the albums worth checking out from the beginnings of jazz through 1970 or so. It tends to get a little more sketchy after that. Second, for many of these artists you’d be safe picking up anything that they play on (I’d avoid certain Keith Jarrett albums like “Spirits”). Read more »

I do a lot of presentations for a living at my job at MicroAssist.   It is important to me to be able to move around and connect with the audience.  Also, laptops are frequently  placed close to the projector–not where I can get to them.  The Logitech Cordless 2.4 Ghz Presenter offers a great solution. Read more »

I recently joined the Leica Users Group (LUG) Print Exchange.  The LUG Print Exchange is a neat program that encourages folks worldwide to exchange prints–a great way to learn from others and to get some spectacular prints.  The LUG is filled with picky photographers who are truly focused on quality–I learned quickly that a standard print from the camera sent to a photo processor just wouldn’t do.  I needed to step up my game.  I bought a high quality photo printer–however it was impossible to get the color on the printer to match the color on the screen–I needed to calibrate my monitor and printer so that the colors would match. Read more »

Blood pressure pills (Coreg, Norvascor), changing diet (get rid of salt, fat), walking for two miles per day…these are among the things my cardiologist, one of the most respected in the country, prescribed to lower my high blood pressure.  I asked my cardiologist if there was any other way, long term, to bring blood pressure under control.  He said that he had seen some studies that indicated Pranayama Yoga (that focuses on breathing exercises) lowered high blood pressure. 

Read more »