Go Here. Just Do It.


How does one even begin to try and photograph the Grand Canyon of Waterfalls? There's no photo that can do it justice. Iguacu (or Iguassu) Falls way in the south of Brazil in Parana state, on the border of Argentina and Paraguay, is probably the Widest falls on earth, consisting of 275 falls (how they count them? Hmmm). The valley is a huge, long, tongue-shaped and tiered, the end of which is sort of pictured here. The Falls extend much further to the right of the photo. For sense of scale, see the little boardwalk/ viewing platform to the bottom right, with the tiny tiny people. We went down there too - photos from that viewpoint later.

The tiers were formed by huge lava floes that rolled along way back when, and then cooled and solidified to form massive steps. The Iguacu river flows over these steps (the Amazon is not the only mighty river in these parts!). All this is part of a Brazilian National Park, which I must say, was impressively designed and organized - or rather it reminded me of American NPs that have shuttles to reduce human impact, well defined trails and excellently placed viewpoints, recycling and composting options for your trash, good maps - user friendly over all. Also similar: ridiculously priced food, and small local animals watching longingly while you eat - except here they are coatis instead of squirrels.

One can also experience Iguacu from the Argentina side. We looked into this option, as the extensive boardwalks looked fun from the Brazil side - but it turned out to be more complicated than just hopping over the border. Customs, bus changes, more fees. Paraguay is situated at the top of the falls, before the river becomes a waterfall. They must feel gypped out of getting a chunk of major tourist attraction. Brazil and Argentina otherwise claim one half or the other, the river defining the country borders.

This photo is comprised of 2 photos. Here especially, I was fervently wishing I had my wide angle lens with me. Can I just say, this photo perhaps conveys a smidgen of the falls experience. Best thing to do is to go there yourself, should you ever find yourself in South America. Far more breathtaking than most anything I've ever seen in my life. Niagara is puny in comparison. Poor Niagara - once you experience Iguacu, no other falls will do.

Far More Tanned Than You



Rio de Janeiro, perhaps the most iconic city in South America. It has two geological landmarks, Corcovado - a granite peak upon which a giant statue (38 meters!) of Jesus overlooks the city, and Sugarloaf Mountain (another vertical granite peak?) that sits out in the water. One can ascend both, the former by tram/escalators/shuttle bus and the latter by cable car.

It rained on one of our 2.5 days in Rio. What is there to do on a rainy Rio Monday? Well, not visit museums, apparently. Globally, museums are closed on Monday. Supermarkets seemed also to be closed, and we never did figure out why. The next day however, the clouds parted as we arrived via cable car at the first peak of Sugarloaf, and the sunset sun beamed down on Corcovado, creating an unbelievably glorious scene. The second photo features the Bay and Beach of Bogafoto. The famous beach of Cococabana (same name as in that Barry Manilow song, which was actually about a night club) was sadly not lit. Guidebooks insist that you check out the view from both Corcovado and Sugarloaf, but to be honest, I much preferred Sugarloaf, perhaps because it sits in the water, has cable car access only and has a cute name - and Corcovado is so high up that the details of the city become too small to appreciate.

Rio has a convenient subway system, and lots of buses. It was decently easy to get around, and felt relatively safe, assuming you're a city person. Cococabana beach, incidentally, was not covered in Victoria-Secret-esque bodies. The people there had body shapes of every shape and size and age, none too bashful to wear lycra. But that's the other thing - the beach was incredibly crowded. If you've always pictured an empty long stretch of sand with an umbrella here and there, well add a couple thousand people far more tanned than you, and a hundred soccer balls. Lots of beach soccer.

Unlike Sao Paulo, Rio almost completely lacked people of Asian ethnic background, except a handful staffing roadside eateries. I fully expected a bus load of Asian tourists at least, but no. Sao Paulo has a huge Korean and Japanese immigrant population, but more on that later.

I just returned today, and am still digesting the experience. I do have many photos to share... stay tuned! Oh yes, these were taken with the Canon 400D (rebel) and a Tamron f/2.8 28-75 (or something) - it did an OK job. Photos needed much enhancing in saturation, crispness, contrast. I was missing my other camera bodies and lenses dearly, but I prefer not to flash my pricey equipment around in unfamiliar places.

Out of Office

I shall be traveling for 2 weeks. Choosing a camera body and lens was a dufficult decision that I left for the hour before departure from home. I settled on my Canon Rebel, a tiny little body with a Tamron lens. It's light and inconspicuous (and worth a lot less than my pro gear) and you shall see the results in late October! Until then.

Lolling


 

It's been 6 days. I'm sorry. I think that may be one of the longest lapses in blog posts in a while. What can I say, life has been very busy! I'm getting ready for some travel, so I've packed a lot into the week beforehand, not to mention guests in town and all sorts.

These are photos from my first session with the 5DMII in late September. I've since done an additional 13 shoots, and I'm afraid the 40D has been sitting around gathering dust. At first I brought it along because I felt sorry for it. I finally accepted that it was just extra weight. Anyways, this little guy was really quick, even for the 5D. There was a lot of ground lolling, and the full frame of the 5D (ie wider angle) made it easy for (short) me to stand over him and fit more than his face in the frame. I was still getting acquainted to the 5D capabilities, so you can see that the focus points (ie eyes/ lashes) are not as crisp as I'd like. Now I know better.

Chubby Baby Feet and then some



My favorite part of this picture is the chubby baby foot that appears out of nowhere. Actually, the chubby baby feet might be my favorite part of all pictures containing baby feet. Although the bemused smile is quite irresistible as well.

When I arrive at a client's home, I am always very happy to see neutral color painted walls. They are insta-backdrops. Good natural lighting may be found in unexpected placed - this pic to the left for example, was taken in the stairwell, which had a sky light.

These were taken on the 40D. I feel like I need to point camera body out for all my photos now, as though I only use the 5D for shoots, I am still editing photos taken pre-5D. I admittedly use my 50mm f/1.4 prime lens much less now, as the combination of 5D and 24-70mm f/2.8 L is very powerful - 5D gives that lens low-light power that it didn't have previously, and the zoom makes framing much easier.

Happy high photo season! Weekends booked through mid-November. I suppose this isn't obvious to, well, anyone besides family photographers and those who have hired us in the past. I receive emails asking for a session "this weekend", or even "next weekend" and I have to nicely say there are no openings until late November. When I do email a list of available dates, I add: Let me know ASAP as openings are booked up on a daily basis. I'm not sure that it is believable, or maybe it sounds like an advertising ploy because I am often not always responded to ASAP, and sure enough, often that opening is gone when I do hear back. Earlier in the season, I emailed some repeat clients to warn them of my swiftly filling schedule. It's a fine balance between being a helpful photographer or an annoying photographer, when it comes to such customer alerts.

It would be So Useful to have a digital Client Manager - where I can plug in info: names, ages of babies/kids (which would automatically update as the children get older), due dates for maternity clients, contact info, dates / locations of previous shoots, address (and automatic calculation of travel fee), thumbnail pic of whole family so I can be quickly reminded of who they are, notes on preferences (all candid, kid likes X song, have dog etc), referred by whom, permission to use pics in portfolio, and get automatic reminders to send my clients reminders, and then have my driving route mapped out on my iphone on the day of shoot. There's so much info to keep organized, most of which I store in my Very Precious Notebook (as in, pen and paper notebook) and I also refer back to emails. If you know of a useful (and affordable) Client Managing program, do let me know.

Four Variations


The day following possibly the hottest day in San Francisco so far, we headed out to Ocean Beach for a sunset maternity shoot. What a fantastic maternity outfit! The skirt reflection elongates her figure, or she appears to be on a pedestal; a rather Goddess-like quality. I've actually been day dreaming of a sunset maternity beach shoot - the lighting is perfect for showing off silhouettes, the background faded by haze, foreground subject richly lit. In the above pic, I tried to bring out the blues, purples, warm red tones - very obviously sunset. But if you prefer subtlety, the below photo has a dreamy, morning-ish feel. Glowy yellow light, melting the colder blues away.


Perhaps your tastes are more cinematic. A dramatic black and white, sky pushed to white, shadow pushed to black, features sharpened and contrast increased. What does the yellowy background of the last photo do? I think it sets the scene in another era, an ancient time, I wonder if there is a story behind the image.


On Recognition


This is from the 40D camera, and gosh, it does a good job. The nice thing about 5D is that it does much better with white balance. This picture turned out pretty blue (taken in the shade) and I had to de-blue it.

And now for something unrelated to this baby or camera bodies. I recently photographed some baby 1st birthday parties. Lots of area Moms come to these parties, and it's not unusual to see one or two families that I've photographed in the past. Sometimes this is great, to see a familiar face who will say something nice like: We loved your pics!

But then, there are the ones that Don't remember me. One such Mom spotted me as the Party Photographer and asked: So, do you do private in-home baby sessions?
I went along with things and said: Why Yes, I do.
She said: We did that once when our baby was three months old, and then we tried a few other sessions since then and they went badly.
Awkward.
If I hadn't previously been her photographer, I'd have asked what she'd liked improved upon, and made sure that she got my contact info. Instead, I was digging through my brain files: Did I do her 3 month photos??? And I pretended to see something I needed to photograph and ran away. I have since checked my photo archive, and indeed I did do her 3 month photos (it's the other sessions that went badly, right?)

Well, my husband says, it's not quite the same thing, but I wouldn't recognize say, our plumber if I saw him on the street. True true. I recognize my clients, because I focus on them for an hour, and then further burn their faces into my retinas with several hours of photo editing. Meanwhile, while people may be looking at me during photos, the camera blocks most of my face. They probably make eye contact for 5 minutes during that whole hour. I should be impressed that any clients recognize me at all.

Just Married


A friend on a honeymoon road trip swung through town with his wife, so I offered a Baker Beach sunset shoot. Really, there's no more a romantic place for couple photos than BB at sunset, and what a quintessential view of SF - what better souvenir of the city?

We got started late. New Camera Challenge: Twenty minutes after sunset! There were distractions between the parking lot and the beach - a broken bottle of ($$$) Sonoma wine that fell out of their car when the back door was opened - Smash! Strangers congratulating them after seeing the Just Married scrawl on their car windows... meanwhile I was vividly conscious of the darkening sky and trying to herd everyone towards the beach.

The scene looked a whole lot darker than these photos. 5D functioned in low light remarkably well. If you zoom in to the couple, they're not crisp, but given the subject matter/ photo aura, that the softness is appropriate. Oh yes. I did bring it to the beach; how could I resist? My new rule: No Lens Swapping while on the beach - that is truly how the grit gets into camera bodies. And now with 2 camera bodies, who needs to swap lenses anyways? With 50mm f/1.4 you can see the wonderful bokeh effect - foreground in focus, background lovely and blurred. We don't need to see the bridge clearly to know it's the Golden Gate Bridge.

 


Composing photos with the GGB - where to place the GGB in relation to people? Ideally, both towers are visible in the pic. Centering everything - ie, placing bridge in middle of pic with people in between towers, is just too predictable. Usually I wind up putting people to the far right of the bridge, so that there's an expanse of water, rather than sand, in the photo. I like for the bridge to bisect people around the shoulders - then the GGB either frames or points to the heads. At this distance, certainly never put the bridge above heads. Ugh. The huge advantage of showing up post sunset is that the beach is practically empty. Below: fake last rays of sunlight.

Upgrade


As with the acquisition of any new camera equipment, I test it out on my ever unwilling model, who most often is roused from a contented nap to do me such modeling favors.

It was going to happen sooner or later - I caved in and got myself the Canon 5D Mark II. It's UPS delivered arrival is anticlimatic, as the battery is yet to be charged, straight out of the box. For my purposes, the main advantage of this camera body over my existing 40D is low light performance. Conveniently, my model lay snoozing in the north-facing living room, excellent low-light conditions in which to do a quick comparative test. Same 50mm f/1.4 lens on both cameras.

The first obvious difference is the Full Frame-ness of the 5D, as opposed to the 1.6 crop factor of the 40D. Crop factor (I think) results from a smaller sensor (what I imagine to be the panel that takes in the image). So when you slap a 50mm lens on a 40D, in fact is it more like using a 50mm x 1.6 = 80mm lens - you get that much more zoom. Thus with a 5D and other Full Framer bodies, you get a wider frame. The practical application for me is that I don't need to back up as much to fit in more dog/ baby/ family. Oftentimes there isn't enough space to back up into. But there is an advantage to having instantly more zoom - one can maintain distance from a snot spluttering child, for instance.

Second obvious difference was the clarity of the playback images on the back of the camera of the 5D. This matters because I can see right away and for certain if things are in focus. On the 40D, I'd reason, it seems focused enough, and hope for the best. Usually it turns out fine, but it is nice to have this reassurement.

On to image quality, and the 2 photos above are a poorly set up experiment, as she's refused to maintain the same lounging pose for the 2nd picture and only bothered to turn and glower at me over her shoulder. You can see the diff between Full Frame (1st pic) and 1.6 cropped frame (2nd pic). These are unaltered pics, aside from cropping into squares. In this low light, you can see that the resolution of the first is much better than the second. Focus on the eye in both cases, and in the 2nd, struggle with low light is pretty obvious.

Ah, and so begin my adventures with my 5D! Poor 40D, what will become of you. I think I may use 40D for beach shoots, which fill the camera with dust. And definitely anytime I need rapid firing of shutter; 5D is notoriously slow - ie. not for sport photography. And I've yet to even venture into the world of VIDEO with my 5DII.

San Francisco Reality


Why yes, that is the Golden Gate Bridge in the background! The weather... sigh, the weather has made GGB shoots extremely difficult for the last 3 months. Most people who want GGB shoots come in from other parts of the Bay Area where there is sun in the summertime. I give ample advance warning - there is a good chance that we won't be able to see the bridge At All. Often I do combo shoots, at the GGB then caravaning inland to a warmer location in the Golden Gate Park (below). I try to warm up GGB photos so that it looks like maybe a hazy day rather than a cold and gray day.

So you will know more than ever will be useful about Ultimate Club Competition, and then some notes on Ultimate Photography.


Northern California Mixed Club Ultimate Sectionals this past weekend. For those of you of whom that didn't make much sense, let me explain. NorCal is easy, and Ultimate is Ultimtae Frisbee. Mixed means teams consisting of men and women (with a ratio of 4:3 on the field). Club is a division of play; there's Youth (highschool, and younger), College (college and grad schoolers), Club for anyone out of college, and Masters for "anyone over 33" but it tends to be those who have been playing for some 20 years - the pioneering generation of ultimate players now 40+.

Divisions don't necessarily indicate competitiveness (mentally and physically) - many college teams are definitely more competitive than easy going club teams. However the best ultimate players in the US are in the highest ranking club teams. Perhaps divisions are more loosely based on age. Moving on - Sectionals is the first stage of competition for teams to head to Regionals; so winners from NorCal and SoCal sections move on to South West (I believe) Regionals and then the top seeded go on to Nationals.

Club team intensity ranges from those with tryouts and mandatory practices/trainings to those consisting of friends which are thrown together casually at the last minute for fun. The latter describes Our team, Tonic! I rented a long lens to try my hand at action shots. The hardest part is definitely being at the right place at the right time. I wish there were 4 of me, to stake out 4 corners of the field. I could run up and down the sideline following the action but really, I only had so much motivation.

There is some predictability with certain players as to what they will be doing (handlers and deep cutters). Mostly I just hoped that the action would happen not too far away (as my lens only zooms So Far, and the further away the action, the more likely other players will be in the way of the shot) and that players would not have their back to me.

Timing is hard. The best photos I think, are immediately before a person catches the disc, or immediately after throwing, so there is this momentum. In the second pic, taken just after the apex of jump, already has downward momentum, you see - not as dramatic as it would be a split second earlier. Also, people tend to blink when they've caught the disc, but before catching - eyes are very open, as you see in the 3rd photo.

Perhaps the best thing to do is a series of machine gun shots, like the first picture. I don't know why I didn't do more of these - this is a more effective story-telling layout. In the last pic, we don't know whether he caught the disc or not, and we are forever left with a cliff hanger.

With ultimate pics,  I think it's important to fit the whole body in the shot, which is completely different to my baby photos where I do all sorts of cropping. And not only the whole body, but also the shadow on the grass, to show height of jump. And, including opposing team players shows what we were up against. Well, as with any type of photography, it takes years of practice to become very good. I learned here that 2 years of intensive baby photographing only minisculely prepares one for ultimate photography.

Fun Times at Wildcare



It was the kind of event where a random person could call out "Look! There's a Northern Blue Stockinged Crested Bog Heron!" And everyone would turn and Ooooh in appreciative unison. I am not myself a birder (Birders, if you don't know, are a whole different species of human in themselves, and I mean that affectionately! A whole 'nother division of geekery). But, I did have Wild Animals and Natural Places are Cool attitude like everyone else.

While I have left my Bug Teaching job, I still show up for events. In this case, my Bug Boss at SaveNature.org, Norm Gershenz was the recipient of the 2010 Terwilliger Environmental Award at the Wildcare Center in San Rafael, Marin. SaveNature was much more than bringing bugs to schools - it is about raising funds to purchase (and thus conserving) areas of biologically rich ecosystems - and Norm has raised 3.9 Million over the many years, to do just that.

Wildcare most famously rehabilitates injured wildlife, but also teaches and advocates living with wildlife. For example, instead of calling an exterminator to take care of (ie, catch and kill) the bats that have nested in your attic, they will employ methods to encourage bats to leave on their own - by means of leaving predator poop in their presence to make the attic undesirable. Then they seal up the entry ways.

A nature painting - what a fantastic award gift! In the next photo, the youngest of Norm's nominees for this award. The birds - a hawk of some sort, and a brown pelican below. Brown Pelican I can remember! All taken with Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L which I in fact rented for photographing Ultimate this weekend, but happened to be useful for birds and award giving too. Wow this lens is awesome. Too bad it costs, well, haha! As much as the 5D camera body I have a crush on. I rented it at $35 for the weekend from ProCamera.

What Occupies My Brain

I have been agonizing about upgrading to a Canon 5D mark ii. This means I pass hours typing "Canon 5D vs 40D / 5D comparison with 4D / 5D low light portraits / 5D review" and such keywords into Google, and then pore over all the results, read expert and lay person reviews, look at photo examples, and I forget to eat.

I am also trying to figure out - have I maxed out the photo quality on my 40D? Have I done everything I can do - both on camera and in the process of editing - to make the best possible picture? I can't answer that with a confident Yes, because Photoshop offers endless capabilities I could never hope to fully master.

The main attraction is the 5D's low light shooting power. I use natural light as much as I can, and if there's not enough light, resolution on the 40D can get speckly.
The deterrent is of course, cost. But then I remind myself - this is not some expensive hobby. I'm doing this professionally. I am constantly aiming to take the best pics possible for my clients and myself.

Cameras are returnable. I could buy, try, and return if dissatisfied, though all reviews assure me that once I get my hands on a 5D, there's no going back.

Argh.

Color Tweaking


For cute baby/tot pics, try putting a blanket over their head, and let them peek out. Totally cute. And note the home-made polymer clay buttons!

The original photo, out of camera to the left. Pretty bleah, in terms of colors. A small pic, so you won't dwell on it for long. It was a gray day, and colors are washed out, her face is a bit dark - just looks smoggy. Hooray for photoshop! I recently learned a new way to fix colors (both Intensity Increase and White Balance) by watching some youtube videos about photoshop - there are plenty out there. This is just one of many ways to fix colors - using Lab color mode and Curves. I suggest you look for videos yourself if you're interested in attempting this.

First change color mode from RGB of CMYK to Lab Color. I have no idea what Lab Color is. Next, go to Adjustments -> Curves, and you'll get a box like that to the left. The diagram somehow quantitatively describes your photo. I don't really understand how. Anyways, change Channel to "a" which represents your greenish to reddish colors. If you pull the bottom left tiny square to the right a bit, the pic becomes greener. Bring top right tiny square to the left, the pic becomes redder. Tweak them along the X axis until you strike a good balance. On Channel "b", you'll tweak your blue-ish to yellow-ish colors. Revert back to RGB to do other edits.

If you get adventurous and start tugging on points that are not on either end of the line, or move along the Y axis - good luck.

I used this method (plus other edits, sharpening and such) to get the pic above from the yucky-colored original. It's a portfolio pic for sure!

A quiet moment of happy contemplation.


Documenting Bridal Prep is fun. It tends to be relaxed, and at this point of the wedding, things are usually still ahead of schedule so there's no rush. When I first studied wedding photography by looking at other wedding photog's websites, I noted the luxurious bridal rooms, sweeping classic staircases, floor to ceiling windows, lush curtains and vintage furniture. Yeah. An exclusive portion of the population have access to such bridal suites, and most of us get prepped in an ordinary room. The challenge then, is to play down the ordinariness. Here, I tried to do so by cropping out most of the room, and by pulling in a generously sized armchair with classy details. Sat the bride as close to the window as possible. You'd never guess that the window looked out upon a set of apartment buildings, or that behind the chair is a table piled and spilling over with makeup bags and beauty products.

Retro Cars


Automobile photography is new to me; this is the third car that has been an essential part of any of my shoots. All three cars were retro in some way. I can't tell you what cars they were - My car ignorance is the most stereotypically female aspect of me. Anyways, owners of these old cars are always very proud to have their car photographed, and the owner of this one (he stood behind me) gave me some tips on angles to try. Now I notice the star-shaped light reflections off particularly shiny parts of the car - next time I will know to look for those shiny opportunities at the time of shoot.

Fun New Backdrop Paper


Hello Baby! In case you're wondering: One main light (4 bulbs) from front/overhead, plus another muted light pointing at the backdrop to get rid of the shadow cast by the baby from the first light. Plus on-camera diffused flash.

New photo supplies: Blue background paper! I had been thinking about background paper for a while, to use in lieu of cloth backdrops. The advantage: No wrinkles, as it comes on a giant roll - and thus even colors, seamlessness between wall and floor, saturated color (as the paper is designed for photography). Disadvantages: it's reusable only to an extent. It can be re-rolled up, but the "floor" portion gets a little wrinkly. I think I can get at least 5 sessions out of a piece before I'll need to cut off the floor portion. It comes in a rainbow of colors, so I think I shall invest in some dark red for holiday photos, and maybe a pink for baby girl pics. And leaf green, because I like green. Maybe dark brown. At $30-ish for a roll of 53" x 12 yards, it's not out of budget, but does require a wide background holder with steady crossbar from which to hang the roll; cheap ones run about $100.

My car trunk, by the way, is jam packed with studio photo equipment. Hauling all of this stuff back and forth between my car and home between shoots would be too much of a hassle, so it just stays in there. Some times things melt, like the padding on the legs of some of my tripods, but no biggie. The rolls are too long for the trunk, and so now the equipment is also taking over the back seat. Just a little dose of photographer reality for you.

Not Unwieldy


I happened to be in the vicinity of a Youth Ultimate Summer Camp so I stopped by to take photos. Of course it was high noon and thus the lighting (direct overhead unforgiving sun; this was San Mateo, not San Francisco, after all) was at its worst. The kids were sent out to chase down curving hucks (long throws) and unfortunately, the curve of the throw was so that the kid faced away from the sun to catch the disc. As a result I have all these dark figures catching frisbees.

Anyways, I stood around in the middle of two side-by-side hucking drills. The great thing about knowing the sport so well is that I know pretty much as soon as the disc is thrown from any distance by any player in any weather, whether the disc is going to come within a 3 ft circumference catching/clobbering distance of me. Thus I could stand very close to the action and not worry about getting my lens smashed. I don't think non-ultimate players realize the accuracy to which discs can be thrown, and that where they land is very predictable (well, "reading" a disc is a learned skill). I remember tossing a disc once with a friend when a woman sitting under a nearby tree told us to move away so that she wouldn't be hit. I was quite insulted, as our throwing was very accurate and the disc wouldn't land anywhere near her. However, I suppose to a non-ultimate player, frisbees are unwieldy and unpredictable, and her bad disc reading meant that every throw threatened her picnic space. The point is, knowing a sport inside out really helps photographing a sport. And in the shutter timing too. And in knowing what's important to document and what's not.

These kids were really good already. Age 8-14 maybe? And playing better than a lot of grown-ups I see in SF leagues. At this rate, they'll easily be college champs.

All things Apples


 Don't get much more down-homey-all-American than at a Apple Fair! Sebastopol, THE world capitol of the Gravenstein apple, hosted the 100 anniversary Gravenstein Apple Fair. Apple pie, tarts, fritters, cider, juice, vinegar and of the caramel dipped variety. Plus the usual fair fare - lemonade, fries, funnel cake, BBQ. Live bluegrass and folk music, and a caramel apple eating contest! I realized quickly by observation, that eating a caramel apple really fast is really hard. One has to have high confidence in their teeth, and strong jaw muscles. There was an exhibit of historic mechanical farm equipment, including machinery by familiar names such as Maytag. Likely the same machines were at the early Gravenstein Apple Fairs, and touted as the latest in cutting edge farming technology. Hee hee!