Health in the U.S.

Very short post today - just a link to a great article about the state of health in the U.S. and some of the reasons why it's not what it should be.  Hope you learn something useful, change some of what you do, and improve your health in 2013 and beyond.  I am my own proof that eating healthy makes a huge difference!  I've eliminated several health problems and reduced others.  I take no medications, only natural supplements, and eat a healthy diet.  Some of the past problems that are no longer problems:  ulcer, "nervous stomach," headaches, allergies, and a few others.  Reduced colds and flu's from 4-5 times a year to one every four to five years (about a 95% reduction).  Here's the link to some of the reasons and things that can affect your health:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/01/23/united-states-health-ranking.aspx?e_cid=20130123_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20130123

You will need to copy it and paste it into your address bar.

Best of Health to all in 2013 and beyond.

Nightmare at Amazon; but not with my Photography

The following recently happened to me when I ordered a camera case from a third party seller on Amazon.  I placed the order on Nov 22, 2012 and was notified that it should ship by Nov 26 - 27.  Early in December there was no word about it having shipped, so I emailed seller through Amazon (only way to contact a seller).  No reply.  So after a couple of days, I emailed seller again and said I cancelled the order.  Still no reply.  When I placed the order I paid part with credit card, and part with the credit card's reward points.  The credit card was not charged, but the points were used.

This is the point where Amazon gave me the worst customer service of anyone.  Ever.  They said I could not cancel the order, that the non-responsive seller had to cancel it.  And that I had to wait until Dec 19 to file a claim, and then it would take 1-2 weeks after that to get my rewards points refunded.  Well, that is, unless the seller decided to suddenly send my order (which I had already bought from someone else) - then my claim would be cancelled.

I have never done business with a company whose policy says that if you cancel an order, before it is sent, that the order isn't cancelled until the seller cancels it (even though he doesn't respond to you), and that the seller has three weeks to either send it or cancel it.

Luckily, this was for a small item.  But imagine if it was for a large screen TV for the Superbowl.  You wouldn't be able to order another one because they might send the first one, or not.  Even though you cancelled it, the seller didn't, and he didn't send it or contact you, either.  I hope I have saved someone the problems I had with Amazon.  BTW, I had ordered a big screen TV from Amazon, and several days later got notification that the order was cancelled, so ordered from Adorama for the same price, and had no problems.  Plus Adorama has excellent customer service.  I'll go into that story on my next post.

With my Photography, I have the best possible customer service, as that is at least as important as the quality of the images we would get.  MY policy is this:  if you don't get the images you had hoped for, regardless of quality or anything else, you will first get a free re-shoot if you would like, and second, if you leave with no images because they weren't what you wanted (either after the first or second shoot), you won't pay a penny, and will get a refund off all money already paid.  And no hard feelings.  That is how customer service should be.  If you choose me to photograph you, I want to make sure you take absolutely no risk.

Photography Blog Posts for 2013

For 2013 this blog will be posting more images; initially, things I have shot in the past.  Plus, I plan on posting other thoughts, ideas, or whatever I may be thinking of at the time.  Of course, there will always be posts about the importance of health, with information about how you might be able to improve yours.

I've been doing digital photography for about 10 years and always make immediate back-ups onto external hard drives and/or CD's.  Unfortunately, my computer recently got a virus and crashed.  Had to reformat and re-install windows, and restore all my data.  That's when I found out I didn't have a back-up (or at least can't find it) for two events I photographed this past year.  Luckily, it wasn't anything really important - Memorial Day at Venice Beach, and the IFC Awards in Santa Monica (from the sidelines).  I may still find these files at another off site hard drive.  The lesson - even if shooting just for fun, which these were, always review what you've shot during the day and back up immediately.

As the year goes on, I plan on transitioning from shooting as a hobby to more semi-professionally or professionally, as I have done in the past.  I enjoy photography, and especially photographing beauty, so that will be my main emphasis.  But for now, here are some past photos that I had fun shooting.

Paddle tennis courts at Venice Beach.

More paddle tennis.

Harlem Globetrotters at Venice Beach basketball courts.

Spectators in warmer weather at Venice Beach basketball court area.

Scene along Ocean Front Walk, Venice, CA.

007 - Daniel Craig at IFC Awards at Santa Monica Beach

Lucy Liu at IFC Awards

Stay tuned, more to come in future posts,  Meanwhile, have a great 2013.