Andy's Idea Factory

This past Tuesday the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council hosted its monthly Talking Green event on "Greening Up Your Holidays," and I spent several days gathering tips in many categories to present on.  I thought I'd post it here as well, enjoy! Halloween Costumes Buy face paints and lipstick without lead, nickel, cobalt, chromium, which can affect brain development cosmeticsdatabase.com Buy safe nail polish from Skin Deep Avoid powder cosmetics which can affect the lungs Skip the hairspray which have toxic chemicals Use non-paraffin (petroleum based) and non-scented candles for cleaner air Create low-impact costumes (used, homemade, etc), or host your own costume swap Food If hosting larger parties, see our Zero Waste Event Guidelines Compost all food waste Use paper bags instead of plastic for baking the turkey Replace canned ingredients with local foods with minimal travel distance for reducing carbon fo

Earlier this month I was blessed to spend an entire weekend with Canon (camera)'s best of the best in Moab, Utah at the Red Cliffs Lodge photographing Arches National Park and cowboys at the ranch. One of Canon's esteemed " Explorers of Light ," Tyler Stableford instructed the class, and four Canon tech representatives and Tyler's #1 man Draper assisted us with trying out high-dollar Canon bodies, lenses of all angles and lengths during the sessions. We were instructed on Tyler's workflow , programs, and editing techniques as well, and went home with three huge prints of our best work after Sunday's critique. All in all in was one the best experiences of my lifetime in terms of photography; having not been in a classroom setting since college, I was able to pack in as much learning as I could in a short two-day workshop. Needless to say the take-away was indescribable; here are some major points for those of you who want to take your photography to the