I'm guessing that the "brand names" are rather proprietary, so they don't want folks to buy generics of the same specifications at a cheaper cost. They'd be out of business in no time at all. I've worn "hard" contact lenses for 32 years. Been wearing the gas perms ever since they were "invented." Been there, done that with the monovision - hated it. I have true bifocal gas perms now. They're great! Why not just ask your eye doctor (from whom you got the gas perms) what it would cost for a spare pair? Paula is absolutely correct. For long-term storage of "hard" lenses, you should clean them thoroughly, then put them in a clean, dry contact lens case. Put a piece of tape on the bottom that has the date, and any Rx info that you might have.

Got up at 5:30, darn race didn't start until 8, they said 7 on one of the news websites. Had to get there early enough so I didn't have to park too far away, people everywhere all over town. Hot already but not as bad as I thought. Here I am telling you what to do and my photos did not turn out too great. I shot sports mode, buildings & background were bright but runners too dark, many blurry or out of focus, many good and fixable. I am going to have to process each one that's worth keeping (shot 594) and brighten most of them up with shadow highlights. Good learning experience. I shot most in sports mode which kicks into burst, but I'm not happy with a lot of today's because I can't change any of the parameters in that, picks too large apertures and too slow shutter speeds and continuous auto focus I'm not used to at all. It is hard shooting a sea of people, never been in a situation quite like that before. I'm thinking about what to do next time, couldn't figure out how set burst so I could use tv mode standing out there with all those people, should have shot tv mode, 1/800, ISO 800, partial metering. Maybe. I'll have to get some help with that. Coming home, I was trapped in by lots of street closings, had to go way out of my way to find a way out of that maze, lucky I know my streets around here, only one way out from where I got myself. Filled two 1 gig flash cards in about 1/2 hour! Good timing though, a few stragglers were coming up the hill when both cards were full. I'll wait for your photos. Yours will be easy. I know people steal photos. I haven't caught anybody doing that to me yet, maybe mine aren't that good? Somebody in France liked my peacock java applet and wrote and asked, I said ok. What do I care? I just don't want people making money off my work. Will address some of the other issues later. Too bad you have to break up your lily garden, that would be very hard for me to do. You must be either a specialist or have special lilies and maybe getting older like I am? Granny out shooting a race. Hah! I wonder which lens would be best for that? Used 50mm with a different race, much smaller, this time went with the 28-135 so I could zoom. 70-200 not wide enough even if I had it which I don't. That is a conundrum for sure since I was so close to most of them standing on the sidewalk, brushed by a few, tried not to get in their way. Then some other photog gets in my way. There now you taught me something about bracketing. I've been doing it the hard way. Shoot, look at histogram, set exposure comp or some other adjustment. I'm going to try bracketing and quit on the bright end like you do. So thanks for that tip! I dared not shoot that race in AV (my favorite) because with the early morning bright light and shadows, it would have picked too slow a shutter speed. Frustrating. THIS is where I would like to have been positioned lol. She hadn't turned her camera toward the race yet, she had to swing it about 45 degrees to her right to be pointing at the runners coming up the long hill. I fixed this one a little. Later, Alice

If I had to choose between a Polarizing filter (CP for circular polarizer) and a Neutral Density filter (ND), I'd definitely go with the CP first. But usually, or at least often, you buy filters in sets that include CP, ND and UV. I use the UV more as a protection for my lens than anything else. The CP comes in handy for popping color in water and sky and taking reflections off water and glass. The ND filter I have has not shown itself (yet) to be terribly useful for every day use. But ... check out this video I found the other day on extreme ND filter use. How to make traffic disappear. Very cool. Jodi- Here is a link that might be useful: Removing moving objects in bright sunlight

I don't know if they're still in the running, but one style you mentioned, Feiss Urban Renewal, is what I installed in my remodel. I am happy to learn they're being offered again with the white glass shade. I had a mishap - my fault - and broke one of my shades and at the time I contacted Feiss to buy a replacement they were only carrying this fixture with a clear glass shade. I ended up finding a new shade on eBay. I was glad I did because I didn't want clear glass and I didn't want to replace my pendants. I really love them. I love the warmth of the darker metal. I love that the prongs and unusual glass shape are distinctive but that the overall look is clean and unfussy. I also considered schoolhouse fixtures. I have them in our lake kitchen and like them and the diffused light. But I wanted something different here. The glass shade on these cups under a bit on the bottom which minimizes any glare. The bulbs in mine are frosted, not clear. I'm sitting beneath them as I type this - no glare. Good luck with your choice. The elements you've chosen are so nice. Can't wait to see your kitchen.