It seems I did not read the faq for the ball head maker and did not know they added some very strong epoxy to the screw which holds the quick release clamp on. According to various sites including the maker of the adhesive, only heat will enable you to get it off. To do so I got out my creme brulee torch out. I read that to do this you need to have the ball head on a tripod, heat the screw area and turn the clamp off with a cheaters bar. I did not know what that was so I used my hands. The socks are there because the head was going to get hot and the socks were made damp to help prevent the head from getting too hot. On my first day I heated it and attempted to turn the clamp with my hands protected by a towel then using oven mitts. But it would not move. So I heated the clamp longer and longer but no movement. I then went to grab the mallet head to hit it thinking that its force would be better than my hands. It did not help. During this time I noticed that my efforts to heat the clamp which is all metal had melted the rubber knob on the clamp. So I had wrapped part of the sock over that to help prevent more melting. The next day I tried again but this time I realized I should have gotten something else to turn it, so I looked to some pliers which a adjustable mouth. They were not wide enough so I dug around the car hole and found the monkey wrench that no one else could find. After heating up the clamp again I used the wrench with some duct tape over the teeth of the wrench to prevent the destruction of the clamp. However the tape was of no use, the teeth were just too sharp and went through the two layers I had put on the jaws. So the clamp once again in my zeal had been marred. But I noticed it moved some so i would try again but used a cut up sock to help cushion the teeth from creating more damage to the clamp. In heating it again I made a few turns and it was off and what you see here are all the tools I used to make it happen. I am sure a better writer could make this sound less stupid but I am not that person.

Just a continuation of my last shot: playing around in the yard while waiting on some chickens to cook. Nothing too spectacular here, but the lighting reminded me of Edward Weston, and I just really liked the tones in this image. I'm kind of annoyed by the button on the bottom pliers. I find it very distracting...