P52 Week 4 - Weather

And I'm back!  This week I give you week 4 of P52, with a theme of weather.  I put off doing this one until late in the week because I heard we were getting snow.  I think this is one of the few times in recent years I was excited for snow.  Spending 4 years in the frozen tundra known as Syracuse kind of put a damper on the snow loving, since there's snow/ice on the ground for close to 9 months a year sometimes.  Also, here in Philly, people have NO IDEA how to drive in snow.  Which makes my life very frustrating since I a) have lots of snow driving experience, and b) still need to drive places here even when it's snowing.

BUT, on this lovely Friday, there was a light bit of snow.  And I didn't have work, so no driving needed. AND, snow is much more conducive to a photo about weather than just the disgustingly cold gray weather we had the rest of the week.  So, I bundled up in true Cuse fashion, giant puffy coat and all, and wandered down my block to try and get some good shots.  And here are my favorites.

First up, the photo I chose for P52 this week.  I found this cute puppy out on a walk and needed to capture it.

And here are 2 others that captured the weather for me :

And there's some weather for the week.  Next up we get Low light - which is perfect for me since those are the conditions I find myself in pretty much all the time.  Do you have a favorite of these 3 weather shots?  Let me know in the comments :)

Until next time, have a lovely week!

P52 Week 3 - Shallow Depth of Field

This week's theme was right up my alley - I love shooting wide open or with a shallow DOF.  If you're not familiar with Depth of Field, it's what portion of the picture is in focus.  So a shallow DOF has a small portion of the picture, typically the foreground, in focus and then the rest of the picture nicely blurred.  I love the look of a nice soft background with your target object/person all sharp.

The grey disgusting weather we've been having has left me a little lacking in the inspiration or ability to shoot outside with lovely light.  But the week is coming to the end, and I'll be out of town for business for the rest of the photo week (each theme starts on Tuesday), so I needed to pick something today.  Still inside, but today Row and I decided to make the Gooey Cinnamon Squares from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.  I'll try and make them again and write up the recipe/any changes for you guys and take pictures since mine didn't come out very pretty this time.  It did give me a great photo opportunity though, with the best part of baking - licking the beater/spoon.  Here you go:

I'm definitely starting to do more with photography - getting the opportunity to shoot some theatre productions as well as the events I work on.  Hopefully I'll keep improving the skills I've been working on and get to add to my photography toolbox when I take my first online workshop next month.  All of this means more posts from me - definitely with photography, and hopefully also with some new recipes.
And now I go eat some of the baked goods we made (picture a snickerdoodle cookie turned into a gooey cake.  Yeah, they taste as good as that sounds)!  Thanks for stopping by!

P52 Week 2 - Silhouette

Hey there

It's time for another post in my Project 52.  This week the theme is Silhouette which was interesting, since here in PA it's kind of hard to get pretty lighting in the middle of winter, in the middle of a city.  But, I refuse to give up this early in the project and so I persevered and made an attempt in my apartment, without benefit of natural light.  This also would become my first self portrait attempt (using my self timer) since I was home alone.

Also, as I set up to take this shot (clearing some of the debris of the living room and shifting some lamps) I was confronted with the fact that a) my tripod was in my car.  Which was 2 blocks away.  And it was raining.  And b) I was trying to create backlight using 2 floor lamps and needed something to diffuse the light so it wasn't a bunch of ugly bright bulb hot spots.  Enter creative solutions to the rescue.  First, let's look at the finished shot I came up with.

Next, let's take a look at how I made this shot happen:

Yes, that is an empty can (formally housing crushed tomatoes from my last soup) sitting on a book sitting on a chair, aka makeshift tripod.  I put my camera vertically sitting so part of the grip sat inside the can to keep it stabilized.  Then I leaned over, focused the shot and hit the timer and ran to get into place.  Here's a pullback so you can see the entire setup:

Please forgive the mess.  I probably should have staged the shot better, but this is reality not some awesome studio.  And there you have it.  Makeshift softbox created by putting my chef's coat around a floor lamp (one of the ones with 5 adjustable heads) and another lamp sitting below it.  And an awesome chair/tin can makeshift tripod.  Overall, I'd call it pretty successful for working with what I have.  Next up, preparing for next week's shot - Shallow Depth of Field.

Hope you've enjoyed - Do you have better ideas for creating a makeshift softbox?

More Mummer's Photos

Hi friends!

I attempted to put together another collage, using more of the photos I took at the Mummer's Parade.  One of the things I love about the parade is how vibrant it is - I love seeing all of the costumes they put together, especially for the String Bands division.  I think taking photos while at this parade is one of the tings I look forward to most all year.  Not only because of the fun and the colors and the atmosphere, but also because as spontaneous emotive shots go, the expressions I can capture at the parade are so awesome.

It was also fun using my new camera this year and trying out a heavier zoom lens than I was used to.  Maybe by next year I'll have my dream zoom (the 70-200mm 2.8 with VRII) and be able to get things even sharper and more of a range with the depth of field.  But anyway, enough technicalities.  Here's the collage:

Which is your favorite shot?  I'd love to hear which ones people gravitate to :)

Thanks for visting!

Photo Project 52 - Week 1

Hey there friends, long time no posting.

I have lots of food things I've cooked recently that I need to put up here (homemade stocks and lots of soups, as well as some roast chicken things), but until I get around to getting them all typed up and pretty for you, I thought I'd start the new year off with another project I'm working on.

I'm part of a community called Clickin' Moms (even though I'm not a mom, it's an awesome site/forum) and it's inspired me to start a Photo Project 52 - taking a photo a week for the entire year.  The group I'm in is doing a suggested theme as well, and I'm going to do my best to keep up with it each week.  Hopefully posting here will help keep me accountable and on track.

So, without further ado, here is my Week 1 Photo, for the theme "New Years".  Photo taken at the Philadelphia Mummer's Parade of the Woodland String Band.

Photo Challenge

Why hello there Blog!  Long time no see.  It's been a crazy couple of months - being away at camp for 2 months, getting back in the swing of freelance work - all of which amounts to not very much blogging.  I do have some recipes to post soon though!  In the meantime, here's a post without a recipe but with something else I've become passionate about - Photography!!

I've been a fan of good photography since high school and over the summer got more interested in really using my DSLR to the fullest and starting to shoot on full manual.  It's a fun journey to be on, though it's definitely taking some practice and I still have a lot to learn to get my images where I want them.

I decided to challenge myself at the end of the summer, and do a 30 day photo challenge.  Basically I took at least 1 picture per day that I liked and then worked in Lightroom to do some post processing on it.  I know it's a bit late (I finished this in September) but I finally put it together into a collage so I can share it.  I recently upgraded my camera to a Nikon D600 and I'll be doing a photo challenge with the new camera, but for now, I hope you enjoy this collage taken with my trusty D50.

Teriyaki Chicken w/ Quinoa

Hey there blog-friends, long time no post.  It's been awhile since I've had time to cook, let alone post - the *curse* of having lots of work that includes bizarre long hours.  While I've been gone I've TDed a show, built the set for another show, worked some individual events and occasionally taken a breath.  It's exciting that I had today off and food in the house so I could cook a real dinner.

It seems like I've been on a quinoa kick recently, which is kind of funny because I'm not actually all that partial to the taste of plain quinoa.  But, it's easy, quick, and can taste really good when I dress it/add vegetables and sauce.  So here we have another recipe for quinoa, asian influenced, since it seems to give a lot of flavor.

Teriyaki Chicken with Quinoa
Ingredients:
For the Chicken:
(1) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast - Butterflied and cut into 1-1/2" chunks
(2) Cloves of Garlic - Minced
(4) TBS of Low Sodium Soy Sauce
(2) TBS Light Brown Sugar
(1) TBS Lemon Juice
(1) TBS Brown Rice Vinegar
(1) TSP Sesame Oil
Sprinkling of Black Pepper


For the Quinoa:
(1) Cup Quinoa (dry)
(2) Cups Water
(1) Cup Carrots - Chopped (about 10 baby carrots)
(1/2) Large Onion - Diced
(1/4) Cup Red Pepper- Diced
(3) Cloves Garlic - Minced
(1/2) TBS Brown Rice Vinegar
(1/2) TBS Lemon Juice
(2) TBS Sesame Oil
(4) TBS Soy Sauce
Sprinkling of Black Pepper

To Do:


- Cut up the chicken into chunks
- In a bowl or container that will fit all your chicken, mix together all the ingredients for the marinade (soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, lemon juice, brown sugar, black pepper).  Dip a spoon in a taste it.  Adjust it as you see fit- you might want more lemon, or more sugar or some other flavor.
- Add the chicken to the marinade and mix it around so the pieces are coated.  Then cover it with the container's lid or plastic wrap and let sit while you start the quinoa.
- Cook the quinoa - I made it in my rice cooker by putting in the quinoa and water and turning it on.  If you're making it on the stove, follow the stovetop instructions on your package.
- While the quinoa is cooking, it's time to start cooking the vegetables.  In a large skillet/saute pan over med-high heat, add (1) TBS of Sesame Oil, followed by the Carrots, Peppers, Onion, Garlic.  Let that sit, stirring occasionally for about 10-15 minutes.  Once they are almost done, add (1/2) TBS of Brown Rice Vinegar and (1) TBS Soy Sauce, mixing it in.  If the quinoa is still cooking at this point, turn off the heat and let the vegetables sit.
 - While the vegetables are cooking you can cook the chicken.  In another skillet over medium heat place all of the chicken and its marinade.  Cover with aluminum foil and cook for about 8 minutes.  After 8 minutes flip the chicken pieces over, re-cover and cook for another 8 minutes or so.  Then take off the foil and turn up the heat so the sauce begins to thicken into a glaze.  If you're like me you'll worry it's not thickening, but give it another minute or so and you'll realize it actually is.
- Once the quinoa is cooked, add the vegetables to the quinoa and stir together.  Add in (3) TBS of Soy Sauce and some Black Pepper as well as (1/2) TBS of Lemon Juice and (1) TBS of Sesame Oil.  Stir it all together and taste.

Now it's all cooked and you can put some quinoa in a bowl and then put your teriyaki glazed chicken on top.  If I was more prepared I'd have a picture of this in all it's tastiness, but I was so excited to be blogging again, and so freaking hungry that I ate it before taking a picture.  So, sadly, no picture this time.  I hope you'll all forgive me.

Enjoy! (and be on the lookout for some more recipes - I'm thinking pizza soon)