112: Nuts

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to see my post on Haiti.  It wasn’t much but I wanted to do something.  I appreciate your visits and for those who commented, your comments.  I hope all the thoughts, prayers, and good energy work some magic.

(Pistachio morning.)

Today, Scott at Views Infinitum posted a new photography assignment.  Food Photography!  I don’t know about you, but I’m excited about this one.  Food!  Photography!  Two great things rolled into one assignment.

I love to cook.  Love it.  Almost as much as I love photography.  Not as much as I love M, though, so he has no worries where these other loves are concerned.  Cooking is fun.  Cooking is creative.  (Baking, on the other hand, not so much.  You gotta follow the rules in baking and I’m not that great at following the rules.)

(The beginnings of tonight’s dinner.)

My food photography needs work.  A year or two ago I spent a month focusing on food photography.  I was doing okay by the end, but I’d like to do better than okay.  I have been cooking up some great stuff lately.  I want to be able to share that with you in a way that makes you drool over the deliciousness and beauty of the food.  (I’m pretty sure nobody is drooling over the two food photos above.  Unless you are really hungry.  Then you might be drooling.)

I know that great lighting and a tripod are essential to food photography.  Since I don’t cook dinner when there is a goodly amount of natural light in my kitchen, I have to work on getting my manual settings right along with the lighting I use.  The pistachios, for instance, were sitting near the window this morning where they were nicely lit by the sun.  The butternut squash and apple mixture, on the other hand, were forced to pose under the kitchen lights.  This was one instance where tungsten finally worked for me.  While the food isn’t plated in an appealing way, at least the colors are right for a change.  The butternut squash looks orange.  The skin on the Granny Smith apples looks green.  And the skin on the Pink Lady apples looks red.  Good.  That’s how it should be.

Neither of the photos posted here today are the photo I want to submit for the assignment.  This post is about practice.  A starting point.  I’m hoping to show some improvement the next time I post a food photograph.

Today’s Outdoor Adventure

M and I went skiing this afternoon.  Since it was late in the day, we glided around the property rather than visit any of the nearby trails.  It’s 20 degrees, windy, and still snowing.  The interesting thing was the way we couldn’t see our skis.  The snow is powdery.  The skis sink right in the snow and we swished along with the skis underneath the powder.

I stayed out for about an hour.  My fingers are improving but still sensitive to the cold.  I did take a few photos before I locked into my skis.  I don’t like any of them so your snow for today is a video I took back in the woods on Saturday during one of the snow squalls.  Because I was in the woods, it doesn’t look nearly as blizzard-like as out in the open.

See you tomorrow with new snow adventures!