Three squares

Breakfast Collage (Clockwise: Ham & Cheese Scramble, Pancakes, Strawberries, Banana Bread, Cap'n Crunch's Crunchberries Cereal)

I’m what you’d call a foodie. Hmmm, no, that’s not right.

I’m a die hard foodie!

Love to cook, love to eat, love to learn about food (and wine), love to watch cooking shows, love to create recipes. I am more than familiar with the names Giada, Ina, Nigella, Tyler, Bobby, Gordon and Guy, and my dvr is loaded with shows having titles like ‘Hell’s Kitchen’, ‘Top Chef’ and ‘Chopped’. Heck, I’ve been regularly attending the annual EpCot Food & Wine Festival since 1998! 

So, when Scott Thomas posted his latest photo assignment, Food Photography, I knew I was all in! 🙂

Lunch Collage (T to B: Ham, Cheese & Apple Panini, Beet & Goat Cheese Salad, Cheese Pizza)

The hardest part of this assignment was remembering to stop and photograph the food. Let’s face it…once it’s baked, fried, grilled, roasted, seared, simmered and plated, the next step is ‘lift utensil, stick in mouth’, not, pick up camera! 🙂

For this challenge, I specifically chose not to make anything out of the ordinary. If you think about it, food photographers shoot all kinds of food and food-related items, not just fancy-schmancy, perfectly plated meals. Be it for an equipment ad, a recipe in a cookbook, a restaurant menu, a glossy magazine cover or gourmet catalog, their job is to make the food look interesting and appetizing, whatever it may happen to be. 

Therefore, these three collages simply represent a little snapshot of what you may see on our table on

Dinner Collage (L to R: Hearty Beef Stew, Linguine w/Meatball & Steamed Asparagus)

any given day. (Is your mouth watering yet? 😉 ) Like everyone else, our tastes change with the seasons and being winter, these days the meals tend to be on the heartier side with a very high ‘comfort level’ factor. (Hey, something has to get us through all these Nor’easters!) Around March, as thoughts turn to pool season, things will lighten up in anticipation of days spent by the grill and fresh veggies pulled from the garden. (Oh, and skin-bearing swimsuits…yikes!)

But for now, I am very happy with plates filled with eggs and pancakes and bowls piled high with pasta and stews.

Say…could you please be a dear and pass the bread? 😀

Fun with filters

Sometimes, you just can’t look at any more SNOW! 🙂

To take my mind off of all the wintry weather, I played with a couple of images from our October trip to Walt Disney World that I knew would be perfect for some Nik Color Efex Pro filter action.

“Molten Mickey” (Turn-style Gates at Disney’s Hollywood Studios) Nikon D300, 52mm, F/7.1, 1/200s, ISO 250, Nik Color Efex Pro Detail Stylizer & Bi-Color Filters

Millions of people pass through the turn-styles at Disney’s Hollywood Studios yet few seem to take notice of the fantastic gates on either side, simply adorned with the iconic Mickey Mouse head shape. As we entered the park one morning, the crowds were pretty thick so I knew I’d have to wait for a better opportunity to get the shot I wanted.

Later that afternoon, I got my chance and snapped away. I thought by shooting in b&w, the few people milling about would somehow magically disappear and on the small screen, they did seem to fade into the background. Oh, how I wish that were the case once back home, viewing the images on a larger screen! Sigh.

Nik filters to the rescue! 🙂

A few clicks of the mouse is all it took to isolate the Mickey shapes from the distracting background. More clicks brought in a punch of amazing color. I’m soooo digging the oozey, molten result… must be my wishful thinking that the blazing heat of the Florida sun will come through my monitor and melt all the snow! I can dream, can’t I? 😉

The second image comes courtesy via the queue area leading to “The Seas with Nemo & Friends” attraction. If you are familiar with the animated film ‘Finding Nemo’ upon which the ride is based then you would completely understand why a large monitor is cycling through various shapes being created by a school of metallic fish. The animation is meant to entertain and delight patrons as they patiently make their way through the line.

I decided to stop and photograph a bird shape that appeared momentarily on-screen, not really thinking I had captured anything particularly interesting. However, seeing it today and being in this ‘filter’ frame of mind, I was fairly pleased once I cross-processed the image to enhance the, ahem, feathers.

“Flight of the Albatross” (Bird Abstract, The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction, EpCoT) Nikon D300, 70mm, F/2.8, 1/1.6s, -0.3EV, ISO 640, Nik Color Efex Pro ‘Cross-Processing’ Filter

Pretty darn cool, eh? 🙂

When life hands you 2 feet of snow, make snowmen

I’m sure this little gal will give our mailperson a chuckle (or two) when she walks up our front steps today! 🙂

"Welcome Home" (Snowman on Steps) Nikon D300, 105mm, F/5.3, 1/640s, ISO 200

Now, I would have loved to have constructed an entire army of these (ala Calvin and Hobbes style) but the temps were bitter cold and the snow wasn’t quite the right constency to easily hold together. Some day…

Stylin’ and profilin’

 

“These Boots Were Made for Walkin in Snow” (Oscar Sport Apres Ski Boots) Nikon D300, 29mm, F/5, 1/13s, ISO 640, Nik Color Efex Pro Vignette Blur

 
I may have to shovel but nothin’ says I can’t be stylish while doing so! 🙂

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
(And, YES, boys…these not only look super cute but they are warm, waterproof, skid proof and comfortable!)