Dream Tomorrow, Live Today, Cherish Yesterday

Cant beet this salad

Okay, title is a bit of a groaner. But, how long has it been since I had a food pic here on the blog? One of my facebook buddies, Debbie Cunningham, now really kicks my butt with her awesome work. I don't get much chance at food shoots anymore, too bad, as I always enjoyed them. This was so pretty we could barely eat it. Well, anyway that thought lasted a few seconds.

When I'm not out taking pictures...

Leica M9

I'm often working on cooking! Er, then I take pictures of the food?

The Hero

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70mm F/2.8, f/5.0, 1/25th, iso 400

Food photography is a lot more involved than people would imagine. When you see some tasty dish in an ad or magazine, it took a team of people a long time to produce the image. It's not uncommon for the stylist to make dozens of versions of the same dish, to find one that is the most visually appealing.

They will pick one version that is to be used for the actual image - called "The Hero." Stand ins are used until all of the lighting, props, arranging have been worked out. Then they put in The Hero for the real shot.

We are a little over one month into our new home on Bainbridge Island. Loving every minute of it. Due to the unpacking/moving in, and my day job, I haven't made much time for photography. In fact, no dedicated time. But I am keeping to my commitment of making mostly gourmet type meals.

Compared to pro shoots though (of which I have done a few) I'm not making stand ins, just heroes! And by the time it's ready to be shot, we are ready to eat! So at the moment I'm just doing a rudimentary job with the styling and photography. Hopefully I'll have time later to pick that up a notch.

I was pretty happy with this one though. I even got out my tripod!

The dish is fresh salmon, pan roasted/oven finished. Sitting on a bed of baby bok choy, spinach and lentils. Topped with carmelized mushrooms and a white wine sauce. Polenta topped with marinara. And fresh Island beets with goat cheese.

Didn't take as long as you might think. With portions for two, and a few things done ahead of time, it was very reasonable meal prep. And yes, way tasty!

Sole Man

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70 F/2.8, f/2.8, 1/320, iso 640

Depending on how long you have been visiting my blog, you may or may not know that cooking is my "other hobby." The past few years my life has gotten so hectic that cooking sort of took a back seat to many other needs.

Our move to the Seattle area comes with some lifestyle changes. A dedication to daily walking for example. And for me, spending more time cooking, and enjoying the process, not just the meal. Last night I made sole wrapped asparagus with a orange buerre blanc, along with fresh island beets.

My rendition was not quite as photogenic as the inspiration - a recipe from Gourmet magazine. The sole fillets were super thin, so I used two. Did you know every recipe from Gourmet and Bon Appetit are online? They are. Here's the recipe on www.epicurious.com.

If you make it, pay close attention to the reviews. I only used about 1 tbsp of butter vs the recipe. Also, tangerines are not available here now so I used an orange.  Yum.

Food Friday

Canon 20D, 70-200 F/4.0, f/6.3, .4 sec, iso 200

Several years ago I got hired to do a food shoot. The primary assignment was the a shot of the owner/chef for a book. That went well, but I also got a lot of images of her food too. Fortunately the room had several windows and I was able to use natural light, my preference. Supposedly food shooting is quite difficult, but I seem to have a knack for it.

Note that this was before I had some of my current fancy lenses. Just goes to show you don't have to have them to do some nice work.

Betcha can't eat just one!

My friend's garden - Day Three (bonus image)

Canon 5D Mark II, 135mm F/2.0, f/2.0, 1/200, iso 200

When you have been taking pictures like I have for a while, and a lot of flower pictures, well, you end up with a lot of rose shots. Because I'm the kind of person that always likes to mix it up, I don't do as many rose shots as I used to.

But seeing this one, very perfect, just like a painting in the afternoon light...  okay, time to break the rule and create something nice. A lot of time roses have complicated backgrounds, since they are planted in groups. This one was really nice, photographically.  More 135mm magic.  And a Lightroom preset called "Vintage."

I'll bet my friends Barbara Kile and Evie Ausley would have a field day with this one. 

Okay, today is the final post of the mini-series. So we will celebrate with a bonus image. You wanted to see what we had for dinner, right?  Click on the continue link to find out and leave me a comment if you like these images.

I'm not going to do it!

Canon 1D Mark III, 70-200 F/4.0L, f/4.0, 1/320, iso 200

I'm not going to do it!

You see what day of the week it is... You see the subject. It would be easy to have a two word name for this blog post. I KNOW you are thinking I would do this. But I'm not.  I'm sure there is some award out there for consistent corny blog post names. I'm not looking to win that one.

I do think mushrooms are very cool though. Not to mention tasty. A lot of people don't like mushrooms, I have found over the years. Oh well, more for me!

I have not done much shooting with this camera body, having become enamored with the image quality out of the 5DM2.  But this day my son borrowed that body to do some video for a school project.  I also used the 70-200 zoom, which I don't use much anymore, preferring my primes.  I used it because I wanted to quickly get shots off without people getting too distracted by me.

These beauties were laying in a plastic tub at a farmer's market. The original shot is nice, with very even light. A Lightroom preset called "RJ-Cinema 1" created the basic look. From there I did a bit of "light painting" and we have this creation. I really like how the stems are emphasized.  Maybe I should have bought these?

Wrong Turn Especial

 

Canon 1D Mark III, 35mm F/1.4, f/2.5, 1/160, iso 160

My wife and I visit the charming little hamlet of Grass Valley regularly. It's about 45 miles from our home. Last weekend we headed up there planning to visit one of our favorite mexican restaurants.  But I took one of my famous shortcuts and missed that restaurant entirely.

Driving around aimlessly, I mean knowing exactly where I was headed, we happened upon Diego's Restaurant. Thinking it was another mexican restaurant we parked and took a table in their nice courtyard.  We found instead that it featured South American fare, and that was pretty exciting. I like new stuff!

I selected the Panqueque Especial, described on the menu as:

We prepare a mildly spicy ground chorizo Pork with grilled pineapple, Diego's cheese sauce & Rice. Wrapped in a savory crepe and baked with a green Tomatillo sauce, a melted blend of Feta and Mozzarella cheeses, a side of seasoned Grilled Veggies, and topped with fresh Guacamole

It sounds pretty good, doesn't it?  Then when I received my plate (above) - wow, we are talking mouth watering goodness here. I resisted the urge to dive right in and took a couple of shots (the sacrifices I make for the Dream Tomorrow Blog....).   And when I did dive in? Even better tasting than it looks if that is possible! Jeez I wish I had one right now!

If you visit NorCal, make a point to take in Grass Valley and Nevada City (California's oldest town). Lots of fun.  And meet me at Diego's.  I'll be there with my Panqueque Especial!

Bobs Bake Breads

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm F/1.4, f/2.0, 1/40th, iso 640

As you know I made some new friends this year, thanks to this blog!  One of them is Bob Cornelis.  Bob is infinitely more philosophical and a practiced wordsmith than myself.  And we share more hobbies than just photography, cooking being one of them.

A couple of weeks ago Bob mentioned a book to me: Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day. I do love to make bread, so I just could not resist.  The process really is simple, with pretty amazing results.

The loaf above is my second try.  My inspiration loaf is one that is made locally, by a guy with a wood fired oven in his back yard. It's the best bread I have ever had. What I really like is that he puts kind of a lemony/herbed/olive oil coating on it. I don't know if he does it before baking or during.

When I made my first loaf, it was a bit bland, and a bit dense. So for attempt #2 I mixed things up a bit. I bought some asiago cheese (now we are talking!). Retrieving the chunk of dough from the refrigerator, I flattened it. I then covered this with asiago and a bit of olive oil. I then rolled this back into a loose ball, then "cuffed" the loaf as the book describes.  The book calls for a loaf like this to rise for 45 minutes at room temp. Noticing my previous attempt was more dense than I care for, I put the little guy in my warming drawer, such that the temp was about 95 degrees, for an hour. He just about doubled size.

I then scored it with a knife, and made up my secret sauce: fresh lemon juice, olive oil, dried italian herbs.  I whipped this together to form a vinaigrette, and liberally coated the loaf.  Into the oven on the baking stone as instructed. With about 10 minutes baking time left, I added just a touch of grated asiago on the outside.

My wife, son and I could barely stand the cool down period. It was about 9 pm but we had bread for dessert! The cooks need to put my version into their cookbook I'd say.

Hey Bob, give this one a try and let me know how it comes out!

For the rest of you, if you have the basics of cooking skills, you can do this too. Really!

My other hobby (cooking) - Tortilla Soup

Canon 5D Mark II, 180mm F/3.5 Macro, f/4.0, 1/50, iso 800

As mentioned previously here on the blog, my other creative outlet besides photography is cooking. Once in a while I put the two together, as with today's tortilla soup.

My wife and I had been making the same tortilla soup for a long time, maybe 15 years.  It's a creamy soup.  About a year ago I started looking for other recipes, to create a more hearty, tomato based soup. I have been tinkering with it for many months, making it once per month or so.

Above you see last week's version.  Does it look good? It sure tastes good!  Chicken, some vegetables, the toppings as you see. I have a special method I developed of thickening the soup that really adds to the rustic and hearty taste.

The picture was the easy part! I think I'm there with this soup, it's close to perfect.  Maybe a few sliced olives on top next time....