Food Photography Workshop

Last Saturday I attended Gina Weathersby's Food Photography Workshop.  Gina is not only an amazing photographer (you can see her work here, here, and here) but she is also an amazing teacher.  The first half of the workshop Gina covered everything from camera angles and lighting direction to aperture/iso/shutter speed to how to tell your story through food.  We looked at sample work and discussed what makes a good photo.  I absolutely loved listening to her comments on the photos we looked at because for a minute it lets you see the photo through her eyes...what she would have done differently to make it better, how she would have changed just one thing to improve it.  You can learn so much from listening and taking note of the smallest of comments.  There is so substitute for being around someone who is an expert in their field and passionate about what they do.    

The second half of the workshop we all received shooting assignments and were able to ask questions right then and there if we needed help.  It was scary and fun all at once.  My food assignment was to shoot a frittata and its ingredients.  The fun part was choosing between all the amazing props Gina brought.  There were beautiful plates and bowls, linens of every texture and color, cutting boards small and large, silverware, wooden spoons, measuring spoons... I could go on and on but you get the idea.  And this is not even mentioning the food!  Some of the food (including my fritatta) was prepared by eat well celebrations and feasts, but there was also quite an array of fresh ingredients including quail eggs, tomatillos, fresh herbs, edible flowers, rustic breads, olives, and vegetables of all kinds.  Plus the workshop was held at Marti's Floral Design where there were amazing surfaces and textures in addition to large windows that let in perfect light for shooting.   

The photos above show a small sampling of some of the great textures we had to work with.  Those quail eggs were just too awesome for words.  Below was a shot of all of my ingredients.  It was so much fun arranging them...who said not to play with your food?!

I have to add a warning about the above recipe.  I totally made it up just as a sample recipe.  Not to say you couldn't make it, just beware that it is untested and written by someone who makes frozen pizza from a box when George is out-of-town.

One thing I learned after the workshop is that you often do not want to eat the food after a photo shoot.  The food has often laid on the floor, been poked and prodded by many hands, or just plain sat out too long.  Looks yummy but I would not recommend eating it.

I learned so much from this workshop about myself and my photography.  I was nervous to sign up because I felt unsure about my technical skills.  But how else am I going to improve them except by pushing my limits?  And push them it did.  I don't want to feel nervous anymore when someone asks me what my settings are.  I want to be able to answer with confidence "ISO 200, F-stop 4.5, shutter speed, 1/125."  And I want to feel confident in my ability to change the settings as needed.  In her amazingly soft, but somehow stern way, Gina has inspired me to want to learn to shoot manually which has always frightened the bejeezes out of me!  I realize now I have gotten a little too comfortable resting on my aperture-priority-shooting laurels.  So thank you Gina for sharing your knowledge, pushing me out of my comfort zone and providing such a wonderful experience. 

Sketchbook - Fire Station, Hyde Park Square, Cincinnati

My friend Christina and I sketched the fire station in Hyde Park Square a couple weeks ago and I finished mine last week.  I have never been one to keep a sketchbook but it is starting to really grow on me.  I find it super relaxing to work on it and it is a great way to get away from the computer for a bit.  Thank you Christina for getting me outside and sketching!

Redbud Haiku

After I wrote this haiku I couldn't decided whether it needed a question mark at the end or a comma after "who".  In the end I decided against both.  I also wasn't sure if I liked the texture I had on the photo.  So I have now changed it about five times and it may change again.  That is the beauty of the blog.

Snow in Summer

Last week our crabapple was in full bloom and I had the bright idea to do a little photo shoot beneath it. It was the kind of day that has high clouds and you couldn't see the sun, but still bright.  I thought it would be perfect lighting.  George helped me drag the table, chairs and tablecloth down and I picked a few flowers from the yard for a flower arrangement.  It was a beautiful setting and I shot a lot of photos.

After eating lunch with my neighbor I brought it all back inside because it looked like it might rain.  That night when I sat down to look at the photos I was super disappointed.  The sky was all blown out and my white blooms faded right into the sky!  I was so mad after all that effort I had nothing to show.

But then I had a brainstorm.  My friend Jill layers wonderful textures into her photos and had recently shared some of her favorite places to download textures.  I hadn't yet had time to delve into her email but this was the perfect solution to my blown out sky!  I love when things work out perfectly like that.  Thank you Jill for your perfectly timed email!

If you are interested in using textures in your photos (or just love beautiful photography) you have to visit Jill's blog - She Who Carries Camera. She has wonderful photos plus you can participate in Creative License Fridays where everyone downloads the same photo and applies their own techniques.  It is so much fun to see what everyone comes up with.  Also be sure to check out her feathered portraits - love these! 

Homemade Pretzels!

Sometimes my husband's cooking is so amazing the moment I see it I have to run back upstairs to get the camera.  Today was one of those days.  He had just yelled at me to come down and try the pretzels he made and this is what I saw when I came around the corner. I was torn between eating one immediately or documenting their perfectly browned softness.  Let's just say the photo shoot didn't last long.

If you would like the recipe you can find it here on King Arthur's website.  And a special thanks to our friend Amy for introducing us to this delicious recipe.

Sketchbook

Last week my friend Christina and I took a walk and ended up sketching one of my favorite houses in the neighborhood.  I love sketching with Christina because she is a master at drawing architecture and I learn so much from studying her drawings and trying to emulate her.  You can see Christina's sketch on here blog here.  And check out her Italy sketches here and here (not to mention the beautiful Miffy!).

Wood

When we were walking at the Beavercreek Wetlands I kept coming across all these crazy, wonderful trees where the texture was amazing.  I especially love all of the holes, both natural and insect-made.  The beauty of some of these textures boggles my mind.  If you tried to make something like this it would be impossible.  It makes me a little sad that the size of these photos is limited to the blog because they look great blown up really big.  Maybe some day I will print them coffee-table book size...but for now the blog will have to do.

"Grace fills empty spaces, but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it." - Simone Weil

Beavercreek Wetlands

A couple weeks ago my family took a trip to the Beavercreek wetlands and I had a great time photographing everything from board walks to cattails to jumping boys.  We visited both Siebenthaler fen and the Koogler wetlands and had perfect weather both days.  Both parks have nice boardwalks that form a loop trail that takes about half an hour to 45 minutes to walk.  If you are ever in Beavercreek, Ohio and have some time it is well worth a stop.


It was an especially nice time of year for me to go because there were a million dried pods to photograph.  It was a bit windy the day I took the two photos below and I had to snap quite a few pictures in the hopes that one would be in focus.  Lucky for me the wind gave me a break (which is more than I can say for two little boys!). 

When I noticed this smiley face head (below) on an antenna in the parking lot I snapped a quick photo not thinking too much about it.  But when I saw the similarity between this photo and the photo of the dried gall pod (second photo down in this blog), it made me laugh.  I love when fun, weird things like that happen...it made me feel lucky and charmed all day! 

Hellebores

I had never picked my hellebores for an arrangement until today.  I guess I never thought of them as a great flower for arrangements because their heads are always droopy and you never get to see the inside of the flower.  But boy was I wrong!  I totally love them as cut flowers!  Some of them still droop but they are fairly easy to manipulate and if you really feel the need you could always wire a head or two.

When I went to post these photos I realized what a difference the light makes.  I took the above photo today which was overcast and the below photos yesterday when it was sunny.  I like the joyous feeling the sun gives to those photos but I definitely prefer the no-shadow light of the above photo.  Either way I am super happy to have discovered these as cut flowers because I have a ton of them in my yard and they appear to be spreading without my doing anything to them!   

Buddha Board Sumi-e Fish

A couple weeks ago I visited the studio of my friend Frank Satogata.  I met Frank at his art opening at the Xavier Gallery last month and we quickly discovered we both love sumi-e, or ink wash painting (check out his work here).  Frank offered to loan me his Buddha Board which is a board that you can paint on with water to practice your brushstrokes.  The water then evaporates and you can practice again and again.

After several weeks of sitting on my desk I finally pulled it out because I was going to have lunch with Frank and I needed to return it.  At first my attempts were feeble and hideous (no exaggeration here!).  I was trying to emulate the drawings I had done for Zen Kitty and it was not going well.  I then came across a picture of a fish on the internet and I started to loosen up.  As soon as I let go of trying to draw precisely and slowly, things began to happen.  I started trying to have longer, more fluid strokes and not worry so much about particulars.  After about an hour of playing with it I also realized that I liked the heavy quality that multiple strokes could have as in the fish above.

It is so satisfying to work at something over and over until you start to understand the medium.  I feel like I barely reached the tip of the iceberg but you could spend a lifetime working with these wonderful brushstrokes. It was also such a nice break from the computer. 

"The goal of ink and wash painting is not simply to reproduce the appearance of the subject, but to capture its soul. To paint a horse, the ink wash painting artist must understand its temperament better than its muscles and bones. To paint a flower, there is no need to perfectly match its petals and colors, but it is essential to convey its liveliness and fragrance." - Wikipedia

At the end of an hour I thought to myself, "I'm going to have to buy me one of these Buddha Boards."  Little did I know my wish would come true quicker than I expected.  When I left the room this last image was starting to evaporate and I assumed when I got home it would be gone.  However when I got home I was surprised to find a faint image on the Buddha Board of this fish.  I rinsed it off in the shower and let it dry but it was still there.  I then realized that I had switched to using an old brush of mine toward the end because I wanted a bigger brush and that brush must have had old ink residue still in it.  Lesson  learned!  Always clean your brushes thoroughly! And Frank, your new Buddha Board just arrived and I will be bringing it over shortly.

Crocus Joy

I finally feel like Spring is here and I am as happy as this little crocus.  Have a great weekend everyone and be sure to spread a little crocus joy wherever you are!

Crocus

The same day I was out admiring the contents of my garbage can I also photographed the crocus in the yard.  I took a ton of photos and this was one of my favorites.  I usually don't like to "touch" my photos other than to adjust the levels if need be.  It's not that I don't appreciate when people do, it's just not my style. But this photo called out for this color/black and white effect.

I really liked the composition with the lines drawing the eye up and back, except there was a dot of purple that kept distracting my eye at the bottom left (see below).  I could have Photoshopped it out but that seemed overly invasive.  The photo was also practically black and white to begin with and that's what gave me the idea to just make it all black and white except the central flower.  I think it's OK to have a "style" or a set of rules one tries to follow, but it's also OK to break them some times.

Hog Heaven

When I met John Unger I knew him as the carpenter who was coming to my house to install my new wood storm doors.  The day he came out to the house I was chit-chatting with him on the front porch as he was working.  We were talking about how George (hubby) studies birds and how I love animals when he mentioned that he raises show pigs.  I was immediately intrigued and started plaguing him with questions.  Not only was he not annoyed with all the interest, but you could see he was crazy passionate about the subject.  By the time John finished installing my front doors I had wrangled an invitation out to his farm to visit the pigs.

So the first week of March George and I made our way out to southern Indiana to visit John's farm.  The light was fading by the time we got there and when we got to his house his son told us to head down to the barn.  It had been rainy lately so we sloshed our way down the hill towards a low barn.  As we approached you could hear something that sounded like a mini stampede that would abruptly start and stop.  I knocked on the door and John let us in to a warm, cozy room containing one gigantic mama pig and about 40 piglets ranging in size and color in various pens.  

At first the piglets were scared of us and would nervously run around.  It is amazing how much noise a scared pack of pink and black piglets can make.  But they soon calmed down and a few started to warm up to us.  The pig above kept trying to chew on my jacket when I was turned the other way.

But the most amazing event of the night was watching the 500 pound sow nurse her little ones. At first she was standing but then she very carefully laid down to let them nurse.  And then when they were nursing she made what I would describe as "contented, grunting sounds."  It was an incredible thing to witness. And John told me not only had she nursed her own young, but she also took on another litter from a sow who had rejected her own.  Now that is a good mama pig!

As I was photographing the pigs George and John were talking about feed and what it takes to make a good show pig, and what to do when they get sick, and when they wean, and all the million things it takes to raise a good pig.  If you've got a question about raising pigs John's got an answer.  There is a certain energy around people who are passionate about what they do and John exuded an affection for his animals that was contagious and a wisdom that only comes from years of caring for his animals.  I've never met anyone with such a passion for pigs and it was quite a treat to visit his farm.  Thank you John for such an amazing visit!

Also, anyone who has advice about shooting in dark conditions I am happy to hear it!