I love pistachios and those salty green nuggets go particularly well paired with Layer Cake’s red wine blend, appropriately called Red Velvet. This pile of nuts that I photographed a few minutes ago on my kitchen table is now gone, as is the Red Velvet. I guess it’s time to cook dinner.
Focal Length 70mm
ISO 100
f/13
1.3 seconds
A few weeks ago I posted a photo of some broccoli along with one of my all-time favorite cartoons from the “New Yorker.” Tonight, when I realized I hadn’t taken a photo today, I checked my Flickr group to see if I could squeeze a photo out of any of the themes posted this week. Today’s theme is “produce.” Luckily, yesterday I bought a bunch of broccoli rabe that would seem to fit the bill. I stuck a few stems of it in a creamery bottle and took some shots. Now it’s broccoli rabe, dear!
Focal Length 44mm
ISO 100
f/7.1
1/2 sec
This moth orchid (scientific name: phaleanopsis), is spending the night in my house until tomorrow when it will be delivered as a “thank you.” In its brief time with me, I decided to take advantage of its presence by photographing it for this blog. I used my black backdrop and my two OTT lights to achieve this effect.
Focal Length 70mm
ISO 100
f/2.8
1/60
Late yesterday afternoon, as I was having a meltdown over some aspect of Famous Mo’s Coffeehouse & Theater implementation that for some reason at that time I was unable to cope with, my friend Annie appeared and spirited me off to a local speak-easy for a much-needed glass of Shock Top Belgian White. The tears flowed, I talked through my problems, and Annie presented me with a lovely gift which I shall treasure. It is a peep toe stiletto for my business cards in Famous Mo’s signature colors of black, red, and white.
It’s always only a matter of time before the next hummingbird shot might appear here. I just can’t resist these cute little guys. This morning I ran out with my 70-200mm lens attached along with the speed light. I’m still getting acquainted with this lens so I managed to capture only a couple of shots this morning but I absolutely love this one. He’s looking right at me…or you!
My dear friend Melinda, whose late father was a dentist, often features the antique dental cabinet he used in his practice in her photographs, either as a backdrop or as part or all of the subject. My early morning quarterly visit to the Periodontist today made me think of Dr. Mowatt for some reason and while the hygienist asked me to wait a few minutes while she documented something in my very full dental chart, I decided to take advantage and photograph some of the horrifying implements she used on me this morning. It is only fitting that I changed the photos to black and white and added some grain to the shots to make them seem as if they had just emerged from Dr. Mowatt’s mysterious antique cabinet.
Ever since my trip to the Grand Canyon with Moose Peterson, I’ve been thinking about the things I experienced there and the things I learned, especially from Moose. Once of the important lessons that I learned is that not only is the light crucial, but the sky can make or break a photograph. At one point, when I asked about an incredibly gorgeous photograph that Moose took, he mentioned that they called him Mr. Cloud, or something to that effect. Blue skies, overcast skies, flat skies, don’t interest him. Clouds do. I kept that in mind this afternoon while waiting for someone at Home Depot. Sadly, I couldn’t get the best angle on the clouds because of surrounding buildings and I didn’t have time to find an open area so I made a few adjustments to this shot, turned it to black and white, and I kind of like what I captured.
I’ve been home for a week now and I’m still thinking about the Grand Canyon and what an unforgettably wonderful experience I had there. I think about the grandeur of that canyon and feel a bit deprived that I’m not still be there absorbing its wonders and beauty. One day last week, shortly after my return from the Grand Canyon, I was at a tile store ordering some mundane ceramic cove tile that California’s building code requires be installed in commercial kitchens. As I wandered through the showroom, I espied a sample tile of yellow onyx. I mentioned to the salesperson how lovely that single 12 inch tile was and that it would be even more beautiful framed. She gave me one of the tiles because I couldn’t purchase just one to frame. When I got it home, I realized that its appeal was that it reminded me of the Grand Canyon itself. This evening, I placed the tile over a flash light so that it was illuminated from beneath. . .an instant view of the Grand Canyon at sunrise (light from the east) in my living room.
Focal Length 58mm
ISO 100
f/4
1/15
WB Fair Weather
This moon greeted me this morning when I went out to get the newspaper. I took this shot using my newest lens, Nikon’s new,light weight, 70-200mm lens. I think this lens does pretty well on moon shots. I didn’t even feel the need to crop this and I like the framing that the oak branches give it.
Focal Length 200mm
ISO 100
f/4
1/40
Today I went on my first outing with the Placer Camera Club. We met in Auburn this morning and then caravanned to locations around the town to photograph street art, better known as graffiti. Some of the graffiti seemed not to be real street/gang graffiti but rather commissioned by a local merchant. The first two shots seem to me to be from that category and were on a concrete wall by a strip mall. I went in for close shots because I liked the designs and colors and thought the angles enhanced the artwork. The last three are clearly legitimate graffiti, found by the railroad tracks under the freeway. I didn’t include all of the gang related signs, choosing again to focus on the artistic aspect of the paintings and the angles. The colors and the techniques used for the lettering are intriguing to me. I could not read the stylized words in most of the painted graffiti we saw today, including those works featured here.
We’re getting ready to install the beer taps at Famous Mo’s and here they are waiting for the beer guys to hook them up and get them flowing with Mo’s Famous Blonde, Samuel Adams Lager, Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat, and a number of other craft brews. The fancy handles haven’t arrived yet.
A quick check of my Flickr group’s challenges for the past week has provided me with many photo subjects from which to choose so I don’t have to think too hard about a subject today. One of the group’s challenges from a few days ago was “Alphabet.” I emptied the contents of a bag of Peanut M&Ms into a small bowl and focused on the “m.” M-m good! I don’t plan on consuming the entire bowl for dinner tonight but Peanut M&Ms seem to pair well with Gnarly Head Authentic Red as a first course.
