Can't believe we are already at the end of May. Hope the weather is beautiful where you are.
Showing posts with label Photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photography. Show all posts
Can't believe we are already at the end of May. Hope the weather is beautiful where you are.
I started reading The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King yesterday, so it was fitting that I spotted this little guy while I was outside reading. He was very photogenic and didn't mind me getting into his personal space for some photos.
I recently got a new (to me) camera. Hand me down from my brother to my Mom, and then re-gifted from Mom to me. My digital camera has become increasingly unreliable, shutting off randomly, freezing with the shutter open, corrupting files. It could be a battery issue, but replacing the battery is at least $30, and because the camera is over seven years old, I'd rather put that money towards a new camera (probably an SLR). Until I take the plunge and buy a new camera, I'm playing around with my hand me down one and it's pretty great. It's a point and shoot like my old one (same brand as well), a few years newer than mine. I'm taking lots of pictures and having fun with the new functions.
I did some practice shooting on a bouquet of flowers and I think they turned out pretty well. Going to keep practicing until I figure out all the best settings. I love this bouquet - just gorgeous.
I did some practice shooting on a bouquet of flowers and I think they turned out pretty well. Going to keep practicing until I figure out all the best settings. I love this bouquet - just gorgeous.
I'm Canadian, so it is my birthright to comment/discuss at length/complain/ about the weather.
I braved the outdoors again today to document the real life blizzard we are experiencing. I was out for less than 10 minutes, as it was too cold to be out much longer. The weather network puts the wind gusts at 69km/hr, and the air it was throwing at me felt like -25°C (that is really cold). My gloved fingers were very unhappy.
We keep our car under a car port, but it got snow covered anyway.
Giant snow pile from having the driveway cleared (with a tractor!)
Our road looking West.
Again, looking East.
Snow is starting to weigh down the trees.
Neighbour's (Grandma's) drifted doorway. It had already been dug out once this morning.
Even with my high boots I got covered in snow. It was up to my knees. I'm a tall girl, so up to my knees in big boots is a little over 2 feet. I wasn't even in the deepest part of the snow.
The old swing set is missing the bottom half.
Definitely snow covered. Time to get back inside.
The Weather Network's outlook for today |
We keep our car under a car port, but it got snow covered anyway.
Giant snow pile from having the driveway cleared (with a tractor!)
Our road looking West.
Again, looking East.
Snow is starting to weigh down the trees.
Neighbour's (Grandma's) drifted doorway. It had already been dug out once this morning.
Even with my high boots I got covered in snow. It was up to my knees. I'm a tall girl, so up to my knees in big boots is a little over 2 feet. I wasn't even in the deepest part of the snow.
The old swing set is missing the bottom half.
Definitely snow covered. Time to get back inside.
This winter is trying to get itself into record books I think. So far we have had an ice storm, temperatures as cold as the surface of Mars, and now some massive snowfall.
And it's still snowing.
We are currently under a "Blizzard Warning" and a "Wind Chill Warning" and the Weather Network is calling for even more snow tomorrow.
Good thing I enjoy indoor activities.
And it's still snowing.
We are currently under a "Blizzard Warning" and a "Wind Chill Warning" and the Weather Network is calling for even more snow tomorrow.
Good thing I enjoy indoor activities.
I sometimes suffer from recipe perfectionism: the desire for the recipe to turn out perfectly the first time, regardless of my familiarity with it. We all want our cakes, cupcakes, fudge, and other treats to taste great, and if you're blogging about it, or taking them to a dinner party, there is an added pressure for them to look great too. I'm starting to re-frame how I see my baking, so instead of seeing a recipe as the 'perfect' finished product, I'm trying to appreciate that most times baking is an experiment, and sometimes shit doesn't work out. I know part of my perfectionism is that I spent money on ingredients and I don't want to waste them, but I'm trying to see that money as an investment in bettering my baking skills. Plus even when baking goes horribly wrong, it still tends to taste pretty good. Someone in this house will eat it!
Earlier this summer I made some Canada Day cupcakes. They tasted great and actually looked pretty great in photos (I took this one when they were cold; they looked so much better cold), but the red icing was a pain to make and work with.
I had never made a dark icing before, and my Google searching led me to believe it was going to be hard. Knowing it would be hard helped me be less disappointed when I ran into trouble. My previous experience working with gel colours had all been easy, simply adding a tiny amount usually did the trick. Red was a whole other thing.
In my red icing research, I came across two tips that were really helpful. First, I bought no taste Red, as many baking forums suggested I would use a lot of the gel colour (possibly the whole jar) and using regular red would make the icing taste gross. The other tip I followed was to leave the icing overnight in the fridge so the red colour could darken.
While making the icing, things started to go awry, and I realized there were some tips I missed. The red colour separated while I was mixing it, giving it a white speckled look. I later learned that dark colours have a tendency to do that, and can be avoided by keeping your icing thick. Not only was my icing thin and separating, but it was also soft (it looked like it wouldn't ice properly), and I learned that on particularly humid days (which it was) adding shortening instead of butter helps to avoid this. You also don't want to beat it too much (I definitely beat it too much!). But now I know for next time.
I also learned about baking photography and how room temperture icing doesn't look as good as refrigerated icing. I did a whole photo shoot with room temp, and then did it all over again because it just looked so much better cold.
Do you ever expect yourself to do things perfectly the first time? How does it work out? I'm trying to remember to focus on the journey and not worry so much about the outcome.
Earlier this summer I made some Canada Day cupcakes. They tasted great and actually looked pretty great in photos (I took this one when they were cold; they looked so much better cold), but the red icing was a pain to make and work with.
I had never made a dark icing before, and my Google searching led me to believe it was going to be hard. Knowing it would be hard helped me be less disappointed when I ran into trouble. My previous experience working with gel colours had all been easy, simply adding a tiny amount usually did the trick. Red was a whole other thing.
In my red icing research, I came across two tips that were really helpful. First, I bought no taste Red, as many baking forums suggested I would use a lot of the gel colour (possibly the whole jar) and using regular red would make the icing taste gross. The other tip I followed was to leave the icing overnight in the fridge so the red colour could darken.
While making the icing, things started to go awry, and I realized there were some tips I missed. The red colour separated while I was mixing it, giving it a white speckled look. I later learned that dark colours have a tendency to do that, and can be avoided by keeping your icing thick. Not only was my icing thin and separating, but it was also soft (it looked like it wouldn't ice properly), and I learned that on particularly humid days (which it was) adding shortening instead of butter helps to avoid this. You also don't want to beat it too much (I definitely beat it too much!). But now I know for next time.
It didn't photograph clearly, but there are lines of white separating from red |
It looked better after darkening in the fridge |
Do you ever expect yourself to do things perfectly the first time? How does it work out? I'm trying to remember to focus on the journey and not worry so much about the outcome.
Went walking on the local biking/walking/ATV trail last weekend. The trail is situated around the Wye River, so I got lots of great photos of the water that surrounds it. I would have taken more photos but there was a serious amount of flying bugs biting at me, so each photo left me with two or three bites (mosquitos/black flies/other flying jerks are suckers for my blood...see what I did there?). Next trail hike, I will douse myself with an entire can of bug spray, and maybe bring along a second can just in case.
**Click on photos to Embiggen**
On the trail bridge looking towards to road bridge |
Shadow me taking a photo from a trail bridge |
A country road (view from a trail bridge) |
Lone flower on the side of the trail |
A view of a creek from another trail bridge |
The other side of the creek |
The school buses here in Simcoe County were cancelled for the past two days due to our (spring) winter weather. This winter has seemed never-ending, and with two "snow days" in April it is hard to believe spring will ever actually show itself! I'm Canadian so I like to forget certain things about our climate, like the fact that it sometimes snows on May 24th weekend (shh...don't talk about it!). Last year we were spoiled with summer-like temperatures in March, so this year has been cruel by comparison.
Ice storms in April aren't all bad, the icicles actually make everything look quite pretty. With my boots on (boo!) I went walking around and documented this April event.
How is the weather where you are?
Ice storms in April aren't all bad, the icicles actually make everything look quite pretty. With my boots on (boo!) I went walking around and documented this April event.
How is the weather where you are?
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