Hi All,
The blog has been upgraded to fancier digs and is now available at its permanent home here. You can also reach the blog by going to the portfolio site here. See you there!
Michele
28
Apr
09
We are officially upgraded!
23
Apr
09
Food Making and Food Photography
I’ve been itching to throw up some of my food photography efforts. It combines two of my all time favorite things…well, three really, I get to make the food, photograph it, and then eat it!
As an initial disclaimer, I am not a vegetarian in any way shape or form. I love burgers, particularly from Fuddruckers. But my husband is a vegetarian and it’s always made sense to just make food for both of us, rather than special food for him and meaty food for me. Making vegetarian food has been tough since it’s difficult to get that extra bit of heft that meat usually adds to a dish…but lately I’ve been spending a lot of time with cauliflower and discovered that it adds quite a bit of that meaty heft to vegetarian dishes.
Here is my latest favorite cauliflower recipe.
2 cauliflower heads
4 cloves of garlic
1 container of mushrooms, white or portabello
8 roasted red peppers
some extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
Hollow out 8 roasted red peppers, rinse out to make sure there are no seeds. Brush the peppers with olive oil, sprinkle with Kosher salt and pepper. Turn the oven to broil, and put the peppers in the oven. Wait until the skins are black on one side, and then turn the peppers and wait for the red pepper skin on the other side to blacken. Take the peppers out and wait for the peppers to cool, and then peel the skins off and discard.
Put the cauliflower florets of two cauliflower heads in a food processor, until there are rice like grains remaining. If you don’t have a food processor, do some serious chopping. Put some olive oil in a pan, throw in 4 cloves of minced garlic. Throw in the sliced mushrooms, salt and pepper, and cook the mushrooms a bit. Then, put the cauliflower into the pan and cook, for about 10 minutes, until they seem to be somewhat cooked and soft. Add in half cup of heavy cream and one cup of parmesan. Add in more parmesan to taste and add in more cream if the cauliflower mixture seems dry.
Let it all simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes on low. Add in some freshly chopped basil if you have some on hand
Take spoonfuls of the “rice” cauliflower mixture and stuff it into the roasted red peppers. Place stuffed peppers into a warm oven until read to serve.
Every wedding photographer has different styles, but there are a few tricks in the arsenal of every photographer that can make photographs look completely unconventional. While some photogs choose to create effects through computer programs like Photoshop, others choose to take photos using cameras or lenses that create the effect. Probably the one I’ve seen most is the fisheye, which has become so very, very standard at weddings. The fishbowl look is fun and because of the perspective, pictures taken in fisheye can capture an extremely wide angle of everything going on in a scene.
One look that I love is the lensbaby. They are these neat lenses that capture one part of the picture very sharply, and then everything around that sharp part is blurred out. People have created amazing effects with this. File Magazine keeps a gallery of lensbaby photos here.
The look that I have completely become ob-sessed with is a look created using toy cameras–a Holga or Diana. Holgas were created in China in the early ’80s as cheap plastic cameras. Because they were cheaply made, light would leak into the body of the camera and expose the film, creating blurred edges in the photograph and unexpected light spots or streaks. Since you can’t tell how much light is being let into the camera, every picture that is printed is totally unexpected. Best part–this is a less than $30 camera….crazy!
Fabulous wedding holga photo here.
If you’re interested in having photographs in fisheye, or done using a lensbaby or Holga, you should talk to your photographer so that they have the right equipment or know how to photoshop/process the pics after they’re taken.
Not too long ago, I made the startling discovery that I could spend hours and hours on the internet without having any idea about how much time was passing by. Just getting through my daily roundup of wedding photography blogs, wedding inspiration blogs, and photography blogs (let alone the wonderful links that these blogs provided to other gorgeous dresses or amazing lighting techniques!) and pretty soon three hours had passed. And then I’d go back to my favorite blogs again, just to make sure I hadn’t missed a pictures of some fabulous looking letterpress…and then another few hours would pass…
Rather than facing the possibility that I might have a serious blog addiction problem, I discovered the magic of blog readers. In one fell swoop, I could go through all of my favorite blogs, in one spot, and never be in danger of missing a fantastic image or idea again…and I might actually be saving some small bit of time going from website to website.
There are lots of Reader websites out there, but if you have a Google account, Google provides a great and easy to use reader at www.google.com/reader. When you get to the opening page, go to the column on the left, where you’ll see a button that says “Add a subscription.” Click on it and you’ll have the option of pasting in a link to an RSS feed.
You can find RSS feeds by looking for a link to an RSS Feed on your favorite blogs. Copy and past the link into your reader, and you’re all set. You can see the content from all your favorite blogs, and the reader will continuously update your reader with new content from the blogs.
Here are links to feeds from some gorgeous wedding inspiration blogs to get you started:
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http://feeds2.feedburner.com/WeddingbeePro (Weddingbee Pro)
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/weddingbee/nyc (Weddingbee)
http://bklynbrideonline.com/?feed=rss2 (Brooklyn Bride)
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/SnippetInkDailyWeddingInspiration (Snippet & Ink)
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/typepad/janiemedley/my_weblog (The Bride’s Cafe)
http://100layercake.com/blog/feed (100 Layer Cake)
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/typepad/Zlhs (Ritzy Bee Blog)
http://kenziekate.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default (Something Old, Something New)
http://etsywedding.blogspot.com/ (Etsy Wedding Blog)
http://nancyliuchin.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default (Brown Bag, Nancy Liu Chin Designs)
http://squarerootofred.wordpress.com/feed/ (Square Root of Red Blog)
Happy blog surfing!
Wondering where to go to take engagement photos? There are tons of options in the DC area! Here is a list of some beautiful and interesting locations. I’m attempting to create a complete list–any other ideas?
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Outdoors
Roosevelt Island
Great Falls, either the Maryland or the Virginia Side (both beautiful)
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna
Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD
US Arboretum
National Zoo
Monuments
National Mall – any of the Smithsonian museums and gardens, particularly the garden behind the Castle
Capitol
Meridian Hill Park
Georgetown (waterfront, canal, everywhere)
Old Town Alexandria
Washington National Harbor in Maryland
Rock Creek Park
Dumbarton Oaks
Haines Point
Lafayette Park with the White House in the background
Bartholdi Park
Indoors
Union Station
Library of Congress
Air & Space Museum
National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum
Hirschhorn Museum
Willard Hotel
Atrium of the Gaylord Hotel National Harbor
More Edge, Less Flowers and Trees
U Street
Eastern Market
Glen Echo Park
Metro Station
Hotel or Bar Lounge (the Degrees Bar at the Ritz in Georgetown, the Lobby at the Hotel Monaco)
Buffalo Billiards – shuffleboard and pool
Lucky Strike – very modern bowling alley
Attempting to DIY wedding can increase the difficulty level of wedding planning to crazy heights. One seriously difficult aspect of a DIY wedding involves centerpieces and the typical notion that centerpieces should include flowers. When I was wedding planning about a year ago, creating non-floral centerpieces that I could do well in advance was a puzzle that truly stumped me….but then I found Nettleton Hollow.
Nettleton Hollow has manzanita branches, which, if you’ve been scouring wedding magazines for any time at all, you’ve seen as centerpieces, escort card holders, ceremony decorations, etc. Not only do they have the manzanita branches, but they have all sorts of dried branches, leaves, and even dried flowers. Just a basic branch in a vase holding tealights (maybe the LED ones, since those are less likely to catch fire) can create a fairly inexpensive and elegant centerpiece.
The Nettleton Hollow blog provides this inspiring idea, and instructions here:
16
Apr
09
Interesting-ness Link Roundup
- Light Art Performance Photography: truly genius long exposure photography.
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Some jaw-dropping landscape photography packaged in a very plain website
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if you have lots of free time on your hands…seems like a good way to pass the time….
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the magic of photoshop: Madonna before and after
16
Apr
09
the self-publish photobook
After you get a bunch of photos with you and your other half…what do you do with them? This question will loom particularly large after you realize that there are 200 plus photos from your wedding. The traditional photo album is great, but it would get rather pricey to duplicate that for your parents, grandparents, and other family members.
Enter stage right: the self-publish photobook.
Keep in mind that this only works if you get rights to your photographs on a CD or some other digital format. If your photographer isn’t willing to give you digital pics, then you’re stuck with only getting albums that your photographer can make for you.
There are a bajillion easy to use options for album making. When going through a website, all you have to do is upload pictures, assemble, and voila! you’ve got a fabulous album that will make your grandparents eyes tear up. The album is easily made, although it can be a bit time consuming.
While it’s hard to tell what photobook service to use, since you can’t see the album in person, there are a bunch of websites that provide reviews of the different options. Tom’s Guide provides a very thorough analysis of different options. Another great one is here.
Here is a link to some options:
Blurb: great for picturebooks as well as books that are more text-heavy
Picaboo: has some higher end gorgeous cover options
iPhoto: although it seems like the program is free only if you own a mac
Shutterfly
Snapfish
There was just tons of laughing in this engagement photo session. And Jalila should totally be on next season for America’s Next Top Model. The two of them have known each other since high school, which is just one of those things that is so rare these days. We did a lot of walking around and managed to find an interesting industrial looking area, which was so unlike the quaint adorable Old Town that we’re all used to.
15
Apr
09
engagement photo tips
The first question we get from most engaged couples is–what should we do to get ready for the engagement photo shoot? And then, what should we wear? Great questions, since it’s not always easy to figure out what to be prepared for during the engagement shoot. Here are some tips for taking engagement photos.
Makeup: Definitely, definitely wear makeup. Even if you never wear makeup in real life, you should wear makeup for the engagement photo session. It’s basically a way for you to even out your skin tone and amp up your best features. I highly recommend using, at the very least, foundation, blush (often neglected, but adds the perfect slightly flushed look for pictures), lipstick or some sort of gloss, and a touch of mascara. If you’re not comfortable with putting on makeup, take a trip to the Bobbi Brown Counter where they are great at helping people craft a look. If you’re worried about wearing too much makeup, take a quick snapshot of yourself with your digital camera…9 times out of 10, you’ll find that even though it might look (or feel) like a lot of makeup, it will look perfect for a photograph.
Outfits: Do make sure that the color of the outfit you are wearing does not clash with what he is wearing. Don’t feel the need to match perfectly. Solids are preferable to patterns since usually the world around you will have so many patterns, the solids help you pop out of the picture. If you are wearing a patterned dress/shirt, I highly recommend that he wear solid colors. Don’t be afraid of colors! Frequently people want to wear black because it makes people look skinny, but for the majority of people, this will make your skin look either a touch ghostly or a touch sallow. Finally, heels look great, but usually engagement photos involve quite a bit of walking around, so make sure you bring a pair of comfortable shoes to walk around in.
Accessories: Avoid distracting jewelry–let your engagement ring shine through. Fun earrings or necklaces (although make sure that one of these is the focal point, and the other is a bit less prominent) are great since they are close to your head, but don’t wear watches or bracelets that take away from the sparkle of the ring bling.
Props: Props, even something as simple as a scarf, a balloon, a bright umbrella, can definitely add a great element of fun to engagement pictures.
Think Ahead: Think about what kind of pictures you want, and dress for this. If you want some crazy jump shots and plan on doing cartwheels in a park, you might not want to wear a skirt to the engagement photo shoot. Talk to your engagement photographer about what kind of photos you’re looking for–fun, crazy, urban, romantic, etc., so that you both are on the same page about how the end photographs should look. Send the photographer pics that you’ve seen that reflect what you want in a shoot.
Above all, prepare to have fun!
So I knew that there would be lots of people watching cherry blossoms…but really, I had no idea that it would be so many people from all over the world in DC to look at the trees. We managed to find Melissa and Peter in the crowds and spent some time in the gardens near the Smithsonian castle and then down near the cherry blossom trees in the tidal basin. They were so fun and such good sports for walking all over while we tried to capture some great shots!
We met Michelle and Duane on a very windy day in Georgetown and set about to explore! They were definitely up for anything, including running up random stairs behind buildings, and dancing under horse statue heads on a wall . They seemed so absolutely and completely in love–just wonderful to be around!
12
Apr
09
Engagement Photo Session
We got really lucky. Having heard about bridezillas, and possibly having been a bridezilla (although I’ll deny it to the end if you ask me), I was nervous about shooting an engagement shoot…but, it couldn’t have been easier because Pamela and Steve were wonderful! We had amazing weather at Glen Echo Park in Maryland. Glen Echo used to be an amusement part and has since been turned into a regular park, but with lots of restored pieces from the amusement park. Besides the great location, we got to meet a fantastic couple, totally easy going and fun to work with. Lotus and I will be shooting their wedding this fall, where they’re having a halloween dress up wedding, and they’ll be going as Aragon and Arwen…and to boot, the wedding will be in a castle!
10
Apr
09
Hello world!
This is all very exciting! A very small piece of online real estate, all to my very own self. I will continue posting new photographs to www.squarerootofred.com on the main site, but this will be a way for me to add in some thoughts about the engagement/wedding/adventure photographs that I’ll be taking in the future! I can’t wait to get started!
