Berry Nice Parfait

I did say I would start doing some serious food photography.  So, I decided to start, without much ado.  We have been having incessant rain and bad weather for the last 4 days, and it doesn't show any signs of letting up.  I was going to do a team photo shoot at work, but had to cancel because of the rains.  It's almost summer, but where are the summer temperatures?

So enter the summer fruits!  A parfait, made with fresh berries, yogurt and granola is by far my favourite breakfast cereal or even late-night snack.  I sometimes add sweetened coconut or some honey to the parfait, but for this shoot, I didn't want to mess with the honey and get my camera sticky like the last time.

I bought a ton of berries over the weekend, and therefore, you're going to possibly see some pictures of those over the next few days till they finally get consumed.

The issue I'm having with photographing food is that my kitchen is the only spot where I get a really good quality of natural light, but unfortunately the work area is so small, it's becoming a great challenge for me.  And I should have chosen my furniture wisely - I have a tall bar table and chairs, which raises the height so much, that unless I'm standing on a ladder, I can't get a proper bird's eye shot of anything.  And I don't even have a ladder!  So, I have to stand on a chair, and then stand up on my toes to gain some extra height.  I could put the food down on the floor, but I wouldn't dare do it for fear of spiders and other bugs getting into it. 

I used my 90 mm lens through the entire shoot with a varying aperture of f/2.8 or f/4.0, but mostly used it at 2.8.  

I have challenged myself to now take shots that I will touch up only minimally, including cropping.  I will definitely have to crop my images of birds, because unless I invest in a $8000 lens of 800 - 1000 mm, I don't think I have the faintest chance of getting a shot that doesn't need chopping up.

I took all these shots from different angles, and by varying the set-up and I think I'm pleased with the outcome.  I've taken a load of food pictures in the past, but they were mostly hurried and done in a specific way for my cooking classes.  But it doesn't have to be that anymore.  

I'm only warming up, right now.  Wait till I start posting some real food shots with real recipes! ;-)

Day 358 - Edge of Light

These shots were taken of my dahlias on the balcony.  I noticed how the last rays of the sun illuminated the petals and dived for my camera.

Day 352 - Utterly Exhausted

I am frequently overpowered by these waves of exhaustion where I feel totally out of it all.  This was one of those instances where I didn't know or couldn't care what the subject for the day would be, so I picked up the first thing I could find - chocolatines.

Day 351- Pouring Honey

Tried to get a shot of honey pouring over my breakfast, but couldn't quite the effect I was after.  I ended up trying the shot about five or six times, thereby, sweetening my cereal a bit too much.  I had to decide to stop at this shot!  And I also got quite a bit of honey on to my camera and the dining table in the process. :(  A right sticky situation!

P.S. Had a bit of a Photoshop challenge when I tried to remove a drop of honey that fell on the edge of the bowl behind the stream of honey.  Cloning is très difficile!

Day 334 - Bok Choy Flowers

Tiny yellow flowers that grew out of my bok choy!

Day 332 - The Story of the Red-Shouldered Hawk

I did some serious birding yesterday - I went deep into the woods, sank my feet into swamps, got scratched by thorns and underbrush, but I managed to get some shots of the Red-Shouldered Hawk couple that is nesting out there.

I had already got a couple of really nice shots of the Northern Flicker and a Thrush earlier during the day, but I still wanted to go out and see what other birds have migrated to these parts.  I didn't think I would get into birding so seriously when I started taking the first bird shots last Spring, but here I am a year later, doing something exciting and educating.

I found the nest quite by chance.  I kept hearing the calls of this hawk, which initially I wasn't aware of being a hawk's call at all!  And as I've become quite adept at following bird calls and then tracking them down, I soon spotted this hawk on a really high branch of a tree deep in the woods.  I took a few first shots of the beautiful bird right from where I stood - this is a habit, even if they don't turn out that well and I ultimately discard, because I need these images to identify them, in case I'm meeting them for the first time.

So, I took the few first shots, and then tried to find a way of getting closer to it.  It meant I would have to walk through the swampy spots, and then walk through the thick brambly bushes to get there, all the while keeping my eye on the subject since I didn't want it flying off to where I wouldn't be able to track it again.

Finally, I came much closer and could now just point my camera right overhead to get a few shots - and that's when I discovered that there was a nest right there, and there was the second hawk that was sitting on the eggs!  What a find!  And all this was possible, because there are still no leaves on the trees, but I'm seeing the buds and my heart sinks at the thought that when the little ones are ready to come out, I might not be able to sight the nest again!  :(

I spent close to 2.5 hours watching the movements of both the hawks (and being watched in turn by them) and noticed a couple of crows trying to bother them.  The partner that was standing watch wasn't always near the nest, so the nesting partner would call out and the guardian did the due diligence and chased the crows away from time to time.

I didn't get good shots of the chase through the branches, but got a couple good enough to record the behaviour.  What was funny was that at times, the crow ended up chasing the hawk around!  And what was even more amazing was that there were smaller birds and squirrels flitting around the hawks without an ounce of fear for their lives!  However, there was a little pond just a few feet away, and when I trained my lens on the surface on the little floating bits, I observed they were bird carcasses.  I immediately knew what they indicated!

And while waiting around to see what happens next, I caught one of the hawks finishing off his meal!  Uggh.. that was a little creepy, watching the hawk tear away at its food, but I guess I have to stop feeling squeamish at these things - this is Mother Nature in her truest character!

I met three other birders while I kept up my vigil, and had a chance to chat with them to learn that they were serious hobbyists as well.   I actually pointed out the hawks to a couple of them who stood around and took a few pictures.  The third one had me look through his telescopic spotting device that made the hawk seem like it was right in front of me, when in reality it was at least a hundred feet away!  And I just looked it up on the Internet, and that device retails at $2400!  Not much more expensive than my 100 - 400 mm lens, but oh what a difference!

I have posted a few more shots on Flickr, so please feel free to check them out if you are interested in seeing more.

Day 330 - For Want of Energy and Subject

I had been meaning to take a few nice shots of the  Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras, but it just didn't happen.  Although these aren't the kind of shots I wanted to put up at all, I didn't want to miss the shot of the day.  I will definitely revisit this subject again - sooner or later.  But I'm not going to give up in the last leg of the 365 project - I'll post snapshots if I have to! :-(

As I've mentioned in one of my previous posts, the camera and lens together weigh close to 2.3 kgs!  But I'm slowly getting used to the weight and although tiring, I shot at 1/60s yesterday, and I was still able to keep a steady hand!

Day 329 - More Birds in the Bush

This White-breasted Nuthatch was pulling something out of the tree trunk and it looked like a snail or some kind of worm.  Ugghh!

My first time seeing Dark-Eyed Juncos - there were a few flocking around.

My second time seeing a Northern Flicker, but first time in my neck of the woods.  The first time I ever saw them was when I was visiting my friend in Fremont, CA last Christmas.

Day 328 - Sugar-Crusted Pannettone

I think I am addicted to this!  I love pannetone, and when it's sugar-crusted.. I can't stop eating it!

Day 325 - First Flowers

I saw the first flowers, purple crocuses, on the forest floor by the river.  I had almost passed them by because they were so tiny, but things seldom get overlooked these days.  I only had my  Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras with me, and therefore, I was a little bit constrained with trying to get the perspective right.  In the end, it's just recording the detail that was more important for me.

It had been extremely chilly and windy, and I hardly saw many birds.  It seemed like they were all hiding from the cold and the wind somewhere, because a lot of the birds have just migrated, and they are probably as surprised as we are at the lack of milder Spring temperatures. 

The waters were extremely choppy and I had fun watching this Mallard couple bobbing up and down on the waves.  They kept getting pushed up on the crests of the waves and then dipping into the troughs.  They looked really cute! 

And a few others from the evening:

Day 324 - Dusting off ...

... my long-forgotten book of poetry, I found a sheet with a short poem I had written years ago.  I can't remember when exactly, but I know it was definitely when I lived in Ottawa.  I do remember buying that notepad from my favourite dollar store close to where I lived back then.

And coincidentally, the poem was written in Spring.  As always, my poems are childish, and silly, but I thought I'd share it anyway. ;-)

Winter's gone; welcome Spring!
How cheerful looks everything.
In the trees the birds do sing
While shrubs are busy flowering.
All the world looks glad and bright
In the mellow dawning light.

So, I decided to find another one of my favourite Spring poems - this time by Shakespeare. :)

Day 321 - Baby Shower and Henna Designs

I attended a baby shower for a friend's sister who's soon going to be a proud mom of twin baby girls.  I wasn't the official photographer but I had offered to bring my camera when my friend told me that she didn't have any photographer lined up for the party.   I soon turned into the official photographer, and tried to capture the moments as well as the events.

The momma-to-be is a beautiful young lady and in keeping with her Moroccan traditions, she served wonderfully aromatic teas, delicate-looking and delicious cookies, and a variety of juices.  Normally, she should have been the guest of honour, but she ended up being a wonderful hostess.  Her first-born, also a girl, was looking all pretty in a while dress, but unfortunately she was really shy of the camera.

The highlight of the evening was the henna party that my friend had organized where she had a local henna artist, Shaista, from Hennarinah (http://hennarinah.com/) come and apply henna (also known as mehendi) designs on her sister's hands as well as the guests' hands, if they so fancied.  The henna artist happened to be a young Indian girl, who I got a chance to practise my Hindi with.  Very vivacious, she explained to us how she uses all-organic materials to make the henna paste which she then applies to the hands.

I have had henna applied to my hands before, but I have to say that she took it to an entirely new level.  The henna paste, which usually has a very distinctive smell of ... well, the leaves that it's derived from, was perfumed with most probably cardamom and cloves.  It smelled wonderful as she applied it, and it felt tingly and fresh on the hands as the paste dried.  She then sprinkled beautiful glitter all over the design, and sprayed a mix of lemon juice and sugar to seal the paste in.  This helps develop the rich and dark brown colour that's characteristic of the henna.

I too got a small design done on the back of my hand, and left the paste on overnight.  I applied a bit of olive oil over it in the morning, and let it sit for a while before scraping the dried design off.  The colours gradually developed over the course of the day and while I was initially disappointed that the design on my hand looked much lighter than on another friend's hand, I noticed that the colours have developed even further.

If you're in the Montreal area and are keen on getting a temporary tattoo, look up Hennarinah (http://hennarinah.com/) and I can promise you that you won't be disappointed.  She's a fantastic artist and the designs speak volumes.

However, here's a little trivia about the deep, dark colour of henna - there's a saying in India that the colour of your henna is directly proportional to how much your mother-in-law loves you!  ;-)  So, if you are your MIL's pet, by all means, go get a henna design and show it off! :=D

Day 319 - The Canon EF 100 - 400L IS USM Lens

So, I finally got myself the lens I was looking to get for my birding.  And what's my verdict?

Well, I am not that happy with what I got.  I think I had really high expectations, especially since it's an L series lens. But (and there's a big BUT in it), I tried the lens in poor light.  The little park in front had very little light, and I had to not only pump up the ISO, I had to slow down the shutter as well.

The rule for shutter speed is dictated by the focal length of the lens, if you want to obtain a really sharp image.  For instance, when I was shooting racked out at 400 mm, my shutter speed should have been at least 1/400s, so I wouldn't have camera shake.  However, I was shooting at 1/90s.  Although there is no visible camera shake, the images are soft.  And this is a monster of a lens, and weighs nearly 1.4 kgs!  The combined weight of my camera and lens is about 2.2 kgs.  And I was shooting handheld.  Whose fault is it that I wasn't satisfied with the quality of images?

And the ISO being at 1600 didn't help any!

Therefore, before I judge my new Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras, I should probably try it out under better lighting conditions.

This image was the only one that was passable enough to post.  No, this isn't my pet.  This adorable doggy was sitting on my neighbour's balcony all by himself looking out longingly at the other doggies in the park.  I hope he gets to go out at times.

And I need to acknowledge how good the autofocus is on my Canon EOS 7D.   It was a challenge shooting through the numerous tree branches and the railing bars on the balcony.  I am slowly trying to wrap my head around the AF functions on the camera.  They are so numerous, that I would probably need a week of dedicated practise to master them.

I think I really need to try the lens in better light, and give it a chance at justifying the price I paid, which is incidentally a lot cheaper than the posted price on Amazon.  The camera store I go to gave me a decent deal on it.

Day 318 - Chickadees and Great Blue Heron

My shots have been pretty unsatisfactory of late.  I think my bird photography skills have become pretty rusty over the winter months.  :(  But right now, my main motivation to keep clicking is to just get the 365 challenge over and done with, although I haven't strictly adhered to it.  However, I can say this much - I have tried my best, given the set of circumstances.  I am slowly getting to the grand finale, and I can't wait!

Day 312 - Adding a Bit of Colour

After a couple of days of being quite unwell and skipping the shot of the day, I decided to try something really quick and easy - a subject isolated on a white background.  I had tried this a few days ago, and because I had been lazy, I had completely omitted the background flash.  i wanted to try this again this evening because I didn't really have anything else thought out.

I used two flashes on either side of the subject - the flash to the left of camera was bounced off the ceiling at a 60 deg angle, powered down to 1/4 and zoomed out to the widest at 24 mm to enable the light to wrap around the subject.

The one to the right was pointed directly at the background and I pushed down the head as much as it would go, so the cereal outside the bowl would get some of the bounced light as well.

I didn't really play around too much with different compositions, as I'm still pretty low on energy, but I did want to keep going on with the 365, so I can just get this over with.

I think the image was a tad overexposed at the sides of the bowl where I've lost a little bit of detail.  Oh well!

Day 309 - Dessert-ed

I had a lot of leftover dessert from the evening I had guests for dinner.   They were just begging to be photographed, so I obliged of course!

Day 308 - Did You Observe Earth Hour?

I did!  I turned off the lights promptly at 8:30 pm and everything besides my refrigerator and stove were unplugged (and that's only because the plugs are way at the back and I couldn't get to them even after a couple of tries).

I lit a lot of candles, turned up the music on my iPod and picked up my camera.  Then, all I did was practise hand-holding my camera on a slow shutter.  I challenged myself to go as slow as I could and I hit 0.7s without any visible camera shake.  I was really elated, but unfortunately, the composition turned out pretty poor.  I deleted the shot, finally.

The following shot was taken at 0.3s and the ones after at 1/4s.