The Rejects

I bet you all will be so very proud of me.  Indecisive me and I managed to choose ONE favorite fruit on white image for my first Food Photography Challenge project!  I did it.  I had several to choose from and I was able to choose just one!!!  That being said, I still wanted to share my 'rejects'.  My favorite of the rejects is the cantaloupe.  (The Little Lady calls antelopes 'cantaloupes'.  I do not know what I'll do when she stops, but I let out a chuckle every single time I hear the word cantaloupe because of it.  "Da lions are chasing da cantaloupes!!! Da lions are chasing da cantaloupes).

The kids LOVED that I did this project.  They were on a fruit high all week from eating all this yumminess!

I figured that strawberries would be the 'go-to' fruit of this project.  I guessed wrong.  Apparently it was pomegranates!  I found it very difficult to place these in an interesting way.  I suppose that is where the fine art of food styling comes into play.  Got a little ways to go there.

Again, the kiwi were so much harder than I expected.  First, my lovely mid-winter Tennessee kiwi were lackluster green.  Second, placing them -- styling them.  It looks so easy, until you have to do it.  I wish I'd thought to cut them differently as some of the other ladies had.  Now that I think about it, a wedge would have been awesome, too.

Now I have to share my first run attempts.  I asked the other ladies how on earth I was supposed to achieve this 'white' background and they enlightened me:  Foamboard.  We were having pico de gallo that night for dinner.  (Have I told you just how much pico de gallo is my favorite?  I tried to photograph it last summer and failed  MISERABLY.  I'll try again soon. )  So I had produce on hand.  Well, the onion, the two week old Walmart jalapenos, Walmart's pitiful excuse for tomatoes, and the best ingredient on the planet: Cilantro!!!.  I had foam board lying around.  So an impromptu photo session.

I excitedly share my results with our group and one of the ladies says "well, a tomato is technically a fruit."  Um, what????

Perhaps I should have actually verified the prompt before beginning to shoot.  Because the prompt wasn't 'produce on white'.  It wasn't 'various produce on white'.  It was 'fruit on white.'  Oops. I was so intimidated by the 'on white' that I didn't even pay attention to what I was supposed to shoot!

Nevertheless, I wanted to share them!

I shot these with my
D90


Sigma 30mm f1.4

FOOD CHALLENGE | January | Fruit on White

(Hello there!  this post gets a good amount of hits from people searching for "photography in Kingsport, TN".  If you are wanting to see an example of  my work capturing the joy in people, please just hit the home button.  This post is for a special creative project of photographing food.  Thanks!)

I met Laurie Vengoechea through the 10 on 10 project that I do.  She's on my circle.  We are on the Bloom forum together, but I was fairly new when the 10 started up. With tons of new faces and names, I had a hard time keeping track of who was who.  It wasn't until the 10 on 10 progressed that I got to know Laurie.  We quickly discovered we have a lot in common:  Jesus, Photography, Food, and cooking.  Very unfortunately we do not have location in common, since she lives in beautiful California and I live in Tennessee.  Hooray for technology.

When Laurie posted on the Bloom forum about a food photography challenge group for the new year, I jumped.  Soooooo very much up my alley!!!  But I hesitated.  I was nervous to commit to ANOTHER project.  But this project is so me.  How could I pass it up?  Eventually I officially caved and I'm part.  I'm sure it will become challening to fit all of this in as the year moves on, but I will be giving it a good go!  I'm joining a large group of photographers for this challenge and we'll be doing a circle for this project, just like my 10 on 10, but on the 20th of each month, so make sure you head over and check out their interpretation of this month's theme, too!

January's theme was Fruit on a White Background.  No Props.  Just the simplicity of the fruit.

I was scared silly of the prompt. I didn't know how on earth I was going to do this!  But the other ladies got me started, and I must say, I enjoyed this SO much.  Food photography and food styling is so very, very, very much harder than it looks!!!  But it has been very rewarding to see these images that I never imagined that I would take!  I shot tomatoes (technically they are a fruit!), kiwi, cantaloupes, strawberries, and my featured raspberries.  I bought red grapes, green grapes. navel oranges, and apples as well, but never got around to shooting those.

Without further ado, here are raspberries.

Next in our group is the lovely Kay Pickens Columbia MO photographer.  I've e-known Kay online for a few years now and I am so thrilled that she's joined in our group.

The next post shows my second place photos for this fruit on white challenge  So check out  my rejects!

P.S.  I've always hated raspberries.  I love almost every food, but I really don't care for raspberries.  Or so I thought.  I tried these when Shawn so lovingly pointed out, in front of the kids, how good it was to eat things we didn't like because they were good for us.  And I liked it! I really, really liked it!

I shot these with my
D90
Sigma 30mm f1.4

Project 26 | Post 2 | Theme: Faceless Portrait

Two weeks later and it is time for post 2 of my Project 26.  The theme for this post was Faceless Portrait.  Each of the 13 photographers in the group was responsible for a theme idea and this one was Celeste Jones'.  Might as well start it off with a bang, right?  Whew.  This intimidated me.   While I take shots all the time that don't include a face, I was stumped at what makes an image a portrait and what just makes it just an image.  Portrait has this stuffy, posed, stoic, traditional connotation in my mind that I can't seem to shake.   I asked my fellow projecteers for help in interpreting, and Celeste answered.  "A portrait is a reflection of that person's character, in a sense. "

That helped tremendously.  I'm trying to capture my subject's essence.  Communicate through the image who the person is.

About two days later, what I needed to shoot hit me like a ton of bricks.  The Little Lady's curls (which I may or may not have an obsession with.....).

Curly hair.  It's unpredictable.  Unbending.  Goes its own way.  Follows its own path.  It isn't influenced - it is what it is.  Springs right back into shape.

This is my Lady.  Her curls are her.  She has been blessed with the most wonderful curly hair upon which she refuses all adornment, always.  No bows, no clips, no hairbands, no ribbons, no nothing!  "Just down.  Curly."

She is fiery.  Feisty.  Spirited.  Independent.  Unruly.  Unpredictable.  Adamant.  Perseverant. Quirky.  Beautiful.  Yet Tender.  Soft.  Beckoning.  She needs no adornment.  She is captivating all on her own, just as her hair must remain only itself.  Every facet of her curls demonstrates her essence, and I'm so thankful for who she is.

Faceless Portrait

Please visit the next artist in the project circle, Lora Swinson, Shawnee, OK Photographer, and view her take on the Faceless Portrait.


I shot these with my
D90
Sigma 30mm f1.4

I almost deleted it

I *almost* deleted it.  Truly, I did.

You see, I have this crazy issue where I think images should be in focus.  Well, let me clarify.  What is clearly intended to be the subject of the photograph should be in focus.  So if the image is of a child's face, then more than likely, the child's eyes should be in focus.  To put it bluntly, I find it incredibly, incredibly frustrating to see images where the focus is boldly wrong and no one seems to notice.  To me, this is something that separates a good photographer from one who is, well, .... I should probably stop there.

So while I was shooting a few days ago for a creative project (gracious, that is so out of my comfort zone!),  in an effort to keep the Little Lady cooperating for what I was really after, I'd take breaks to make her giggle, laugh, and whatnot while I was shooting.  The lifestyle in me just cannot help itself, I suppose, and I keep shooting.  Missed opportunities, I say.

After that little series, I scroll through the preview display on the camera to see what I've got and to delete any non-keepers, which for me is just mostly out of focus shots (I've been trying to do this as I shoot, since I no longer seem to have time to go through the images once they hit the hard drive).  I came to this shot, and immediately my heart sank.  Crud.  I missed the focus.  Her eyes aren't sharp.  Focus fell on the little wisp of hair on her forehead.  Such potential.  What expression.  What joy.  The light in her eyes.  But I failed.  Photographic failure.  I should delete it.

And I hit the delete button.

And the confirmation words pop up... Are you sure?

I hesitated.  Am I sure?  I decided -- I'll keep it.  It may not be worth anything to any artist, but I can't delete that joyful, albeit out of focus, image.

Fast forward a few days and I am having an e-conversation with a photographer friend.  That conversation reminded me of some things I wanted to play around with, and I went to my January folder.  Quickly scrolled through to find an image that would work for what I wanted to play... Saw this.  Perfect play image.  Isn't perfect, but it would work for my play.

But suddenly, I'm gasping.  Aloud.

Because what I thought was a photographic fail.  A non-keeper.  A disappointment.  Was actually now my very favorite image I've taken of her, and is rivaling my favorite images I've ever produced.  And to think.  I almost deleted it, before it ever left my camera.  The focus is off, but I think this is a grand case of imperfectly perfect.  Although I must confess, I know I did it, but I still can't believe this image is mine.

Jolly, our Elf, concludes

How does that phrase go?  A day late and a dollar short?  Well, I feel like I'm constantly 10 days late and two hundred dollars short.  Nothing in my world is accomplished when it should be, and it is most certainly not accomplished to the best of my ability.  This is so counter to my personality and it is eating me alive.  I'm stuck in a chronic state of being behind.  One day I hope to crawl out of it.

Now that we are well into the new year, let's revisit Jolly the Elf.  Shawn and I enjoyed all of Jolly's antics this year, but the kids?  I think apathetic is pretty apropos.  I have absolutely no idea where I went wrong.  All this effort and they couldn't have cared less.  Perhaps next year he'll just plop himself where ever and they'll be beside themselves.  Worth a shot, right?

[You can purchase your own Elf on the Shelf here:  blue eyes, a girl elf!, brown eyes and brown skin]

One more thought before we get onto Jolly's adventures.  Obviously I love the idea of being creative with your Elf on the Shelf.  We don't do the behavior component since we don't do that part of Santa.  But most others who Elf on the Shelf do.  I must say that I don't understand how an Elf, who is supposedly watching and reporting on your behavior, can simultaneously engage in disobedient and defiant acts.  I feel there is a line between being fun, perhaps even mischievous, and being outright defiant.  Perhaps I've spent a little bit too much time thinking on all this?  Taking it a little bit too serious?  Probably so. : )


Day 17:  Jolly felt homesick and put in Rudolph to watch






Day 18:  Jolly helped the kids have red noses like Rudolph
I was SOOOO excited for this one.  And it ended up being the biggest disappointment.  Before I headed to bed, I put the paint on the sponge brush and headed to their rooms.  I did Little Buddy first.  It worked perfectly.  Did Little Lady next.  Flawless.  (I used regular acrylic paint.  I learned around Halloween that a lot of face painters just use regular acrylic paint. Dries super fast and washes right off with no staining.  Just ask Shawn about that time in college when he and three other buddies painted their entire upper bodies, entire, with red tempera paint to demonstrate their loyalty to NC State for the Carolina basketball game.)  Couldn't wait for them to wake up that morning.  The lady was first... and the paint was gone.  Apparently it comes off if you rub your face.  And apparently my children rub their noses a lot.  Grumble.  The smallest speck of red was left on Little Buddies nose, but not even enough to try to capture with a photo.  This was a huge letdown for me!!!  And I honestly don't know what I could have done differently to make it work better. Bummer.





Day 19:  Jolly uses the Helicopter
Jolly pulled all of these out of rotation toys out of the attic!  I used some leftover ribbon to create a makeshift harness for the helicopter hook.








Day 20:  Jolly takes a Marshmallow bath
We must have a huge sink, because this took a TON of marshmallows!!!








Day 21:  Jolly helps the kids start getting dressed for the day
Jolly moved the stocking holders to the tv for this day and hung up their underwear!  A few years ago the daughter of a friend pulled a stocking holder off the mantle and it hit her in the head.  She had to have stitches.  Ever since, I've never used the stocking holders.  This year, they got a HUGE lecture and were told never, ever, to touch the holders.  They got a nice big reminder this day.  I was nervous all day!






Day 22 : Jolly plays with a leftover Lego house
This was "Kitty city".  No humans are allowed in Kitty City.  And apparently the kitties are the Elf's pets.






Day 23:  Jolly needed some help flushing the toilet
You knew Elf pee was green, didn't you?







Day 24:  Jolly trapped the Meat Eating Predators
This one was Shawn's idea.  Little Buddy is fascinated with trapping creatures.  This was perfect for him.  We used a clothes pin at the end of the makeshift fishing pole, and attached one of Gizmo's (the dog) Greenie treats to it.








Day 25:  Jolly bids farewell
At our house, Jolly hangs out in the tree to watch the festivities on Christmas morning and then disappears sometime while everyone is contentedly playing with their new things.  Back to the North Pole he goes, until next year.





I truly did have so very much fun creating and shooting all of these this year.  I'm planning to do a Blurb or Shutterfly book of them to have for the future, to remember all of the fun Jolly got into, the year the kids didn't care.  Let's just hope than in the future, Little Buddy doesn't realize that Jolly's handwriting is eerily similar to Shawn's and mine!

Lastly, about halfway through I used this method for 'hacking' my elf.  Definitely recommend.  I had already sewn velcro on his hands, so I had to remove that to insert the wire, then re-sew it.  But it was awesome in positioning him for those later days.

I have added a photo to the I Heart Faces Elf on The Shelf  Photo Challenge.

10 on 10 | January Edition

It is hard to believe yet another 30 days has passed and it is time for the 10 on 10 again.  I have enjoyed this personal project so very much.  I love the flexibility it gives me - I can shoot any time within the next thirty days.  I can work with that kind of deadline!  But I also love that it has forced me to capture not only the more perfect moments, but the ones that I would more than likely neglect to capture if it weren't for the project.  Completely boring, mundane moments.  And then,  the ones I shy away from for ridiculous reasons.  The ones where the light stinks or the background is horrendous.  The ones that the insecure part of me has begun to shun, the more I've delved into photographer circles.  The ones I fear other artists would deem less artistic and more "snapshotty" (oh, how I simultaneously fear and detest that word).  The ones that would reveal my carefully concealed artistic weaknesses.  I have limited myself to times where the light is good.  Over ISO800 with my D90 and grain becomes insistent and frustrating.  Or where the backgrounds are clean, neat, simple, appealing, instead of the real messy crazy chaos that is our home.  That ugly comparison monster rearing its head again.  I know better.  I so do.

The day after I shot this month's 10 on 10, I gave a dear friend and fellow D90'er the pep talk that I thought we both needed to just let go of our ISO issues.  I did just that for this month of 10 on 10.  It is January.  It's cold and dreary.  The days are short.  We're stuck inside, mostly.

But the 10 on 10 remains.

And it extends beyond the hours of decent light.  So I can use my flash, which I'm so very far from adept with, and am constantly disappointed with the results.  Or I can let go of my ISO issues.  I can embrace the grain so that the artistic vision in my head is still captured, even if it is captured with digital noise.  I can embrace that the less than perfectly decorated and less than perfectly kept home.  I can embrace those mundane, ordinary moments and find the beauty in them.  I love having all the parts of our days captured, preserved forever, for my future self.  To transport me back in time to this very moment.  The time before we enter the realm of school and deadlines and commitments.  This sweet, carefree time in their lives.

Once you finish my 10 on 10, make sure to visit the next photographer in the circle, talented San Francisco Bay Area Photographer Jayme Franklin.

This edition I shot on January 3, 2012 - the last day of the Christmas break before preschool resumed.  I tried really, really, really hard to narrow things down better this time.  And while I do aspire to having a mere ten images, my style just tends to lean toward needing more than one image to tell the full story of a snapshot of our life.  So I give you collages of ten hours of life on January 3rd.  I say ten hours, since for two of those hours, I simply had to sneak in a few extra images.  Hey, it is ME we're dealing with here.  Queen Indecision.

8am and I barely remembered this was the day I'd chosen to shoot the 10 on 10.  She's offering me her chocolate here.  Yes, I'm a questionable mommy and let my children eat their holiday chocolate whenever they choose until it is gone.  So if you want chocolate for breakfast at Christmastime, then chocolate for breakfast it is.  See her satisfied little smirk?  I also wanted to capture here the crazy MESS that is her head in the mornings now.  I am officially the mother of a curly girl.

9am and Little Buddy is still sleeping away.  Craft time for our craft obsessed girly.  She got these Sticky Mosasics: Unicorns and Ponies for Christmas and I must say, they are pretty rockin' awesome.  They come in a million different options for both girls and boys, too!

10am and Little Buddy has finally woken from his slumber.  Much to my surprise, he wanted to join us in craftdom instead of snuggle on the couch for a bit, as is our usual routine.  As I was shooting this moment, I noticed that both of them were sitting in their trademark way - we call it frog position - across from each other at the table.  I love that.


Little Lady was kind enough to share one of her four posters with big brother.

11am brings us to one of their many habitat creations.  They are constantly setting up these creature centers.  He LOVES to arrange each and every animal or piece, not letting us in until every nuance is perfect.


While he was working on this, the Lady got a bath.  I am one who doesn't bathe my kids frequently, trying to avoid drying out their skin.  They love baths, so they generally get one when they think to ask for it.  But we've come to the conclusion that since she's a curly girl, we are entering a new world with the hair.  She needs a conditioner rinse more often than she's getting it, so in the bath she goes these days, now.  Little Stinker suddenly starts licking the door seal, which garnered quite a reaction from me, which then prompted more licking and consequently more giggling.  After all was said and done, I had a lot of smiling shots.


12pm and time for lunch.  The other day in the van, Little Buddy confessed that Little Lady had taunted him by saying she wasn't his best friend.  I don't know where that idea came from, but it is utterly preposterous, because they truly, truly are the best of friends.

1pm - we went to visit their most favorite friends in the whole world.  The Little Lady giggles like a maniac when she's around animals.  You can't possibly keep yourself from giggling right along.

2pm - more playtime at their friend's house.  Little Buddy wore the Spiderman costume nearly the whole time.  And I'm obsessed with her hair.

It's afternoon.  We're back home.  And it is time to clean up block wonderland that was left in tact the day before in Little Buddy's room.  I asked them to stack the blocks against the wall - the blocks have been in the attic for a while out of rotation.  They had asked for them the day before to build a city.  Nevermind we just got ten million new toys for Christmas.  We want the old toys out of the attic.  At least it was imaginative play.  ISO2500.

7pm and we have after dinner family time.  Shawn has waited a long, long time for this.  Little Buddy has shown next to no interest in sports on tv or video games... until now.  He was really enjoying finally doing something with Mario Cart on the Wii.


I had to include these.  First the thumb sucking images because, I love that she sucks her thumb. But she's 3 and a half and we are trying to get her to stop, at least during the day time.  She gets to when she's sleepy, in her bed, or hurt.  Can I just say out loud, I don't want her to stop?  And then the other one.  She has watched older brother do these crazy faces and poses for the camera for a year.  I have no idea where he came up with the idea, but he has done it.  And suddenly she has decided that this is what you should DO when the camera comes out.  I don't know whether I should ignore it, encourage it, or what.  But it makes me laugh.

Bedtime is 8pm here in our house.  But somehow we shifted Little Buddy over Christmas break.  He was going to bed later and later, sleeping later and later.  This night, he laid in bed for 45 minutes, wide stinking awake.  We finally let him have his leap pad to play until he got sleepy.  Shawn went to check on him at 945 and told me I HAD to get up there to take some shots.  I'm so, so glad I did.  I love them.  (but we've had a bear of a time trying to shift the dude back to our normal schedule!)  ISO1250 and ISO2500.  Yeah baby.

Since I was up there taking nighttime shots, I snuck a few with my flash of the lady.

Until next month....  Don't forget to continue on our group and visit Jayme Franklin | San Francisco Bay Area Photographer and her 10 on 10 post for this month!

I shot these with my
D90
Sigma 30mm f1.4