Day #6
A Passion for Food Photography
HATCH CHILES
I have had a passion for food, cooking and now within the past couple years a passion for food photography.
My collection of food related magazines dates back to the mid 1960's but it was not until two very hot summers ago
that I was desperate to shoot something in the cool of the house and decided to concentrate on improving my food photography.
Last year I went to Central Market (a huge grocery store in Dallas with all kinds of hard to find ingredients from all over the world) to shoot the Hatch Chile Festival.
It is about this time of year that the Hatch chiles from New Mexico are ready for harvest and delivered to the stores.
So... I wanted to get a few shots of them roasting the chiles outside of the store.
I had no sooner lifted the camera to my eye when I caught sight of a flashing light and then heard someone yell... "You can't do that Lady!"
"HUH? Was he talking to me?" Yep... I was in trouble! Caught in the act!
NO PHOTOGRAPHY!
OK... so let me get this straight. I can go buy a gun and carry a concealed weapon but I can't "shoot" the peppers?
This all seems so wrong to my mind.
Of course I apologized and quickly left the premises as I didn't want him to think I might sneak a photo of the peppers being roasted.
So this year I decide to get smart. I will e-mail and see if I might get permission to shoot the peppers being roasted.
To my surprise, within an hour of the e-mail, I get a call from the store.
After explaining what I am looking to do, the gal is very nice and asks me to send her a shot list and about how many photos I will be taking. (I had best not say 500!)
So I complied a list and she explained that there was to be no signage, no customers in the photo and that she would be with me while shooting at the store and I could shoot both outside and inside.
I was ecstatic!
I posted several of the photos to Capture Dallas and thanked her for being so kind to let me do that.
So here are some Hatch chiles before I roasted them and our dinner of Vegetarian Hatch Chili on brown rice topped with grated Cheddar cheese, Greek yogurt, and guacamole served with a cold beer.
Day #5
My Best Friend
MOLLIE SUE
How do I ever share things about me without including my best friend, Mollie Sue?
You see... I saved her... and she saved me!
It was after losing my other little black pug Ms. Bailey Bentwhiskers that I found Mollie Sue.
My Ms. Bailey (a little pug with attitude!) had an unexpected cardiac arrest while at the vets getting her nails clipped.
She was 7 years old and in apparently good health when this horrible thing happened.
Did they hold her too tightly as she squirmed and perhaps accidentally cut off her airway?
I will never know the answer, but what I do know is, that I was devastated!
I cried and cried and was terribly depressed. I missed her terribly and life would not be the same without her.
I knew that I could not go on living without a little black pug in my life so I visted the DFW Pug Rescue site and decided to adopt.
We took Barnum (our older fawn pug along) as he needed to approve of his new companion.
Actually the pug I had chosen snapped at Barnum twice when we put them together and I knew that would not work.
That's when they suggested Mollie Sue.
When I saw her, it was love at first sight but I said... "She is a puppy!"
"Oh no"... came the response. "She is 2 years old."
But she was so tiny (only weighed 12 pounds) and she really did look like a puppy. She was also very gentle.
Now here is the rest of her story:
Mollie Sue was rescued from a puppy mill in Oklahoma.
The rescuers were reported to be crying as they rescued the pugs. The cages were stacked on top of each other and many of the dogs had eye infections.
Miss Mollie had been used for breeding and spent the first two years of her life in a cage.
She did not know how to go up and down steps, had no idea what toys or treats were and was terribly frightened of men.
The good news... Barnum was OK with her, and she was OK with Barnum.
Now the husband... not so much. But he was a man and we assumed with time, that would all change.
Thus began a new beginning for Mollie Sue and for me.
She is my best friend and I could not imagine life without her.
She has gained weight (perhaps a bit too much), plays with her toys, runs up and down the steps, and loves treats.
And we are so much like each other!
We are both a bit crazy, like to play with our toys, love treats, and we both dress in black!
Mollie Sue is my sweet girl and I will never let anyone hurt her ever again!
Day #4
My Fear of Cats
OLIVIA... KITTEN YAWNING OR A FIERCE CAT?
Of course... there is a story, or maybe a couple stories to go with this.
This was taken a couple days ago but I post it today because, today it was chosen as Photo of the Day on Capture Dallas
and CD has become a big part of my life since retiring. I have been posting photos there for a little over a year now.
What a great bunch of photogs! We have shared a lot of fun times together and I really like hanging out with photographers. Photographers "get it"!
It also gives me a reason to shoot locally and I have been impressed with the photos I have been seeing on the site. So that is one story.
The other story is... even though I love animals, I am afraid of cats!
Never used to be until I agreed to check in on my daughter's other cat while they were on vacation.
No big deal, right? Check on the cat daily, change the kitty litter, give food and water... how tough can it be?
So I unlocked the door to find Oscar, the cat, delighted to see me and rubbing against my leg and purring.
Poor kitty must be lonely. I pet him and all is well.
I go to give him fresh food and as I am picking up his food dish, the cat suddenly becomes the "cat from hell"
and growls this wild savage growl and the next thing I know, I see a black and white blur flying through the air straight for my thigh!
OMG!!! Suddenly, pain! And then I see the blood seeping through my jeans.
In that split second of lifting the dish and seeing the cat coming at me, I realized the food dish was crawling with fireants
and I instantly threw the dish in the air and had cat food and fireants falling on my head.
But wait... there is more!
The "cat from hell" is hunkered down and coming for me again,
and then attacks my lower leg and now the blood is dripping into my sandal and he is coming back for more.
I quickly run and grab a cushion from the couch and hold it in front of me as I back away to get to the door.
At that point I realize my cell phone and keys are in the kitchen and have to inch my way back to get them before exiting the house.
It took forever for the bites to heal and I have been wary of cats ever since, so when I saw Olivia, the new little kitten in mid-yawn,
my immediate instinct was to see a vicious cat as opposed to a sleepy kitty!
To visit my profile page on Capture Dallas and to explore the site, please go to:
http://www.capturedallas.com/users/Shutterpug
Day #3
I Love to Play
MY GRAND-DAUGHTER'S EYE...
It was Monday... Labor Day and my daughter and her husband wanted to go to the movies so we went over to stay with the kids for a few hours and of course I had to take my camera.
The kids call me "Lala". Nooooo... I did not want to be called Granny or Meemaw, or Nana or some such name.
I wanted something a little different so after the first grandbaby's birth I decided on "Lala"... like the teletubby! Yep... totally insane!
Well... Lala has stuck. Not only do my grandchildren call me that but my co-workers started calling me by that name and then even a few of the doctors at the hospital were calling me Lala.
The light was lovely coming in the window yesterday and I did some quick portraits of the kids and now today I sat down to look at them a bit more closely.
In one shot, my silhouette was quite evident in Alaina's eye and that made me want to play... and play I did.
So... this is my image for today...
(Isn't retirement grand!)
Day #2
Cooking and Photography 101
CHERRY TURNOVERS
It was Labor Day and we went over to stay with our grandchildren while our daughter and son-in-law went to the movies.
Being so hot outside, I decided to take along some ingredients to make some Cherry Turnovers and thought the kids might like to help.
Well, I thought the day's plans were a bust when both children said they didn't like cherries! Seriously? How could that possibly be?
Now this recipe was not rocket science by any means and simply involved opening a couple cans of refrigerated crescent rolls,
opening a can of cherry pie filling, filling the crescents, baking and then drizzling with a little icing.
So I had the oldest grandchild read the instructions for opening the crescents and then I showed him how to peel the wrapper in a spiral fashion and smack the tube on the edge of the counter
and when they both heard the tube make an explosive "pop" and saw the dough schmooze out, they suddenly became interested in baking.
Actually Alaina and I did all the prep work and the baking while Lucas managed to "clean up" the icing dribbles on the pan under the rack... and he said it was quite tasty!
Now I do have a confession to make... I had plans of shooting the freshly baked Cherry Turnovers.
As I was taking some shots, Alaina got very excited talking about different possibilities of plating and positioning things on the table.
She even had the concept of putting two pieces of posterboard together to make a plain background.
Now mind you, she is only 6 years old... soon to be 7. She was really getting into this!
I taught her that we needed to pick our "heroes"... the best looking pastries to use and she thought that was fun and picked out her favorites, and one of those would definitely be for her mommy.
So as I was shooting, she announced that she wanted to take a shot also, and so begins Photography 101!
I taught her how to hold the camera and zoomed out pretty wide and then told her how to "squeeze" the shutterbutton and not to punch it so she would be very still taking the photo.
Her concentration was intense. She took the photo and checked the viewing screen and said she was too far away, so we zoomed in some more and she got the shot.
It was a bit cattywampus but it was sharp! So I fixed it with a little straightening and cropping and this is her final image!
Bravo Alaina!
Too bad she doesn't like cherries!
Day #1
My Disdain for the Texas Heat
THE BOAT RAMP IS CLOSED
Perhaps this beginning photo is more about what I am not and what I do not like than who I am and what I do like.
And this has pushed me to once again join in a monthly challenge in an attempt to get the creative juices flowing.
July and August have been brutal months.
The heat does not quit and it is too hot to go outside for long to shoot. Mostly 98-104°F day in and day out.
It has always amazed me that these are the months that the Texans plan picnics, concerts, and a myriad of other outdoor activities.
Can you believe that I actually get tired of seeing the sun? For some, I know that is hard to believe but a cool rainy day would be a welcome relief!