Photography Assignment #4...by (Angela) Jean (updated with instructor feedback)

A few of you have indicated that you would be interested in hearing what my professor had to say so I decided to update this post with his comments. 
Tomorrow is the second class of my latest photography class. Last week's class was pretty overwhelming, but also very exciting. This course is going to focus heavily on the technical elements of digital photography, which are not my strong suit. Through my own research and practice, as well as my previous course, I understand the basics of light metering, histograms and colour balance, but I feel like I've only scratched the surface of what there is to know. I have been shooting fully Manual for a few months now, but have only made the switch to shooting RAW (and using Camera RAW for my initial edits) this week. I have worked with Photoshop for a few years now, and have taken one formal course, but by no means consider myself an expert. I have registered for another full-weekend Photoshop course in February, and am looking forward to it. Most of the professional photographers I know have suggested  I use Lightroom instead of Photoshop, but for now I'm comfortable with Photoshop.

What I like about my new instructor so far is that he knows his stuff, and he has a tonne of teaching experience. I also like his philosophy of 'getting the shot right in the camera' instead of thinking about how to fix it later in Photoshop.

Our assignment for this week was:

Home Assignment #1: Shoot 20 frames of activity. Fill the frame with your activity to make it obvious to the viewer what the activity is. It can be anything from passive to frantic, people or animals.

Our instructor gave verbal instructions that there could be no more than three images of the same person doing the same activity. 

This assignment may seem simple, but I assure you it was not easy. 20 frames is A LOT! 

I take pictures almost every day, and it was almost impossible to get, what I felt were, 20 good, assignment-worthy shots in one week. In fact, I confess that I had to resort to using a couple of photos I had taken earlier. If you cyber stalk my Facebook photo albums you may recognize a couple of these shots. Bonus points for anyone who can identify the 2 shots that were not taken in the last 7 days.

We weren't required to record all of our camera settings, and I'm too tired to type them all out, but if you happen to be curious about any particular image I'd be happy to look them up for you. For the most part, and possibly for all of these images, I used my favourite lens....my 35mm F1:1.8 fixed lens. I love that little lens.

In all honesty, I'm only really happy with about half of these images, but I have to submit 20.
Now, without any further ado, Here are the images I will submit tomorrow for my assignment. I'd love to know what you think.

• The technical aspects of the assignment are exactly what I was looking for.
  There is good variety of subjects are more importantly, points of view.

Thirsty

Twinkle Toes

Old King Cole

Sticker

Ballerinas

• the two ballerinas is a very cool shot. Nice interaction and they appear
  completely comfortable with the camera.

Twirl #1

Twirl #2

Maddie #1

Maddie #2

Snow

Angel

Crayon

Pumps

Uncle Dhan

Portamisu

Mark

Message

Scrabble

Set

Face wash

In looking through the adjustments, there are several images that required a lot of
adjustments. First I would recommend Matrix metering for most thins with Nikon.
The second thing as we talked in class is to think of your subject in relation to the
gray card. Is the subject lighter or darker than the average indicated by the gray
card. There is no data related to how the snow shot was processed but in that case
where the snow would take up a considerable portion of the metering area you
would want it to be at the plus one mark on the meter to keep the snow fairly white.
It would be a very valuable lesson (if we ever get any snow) to experiment
with how you meter. Meter the snow and shoot with the exposure right in the middle
(or a good gray card exposure). Then shot at +1 and +1.5. All images should be in
raw. Note how they look on your LCD screen and also look at the histogram. Now
bring the files into your image processing software and check the numbers in the
snow. If you can keep the snow around 240 you should be able to see detail in all
areas except perhaps snow in full sun.
Try the opposite for a dark subject. Shoot at the middle exposure then at -1
and -1.5. Compare the LCD and histogram and again look at it in the software and
see which one feels better with no exposure adjustment applied. Those two
exercises will help you better understand how to create a more accurate exposure
in the camera.

Busy Doing Nothing... by Barbara (Ruth)

Last month I quit my job. Quite a thing to do, right? And those of you who don't know me probably have a few questions, so let me try to address them up front:

• I'm going to be working for myself on a startup consulting company. (Details to come this week... stay tuned!)
• Yes, I've been thinking about it for a while.
• No, I don't have any clients yet (but I have some terrific leads).
• Yes, it's a huge risk, but I'm feeling really good and confident about it.
• Yes, I'll be working from home.
• No, I haven't really started yet. I'm taking January off. Mostly.

The "Mostly" in the previous paragraph is what got me to thinking about this post title. I'm supposed to be relaxing this month. You know, collecting my thoughts, reading books, sleeping in, and generally getting bored so I will be just itching to jump into the fray next month.

Not so much.

Did you ever see "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", starring the late great Bing Crosby? No? Well, silly costumes notwithstanding, it's a good laugh, and I always remember this particular scene. Dad and I often sang it while walking or canoeing. Have a look, at least at the first bit:

"We're busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do..."

I guess this is me! I am actually really busy these days, but am not really accomplishing all that much. Plus, I'm really enjoying this new kind of busy-ness. I do errands during the day when the stores aren't insane, I walk down the main street in my hood and actually get to poke around in the local businesses that are usually closed in the evenings, I go to the gym at lunch (ok, only once so far... don't judge...), I bake, I set up my new Macbook Air for my business and have time to research all the really cool apps that will help me be organized, I have morning tea with friends who also work from home, I get my hair appointments in the afternoon, I do spring cleaning, I chat with the basement construction team, I zip up to Ottawa to see my folks (and actually spend a fair bit of time organizing their long term care needs), I have dinner with friends I haven't seen in a while, I see matinees, I cook healthy meals, and yes, I read a book on occasion.

Interestingly, I haven't yet had a nap, and I have cut back on at least 75% of my TV viewing. I guess I have no need to escape anymore, so I find evenings are when I do my reading. Who knew life could go on without TV?

So for those of you who are wondering how I'm doing and whether I'm relaxing - the answer is yes. Most definitely. Just not quite how I thought I would be. Life's funny like that.

James' Fancy Buns......a guest post

Barabara Jean is happy to introduce James, our guest blogger for today. James has been my dear friend for just about 20 years. We met at University; my first year, his last. He is a talented musician, an excellent cook, and a wonderful, generous person with a dry, witty (and at times 'off colour') sense of humour. I hope you enjoy this post about Fancy Buns.

My dear old friend (Angela) Jean - soprano, mother, and a great person to have a lunch-hour bitch-fest with, asked me a while back if I would do a guest blog for her. I had no idea what to write about and she suggested I do something with one of my 'fancy breads'. I never thought there was anything 'fancy' about a bit of flour, water, yeast, and some salt, until I realized that my 'fancy' bread also had sugar, butter, and eggs in it. I might as well have deep-sixed the temperamental yeast (which I have routinely killed over the years), and just made some cookies.

Before I cook or bake anything I always have my mise-en-place ready to go. If I'm making red gravy, I'll have all my aromatics chopped, my salt pig and pepper mill nearby, and my San Marzanos crushed and waiting. For baking, I have everything pre-measured and in bowls so I can just do the cooking show thing and dump ingredients in as I need them. Rachael Ray can eat her heart out. (I bet it would taste cloyingly sweet and cheap.)

 Ingredients:

3 cups unbleached AP flour

2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 envelope if you don't buy in bulk)

1/4 cup white sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

2 large eggs plus one yolk (reserve the white for the egg wash)

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup water at room temperature

poppy or sesame seeds

I start by whisking the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Mix the eggs, butter and water together in the bowl of a standing mixer. If you don't have a standing mixer you should get one, but the dough may be made by hand. Just mix everything (liquids, then dry), in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until the ingredients come together. It can then be kneaded by hand on a floured surface. My mother made this by hand as she doesn't have a mixer, but then again, the last time I visited my parents they made me sleep on the hardwood floor of a room filled with boxes. They don't believe in luxury items like stand mixers and beds.

Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed with your dough hook until a ball forms, about five minutes (longer if kneading by hand). Add extra flour one tablespoon at a time if the dough seems too sticky. Form the dough into a ball and roll it in a lightly-oiled bowl. Hopefully your ball will be less lumpy-looking than mine.

Cover with plastic and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk - 1 1/2 - 2 hours. I like to take advantage of the fabulous bottom-mounted lights in my kitchen to keep my dough warm.

For several years I have been using a depilatory crème on the top of my head so that people think I am bald. I made good use of this rising time by giving myself an acid-based scalp wash to keep up my smooth look but I was very careful not to drip any Veet in the dough. Since I also decided not to cook dinner tonight, I order a pizza with pepperoni and garlic from Gigi's on Harbord Street. Some other time I'll tell you a funny story about that store and the day they were raided by the police for selling drugs to U of T students. Actually, that's pretty much the story right there.

After the dough has doubled, gently punch it down and let rise until doubled again, another 45 - 60 minutes.

Transfer the dough to your (lightly-floured) work surface and divide it into 12 even pieces. I stick with the 'slice-of-pie' system but still can't get everything perfectly even. The same thing happens every year at Christmas dinner and someone is always put-out with the size of their piece.

Using your hands, roll out each piece into a strand about 8-inches long. Anything longer is just showing off.

Wrap each strand into a small knot, one end being on the bottom of the bun and the other sticking out the top through the hole in the middle of the knot. Place them on a baking tray, cover with plastic, and let rise again until the buns become puffy, about 30 minutes.

During the final rise, adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and set the temperature to 375° F. After the buns have risen, stir 1 tablespoon of water into the reserved egg white and brush onto the tops and sides. (I don't always use silicone brushes, but when I do, I'm doing an egg wash. Stay eggy, my friends.)

They're writing songs of sesame seeds, but not for me. I always use a few poppy seeds before they go in the oven.

Bake for 11 - 13 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Like full-sized loaves, buns will sound a little hollow when you tap the bottoms.

If you want your bottoms to have a little crunch, you can sprinkle some corn meal on your baking sheet before shaping the buns. Today I felt like softer bottoms, so I didn't bother.

As with all homemade bread, these are best eaten the day they are made. They can be kept in a Ziploc bag for a few days, or frozen for a while and still taste pretty good.

I believe baking is equal parts art and science. I've only been baking bread 'seriously' for a few years and I still screw things up all the time. I think I deleted the pictures of my ill-fated attempt at sourdough - I basically ended up with an 11-inch hockey puck that weighed about 8 pounds. With today's effort, the dough seemed to take a long time to rise and I think it may have been because I put the eggs in right out of the fridge and the cold temperature slowed down the process. Unless otherwise noted (ice-cold butter for biscuits), baking ingredients should be at room temperature. With yeast baking, I've actually taken to using my instant-read thermometer to check my water if a recipe calls for 'warm' water at a certain temp.

After 35 years, I still can't play the violin perfectly so I'm not sure if I have time to perfect my baking, but I love trying. The great 'cellist Pablo Casals still practised four hours a day when in his 90s. When someone asked him why he felt the need to do that, Casals replied, "I'm starting to see some improvement."

PS - I found my sourdough...

Amarilli, mia bella....by (Angela) Jean

Amarilli, mia bella,
Non credi, o del mio cor dolce desio,
D'esser tu l'amor mio?
Credilo pur: e se timor t'assale,
Dubitar non ti vale
Aprimi il petto e vedrai scritto in core:
Amarilli, Amarilli, Amarailli
è il mio amore.

Amaryllis, my lovely one,
do you not believe, o my heart's sweet desire,
That you are my love?
Believe it thus:  and if fear assails you,
Doubt not its truth.
Open my breast and see written on my heart:
Amaryllis, Amaryllis, Amaryllis,
Is my beloved. 

 

We've been working on a little science project here at Abelattanzedinio Homeschool.

Mimi, do you know what this is? 

A flower? Really? It doesn't look like a flower.

And this is the soil we're going to plant it in.

 

 

We added some warm water

....and waited....

we had fun choosing things that would float or sink

and of course

stirring

the mud

in went the bulbs

Ok, now what?

We measured and graphed the growth, daily.

one stem even grew 7cm in one day!

Ta Da!

 

 (if you find Cecilia's facial expressions distracting, just close your eyes and listen)

Feed the Birds....an update!.....by (Angela) Jean

Hello! Happy New Year! Long time no write. Sorry about that, but hey, you were probably too busy to read blogs anyway, right?

Remember a while back I wrote this post about building a bird feeder with my Dad? Well, I thought you must be dying of suspense wondering if the birds ever came, so here I am, providing you with a little update.

For weeks there was no action at the feeder. Zilch. Amelia even made a sign welcoming the birds, which sadly, I didn't take a photo of before it got rained all over, but still nothing.

Finally, about 3 weeks after the feeder was up we saw our first bird...a House Finch!

Mr. House Finch

I have been trying ever since to get some decent photos of the birds, and let me tell you, that is no easy feat. Those little devils are skittish! When I'm feeling inspired I set the camera up on a tripod just inside the window, and then hide out quite far from the window so the birds can't see me.

Mr. & Mrs. House Finch

This is where my camera remote comes in really handy. I just wait until they land and then shoot like crazy and hope I get something decent. Amelia also loves this job. This evening she took these shots of the Juncos.

 We have all been having such fun watching the birds.

They are cute, and hoppy, and pecky. It's great. We love watching them break open the seeds with their beaks and we try to guess which seeds each bird likes best. It's also amazing to me that I can't recall ever seeing a Junco or a House Finch in our backyard until now.

We also have acquired a lovely pair of Mourning Doves.

These guys don't spend any time on the feeder (that we have witnessed anyway) but they eat the seeds that have fallen to the ground and they spend most of the day sunning themselves on the fence. We've seen a few Chickadees which I have been unable to photograph, but we are still waiting for an appearance by our beloved Gold Finches.


But most entertaining by far, have been our new best friends.

Walnut the Black Squirrel

Peanut the Grey Squirrel

We were under no illusion that this feeder was squirrel proof, and so far I'm happy to feed the little guys. We have even from time to time, put a few walnuts on top of the feeder just to watch them do their acrobatics.

My Dad thinks I'm crazy. I believe his exact words were "Well, Angela, now you've really done it. Those squirrels are yours forever. They'll be knocking on your door to ask:

Hey Lady! Where are my walnuts?