photoflow: lens love

using the 50mm/1.4 ... at f/1.6

well well well. it has been about a year since my photography took a huge lunge forward. and it is all because of two marvelous creatures: the 50mm/f1.4 lens and the 50mm/f2.5 compact macro lens. yes it is. 

using the 50mm/1.4 lens ... at f/2.0

i knew i was missing something in my photographs. something in the way i was able -- or more precisely, not able -- to translate what i was seeing into tangible results. 

using the 50mm compact macro ... at f/2.5i saw it in other photographs. a serene beauty in having all but the  smallest piece of the image softly out of focus. shapes. colors. hints of information. dreaminess. 

so last october, i bought the 50mm/f1.4. then in june, i bought the 50mm/f2.5 compact macro.

you see, i used to be a photojournalist, and the pictures i made were all about spreading information. not that photojournalists' photos aren't artistic, they certainly can be. but the widest aperture i used as a photojournalist was f2.8. 

aperture (also known as f-stop) controls depth of field. as in, how much of the photograph is in focus. the smaller the aperture number, the less depth of field ... the less depth of focus. this shallow depth of field allows whatever is in front of or behind the focus-point to become dreamily out of focus. this brings our eye right to the focus-point, while seeing the rest of the image as softer shapes and colors. 

using the 50mm compact macro lens ... at f/2.5

having put photography aside for many, many years, i returned with fresh perspective, less of a photojournalist's hat on.

using the 50mm/1.4 lens ... at f/1.8

and thanks to two very talented photographers, i found the two lenses that i now use almost exclusively: 

50mm/f1.4

via heidi swanson's 101cookbooks, i discovered the 50/1.4. she displays the most dreamy food (and travel!) photography and beautifully written stories to go with each photo. heidi's recipe index of natural, whole foods keeps it real and healthy, just the way i like it. thank you, heidi, for leading me in the right direction both food-wise and photography-wise. and for sharing your photo tips. 

50mm/f2.5 compact macro

via tracey clark's personal site and the fantabulous shutter sisters she started, i found the compact macro. i knew i wanted a macro, and was leaving soon on a trip. i didn't even research the purchase. i saw that tracey used it, so figured it was good enough for me! and i love it. thank you tracey, for being such an inspiration, for your e-classes, for shutter sisters, for your generous ideas, words and images. 

using the 50mm/1.4 lens ... at f/1.4

The photograph itself doesn't interest me.  I want only to capture a minute part of reality. 

         ~Henri Cartier Bresson­

going primal (hill)

i'm going primal.

no, i'm not letting my armpit hair grow out (although i have in the past and i do like that kind of freedom/natural sexiness), i'm not living in a cave, i'm not hunting or gathering in the traditional sense and no, i'm not grunting any more than usual ... no, i'm following the primal way of nourishment and i'm feeling GREAT!

the author of this book recommends omitting all non-fiber carbohydrates from our diets. period. no rice, bread, crackers, chips, potatoes, popcorn, cereal, oatmeal, pasta, chocolate, beer, wine, dried fruit, juices, and many fresh fruits. none. nada. zip!

author nora gedgaudas says we humans have not evolved much -- biologically -- since our primal hunter-gatherer days. think about what those gals and guys might have been eating ... wild (think: grass-fed) animal protein, veggies, nuts, seeds and berries. all natural. as in, without chemicals. as nature intended. what we now call "organic". weird: the non-organic stuff should be called "chemical", not the other way around!

nora says the advent of agriculture has produced lots of carbs that are not a human dietary requirement and actually wreak havoc on our systems, body and mind. vitamin deficiencies. seratonin deficiencies. inflammation. hormone issues. insulin resistance. leptin disregulation. osteoporosis. obesity. adhd. depression. anxiety. think about what you have been eating lately ... carbs come to mind? we, at least here in the states and europe/uk, normally eat a lot of carbs these days.

i've been eating the primal way for two and a half weeks now, with a few minor detours (had a beer with curt when he was here, and had three chocolate-covered almonds with my friend julie the other day). it's easy to "eat primal" because i don't have any cravings. i'm not hungry like i always used to be. that's because my blood sugar needed more "sugar" (read: carbs, sugar, chocolate, sweets, bread, etc) to feel good.

fast approaching 50, the past few years i've had low energy, blue moods, and have had to take thyroid and hormone medications to feel better. just in the last couple weeks, i'm getting my energy back and i'm feeling great!

nora says we can also eat small amounts of raw, unprocessed dairy products, if you can find them. i went to whole foods this morning to get raw milk with which to make yogurt, but alas, they said their insurance was too high and they had to stop selling it. so i made it with the next best thing, straus family creamery organic whole milk.

will keep you updated about my progress.

anyone else nourishing themselves this way? or another way that makes you feel great? please chime in!

i dream of jamie (hill)

yesterday i was feeling playful and posted on facebook "i kinda have a big crush on jamie oliver." i just LOVE him. he's bold, brazen, hardworking, charismatic, funny, making a difference, down to earth, and cute! lo and behold, jamie visited me in my dream last night ...

in my dream, i met jamie on the side of the road -- i was a new crew member or something. we met and he *saw* me, avatar style. as in, his essence saw my essence. his strength saw my strength. his vulnerability saw my vulnerability. his courage saw my courage. his heart saw my heart. i rode in his car for awhile and we got to know each other, joking and jabbering away to the next shoot. "i'll see you later," he said. later in the hotel lobby, we met and walked in the garden for hours. talked, laughed, played tag and teased like kids. he asked me how old i was, and i said, "i'm 29 ... and 18 ... and 7 ... and 45 ... and 98." he got it. and we just looked in each other's eyes, no need for words.

next day i rode my beach cruiser to his event at a swimming pool. i was early (in real life i'm never early). ran into his daughter's friend who loaned me his daughter's bikini, and somehow i looked great in it (the beauty of the dreamworld)! my entrance into the pool was from the high dive, an expansive swan dive ending with a tuck and a flip and a half with a graceful splash. (i was actually a child high diver ... a coach wanted to train me for the olympics until ear trouble became serious.) i swam and i swam, then jamie jumped in. swimming with jamie was like swimming with the dolphins, sheer joy.

in my dream we remained fast friends for a very long time because we really *saw* each other, listened to each other, and loved each other truly.

if it's true that all the characters in one's dream are the dreamer (psychology term = projection), then the message i take from this dream is to draw upon my "inner jamie oliver," the parts of myself that jamie represents to me: strength, capabilities, humor, wisdom, courage, will, charisma, boldness, gifts ...

thank you jamie, for all that you are, and for being my dreamtime friend. (ps - i'm eating my veggies!)

~~

btw, jamie won the one and only 2010 TED award. visionary, bold, inspiring. see him here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

I'm not gonna cook you a lettuce (Meg)

Stay-at-home that I am, I rarely get to be ahead of the zeitgeist.  But about a month ago my DH picked up a copy of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cook book as we were on our way out of the library.  Something about it appealed to Chris.   Jamie's mission is to get people to cook real food instead of eating processed prepared food.   He also has this sweet idea of people "passing on" the recipes they like, which appeals to me because it's a way of building community.  I looked through it and decided that because the recipes are well presented and easy, (with a photo for each one--love that) it would be a valuable resource for Mettlin when she goes off to school.  I remember so clearly that I had a copy of the Silver Palate when I went to college, and I was so pleased to be able to cook for friends when we spent weekends at the coast.

Thinking that I should try a few recipes before buying the book for her, I turned to the section on "Family Roast Dinners".  I can't even count up all the roasted chickens I've served over the years, but the number must be high.  I've even got (and have made) the recipe for Zuni's Roast Chicken, which is widely acknowledged to be the best restaurant roast chicken in the state of California and maybe the world.  There, in this book, was yet another recipe for roast chicken.  Jamie's take is quite different though--you roast the chicken on a bed of vegetables, you put a whole lemon in the cavity, and he assumes you'll make gravy from the veggies after the chicken is cooked.  As I'm sure you've guessed by now, the chicken was unbelievably tasty.  And so easy!

He also has a whole section on chopped salads, which for me seemed ridiculous at first glance--how could anyone possibly need a recipe for a chopped salad.  Then I remembered his mission and my idea that this would be a helpful book for someone just learning to cook, and I thought I'd try one.  He has a page of general rules for making a delicious chopped salad and then several actual recipes.  I made the Mediterranean chopped salad and even the teenagers ate it with gusto.  My DH & parents loved it too, and I now often take the extra few moments to chop the salads--although I devour unchopped salad with glee, it turns out that chopping it makes all those veggies more palatable for those who are not vegetable freaks.

A few weeks after that, I started seeing ads on the TV for his show and set the Tivo to record it.  Jamie's show features a town in Virginia (or is it West Virginia?) and his efforts to give the people in it the skills they need to feed themselves real food instead of processed convenient crap.  The channel didn't change for the first episode, but the second one was recorded, and it was eye-opening.  One scene showed Jamie visiting a kindergarten class and the children being unable to identify tomatoes and potatoes, let alone eggplant.  It's so easy for me to forget how privileged we are here on the west coast of California, with fresh local produce available abundantly year-round and the produce section placed near the entrance of every grocery store.  During a radio show interview the host told Jamie that the town didn't want to sit around eating lettuce all day.  Jamie's response was to say "I'm not gonna cook you a lettuce", but actually, for my family, that's just what he did!  He makes the act of preparing food simple and satisfying enough for very beginning cooks and veterans alike.  And yup, I bought the book.

p.s.  I can't recommend the Empire kosher chickens available at Trader Joe's highly enough.  They are expensive, but my family eats every single morsel when I use them, usually the day I cook them, but if there are leftovers they get gobbled up too.  So no food waste.

p.p.s. You can find both these recipes at

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution


And now I've passed them on to you!