Canon 60D, ISO 1250, 17mm, f/4, 1/30

One chipotle meatball (made by yours truly).  The bad thing is...it rolled off the table and onto the floor and before I could catch it, it rolled out the door.  It rolled in the gutter, and into the street.  And then my poor meatball was no good to eat.

Canon 60D, ISO 1250, 24mm, f/4, 1/40

Lucky for me...I had more.

iPhone 4, ISO 80, 3.9mm, f/2.8 1/30

I know I stated before that I intended not to post photos taken with my phone but I have changed my mind.  Does that make me a flip-flopper, Paula?  Why not get better with ALL equipment.  Anyway, I was shopping and couldn't resist taking a photo of the "never-ending" apple display.  Those stock guys...clever use of mirrors!  I had never noticed that before.

Vintage Food Faces

OK, Stef...special...just for you!

These are photos I took back in the late 70s/early 80s when we lived in the Aleutian Islands.  I have said about these photos in the past that when you live in the Aleutians, you have to find ways to amuse yourself but the reality is, I would have done this with my boys no matter where we lived because it's just fun!  Where else would you get to eat a peanut butter Pringle mouse?

I may have to make some more of these just for old times' sake.

Fruitopia

F/5, 1/20sec, iso-800, 36mm

F/8, 1/60sec, iso-100, 40mm

Yikes! It's like eating spider eggs, but tastes like gummy bears.

F/8, 1/60sec, iso-100, 44mm

A snake swallowed my pear, now I'm left with this!

F/3.8, 1/60sec, 22mm
Aliens have attacked my fruit bowl!

F/8, 1/60sec, iso-100, 42mm

They say I bought fruit, I say I bought sea urchins!

F/8, 1/60sec, iso-100, 48mm

F/8, 1/60sec, iso-100, 35mm

Never too old to play with your food!

Basic Food Group

I was inspired by all that talk about making magic with food. So I brought on a little leftover Christmas magic.

These are my little soldiers, all lined up...in the window sill

I say they collectively comprise a balanced diet

especially if you eat more than one.

But if you eat too many, you may feel a bit off kilter.

Stef. Why do I have the feeling you are going to make me do this again but with real food?

Calling all cars!

Be on the look out 

...for this white female, age 27, last seen 

in or around Salt Lake City, Utah.  

You can tell by the sneer on her face that she has

great disdain for authority!  

Wanted for not posting to the Shutter Soup blog in weeks.

Suspect was caught on camera fleeing the scene...

Was last seen hiding behind this rock

(Not very effectively, BTW)

Suspect is armed with a fish and dangerous.  If you see this 

woman, do not try to apprehend her, just get her to post!

Graduated Neutral Density Filters

Stats unknown

I promised to post a couple of pics that show the effect of a graduated neutral density filter.  I believe I incorrectly called it a "gradiated" neutral density filter in my comments to Stef's post.  The purpose of this piece of glass is balance out the metering between really bright things and much darker things.  This first pic was taken years ago with my first digital SLR (Canon Digital Rebel XT).  I had no clue about such filters back then so this photo was metered on the land and you can see how the sky and clouds are washed out.

Canon 350D, ISO 100, 17mm, f/7.1, 1/100, graduated neutral density filter (ND 0.6), circular polarizing fiter

This second photo was taken this past spring and I used my graduated neutral density filter, holding it in front of the lens with the transition point roughly on the horizon (same camera).  You can see how it balances out the metering of the whole photo and makes things much more crisp.  My filter is a Cavison 6X6 ND 0.6 and it's a spendy piece of glass but as you can see, it does some pretty cool things.

When Tony (1000 Words) was here in the US last spring, we went looking for one for him but the local camera shops don't carry them.  If anyone is inclined to check these out, here's a link to the one I have at BHPOTO:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/629388-REG/Cavision_FTG565GD06_5_65_x_5_65_Graduated.html

Play with Your Food!

Alright, since I was the procrastinator last time...I'll start our next assignment. Let's do some magic with food! I was reading this article and thought this would be a fun subject, and let's face it...who doesn't love to look at food? We may be able to identify the chefs of our bunch, food connoisseurs and who lives in city with an exotic supermarket (lucky me!). Hey, maybe this will even help with New Year's weight loss resolutions- don't they say looking at food kills the desire to devour it, or maybe it's smelling food, or possibly it's none of those things??? Because all I know is I'm imagining that burger is a Pork and Beef burger, yum yum! Ah, to to be able to order pork at a restaurant again...........enough digressing!

This article was helpful for me:

www.dpreview.com/articles/7035366346/introduction-to-food-photography

Looking forward to some saliva-producing photos and maybe some inspiration for my home cooking!