Espresso Banana Bread - A Photo Essay (Food Week, Day 2)

(For the curious, I used this recipe, and added a shot of espresso, some cinnamon, and a cup of chopped walnuts. It was pretty good, but just a little too soft for me. I'd recommend 3 bananas instead of the 4 I used.)

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I'm trying something new. This is food week on the blog. Every day I'll post a photo of food and then either a story or a recipe. Want to join in? Join the flickr group and post your food photos! (Yay! I am now not the only one in the Flickr group. Please don't be shy and come post some photos of delicious food.)

New Challenge - Food Week on the Blog

I thought I had planned it all out perfectly. Isn't that the way these stories always start? I had bought some tomatoes, I was going to go pick them up in North Beach, then walk to meet Heather for coffee downtown at Blue Bottle. The timing was going to work out just right: it was about a 20 minute walk and I had just shy of half an hour. What I didn't factor in was that 24 pounds of tomatoes might slow me down just a hair.

Ummm, yeah. 24 pounds, you read that right. Which, in my delusion, I thought was no biggie. I lift weights sometimes, I'm ok with a heavy box or two. 24 pounds might be a little heavy after a while, but I'd just do it. I could handle it.

(So this is the point in the story where everyone asks why. Why 24 pounds? Why not one, or two pounds like normal people? And I have to admit, the question confuses me a bit, and I have to think about the answer. Why? Because tomatoes are awesome. Duh. You mean you wouldn't jump at the chance to have 24 pounds of them? Really? Because I would. Clearly.)

Anyway, I counted the blocks as I walked them. I knew there were about 9 shortish blocks to get back to Market St, and then 3 1/2 longer blocks on Market. The first five blocks weren't that bad. I found a comfortable position with the tomatoes, and we were fine. It got a little worse when I stupidly decided to put the bottom box on top because it might be easier to carry. Oops! It wasn't, it was harder. So I carried it like that for a few more blocks, and then switched back. By then I was a little warm and my arms were feeling it.  So I took a break for a minute or two, and then I picked up the tomatoes and kept walking.

After that it just got harder and harder. My arms were burning, I started to sweat a bit. (Or is it glow? Ladies glow, right? Well, I was glowing all over.) I started looking all over for ledges to set the boxes down on, just for a moment. Just to catch my breath. But there were no ledges, and it was downtown San Francisco on a Saturday morning. Men pushing strollers blithely walked in front of me, seemingly in no hurry to reach their destination. Possibly homeless or perhaps just hygiene deficient folks walked an unpredictable line. Tourists chattered in groups, looking at each other and nothing else, pausing unpredictably to the joy of those behind them. And I just wanted to put these tomatoes down.

I think the crowning moment was when the two boxes of tomatoes snagged a button on my vest between them. There wasn't really anything I could do at the moment, I just held them carefully, trying not to rip the button off until I could set the boxes down on something. I walked, and my arms threatened mutiny. But I run a tight ship, and so I kept on going.

Finally, about 30 feet from my final destination there was a ledge. So I stopped momentarily, laid down my burden carefully, trying not to dislodge the trapped button. I thought I had succeeded, but I looked down, and there was no button. Just some thread where it had been. And try as I might, I couldn't find the button anywhere. I retraced my steps, sans tomatoes, not caring if anyone cared to pilfer them. But no button was found.

Finally I gave up. I tried to wipe a bit of sweat off my face and smooth my hair a bit. I attempted to rearrange my vest so the missing button didn't call so much attention to itself, and so I made my way to meet Heather, 15 minutes late, all red, with 24 pounds of tomatoes and a button gone. I'm sure she was thrilled to see me. To her credit, we had a great time anyway, and she acted like buying so many tomatoes was totally normal. And I gave her some, to try to make up for it.

So, that's what I did on Saturday morning. What about you?

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I'm trying something new. This is food week on the blog. Every day I'll post a photo of food and then either a story or a recipe. Want to join in? Join the flickr group and post your food photos!

5 Ways to Improve Your Food Photography

I don't know about you, but whenever I'm about to bite into something succulent and to die for, I always have the urge to whip out my camera and take a shot of it first. To preserve the memory of its beauty, its succulence, its perfection. And then I can chow down happily, with no regrets for destroying something so beautiful.

Done hastily, food photos can be disappointing. And I'm not a food photographer, so please don't assume I'm the last authority on the subject. But I do love photos of my food, and these are a few things that have worked for me.

1. SIMPLIFY. This goes in every kind of photography. I don't care what's in front of your lens. If it's in the frame, is it necessary? Absolutely necessary? No? Then get rid of it. And don't think Photoshop will help you. What you might be able to do in 30 minutes in Photoshop, you can do now in 30 seconds. So clean up.

2. LOOK AT THE LIGHT. Where is your light source? The best and easiest light to use for food is window light, the bigger the window the better, and you want the window off to one side of your food so you get some highlight and shadow patterns to give the food some shape and texture. You can also play with a bit of backlight, but make sure it's not distracting from the food.

3. LOOK AT THE BACKGROUND. Is it harmonizing with your food or is it distracting or clashing? If it's not helping, try a different background. Placemats, tablecloths, cutting boards, all of these can help improve or change up your background. Remember number one - the most important thing about your background is that it must be simple.

4. KEEP IT LIGHT. Dark food is less appealing than bright, fresh-looking food. If you have manual control over your camera, you might want to overexpose a touch.

5. CHECK YOUR COLOR BALANCE. There's nothing worse than a beautiful photo of beautiful food that is all blue. Or all yellow. Play with your white balance to get the best setting. Unlike in portraiture where having a color cast can be moody or cool, with food it's usually unappetizing.

Ok, so there you go. 5 basic tips for making the most of your food shots. What about you? Any tips you've found helpful? Anything you've eaten that you wish you'd photographed before it was gone?

Mouseover Friday - Mom

Sometimes there are images where I'm just torn between the color and the black and white. Take this one, for example, which I'm enjoying. I love taking portraits with the 35mm because it gives the subject some space in the frame, even when I'm close enough to interact with them normally. I've realized that I don't like taking pictures of people when I'm more than a few feet away from them - I feel like we're not connected. Having a conversation is more strained. And I'm all about the conversation, because it calms me down as much as it calms the lucky people in front of my lens.

Anyway, the 35mm is hitting my sweet spot today. And regardless of lens I'm glad I asked to take this photo of my dear mother when we were at a German (Austrian?) cafe with huge windows and the light was just perfect.

You can never have too many photos of the people who are important to you. 

Mouse over to see this in black and white.

Thanks for the coffee, Mom. Hope you like the picture.

A Perfect Caprese Salad

I've always been enamored of tomatoes. Their roundness, their softness. Their surprises. Sometimes sweet, sometimes acid, sometimes a perfect balance of the two. Growing up, I drove my mother crazy by eating all the cherry tomatoes she had reserved for salad. In my defense, they do make a great snack. Just mouthful size, there's a satisfying pop when you break the skin, and then the juices fill your mouth. Mmmmm . . .

And this time of year . . . it's tomato heaven. The markets are full of gorgeous San Marzanos, Early Girls, and my favorites, heirlooms. In all their strange multi-colored, slightly misshapen glory. Whatever variety you choose, a caprese salad is a great way to use them. The smooth creaminess of the fresh mozzarella contrasts with the acid bite of the tomatoes, and basil makes it heavenly. If you're a traditionalist, you'll finish your salad with some good olive oil, but if you're a renegade like me you'll spoon a touch of balsamic vinegar over each one. The older and thicker the vinegar, the better.

Enjoy! And tell me all about it .

Building in a Building

Sorry I've been MIA. It's a quick post tonight, I'll have more for you tomorrow.