Mellow Yellow

I'm down to the wire for entering this week's challenge, but I completely forgot I took this picture over the weekend! 

Natalie is stunning to begin with, but put her in front of a yellow brick wall and her beauty simply pops!

Food Photography

Lately, I've been eating a lot and taking a lot of food pictures. I love setting up the photo and trying to get an interesting angle that shows off whatever dish I'm featuring. I don't know if it's a cop-out—because it's been cold and I don't feel like actually getting out there to take other photos—or lack of imagination and inspiration, but I feel comfortable with food photos. Maybe it's because food is immobile and I know I'll eventually get a shot I like?

And speaking of food, I'm *thisclose* to buying my ticket to BlogHerfood, a blogging conference focusing on food. It's being held in Atlanta this year and I think I'd be crazy not to go. I'm a blogger, I love food, I love blogging about food, and I'm just itching to learn more. I really need to spend some time getting to know my camera. I typically have it off auto, but I need to learn how to do more with it and actually understand what I'm doing. I want to learn.

Enough talking. I want to share some recent food pictures that I've taken. They're from The Tale of Two Kitchens, a site my sister-in-law and I created to share recipes we make. I've been having so much fun with it that my waistline is starting to hate me. 

Coconut Macaroons

Puppy Chow

Tahini Cookie Bars

Black-eyed Pea Salad

Spicy Pesto

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Green Chile Stew...coming soon

So what do you think? Any tips or suggestions for better-looking photos? As always, I'm eager to learn more!

on cloud nine

This photo encompasses two of my very favorite things right now: cooking/baking and photography. This is the second series of photos I took with my new camera (don't worry, I'll stop saying that after this post!), but I'm just so excited about the way these photos turned out. Of course, I'm my own critic and I already notice flaws with this picture, but that makes me even more excited to look back on this post a year or two from now and see how I've improved. 

Coconut Macaroons

via The Tale of Two Kitchens

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

Well, what do ya know; I actually got my act together and took these throughout the week instead of scrambling around on Saturday! I had a lot of fun with these. 

1. Self-Portrait

Well, this is me! I altered this photo using tricks I'm using in Kim Klassen's e-class. Despite starting with a blown out photo, I really like the way it turned out.

http://www.iheartfaces.com/2010/12/photo-contest-self-portrait/

2. Handmade 

I made a lemon meringue pie—from scratch—for my husband's birthday. It's the perfect combination of a zesty lemon and a sweet pie.

3. Orange 

I came home one day and noticed a tree in the backyard illuminated by the sun. It was an absolutely gorgeous shade of burnt orange, and when the leaves danced with the wind it made it look like the whole tree was on fire. It was just gorgeous. This is SOOC.

4. Candle

Wow. Capturing a candle flame is hard! I took so many photos and this was the one I liked the most. I liked that the candle was off center and that the flame peeked above the rim of the glass.

5. Traffic Signals or Signs

I created a few versions of this photo, but in the end I went with a basic, almost SOOC version. I just touched it up by enhancing the red a little bit and adding some contrast to bring out the texture on the sign. I really like the trees reflection peeking through.

It's the Little Things

It's the little things that I absolutely love about being married. For those of you who don't know, I'm a newlywed (I got married in February), and my husband and I dated long distance for about three years before tying the knot. 

 

This weekend we were standing in line to pay at Target and he reached out and grabbed some tic-tacs. But not just any tic-tacs, orange flavored! Out of all of the goodies to impulsively buy at the register—chips, gum, candy, etc.—orange flavored tic-tacs probably would've been the last thing I'd ever buy. Really, it's the little discoveries that make me appreciate being with my husband (almost) everyday.

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

Each week I have every intention of getting these set up and ready to publish Sunday morning, but I always end up missing one or two photos, which is why I'm publishing this on Monday morning instead!

 
1. my town

My husband and I flew home for a few days and I took this at the Albuquerque International Sunport. I loved that the phone book had "ABQ" on it, and couldn't resist taking this picture, especially since the New Mexico flag was in the background.

2. vintage

I pulled this from my archives. These keys are from a vintage, 1940s Royal Aristocrat typewriter.

3. tilt photo

Again, this is another one from my archives, but I think it works perfect for this particular category. The picture was taken in Savannah, Georgia, about a month ago.

4. dress up

My cousin my kill me if she sees this picture up here, but she was absolutely dressed up for Halloween!

5. chocolate

I made these "Creepy, Crawly, and Dirt{y} Cupcakes for Halloween.

I Heart Faces: Pink Photo Contest

My husband and I walked in the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure 5k this weekend and they served pink pancakes to the survivors! (Check out the post below for another picture from the walk.)

I love how seriously this guy is taking his job. I tried several times to get him to crack a smile for me, but he was all about business.

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

I really love these scavenger hunts, because even though my shots may not be that great—*cough* "night" picture *cough*—it's making me focus on taking a picture of something specific. So not only am I practicing taking pictures, but I can practice editing different things, too! 


The 5 Senses

I had a really hard time figuring out what I was going to do for this one. In the end, I realized the only sense I need help with is my sense of sight, so this is a self portrait of my left eye with my glasses on. If I ever take a shot like this again I'll make sure my glasses are clean first..

Child/Children

My husband and I participated in the Susan G. Koman Race for a Cure yesterday and I saw this little girl being carried by her mom, a breast cancer survivor. It was a sight to see, for sure. (On a technical side note, I did some pretty fun editing with this, all with the clone stamp. I took out a whole bunch of telephone wires and a couple people. I think I did a pretty decent job and had so much fun seeing the difference!)

Dining(October 2010 item) 

Dining out at Chili's. I ordered the chicken fajitas. YUM.

Night

I hate this picture. But it's a scavenger hunt, not a "great picture" hunt.

Sky

I pulled this one out from my archives. It's only about two weeks old, though. We visited a lighthouse on Tybee Island, Georgia and I just loved the blue sky surrounding the lighthouse. It was gorgeous.

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

Woohoo! This is my very first post on this particular blog. I'm really excited to have a place to post pictures I take. When I'm not taking photos I'm blogging over here: Jesstagirl and her Officer. Thanks for stopping by :)

Golden: 
(It's white gold and the only piece of gold I own!)

Smell:

Fruit:

Simple:

Sports: