1 August 2022 - Monday
It's that kind of Monday.
Tag: Coffee
Isolation Photo Project, Day 55
When I woke up this morning, I had a craving for French toast. I don’t know why I did. I just did. But then I looked in the fridge and saw that we had only one egg left. But fortunately, that’s all I needed to make one slice of French toast. That’s what I discovered after doing an internet search for French toast recipes.
I found the Best French Toast Recipe by Jillian Guyette, a food writer for delish. Her recipe is a simplified American version of Pain Perdu. In France, the original recipe is called Pain Perdu which translates as “lost bread”, probably because one of the ingredients is stale bread which would be thrown out if not repurposed.
Of course, now I had something new to try out my food photography skills. This morning I managed to get a combination of kitchen window light, overhead 6500k LED lighting, and the reflector to work together. I like the result, but I keep wishing I had a better background. That blank wall needs a large canvas print.
We had another beautiful sunny but cool day and we felt it was the right weather for some socially distant outdoor dining. The Brick Farm Tavern offered lunch take out today but with a twist. Customers were encouraged to pre-order food and drink for take-out and sit at any of the many socially distant outdoor tables on the back lawn.
Bhavna and I thought it was a great way to spend some time outside the house. We ordered our food with a growler of New Jersey craft ale, found a table in the corner under a tree. We both enjoyed the experience and Bhavna wants to do it again.
Submitted as part of the 100DaysToOffload project.Isolation Photo Project, Day 54
No, this website is not in danger of becoming a food photography website. I'm following some advice from Daniel Brinneman who, after reading one of my less than uplifting post about the sameness of each day under pandemic lockdown, suggested that I change my routine. I have little control over my workday because I work for UK based bank and half of the IT and project management teams are based there. My mornings get busy with WebEx sessions. The afternoons are more flexible, but we have an East Coast-based group as well. I could wear different clothes each day, re-arrange my desk, change up breakfast, etc. but the work part of the day feels the same.
However, another thirty days into "shelter-in-place"-it seems we a lot more of those days ahead-and I think I understand what Daniel was trying to tell me. The Splash and Pour Photography workshop with food photographer Freddy Clark was postponed to October. The High Line and Hudson Yards Vessel field trip was also delayed to October. I cancelled the Chestnut-sided Warbler photography field workshop with Ray Hennesey.
All the fun photography-related things that my therapist helped me plan for when I was struggling with my eye health issues are off the table for the near term. Not being able to do the warbler workshop hurt the most. I enjoyed photographing with Ray last spring, and these adorable little birds are lovely to observe. But the reality is the reality. I want to find a way to keep the love of my hobby alive.
Food photography is challenging, and as I am discovering, one really has to pay attention to lighting. In some ways, the patience required for success is about the same as the patience needed to photograph wildlife. Each day that the sun shines through the kitchen window is an opportunity to try again; learn something new.
Freddy Clark has been supportive of my efforts and has provided some feedback and suggestions on how I can improve.
That's where I am right now.
The light coming in through the window this morning was a bit softer, but I could still see some shadows. I tried to reduce the shadows with the reflector and the overhead lights. This is the best of the dozen images I captured. I used Provia film simulation. Provia is the "standard" shooting mode on the Fujifilm X-T2 and designed to emulate Fujichrome Provia Professional Color Transparency film. The colours appear natural.
Submitted as part of the 100DaysToOffload project.