A walk with the 4-leggers and 50mm

Well our snow turned into snow with a chunk of ice on top… not very fun or exciting but we took the dogs for a walk anyhow.  Okay, the real reason for the walk was so the Mr. could change his trail camera batteries, but it was as good an excuse as any.  The lens that happened to be on the camera when we were heading out was the 50mm so I rolled with it and rolled out.

Here are some shots from our exursion

Sorghum

Burs look less threatening when coated in a bit of ice

One of my favorites

Of course I couldn’t resist turning the camera on the 4-leggers while waiting for the Mr.

I love both of these shots, I am really finding this 50mm to be right up my style alley.  More photos of the pups on Luna’s blog shortly.

Foodie Friday: Bread & Brown Butter

Well Foodie Friday is back… here are some photos from this week’s kitchen creations

Possum Honey Bread

And a favorite around here, Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie. Do you have a favorite cookie?

Looks like I will be adding popovers to my kitchen tomorrow as we are finally fixing to get some snow… I will believe it when I see it though.

Now off to have a piece of bread… because I can.

2012 Sky Fire…

So I have been dying to share these images with you all.  I know they are probably nothing major to you but to me they were a wonderful start to 2012. We saw several wonderful sunrises the first week of January, and since most of my work is outside I was blessed enough to be able to snap a couple pictures.

I am still learning this camera, and a couple of these were taken with the 50mm which was probably not the best lens but I did not want to risk missing it to change the lens.

These photos are pretty much straight out of camera, little to no editing. It sometimes is so hard to remember what the true color of these sky fire moments were so I am glad the camera seemed to handle it well.

I don’t have many clear views of the sky without zooming in, so it can be a bit tricky to compose the shots.

I LOVE this last shot.  Sunrises/sets like these are one of the highlights of the winters here… and it makes me thankful that I get to be somewhat back in the country for them… not having to drive in a car and pass these moments by without being able to capture and share them.  If this was a sign for what this year has to bring, bring it on… sooo looking forward to this year if it continues to be like the first week’s skies.

Anyone else get to see skies like these??

Big Changes in 2012!

I thought I would start with a nice bold title for this post… the first post of the year.  Hopefully it will help keep the positive energy rolling as week 2 of the new year is nearing a close.  So far this year I have already accomplished quite a few things on my to do list,  PTL for motivation. I won’t bore you with the mundane things on my list, or with resolutions just yet… let’s start with a big change..

Here you have most what I have been shooting with for the past 4+ years minus an upgrade or two, a camera bag, tripod, and some additional cards… why was that not pictured here too?  Because I was not selling that stuff.  Yep you heard me right I sold all of  it.

I said goodbye to my wonderful Canon 7D, in front of a Target Superstore with Luna as backup,  several days before Christmas.  So there will be no wonderful Christmas shots from me this year (has there ever been?) because I was DSLR-less.  You never know how much you will miss your DSLR until all you are left with is a seriously outdated P&S and your outdated phone.  But in anycase it was all for a good reason…

This arrived on the porch shortly before new years.  Now before you Canon lovers make me walk the plank hear me out.  I had been debating about switching to Nikon for several years, and upon the brink of investing my bonus money into a much coveted prime lens, I decided if I was going to do it I better do it now before I invest more into Canon.  I have 2 main reasons for switching…

#1 my shooting partner/best friend shoots with Nikon so in essence if we are kind enough we can share equipment as well as provide backups for each other during weddings etc (she actually has the exact same Nikon body).

#2 my brother up in Canada is a professional photographer of many many years and has all kinds of know-how and gear within the Nikon brand… so he would be a huge asset as well as a virtual stockroom for me.  He was the one who came up with the package you see above, he was not going to let me make this switch without having backups for just about everything.  As he says “you can’t be a pro if you’re shooting with one body,”  I know that won’t sit well with some but we won’t go there.   What you can’t see beyond the 2 bodies are the lenses in those boxes… and the 2 flashes that are on the way.   I can’t say enough about how wonderful he is for getting this together for me and making it affordable.  It’s kinda something he loves to do…create the perfect setup/gear bag for people based on what they shoot.

So in the end I could not pass this chance up, and I am so thankful I was able to even do this.  I have nothing against Canon, and my heart still lies with them as it has not been as easy a switch as I thought. I figured once you know one DSLR (and have gone through 2-3 different bodies) you can pretty much figure out any.  Boy was I wrong.  Switching brands has changed the entire game, they have different menus, buttons, dials, and different abbreviations for things.  And physical things are backwards like which way to turn the lens to mount it as well as focus it.  It will take some time for my muscles to create new memories so I don’t have to think so much while shooting.  But I am up for the challenge, it’s like I have started all over again with basics, let’s hope it does not take me as long to learn them this time around.

Any big changes for you in 2012??

Here is a parting shot from a little session with Luna and my new 50mm prime lens, more to come of these photos on her blog soon.

Hope everyone has had a great start to 2012

Want to know what we’re up to tonight???

Here is a hint… check out Luna’s blog for more details.

Foodie Love; Bread oh how I love thee…

Soooo it has been far too long since I posted food photos, and since I recently made two wonderful creations  I thought I would share.

I tried two new recipes this week… first I started with a Lemon Curd recipe. Check out the link for some great photos and the recipe…  Boy oh Boy is this stuff wooonderful.  Seriously, they were not kidding when they warned you that you will end up eating it with a spoon directly out of the jar.  I did this several times before I ended up placing it in the fridge to chill.  If  you like real lemon flavor, and have never tried it before you should. It really is not hard, and does not require any complicated ingredients. I did not use Meyers Lemons (that I know of) and it still turned out lovely.

Now that I had a jar of Lemon Curd, I had to find something to do with it.  With a quick search of “Lemon Curd” over at my favorite baking site, King Arthur, I came upon Braided Lemon Bread.

This is how mine turned out, well one of them… pretty fancy huh? It’s actually not that difficult, very much like a fishtail braid only with bread.

Some close ups, because I can.  I LOVE how this dough turned out, it just mixed up really well this time for some reason.  And for a sweet bread it was light but had great flavor. I think I am going to try this same dough for cinnamon buns and see how it turns out.

This bread has got to be one of the better breads I have made, hands down the prettiest, it is not often that a bread tastes as good as it looks. I will be making this bread again, even though I ate almost an entire loaf myself.  In fact I will be making it tomorrow to bring to my family, kinda breaking tradition but I don’t think they will mind.   To go along with it I am also making Mac n Cheese from scratch, and most likely pumpkin whoopie pies… And for the other half of the family’s celebration on Friday I will also be making Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake and another batch of Mac N Cheese.  Lots to cook tomorrow so I better try and get to sleep.

What are your thanksgiving traditions?  Are you cooking anything?

Have a wonderful thanksgiving all

Project 365: Week 31; A day in the field

Well it’s that season again, some of you may know of it… hunting season?  Yep, being married to a hunter has its ups and downs.  This is the time of year I learn to appreciate the time I have with the Mr. as he is often gone for part of the weekend pursuing various wild game/fowl/bird.  However while we may miss each other on weekends one upside is the increase of  “free” meat added to our freezer, not to mention the fun he has in the field.  He has a passion and excitement for hunting that is rivaled only by a child’s enthusiasm for a long awaited gift.  It is one of the few things in this world that can keep him up at night, the anticipation of the hunt having him too excited to sleep.  With the addition of another hunting dog to the family the prospect of hunting together has become more of a reality.

For those that don’t like hunting… well you can skip the photos I guess.  Thanks for visiting.

For the rest of you, I bring you a recent day in the field…

Is this a happy dog or what???

Wyatt had enough of sitting next to dad, he thought he could keep a better eye on those birds and gun by looking from the other side. Pretty cute.

And there you have it, just a glimpse into two very happy boys in the field.  I am quite happy with how these shots turned out.  Now if I could figure out how to get similar shots of me and my girl.

Hope you all are having a great weekend, I’m trying to rest up before our kennels get packed for the holiday.  And have a Happy Thanksgiving if I don’t make it back here before then.