Photographing Your Food?

Hell yes, I photograph my food! I often get laughed at for it, but I find that I really enjoy it. Most of the time when I am laughed at, it is those that go to work, pay bills, and don't step outside their box. In short, they have no interest in anything outside of that box. Not that there is anything wrong with any of that. I personally like to enjoy the things around me. I like to stop and smell the roses. When it comes to food, there is so much out there and the presentation along with the colors are very eye catching. I like to capture the effort that goes into the food before I eat it. 

I have even been yelled at for taking photos...That's right, yelled at. I have been told that I am too busy with the camera to enjoy what is right in front of me. I don't follow this; I take photos so I can enjoy what is around me. This is how I experience the world. Taking photos is such a part of who I am that I see it as an extension of the beauty around me. I like to look back at my memories in the photos and relive the experience. I don't think anything can hold a memory better than a photograph.  

So yes, photograph your food. There is nothing wrong with it. Enjoy your experience anyway you want to.    

Long Exposure

This image was taken on the backside of the small town where I live. I missed the beginning of the storm at it blew in with the bright yellow glow of the menacing cloud formations. I did mange to grab my camera and head for the hills where I wanted to practice my long exposures. The storm coming in later in the evening gave me time to prepare as the lightning had not yet started. When it did, the lightning was giving us quite a show. This shot was taken at a 15 second exposure which luckily I was able to catch three bolts in the same image.

The problem with this shot, in my opinion, is that there is no real interest in the image. It is just clouds and lighting over the mountains. One of the biggest issues I run into in the area where I live. There isn't anything interesting enough to spend time photographing. It is truly boring...I have taken photos here for over 12 years and I have pretty much shot the place up. Most interesting subjects to shoot are the rattlesnakes. I will post those photos a little later. 

My First Photograph

Looking through some of my old storage...I was using DVD at the time, I found this image from 2006. I was surprised to see it because it was one of the first images I ever took. Before then, I was simply taking snapshots. I wasn't really focusing on my composition or taking the time to think about what I wanted in an image. I was still shooting auto and I had not yet considered trying the manual settings on my DSLR. To be honest, at that time, I didn't know anything about photography other than I knew I wanted to get better with my captures. 

This one was fairly interesting how it came to be. I remember walking along a creek bank and seeing the leaves fall into the water. It was still summer, but reaching the end so the colors had not yet changed. I saw this leaf fall into the water and I remembered a photo I saw long ago of a leaf on the water. Granted, since I was just starting out I knew I wasn't going to achieve that type of image, but it was worth a try. This finished shot I decided on black and white. The main reason for this was that the colors were not that interesting. Giving it the old black and white touch seemed to pop the image into existence. There is something about black and white photos that really catch my eye.