I left my heart [and charger] in Brooklyn

This past weekend was spent in New York yet again for an engagement shoot.  My time there was pretty great and jammed packed full of things to see and do.  Before the engagement shoot (which took place in Chelsea), Shinay and I had a few hours to kill before hand.  We decided to finally go to Williamsburg in Brooklyn and check out a few thrift stores that we had always talked about going to. 

For me, Williamsburg and I have this love/hate relationship.  Every time I go, I find something that I love love love about it.  Things like the old brownstone buildings that make you ache for warm summer days when you can just go outside and sit on the warm steps reading a book, letting time and people go by.  I like that the people there rid bicycles in skirts and the trees are nice and big with ample shade.  Things there are a lot more calm and quiet than what you normally would think of in the big city. 

And other times, I hate hate hate Williamsburg.  This usually comes about when I see over-priced vegan food or men in skinny jeans walking small animals that are supposed to be dogs?  You don't need to look very hard to find the air of pretentious-ness that seems to permeate certain areas of Williamsburg.  (Side effects include an eye roll and sound of exasperation)

This trip around was more of a love relationship, probably because Shinay and I were doing what we jointly love, thrift shopping.  We visited a few thrift stores and all were a little bit different to not get monotonous.  One, called Monk, was probably the most organized and cleanest thrift store I could have possibly been to.  Now I realize that organized and thrift store don't exactly coincide but I swear that everything from hats to shoes were put in a proper place.  That alone made the store a great place to shop at, the prices on the other hand, weren't exactly thrift store appropriate.  I almost bought a lovely khaki colored button-up dress for the same price as retail but I couldn't really see buying something that I could just as easily pick up at H&M, brand new.  

Monk Thrift Shop, 579 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215-5432

Interesting shoes

Old 45's

 

Another that stood out in my mind was called Buffalo Exchange.  This thrift store is actually a part of a small chain of stores set up all around New York and along in some other bigger cities across the country.  So I liked the fact that it was very popular.  This meaning that new clothes were constantly coming in.  Buffalo Exchange has a buy/sell policy were you can not only buy used clothing for cheap, but also sell your gently used clothing for some quick cash on the spot.  (This was extremely useful during my later college years)

Buffalo Exchange, 504 Driggs Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211

Finally, one other store I liked was a thrift furniture store called Junk.  And really, that was all it held...junk.  Knick-knacks and odd bits and ends littered the basement store.  What separated it from other junk stores was the unique quality in the items.  For example, the BF happens to collect cigar boxes and I happened on quite a few choice boxes while there.

Junk, 197 N 9th St (between Bedford Ave & Driggs Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11211

So in the end, my journey to Williamsburg left me feeling the love and wishes of moving to such a lively neighborhood.  Unfortunately when I left New York, all together, I also left my computer charger, so further updates and posts on the engagement shoot will be halted until later this week when I get my charger mailed to me.  (Eye roll at my own foolishness).

Stromboli is an island in Italy

Tonight I tried another great recipe that I tweaked a bit from my new recipe-photo book, Frame by Frame Baking, recipes by Christine France and photography by Mike Cooper.  Since the whole book is on baking and creating doughs of all kinds, I was aware of the time truly needed to bake and create the bread.  Unfortunately I didn't have the patience and/or time.  Instead of making the dough, I ended up buying Wegman's refrigerated pizza dough instead.  Honestly, I had to because well, it was a Monday evening and let's all be realistic about how "Martha Stewart" we can all really be on a Monday evening.  (I'll save my baking-capades for weekends...) 

I also tweaked the filling too.  Along with the simple ingredients of mozzarella, basil, roasted red peppers and a kind of Italian meat, I added sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and for a spicy kick, red pepper infused tomato sauce for dipping. 

I suppose I can now become a person that "swears" by a food because my stromboli was amazing!  The basil (which is home-windowsill-grown) infused the whole pocket with its clean and lemony taste.  The mix of the sweet roasted red pepper and salty prosciutto paired very well. The spinach and mozzarella were a modest and humble binding holding it all together and of course, the added spicy red pepper tomato sauce gave my stromboli that extra kick.

Results felt by others?

Positive responses and smiles...yet again.  Bon Appétit!

The recipe

Fresh Basil

Store bought pizza dough

Sweet red peppers

I dusted and rolled out the pizza dough

Along with the other ingredients shown, I added sun-dried tomatoes, prosciutto, mozzarella cheese and spinach

Left over flour from the board

Before baking, I had to pierce the dough and brush it with olive oil.

Finished!

Close-up

Everyone loved it.

Saturday Happenings

Yesterday was a fresh Saturday, meaning that I had the opportunity to go home and see my family and younger sister.  She goes to school in Vermont, so actually seeing her is few and far between, unless I spontaneously decide to drive up to Vermont.  So when an opportunity arises to go and see her, I do. 

So that is what I did.  Before I went though, I ended up baking a cake for her.  And since I haven't been keeping up with my blog in this month of March, I thought I'd put something down and do a photo story on my baking-capades.  I don't really bake and when I do, usually the outcomes are met with polite and tiny approval rather than the rants and raves that I hope for.  This time though, I think my baking turned out fairly well.

The book I used was one that I happened upon at Barnes & Nobles in the bargain section.  When I saw it, I immediately smiled.  The book called, Frame by frame baking, recipes by Christine France and photography by Mike Cooper, creates a lovely harmony with both baking and photography.  Each recipe holds step by step photos that beautifully capture the proper steps and processes.  I know that I have already blogged about my respect for food photography, this only adds to that respect.  The recipe book makes me want to get out my mother's old mixing bowl and bake until my heart's content.  (Thank goodness for that new gym membership) 

So I ended up baking a sponge layer cake, something I had never truly done before.  I thought that box brownies were tough enough...joking.  Perhaps my only down-fall with this cake was not by the recipe or baking method itself but rather the transportation method.  I suppose trying to straddle a cake on a glass plate and heavy cover between your legs on the car floor, isn't the best method in cake transportation.  Having just awoken from a brief nap in the car and groggily unaware of a sudden turn left, my poor cake slid along for some imaginary second base and let gravity break it's perfectly set layers, letting lose a few strawberries and plop of whipped cream.  Thankfully the cover itself caught the whole mess and the [brand new]car remained unscathed.  O well, at least I had gotten it to look lovely during my photo-session as opposed to later on the dinner table. 

In the end, the result was met by pure dessert happiness felt by all.  You know a dessert is good when it's eaten happily, there are no left-overs and there's a call for seconds!  ;-)

frame>by>baking, Recipes by Christine France, Photography by Mike Cooper, Published by Parragon Books Ltd

The recipe, sponge layer cake

I let the cakes cool as I prepared the filling.

The recipe called for whipped cream, so I whipped some heavy cream with beaters.

Next I added the whipped cream and raspberry jam on the cake as the filling.

Then I halved some strawberries to place on top of the filling.

Here is the bottom layer of the cake.

Lastly I added the second cake and sprinkled some powered sugar on top.

A close up.

Ready to go!

The recent evolution of my camera

Canon 5D Mark II DSLR

Finally.  After semi-what patience, my dear, dear, dear Canon 5D Mark II came to me, waiting all wrapped up on my front door step, as I got out of work yesterday evening.  It was as if the camera stork came to visit!  And it is quite lovely.  Having gone to RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology), I've been spoiled enough to have been able to rent out a 5D Mark II through RIT's camera and equipment cage throughout my college schooling. 

So now having left RIT, I've had to dust off my Canon 30D, now passed on to my parents, and had used that for studio and personal shots.  I'm not saying that I was "roughing it", but there was a clear difference in image quality between the two models.  And somewhere in-between the 30D and 5D, I made the stupid mistake of "upgrading" to a Canon 50D.  It was silly because I only owned that camera for a maximum of maybe four months?  I should have been more patient at that time in November and waited to just upgrade to the 5D a little while longer. 

But coulda, woulda, shoulda!  Now I'm here and the wait has paid off.  Today I went into the studio with great enthusiasm.  I really am a photo dork because I am literally drooling at the image quality and how great it really is.  Perhaps my only complaint with the 5D is the loud shutter?  But that's nothing to scoff about. 

I also tried an image comparison to further make my point on image quality.  Below here I photographed my bright green coffee travel mug by two different cameras, my Canon 5D Mark II and my work camera, a Nikon D70S.  I do realize there really shouldn't even be a comparison seeing that the Nikon D70S came out in 2005 and the 5D just came out in 2009 BUT I really just want to drive my point home that Canon is the best.  :-P  Joking.
I'm excited to see the HD video capabilities too, so expect to being hearing more of that to come in future posts.  Has anyone had a chance to try out the 1080p video capabilities?  I've heard mixed reviews on it so far.

Both images are taken with the same lighting set-up and with no post process editing.

Feelin Antsy

So lately I've been out of sorts and not really feeling myself.  And no wonder since I haven't held my camera in little over a week.  I should back that up now and premise that by saying that I recently sold my Canon EOS digital 50D camera for a nice upgrade, the Canon EOS digital 5D Mark II!  (This is probably the biggest reason why I haven't posted anything over the past week!)  I really can't wait for this camera to get here!  (Tomorrow)  I really am quite an impatient person.  Impatient of people.  Impatient for answers.  Impatient for my new camera!  But alas, I must wait and try to fill this weekend in with a nice blog post of other fairly interesting things.

Things like the great Chema Madoz.  Or really, rediscovering him again.  I had almost forgotten the famous Spanish surrealist photographer.  I love his very creative and illustrative work.  I love how he makes you look past what is there to what is created in the space of a frame.  Wonderful.  Pure.  And provoking.

And his work really was lovely to look at again.  He always inspires me to create beyond such materialistic restrictions.  A hat is a hat is a hat is not a hat.  Does that make sense?  I suppose what I'm trying to say is that some things can be something beyond their bound definition.  An artist will always and never forget that.

All creative photographs by Chema Madoz

In the name of Love

So it's February 14th.  A day supposedly dedicated in the name of love or some form of consumerism, whichever you choose.  Usually Valentines Day comes around so unannounced that I scarcely think of how to treat it.  What I mean to say is that I woke up this morning and it seemed no different from the previous.  I still got up and brushed my teeth.  Cupid wasn't clearly rapping on my door, standing there in a diaper with a bouquet of flowers and heart shaped box of chocolates.

I will admit that this year, Valentines Day has been on the brain.  I'm not sure if it's from the constant reminder at work, tv or my imagined Cupid poking his unruly arrows at me.  So a few weeks ahead of the date, I teased of presents and flowers.  A week before, I made reservations to a dinner so lavish it included wine, chocolates and five courses of preselected foods.  A couple days before, I went out and bought a lovely little dress that fails to meet the finger tip rule on length...and now that that day is here? 

Well I can say that it's noon, I'm on my couch and Thom and I just ate a couple of hotdogs for lunch.  I canceled the dinner plans and we both picked through a simple box of chocolates made locally in Rochester.  Tonight?  We'll make dinner together like we do most nights and perhaps we'll watch a movie.  But other than that?  Not much else...O!  Wait!  I might go downtown and return a pair of snowshoes...I know.  Romantic.

But really, as that Oh-so-familiar saying goes:  "It's the thought that counts".  And it's all that really matters, at least to us.  Sometimes there is a need to show love through generous gifts and presents and that really is OK.  I won't down that idea or complain how people fall under feelings of false love and relationships.  Because actions and efforts like those can really show how a person feels for another when they cannot use words.  And on the other side of things, sometimes just sitting together on the couch and catching up can be just as good and usually better.  There's a time and place for everything and chocolate can't really make things worse right? 

So perhaps this V Day was more of a fine balance between a natural kind of easy going-ness and formality.  Either way, I don't really mind and tomorrow I'll wake up with the same feelings as I did today and still get up and brush my teeth.  I guess what I'm saying is that recognizing how someone feels for another isn't such a mushy-lovey-dovey thing that people make Valentines Day out to be.  If meant genuinely from a true place of the heart, then Valentines Day could be the day that helps surface those feelings in all kinds of ways, whether it be with flowers and chocolates or just sitting together watching tv.

My silly attempt at making pink pancakes

Andies Chocolates, made locally and sooo good!

Butterflies and Ice Rinks

Today, Shinay and I had the opportunity to shoot a newly engaged couple, Heather and Craig.  We had recently put out a call for any engaged couple in Rochester willing to pose for a winter photo session with us for free!  Fortunately Heather and Craig responded describing themselves as fun, energetic and very much in love.  There wasn't anything else that would have sold Shinay and I even further!  So we met up downtown and ventured around.  We made our way briskly to the Rochester Museum of Play and bought some tickets ($3.00 each) to enter the famous butterfly exhibit. 

Let me just say that entering a 81 degree glass house with winter coats and sweaters is just...impractical.  Shinay and I ended up juggling coats around with each other trying to get shots, not running into hyper children and/or killing any poor butterflies in the process.  It was quite an act.  But the photos came out great and we left a little sweaty but happy with the kind of photos we captured. 

Later we went back outside and walked over the ice rink.  Heather and Craig rented some skates while Shinay and I avoided some very friendly skating employees.  ;-)
But in all, it was fun and we really enjoyed meeting Heather and Craig.  Thanks guys!