New Camera

If you notice a lag in how often I post on this blog it's because I've suddenly become obsessed with my new camera. I'm a picture taking fool now.  Every opportunity that I get to use the camera; I take it and sometimes to the chagrin of those who happen to be with me at the time.

It all began with this blog.  In order to write about food it really helps if you can take great photos of it. What I didn't realize was that it's a lot was harder than it looks. Getting the right amount of lighting to get the food to look good is a real challenge.  Rather than pull my hair out trying to coax a beautiful image out of an older point and shoot camera, I opted for a Canon Rebel T2i.  A new shutterbug was born.

I won't bore you with the details of my adventures in food photography but sometimes it can be a real pain in the ass especially if you're the only one preparing the food and also taking the pictures! Timing, lighting, and persistence is everything.

My set-up for the next post on a recipe for chicken salad sandwiches.

Still, I enjoy it but am finding that I love taking pictures of everything else. Also, I'm really into macro photography.  It feels like you're capturing and creating art. I know a picture of a butterfly looks odd on a food blog but what the hell...I'm showing it anyway! I'm so proud of it! lol Butterflies don't keep still so my being able to get a clear image is a miracle!

By now you can see that I won't be posting a recipe. Instead, like a relative who holds you hostage in their living room and makes you look at vacation pics, I'm going to show off some photos that I took at the Tempe Art Festival a couple of weekends ago.  Hopefully, you'll find them interesting enough to keep looking and not nod off!  In addition to the food, I also shot pics of people's pets. You can see them and other photos on my flickr.com photostream.

Chicken sticks cooking on a grill.

Yes, the food was as good as it looked!

I didn't partake of this hunk of meat but sure was tempted.

Some of us lead pampered lives. This chihuahua traveled the festival in style.

I think I'm going to buy this handmade ceramic serving dish the next time I see it at the festival.

Ok, that's it! My next post will be a recipe for chicken salad sandwiches. For @afemmeinnyc (on twitter), I also included a tiny sliver of a shot of my thumb in one of the photos lol. (She's my biggest thumb fan).

Thanks for looking!