10.12.03 .... First Apple Pie

Today, I baked my first ever apple pie.
I like eating apple pie, but it is usually too sweet.
So I tried to make a nice tart apple pie. It came out well!

The most tedious part was cutting and peeling the apples. I used a packaged crust.

10.08.06 .... Granola Bar

I was testing an old worn 55mm Nikon manual focus micro lens.

Yup, it is a sharp lens - it's probably over 30 years old.
Click on the photo to see how detailed and crisp the image is.

10.08.02 .... Green dinner

The ingredients for tonight's dinner for Kevin. The zucchini, swiss chard, and cucumbers are from Kevin's garden. The lime and avocado are from the store.

Nikon D700 with 35mm f2 Zeiss lens.

10.04.03 .... Cracker

A matzo cracker looks interesting at 1X magnification.

Nikon D300 with 55mm micro.

10.03.05 .... Peppercorns

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The world's most popular spice.

Nikon D300 with 55mm f3.5 micro lens at f11 1/200s ISO 200.

10.03.01 .... Pho with shrimp

Pho is Vietnamese beef noodle soup. This bowl has shrimp (it's my favorite). This take out and we are eating it at home. One large bowl serves both me and Sally for $7 or so. Quite a deal and delicious!

Nikon D300 with 55mm f3.5 micro lens at f11 1/160s ISO 800. SB-800 flash on camera bounced off ceiling

10.02.18 .... Ham n' cheese

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Made by Kevin, dinner in the skillet - ready to eat!

Nikon D300 with 55mm f3.5 micro lens at f16 1/200 ISO 200. Nikon SB-800 flash in mini softbox off-camera. Takes a lot of experimenting to find the best direction of the light source to show the food well. I used the self timer and held the softbox in various positions - skillet is still cooking and hot!

10.02.17 .... Bread

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Bread closeup shows lots of great textures.

Nikon D300 with 105mm f4 micro lens at f11 1/200s ISO 200. Flash in mini softbox.

10.02.13 .... Cafe lunch

Sally and her parents (my in-laws) ready to eat quiche and salad at a local cafe.

Nikon D700 with 24-85mm lens at 32mm. F8 1/250 f8 ISO 1600. Bounce flash off ceiling.

10.02.11 .... Nuts

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Pistachio nuts soon to be eaten.

Nikon D700 with 55mm f3.5 micro lens at f4 1/200s ISO 200. Lit by SB-800 flash in mini softbox.

10.02.03 .... Chocolate slabs

Chocolate slabs on the side of a wedding cake.

Nikon D700 with 55mm f3.5 micro lens at f11 1/200s ISO 1600. Bounce flash off ceiling.

10.01.31 .... Noodle bowl

After a long day at a bridal show, we usually stop at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Here is the noodle bowl with grilled shrimp that I ordered.

Nikon D700 with 24-85mm lens at f5 1/160s ISO 3200.

10.01.29 .... Lemon drop

Bought a big bag of lemons. So used one for a photo - then made lemonade!

Nikon D300 with 75-150mm f3.5 lens with 3T close-up diopter. f11 1/200s ISO 200. Lemon and background lit separately. Background color created with colored gel over flash aimed at black background.

10.01.19 .... Inside a Pear

When you cut a pear crosswise - you get a star.

Nikon D300 with 55mm f3.5 micro (manual focus) at f16 1/200s ISO 800. Lit with flash from camera right. Live View used to focus.

10.01.15 .... Fruit

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Fruit currently residing in the ripening baskets had some potential for a quick tabletop photo.

Nikon D700 with 70-150mm f3.5 manual focus lens at around 100mm. F22, 1/250s ISO 1600.
SB-800 flash bounced off wall to left of camera. Black background is a sheet of black wrapping paper taped to the wall and draped over a card table. To prevent the background from showing a shiny reflection from the flash, I held a large piece of black cardboard to cast a shadow during the photo. I used the camera self-timer - because I needed 2 hands to hold the cardboard. Live View used to focus.

10.01.07 .... Hot Soup

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On a bitter cold day, about 5 degrees at dinner time, hot soup is good. I sauted some onions, garlic, and celery, added a can of prepared soup. Steamed some brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, green peppers and put them in. Some fresh cilantro, dried thyme and there you go.

Nikon D300, 105mm f4 micro lens (manual focus) at f16 1/200 sec ISO 200. Alien Bee flash bounced off ceiling. Live View used for accurate manual focus.

10.01.05 .... the Stir Fry recipe

Yesterday's delicious stir-fry used the above 3 key ingredients in the proportions stated. You should be able to find these ingredients in a well-stocked Asian market.

The key ingredient is the Lan Chi chili paste with garlic. This little jar will last a LONG time.

Nikon D700, 105mm f4 micro lens (manual focus) at f16 1/200 sec ISO 200. Alien Bee flash bounced off ceiling. Live View used for accurate manual focus. White wrapping paper taped to wall and card table made a mini all white studio background. Text added in Photoshop. Live View used to focus.

10.01.04 .... Tonight's Stir Fry

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Nikon D700 + SB-800 flash. 55mm f3.5 micro lens (manual focus) 1/200 sec. f16 ISO 800. Flash was bounced off the ceiling as I pointed the camera straight down at the pot on the floor. Green saturation increased in Photoshop.

10.01.01 .... New Year's Day Lunch

Nikon D700 + SB-800 flash. 28mm f2.8 lens (manual focus), 1/20 sec. f8 ISO 1600.

Flash was bounced off the ceiling behind the photographer. A slow shutter of 1/20 sec. was chosen so the background of the restaurant would show. Very important to have the camera steady and for the subjects not to move because by having so much ambient light show in the picture (the back of the restaurant is not lit by flash at all) subject/camera movement WILL show despite use of flash.

Flash was essential, otherwise faces and food would have been dim and poorly lit by the restaurant overhead lights.