Friday, September 4, 2009

friday favorite : nappanee children's photographer

this is my pick today because:

  • i am in love with this photo! it has this bohemian feel to it, i cannot stop looking at it!
  • not to mention the look of this sweet child here - come on now, i know you want to take him home! (i can hear his mother laughing..."yes, please take him home!") what a cutie this boy is!
  • i have to confess, this was just what i call a "snap", very quick little sneaky shot, not really planned... but wow, i love it
  • and who knew that a great bunch of weeds makes for a nice sparkly background?☺

*this image was shot @ f2.8, 1/200, iso 200 at 48mm with a 24-70mm 2.8 lens



Thursday, September 3, 2009

he's the man...

this fine man, rockin the bears hat on the beach celebrates a birthday today.
i use the word "celebrates" lightly, i suppose, because i'm sure he'll put in the usual 12-14 hours at work & come home to a late dinner just in time to go to bed!

but he IS the man!
he is the man for me & for our family.
he's the #1 provider & spoiler of us all.
and we wouldn't know what to do without him.

and because i know how much he loves it when i post a picture of him here, i'm sure he'll be delighted to see this one!

*this, by the way, is his "take it & get it over with" pose.
seriously, i wonder where my kids get it from?

so happy birthday babe! do your best to enjoy your day!

xo



blueberry zucchini bread delish!

remember how i said i had some yummy recipes to share? well, this is one of them! we used some of the glorious blueberries we picked & some of our always lovely zucchini from the garden. and did i tell ya we let 6 zucchini plants live this year? yeah, i don't know what that was about.

i'm not sure that a picture can do this one justice...this bread is so worth tasting, even for someone like me who really thinks that the ole run-of-the-mill "zucchini bread" is pretty lame.

well, it's these blueberries i tell ya... they are nearly to die for. this year's pick are the best i think i've ever had. the size of quarters people - quarters! and so sweet.

see, i always pick blueberries because my guys love em & i like to bake with them, but i don't necessarily want to eat blueberries. they just give a little boost to my pancakes & muffins. but this recipe's different. those little babies are like the piece de resistance. *and if you're wondering, i spelled that right, cause i looked it up just in case. right on the first try... i'm feeling lucky tonight!


and for fear that this bread wouldn't be quite good enough "as is", i even improvised a crumb topping just in case.

oh man, even though i just ate a candy bar, the thought of this stuff is making me hungry!

ah well...here's the recipe:

blueberry zucchini bread

3 eggs
1 c. oil (or 1/2 c. oil, 1/2 c. applesauce like i did)
3 tsp. vanilla (love that r e a l vanilla!)
1 1/2- 1 3/4 c. sugar
2 c. shredded zucchini (or chop with a pampered chef chopper like mine)
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbs. cinnamon (yes Tbs.)
1 pint fresh blueberries (but frozen works just fine too)

preheat oven to 350 degrees. lightly grease (spray) 2 regular loaf pans.
in large bowl, beat eggs, oil, vanilla & sugar. fold in zucchini.
beat in dry ingredients. fold in blueberries.
pour into baking pans.

crumb topping: (which is optional, but i wouldn't leave it out if i were you!)
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. chilled butter (don't let it get too soft)

blend together with pastry blender (you can use a fork, but why?)
sprinkle topping over batter.
bake 50-60 mins. or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.
cool 5 mins. on wire rack, 10 mins. tops or it things will not turn out well!

*my secret tip to getting quick breads to come out of the pan clean without leaving some bread in the bottom of the pan:

after cooling 5-10 mins. on wire rack, holding the pan with oven mitts/hot pads (of course), hold the pan by the end, almost vertical (one end in your hand, your other hand over the bread itself to keep it from falling out of the pan, which it probably wouldn't anyway, but you never know...) and bang the end you're not holding a couple of times hard & quick on the edge of the countertop, island, etc. then gently tip it over & let the bread easily peel itself out of the pan. that's it. try it. it works.

so go ahead...try this bread.

i don't care who you are, you're gonna love it!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

the wells family : nappanee family photographer

a few weeks back i had the chance to photograph friends from church, a family of all adults - wow! that was something totally new to me! this group was a fun one...they really know how to laugh together!




thank you wells family - you guys were a joy to capture!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

friday favorite : nappanee photographer

i am coming back. i swear.
well, i don't usually swear, but you know what i mean. i promise.

i am digging myself out from under the beans, the corn and tomatoes and i will conquer them all, just in time to take a breath & stare apples in the face.

but i have been working on so many things over the past few exhausting weeks, i have lots of great pictures to sort through & great things to share with anyone who will look or listen!

i've found some great new recipes too, yummy yummy ways to use some of the fresh produce i've been handling. oh, i can't wait to show you!

so hang in there with me, you 3 people who follow my blog.☺
i completely plan to get back into the regular swing of things.

for now, a recent fave....


this is my pick today because...

  • if you're like me, you're taking a LOT of photos. and if you're my kids, you're S I C K of it. so there are times when kids aren't cooperating & mom might actually be yelling at them while trying to get some nice shots. and that's not good ...trust me!
  • sometimes, you gotta go with the flow and just capture things as they unfold.
  • recently, these people are just plain dirty dog mean to each other, so anything even remotely nice that i can get of them together is a pretty good thing.
  • what they're doin here, i don't know. and i actually got some nice and thoughtful, brotherly, close images out of them, but this one just kind of sticks out to me. fun. them. right down to the food in the big boy's braces & the food on the little boy's shirt. totally my 2 boys ...unplugged.

*this image was shot @ f5.6, 1/80, iso 200 at 44mm with a 24-70mm 2.8 lens.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

maternity session : bourbon photographer

a few weeks ago i had the privilege of photographing a friend of my sister in law while she was spending some vacation time in the area.

maternity photos are new to me, so we went back and forth about different ideas we had, poses we thought might work.

these are a few of my favorites...








thank you summer, for the opportunity to capture these memories of your pregnancy!

Friday, August 7, 2009

friday favorite : nappanee photographer


this is my pick today because:
  • it's something different, i don't usually spend a lot of time photographing anything other than people & i don't have a macro lens (which is what i would use if i was purposefully going to photograph things like flowers and bugs & things like that)
  • i know it's a "no-no" to photograph flowers in full sun, but we were walking through these gardens & i was taking photos of the little boy & caught this just because it was so pretty...i wasn't looking for photographic perfection...☺
  • i love this texture!

*this image was shot @ f5.6, 1/400, iso 100 at 135mm with a 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 lens

 
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