I'd say it's love.

I had my first engagement session a week ago.

Two things I learned:
I LOVE engagement sessions!
And my auto-focus still doesn't work well in the cold. Funny how it didn't just mend itself. ;)

Still, I got some good shots. I think these photos speak for themselves. Happy engagement, Christina and Aaron.

Oh, and extra-thanks to the two of them for doing crazy stuff for the sake of my curiosity, like laying on the ice-rink at Odell Park in the -15 degree weather. :)

Lemon Sponge Pudding

I love lemon. Love it. I'll eat anything made with lemon. The more lemon-y it is, the better. I discovered this recipe in a Canadian Living magazine a few years ago and have made it often. It's simple and absolutely divine.

Here is the recipe: http://www.canadianliving.com/food/lemon_sponge_pudding_for_two.php

It can easily be doubled, which I did for this. It took all of my willpower not to consume the last little ramekin of sponge pudding immediately after eating mine. And, uh, the remainder of Charlie's.

So for the DOUBLED recipe, you need 2/3 cup of sugar, and four tablespoons of it go into a bowl. In we go!



Next comes two tablespoons of flour and a pinch of salt.

Whisk that together, and then in goes two egg yolks (put the whites in a clean, dry bowl), 2/3 cup of milk...

...and two tablespoons of melted butter. Darn, I should have used up that manicure gift certificate before doing this.

Whisk it all up and add 4T lemon juice and 2t grated lemon rind. This is equal to about the rind and juice from one lemon.

Whisk it all together and set it aside. Now it's time to whip up those eggs whites and we're pretty well done. Whip them until they form soft peaks:

Then, while whipping, add sugar a little bit at a time. Beat until it forms stiff peaks. Now doesn't that look lovely?

Next take about a quarter of the egg white mixture and stir it into the lemon mixture.

Next, plop the rest of it in and fold in until it's mixed in.

Pour the mixture into prepared ramekins and place them in a shallow baking dish. Pour boiling water around the ramekins until the water is halfway up the sides.

Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes and VOILA:

I seriously cannot express how delicious this is. The top forms a fluffy, spongey mousse with a tangy lemon cream at the bottom. I could eat this every single day of my life.

Kid verdict: not bad. He eats about half of it every time. I can't say for sure it does not have adverse reactions; about twenty minutes after he ate it, I had to rescue him from the top of the wood-pile, where he was precariously perched, trying to see the dog through the window. We'll blame that one on his father and not the lemon dessert. ;)

Enjoy!

Photo shoot with the Mr.

Snow was softly falling, and I wanted to try a couple of things before my shoot tomorrow (namely, focusing with a manual lens I hadn't used much) so Le Hubs and I went outside for a quick shoot. 'Twas fun. I also decided to try editing only with Lightroom, and I liked how they turned out. :)

My Holga and me:


Hubs and I. Note: he bashed his finger awhile ago; nothing to be concerned about.

Kissy kissy!

C-c-c-cold!

Cute patootie:

Yes, we are dorks. I know.

Week 5

When I saw that this week's Project 52 theme was "muse", I groaned. What on earth could I take a picture of that represented muse!? All I could think of was my kid, and I figured probably many others would think the same thing.

Then it came to me - FOOD. I love food. I love every aspect of it (except cleaning it up...and mouldy food...well, ok, not everything). Groceries. Food prep. Spices and herbs. Fresh garden veggies. Trying new things. Cooking. Baking (some things). Trying new recipes. Recipe books in general.

Today Charlie and I made a crazy cake, also known as war cake or depression cake. It has no eggs or butter. (This was a much better choice than his typical 3-year-old boy suggestion of poop cake.) I made a fluffy white frosting for it, kind of a cross between meringe and boiled icing. The interesting part of it all is that I don't really like cake. I never have. Give me pie any day. However--this is GOOD cake. Darn good. And so pretty. So I took a photo of it, because I am both inspired by the creation of food, and also, I muse on it a lot. ;)

Voila:

Is your mouth watering yet?

More of Baby Sophie

I just can't resist.

Babies!

Sigh. Babies. Love' em. Today I got a chance to photograph my cousin's 6-week-old baby. This little chub-a-lub is Sophie, and she's a natural born model. This is my first ever infant shoot, and I could not have chosen a cuter subject.

Speaking of babies--if you are (or know of anyone) expecting soon, and are interested in getting newborn portraits done, please let me know! I'm looking for newborns to practice on. The only requirements are that baby is less than two weeks old, and that I can come to your house for a couple of hours and set up in front of a large window (lots of natural light).

Without futher ado, here's beautiful Sophie. Thanks to Cyn for loaning me her living room and baby for a couple of hours.

Week 4

This week's Project52 theme was 'soothing repetitions'. I was amazed at some of the entries. People are so much more creative than I am! I thought about doing coffee (since I drink a cup every morning) but it was a pretty popular choice. I went with a candle instead. I find flickering candles to be very soothing.



Also: is this the face of a future photographer? ;)

I found the keychain at Chapters and snapped it up. Looks like my Holga.

I volunteered at the local hockey rink for a fundraising tournament on Sunday, and it was a huge challenge. Shooting sports photography in a somewhat dimly-lit arena (and a very busy one at that) was tough. Also, because it was very cold, my 50mm auto lens wasn't performing well. I used my 200mm manual lens for a lot of the on-ice shots. I must say I am pretty proud of myself for nailing the focus on most of them. I'm starting to edit them this afternoon, so I'll post more later.

Thank you, Saltscapes!

Gramps
Originally uploaded by joniburtt

I just had a lovely phone call from Saltscapes, informing me that a photo I entered into their year-long amateur photography contest was a runner-up. I entered this one, entitled "A Woodsman's Hands". She did a short interview with my about the picture itself and about Grampie. It will appear in the March/April issue. Hooray!

Harris Session

Last Sunday I made two teenagers tramp through foot-deep snow so I could take their pictures. Thankfully, they were good sports and did whatever I told them to. This is why I like photographing teenagers instead of my three-year-old. ;) Kyle and Samantha were chatty and cheerful and a blast.

The actual photography part was tricky. Snow is tricky to begin with, as it's hard to properly expose faces and not blow the whites of the snow. It was cold, too, which meant red cheeks and noses, and it also meant my camera was sluggish and didn't always focus the best. The sun was not bright but was just bright enough to make everything quite harsh. However, I hope they're pleased with the results. :) I am also the proud owner of Lightroom now, and so my editing is a bit all over the place as I tried to figure it out.

Thanks, Harrises, for a lovely afternoon!

Week 3

Week 3 of Project 52. Had a bit of an easier time with this one. I read the new theme - Shades of Grey - on Saturday morning, and when I went out to the car to head to town, I saw my chance: a gorgeous dusting of snow on top of my grey Civic. Voila:

Week 2 - Illustrate a Song

Only the second week into this project, and I'm already lacking in creativity. It's been either dazzlingly bright or drab and cold, neither of which lend to amazing photographs. So I snapped this one of Charlie yesterday, chucking snow in the general direction of the photographer, and decided it illustrated "the world is your snowball" from Marshmallow World by Dean Martin. Yeah, not horribly thrilling, but there it is. I may try to think of something else before the end of the week...