Star Anise?

I was taking a walk today on my lunch break and spotted this decrepit plant in someones yard.  I thought it was pretty neat looking.  It kinda looks like star anise.  I really have no idea if it is or not. I have no idea if star anise even grows around here.  I'm going to call it star anise tho because I have no better name for it.  Not to mention calling it random decrepit plant doesn't sound awesome at all. 

March 30, 2011:

My composition is a little off and I probably could've picked a better angle to shoot from...but I wasn't feeling too comfortable just prowling about in some strangers yard with a camera.  Can anyone say creepy?  Yep, totally creeptastic.  I wasn't into it.  So I just hopped in and tried to get the best shot I could before someone noticed me ;)

If you're into EXIF data, you can find it on flickr. 

Does anyone have any idea what this REALLY is??  Leave a comment and tell me what you think this might be.

Thorns in the Sunset

It was a beautiful day today.  It was a little chilly but I'll take chilly and sunny over warm and overcast any day.  I was really happy to wake up to sunshine for once instead of clouds and rain.

I went out for a walk after I got home from work to see what I could see and enjoy the nice evening sunset.  The light the sunset was casting made everything picture perfect so I came home with a few decent shots.  But this thorn bush silhouette against the sky was my favorite.

March 29, 2011:

Something about foliage silhouettes against a good sunset that just gets me.  I realize my sunset could be better.  But honestly, this almost captures what I was seeing at the time.  It's a little underexposed compared to the actual sky at the time but I kinda like it better this way.  The silhouette stands out better. 

If you're interested, you can check it out on flickr.  You can also view my EXIF data there if you'd like to know how this shot came together.

As always, constructive criticism is very welcome (on this an any shot I post).  Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Spinach and Sausage Penne

Today's photo of the day just so happens to be of my dinner.  So today is a double wammy day.  You get my photo of the day and also a recipe.  Woo-Hoo!

March 28, 2011:

See it on flickr.

This is a modified recipe for Sausage and Spinach Penne I found over at Your Home Based Mom.  I kinda just used what I had on hand and went with it.  She calls for chicken sausage, I had pork.  She called for fresh diced tomatoes, I didn't have fresh or canned, so I went with tomato sauce.  She calls for topping it off with almonds (which I did have but my fam isn't too big on nuts) but I decided to throw in a can of beans.

I think it turned out pretty well.  It was quick, cheap, and easy.  Not to mention it was easy on the dishes...only one pot for the whole meal!  These are things I think everyone can appreciate, am I right?

Here's the recipe:

Sausage and Spinach Penne

8 oz. dry penne

1 lb sausage, casings removed

2 cloves minced garlic

4 C. loosely packed fresh baby spinach

2 tsp. chicken bouillon 

1 (4 oz.) can tomato sauce

4 oz. water

1 can of beans

Parmesan cheese to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Strain and set aside. 
2. Cook the sausage in the pot that you cooked the noodles in.  
3. When sausage is done cooking, add the garlic and smoosh around until the garlic is fragrant. 
4. Add the spinach and cook for a few minutes, until the spinach is wilted.  
5. Add the chicken bouillon, water, and tomato sauce and stir well.  
6. Add the pasta back into the pan.
7. Let everything simmer for a few minutes.  Top with some shredded parm if you wish and serve!

I would say this yields about 4-6 servings, depending on the size of your servings.

Enjoy!

I got a new lens :)

Oh. My. God.  I got a new lens this weekend!!  The Canon 50mm f/1.8.

Wah-Hoo!  My dad bought it for me for my birthday (thanks Dad!).  I'm so psyched.  I've been totally ob-freaking-sessed with this lens since I discovered it's awesomeness. 

I took a bunch of retarded pictures of everything within seeing distance all day Saturday.  Literally, everything.  I was just walking around my house with it up to my face snapping pics.  New lenses are fun.

I was lazy this weekend about posting so you get all of my weekend pics in one go.


March 25, 2011:

A picture of the interior of my car.  There aren't many photo opportunities when you are at work from sun up until sun down.  You gotta take what you can get. See it on flickr.


March 26, 2011:

This was taken with my new lens.  One of my many random snaps from Saturday converted to B&W. See it on flickr.



March 27, 2011:

Also taken with the new lens.  I was out walking the dog and saw this escapee ball laying along side the road by the basket ball courts.  I thought it was cute with that little face drawn on it. See it on flickr.


I hope everyone had an awesome weekend!

If we put our heads together...

I'm not extremely happy with my photo today.  It's a little grainy.  It was taken in my boyfriends office in the dark by the light of his computer. I could barely see through my viewfinder to focus it was so dark in there.  If I would have put even minimal effort into setting this up I could have probably improved the photo ten fold. But I'm tired and I'm lazy...so given the circumstances, I guess it turned out ok.

Here's my post for March 25, 2011:

Wanna see it on flickr?

18-55 @ 45mm
f/14
20s
ISO 400
wb: cloudy
PP: crop

Hopefully tomorrows pic will be a bit more creative.

As always...thanks for stopping by :)

It's raining, it's pouring...

...And I'm splashing about in my kitchen trying to capture a post worthy photo. 

Today was a really crappy day here in my neck of the woods.  Rain, rain, and more rain.  I'm sick of the rain.  I had all of these fun ideas for things to shoot inspired by the rain...but by the time I got outside it was too dark to shoot without my tripod.  And it was too rainy to shoot with my tripod. Sooooo...no rainy day shots for me.

I decided to try for one of those super cool water drop shots.  I didn't quite hit the mark.  I got a few drop shots that I was sort of ok with but this one was my fav. I really liked the colors even tho there isn't actually a water droplet in the picture.  Minor technicality. Whatevs. 

Here's my shot for March 24, 2011:

As always, you can view this in better detail on my flickr page. 

18-55mm lens @ 55mm
F/5.6
1/125s
ISO 400
flash
PP: cropped, sharpened, slight hue saturation


Thanks for stopping by!

A photo a day

Ever since I got my DSLR a few years ago (thanks to my awesome fam!) I've been trying to learn photography.  The pro's make it look so easy peasy.  It's not.  It's freaking hard as heck.  Especially with one lonely 18-55mm kit lens (and a 100-300mm lens that you never pick up).  But it's fun too.  The problem is, I don't practice enough. Uhhhh, that...and I hate editing.  I despise editing. I find it boring and tedious and confusing.  So when my photo's aren't perfect I get overwhelmed and discouraged and I put my camera away.  I'm determined this year not to let that happen.

I'm going to try this photo a day thing.  Pretty self explanatory.  I'm going to try to take one post-worthy photo per day...then post it.  I think it will be a fun way to force me to practice.  And maybe (just maybe) I'll even learn to edit.

So here is my photo for March 22, 2011:

You can also view this a bit larger on my flickr page.  


Settings:
18-55mm kit lens @ 55mm
f/5.6
1/400s
ISO 200
-0.3 exposure bias
PP: cropping and slight hue saturation

Do you love it?  Do you hate it?  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!


Thanks for stopping by!