Photography Practice

 Early on in the pandemic, I thought I would get a lot accomplished.  It seemed reasonable with so many things being canceled, and being at home so much.  That was definitely not the case.  I didn’t accomplish much of anything in 2020.  

I bought myself a real camera toward the end of 2019.  One of my coworkers has an art degree, and does some professional photography.  He was going to give me lessons.  Like so many other things, that got put on hold.  

I did some practice with the camera around this time last year, but never got around to posting any of the pictures.  We went to a park so I could play around with the camera.  It was so cold that day!  It was the first time I used the camera by myself.   The park we went to used to be a golf course, and it’s really pretty.  

I know these aren’t the best shots, but I think they’re the best ones I took that day.

The park has a trail that loops around the perimeter.  I’ve always enjoyed taking pictures of streets and trails.  I like how it kind of looks like they don’t end.  This is one of my favorite pictures from that day. 

There isn’t much foliage this time of year.

There’s a pond with a bench.

And here’s the pond from a distance.  I think I probably should have centered the pond in the shot.

This is where the park backs up to a neighborhood.  The trees are the border.  

And this is the tree border from a distance.  This is my other favorite picture from that day.  I’m not sure how “good” of a picture it really is, but I like the pops of green.  Of course there’s the green from the evergreen trees, and I tend to like trees against sky pictures.   But there are also some patches of green grass in the field.  Almost everything is brown and dormant, but those little patches of green are there.  It’s like they’re defying winter.  Winter is my least favorite season, so I like the look of anything springlike coming in.

Do you enjoy taking certain kinds of pictures?  Have you found a way to improve your photography skills? 

Your Personality Color

I came across this article about colors and personalities recently.  It discusses how people who are drawn to certain colors exhibit certain personality traits.  I’m not sure how much I believe it, but it’s definitely interesting reading. 

It also ties in with Day Eight of the 30-Day Photo Challenge, which is “Favorite Color”.  Blue and green tie for first place with me, with purple coming in a close second.

Blue

Green

Purple

So what about you, what is your favorite color?

Fried Green Tomatoes

Since the weather is warm and produce stands are opening and expanding their offerings I thought this would be a good time to share one of my favorite recipes:

Fried Green Tomatoes 

The key to delicious fried green tomatoes is using VERY green tomatoes, not any that are beginning to ripen.  You will want to buy (or pick) them the day you plan to fry them, or at least no more than one day earlier.  Frying them in olive oil, rather than vegetable oil, also gives them a better over-all flavor.

Green tomatoes, sliced into thin round pieces

1 cup cornmeal

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Bowl of water

Olive oil

Combine cornmeal, salt, and pepper, in a small bowl.  (This mixture works to coat about 3 green tomatoes.)  Heat olive oil in large skillet over Medium-High heat. Dip tomato slices in water before dipping in cornmeal mixture.  This will help the cornmeal mixture stick to them better.  Make sure tomatoes are well coated on both sides.  Fry tomatoes until golden brown on each side.  Drain on paper towels.  Serve warm.