Saturday, June 5, 2010

Round Robin: Garden Portraits

It's been a while since I participated in the Round Robin Photo Challenge.
For you Robins who have not been here since my last challenge from April of 2009, I was a little busy being pregnant and having the most wonderful baby ever.

Now that the dust has settled and we are all finding our footing together (and now that he sleeps eight to 10 hours a night), I want to get back into doing some of my favorite things, including participating in the photo challenges.

It is nice to be back here.

That said, when it came time to pick a garden for the Garden Portraits challenge, I did not look far. I went to my own garden. Or lack thereof.


We are in the process of redoing the yards, front and back, so there isn't much there. But one thing that is left, and that I love, is the bear's breeches.


Maybe I just like it because of the name. Anyway, the plant is pretty cool these days. It used to just be a messy tangle of big leaves. Then suddenly, after years of not blooming, it flowered.
And they are pretty cool blooms.

Once I got my regular shots, I decided to play with the iPhone app, Hipstamatic.
All shots are taken with the John S. lens and the Dreampop flash. I used three different "films."

The next two are with the Ina's 1969 "film." This has been my favorite of the film options so far. But there are some others I have not tried yet since I have not bought all the paks.

These next two are take with the Alfred's Infrared "film." Pretty cool, old-school film look.

These last two were taken using the Blackey's "film." It is very contrasty, which I like. Though I don't think it really works with this subject.


Anyway, as I said, it is nice to be back in the land of the Robins. If you want to see who else played along on this challenge, go to the Round Robin site and check them out.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

So it's not exactly soup season, but...


Soup is one of my favorite meals.
My mom always made great soups when I was a kid, and I love making soup now.
There are so many easy and flavorful combinations.
A favorite of mine involves tomato, red peppers and bacon. It's hard to go wrong with bacon, right?
The bacon-y tomato and red pepper soup also has a touch of richness from goat cheese and gets a little thickening from beans.
All in all, a very good soup no matter what the season.
With a salad or a sandwich on the side, this makes for a very satisfying dinner.
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By the way... I do plan on blogging about something other than food.
Hopefully soon.
It's just been busy with work and baby and, well, all this cooking!