Category Archives: Info Corner

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Deep dish pizza in a cast iron skillet.

Dough-
1 1/3 cups water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

(later) 2 tablespoons cornmeal (sprinkle on waxed paper for individual pizzas)

Put everything in the bread machine and use the ‘dough’ cycle. I let it sit around a while (an hour or so) after it was done mixing until I was ready to cook the pizza. It will rise a bit and be pretty wet/sticky. Press dough into all sides of seasoned cast iron skillet, and use the leftover dough on parchment paper for  individual “Picky Toddler Pizzas”. Prebake at 400 for eight to ten minutes before adding toppings.

Toppings

1/2 to 1 cup sauce

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2-3 cups grated mozzerella cheese

Any random veggies or meat (we used tomatoes, broccoli, garlic and onion maybe? I forget)

Parmesan cheese to taste

TUMS (for dessert)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the Italian seasoning in with the sauce. Saute (if you like) any veggies you will be putting in. We did the garlic, onion and broccoli, but left the tomatoes raw. Spread 1/2 of the sauce around the bottom of the prebaked crust. Let toddler paint on her pizzas with sauce. Layer half of your toppings over the bottom of the pan. Take a few handfuls of cheese and sprinkle it on top. Dot with a few more spoonfuls of the sauce, then layer the rest of the toppings, followed by the rest of the mozzarella. I put on a few slices of tomato on top cause it looks pretty. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Bake in oven for 45-50 minutes, or until melted through and a little brown on top.

Toddler pizzas can get sprinkled with healthy things and then a layer of cheese- those go on the pizza stone or a cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. The parchment paper is okay in the oven, so you can just slide the whole sheet plus Toddler Pizzas onto a cookie sheet without trying to spatula them off.

You can also see the crust pulled away from the edges of the pan a bit.

BURP.

your thoughts on a trifling matter.

I don’t do well planning outfits. I feel like my best outfits come together after I’ve come home from the event that I’ve dressed up for. I’ll put on a layer, or take off a layer, or look in the mirror and say, “Well, THAT was a ridiculous idea.” and change accordingly. So can I get your help on this one? I’d kind of like to nail it on the first go, and not come home after speaking to an audience of 150 people, look in the mirror, and say to myself, “WHAT were you thinking with those legwarmers!”

Side note: Registration for the Shot Party (for which I am seeking your fashion advice) closes TOMORROW, no if you are on the fence about going, reserve your spot today. No more procrastinating.

I’ve narrowed it down to two choices. This  Shabby Apple white summer dress, and houndstooth skirt much like this one.

I’m leaning more toward the latter for two reasons. One, it’s a really great hipster style staple*. I saw at least two in the space of an hour while at Kansas City’s Broadway Cafe. Two, the piece actually started out as a thrifted dress, and I deconstructed and reconstructed it into this skirt. I’m playing with a few ideas of expanding the topic spread of this blog into the Domestic Arts as well as Photography- specifically cooking and sewing. Would that be something you are interested in?
Our section of the day is a Q+A, so please unload your brain here with questions you would like answered. That way we can do a little research and be prepared with lots of info. See you on the 18th!

*not that I am a hipster. I don’t have the refined musical taste or the bicycle for it.

Orans…. where we prance and dance in our pants.

It’s interesting to see what other photographers will point to as a ‘turning’ point image. Somewhere along the evolution of one’s style and skill, an image breaks forth as a beacon holding a banner that saith, “Thou shalt start shooting more like me”.

This is one of those images for me.

It was a normal photo session, with the standard mom and dad and photographer putting on a circus for the baby whom we hoped would BE HAPPY RIGHT NOW. This was an ‘oops’ shot, taken in the midst of a shutter squash. Looking back over the images, this one stood out above all of them as an adorable slice of truth of the last few hours.

And I started thinking….

What do you remember from your classes at school?  Do you remember the lessons, or do you remember the rabbit trails that happened DURING those lessons?  I don’t remember a bit of Chemistry, but I remember Mr. O’Brien throwing grapes into the whirling ceiling fan with a class full of students. I don’t remember the historical classifications of early Byzantine Art, but I remember the song we created during a study group to remember the term “Orans‘.   (Thanks a lot Mike Olenick !)

SO that is what I hope to bring to you.  Events that you WANT to remember, plus the rabbit trails along the way that you can’t forget.

Saint Louis Shot Party 2010

{SAINT LOUIS SHOT PARTY}

Tadaaa! Photographer extraordinaire Jasmine Star will be  coming this August 18th to The Lou. Things I love about this group:

Jasmine: she’s a  fellow Homeschool alumni, Polo, and her blogging ‘voice’ makes me feel like we are sitting across from each other gabbing over coffee. Plus stellar images, but that goes without saying.

Tonya: she gets these serene, deep and peaceful images of little people that spend most of their time crying and pooping.  I must know her secret!

Kelly: she’s incredibly genuine, warm, and makes family sessions look easy (when they are anything BUT). She is fantastically fun to be around and her images reflect that.

Stephen High fashion, trotting the globe, and let’s not forget  Bob Saget.

Clary: the silvery, delicate images on her blog make her hands down down my favorite photographer in the area. She’s my first stop on my blog feed. YUM. Plus I want my baby Henry to have awesome hair like her son when he grows up (to be a five year old).

… and I’ll be on a Q&A panel with Clary and Kelly! Have any questions you want answered? Bring them! Or ask ahead of time if you can’t wait here and I’ll sharpen my question-answering skills.

…you have chosen wisely vs. you have chosen poorly

Two images from Sunday, taken within minutes of each other.  In one, I utilized my background wisely. In one, I chose my background poorly. Which is which? Hint: musical fruit.

OSP Indy

Thanks to everyone- I came home with a brainful of creative gold nuggets.

KC Ferrill www.kcferrill.com

Jen Badalamenti of La Dolce Vita- Couture Boudoir www.ladolcevitaphotography.net

Bobbi and Mike www.bobbiandmike.com

Kevin Swan www.kevinswan.com

Brandi Brown www.brandibrownphoto.com

Polina Osherov  www.polinaosherov.com

Scott Crosby www.avonpicturethis.com

Rosalind Bordo-  Two Bright Lights  www.twobrightlights.com

… this is how 2010 is going to roll.

So! Just so you don’t get confused, this is how things are going to happen in 2010.

If you were just at a wedding or portrait session and are chomping at the bit to see pictures, sneak peeks should be up within 72 hours here.

An editorial spread of each wedding will be up the Thursday following the wedding date. To find it Thursday, type in  the web address found on one of  the super-secret passcards you picked up at my mini- slideshow during the reception (if you were lucky enough to be a wedding guest). If you forgot to pick up a passcard, just keep an eye on my twitter feed- I’ll tweet a link later in the week.

If you want to pick my brain, ask me anything here.  You can even ask anonymously if you’re skeered of feeling dum.

Robbers and thieves and copycats…

…make the art world go round.  Manet ripped off Raphael 150 years ago, and it’s still happening today.  Copycats are the greatest compliment an artist can receive. By the way, thank you, John Singer Sargent, for this past Saturday.

Information Corner: Getting started

Great question from Dayna this morning:

_________________________________

” I mentioned to you Saturday that I have my first wedding in a month. Since I haven’t done a wedding yet, I’ve been trying to get as much feedback as possible from experienced people such as yourself.

My main question is what are your “must have lenses” at weddings. I know I for sure need to use the fast lenses so I will be using my 50mm 1.8 and I am renting 70-200 f2.8. I feel like I need more fast lenses and there are multiple options but want to pick the most useful and versatile. So that is the question I have, which are the most effective?

Any pointers you may have would be reeeeeallly appreciated and more than likely help me stop having dreams about lenses!!! Thanks again and hope to hear from you soon.”

________________________________

It may seem that you need many lenses, but you don’t! I am a STRONG believer in getting to know one lens at a time. I think you could easily shoot the entire wedding with the 50 1.8! Many colleagues love the 35-70 or the 28-70- it’s the go to lens for many of my friends. Anyway, enough blabbering- I’ll walk you through a normal wedding day and tell you what I use (and you can buy these on Amazon too):

Getting Ready: 16-35mm 2.8 and 50mm 1.4
Ceremony- Processional: 16-35 and 70-200 2.8
Ceremony body: 15mm fisheye, 70-200 2.8, 50 1.4
Ceremony Recessional: 16-35mm and 50 1.4
Family Formals: 50 1.4
Wedding Party around town: 50 1.4 and 70-200 2.8/ 135 2.0
Reception: 16-35 2.8 and 135 2.0

Oh! One more tip.

Be always prepared for the ‘grab shot’- where a guest or family member see you walk by and say, “Hey, take a picture of me!” It’s like the pop quiz of wedding photography. It’s been my experience that nothing tees off a bride, guest or family member more than asking for that grab shot and then having to wait while you stammer and change lenses, or the dumb lens won’t focus (that happened to me once even this past weekend!), or you don’t have a flash and need one.

Remember the boy scouts’ motto in this area!

P.S.  If you like me- I mean really, really like me, you can see images from this past weekend in Chicago.

Terri+Matt, Andrea+Brian, Ryan+Katie, and PD+Kylene.

I mentioned to you Saturday that I have my first wedding in a month. Since I haven’t done a wedding yet, I’ve been trying to get as much feedback as possible from experienced people such as yourself.

My main question is what are your “must have lenses” at weddings. I know I for sure need to use the fast lenses so I will be using my 50mm 1.8 and I am renting 70-200 f2.8. I feel like I need more fast lenses and there are multiple options but want to pick the most useful and versatile. So that is the question I have, which are the most effective?

Any pointers you may have would be reeeeeallly appreciated and more than likely help me stop having dreams about lenses!!! Thanks again and hope to hear from you soon.

Dayna

Information Corner: the magic triangle

Q of the Day: “I want to use my rebel XTi to take some sweet pictures of my very pregnant sister…Tips?”

(via http://www.formspring.me/undergracephoto)

I’m about to let you in on a little secret called the Magic Triangle.

All of the photos below were taken using the Magic Triangle.  Just one window is all you need. This method is perfect for photographing subjects on the move, like ninjas and toddlers.  Also perfect for belly bumps.

DO: scope out your surroundings for the window with the best Magic Triangle capabilities.

DON’T: Wait for the ninja (or toddler) to come into the triangle.  Ready the first two elements in the equation and lie in wait for the variable.

DON’T: Get the window in the frame.

Behold: