Hello all! I am going to be looking at doing a theme for the weeks that I do the 365 photo project. This week’s theme is NEW, which started last Saturday. Instead of posting a picture every day, I will be updating it at the end of the week. You can still check out my photostream on Flickr or on Digital Photography School to see the daily pictures if that is your bag!

It seemed fitting that on the last day of 2010 found me picking up my vacation pay at my old hotel. Closure is a good thing; I snapped this picture to commemorate that.

I love the viewfinder in my camera – it has points that make up the grid for the rule of 3′s. I aligned the building along the left edge, with the receiving area in the left center bottom. The idea behind the photo is to show my journey from the hotel, with the doors being my starting point.

The first photo I took:

Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating with me, but I have no control over that. I didn’t like the composition too much, it needed to be tightened up a bit. I walked a few steps to the corner, and took another photo:

Well, the van and the sign are too distracting, and don’t really add to the picture. I decided to go halfway, and take the shot:

That photo conveys what I was trying to get across. What do you all think of it?

I wanted to get a skyline shot of Montreal from the Signature Club at work. What could be better? A nice view, a kinda clear night, and piece and quiet to actually get the shot?

Turns out I had a lot of trouble. (Of course!)

I understand the process is straightforward: You set up your camera on a tripod, lower the ISO settings, something about the aperture, and drastically lower your shutter speed. All great in theory!

Here is the concepts in practice:

Drat! Forgot my tripod. (Okay, the thought actually didn’t cross my mind until I wanted to take the shot – looks like my pack will be EVEN more stuffed from now on!) Lucky for me the Club has tables, and at that time, no clients. The table was to be my tripod.

Even still, it was had to get the shot to focus:

ISO is pretty self explanatory. Once I figured out how to get the manual on, I figured out how to set the ISO.

Aperture? I have no idea how to adjust that yet. I tried to take a couple of photos, but it wasn’t working out. All I was getting was this darkness here:

Shutter speed: Wow, this was a doozy. I just could not figure it out. Then I tried looking in the manual. LOL. I had already spend upwards of 20 minutes trying to get this shot. There is a function called “Night Landscape.” I thought I would give that one a try.

After a couple frustrating minutes trying to get the camera to “go”, I ended up with this shot:

So, I was on the right track, but that window looks disgusting! I moved the camera closer to the window, about 3 inches. Another few minutes, and I got this shot:

That was a bit better, but the chairs! Grr! I moved the camera right next to the window, so I would get a better picture. It only took 30 seconds to finally get the shot off:

Now, I am in no way happy with the final shot! Unfortunately, (or fortunately for my wife) a bunch of clients came into the room, so I had to pack up my stuff and go.

I think the final shot has too much light, and that could be because of the weather. I wanted something more clear, but also good for the lights in all. I will definitely need to learn more about my camera in order to get that going!

This journey has been great so far! I actually think more about the shots than before when I just pointed and clicked. I think it is for the better!

Today’s series of pictures were snapped with absolutely no thought. Okay, I knew that I needed flash because the ISO on the viewfinder was reading 3200, and I know enough that I don’t want that.

I had a LOT of work to do renovating the house. I am one to try and finish a project before starting another (*call it my cooking training!) So today saw me fixing the mistakes the previous owner and contractor we hired.

Our dryer has been shit lately. The weird part is it’s less than 6 moths old. I checked downstairs in the basement to find that the tubing was clogged, and wet with humidity. Worse, the old one was a flexible hose, a HUGE no-no. Luckily for me it was not in the wall, but just above the basement drop-down ceiling.

Unlucky for me that I don’t have experience with changing that shit. I must have gone to the stupid Reno Depot 5 times today! I did finally get it done – but in order to get it done, I had to tackle another project that was on the back burner; cleaning out the back store room.

My wife is pissed at me right now. I don’t blame her either. She walked down the stairs to see this:

Another angle

In  my defense, I couldn’t have put up the new dryer hose without cleaning out that back room. I might as well do it right, and that includes putting up shelves, and clearing out the shit from before. What you are seeing is the content of the shelves – hey, they have to go somewhere, right?

I chose the day’s final picture, because I think at that angle, it flows a bit better:

The flash gave it a blown out look – again, I need to figure out what I am doing with this baby – then I can make it sing!

Today I was writing a blog post for tomorrow. I wanted to convey something about the process in the photo. Again, the camera is still on auto, but shot with the diffused light at my back. Overall, I am not too happy with the photo’s composition, or how it came out. I need to sit down tonight and start over with the basics on my camera.

Now, here is a question for you all. Would you prefer to see my daily progress where I post my pictures that I learned that day, or do you prefer to have a weekly post? I can do both, but I prefer to get immediate feedback. (I’m needy like that!)

Let me know in the comments!

The other day, I went out and bought a new camera. Today I am going to post my first sub-par photos.

The plan I have is to go through the next 365 days taking pictures, improving my technique, and eventually kicking ass. How am I going to do that?

My Action Plan to Learn How To Take Awesome Photos

1. Take pictures. I aim (get it?) to take at least a few pictures a day. There is no better way to learn, in my opinion.
2. Learn. I want to read up as much as I can, and apply what I learn to my pictures.
3. Participate. There is an awesome community over at Digital Photography School. They have people over there that could really drive me to learn what I want. The 365 project is a perfect way to learn.
4. Critique. I just want to get to a point where I can make pictures that are drool-worthy.

Now, just a word of warning; while this is a food blog, a lot of the pictures may not have nothing to do with food, but everything to do with improving my technique. No worries though, food photos will be coming!

With that said, let me build up to my first picture.

This is a photo that I took when I first put the camera together on December 22, 2010:

The first picture I ever took with my Canon Rebel

Now, that is about as raw as it gets. There was no real thought in taking the photo, I just wanted to see what would happen if I pressed the button. Please excuse the mess!

The next picture I switched the function to the macro setting, and took this picture:

This is the second picture that I ever took with the camera, on the macro function. I wanted to see how close I could get with the subject.

I actually put some thought in that photo. It was taken next to my patio door, (where I have sheer drapes that automatically filter the harsh morning light! Bonus!) I can see that I will have to learn about how to manually focus the picture to choose where I want to have the focal point. I do love the depth of field though, it is the most awesome thing I have ever taken up to that point!

I put away the camera and worked my butt off at my current job, but pulled it out again for Christmas day tradition of opening presents. Tradition dictates these cookies for breakfast, with the coffee that keeps your eyes peeled open:

Well, it was Christmas day, and it is tradition folks! Again, the macro setting on auto, testing to see about depth of field, etc. Cookies made by my wife!

So, that leads me to my final picture, the actual start of my 365 journey:

Day 1: Say Cheese

Looks like I'm not the only one learning the camera here!

I wanted to get my son this camera because he was always asking to use my camera. I had gotten his mother a point and shoot for Christmas as well, so the whole family got into the photo making. As you can see here, he is tickled pink about the camera, and is hard at work at taking a portrait of his mother. Precious, huh?

That’s my beginning. I must say that I suck at taking pictures, but the camera sure does hide a lot. These pictures were taken with the automatic settings. They are probably the most awesome pictures I have ever taken, and I can’t wait to learn how to actually use this camera.

Now, here is how I am going to work this. I will be posting my 7 pictures once a week. There may be more than 1 picture in that post, but once I figure out how to re-invent my pictures page, I will have the “official” photos up there. Once that week is over, I will take the photos off that page down, and leave the link to the post. The reason for that is I am sure that come the 300th day, no one would like to wait an hour for that page to load.

So, please join me in my progress. If you have any critiques, comments, or any helpful advice, I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Oh... my wife is gonna be so mad!

Yep.

I can’t wait to dig into this new baby. I just bought all this for a wicked deal! Watch me over the next year as I learn the camera, and hopefully take some awesome pictures of food!

Yes, You can still enjoy your favorites the low-carb way!

You have decided to go low-carb, and you miss having a super dish like the picture above. By the end of this post, you will have your dish back!

We are so hung up on carbohydrates, we actually think that we cannot live without them. We are taught that we need at least 8 to 10 servings a day, or all hell is going to break loose on our bodies.

Carbs are cheap. You could live on them alone if you had to, if you don’t mind the sugar spikes, crashes, and eventual diabetes. I lived by carbs for a whole year and a half. I ate in one night what should serve a whole family.

The irony is that the cycle continues as you eat more. You need more, and then your body tries to cope, which in turn makes you want more.

Carbs are the heroin of the food world.

It’s not over though. I love Asian food. Hell, I work in a hotel that has a Pan-Asian restaurant with food that is seriously off the hook. The key is to rethink and re-create the dishes.

Beef broccoli is a dish that has a million variations. I have seen everything from Hoisin to ketchup.

What makes this dish different is it is an American-Chinese dish with authentic Asian ingredients. You will not be able to find some of these ingredients at your local supermarket. You will need to brave the ChinaTown of your area.

That is a good thing.

Chinatown is like a treasure island. When you go there, there are lot of things to discover.

Today I am going to get into exactly how we pull this dish off, then the recipe will follow.

First thing that we will need is broccoli. You will need to use the whole stalk. What you do is cut out the fleuerttes, peel back the skin of the stalk and slice it thinly. Now for the tricky part.

If you just throw your broccoli into the stir-fry, it will not be cooked by the time everything else is. You need to help it along. I am going to introduce you to a technique known as “Blanching and Refreshing“:

You can't just throw in the broccoli and expect it to cook. You need to help it out.

Bring your water to a boil, then pour it into the broccoli. Let it steep for 5 minutes.

Pour the boiling water to cover; steep for 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes are up, drain the hot water, run the broccoli under cold water to stop the cooking. The broccoli should be tender-crisp, not limp, and should be a nice green.

Now you are "refreshing" the cooked broccoli. It should be tender-crisp! Look how green it is!

The other two stars to this show are the beef and button mushrooms.

Rib eye steaks were on a super special, so I just had to get them. I consider a rib eye to be superior in flavor to a tenderloin. Honestly, the mushrooms needed to be used that day, but I got them for super cheap.

Great news about mushrooms is that they are basically “free” on the carb scale, and are a great vehicle for flavors.

Look at that steak, and those mushrooms rock as well!

That leaves us with the rest of the ingredient that tie everything together:

Soy sauce, Oyster sauce, and 5 spice powder are easy to get. Black vinegar and Shaoxing wine require a trip to ChinaTown. It will be worth it though, I promise!

Of course, you need something to sweeten the dish up, that will counterbalance the umami of the soy and level out the acidity of the black vinegar. We are going natural and low-carb, so it is Stevia to the rescue:

Our secret weapon for the sauce.

Now, we separate the fat from the meat, and cut it into chunks. Fear not though, throw the fat into the pan over low heat to render it out.

While that is rendering out, pour a splash of Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and sprinkle a good amount of 5 spice onto the beef. Mix it up well, and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Once you have a decent amount of fat rendered out, crank up the heat and sauté the beef.

Saute the beef over high heat. You can almost see it jump!

Place your beef aside, and pour your mushrooms in the pan, and saute them. You will find that they will soak up the fat. That is a good thing.

These mushrooms are a sponge, and a vehicle for the flavors.

Once the mushrooms have softened a bit, add a splash of Shoaxing wine and cook it down. Add a good amount of oyster sauce, and thin it out with the black vinegar.

Sprinkle the stevia over the top and mix it in.

Finally, add the broccoli and the beef back to the mix, taking care to pour in any juices that have dripped off the beef.

Stir, and serve.

Now, does that look good or what?

Now, you can eat it just like that, or you can serve it with rice. I find that eating a salad on the side is more than enough.

5 Spice Beef and Broccoli

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 600 grams beef (I used ribeye that was on special)
• 600 grams broccoli (about 1 head) chopped into fleurettes, stalk peeled and sliced thinly.
• 4 liters boiling water
• 250 grams button mushrooms, quartered

Marinade:

• 10 mL 5 spice powder
• 30 mL shaoxing wine (or you could use dry sherry, but it is just not the same.)
• 30 mL soy sauce (the best money can buy!)

Sauce:

• 60 mL shaoxing wine
• 120 mL oyster sauce
• 60 mL black vinegar
• 1 packet stevia

Method:

1. Cut broccoli into fleurettes, peel the stem and slice thinly.
2. Place all into a large bowl; pour boiling water to cover.
3. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
4. Drain the boiling water from the bowl, and run the broccoli under cold water to stop the cooking.
5. Meanwhile, trim the fat (reserve) and cut the beef into bite-sized pieces.
6. Render the beef fat over low heat in your wok.
7. Marinate beef by sprinkling 5 spice powder, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine. Let stand for 10 minutes.
8. Saute beef in fat over high heat until just seared; remove from the pan and reserve. (The beef should be rare at this point.)
9. Add mushrooms to the wok, saute until soft.
10. Deglaze with Shaoxing wine, reduce to 1/4.
11. Add oyster sauce, black vinegar, and the stevia packet; stir to create a sauce.
12. Add the beef and broccoli back to the pan, and heat through.
13. Serve hot.

Finally, life just got a lot sweeter

Let me introduce you to Stevia.

It is hard to give up the sweet taste. Humans crave sweet as an instinct. You can’t help it, it is hard-wired into you. Sugar used to be scarce, so our bodies adapted to crave it. I have read a lot of reports that say it has something to do with serotonin levels in your brain and depression.

Some have even linked the sweet craving to sugar addiction.

I am not going that far. I am just saying that our lives are full of carbohydrates. They are filler, sweeteners, and thickening agents.

Enter in Stevia.

Stevia, (also known as Sweet Leaf,) is a plant whose leaves can be about 300 times sweeter than sugar. The sweetness lasts over a period of time, so your sweet craving is sated for longer.

It is also difficult to find in a pure form. The concentration of sweetness means that 43 mg will sweeten just as much as 2 tablespoons of sugar. They need to cut it with something, so it is usually corn maltodextrin. (AKA a filler/sweetener made by reducing corn to a powder.)

The jury is out on the maltodextrin, whether it is good or bad for you. It really does not do much for my blood sugar, so that is good news.

I will be using it in place of sugar in my recipes from now on.

Do any of you have experience with Stevia? I would love to hear about it in the comments.

Look at that mug! 34 Years and Going strong!

Not a very productive day. My birthday was awesome. We went to a cool pub-style place called Jack Asters for dinner. They made me stand up on a chair and sing a rediculous song. Fun times.

So, this is me, at 34!