sandwiches, photographs and videos...

tea sandwiches
Originally uploaded by nanceypantalones

During my school break i decided to finally try a recipe i've been dying to do. it also helped that we finally went grocery shopping for the first time in 2 months. (it was exciting!).
i got this recipe from padma's cook book. i believe her recipe uses goat cheese instead of cream cheese and also has honey, but i like it better without.
it's basically a piece of toasted bread. a layer of cream cheese with chopped dill, then a layer of thinly sliced cucumber (i didnt peel) and then an uber thin slice of cheese (your choice, i put this manchego i got at whole foods). topped with some finely chopped dill and pomegranate. after stacking everything you cut the brown edges off and cut into two triangles... so cute!
drink it with some apple+pomegranate+lemongrass tea while listening to asobi seksu and it is heaven. seriously.i wouldnt lie about that.

a fews weeks ago i was introduced to aura photographs. im intrigued... or maybe just attracted to anderson cooper.

if you have not watched the epicness that is doglover199709, im afraid you have not lived. enjoy. and watch out for 1:50, where she shows of her bare foot. EPIC!

while on the subject of videos. i think its safe to say Ryan Lochte (some dude who looks like this guy i met last tuesday called Bryan Hochte) is the best thing to happen to the internet. see for yourself.

4x5 polaroids

sunset fawn
Originally uploaded by jeremyhead

It's been awhile...
So over this weekend Nancey checked the large format camera out of MIAD. We sort of forgot that we had bought alot of 4x5 polaroid film off of Amazon. Back when we first got the sx-70 I created a little scene using random things I had laying around the living room and photographed it.

I remembered how fun it was setting up this little surreal scene and I wanted to give it another go with the large format camera. It was sort of spur of the moment and the ideas all sort of built off the plastic deer. A few weeks ago I found a posters sized sky photo in the garbage on my lunchbreak walk. I used this for the background, then by luck found that deer photo in a drawer in the office.

At first I was going to try and find some green colored fabrics and cut out large colorfields for shrubs and plants but decided to keep it quick and simple by using my green sweat shirt. Next came the out of focus shrubbery. In the same drawer as the deer photo I found some transparency film so I smeared some black and green acrylic paint on it. Since Nancey is actually a photographer, she set the camera up and took a BnW test shot. After that I added a sun on the horizon and double checked the framing.

What does this all mean? Large format cameras are tons of fun and you to get very precise control over your photos at higher levels of detail. Yes, they are bulky and slower to operate than most cameras. BUT it's a great reminder that you pre-planning your shots and taking your time can really pay off with some beautiful photos. Something you forget when you have a digital camera and don't have to pay for each of your 200 photos. I hope to do some more little scenes in the near future, just need to come up with some themes in the mean time.