the cook
This is me, Jen.
Welcome to my food blog*.
I live in the Colorado Rockies at 8500 feet above sea level with an astrophysicist and a black dog. In addition to fooding, I recreate in the outdoors and I photograph just about everything. I was in school forever to learn the Ways of the Earth. I am also formally trained in the Engineering Arts.
I’m hyper, opinionated, and OCD.
If you want to learn more about what I do in my spare time, please visit my website.
You can also visit my photoblog if you are interested in the pictures I take of food and other interesting things I encounter.
dos and don’ts
Do read my copyright notice so we can avoid any misunderstandings. I retain full rights.
Do feel free to comment and ask questions. The whole point of my blog is to share and exchange ideas on food with others of like-minded obsession.
Do leave a link to your blog if you have one. I love the discovery of great blogs.
Do email me if you are too shy to comment in public. I always try to reply.
Don’t be rude or nasty.
Don’t leave fake or non-existent blog and email addresses - those comments will be deleted.
Don’t request a post for a specific recipe: This is not a call-in cooking show, nor am I made of spare time.
photography
*rant on*
I am often asked what kind of camera, lens, etc. I use to take the pictures on my blog. I see this on a lot of food blogs that showcase their photography. There seems to be a misconception that if you plunk enough money down for a fancy camera and expensive glass, that you’ll produce fabulous pictures. If that were the case, any wealthy dork could be Galen Rowell… Or if you buy the right computer hardware and post process in the latest PSCS, that you will have amazing images.
The most important thing to develop is a good eye for composition. You can do that with any point and shoot. Next you need to practice, a lot. This is so easy if you go digital. It helps tremendously to understand the fundamentals of light, optics, and if you are digital - image processing. [It also helps to know your way around a computer.] Do your homework, it’s all on the web and it’s worth it to know. This way you have an intuition for why your images come out a certain way rather than always wondering. It allows you greater control on the front end as well as the back end. Choosing a camera depends on many factors including budget and what you plan to shoot. I think more often than not, people buy a camera that is overkill for the intended use.
I should note that I did not buy my photography equipment and computer hardware just to produce photos for my food blog. I made a substantial financial and time investment for landscape photography, and food just tagged along for the ride! My first dSLR was the Nikon D70 (July 2004) and I used the 18-70mm kit lens exclusively because… I’m not made of money, you know :) The early food photos are mostly snapshots. When I became familiar and comfortable with the D70, I began to experiment with food photography as something more than just documentation. I switched to the Nikon D200 in April 2006 because I wanted more resolution to print and sell landscapes bigger than 16×20 inches. I use the 18-200mm VR kit lens on the D200. The only reason I shoot with the D200 in the kitchen is because I am too lazy to switch bodies/lenses, otherwise my D70 is more than adequate.
Let’s not overlook the tripod. It is essential. My tripod is lightweight, compact, and a little pricey (Gitzo Mountaineer) because I take it into the backcountry. If lugging your tripod over mountain passes or across glaciers isn’t in your plans, you can save yourself $300 and get one for $30! I prefer to shoot food in natural light, but that is rarely possible in winter. I acquired 2 flash bodies (Nikon SB-800 and Nikon SB-600) while doing some event photography. These come in handy when I finish a cake at 11 pm and Jeremy doesn’t want to wait until morning to have his slice of cake after I get a photo. You can mimic natural lighting conditions with flash(es), diffusers, reflectors - if that is your aim.
Lastly, I use Adobe Photoshop (whichever is the latest version) on a Power PC Mac G5. I have an Apple Cinema Display and I calibrate my monitor with a Gretag Macbeth Eye-One. I know about the ongoing debate of Mac vs. Windows that permeates every discussion board. I’ve used both for years (and a lot of Linux and Unix) and Mac is superior from a programmer, scientist, user, design, anti-trust perspective. I like OSX and I like that my photography and file management and work flow are rarely interrupted with the stupid shortcomings and opacity of mediocre operating system programmers at Microsoft. That said, Mac ain’t cheap and I got by on a Windoze machine prior to 2005, until I got the G5 [and then my life improved considerably].
*rant off*
Feel free to drop a line if you have questions!
*I began blogging in November 2004. In August 2007, I moved the food-related content here.