Posted by: Terry Mayer
in Terry's Blog on July 02, 2009
Tagged in: Untagged
This photo was taken during the Darien Cornfest parade. I have found that parades can be tough to shoot. There is plenty going on but trying to come up with a new perspective from year to year is getting harder and harder the older I get. I have climbed up the side of the town hall, I have been on a float taking photos of the crowd, I even did photos from my balcony as the parade went by when I lived in Darien. With this photo I was shooting low to the ground, from maybe a dog's point of view. As I was laying on the ground looking up, a huge 30-ft flag carried by several volunteers came around the bend onto Main Street.
I then ran to the center of the street and basically laid down on the asphalt as the flag was carried over me. There were people toward the center of the flag holding it up so it would not touch the ground, which is when I took this photo of the lady supporting the a portion of the flag. The sun was bright enough to illuminate underneath so I had plenty of light. I shot 1000th at f8 with an ISO of 400.
Whenever it is sunny and I am shooting outside that setting is a safe bet; it has not failed me yet.
One of the hard parts of photographing in crowds like a parade is just getting the photo and not worrying about what other people are thinking of you. Yes, you're in the middle of the parade and everyone is looking at you, but I just put it out of my mind and do my job. You cannot be timid or scared to get in there and get your shot, but need to be able to get out as well so as to not disrupt the event. If I had just stood in the crowd and shot the parade going by, I would have never gotten this photograph.
Posted by: Lynn Greene
in Lynns Place Blog on July 02, 2009
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Summer is finally here. I know, because after coming home and mowing one section of lawn, I'm too hot and tired to make dinner - and I love to cook. Good thing I have a backup plan.
In the summer, when I have time, I?like to make up salads: pasta salads, vegetable salads, meat or seafood salads. These are good on their own, of course, but served atop a bed of shredded lettuce, with a piece of garlic bread on the side, they make a perfectly good summer dinner. It's neither too hot, nor too heavy.
The thing about salad recipes is that you need to be flexible. Check the garden first to see what you have and freely exchange ingredients. For example, if you have a good chicken-salad recipe, you can substitute turkey. If you have a good three-bean salad, you can easily substitute black beans for the kidney beans. Start with the basics, and experiment from there.
I like to use leftovers to make salad, so sometimes you have more or less of a called-for ingredient. You can adjust the amount of the other ingredients most of the time, or you can try adding a similar ingredient. If you are out of salad dressing, for example, use a bottled ranch dressing, or part sour cream and part yogurt.
Be sure to make a note of the substitutions and how the recipe turned out - for good or ill - so you'll have a reference the next time.
Recipes follow.
