San Diego Fires... #cocosfire #poinsettiafire

 

One of 9 fires burning in San Diego.  This one, the San Marcos (Cocos Fire) is still burning as of May 16, 2014 - 3PM along with another fire the behind me in this shot in Oceanside.

Thank you to the numerous friends and family who called, emailed and texted to check up on us during these last few days of the raging San Diego Fires.  While the Carlsbad Fires came within a little over a mile from us, we did not need to evacuate, though our bags were indeed packed.

Our radio and tv have been tuned to nearly 24-hour fire news coverage, and my heart goes out to those who have lost so much.  Driving around today the devastation is incredible, yet other areas have so much that has been saved.  The fire crews have worked tirelessly and here in our Carlsbad fire, they kept the losses to a minimum.  We have friends who have scorch marks right up to their back yards, yet their homes remain safe.  The Aviara School incurred very little damage and though the fire did its best to claim it, our firefighters were stronger.

Just as I began to relax about our Carlsbad fire another erupted just 10 miles away in the San Marcos area bringing new fears for my parents.  Thankfully the fires never came closer than 4 miles or so, and they are now in the clear.  Mom texted at 2 AM the other night saying she couldn't sleep and spent a few hours on the porch watching the brilliant fire lines, all the time tears streaming down her face.

Emotions have run high in our county over the last few days, but my heart has been consistently warmed by the generosity of humanity.  Story after story has emerged showing neighbors helping neighbors, strangers saving animals, and volunteers caring for the now homeless.  I'm proud to be a part of this community.

Here we have a few images that have stuck with me over the last few days... Most are not mine as we have stayed away from the fire areas unless they came close to us.

Mom's view of the Cocos Fire (found on Redit - no photo credit available)

Fires burned right up to the homes in Carlsbad (pc. america.aljezeera.com)

Even the firefighters were impressed with the DC-10 Super Tanker (pc. NBCNewsSanDiego) See NBC10 Video here: Super Tanker)

Fires from Carlsbad Coastline (pc. carlsbadistan.com)

Evacuation of Aviara Oaks School (pc. Balletpointers Instagram)

Traffic at a near standstill as I tried to get gas... fire behind me, fire in front of me.  (pc. Kim Kelly | Liv Life)

"Dramatic image of 72-year-old fighting #CocosFire with garden hose by @RickLoomis via @latpix http://lat.ms/RURL8T pic.twitter.com/pdpUnPIOCX"

Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

A huge fireball erupts as a structure burns on Coronado Hills Drive in San Marcos.

Apartment Complex burned in Carlsbad... 22 units lost (pc.Sean M. Haffey - UT San Diego)

A San Diego Fire Department Helicopter drops water on flames as they spread behind Aviara Oaks Middle and Elementary School in Carlsbad. — John Gibbins / UT San Diego

Click here: this video shows what may have been the start of the Poinsettia Fire...

With a thousands of evacuations still in effect, road closures and numerous fires still burning, San Diego is still fighting.  The weather today has turned and the 100º+ temperatures are some 15 degrees lower and the strong Santa Ana winds have shifted back to our normal on-shore breezes.

Our thoughts and prayers remain with those affected and with the firefighters on the line.  Hundreds of firefighters from all over the state are here helping with these blazes.  San Diego thanks you.

Smoky skies bring brilliant orange hues and stunning sunsets giving the appearance of peace and calm as the fires rage on. (pc. Kim Kelly | Liv Life)

Smoky Moon... (pc.  Kim Kelly | Liv Life)

Pickled Jalapeños - A Seasonal Food Photography Challenge

Peter Piper picked a peck of Pickled Jalapeños... and goodness are they spicy!!  Just like my husband likes them.

With this month's Inspired Plate Food Photography and Styling Challenge bringing the subject of "Seasonal", my garden directed my choice of ingredient.  A spontaneous decision to pick up a cute little jalapeño plant at the farmers' market a few months ago has brought forth more spicy peppers than I can handle this summer season.  Turning a stunning red on the vine, pickling seemed to be the proper avenue to avoid wasting.

Enter the amazing Bobby Flay and his Pickled Jalapeño recipe from one of my all time favorite books, Grilling For Life.  Quick and easy, I forwent any formal canning procedures and made a smaller refrigerator batch which Bobby says will stay fresh in the fridge for about 2 weeks.  However, with the taste of these beauties, I don't think we'll be testing the 2 week deadline any time soon, and with the ease of this recipe I will most likely have a new batch even sooner.

With just a few ingredients and 24 hours to marinate, these jalapeños add a delightful kick to eggs, nachos, tacos, and whatever else you would like to bring a little spice to.  Pretty and colorful in cute jars, they also make a wonderful hostess gifts or simply a spicy treat to share the wealth of the season with neighbors.

And now won't you join me as we travel the world with our Inspired Plate Blog Circle??  To start, follow me just 30 miles up the road here in Southern California to Laurie Vangoechea, a beautiful friend and one of the most talented photographers I know.

Watermelon Banana Smoothie... seeing things in a new way with Lensbaby.

Nothing says summer quite like a platter filled with sweet, juicy watermelon.  Whether it be cut into easy to eat triangles or chopped into a fruit salad, I see watermelon as something to take a bite of.   The crispness, as well as an occasional dribble of juice down the chin, brings happy memories and thoughts of fun in the sun.

With two watermelons on my counter though, I've been researching uses other than the usual slice and eat, and found recipes for smoothies popping up time and again.  Ready to experiment, we mixed Liv's favorite fruit - banana - along with  mango and a yogurt in the blender.  What resulted was a smoothie worthy of gushing, and I'm beginning to see watermelon in a new way...

Seeing things in a new way isn't always easy for me, a self proclaimed creature of habit, and often takes me a little time to adjust.  Such is the case with photography.  I've always been a straight forward, tack sharp sort of photo girl, but some of those more artistic shots, you know, the ones... those with blurred edges and off center focus, always have me wishing I could master that skill.  Now I can.

Partnering with the amazing people at Lensbaby, I've been "playing" with the Lensbaby Composer Pro in combination with a set of macro converters for about a month.  Have you heard of Lensbaby?  I'm ready to gush!

Receiving the lens a few weeks ago, I do admit to experiencing a bit of a learning curve, or more accurately, a slowness on my part to see things in a new way.  I usually shoot in manual, but I do use the auto focus feature on my camera (Canon 60D), and as such I experienced a bit of difficulty figuring out the manual "sweet spot" in my shots.  Practice, though, soon had me bringing home incredible shots that a month ago I would never have pictured myself taking.

Watermelon Vinaigrette

Adding the Macro Converters to the Composer Pro only served to grow my excitement.  A macro girl at heart, the ability to get almost right up to my subject has me beyond ecstatic and my library now includes individual grains of quinoa, flower stamens, and a nice close-up shot of Liv's eye.

Nevertheless, it's the mid-level macro converter bringing the Composer Pro close to, but not on top of my subject (a 16mm converter which lets you focus from 2.25" - 6") that has positively won my heart.  Perfect for food photography... I'm starting to see things in a new way, and I'm also beginning to wonder how I shot so long without this impressive lens.

Photo courtesy of Lensbaby

What is the Lensbaby Composer Pro?  It's a "tilting" lens that lets you bring an artistic flair to your photos and is best summed up by DPReview's description of, "The basic principle is to utilise optically simple lenses which are deliberately uncorrected for many aberrations, and therefore produce a sharp zone of focus (or 'sweet spot') in the center of the image field with ever-increasing blur outside it. This is combined with a flexible barrel, such that the lens can be tilted and the sweet spot moved around the frame, to focus on off-center subjects. The size of the sweet spot can be increased by using a smaller aperture."

A different concept from the usual camera lens, you will find yourself reaching for the Lensbaby time and again and bringing home shots that will most definitely make you smile.

I've had so much fun with this new (lens) baby of mine that it has become my near constant companion.  We've walked the beach together, attended school functions, completed Dance Mom duties and simply spent time shooting around the back yard where flowers don't much mind staying still for multiple shots.  I'm enamored with the creativeness it's brought to my food photography seeming to sometimes bring a completely different mood to the scene.

I find myself setting up my food shots just as before, and shooting with my usual 60 mm lens (an old favorite).  Receiving nicely balanced shots with the crispness that used to make my heart give a little leap is now leaving me just a touch bored, and before I know it I'm reaching for the Lensbaby and shooting off center without total focus.  I'm see things in a new way.

Old style crisp shot...

Liv, helping me with this Watermelon Smoothie shoot, took matters into her own hands as we set the scene.  Hearing me ramble on about "seeing things in a new way", I turned my back only for a moment.  In no time, our healthy, no sugar added smoothie somehow received a dollop of whipped cream without my request (Not something we usually put on smoothies...).  But my girl simply smiled and repeated the words, "See?  You're just seeing things in a new way!  It's all good...".  And it was.

Thanks Lensbaby...

Living Life Through Photos - Wordless Monday

Somehow I must have been "Living Life" so much that I forgot to take my vitamins.  With the last two weeks moving at light-speed ahead, I picked up a nasty cold, and while I've spent lovely days in full Dance Mom mode,  walking the beach and viewing the flower fields, I'm now home with about 0% energy and in desperate need of a nap.

Spending a bit of this morning sorting and editing photos has left me with a few beauties that I thought I'd share, hence, we have a Liv Life Wordless Monday taking you through some of our local sights and moving moments from the last few weeks.

Hoping to be up and around soon I'd love to hear any of your cold remedies that blast through this congestion and wipe away these itchy watery eyes.  Goodness... I sound like a commercial.

Here's hoping you are healthy and Living Life to the fullest!

 

Local Carlsbad Flower Fields are in full bloom.  These beautiful Ranunculas reached for the spring sky.

 Pelicans catching the wind.

 Anonymous woman enjoying a peaceful afternoon.

My backyard...

 Also my backyard...

 Sisters performing a duo that brings tears to my eyes at their sheer joy of being together every time I see it.

Leaping girls

 

How does she do that??!!

 Someone is ready to take a nap with me...

 Healing foods.

Strawberries and Cream Crepes - A Food Photography Challenge

Every once in a while one needs to "call in sick" just because.  Because... well, how can you enjoy a sick day if you are really sick?  And, with schedules crazy as they are, sometimes a day off is just what the doctor ordered.

Liv will be starting high school next year and we all know how the attendance record tightens up with the more intense pre-college workload.  As such, I'm savoring these last few months of middle school with my girl where taking an occasional day off hasn't been an issue in her straight A grade record.

After waking to the sun instead of the alarm, Liv and I sauntered down to the kitchen which at this later wakeup time glowed with morning sunlight.  Asking her where her breakfast desires led her she immediately exclaimed, "Crepes!"

Since discovering crepes a few years ago Liv has learned to swirl crepe batter into ever so thin, perfectly cooked crepes which she occasionally whips up on her own as an after school treat.  And with this month's Inspired Plate Food Photography and Styling Challenge prompt of "Breakfast" looming on the horizon, crepes became my subject of choice.

Choosing between our old faithful vanilla crepe batter and a new Giada chocolate version became too much for our sleepy minds making the decision of both the perfect choice.  Alton Brown taught us years ago to pulse the crepe batter in a blender and then allow it to rest for about an hour for easier to handle crepes, and we've been following his advice ever since.  Tried and true, you can't go wrong with his recipe and process.

Giada's recipe didn't recommend resting the batter, but we gave it a good half hour anyway as we've been so please with Alton's advice.  Adding 1/4 cup of cocoa powder gave the crepes that extraordinary chocolate look, and these beauties cooked up just as nicely as the others.

Filling them, though, is where Liv's and my opinions differed slightly.  With strawberry season is in full swing here in San Diego, the sweet, perfectly ripe, organic berries in the fridge seemed the perfect choice, and what better than a luscious, lemon-laced creamy base for those sweet berries?  Served on either the chocolate or the vanilla crepes, the combination proved almost heavenly, and indeed, the perfect cure for our "sick" day.

While Liv enjoyed the Strawberries and Cream, she had ideas of her own, which usually tend to directly oppose mine.  Thinking the berries added just a touch of healthiness to the low in fat and protein enhanced crepes (they contain eggs) I didn't feel guilty for the breakfast splurge.  Liv, however, felt no need for health with her Powdered Sugar Sprinkle version that she lovingly created as my back was turned.  Making me proud that she thought to shoot her version with the already set up set, I returned from a quick dog walk to find a powdery plate with the remnants of rainbow sprinkles sitting in the middle of my set.

Whichever version you choose, Breakfast Crepes are sure to chase away any lingering blues.  For more incredible "Breakfast" Photography, please make your way through our Inspired Plate blog circle.  First up,  Jayme Franklin, a Bay Area Food Photographer with her beautiful breakfast photos.

Egg and Mushroom Appetizer ~ A Food Photography Challenge

Eggs... protein packed, vitamin rich, and an empty palate waiting to be dressed, these little orbs are nearly an every day occurrence in the Liv Life household.  Be they scrambled, over easy, over medium or simply hard boiled, the versatility of the egg makes them ideal for nearly any meal, or in this case, an amazing appetizer.

February's Inspired Plate Challenge titled "Eggs" had my heart soaring with possibilities, but looking to step up our photo from the average Breakfast Burrito (that was our last post), the Mushroom Bocadillo provided interesting shape and texture along with a tasty result.  Featuring only a few ingredients this appetizer works nicely into a party menu with its ability to be made ahead of time and served at room temperature.  Quiche-like minus the crust and creamy calories, the dish is baked, cooled and then cut into handy little squares which are just perfect for a cocktail napkin.

Filled with sauteed mushrooms and onions, a touch of Parmesan cheese adds a slightly salty finish and the fresh basil brings a market-fresh flair to the plate - or napkin.  While this recipe will most definitely be saved for our next neighborhood gathering, I must admit that these particular Bocadillos made a lovely brunch after our photo shoot, especially when topped with a dollop of salsa and a few slices of fresh avocado.

Returning to my favorite white background I chose a simple style for our shoot attempting keep the focus on the Bocadillos without distraction.  I've found that my lack of photography props forces me to become creative while trying to create a scene or some sense of a story in the photo, hence using ingredients as props has become my styling choice.  Filling a measuring cup overflowing with freshly grated Parmesan and adding a small branch of basil the shoot was set, and as our hemisphere slowly but surely returns to the warmer seasons I'm relishing every extra minute of beautiful morning backlight. 

And now won't you join me as we travel close to my hometown in Northern California.  Please allow me to introduce The Inspired Plate's newest member, Jayme Franklin.  Jayme is a mom to two adorable little blondies and works as a photographer in the Belmont, California area.  Lets see what sort of eggs she has brought to the table!

Chocolate Pomegranate Bark and a Champagne Cocktail ~ Celebrating a Year in Pictures

2012... what a year!  Filled with food, travel and my beloved photography, this world has stretched my boundaries and filled my life with the love of good friends combined with the flavors of fabulous food.  I have so much to be thankful for, and as New Year's approaches I'm ready to Celebrate.  Stretching east, my fellow Inspired Plate members are celebrating along with me as we share our final Food Styling and Photography Challenge of the year - Celebration.

2012 Year in Review

With a year of photography challenges under my belt, I took a moment to look back at the work I've submitted during the last 12 months.  While I'm extraordinarily proud of some images, there are a couple that are cringe-worthy.

What brings the most joy though, are not the actual images but the memories of late night chats on Facebook, the supportive comments and critiques of my fellow photographers, and the newly formed friendships that can be found within the members of this special group.

An eclectic group of talented women, The Inspired Plate touches locations across the world.  Starting here on the West Coast of California (I'm in San Diego), the members bring stunning photos to you also from the mid west, the east, Canada and on towards the date line from Perth, Australia.  With varying levels of skills, we have worked together monthly to provide our own interpretations of the given challenges.

Early challenges began simply with "Photography on White" and quickly stepped up the difficulty level with subjects of meat, fish and pasta.  Failing miserably at the "meat" challenge, the Mahi Mahi Tacos we created for the "fish" challenge have become a regular in our meal rotation, and I think I had the most fun writing that particular post.

"Photography on black" proved to be the most difficult to me, while the "pasta" photos took me back to my treasured days in Italy.  My favorite challenge of the year?  Without a doubt ~ The Splash...

The act of freezing time became somewhat addictive and had the entire family participating by dropping objects of all sorts into glasses of liquid.  Relishing the fact that the spilled liquid was not going to make Mommy upset, the splashes grew, and soon the tile of the kitchen floor was slick and the table dripping.  Catching a splash is indeed spectacular when captured properly, however that capture (as shown by my over 500 non-useable shots) is many times elusive.

Bringing back The Splash for our December Celebration Challenge, we bring you a new favorite cocktail worthy of any Celebration and perhaps an ideal libation for your own New Year's Bash welcoming 2013.

Incorporating my very first challenge subject, the pomegranate, we've supplemented a celebratory sparkling wine with a splash of unsweetened pomegranate juice.  Dropping in a few fresh pomegranate aerials we have a festive and flavorful aperitif boasting a few antioxidants with those bubbles.  Bubbles represent happy occasions to me, and whether your bubbles hail from the true Champagne regions of France, the Prosecco versions of Italy, or the sparkling versions of California's Napa Valley, they all exude a similar excitement.

One of the oldest known fruits, the beautiful pomegranate is a native of Persia.  Nutrient dense and antioxidant rich, pomegranates have long been revered as symbols of health, fertility and eternal life.  Also tied to mythology, pomegranates are known as the "Food of the Underworld"...

 The myth of Persephone, the goddess of the Underworld,  features the pomegranate. In one version of Greek mythology, Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and taken off to live in the underworld as his wife. Her mother, Demeter (goddess of the Harvest), went into mourning for her lost daughter and thus all green things ceased to grow. Zeus, the highest ranking of the Greek gods, could not allow the Earth to die, so he commanded Hades to return Persephone. It was the rule of the Fates that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Persephone had no food, but Hades tricked her into eating six pomegranate seeds while she was still his prisoner and so, because of this, she was condemned to spend six months in the Underworld every year. During these six months, when Persephone is sitting on the throne of the Underworld next to her husband Hades, her mother Demeter mourns and no longer gives fertility to the earth. This became an ancient Greek explanation for the seasons.  (from wikipedia)

With my fingers crossed that each seed I've eaten this year will not commit me to a month in the underworld, our celebration continues with an antioxidant rich Pomegranate Bark.  Dark chocolate and pomegranate combine bringing an irresistible treat that literally pops in your mouth.  Aerials stirred into and sprinkled on top of the melted chocolate literally burst with flavor and bring a double dose of those ever popular antioxidants in addition a simply wonderful dessert.

As we close this emotional year of 2012, I thank my newfound Inspired friends for their never ending advice, professionalism and simple friendship.  I'm looking forward to the challenges of 2013 with excitement (as well as a touch of trepidation), and I'm ever so thankful to be celebrating with this wonderful group today.

Begin a trip around the world with me as I introduce the beautiful Sabrina Wong, a Food Photographer in Perth, Australia and we'll continue our Celebration... summer style!