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Grab a Spoon ~ COOL WHIP & Coffee Ice Cream

I know I know- I post pictures of treats a lot. I told you all that I was practicing my food photography this year. It just so happens that in my mind- treats are the most exciting thing to photograph. I love making them- no matter how everyday they seem & I love to photograph them. It’s so fun to see just how yummy I can make them look in my photographs. I love practicing with styling & I even went prop hunting this last weekend. Love doing that!! I found some really great things that I am looking forward to put in my pics- so be ready to see more treats coming your way.

So, the other day the kids asked me what my favorite flavor of ice cream was. When I said “coffee” they looked at me confused. They didn’t know that there was such a flavor. They immediately thought that it must taste as awful as a regular cup of coffee- awful in their opinion. I love all things coffee- ice cream included. I grew up on it- my whole family loves it. I want my kids to love it too. It brings back so many wonderful childhood memories of curling up on the couch with my mom or grandmother to share in a treat. Those are special memories that have stuck with me & I hope that some of the things I do for my kids stick with them the same way.

So I sent the hubs to the store to pick up some coffee ice cream so they could try it. But I wanted to make it SUPER special. I started thinking I could crush up cookies or candies on the top- but that just didn’t seem like enough. It needed something more. Ahhhhhaaaaaa! COOL WHIP Whipped Topping. That ALWAYS makes everything we make – those everyday desserts- more special. I had it- I was so excited. I knew they would love it.

You know- honestly, I turn to COOL WHIP whenever I want to give my family that feeling that we are sharing a special moment. Even if it’s just a dollop on top of a cookie- it’s something that makes the kids Ooooooo & Ahhhhh. Really- as a mom, who doesn’t want their kids to think you are the coolest mom ever because you prepared a treat that they think is elaborate. Really- nothing elaborate about it- just simple treats like chocolate chip cookies, apple pie & that strawberry shortcake that I shared with you a little bit ago- all would be a bit dull if it were not for the fact that I added a nice dollop of COOL WHIP. Heck- I even put a dollop on my morning fruit if I am in the mood.

When the hubs came home we set everything up. The kids watched me put it all together & then we shared a moment where we all just enjoyed each other’s company & the treat. It was a great thing to add to our Memorial Day weekend. Quality family time & a cool treat.

cool whip, coffee ice cream, sundae, oreos

Ummm- yeah- I took a swipe during the shooting process. Food photography is hard 🙂

Coffee Ice Cream
Cream Filled Sandwich Cookies
COOL WHIP

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The 50 Comparison

By Kleinworth & Co 17 Comments

Not long after I bought my camera I added the 50mm f/1.8 to my camera bag. I was thrilled to have a prime lens & all that extra light capable of coming into my shots. It has been on my camera all the time- it’s what stays on there until I have a specific need to change out for some other reason. I really didn’t think there was anything wrong with it at all- until I started my class. I was using it to take full body shots & I just wasn’t getting the tack sharp image that I was looking for- even when closing down to f/9.0 or higher.

So a dear, sweet, GENEROUS friend said she would loan me her 50mm f/1.4 to try so I could get an idea if it was my lens that was the issue. Well- it wasn’t until after it was already shipped off to me that we talked about my expectations when shooting people from father away. I was thinking that when I look at the image in full size on my screen- I should be able to see faces JUST AS tack sharp as I do when I am up close. Yeah- she told me I was being unreasonable. But the lens was already on it’s way to me.

SO – her lens arrives & the first things that took me back was how the same focal length from the same company would be so much larger in size. Now that I have her lens here for a couple weeks & I am putting it to the test. First thing I like is that it’s QUIET in comparison to mine. It “hunts” for focus a lot less & my images are ever so slightly sharper SOOC. I like that it’s heavier & feels more sturdy. In fact- I love it so much- I am going to just buy it from her so I don’t have to be sad to send it back. (for the record- I do think that it is sharper when shooting from afar)

I was totally diggin’ the “low key-ish” with the shadow here.

This set processed with Paint the Moon’s Eclipse action that I mentioned yesterday.
(It’s one of my top picks)

Super Moon ~ Tips on Capturing the Moon

By Kleinworth & Co 13 Comments

First I have to tell you- my dear friend Kim (who creates some amazing pictures btw) is going to be offering some online workshops teaching Photoshop & Elements. I know there are a lot of different classes out there- but if you are just getting started & it’s all so confusing right now, this would be a great place to start. I can’t tell you how long it’s taken me to learn everything she will teach you in about 2 hours time. Seriously- I so wish she would have done this a year ago. AND—– it’s so affordable. You won’t have to forego picking up new gear just to pay for the class. Click the button below & check it out & sign up!

NOW- Let me start by saying- a good portion of capturing the moon depends on it’s placement & the phase it’s in. In my experience- my view of the moon when it’s full, like the super moon, the face that I see has less craters & detail. I have always been less than impressed by my moon shots when it’s full. So I had low expectations when it came to the super moon on Saturday.

Now- here are some things that I have learned about shooting the moon.

First– you need to go against your urge to open the shutter. Capturing the moon is actually like shooting directly at a giant flashlight. You can keep your ISO low & your shutter speed fast. I’m usually using my long lens- so my aperture is usually at a minimum of f/5.6 when zoomed at 300mm.

Second- don’t expect those fabulous moon over the horizon shots to just happen. If you want a detailed moon- you have to go with the settings I mentioned above. When you do this- everything else is black. If you want to capture everything below the moon- you have to open your shutter & your result will be a big glowing dot in the sky. (like this shot below) You have to use a double exposure to get the look you are after. Unless you are shooting at dusk & still have some light in the sky. This being said- the example below shows that I didn’t have quite as much light as I thought- I ended up with the dreaded glowing dot. (I have yet to play with double exposure- maybe someday I will give it a whirl.)

5/5/2012 Super Moon 125mm ISO 200 1/25 f/4.5 (not what I wanted)

It was a good thing that I had low expectations for Saturday- because these really came out like crap in comparison to others I have done in the past. (shown towards the end of the post) I really wish I would have done the bulk of this post before going out to capture the super moon because I would have had all these things fresh in my mind before setting up to shoot. I know that the hubs is going to ask me how they turned out & I am going to have to say- not so good. I thought I was getting it while it was happening- but as you know- the little screen can be deceiving at times. So a good part of this post will be examples of the good & the bad. When looking at my settings between the good & the bad- there is a lot I can tell you of what I should have done & then there are some where I really don’t know what went wrong.

5/5/2012 Super Moon 300mm ISO 800 1/160 f/5.6

I thought the sky was light enough to be able to still capture the details. It just wasn’t as sharp as I thought I could get.

I didn’t adjust the warmth either- because at the time it was that yellow while rising.

5/5/2012 Super Moon 300mm ISO 400 1/200 f/5.6
I should have lowered the ISO to 200 to get this sharper.

5/5/2012 Super Moon 300mm ISO 200 1/250 f/5.6

I really don’t know what the deal is with this one. I had my settings right- but the clarity is beyond disappointing. This particular lens has been less than sharp for me lately. I don’t know why. Maybe from when it dropped back in October. But I don’t know why it would take so long to show the effects of that. It’s just not consistent- which is a bummer.

So it was bugging me & bugging me & bugging me. I couldn’t let it go. I waited all day on Sunday to get out there & try again. It finally rose around the time we were heading to bed & so I rushed out to snap a few before turning in. I was pleased with how they turned out & I even like the mysteriousness of it slipping behind the one lonely cloud that was in the sky that night.

5/6/2012 300mm ISO 400 1/200 f/5.6

I upped the ISO & lowered the shutter speed because it wasn’t nearly as bright while rising.

So- what a difference a couple days makes. I shot this yesterday morning. Yes- I got up at 5am because it was all I could think about. I knew that the moon would be brilliant & bright & I wanted another stab at it. So I got up & got exactly what I was after. You can see that it’s slightly less than full- but that allowed me to capture those craters better & all I did to this image was run a sharpening action on it.

5/7/2012 300mm ISO 200 1/250 f/5.6

Now here are some examples & settings of some past moon shots.

This one I captured back in October. I like that it shows the detail & it’s clear- but it still looks less spherical to me.

October 2011

Then there was the lunar eclipse. This was trickier because it wasn’t glowing at all. So I opened the shutter wide & went against all the rules in my head. The result wasn’t sharp- but I was able to capture exactly what I was seeing with my eyes.

12/10/2011 The Lunar Eclipse 300mm ISO 400 1.0 sec f/5.6

As I mentioned before- sometimes capturing the moon while the sky is blue- rather than black, is the best option. I actually captured this in February one morning at sunrise. While the moon isn’t detailed & sharp- I was able to capture the mood- which at the time was what I wanted.

2/12/2012 Sunrise 100mm ISO 200 1/250 sec f/6.3

This is my favorite shot of the moon to date. I shot this back in January & I love it because not only did I get all my settings right- but I like that it’s less than full, which actually gives it the 3 dimensional feel. Like you see in the images above- when the moon is completely full- it can sort of look flat when captured.

January 2012 300mm ISO 200 1/160 f/5.6

So- it’s obvious that I have a lot to learn still. I’m far from an expert.
But I hope that you are able to see what I have done & it helps you capture what you are after.

Drip, Drop………. Drip

By Kleinworth & Co 26 Comments

Okay- Jaymi- my dear sweet Jaymi!!! You have given me so much fun with the camera these past few weeks. God bless you!!!! When Jaymi posted her drops & told us all how to do it- I promptly wrote it all down & here it sat on my desk. For a week!!!!! I finally decided to give it a go. But I don’t have a macro lens – so I did things a bit differently. I didn’t think to take pics as I went- so you will have to just imagine.

First- I set up the tripod next to the sink. Picked out my fabrics I wanted to use as the back splash behind the water. I used my cheapo macro extension tube with my 75-300mm lens. (this set up works the best for macro for me) Now because it’s not the Canon extension– when I use the tube it not only gives me F/00 on my screen but it also forces me to focus manually. So I put my other settings at ISO400 & shutter at 1/200- focused on the bottom of the faucet & just kept clicking the shutter. I did also use my softbox on my speedlight too. It was a lot like capturing lightning- you just click & see what you got later. But I think that was what was fun about it. Sometimes you get a great one- most of the time you catch it in-between the drops & get nothing. Hurray for digital- right?!!

Now processing- I did boost clarity a bit & sharpened like crazy. But that was it.

Thanks Jaymi for giving me something cool to try.

Now I know I shared this last one on Saturday- but it’s my fav!!

Those of you that have this Cardiff fabric on your strap will recognize this.

Chocolate Pralines

By Kleinworth & Co Leave a Comment

Chocolate pralines with pecans are a quick decadent sweet treat for chocolate lovers that you can make for a gift box or dessert in 30 minutes.

A dessert with melted chocolate that you can make from scratch in your kitchen in about 30 minutes without any special equipment, is it real? Absolutely. If you love chocolate candy, you should try these chocolatey pralines with pecans and vanilla.

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