kylewith

Jan 10 2012

Planes and Airports of the Holidays

Traveling is a fun experience. We go to different places, see different thing. It takes us out of our norm. People may dread those long layovers, but I like those people watching times.

All those different people all doing the same thing, traveling. All with there on style and mannerisms.

Airports present a very interesting arena for the wannabe photog. I love the HDR shots I was able to get, capturing what happens so many times a day.

Sadly I don’t think I will be at an Airport for a while now. When the time comes though, I have some ideas.

Jan 09 2012

What I just ate: Butterflied Steak and Potatoes

I’ll make this quick because I’m tired and I want to write this while it is fresh in my mind. This is what I cooked for supper tonight. It is in fact I teased everyone with on Facebook. I cooked it for myself and friend and former co-worker Megan.

The Meat from top to bottom:

A Portobello Mushroom, swiped clean and grilled will the grill was heating up on high. Put aside was charred on both sides.
Butterflied an average steak, rubbed in chopped fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. Added a bit of Olive Oil. Grilled for 4 mins on the grill, flipping every minute for medium.
French loaf cut on an angle and then in half. Place on grilled to heat up and flatten.

I really enjoyed this, it was amazing. It had taste and flavour. It wasn’t not dried out. What I did find was that the french loaf was a little too charred and that taste overwhelmed the steak. The mushroom as got cold quickly, too quickly for my eating speed. I would probably reheat before serving.

The Potatoes and all that jazz:

Boil baby potatoes for 15 mins or until soft.
Mix together cottage cheese and lemon juice for dressing. Put in bowl will still warm potatoes and mix around.
Add in BACON bits and chives to add even more amazing flavour.

These potatoes blew my mind, they were great and not just because of the bacon. I recipe called for yogurt, but I used cottage cheese instead and I think it was for the best. Will definitely do again.

Both recipes are from Jamie’s Food Revolution. I would do again with minor adjustments. Thoughts?

Jan 09 2012

My attempts at Aurora Photography so far

To date I have attempted to shoot the Aurora Borealis twice. The first time was in September in the Peace Region, just north of Fort St. John, and the second was just recently over the holidays in Yellowknife, on the Dettah Ice Road.

Both times I tried different things and got very different results. Ironically, I think my first attempt was better than my second. Lets take a look and compare.

ISO400, 11mm, f/8, 30 seconds

ISO200, 16mm, f/13, 70 seconds

The biggest thing you will notice is the shutter speed. The first time I left it open to the longest preset of 30 seconds, the second time I used the BULB setting and timed it to about 70 second.

I’m not sure why I tried 70 seconds on the second attempt. Partly I think it was because when I had first gone out the lights were not out as strong, but they did end up coming out. As I scoured Flickr afterwards I think the most common shutter speeds are 15 and 30 seconds. It makes sense as you can see above in my first attempt. The ISO is also a mystery to me. I’m afraid to go any higher that ISO640 in fear my photos will look graining. What I have noticed on Flickr, is that if you want the foreground to show use a higher ISO. If you want it to appear more of a silhouette use a lower ISO. I read that my Nikon D90 works best at ISO200 so I had it there for my second attempt.

What I am struggling with on some level is my cameras capabilities. I’m read over and over that it is not the gear you use, it is how you use it. I tend to disagree with this when it comes to the Aurora. Obviously camera that are better suited for low-lighting will shine through in quality. For the time being though I have the D90 and I’ll stick with it.

These are some of my lessons learned in the first two attempts with Aurora. Do you have any advise and do something that works for you?

Jan 08 2012

For the love of cookbooks!

I need to stop buying them, I have enough now. I need to start cooking. Yet every time I go into the book store I stop in the cooking section and drool. I want this one, this one too, oh and this one!

Can’t I have them all!

I have been on a Jamie Oliver kick lately and want to complete my set of his books. So far I have Jamie’s Kitchen, Jamie Oliver’s Food Escape and Jamie’s Food Revolution. The ones I am wanting now are Meals in Minutes, which I find very useful, and Cook with Jamie. Then I think I should stop buying his stuff.

I appreciate Jamie’s books more than Gordon Ramsey’s because I think I subconsciously don’t like Ramsey because of his attitude on some of his TV shows. I’ve always seen Jamie as a happy-go-lucky cook. That being said I do have one of Ramsey’s books and it is quite good.

Speaking of British cooks though, here is something I have noticed. They don’t use a lot of beef. Here in Canada we have a lot of beef and I tend to think it is one of the most common meats to use here, but that isn’t the case across the pond. They use lamb and more seafood – I live in Northern Canada there isn’t much seafood here – which is stuff I don’t see myself cooking on an average day.

So my next steps, after going through all the books I now have, are to try to find some more “Canadian” cook’s with book. I have a Guy Fieri book, but he is a little extreme, I do like him though, so I am wondering about Michael Smith. I know he isn’t Canadian, but he might be more on my level.

Two questions for you now: Who is your favourite Chef? and What is your favourite cookbook?

Jan 02 2012

KyleWith’s Top 5 Posts of 2011

Time to reflect on my blogging of 2011. I wont get into any more details than that. For more on what I am looking forward to in 2012, you can read my New Years Blog Post.

In the fall of 2011 I started doing my Podcast again, this time it geared towards featuring northern photographers and creative people. Doing that gave me a boost in traffic, and shows in the Top 5 Posts below.

KyleWith: Photojournalist Pat Kane – Pat was the 3rd photographer I interviewed on my podcast and is based in Yellowknife. He works for the northern publication, UpHere Magazine, as the Photo Editor. He has some interesting things to share as most of his photos have a real story to them. Pat also just got engaged, congrats, Pat.
New 60th Parallel NWT Border Sign – Driving back to Yellowknife back in June 2011, I stopped at the 60th Parallel or NWT Border with Alberta. They had just put up a new NWT sign, which I like, but many don’t.
KyleWith: Photographer Kyle Marquardt – Kyle is the latest photographer I have interview and although he is based in Calgary, he has traveled the world. Including the arctic, which is what caught my eye. He loves photographing and is really making a name for himself.
KyleWith: Designer Janet Pacey – Janet is not a photographer, but she is highly creative and knows how to use that. She is the creator of the popular Ptarmi stuffed toy, which I have blogged about. She is also funny, have a listen.
Election Results Explained in Hilarious Image – 5th on the list is a funny infographic I found right after the federal election results were announced. It is mildy amusing and if you understand politics, you should think so too.

There you have it my top 5 of 2011.