weekend reading

I'll start with a big happy birthday Mamacino! You've written some wise words here.

To Her Core is a fun new wholefood read

Now that we're renovating (!) I've been devouring inspiration via magazines, books and these little videos

Boho kitchens. Can you see me in any of these?

Do you have a wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to wear? Check out Brenda's solution.

How magical is this mermaid photograph?

My husband Pete is a professional photographer and author, we're having a festive sale over on his online gallery his books 'Point Nepean' and 'Fire and the Story of Burning Country' are available for $35 each including postage anywhere in Australia. Pete can sign the books and include a personalised message and there's still time to order and receive before Christmas! Lots of lovely photographic prints available too. Visit River&Sol gallery.

Happy weekending everyone. I hope you're enjoying all that is good about December and the year drawing to a close. Or perhaps this time of year makes you dream of hitting that wide open road :)

xx

9 tips for taking better photos

We'll take a little break today from wholefood and turn our attention to another great love of mine, photography. Now, I'm no expert when it comes to taking photos but I do enjoy it. Having a passion for something always helps with the end result. So today I share my simple photography tips in the hope it might help you get better results too.

9 tips for taking better photos

1. Light, Lens, Love: This tip comes from a very talented Australian photographer Jacqui Mitelman. I had the pleasure of doing a portraiture workshop with Jacqui about 12 years ago and her words have stayed with me.

I always choose natural light over using a flash ( on most cameras and phones you can turn the flash off). If you look at the photos of the fruit above you can see the difference in the photos based on where the light source (daylight through the kitchen window) is hitting the fruit.

The first and last light of the day is a beautiful time to take portraits of your children or anyone for that matter, or to capture the layers of colours for landscape photography. I learnt this tip about natural light from my husband Peter McConchie who is a real life professional photographer :)

If you have a fixed lens camera like I do then you are stuck with it (sorry!), but if you can change your lens perhaps consider doing some research, see which lenses other photographers are using and try out a different one to what you have now.

And of course everything done with Love produces a more beautiful result.

2. Look to the edges of the frame: this is a tip I read in a book years ago and it made a big difference to my photos. Often we are so focused on our subject in the centre that we forget to pay attention to what is around it, by looking to the edges you will notice if you need to move your subject to a better position. Beware of poles or trees sticking out the top of people's heads, or clutter on your benchtop if you are photographing food.

3. Pay attention to the background: this is similar but slightly different to the previous tip. Many years ago I happened to go on a shoot with Sydney photographer Ingvaar Kenne, he was photographing a Christian rockband! It was on this shoot I picked up the tip about the importance of background, especially for portraits. The streets of Melbourne were the backdrop for the shoot, Ingvaar showed me how to use everything from a staircase to a roller door as a background and the difference it made to the feeling of the photo. Try it out, different colours, different textures all create a different effect. Sounds obvious and simple but paying close attention to the details is what makes the difference between a great shot and a mediocre one.

4. Know your camera: I have to admit I am still working on this myself. I bought a new camera about six months ago because my other camera ended up with sand in it and that was the end of that. (mini tip - protect your camera from sand!) My current camera is a Fujifinepix S with a 30x superwide fixed lens. Next camera, I will definitely get one with a changeable lens. Photographers such as Jodi would also tell you to switch your camera off auto and on to manual, I too am yet to do this! I have started playing around with doing this but am not that confident about it yet. Watch this space...

5. Study photography you love: and see if you can work out exactly what it is that you love about it, what sets it apart from other photography? is it the light? the composition? movement in the shot?
the angles? Visit Jay, Jodi, Kellie, Erin, my husband Pete for some inspiration.

6. Challenge yourself: set yourself a task such as joining in with Jodi's 52 project, this will hone your skill if you have a topic to focus on.

7. School up: either borrow books from the library, do an online course, or find one at your local community centre or tafe. The main thing though is to remain passionate about what you are doing. The most technically correct photographers do not always have the most feeling in their work, but by doing some study you will gain confidence in what you are doing and the effects you want to achieve.

8. Edit edit edit: Until I met Pete I kept every photo I took! Pete has taught me the art of editing and that it requires you to be ruthless.

9. Practice, practice, practice

Now it's over to you, what are your favorite photography tips? or favorite photography sites or bloggers?

sunday stills

1. My favorite quick beans meal
2. Carrot hummus with cumin and parsley
3. Rocket flower
4. Tomato plant, thyme, and sage
5. Pansy power
6. I do love flowers
7. Recipe research

linking up with Beetleshack Em xo

monday musings: on buying a new camera

Monday is the day I veer off topic and muse about something other than wholefood...

Ever since I was a child I have loved taking photos. At about age nine I was given my first camera, a red hanimex slimline instamatic. I then graduated to an automatic point and shoot zoom lens Pentax which saw me through my teens. In my early twenties my dad sent me a birthday gift my first SLR, made by Minolta. I loved the feel of this camera, it felt like a real camera and I felt like a real photographer. I had that camera for about ten years before it jammed up and stopped working. I'm grateful to have taken photos of River as a baby on real black and white film using the Minolta. Once that camera was broken, it was time for me to enter the world of digital photography.

Fortunately Pete, my professional photographer husbo, did the camera shopping for me. The guys at the camera shop Pete regularly deals with for his work sold him a basic Canon Ixus point and shoot number quite a step down in size from my Minolta SLR but a very simple way to step into digital. Fast forward seven years and on this last trip to Byron I managed to get sand inside the Canon and the lens jammed. "Sand is the worst", were the words of the assistant at the camera repair shop, "$60 just to look at it. At least $200 if you need a new lens".

The best part about a camera breaking are the upgrade possibilities. Fortunately the expense part was covered by some gifted birthday money - good timing!

That was a very long introduction to my guide for buying a new camera...

1. Consider what you need your camera for, and your level of interest in learning about photography.
In my case I need a camera to take photos for my blog and to photograph my children. Yes a point and shoot would suffice (in fact many people get by nowadays using their mobile phone camera) but I am ready to immerse myself back into understanding a bit more about the art of photography and want a camera that allows me to switch from auto to manual exposure. This means having control over shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

2. Ask some friends for their recommendations both for camera make and model and for where to buy.
I had it in my mind that an SLR was definitely what I wanted but after talking to Pete and another professional photographer friend I decided I really didn't need to spend a heap of money to get a camera that would give me quality shots and some creative freedom. As my photographer friend pointed out "You pay a lot of money to make that little mirror go up and down", he has a point!

I was considering the most basic Canon SLR EOS 1100D and I asked Jay where she had recently purchased her camera. Jay gave me some great advice and that was that the lens that comes with a 'kit' camera is often not that great so it can be best to buy the body and lens separately, and directed me to e-global digital cameras.

I also asked Jodi what type of camera she uses, Jodi loves her camera and highly recommended the Panasonic gf1 with 20mm 1.7 lens. It was while researching the gf1 that I learnt about bridge cameras. For those like me who have no idea what a bridge camera is, basically it is a camera that is not an SLR but offers more capabilities than a point and shoot camera meaning you have the option to have control over exposure and on some bridge cameras you have the option to change lenses. Here is a buying guide to bridge cameras.

This led me to think that Pete and my other photographer friend were right that I probably didn't really need an SLR camera so after a bit more searching online I decided that before any purchasing happened I needed to actually hold some of the cameras I was considering so I headed off to Ted's cameras and got some old-fashioned face to face customer service. Some very good customer service I might add! This helped me to narrow my options down and I was choosing between a Canon Powershot SX 510 and a Fuji Finepix S4000.

More trawling on the internet followed and this is potentially where I have made a mistake. I stumbled upon a site with cameras at prices that well, seemed too good to be true. I ordered a Fuji Finepix S4300 for $98...I placed the order 9 days ago and I haven't received the camera yet. I am sceptical because the day after I ordered the camera I received an email from the company saying that they had received my order but not my payment (my bank account showed payment was out of my account) and would I like to cancel my order or when would I be sending payment? Hmmm. I emailed and let them know that payment had been sent but perhaps we needed to allow another 24 hours before it hit their bank account. Mid last week they confirmed payment had been received and that I would receive a tracking number and my camera would be on the way. I haven't received the tracking number, the camera nor a reply to my email asking where the tracking number is. And there is no phone number on their website. So friends watch this space!

3. Purchase the camera from a reputable dealer or one that at least has a phone number on their website.

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I hate to think I have been had so I am holding out hope that my camera will arrive. I am counting my golden dollars that I decided not to spend $500 or more on an SLR. I hope there is something useful within this long post for those of you who are looking to buy a new camera. Good luck and please share your camera buying stories in the comments, it is a fairly overwhelming task sifting through so many options!