Category: Blitherings

In Heaven, There Are Limes, Basil, Garlic & Pistachios

And a few more things, like butter and salmon.

Last night, the Beer Man was off building rockets and dining on fine food chez Auntie Am, so I made myself a small dinner. Browsing through Epicurious, using the magic words of “salmon” and “basil” I came across a wonderful recipe for Salmon with Pistachio-Basil Butter.  Sure sounded good!  But!  I had a lot less salmon, didn’t want a lot of butter, and had tons of garlic, basil, and pistachios.  Dutifully, I opened a bottle of 2006 Babich Marleborough Sauvignon Blanc (after fighting with its seal for ten minutes), poured myself a glass, and set to work.

First thought – complementary foods.  Jasmine rice, and a chopped tomato-cucumber salad.

Next thought – how much is enough?  The original recipe called for one stick of butter, which is way too much for two small salmon fillets, but the intensity of garlic and lime and salted pistachios seemed very alluring.  My results were something like this . . .

Pistachio-Basil Butter
1/2 c. roasted, salted pistachios
3 cloves garlic
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 stick butter, at room temperature, and cut into small pieces
1/4 c. packed basil leaves

Pulse the garlic, lime juice, and basil leaves together. Add the pistachios. When fine, add the softened butter, and blend until as smooth as possible.

Meanwhile . . .
Preheat oven to 400 F. Oil pan. Lay out the salmon fillets in pan and pour about 1/2 c. white wine into the pan. I had a very small pan, and poured in wine to come about a third of the way up the sides of fillets. Bake the salmon for ten minutes, then place about 2 T. of the butter on each fillet. Bake another five minutes. Remove from oven, and serve.

Observation
I had leftovers of the butter mixture, so tried some of the butter after it had baked for 5 minutes, and some which had not. The flavors blended nicely during the time in the oven, and the butter did not melt and dissolve all over the fish. And the unbaked butter? See below.

Caution!
Someone mentioned in the comment area for this recipe it was really difficult to not just sit down and eat the butter mish-mash. Absolutely correct! This stuff is deadly delicious.

Pattern for DIY Diffuser & Reflector

These were very easy to make.  The biggest decision was to glue or not glue parts together.  On the first one, I did, gluing one of the frames to one of the 90 degree elbows, and on the other I did not.  The feet, I glued parts, just because it made sense to have them as stable as possible.

Supplies

  • Ratcheting PVC pipe cutter
  • PVC primer
  • PVC glue
  • Nitrile gloves

For each reflector / diffuser frame you will need:

  • 2 10-foot lengths of PVC pipe, 1/2 inch. Note: if you want heavy-duty feet, use 3/4″ or larger, and adapt the parts accordingly.
  • 4 90-degree elbows, 1/2″ slip
  • 4 T-joints, 1/2″ slip
  • 4 caps, 1/2″ slip

Cut

  • 2 lengths 36″ long (frame)
  • 1 length 24″ long (upper frame)
  • 2 lengths 11.5″ long (lower frame)
  • 2 lengths 3″ long (footing)
  • 4 lengths 6″ long (footing)
Fabric

Choose your fabric to meet your needs.  If you are not familiar with sewing, a few things to note:
  • Be sure how wide your fabric is on the bolt.  It is doubled over, so it will be twice the width as on the bolt.
  • Remember that seams need to be considered in the purchase of your material.  This affects amount of material purchased.
  • Check the fabric.  Does it ravel?  Does it stretch?

Frame will tilt if the lower portion with the T-joint is not glued.

For my frames, I chose a transparent white nylon material, a gold stretchy lame, and a woven silver lame.  This material came in 54″ widths.  Thus, I bought 1 2/3 yards of the transparent white nylon, and 3/4 yard each of the gold and silver fabric, as I backed them against each other.

Frame Assembly

Create a rectangle using the 90-degree elbow joints. Assemble the 36″ lengths for the sides, the 24″ length for the upper portion. For the lower portion, join the two 11.5″ lengths with a T-joint.  Glue the pieces together if you want them to remain rigid in the frame, or do not glue these pieces to the T-joint if you want to be able to tilt your frame. Measure this lower portion against the upper 24″ frame with the elbow joints attached – you may need to adjust the lengths of the pipe to create a good rectangle by trimming the ends of the pipes. Before you glue your pieces together, remember to use the primer first. Then, glue the pieces altogether, or not. If you want to be able to take the frames apart, be judicious in what you decide to glue. Also, glue in a well-ventilated area, and wear your nitrile gloves!

Footing Assembly

Glue the 3″ pieces to either side of a T-joint. Before gluing, attach a T-joint to either side of this piece. Make sure that you place the center joint so it is 90 degrees to the ground – this is the part which goes upward to support the frame – and the side T-joints are flat to the ground. Use a flat surface to place this upon, such as a concrete patio or garage floor. When you are happy with the placements, glue them in place. I did these one at a time, and for the second one, quickly stood on both ends to make sure they were in the same place. Place caps on one end of the four 6″ pieces, and glue in place. These 4 pieces are placed in the T-joints for stability of the footing. You may glue them in place, or not.

Upright Between Footing and Frame

This can be any length.  The shorter ones are more stable, but the longer ones add needed height.  In a windy situation, these are too lightweight to be of much use, but an assistant can hold them if necessary!

Reflector / Diffuser Material

I made pillow slips for the frames.  This allows the covering to be pulled over the frame once it is assembled.  The lower end is open, which allows the frame to be tilted.  It also helps stabilize the frames if you do not glue all the pieces together. Assemble the frame without the footing, and use it to figure out exactly how to cut your fabric.  Allow 1/2″ for each seam.  Cut the fabric as necessary.  If you are a novice to sewing, give yourself room for mistakes – you can always sew more of a seam, but it is not easy to add more material once you have cut off too much! When you sew your slip covers, consider your material.  The white nylon for the diffuser ravelled where it had been cut.  These ends continue to fall out even after sewing, so it is a good idea to finish these edges with zigzag stitching.  This limits the ravelling.  You can do the finishing before or after you have assembled your slips.  I like to do it before I begin sewing, as ravelling threads can get worse as you manipulate the material.  I finished the edges on the silver lame as well, but did not need to do it on the gold lame knit because the structure of the material prevents ravelling from occurring.

For the diffuser, I folded the material over itself, measured it against the frame, pinned it, and sewed it together. When sewn, I turned it so the seams were on the inside.  I also finished the lower edge to prevent ravelling. For the gold and silver reflectors, I placed the front surfaces (the parts I wanted facing outward) toward each other, pinned, and then did the seams.  This way you turn the pieces right side out when done, and the seams are on the inside.  Be sure to make a hem at the bottom of this slip cover as well. Total cost for these two frames was probably less than $30.00.  Total time to assemble was about four hours.  The PVC cutter was the most expensive tool!  Get a good one, not a cheapo for $3.00 like I did.  The blade got worn out, and finally, I had to spend a wopping $13.00 for a new one.

DIY Studio Reflector & Diffuser

Like many people venturing into photography at a more than amateur level, there is a lot of equipment to consider.  Lights, diffusers, soft boxes, strobes, stands, backgrounds for studio work.  Lenses and cameras to make pictures.  Software for post-processing.  The list is endless, and the choices are many.  Because I am not interested per se in studio work, but rather intrigued by it, I don’t want to spend a lot of money investing in items I may not use more than a few times.  I like making things, so I began looking at do-it-yourself projects.  Amazing what is out there!

I came across plans for photographic studio equipment called “Tinker Tubes” by Dean Collins at software-cinema.com.  These are really cleverly designed, easy to make, and incredibly inexpensive.  I decided to make small frames to use as reflectors and diffusers, and put together frames measuring 2 x 3 feet.  Being a novice to PVC pipe, primer, and glue, a small project made sense.  Then, I followed Collins’ footing plans to support the frames.

The coverings were easy enough, as I’ve done a lot of sewing.  I basically made pillow cases to cover the frames, using inexpensive or on-sale material from the local fabric store.  I used white nylon tulle for the white diffuser, and for the reflectors a stretchy, shiny gold lame, and a woven metallic silver material.  I double stitched all the seams, as well as overcast the edges to keep raveling to a minimum.

The first frame I glued at every corner with an elbow. Then I decided that, rather than just propping them up here and there, it would be a good idea to put them on a stand. I glued the feet, being careful to align the upright T-tube perpendicular to the footing. I didn’t glue the T-tube in the lower portion of the frames because I decided to use them and decide what should be glued, and what should not. Because the entire second frame is not glued at all, it can be angled, as shown above. And, both frames can be easily torn down, and different lengths attached to the footing to allow it to be set up at different angles.

Each frame is lightweight, highly portable, likely to fly away in a wind unless weighted, and dirt cheap. For both frames, including glue, primer, material, and PVC, I probably spent a total of 3-4 hours and about $25.00.

And I have leftovers!

Portrait Lighting

I’m in a small, informal group of photographers who meet with a professional in our area for lessons on whatever subject we want.  There are five of us in this group, three of whom met in a short intermediate digital course.  We get together about every two weeks, sometimes indoors, sometimes outdoors.  Our instructor has over 30 years of experience in the field of commercial photography in many levels.  He’s really knowledgeable, generous in his time, and just a blast to be around.

The focus of our last get-together was portrait lighting, which we did in our instructor’s back yard in the early evening.  Practical, hands-0n demonstrations are what we do.  For portrait lighting there were large stands with strobes, some for the main lighting, and some for fill.  The lighting stands went as high as 12 feet, and as low as 3.  With a remote we can attach to our hot shoe, we were able to trigger the lights as they were set up, and individually shoot at different f/stops and times.  Because we had to pass the remote around, we were able to observe as well as talk to our teacher (who is also the model) and each other.  This works out really well altogether.

Full Face / Frontal Portrait

It is not generally recommended to take a portrait of someone straight into their face, especially with a flash mounted directly onto the hot shoe.  This portrait is done straight on, using ambient light from the early evening.  Over all, it is not a bad portrait.  The f/stop provided enough detail of the face, but allowed the background to blur.  This makes the subject the center of attention.

Long Side Lighting

The term “long side” means the side of the face which shows the most – or is the longest.  In this case, it is on the viewer’s right (subject’s left side).  The lighting came from one strobe, placed about 45 degrees into the subject, who has also turned a bit to avoid the full frontal portrait.  The head is also turned away from the light.  The picture on the left shows only one strobe going off, to my right side.  This creates strong shadows and can have a bit of drama to it.  The picture on the left had a fill light to my left set to about 1/4 intensity; this creates a softer counterpoint on the left side of the picture (subject’s right side) to fill in the short side of his face.  Even though the body is turned more in the second image, and the face, the effects of using the fill light can be seen.

Short Side Lighting

Short side lighting illuminates the subject’s “short side,” which is the smaller side of the face as seen in the camera.  Here, it is on the left side of the image (subject’s right side).  I rather like drama of a single light on the subject’s short side.  As you can see, the shadows are strong.  The right side of the image shows a 1/4 intensity fill light, which softens the subject’s face, as well as brings out more detail on the long side.  As in the long side portrait, the lights were about 45 degrees toward the subject.

Butterfly / Hollywood Lighting

According to our instructor, Tom, this lighting style was invented to accommodate the cavernous spaces movie studios had.  As a result of the large areas, dramatic lighting points could be created.  This lighting has a light directly in front of the subject, a few feet higher than the subject, and angled downward.  This is obvious from the glow on the forehead!  The photographer stands directly below the light.  This light results in a bit of a shadow under the nose and chin of the subject.  Also, notice the darker background?  We were into the gloaming part of night when this was shot.

Rembrandt Lighting

This lighting technique is named after the famous Dutch painter, Rembrandt van Rijn, whose dramatic lighting was his signature style.  Theories behind his lighting say it is because of the poor lighting available in the 1600s.  This could very well be true!

In photography, the lighting is placed to the side of the subject and photographer, up high and pointing downward.  The shadow under the opposite eye is obvious, and the light from the strobe should be triangular in shape, and no wider than the subject’s eye.  This is not perfectly done.  Also, fill light could be used to soften Tom’s shadowed side, but the drama of this lighting is rather nice.

Catch Light

A portrait is about the person, and eyes which do not draw the viewer’s attention are dull and lifeless.  Catch lighting is used to create a bright, white area of highlight in the eyes of the subject.  This, though, is not red eye, which is caused by a reflection of light from the retina toward the viewer.  Catch light set ups can range from simple to tricky.  Here, the strobe was placed toward the front of the subject, and aimed toward the subject in such a way that red eye did not occur.  Additionally, a fill light was used.  As far as drama, there is little here, so the catch lights are not especially noticeable, but if they were not present, this would be even more boring and uninteresting.  Below is a detail of the catch light.

Perspective

Corporate photos are bread and butter for a lot of people.  These are full face and not too exciting.  The purpose of the corporate photo is to present an image of solidity and dependability, as well as flattering perspectives of the management team, or whoever is being put on display.  Photography for marketing or portraiture can put a whole new skew on things.  Traditionally, it is considered “better” to shoot a man with certain poses or from certain perspectives, such as shooting upward.  For women, the same applies, with a tradition of a downward shoot or traditionally feminine poses.  Of course, this reeks of sexism and stereotyping, but used properly, they can create effective and attractive portraits.  I shot this one of Tom from below (duh!), and as I am rather short I didn’t have to do much to get it.  It has a nice bit of action to it, rather interesting side lighting, and a bit of a catch light.  There is some glare on the glasses, but nothing which is especially distracting.

Commentary

There is nothing like doing something, and then analyzing what has been done.  In writing this post, I realize how much I learned!  Good lighting is necessary for success in portraiture – something, admittedly, I am not usually excited by nor interested in.  However, this short class session has awakened an interest, as well as an appreciation for the portrait photographer.  I think I will probably give portrait photography a bit more serious consideration in my photographic explorations.

Impressionism in Photography

The Impressionist movement in France was an art movement that came to the attention of the Parisian public from the 1870s onward.  The name for this movement came from a single painting, by Claude Monet, entitled Impression, soleil levant. In painting, the emphasis is on the changing qualities of light, movement, perception, and a perspective heavily influenced by Japanese prints.  Analogous movements of Impressionism emerged in the areas of non-visual arts, such as literature and music, as well as other visual arts.  Here, we will look at in photography.

Every art requires a certain level of mastering its skills.  Today, many pieces of “art” are labeled “impressionistic”  to hide this lack of mastery, whether technical or artistic.  However, I am not going to go into whether or not so-and-so is an artist; your artistic skill or taste is not what I want to explore (nor mine, for that matter, though, of course, I am somewhat prejudiced!).  Instead, I want to look at history and techniques which the photographer might wish to consider, including myself.

In our time, photography is ubiquitous.  It is found everywhere.  Imagine, though, a time when the only way to preserve the appearance of anything visually – a person, a place, a thing, an idea – was to record it with lines, color, a sculpture.  To do so meant access to scarce resources, invention and exploration, and training.  When photography came into being, it was nothing short of miraculous.  With a long history of painting preceding it, as well as the fact photography is the recording of the visual, its pictorial elements and abilities to capture permanently a fleeting moment of time, its ability to preserve reality was its primary purpose.

Early photography took time.  The result was that one move would create blur.  A person might twitch in the middle of a 20-minute exposure.  The sun could shift.   Some things in nature simply do not hold still.  I expect the early photographers were quite frustrated by all this movement!  Add to the frustration of motion is the fact that early photography was plagued by a lack of permanence because of the unknown qualities of chemical processes.  Reality in sharp focus, along with image stability,  quite likely were driving forces behind much of the research into chemistry.

Today, there is no issue with catching reality as it happens.  Our technology is far beyond that of the early 1800s, and certainly exceeds that of only five years ago.  Even so, in the last 150 years, the influence of cultural art movements as they were occurring could not but impact photography once it became accessible to the general public.  Our times are no different.  And, because our processes, both chemical and digital, are so stable, the need to change the image beyond a mere photograph drives us today.  Hence, an interest in the creative elements of photography and a manipulation of the medium beyond a mere representation of reality.  This need can be seen as a driving force behind today’s impressionistic photography.