Thanksgiving Dessert

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you have had an excellent, restful and rejuvenating weekend with those you care about. We made the trip down to Swift Current on Friday to see my parents. It was some quality time, with much good food, a bit of park time for us and the dogs, a few hands of 31 and even a bit of planning for Christmas.

We gave mom her gifts (one hadn't arrived yet so we gave her a picture of it for now) and was I ever impressed with the metal prints from Don's. The colours and the way they gather light just makes them glow. I will be recommending them to customers for anything colourful. Even the brushed finish of the metal print used for a black and white portrait was arresting. I must say that it never ceases to amaze me of what a flora gallery of my work my parents' house has become. I may have to have a show there some day. :)

Angie prepared one of the desserts we enjoyed this weekend, a pumpkin cheesecake with candied pumpkin seeds topping the whipped cream. I was happy that there was a piece left over after the first servings for me to photograph the following morning.

Pumpkin Cheesecake by Jay Scott

She said next time that it could be a little bit sweeter and have more spices that the original recipe called for. You can find that recipe at the following link:

http://www.simplebites.net/simple-chilled-pumpkin-cheesecake-vlog/

It seems to work best for us to combine mom's birthday, Thanksgiving and my birthday into one weekend since they are fairly close together. I received my birthday gift which I intend to use toward a Pocket Wizard +III. Originally Angie had planned with my parents to get me a Go Pro Hero 2 to give me some better video and time lapse capability. Of course, knowing me, I changed my mind after they had already made this decision. However, I'm not certain that the Go Pro is the right tool to add to my kit at the moment. It only has a very wide angle lens and that might be great for action videos but certainly not ideal for all uses including time lapses of smaller things. The increased capability of this new radio trigger will serve me far better, and multiple times per week, than the Go Pro which would have been more of a toy than a regularly used tool.

It was a good trip home, with perfect weather, less wind that was forecast and quiet roads. A nice break and trip but also nice to get back to routine.

I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was super.

Autumn Updates

It has been awhile since I wrote anything so I figured an update was due. The winds here have been cold the last week and a nasty and chilling day of heavy rain on Friday brought to mind a favourite Guns 'N Roses song and reminded me of the coming cold.

Deck Shadows by Jay Scott

I'm not bothered by it this year as I have been in most years past. We have had a very good summer and an above average autumn. More than that, with respect to my disposition, are the blessings of a reliable new van, new wheelchair, places to go with them and a solid photography kit to shoot with at those locations. Regular exercise outings with a good friend of identical physical ability has taken it's toll on me with a bit of mild tendinitis and general achiness but it has replaced the worse achiness of inactivity and been a solid boost in my mental state. Exercise in proper amounts cannot be a bad thing.

Among the places of interest for me to travel to with the new van and wheelchair is the previously mentioned Hot Racks Bakery, focus and direction working with the Fine Arts Team at Ebenezer Baptist, and an unexpected email from the Saskatchewan Fencing Association. Seems the estimate I submitted three months ago to make provincial team photos was indeed accepted, I just never received the confirmation email. In addition to the they want me to shoot a special event for them and two national tournaments. Yeah, I was a little shocked, briefly overwhelmed and just a little scared. These "first times" seem to be coming in waves. I guess I can take a hint and just make photos.

I know it won't guarantee success, but I feel like I've been devouring educational material like a wildfire the last while. Practice makes perfect, but I'm glad that every time I've applied untested theory it has worked well for me. A little bit of gear has been ordered that will enable better, quicker results. I have nothing against second hand items or makeshift solutions if they provide the same results, but when they take twice as long to implement that simply translates into time lost, greater cost to the client and greater stress for us. Cheaper solutions are often not cheaper for very long.

That has been the news from here. Again I will mention that the newest photos are being uploaded regularly and can be see under Latest 500px Uploads on the right side of the page. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Have a filling and safe weekend.