Over/under on UFO reports this morning?

As former meteorologists and self-proclaimed space nerds, my husband and I had been following the updates for NASA's ATREX experiment for a few weeks. Initially scheduled for earlier this month, the launch had been postponed several times due to uncooperative weather (amongst other things). Last night before bed, we saw that the launch had reached another window, from 2-5am this morning.

Jon had to wake up super early for a work thing today, and when his alarm went off at 4:30 the countdown was at T-8 minutes and holding. It picked back up shortly after, and juuuust before the end of the launch window, at 4:58 am, the first rocket launched.

So why am I telling you this? There are pictures, kids!















In case you're wondering, the purpose of these rockets (there were five, launched off the east coast) was to release chemical tracers to study the winds in the high-altitude jet stream (higher than the one you fly in).

Apparently my getting up early was worth it - emails have been coming for permission to use my pictures! Check them out online: Spaceweather.com (they accidentally called me Alice!); Mashable, Space.com, Fluidr Explore #160, Canadian Awareness

tabouleh

I shot these pictures (as well as the ice cream cone post before this one) with my new Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens.

ice cream before dinner

Today, we ate ice cream before dinner. It was melty, crunchy, drippy, and delicious. I don't have many pictures to show because, as expected when it's 84° outside, ice cream melts. And it melts fast.





I used the tutorial found here to make them this afternoon. Give them a try with whatever flavors of ice cream (or frozen yogurt, as I used for the cookies 'n cream flavor) you want!

good eats

Recently I've taken it upon myself to get back into food photography. I always loved cooking or baking and then spending 20 minutes photographing it while my husband sits salivating and famished at the table next to me. I hadn't been doing it much lately for that reason. I wanted to be sure I put food on the table and actually let him have a chance to eat it while it was still hot.

After reading Helene Dujardin's book Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography & Styling, I learned new techniques for both photographing and styling (as the title implied I might).

I'm seriously loving it. I know I probably come across as such a flake, having gone from posting travel photos, to flower macros, to portraits, and now to food. 'Can't she just decide what she wants to do and stick to it?' you may say. No, but that's besides the point. I've never actually styled my food before. I'd just plop it on the plate, compose the shot, and snap away. I didn't think much else about it. For the past week or so, I've taken the time to set up a scene before even plating my food so that the pictures can be taken within a few minutes and the food can be eaten (still warm!) just after that. Take a look at what I've done so far:









Lots of adjustments to make, but I'm happy with my start into food styling.

Other news! Oh, how could I forget?!

Back in February we visited Mexico for a few days. Without going into boring details, I dropped my camera on a marble floor, lens first. The 7d came out unscathed, and I thought the lens (Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 Macro) had too. We got to the hotel and went out to the beach to find the rest of the group and when I tried to take a picture, the lens wouldn't focus. I looked at the lens barrel and part of the lens body was separated from the other part. If I hold the lens together, I can still take pictures (so at least the inner workings of the lens seem to be fine), but it's hard to shoot like that, nor do I want to rely on a broken lens.

I had been saving up to replace that lens soon, anyway. It was a great lens, but I had outgrown it and needed something a little better. I was leaning toward the Canon 24-105mm f/4 L IS. The f/4 concerned me a little, but I also liked the 105mm reach compared to my old 70, plus the IS is a huge bonus. Anyway, I waited about a month and finally started seriously looking into buying it last week. I was starting to feel limited without a mid-range zoom. So after browsing the typical shops: B&H, Adorama, Amazon, local shops, etc, I took to eBay. Wasn't sure what I would find, but there were quite a few 24-105 L lenses posted. So I watched them for a few days to see what the general final sale price was. Just about $820-850, well below the brand new price of $1150. I placed a bid on one of the nicer ones. Lost. Had been eyeing up a mint condition lens that was coming with both lens caps, the box, the case, and a UV filter that had been on it since day one. Won the auction and paid under $800. It comes tomorrow and I can't wait to use it!