As a child, I was an avid fiction reader. I loved anything from Chronicles of Narnia to The Babysitters Club to Anne of Green Gables to Amelia Bedelia. …and…wait for it…Choose your own adventure!!!
I think I actually believed they were non-fiction though!
Wrapped in a blanket hiding away in one of my homemade forts, I would read my favourite series over and over until the pages were falling out and the glossy coating wrinkled away from the fading cover. I loved nothing more than getting lost in a fantasy world.
Nowadays, my passion has evolved from reading story books to informational books. I still occasionally enjoy reading a good fiction book (mostly if I’m on vacation though), but I love to read non-fiction books to learn more about my passions. My love for non-fiction books started when I fell in love with health and nutrition. I bought books like Dr. Oz’s YOU series, Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Cancer, Howard’s The Owners Manual for the Brain, and later, Pollan’s In Defense of Food. When cooking and baking became a passion in my life, my cookbook collection grew, and grew, and grew and I found myself inspired to follow a similar path.
And then there’s the photography.
Growing up, my family would always teasingly call me, ‘the little tourist’ because I took pictures of everything…every moment…everyone…nothing could escape my wrath! Mom in her robe first thing in the morning? Photo worthy. My sister Kristi taking one of my beloved belongings? Also photo worthy.
My love for photography started with a Polaroid camera and progressed to using my dad’s film camera and eventually receiving my own point & shoot digital camera from Eric as a birthday gift. I think Eric’s words were, “I think you need to switch to digital so we can stop wasting so much money on film.” He did have a point, but little did he know that I would soon require more computer storage to fit all my digital raw photos and a new lens to go with it. ;)
There was just something about capturing the beauty of real life in a photo that excited me to no end.
Even though I always loved photography, I never expected that it would blossom into something that I do everyday as part of my career. Now, rarely a day goes by that I am not practicing.
When I started the blog in 2008, I used my old, beaten up Point & Shoot camera (we now call it the “point & shit” because it doesn’t always turn ON). Eric bought a Canon DSLR in 2007 and I was so intimidated by it, I didn’t start using it for my blog photos for over 1.5 years. Over time, he was able to show me the difference a professional camera (and the right knowledge) could make in a photo.
After several months of shooting in “auto” mode with the DSLR, I decided that it was time to shoot in RAW format to give myself the freedom to post-process photos without compromising the quality. When Ashley was visiting, she showed me how she uses Adobe Lightroom to edit photos (something I had been using blindly for a couple months prior) and with practice, I fell in love with it a bit more each day. Now, I couldn’t imagine shooting in auto mode because shooting in raw is just so much more fun. Post-processing is also super quick once you get the hang of it. It typically takes me less than 30 seconds per photo.
I typically have a few books on the go at the same time (including several cookbooks), because as always, I can’t just pick one thing to focus on! I like to spend about a half hour at night reading, so I don’t get through books very quickly. ;)
Right now, you can find me reading through a ton of vegan cookbooks as well as my recently purchased Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin, otherwise known as Tartelette!
I fell in love with Plate to Pixel from the moment I opened the book. Not only does Helene’s passion for food photography jump off the page, but it’s brimming with full colour, stunning photography throughout the book. I’m only a quarter of the way through and I’ve already learned so much and brushed up on some skills that were a bit foggy. I highly recommend it to those of you who are interested in pursuing food photography at a deeper level.
What are you reading right now? What were your favourite books to read as a kid?
what a great book recommendation! i recently purchased my first dslr and am learning primarily through trial and error. will definitely check out plate to pixel.
As a kid I was addicted to The Babysitter’s Club series and Sweet Valley High. Now I’m lucky if I get to read anything other than stuff for work. And blogs, of course! :)
Thanks for this recommendation – I need to develop some photog skills.
I noticed you have ‘The Vegan Table’ – how did you find that book? I loooove Colleen; I listen to her podcast all the time and has been the best source for going vegan. I also loved the Babysitters Club. Honestly, anything that was part of a ‘series’ you probably found me reading it. Another one that recently popped in my head that I forgot about, Animorphs. I don’t know if you even heard of this series or read it, but it was yet another series that I did read too…oh boy!
I bought Plate to Pixel last month and am totally in love with it! I think you will really enjoy it!
I always had my nose in a book as a kid. Even on the walk home from school! My parents used to have to tell me to STOP READING to go outside & play, haha. I would get sucked into fiction stories & be unable to put it down.
I reeaally should get that book! My man bought a DSLR in July & has been encouraging me to use it as well. It is intimidating! I’ve also been playing with photoshop & whatnot. It was easier to get great photos in the summer with the natural light, but I’m now learning how to use manual settings & the tripod. In fact, the recipe post I made today (for Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread) shows dark photos, yellow photos, & then normal photos. I just made fun of it through the whole post :P It’s so fun to learn & I love the practice!
I love the fact that you take photos of everything… me too! I love to go on long walks but the friends or family i’m with often find me frustrating as I am quite fast paced so they struggle to keep up but then out of nowhere something will catch my attention and out comes the camera so i’m left behind whilst they wonder whether to wait for me or continue on to get a headstart!!
I’ve also been ‘point and shoot’ up until now- i like the spontaneity it offers and there will always been a time and a place for that, butbow i think its time for me to bite the bullet and start do it properly!
Thanks for the recommendation on Plate to Pixel- i had come across that book myself and thought it might be something to add to my xmas list.
p.s sorry i’ve waffled…..
I recently read Plate to Pixel too, and it completely transformed my photographic skills. People now comment on my photos as well as my content, which is great. I still have a ways to go, but practice as often as I can. Someday I will have photos as beautiful as yours.
Plate to Pixel is on my nightstand as well. I don’t have enough time to practice what I’m learning, but someday!
Ooh, Plate to Pixel just went straight to my Xmas wish list! :)
I love the feeling of really being soaked up in a good novel but lately I just haven’t found a novel that would reach that level. Unfortunately.
I also love cookbooks but have a hard time finding a good moment to read them, as they tend to make me so hungry! Cookbooks definitely aren’t bedtime reading – at least for me.
I always want to read all of these informational books, but I always end up turning to fiction! I think it’s because my brain can’t take much more information after reading for my law school classes, and it needs a break!
Nice to know, I was looking for a book to go with my love of cooking and my camera.
BTW Yeah for the French writer hihihi
Maude
Helene is amazing. Love, love, love that book. I read it all the time. I don’t read it in order, I go back and re-read chapters, I love it. Best and most comprehensive book on photography and food styling that I’ve ever read or seen and not to mention, Helene is such a super awesome person, too.
Photography and lightroom, yep. Could not imagine my life without it.
And I also shoot in RAW and on manual (as of the last few months). Prior to that I shot on aperture priority (Av mode) but feel I can get better images by manual shooting, in RAW, and then editing in LR. Sounds like a lot but it’s been an evolution over time like your journey sounds and I couldn’t imagine my life without my camera and photography these days!
Hi Angela,
I adore your photography…your food looks like I could reach into the screen and eat it.
Thank you for your post yesterday – I needed that…I wonder at times why I’m in my head so much – but I know that I’m not alone. :)
Right now Rob (my Fiance) is reading to me – we have a ritual about reading to eachother at night…oh – the book is “Primal Blueprint” – We tend not to be Fiction readers…my guilty pleasure is my Bon Appetit subscription, and various other mags that my friends and I share the cost for and circulate…
I’m reading Plate to Pixel right now and I LOVE it as well. I’m still confused a bit on RAW photos though..
I really would love to start learning more about photography (it might help if I would actually start a blog to post them on) I just get so intimidated by all of it! The technology, the time commitment, not to mention the courage it takes to open up about your life. Gosh I sound like a scaredy cat! Haha
As far as books go, lately I’ve been reading religious non fiction. I’ve been enjoying “Girl Perfect” recently. It’s written by a former runway model who opens up about all sorts of issues she faced and we as women face each day (like body image, perfectionism, negative thoughts etc) then she contrasts them with the truth God tells us. It is so transforming! But as a kid I looooved Junie B Jones, Saddle Club (pretty much anything with horses) anything Jan Brett wrote, The Giver, Let the Circle Be unbroken, any non fiction about dolphins I would scoopup and study like a fiend. There were so many! And of course I can’t remember them now haha
I love reading non-fiction. I went through a big biography phase with actors/actresses from the 1940s and 50s. I recently read a bunch on health and food. In Defense of Food is one of my favorites as well as The End of Overeating. Some crazy info in there!
I recently ordered a copy of Plate to Pixel as a belated birthday gift to myself. I can’t wait until it arrives! Until then, it’s cookbooks and fiction, with historical fiction being my favorite.
I must go in search of this book! Looks fab!
Angela, I’d really like to get a photography book for my passionate sister. However, she’s more interested in taking pictures of people. Do you have any suggestions of photography books that you think are just as good as plate to pixel?
I’m sorry I don’t (this is my first photography book I think!). I always find Amazon is so helpful because you can search by ratings and popularity :)
Yes to The Babysitter’s Club! This looks like a great read, I’m realizing how important my photos are to my blog. The lighting is always so dark, but I don’t want to use the flash. Great tip about Lightroom too! Thanks!