The Photography Process And Blogging

Good afternoon!

I made a game time decision last night not to workout. I just was not feeling it and I felt pretty worn out from my work day. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between feeling lazy and feeling burned out or tired so I decided to do the ‘10 minute rule’. For the 10 minute rule I say that all I have to do is 10 minutes, if I want to stop I can.

I decided to do some Booty Camp while I watched 24. My body felt so weak and I immediately knew that I was not going to have a good workout and I needed rest. I did about 8 minutes of abs and called it quits! That was that. ;)

And because listening to the body is always a good thing,  I had a killer workout this morning.

I don’t know why I hum and haw over skipping a workout because the next day I always end up having such a great workout and I totally forget about it. I felt rested and full of energy this morning when I got up.

Before my workout I had a delicious juice:

1 beet, handful spinach, lemon, lime, 2 carrots, 1/2 cuke. For lunch, I used the leftover pulp in my Amy’s split pea soup and it wasn’t the best decision I have ever made. Much too lemony! Oh well.

The Workout:

Today I decided to do another strength session before my run. I really enjoyed doing this last week and I think it makes for a more challenging run.

Strength: Booty Camp Fitness DVD- Intermediate level (43 mins) Total body workout.

Run: An easy 3 mile outdoor run. I stopped to smell the roses snow melting. It was not very warm out yet since it was just 7am, but it still was nice to be out and I was warm after 10 minutes. Duration of run = 29 mins.

I came home and stretched. My body was begging for FOOD, food, food!

Energize Me Creamy Fruit Dip

This was inspired by Gena’s Banana Soft Serve.

Ingredients:

• 2 frozen bananas (if serving immediately, if not, use room temp)
• 3-4 tablespoons of milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 heaping tablespoon nut butter (I used cashew butter)
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

Directions: Throw ingredients into a food processor (or blender?) and process until smooth. I had to stop several times and stir. Makes about 3/4 of a cup.

Notes: I put leftover dip in the fridge and checked it a few hours later. The dip got really thick thanks to the chia seeds and it was very pudding like and thick. I almost liked it better after a few hours in the fridge! Also note that the dip changed colour a bit in the fridge (slightly brownish grey). I assume this is from the bananas and chia seeds. You might be able to add a tiny bit of lemon juice to prevent this from occurring. Let me know if you try it!

Wherever I end up when I die, I hope this is served 3 times a day. :mrgreen:

The cashew butter made it down right decadent, but still very light.

I had my dip with an apple. It was out of this world!

This would be a fabulous dip to make for a party too!! It took just 3 minutes to make.

Next time I am going to experiment by making it with cocoa and/or carob powder for a chocolate fruit dip. Mmmmmm.

It was such a great post-workout snack! The chia seeds add antioxidants, protein, fibre, healthy fats, etc. and the cashew butter made it luxurious without being over-powering.

The Photography Process and Blogging:

Last week, I was asked how many photos I usually take for each post. I had to giggle because I take A LOT. For example, in today’s post I took about 40-45 photos (juice + dip shots) but only 5-6 shots made the cut!

I currently use Eric’s Canon 30D SLR in addition to a 50 mm lens and an external flash. I also use my Canon Powershot 800IS point and shoot when I go to restaurants or places I don’t want to lug the SLR.

Here are some of the thumbnails from today’s shots (you can click to enlarge):

I take the shots from different angles and using different settings. I play around with the external flash too. I LOVE photography. It is my favourite thing about composing each post! Eric and I are going to take an introductory photography class sometime this year.

As for editing my shots, I generally don’t do much, but sometimes I like to crop them to bring something into focus. For example, that last picture of the dip was cropped.

Here is the original vs. the cropped version:

Also, if the photo is too dark, I will adjust the exposure in Photoshop to brighten it up.

Here is the original vs. the one that I adjusted the exposure:

And that is as far as my editing skills go!

For all of you photography buffs or bloggers out there- tell me what your photography process is like. How many pictures do you take and what is your editing process like?

Updates:

• The huge blog directory I am working on will be available in April. I hope to finish it while on the plane…it looks like I will have over 300 blogs on it!
• Thank you for your FL shopping suggestions the other day. :)
• If you contacted me about a FL meet-up, I will be sending an email out to you in the next few days.

GIDDY UP!

“Unless you’re willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won’t happen.” ~Phillip Adams