Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Butter Pecan Cookies. With the Recipe!

Most of us work for money so we can buy food.

The other day I wrote on Facebook - "I'm feeling the summer blues. For today we are accepting chocolate chip cookies (Or anything yummy) as payment for photo related work. Inquire within."

While everyone thought I was joking I got this reply  - "If you are serious, I will bake you milchig pecan chocolate chip cookies. I can also make you home made ice cream - though that can't be delivered until tomorrow. Please advise :)"

As a side note, this mother of 4 was my school tutor when I was 10 years old back in Montreal. (Isn't that crazy?)

The cookies we made and tasted were soooo delicious and yummy, I had to ask if I can share the secret recipe with you guys. And she said "yes!"

Have a good look at the fun pictures and try out the recipe, let me know how yummy they are if you get to try baking them!


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Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Prep: 15 minutes, Bake: 10 Minutes
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups uncooked regular oats
1 (11.5 ounce) package semisweet mega morsels
1 cup chopped toasted pecans


1. Preheat oven to 350f
2. Beat butter and sugers at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.
3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, stirring well. Add oats; stir well. Add to butter mixture; stir until well blended. Gently stir in morsels and pecans. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350f for 10 minutes or until brown around the edges. Cool on pan for 2-3 minutes or until firm. Remove cooking from pan; cool on wire racks.

Yield: Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies

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A huge thanks to the Hershkop family for letting us use their kitchen and to the Newman family for getting all dirty and acting like regular while I photograph them!






"Just put it in"

Silly butter face!

Yumm suger!


Don't forget to plug it in.






Checking the eggs for blood spots.










Crushing the Pecans

Adding the oatmeal 

Mixing, and more mixing














"Thanks Mommy"
If you made it down here, you are commited to see all the pics, you are probably a mom!

 Shout out to all the moms out there who bake cookies!! yay

I can still smell those cookies in the oven. ahhhh

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Megan's Modeling Headshot

Headshots.

What's the thought process?

Before every photo shoot I always ask "What are the pictures to be used for?" - or along the idea of "What do you want the viewer to see"

Megan wanted a "models headshot" for her portfolio - a nice, clean, easy photo.

So these photos have no special makeup - no hair styling, it was as she is on a normal day as raw as possible to show anyone looking at it would see who she is without any work done to her face.

Like with anyone, it took a few minutes to get into it, and after switching around the lighting a few times, here are the few final images.




I also decided to add a print because I thought it came out really nice.


You may also recognize her from a previous shoot we did for Boutique Wolffe.



What else do you want to see?

More explanations?


Photo techy talk:
 Canon 5D Markiii -100mm f/2.8 86" PLM on a AB800 to the camera right, and a reflector for fill on the cameras right, white background photoshopped to pure white.

ISO - 100
1/160
f/7.1

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Bar Mitzva Photo Booth Fun.

With every Bar Mitzva and Simcha you have creative ideas to make it more fun and memorable

Photographers all over have different shtick on how they do things, but when its your first time doing something, you kinda wing it and make sure it makes sense before you start and you learn from that experience.

Before:

The idea before we started was to shoot in RAW - Tethered.

Batch the photos with a PNG watermark which would have the wording and white border which we wanted for the final image to be printed on.

Simple? oh ye.

The Bar Mitzva went well, and everyone was super excited to use the photobooth and have their picture taken while having fun! - It was a major hit and everyone was waiting to take their picture home from the table spread of the printed photos.

After: Well now that its done, here would be a few tips for anyone that would want to repeat and use my experience for making a successful photo booth at your event

1. Shoot in RAW and JPG - It will quicken the processing and printing.
2. Shoot tethered, so you can use a preset for the colors and quick edits.
3. Keep a rating on your camera/computer on how many of each picture that you would want multiple prints.
4. Keep the pictures of groups of 2-4 people and print a few of that photo so each of them can take it home.
5. Keep in mind, that a printer might take up to 60 seconds to print a photo, thats 60 photos a hour. (may be a lot of time, if you have many guests)
6. Write your name on the back of the photo, or put a "photo by: " - its a great marketing tool. And while you're at it, make a sign that says "Photo booth by: Ell Tee Photo"
7. Prepare a table to spread the printed photos so people can look through them.
8. Use props, it enlightens the mood and the kids love them (And may walk away with your props too, so bring a few extra)


Results: We had a fun time - the guests also had a great time. Success!

I would definitely do it again. - And a huge shout out to best photographer, Avrohom Perl from www.avrohomperl.com for manning the booth and working out the technical parts to making it a sucess!

Here are a few samples from the booth. (and one crazy one of myself, just had to throw that in)








Levi from Ell Tee Photo, poses with  Avrohom from Avrohomperl.com

Charlie Buttons


Want a photo booth at your next event?
Contact me!