Sometimes things just don't go the way you plan it

Last Sunday, when I did Kelsey's pictures, I mentioned that my flash didn't work, and her mom made a battery run for me....I was very greatful for that, but I had no idea what I would be in for this week. I "thought" I had charged my batteries, and was under the assumption the ones I planned on using for a wedding this week were charged. Out of insecurity, I did buy a back up flash too, because I'm shooting a wedding, and heaven forbid if I didn't have a flash that worked...put the batteries in....popped off three flashes.....flash then died.

I was like, "WHAT??????". Enter panick mode......threw the batteries in the charger again....no light, so assumed they were charged. Went through different case scenarios of what could be wrong. This was a brand new flash, charged batteries, was it me? Was I really crazy? Was the brand new flash bad? Which happened to be the only one the camera store had too, btw. Yesterday, went to Best Buy, as I wanted a new slow trickle charger....they only had a 3 hour charger...left the store, went to Radio Shack....they only had a 2 hour charger ( I wanted one that would take longer, not go faster), left store, went back to Best Buy, bought a new charger, and a new 8 pack of rechargables....

I'll spare you the details, but got all of my batteries charged, found out I had one bad one, which was probably responsible for the others not charging, although I still don't know what was really wrong with my flash, other than a little corrosion.

And, my lesson learned, which everyone would probably benefit from, is: if you use rechargable batteries, use a good charger that has a cord, not the little ones you get in the pack at the stores, with 4 batteries....it doesn't tell you jack squat about how much your batteries are charged, or whether they are even any good! That, my friends, is my public service announcement for the week.....oh, and it's probably not a good idea to leave your batteries in whatever gizmo is holding them...not good for the contacts.

Stay tuned for a few more seniors and a wedding by Labor Day!

Senior- Kelsey

So far this summer, I've hit it pretty lucky doing outdoor shoots with people. Kelsey's indoor shoot went wonderfully smooth, quick and to the point, and then as soon as we got into Utica, the spinkles came, I couldn't get my flash to work properly, and I thought it was going to be a lost cause, where we might have to reschedule. So we did some shots, and her mom was gracious enough to go and get some new batteries for me, which really probably wasn't the problem, but we went to Hotel Utica, to get in out of the drops, and got some beautiful ones in there. The place has great architecture, and ambiance. Then it was back to the streets! Overall, we had a really good time, and better yet, we didn't get soaked!

Senior boys-Headshots

Two friends wanted just the simple I-need-a yrbook-picture session, and came for just that. Both are good looking young men, and I have to say, it's nice to see them dressed up! We got some casual shots in too. Thanks Ryan and Brad for coming by.

chocolate zucchini cake

I love chocolate, and I love zucchini....match them together, and you have a scrumptious desert! Recipe comes from Allrecipes.com.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or CHOCOLATE CHIPS!
Add to Recipe Box


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the eggs and oil, mix well. Fold in the nuts and zucchini until they are evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely before frosting with your favorite frosting.

I used 1/2 oil and applesauce, which decreases the amt of fat in the recipe, and I only used 3 eggs....tastes simply marvelous! Hope you enjoy.

Another fun senior! Molly today.

Today, I had the pleasure of shooting another senior from West Canada. These girls are so willing to try new things and lie in hayfields when asked! Another batch of very pretty images from this session.

Senior- Kassie

I'm a little late posting this senior from Dolgeville- sorry Kassie! We had tons of fun, and she was willing to try anything asked! Despite all of the rain we have had this summer, we lucked out on a beautiful night, although a little humid...nothing too much to damper the spirits!

Little Colin

Colin's mom Katie and I used to work together awhile back. I remember when they got married, and now she has a little one. This was one happy little guy, considering the heat and all.

Hope to see them again!

New Fall props

Little Maddie came back for a visit, just so I could photograph her in my new fall props. She's a beaut! If you have a little one from about 6 months up to a year, and she can sit up, feel free to ask for either or both of these hat boxes. The damask is a new option also.

Please call to set up an appt for your fall pictures. Indooor or outdoor shoots are available.

Ballerina Senior-Audra in the Station

I have to say, after working all day, and then doing an outdoor and indoor shoot, that I was tired....but I had nothing to complain about, since she had danced for hours earlier in the day, had to get ready, then performed in front of the camera again.

We had a lot of fun, since we started out at the Utica train station, and then played around in front of the buildings outside. I enjoyed our time together, and a big thanks to her mom for being prop master and clothes sorter!

Oriental Lilly in the garden

Just thought I would share a recent picture from my flower garden. One beautiful head of Oriental Lillies.

A seven month old little girl

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Maddie, daughter of a high school classmate from years ago. There are plenty of pics of her different expressions, but mom asked to keep some for just them. So I took two of the ones that I really liked. Precious, and beautiful are a couple of adjectives used by some who have already seen these on Facebook (look me up, I'm jessica.eissphotographer over there.)

I think I'll be seeing her again at Christmas time, and am looking forward to seeing how much she will have grown.

Recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles-batch 2

So, I'm hooked, and I don't want to stop making pickles, esp when you taste how good these are, even very warm, right out of the pot. (I have to confess, I ate most of the left overs, that I couldn't squeeze into the jars....I'm off to find more cukes today, so I can make batch 3 with Splenda.

I believe I got this recipe off of Allrecipes.com, but I'm not sure. I scoured the net the other night, and pulled off a few, and didn't mark the source of this one, sorry!

The Recipe:

4 Qts sliced medium sized cucumbers, unpeeled (I used all of the 23 or 25 I had)
6 medium white onioins, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1/3 cup pickling salt, non iodized
5 cups of sugar (the reason I want to use splenda next!)
1 1/2 tsp turmeric (will stain EVERYTHING it comes in contact with- be careful!)
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
2 T mustard seed
3 cups white vinegar

1.Slice the cukes thin
2.place the cukes in a large bowl and add sliced onions, chopped peppers, and whole garlic cloves
3.Add salt and cover with ice. Mix well. Let stand for 3 hours.
4.Drain the cucumber mixture well.
5.Transfer the mix to a large pot, add all remaining ingredients. Bring just to a boil.
6.Pack cucumber mix into hot sterilized 1 pint jars.
7. Seal with lids and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes (20 minutes for high altitues over 1,000 feet)
Allow to sit in a cool dark location for at least 2 weeks prior to use.
Makes about 4 pints.

I got 5 pints with left over brine, so I think next time, I'd up the cucumbers to 25-28. Supposedly, the Splenda recipe online, is very close to this one, but using only about 2 1/4- 2 1/2 cups of splenda, instead of the 5 cups of sugar.

If these taste as good or better in 2 weeks, after they tasted so good in the pot, these are going to be terrific!

Home made pickles!

I know I haven't blogged in so long, but this was worthwhile mentioning, at least for me!

My hubby bought me a canning pot with accessories recently from a garage sale, so I felt I really should use it. I bought some great looking pickling cukes from the Amish at a farmer's market, and I wish I had bought more now. Anyway, here is my journey this am. I also had the assistance of my sister, who is in the picture, and is here visiting from NM, and leaves to go back home tomorrow. I have to say, that I ended up cheating and didn't use a recipe, since Walmart was out of Mustard seed, so I bought a packaged mix to make the bread and butter pickles.

I would have spent all morning slicing these cukes by hand, if it hadn't been for Jan asking me why I wasn't using my new Kitchen Aid food processor. In all honesty, I hadn't even thought about it, since I'm still not used to having it to help me out. It went so much faster, using it to do the slicing!






Here are the jars in the pot, waiting to come back to a boil


And here is the final product....I'm totally hooked, and I want to make more.....and I may be able to on Sunday! I just need to find some more cucumbers!

Rhubarb and apple crisp makes everything so nice!

MMMMMMM, the rhubarb is ready, and that means it time for crisps or cobblers, or pies.

Today, I'm going to share an awesome healthy recipe, from The Heart Association's Low Fat Low Cholesterol cookbook. ( I love that cookbook!) It's nice and sweet, and not too tangy or tart.

Apple Rhubarb Crisp (eight servings)
Filling:
2 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb
2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup of sugar
1 Tbsp of cornstarch

Topping:
2/3 cup quick or regular oats
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar packed
3 1/2 Tbsp of tub light margarine

In a large bowl, mix all of your filling ingredients and let sit for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degreees. Then spoon into an 8 inch baking pan or 1 qt baking dish.

In a medium blowl, stir together the topping ingredients except the margarine. Using a pastry blender, cut th emargarine into the topping until the mixture resembles coarse crums. Sprinkel the topping over the apple-rhubarb mixture.

Bake uncovered for 30-35 miutes, or until the topping is light brown. Let cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

Nutritional values: calories, 173, total fat 2.5 (no sat fat), cholesterol 0mg, sodium 44mg, fiber 2 gms, and protein 2 gms

WEIGHT WATCHERS points: 3

(I couldn't wait 20 minutes!)
Now for the pictures, right?


and how about a little closer?


Enjoy! Feel free to post back here if you tried it and liked it!

Spring flowering trees in my yard

It was a wonderfully overcast afternoon today, which is perfect for going out to photograph things, without having harsh shadows show up in your pictures. The only things flowering right now, are my two trees; a crab apple, and an ornamental pear, and some daffodils which are on their way out, and my primroses.

I thought I would share a few that I really liked from today. Now, if it would just warm up again!