I took the picture for this tasty apricot salad dressing after my first day at the Food and Light Photography Workshop that I attended here in Boulder, Colorado. I came home, made dinner and decided it would be good to put some of my newly acquired skills to use.
The instructors at Food and Light were amazing. Jen from userealbutter.com organized the entire affair and taught a wonderful section of the workshop on basic photography skills, which some of us –namely me, really needed to learn. Suffice it to say that I had no idea how to take a photo without the automatic settings on my Nikon D200 DSLR
. Now I know, thanks to Jen!
And thanks to Christopher Cina of ccina.zenfolio.com for teaching me how to take the camera off of those automatic settings. Yes, Christopher literally showed me which dials to turn and which buttons to push to get the old camera working without auto. Christopher was just another participant, though you would never know that by looking at his website –his food photography is of professional quality.
We were also treated to instruction on photography and food styling by Helen from mytartelette.com and Diane and Todd from whiteonricecouple.com. What can I say, other than, amazing! Be sure to take a look at those two websites if you’re looking for food photography inspiration. The work of these folks is pure genius.
And of course, check out Jen’s site too. She is amazing in every way both behind the camera and in person.
Apricot Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 whole fresh apricot, pit removed
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 7 drops stevia
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a vitamix and blend on highest setting until smooth
- Serve over fresh garden greens
- Enjoy!
Equipment
Another highlight of the Food and Light workshop was sitting next to Lisa of lisa-is-bossy.blogspot.com (another amazing photographer) and Anita of dessertfirst.typepad.com, and the author of the Field Guide to Cookies
. And finally, my favorite part of the workshop was that I was able to take it with my 10 year old (younger) son. He often steals my camera in the middle of a photoshoot and goes wild taking photographs around the house. I thought he would enjoy taking this workshop with me and learning about photography, though was not sure if he would be able to sit and pay attention with adults for two full days –he did! We had a delightful time together and totally bonded over something we both love.
Finally, I know summer has truly arrived since All Star Baseball has begun. Thankfully, both boys made their respective all star teams. We really weren’t sure if our younger son would make it this year and had begun planning all kinds of alternative special activities for him to assuage any disappointment/jealousy that might have arisen over his older brother getting to play. No need, after all.
Now the baking begins as I will be making healthy treats for each of their teams for every game. Wish us luck, their tournaments start on Tuesday.
What are your summer plans? Anything exciting, or are you tied down to home like us given sports or other commitments? The upside of this? Constant gardening (see salad above) –hooray!
Gluten Allergy says
I love this recipe, will give it a try some day.
elana says
Annie, thanks for your comment. Your photos are absolutely amazing! I’m a fan. :-)
Annie says
Elana,
It was very nice to meet you if only briefly at Food and Light. I agree with the commenters above, I thought your photos were pretty great before the workshop! Also, thank you so much for saying you loved my photos – it meant a lot coming from you!
:) Annie