A TOMATO AND A POTATO MAN WALK INTO A BAR (stop me if you've heard this one) + NEW BANNER DAY

Sometimes I like to stick stuff in the freezer and then the next day take pictures. Other times I like to put Thing on Potato Man's head to see Thing fits. Other, other times, I like to use monster lighting to create a new banner and call myself The Spooky Whisk. 

Welcome to the nuthouse. All are welcome.

SUNDAY POST (now with more minions)

Poppin' in to show you my new lens along with a few minis. 

The story is, I stopped at Five Below for makeup wedges to use for propping up bagels and other foods I shoot. They didn't have the wedges I wanted and I was just about to leave when I spied Nightmare Before Christmas die-cut minis (and others minis), for a fiver each and lost my dang mind. 

True story.

For the purple photo (see below), I used two light sources. Continous light and sunlight. I also used the purple deck to frame our balancing Jack. 

I went with monster lighting which is shot from below. Think Monster of Frankenstein and/or using a flashlight/torch under the face/chin when telling spooky campfire stories.

Instead of directly under his face, I used the monster lighting to hit the bottom of the branch and then shoot up to Jack's face, showing off the stitches around his mouth and sinister grin. What's also fun is Jack's motion pose. Sorta looks like he's trying to balance on a branch.

I love this shot because the brief I gave myself was to use two light sources, framing and whatever I found in the yard to pull it all together. There's something fun about using what's available and free. 

The two shots above are of the 12mm Rokinon/Samyang manual lens. Really enjoying learning the new bit of kit. Excellent sale price of 200 smackers. 

Perfect toy for our 10-day Yaycation.

Then on the 2/September I start a new office job. Business casual. Nooooooo weekends.

Nooooooo weeekends. 

Lastly, it's Dunkin' bagels along with two Minions. In this photo, I ran out of runway near the back of the photography board. Next time I'll bring the bagels up closer to the front of the board. Plus the second mini is a little blur. Which is a choice, though I'd like to see them both in the plane of focus. And, and, and, the DIY board under the bagels for me, don't work with this lighting. When I switched out the board for another, I liked that board better. 

I'm showing you this because not all photos work out. And that's okay. I'm not fussed about that because it's how I learn. 

And I love that.

GUESS WHAT? GUESS WHAT? GUESS WHAT? GUESS WHAT?

I'M NOT SAYING I BOUGHT A NEW LENS (but I'm not saying I didn't)

I'm in a goofy mood. I dunno if it's the sunshine, the bagels, the minis, that vacation starts Friday, the homemade photography board, OR that in TWO MORE sleeps my new 12mm Rokinon/Samyang fully manual lens, arrives. 

For 200 smackers, this lens can do astrophotography, liminal space photography, is a good walk around lens AND can even shoot close up with a little funky character to boot. This is not a clinical lens. 

This is a play lens. 

TWO MORE SLEEPS.

PS: If you're wondering if a Minion can fit inside a bagel hole, why yes. Yes he can. If you're further wondering if Thing can sit on top of Potato Man's head without falling off ....

Also a yes. 

I LOVE A GOOD GRAVEYARD CRAWL

Dig this angel. Each time I shoot her she looks different and I love that. This time, I brought off-camera flash and moved that sucker all over the place and looky what I shot. 

I love this photograph and I can't wait to go back and shoot her again.

Pretty flippin' cool.

PHOTOGRAPHY BTS + NEW BANNER + PLUS BERRIES = FUN

It's new banner time. These are berries shot inside the new shooting area. The new space has some issues, more on that another day, for today, dig this BTS (behind the scene), photo.

See that board?

It's made with a homemade stain of cooked beets. No formula/recipe because I make it up as I go. Same with the darker wood from the last post. That said, an upcoming tutorial coming to a blog feed near you.

In other news, I scored excellent deals at Label Shopper. Just under 100 smackers for a pile of groovy new clothes. I LOVE that store. Even got a cute new bag. Which weren't part of the 100, just a fun add.

Love that store. The deals, ROCK.

In other, other news, yesterday I wrote a new pumpkin spice bake with soaked organic raisins and baked in the pressure cooker. This method is quickly becoming my new fave for bakes. 

No heat. Set it. Forget it. Come back when done. Bing, bam, boom. One bake going in our bellies. Yes please and thank you.

And ... in other, other, OTHER news, I woke with idea for an upside down raspberry lemon honey kissed bake. Haven't written the formula yet. Right now it's just in my brain, knocking about. 

And that's about all for now. Wishing you all a Berry Merry Week.