Paula Deen’s Deep Fried Butter Balls

Monday I got my new camera. Let’s call it Bill. It’s a Nikon D700. It’s more camera than a hobbyist deserves, but it’s sweet. You hear about the middle-age guy, going through a life crisis, purchasing a Porsche. This is my Porsche.

I’ve only made it halfway through the manual. There are still buttons that I do not know how to use. But my initial impression, using only a 50mm prime lens, is that this camera is amazing. The pics look great, right out of the camera.

Here are a few samples:

Had the pleasure of helping Amy horsesit Dr. Suzanne Duncan’s two horses, the mare Grace, and her new foal Liberty Belle. I took a few pictures of them, but I wasn’t satisfied with how they came out. Enter Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, and Photomatix Pro.

Here is the final product (click to see it bigger):

But this is what it looked like straight out of the camera:

I used Lightroom and Photoshop to convert the Raw file to a 16-bit TIFF file, sharpen it slightly, and adjust the contrast. This represents my usual workflow with a Raw file out of the camera. This made it look like this:

I then used Lightroom to create five separate versions of the picture, adjusting the exposure up and down 2 stops:

I exported these five files into Photomatix Pro and used this to tonemap the picture into an high dynamic range or HDR image:

This looked interesting, but I wasn’t satisfied with how the sky looked. So I open this back up in Photoshop, applied a gradual mask to the background and used a Color EFx Pro filter to add the illusion of fog to the sky, resulting in the final picture you see above.

Sounds like a lot of work to salvage what is still a mediocre image, but it was a fun exercise in creativity.

An Indian Summer afternoon meant a family walk on the beach at Madaket Harbor. Here are a few scenes.

Thursday, October 1st, was the beginning of recreational scallops season here in Nantucket. My reward for squeezing into 9-year-old waders (that leak) and using a pushrake that is in bad need of new netting, was a bushel of Nantucket Bay Scallops. If I made a list of reasons why it is worth living on this little elbow-shaped streak of sand, the sound of a rake full of spitting scallops, and the taste of them freshly, and quickly, sauteed in just a bit of garlic and olive oil would both make the top ten.

After cooking them Thursday and Friday as above, today I tried to do something a little different. Inspired by a wonderful meal last night at Corazon del Mar, I made a Thai-style Scallop Ceviche.

A ceviche is a Peruvian creation, but I decided to use classic Thai flavors like fish sauce, cilantro, and chili. I started with the juice of 5-6 limes and 2 lemons, just enough to cover about 12 oz of scallops in a small bowl. Stirring them around a little to make sure they were all coated. This then sat for an hour, covered, the acid of the citrus doing all the cooking that is necessary.

When the hour was just about up, I made the dressing. Started with the juice of 2 more limes and a lemon, I then added a dash of sugar and some Thai fish sauce, tasting it until the mixture was no longer too acidic. I probably added about 2 tblsp of the fish sauce, but I would imagine that what I consider too acidic might differ for you, so add it and taste it frequently until it tastes just right (it’s all about the umami). A little sea salt might also soften the acid. I took two Thai chilis and finely chopped them after removing the seeds; one English cucumber (the long skinny ones that are usually individually wrapped) and two shallots thinly sliced on the mandoline; and a small amount of rough-chopped cilantro.

Add the chilis and the shallots to the lime dressing. Stir well. It’s a nice touch, and only a little added heat, to add a whole chili (per serving) as well. Drain the scallops and discard the original citrus juice and add them and the cucumber slices to the dressing. Garnish with a little more cilantro.

I’m telling you, the Raynors have nothing on this! Wow.

Try it.

I am judging a monthly photo contest on an online photography forum. The theme is Summertime. I have to pick the winners from the following photos, according to the technical and creative aspects of the photographs, in accordance with the theme. Anyone want to help? Tell me in the comments section which ones work for you:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

18

19

20

21

22

23