My Lenses

how to choose camera lenses, canon kit lens, canon prime 50mm lens, tamron 2.O macroc lens

As I promised before in the post about my cameras, here I am with a couple of words about my lenses.

First of all, I love my lenses.

Very much.

Second of all, I just love them.

 

These are the names of the babies (from left to right): Canon 50mm F 1.8, Tamron Macro 60 mm F 2, Canon 18-55mm (which came as a kit lens with my Canon Rebel T2i camera).

I use the first one (Canon 50mm) to shoot food.

The Tamron 60 mm is great for food too, but since it is a macro lens I use it quite often outside to shoot flowers, bugs or other cute tiny things.

To capture wider angles, I use the Canon 18-55 (the kit lens).

 

Now let me show you and compare a few interesting features that these lenses possess.

 

1. Comparison with the Same Settings

how to choose camera lenses, canon kit lens, canon prime 50mm lens, tamron 2.O macroc lens

how to choose camera lenses, canon kit lens, canon prime 50mm lens, tamron 2.O macroc lens

how to choose camera lenses, canon kit lens, canon prime 50mm lens, tamron 2.O macroc lens

Each of these shots was taken with a different lens. To make the comparison most accurate I kept the same settings for each shot. All pictures were taken at 5.6 aperture and they are not edited at all.

Though that last thing was a bit hard to digest.

I find these images pretty similar in their appearance. Maybe just the last one is a little colder in colors (has more blue tones in it) than the other two.

But there’s more to compare…

2. Lowering the Aperture (Blurry Background)

Well, who doesn’t like a nice blurry background.

That really injects the magic into the pictures, doesn’t it?

The part of the lens which provides for the blurriness of the picture is called the aperture (if you are not that familiar with this term you can find a little more about it here).

I love to use low aperture settings, especially for the food shots.

The kit lens that came with the camera (Canon 18-55mm) has the lowest aperture number of 5.6 (the second picture of this post shows you the result).

But I knew that there was a whole new world of possibilities when you go lower than 5.6.

So there came a moment in my life when I felt that I couldn’t go a day longer without a proper low aperture lens. That was when I got these two:

how to choose camera lenses, canon kit lens, canon prime 50mm lens, tamron 2.O macroc lens

This picture was taken with the Canon 50mm at its lowest aperture – F 1.8.

See the blurry background? And how little portion of the picture is actually in focus? So that is caused by the low 1.8 aperture setting.

Again, this picture could really benefit from some vigorous Photoshop treatment, but this post is not about that.

how to choose camera lenses, canon kit lens, canon prime 50mm lens, tamron 2.O macroc lens

This is a shot taken with the Tamron 60mm at 2.0 aperture (which is its lowest aperture number).

I like the blurriness of the background a lot.

In this aspect, these two lenses produce very similar results.

 

Also, these two lenses are prime, which means that you cannot zoom in or zoom out. In other words, they have fixed focal length. But that thing is perfectly all right – it makes you move a little more and stretch your body quite often which, I guess, is a nice health supporting benefit.

 

If the low aperture setting had been the only feature that I wanted for my pictures I would only have acquired the Canon 50mm lens. That one was much cheaper than the Tamron 60mm.

But I also needed Tamron. Have a look why…

3. Getting Closer to the Subject

This is closest that the Canon 50mm allows you to get to the subject.

If you go closer, the lens cannot focus anymore.

This is how close the Tamron 60mm allows you to get.

Amazing detail!

I often use this feature when taking pictures in my kitchen – spices, sugar or cake structure, that all looks perfectly detailed.

I love it!

 

So these are my beloved lenses.

I hope this information helped you.

At least a little.

… and psst, don’t tell this to my boyfriend

There’s also this cutie!

It’s the Canon 75-300mm telephoto zoom lens.

I frequently steal this one from my boyfriend to capture…

how to choose camera lenses, canon kit lens, canon prime 50mm lens, tamron 2.O macroc lens

… squirrels …

how to choose camera lenses, canon kit lens, canon prime 50mm lens, tamron 2.O macroc lens

… or baby orangutans, or basically anything that happens to be far away from me.

I think I love this lens much more than my boyfriend does and I also use it way more often.

So who really has the moral right to own it, I ask?

I think it’s me, I answer.

Definitely, it’s me!

how to choose camera lenses, canon kit lens, canon prime 50mm lens, tamron 2.O macroc lens

It fills the last free space in my camera bag perfectly, anyway.

Photo Set (Bundt Cake)

Right now I am preparing a yummy recipe that I’ll be posting here tomorrow. Meanwhile I have something else you might want to see.
Over the past few months some of you asked me how this or that photo had been taken. Your questions gave me an idea that you might find interesting to see how several of my sets looked like. I myself love this kind of information and seek it eagerly wherever possible.

So, from now on, if I find the photo set that I’ve created interesting in a certain way I’ll show it to you.

If it helps at least one of you then my mission was worth it.

 

The picture above is by far not perfect or exquisite or anything. But what I find interesting about it is the lighting. You might be wondering how on earth that set was lit and whether I used artificial lights or not. And how I dare own photography lighting without letting you know.

So, this is what the set looked like.

I don’t use lights since I don’t own photography lights.

But what I own is my home-made silver reflector (you can find its heart-touching story here). And then I have one window. And then I have some white paper that I duct taped to the wall and to my kitchen countertop. And that’s it!

Very, very simple.

This is the job that my camera did.

Well, she was really trying.

I still love her dearly.

And yes, I refer to my camera as her. It’s my best friend after all. Actually, I might start calling her Amelie.

And this is how Photoshop helped.

Needless to say, I love Photoshop.

I might start calling it Fred.

 

See you soon!

Love,

Petra

New Linens

Textiles are food’s best friend.

That is the reason why textiles are my best friend, too.

Whether they are tablecloths, table mats, kitchen towels, napkins or just spare pieces of fabric, I love them all.

Dearly.

Well, welcome to the universe of my addictions.

This is one of many.

Many, many.

 

As with any other obsession, buying colorful textiles is completely out of my control and I see no end to this activity.

The only thing I need is MORE!

 
 

This week, I was ‘lucky’ enough to stumble upon these cuties in Tesco.

I immediately saw perfect props for my photographs in them.
 
 

They were being sold as color-matching sets of two under the official name ‘Tea Towels’.

 

There was a blue set – this could work perfectly in pictures with biscuits or bread.
 
 

Then there was this olive-green set.

I love it.

It could help salads of any kind stand out.

Pasta salads included.
 
 

A red set.

What a color!

Hypnotizing!

It’s delivering a very brave statement.

When I look at it my brain keeps screaming ‘RED’ for the next five minutes.
 
 

And then I grabbed this brown set, too.

Can you see the top towel?

There are prints of cakes and steaming cups of coffee on it.

Well, how was I supposed to not buy it?

How?

How could that be done, I ask?
 
 

Have I already told you how much I love them?

Can’t wait to use them all.
 

Apple Crisp

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

The early fall is truly magical.

These days I love to revel in all the pleasant impressions that this time of year evokes in me.

I love the calm… as if everything is coming to rest after all the hard work.

I’m excited when I see first signs of the glitter party that nature is going to throw soon.

Also, I love to go for long walks and enjoy the nice and warm days.

And if I didn’t sleep so late I’d definitely enjoy the crisp and cool mornings.

Hm, you can’t have everything, I guess.

 

But most of all, I enjoy the fruits of this season.

Like apples, for example.

In my world, there’s nothing more wonderful than the smell of apples and cinnamon coming out of the oven.

That’s why I end up making all sorts of apple-cinnamon creations these days each year – Apple Crisp being one of my favorite.

Yum!

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

The ingredients are simple and economical.

And that’s great.

 

Now I invite you to have a look at what crazy stuff was going on in my kitchen…
apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

1. First, I preheated the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. I placed all the ‘topping’ ingredients into one bowl – namely the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, salt, oats and walnuts.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that crazy.

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

3. Using a fork, I combined them all just until this crumbly mixture had formed and no large pieces of butter were visible.

The topping is finished.

Easy!

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

4. Then I grabbed six medium apples.

These are Golden Delicious.

Also Empire, Gala, or Braeburn are especially good in this recipe.

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images
5. I peeled, washed, cored and sliced them.

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

6. And then I cut the slices into 1 inch (2.5 cm) chunks.

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

7. To make the filling, I placed the apples, the lemon zest (I used dried lemon zest) and the sugar in a larger bowl…

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

8. …and tossed it to combine.

Mmmm… can you smell that?

Instant home!

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

9. I am brushing a dish with vegetable oil here.

Instead, you can butter the dish or just spray it with some cooking spray.

Also, although I used a slightly larger dish, I recommend to use a 9 inch (23 cm) deep dish pie plate or an 8 x 8 x 2 inch (20 x 20 x 5 cm) baking dish.

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

10. Fill the dish with the fragrant apple filling.
apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

11. And, using your fingertips, spread the topping evenly over the apples.

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

12. Pop it in the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly and the topping is golden brown.

13. Remove from the oven, place on the cooling rack and let cool for about 30 minutes.

Then dig into it with a spoon and check whether everything is all right.

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

And if everything is perfectly all right, and it definitely will be, proceed to another step – fill a bowl with some more spoonfuls of this flavorful, juicy and crispy wonder.

Add a nice, fat scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Or two.

Or four.

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

And have a great time!
If, by any chance, you end up with some leftovers, refrigerate them and reheat them before serving.

apple crisp recipe with step-by-step images

Enjoy!

 

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