Cooking and Shooting: Boiled (Mulled) wine

From the "posted elsewhere" category, with a full HOWTO of the process on my other blog. Enjoy.



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More bees, more chrysanthemums

A year ago I had a beautiful experience in a warm sunny weekend with the opportunity to take some great shots of bees and chrysanthemums in my garden. This year my garden is in a much worse shape (I totally suck as a gardener) but still a nice couple of days, some flowers and a few bees... and this look like the start of a tradition.



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Quince: the taste of autumn

Quinces are one of the specific fruits of the autumn, even if their taste is not the best, they have a distinct and wonderful flavor. Maybe one of those days I will find the time to illustrate a recipe for preparing boiled (mulled) wine with quince... stay tuned.



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Squirrels in autumn - cutesy

Remember my old friends and models, the squirrels from the Herastrau Park? I meet them again this week-end, when shooting the beautiful autumn



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Everything is better with a bit of sun

Last week I was bummed about a lost opportunity for autumn photography, failed due to bad weather, being convinced it was the last opportunity for this year. Well, contrary to the weather forecast, the last week-end was nothing short of amazing: warm and sunny, exceeding my expectations, so I had to get out and do my stuff. Gladly.




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Sakura dreaming

Once upon a time it was spring, with everything coming to life and wonderful cherry tree blossom, a magical time.



Now the very same place is covered by a different type of magic: the bronze and golden tones of the autumn as a prediction of the winter to come.




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From flower to fruit

Do you remember my frenzy this spring to shot blossoming trees and my sweet spot for quince flowers?



These days, that tree in my garden came to fruition and the beautiful flowers turned into tasty fruits, after all the autumn is not entirely bad:




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Silence, entering the cathedral of nature

I could say I know the Herastrau Park as I know my own pocket (yeah, I don't know my pockets that well), but only on this autumn day I realised how the trees around this alley are shaped like a Gothic cathedral, with the branches looking like its traditional pointed arches. I was both socked and impressed, finding them majestic.



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Autumn is all over us

Having a full time job, you can dedicate only the week-ends to serious photography stuff, which is many cases is passable, but of course there are unfortunate cases, like the past week-end... With this overwhelming autumn over us, it was natural for me to want to capture some shots with the beautiful red, yellow and brown tones.

OK, the weather forecast is optimistic: Saturday was expected to be a cold day with partly cloudy sky and Sunday an even colder day with less clouds. What is a little cold when hunting for some cool photos?

Saturday in the morning when I woke up, it was as cold as expected but the sky was grey, covered with heavy clouds. Not good, you can't shot landscapes with such a sky. And without sun, there is no life: no insects, no warmth, nothing. So I postponed the planned trip to the park for the next day, which was expected to be better.

However, around the noon I built enough courage to get around the house and shoot some flowers (chrysanthemums) around the house, but I find the result not that great, lifeless.



Late in the day, a few minutes over 4 PM, the clouds broke a bit, leaving a little blue sky and a couple of sun rays for the eye. It was late in the day, with not enough time to reach for a place worth shooting (at 5 PM is already way too dark) but I was happy, expecting a great day to follow.

Fast-forward Sunday: woke up and is was colder, as expected. But even more cloudy, not as expected, bummer. Not affording to lose the opportunity, after the lunch (still waiting for the cold to weaken and hoping a sun ray will show) I took the gear and went to the park.



The leaves are beautiful, a strong lesson about nature and the cycle of life, showing how everything is born is going do die, but the lesson is not very depressing grace to the marvellous dark colors (the depressing clouds can be avoided as long as you set the White Balance well and avoid showing the sky):



At 4 PM was already too dark for hand-held shooting and without the tripod on me, I had to put the session to a close and go home, feeling the goal was not accomplished.

Damn weather! Today (Monday) is still cold as hell (the temperature raised from 1°C in the morning to 3°C at the noon), but there is sun and blue sky. And I am trapped in the office. And for the next week-end heavy rains are expected.

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