Category: Photography

Photographic postings.

Light and Stone, Christ Church, Mainz, 2007

Light & Stone, Christ Church, Mainz, 2007

Spent the day in Mainz, visiting the Gutenberg museum and touring the old downtown. Not as photographically productive as yesterday, but thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless. There are a lot of different directions that seemed like they might work for this image, so this is just a starting interpretation–hopefully my processing will get a chance to mature as I get more time with the image.

On an unrelated note, I was struck while walking around Mainz by the amount of advertising in English which is obviously targeted towards the local audience. Concert announcements, shop signs, and full-size ads spoke to the high level of bilingualism in Germany. In fact, it is hard to get anyone to gontinue a conversation with me. It is not that my German is so terrible, but anytime I pause or stumble, conversants immediately switch over to English to continue.

Frankfurt Abstract #1, 2007

Frankfurt Abstract #1, 2007

I am in Frankfurt am Main for almost three days, laying over on my way to Addis Ababa, where I will spend most of the next two months on a university grant. Today I walked around the small but attractive inner-city of Frankfurt and was inspired to work on abstracts using the architectural features of the city, as seen in this close-up of one of the larger skyscrapers in the city. Frankfurt is, I am told, the only German city really possessed of a skyline, as the civic centre, like so many of the ‘historic’ buildings around the town, is entirely constructed post-war.

Orange and Honey Sorbet with Old Krupnik

Orange and Honey Sorbet with Old Krupnik

All Summer now, my food kick has been home-made sorbet. Recently, my photographic kick has been learning the use of flash. So here is my first attempt at food photography with flash, of my recent favorite sorbet creation, Orange and honey sorbet with Old Krupnik. I prepared this using ingredients on hand and a little bit of sorbet knowledge before a recent party, and it went over better than the other three (professional) recipes I prepared, which was thoroughly pleasing. The recipe follows:

  • 2 cups orange juice
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons marmalade
  • 3 tablespoons Old Krupnik honey liqueur
  • 1.5 cups Splenda

Heat one cup of water with the honey and marmalade and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat, add remaining water (cold), orange juice (I favor juice with lots of pulp), Old Krupnik, and the Splenda. Stir until completely mixed; refrigerate overnight. Prepare in sorbet machine according to usual practice, then freeze to harden.

Note that because the recipe uses Splenda instead of sugar, it relies on the alcohol to soften the sorbet and keep it from freezing solid. As a side effect, I think it takes more time in the freezer after the sorbet machine than usual for hardening. Old Krupnik is a type of Polish honey vodka/liqueur with spices, somewhat like a very strong (40% alcohol) mead. For the marmalade, I used Scott’s medium cut with Teachers scotch whiskey, which I hope adds some complexity to the flavour. I don’t actually like it on toast, however (I am not a fan of marmalade in general), so I would suggest you use whatever marmalade you may prefer.