Today we are departing from the prime lenses and talking about my go-to lens. I love my prime lenses but this tends to be my go-to lens for when I’m out and about. If I’m traveling and one want to [...]]]> (If you missed the first two post, check them out: 50mm and 35mm)

Today we are departing from the prime lenses and talking about my go-to lens. I love my prime lenses but this tends to be my go-to lens for when I’m out and about. If I’m traveling and one want to take one lens, it’s this one. Hiking? This this is always on the camera (even though I might stash the 35 or 50 someone in my pack). It’s a wonderful lens that is extremely versatile. Canon has released a newer version of the lens since I purchased this one, but I saw no need to really upgrade- the first version works just fine for how I use it!

While I find the photos are as clear or crisp as I would get with the prime lens, I like the extra space I have to play with in a shot without having to take steps backwards or forwards.

Read almost any article on food blogging and photography and the 50mm lens will be one of probably two that are mentioned as the best lenses to get. When I first invested in my canon rebel, I also purchased a 50mm lens, the [...]]]> Working my way through the lenses, next up is the (Canon) 50mm.

Read almost any article on food blogging and photography and the 50mm lens will be one of probably two that are mentioned as the best lenses to get. When I first invested in my canon rebel, I also purchased a 50mm lens, the 1.8. If you want to get a feel for how to work with a prime lens without shelling out major money, get this $100 lens. This lens is awesome for the price.

This was my first and only non-kit lens for almost a year (until I tipped over my tripod and smashed it, leaving the auto focus useless). After that, I took the next step up and purchased the  50mm 2.5 macro lens. This lens functions a bit differently from the 1.8 and the 1.2 in that it has the macro capability (except, don’t allow this to get too close to your food for every shot, I promise it doesn’t look as good as you might think). Plus, this is a decent lens for the price. I used this lens for two years until I saved up enough to invest in a new lens (I bought the 100mm.)

Which finally leads me to the 50mm 1.2. To be honest, I just purchased this lens last week for a rather large project I’m working on. I’d been using my 100mm but there were shots I just couldn’t get. I’d been toying with the idea of the 50mm 1.2 and I have to say, I love it. This lens can be used for so much. The shots below are from the past week with this lens (it pretty much hasn’t left my camera since I got it.)

Again, I highly recommend renting a lens before buying! And if you missed it, check out the first post in this mini-series on the 35mm. 

Let’s play a hypothetical. You’ve spent countless hours over many years writing, photographing, and posting content to the internet then one [...]]]> As we get back into blogging after a bit of a break, we want to bring you more information that will not only help you grow your blog but also keep the contents safe.

Let’s play a hypothetical. You’ve spent countless hours over many years writing, photographing, and posting content to the internet then one day, something happens. Your site gets hacked, and all the sudden all of your files are gone, erased. What would you do? Or say you get an email from your hosting provider that your database has been corrupted.

What do you do? Cry? Throw fits? Yell angrily that all your content was on there?

No, you don’t. Because you thought ahead and started taking regular back-ups of your site and your database. There are many components that keep your site running, store information, and keep track of everything.

But don’t worry, you don’t need to know where everything is located to back it up. There are a plethora of plug-ins that can help you manually and automatically back-up your site to your computer and to cloud storage like dropbox or google drive. A full list can be found here. While I use WordPress Backup to Dropbox, this plug-in also looks good and you have a choice of where the file lives.

So go  and back-up your site!

But the thing of it all, life often gets in the [...]]]> As a classically trained music, “perfection” was drilled into my head. The motto “practice makes perfect” was repeated daily to me and at some level, there was a belief that perfection could be achieved. I mean, the goal was to have a perfect performance.

But the thing of it all, life often gets in the way.

Right now, almost all of my kitchen stuff is packed, I’m working on a make-shift desk/photo table, and my refrigerator is near empty. And yet, I got a photo that I liked. I feel like even for me, the idea that everything has to be perfect isn’t the easiest to let go of. We think that the better camera, the more props, or the mores styled photo is going to help achieve perfection.

When really, there is no “being perfect”, just “being better”. Keep practicing and keep growing.

We love her crisp, clean photography and take on healthy foods (along with some lovely writing!). We’re so happy we could help her make the switch to a site of her own and update it to match!

Be sure [...]]]> Keepin’ on our roll, we’ve got the lovely Emily from Five and Spice launching today!

Be sure to check out Five and Spice!

I have to say that we were both pretty excited when Mel asked us to give her site an update and really brand to make it feel more like her. We love the clean layout and the slight retro feel [...]]]> Okay, we are counting down the road of April launches with Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.

I have to say that we were both pretty excited when Mel asked us to give her site an update and really brand to make it feel more like her. We love the clean layout and the slight retro feel to her site. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. On top of the redesign, we were able to help create an easier way to navigate all her amazing recipes (and there are A LOT of amazing recipes!)

Head over and check out Mel’s Kitchen Cafe!