Holga- The First Two Rolls: Mikaela Joy: El Paso Portrait Photographer

I think I have a new favorite camera.  

It's funny, I've invested thousands of dollars into all the amazing equipment that I own, the equipment that helps me to nail shot after shot exactly how I've envisioned it. 

But the camera that is making my heart sing these days is nothing like that gear.  It cost me $30 and is made entirely of plastic. This camera is a holga.

Holgas are funny cameras.  They were made to be a cheap option for a consumer camera back in the film days.  Optically, they are one of the worst cameras ever made.  Yet they are loved by film photographers around the world.  

Why?  Well they have a very distinctive look.  They are known for light leaks and blurry edges, and not being very sharp, all the things that are technically terrible in a photograph.  But they create really interesting photographs.

  Holgas are very basic, which means the photographer has very little control.  There are three settings for light, and three settings for focus. All you can really do with a holga is to pick up a roll of 120 film and go shoot.

And that's exactly what I did.  There is definitely some trial and error in learning how to shoot a Holga, so I've mostly been practicing on my son.  Here's a bit of what I've done so far: 

I've been having a lot of fun with this little camera.  I can't wait to try it out for some more serious uses!

Cassy Maternity | Mikaela Joy: El Paso Portrait Photographer

Isn't motherhood beautiful?

I absolutely love shooting maternity portraits.  Being pregnant is such a fleeting moment.  It doesn't feel like it at the time, with the morning sickness, the Braxton hicks, and the incredible exhaustion, but looking back afterwards you'll realize, pregnancy is gone in the blink of an eye. 

And there's really nothing else like it.  There is no other moment in life where a mother and her child are that together, bonded by the fact that they, for a while, share the same body.  The more I learn about pregnancy and how a mother's body adapts to grow a child, the more I realize how amazing it is.  

Pregnancy is also a moment that women often forget to capture on camera.  

Understandably so, being pregnant is hard work.  Getting dressed up with hair and makeup can feel impossible when all you want to do is sit on the couch and drink a slushie. I've definitely been there, and I get that.  But it's so worth it.  Photos from my pregnancy are some of my favorites.  I look at back at them in awe.  Unless I have more children I will never look like that again, my body will never perform those amazing feats again.  But I will always have photos to remember.

So needless to say, when Cassy wanted to have maternity portraits done, I was excited.  She has other children, but has never done photos while she was pregnant.  I was thrilled to be able to finally capture that for her.  

We made our way into the mountains on a foggy morning with a threat of rain.  It was a risky day to shoot, for fear of a sudden downpour, but it was so worth it.  The fog rolled over the mountains in such a beautiful way, it was absolutely gorgeous.

But why explain when I can show- have a look for yourselves!

Isn't she stunning? 

I also brought my Holga for some experimental film portraits.  This one's a bit different, but I'm absolutely in love with the looks that this little plastic camera can create.  

If you are interested in your own portrait session please contact me to schedule your complimentary consultation.

The Lazy Poem

I want to take a second to share a poem today.  I'm having a bit of an off day and therefore I've been curled up in an oversized sweatshirt watching American Horror Story all day, so it seemed like a good day to share "Lazy Poem." Here goes:

Monday Photo Dump: Week 14 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

This week my hubby was out in the field (still) so I had a lot of down time.  This meant that I actually got out and did some stuff this weekend, and I think as a result got some fun pictures. 3-29-14: I spent my Saturday evening wandering Savannah and taking pictures of One Love's Paws for a Cause event.  They had dancers performing and, seeing that I minored in dance and have a strong interest in the subject, I really enjoyed photographing it. 3-30-14: Sunday I went with some friends and some dogs out to the beach at Hilton head.  This dog (sassy) had the time of her life chasing water droplets.  I'm pretty sure she can fly! 3-31-14: I got my exercise this week with some tennis. I attempted to use my phone's camera as an experiment to how well it works. Not very well, it turns out. If this had a proper exposure it wouldn't have been half bad though. Does any know any manual camera apps for android? 4-1-14: I've been really enjoying how differently I'm able to grocery shop with my hubby not around.  If I want salami and brie for dinner I can do it, and nobody is here to complain! 4-2-14: I got a remote shutter release for my camera and spent some time messing around with it. I was going for a model-like photo, but I guess I'm better off behind the camera, because I do NOT know how to pose myself.  I accidentally got this shot of myself and Jerry playing though. 4-3-14: Another cell phone pic! This is one of the Petsmart cats being all belly's up and cuddly, which, after my day at work, I really needed. 4-4-14: I bought a new 35mm lens and took it downtown to do some street photography. This was one of the first shots I took with it. I love this lens!

And that's it for this weeks photos.  Next week will kick off with Jerry at the beach and some sharkless shark fishing. Stay tuned!

Monday Photo Dump: Week 12 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

This week has been a bit different than usual for me. It's been all about me time.  My hubby has been in the field since Wednesday which means that my week can be summed up in just a few words- dogs, cats, bubble baths, books, and wine.  And work, but I try to ignore that part. 3-22-14- I met these two cuties at the adoption event with One Love at Tailspin on Saturday.  I was soo close to taking them home.  If I was a single woman, I would have a house full. 3-23-14 Just some pretty flowers because spring has sprung. 3-24-14: Over the weekend I broke my phone (it was my first time ever breaking a phone). But I was able to use it as an excuse to upgrade back to an android.  It was kind of disappointing because I really like the idea of the windows 8 operating system, but it just didn't run well enough. 3-25-14: Saturday was my husband and my anniversary. We've been keeping this charm bracelet since we were dating and the idea was to add a charm every year.  We were a bit behind so he ordered some to catch up.  Each charm represents a year in our marriage except the first two which are for when we were dating, and our wedding. 3-26-14: This was the first day of the field for my hubby. I took  this as an opportunity for my kindle, a glass of wine, and a nice long bubble bath. 3-27-14: I'm excited because the plant that I thought I had killed just sprouted some new leaves. 3-28-14: Jerry and I have been getting a lot of quality time together with the hubster away.  I think he even listens when I have conversations with him (uh oh am I crazy?).  This is his interested face.

So that's it for this week's photos.  Next week will be jumping off with Sassy, the amazing flying dog.  Curious? Check back to find out what I'm talking about.

Monday Photo Dump: Week 12 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Here we are facing another Monday. I'm still sick. In fact today I am call in from work amounts of sick, so I've spent the whole morning on the couch reading Divergent, cuddling with my pets, and feeling all around crappy. But, I'm taking a break from all of that to share this week's photos.

3-15-14: We start off in the heart of Savannah's St. Patty's day celebrations. This holiday is kind of a big deal here, for some odd reason, so the party lasted all weekend long.  We went out on Saturday with some friends and I did some drinking and street photography. I wrote a quick post about it and shared some pictures here.

3-16-14: Sunday I revisited some old music that I used to love as a teenager and realized I've not developed an attachment to music in the same way since then. There is something about hiding out in the orange and yellow bedroom of my teenage years reading Ray Bradbury and listening to A Ghost is Born that in some ways, I'll never beat.

3-17-14: Monday was shopping day 'cause I was in desperate need of a new pair of running/work shoes. I made a first attempt at product photography, which, although it's a bit dark, I think I did pretty decent on (especially since I was working with natural light).

3-18-14: On Tuesday Sam took in this absolutely adorable foster puppy who we both got instantly attached to (for me, all it took were some puppy kisses).

3-19-14: Wednesday I decided to revisit my writing after coming to the realization that I never write anymore, so I busted out this old tattered journal.

3-20-14: More writing on Thursday, but this time in the form of poetry.  Inspiration hits at such random times for me (I wrote most of this in my head while counting jewelry at work), but it's such a great feeling when it happens.

3-21-14: Friday I did an impromptu photo shoot with Sam, her jeep, and the setting sun. I'm so excited with how this shot turned out!

That's it for this week.  Next week's photo dump will be kicked off with the cutest puppies in the world, so stay tuned!

Watered Down

When did I become a watered down version of myself? I used to spend my evenings in concerts and coffee shops, my days filled with music and poetry. My ringing phone played Wilco from the pocket of my thrift store dress.  I sat in the sunshine at fountains filling notebooks with words and wisdom. I flaunted my red hair, my strangeness. These days I'm all about working. Eight hour days followed by eight hour sleep. I clean house and watch TV and ignore myself.  Forget the makeup, forget the fashion- I live in my yoga pants on my trips to the grocery store, and where else do I go? Never far, and never anywhere exciting.

"While all bodies share/ the same fate, all voices do not."

This is one of my favorite quotes from a poem by Li-Young Lee and I often wonder, what would remain of my voice if I were to die tomorrow? Some pretty pictures? The memory of a "nice" girl? A few poems that no one ever read?

Who knows me as the introverted book nerd, passionate about music and language, with a strange style and a sense of adventure?  I'm still that girl when I'm wandering the streets of Savannah with my camera, watching strangers and soaking up the sunshine.  I'm still that girl when I'm cuddling on the couch with my doberman and my kindle.

But how often does that happen?

It's time to take back my time.  It's time to leave the house a mess and read more books instead, to spend my afternoons in bookstores and sample all the coffee shops in Savannah. It's time to write more poetry and and wear more dresses.

It's time to find myself again.

Who's with me?

What part of yourself have you neglected recently and how can you bring it back? I'd love to hear your experiences and advice.

St. Patty's Day in Savannah

I did it.

Somehow I convinced my hubby to brave the St. Patrick's Day crowds to get the Savannah experience.  This holiday is kind of a big deal here, in fact it lasted all weekend. For those of you that aren't from around here, it looks a bit like this:

We met up some friends and drank some beer and of course I brought my camera. It turns out that street photography is really great when everyone is drunk because most people want to be in the pictures.  I had countless people pose for me, some that weren't even the intended subject.  Everybody was dressed crazy, drunk, and happy, (my friends and I included).

I did learn that holding a beer while wielding a big camera is a bit difficult, but I still think I managed to get the shots that really represent what this weekend looked like. It was a blast!

SJ at Sunrise | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Last Saturday I got up bright and early to meet up with SJ, a gorgeous local model, to do some portraits at sunrise. Let me just say that it pains me to get up early on the weekends.  I wake up at 3:30 five days a week, so I really appreciate my Saturday sleep ins.  Even if that's only until 7:00.

But waking up early to work with SJ was definitely worth it.  We found a field and a lake to shoot at with golden morning light and steam rolling off of the lake.  Beautiful.

SJ was a fabulous model, and we spent equal parts of our time laughing and shooting.  What I love most about SJ is her sense of adventure. Some models might think it's weird when I ask them to climb a tree, for instance, but not her.  She just wanted to know which tree.

This was a quick little shoot due to the limited time frame that the lighting allowed, but it was a lot of fun.  I can't wait to work with SJ again.

If you want to see the whole shoot you can find it at my website here.

Monday Photo Dump Week #10 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for another Weekly Photo Dump! This week was rainy and awful, but the weekend was gorgeous. I spent the weekend outside (yet didn't bring my camera, what was I thinking?) and then spent the rest of the week playing with dogs and eating (hey, my two favorite things.

So without further ado:

3-1-14: Okay so technically this was taken the night before, but since I had to work early Saturday morning, and this is what we were doing the night before, I think this gives you a good idea of how my Saturday felt- sleep deprived.

3-2-14: Sunday was also spent outside, somehow without my camera. Although I wasn't able to get any pictures of my adventures, my hubby did let me take this quick portrait of him and my dobe, Jerry.  I can't believe how big that dog has gotten!

3-3-14: My Monday consisted of work and then hours spent at the car dealership while they figured out that they needed to replace my transmission.  This is how I felt about things.

3-4-14: And then came the rain.  A five minute storm flooded my yard, and then we were stuck in the cold, wet, gross weather for the rest of the week.

3-5-14: I used to be totally scared of raw chicken. It freaked me out. But this chicken is about to be delicious!

3-6-14: Thursday I decided to embrace the rain and play with my friend Sam's dog Sassy.  She was not phased by the nasty weather. She just wanted to play!

3-7-14: I spent Friday playing with the dogs too.  Magnum was so kind as to pose for me.  He looks so dignified here!

After my missed photo opportunities this weekend I decided to take my camera with me more places, and I am much happier with this week's photos because of it.  Sticking to this idea, I already have some great photos for next week including a day at the shooting range.  I'm excited to bring some new life into this project and see where we can go with it.  Stay tuned!

Chad and Erika | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Last week, some good friends of mine Chad and Erika invited me into their home to do a lifestyle photoshoot of them.  Erika is expecting, but not showing yet, so this will be some of their last photos as just the two of them (plus dogs).  We really focused on the two of them in their natural surroundings, and I love the way this shoot turned out.

These two were a blast to work with, but I already knew that.  Chad and Erika are always great to hang out with. But watching the interactions between these two was even better.

Chad is straight up goofy and constantly making faces or striking a Captain Morgan pose for the camera, despite Erika trying her hardest to get him to be serious.  We were starting to think he may not be capable.

We weren't sure what the photos would look like in the end, but as I look at the results all I can see is love between this little family.  Look at Chad's face in that ultrasound shot. He is absolutely beaming! And he has good reason. What a gorgeous family!

I'm so excited to come back and do this shoot again, but next time the family will be just a bit bigger.

We rounded out the shoot by letting Chad play with their gorgeous husky, Cyan.  She was very playful and wouldn't sit still, but I like the action shots anyway.  Look at those eyes!

I loved this photo shoot, and am excited to try more of these indoor lifestyle shoots. This just a little peak into the shoot, but you can find the rest on my website, here.

Monday Photo Dump: Week 9 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Phew! It's been a crazy week. I got stuck working two night shifts next week with not a whole lot of break between that and my day shift.  I may have worked less hours, but I am still recovering from the lack of sleep. I don't do well without sleep.

And then yesterday, when I was supposed to be posting last week's photos, I spent three and a half hours at the car dealership for them to tell me that I wouldn't have my car for a week while they replace the transmission.  At least it's warranty work.

Anyway, this is going somewhere, I promise. Basically I'm giving you all my excuses for why I'm a) a day late, and b) using cell phone pictures this week.

I had originally planned to do every picture for my 365 with my DLSR, but quite frankly that wasn't doable this week.  My week happened at work, and I can't exactly carry my DSLR around at Sam's and stop work to shoot some pictures. So, although the quality makes me cringe, I'm using some cell phone pictures.

Whew, I'm a bit long winded today, aren't I? Let's get to the pictures.

   1-22-14: Before all the craziness, I spent my Saturday afternoon at an adoption event at Tails Spin in Pooler hanging out with this cool guy and a few other sweet adoptables.  Fulton (the guy in the picture) is a complete lover, and he was posing for pictures left and right.  He also licked my lens at one point.  Nothing like a little dog slobber to make your pictures sharp, huh?

1-23-14: Sunday I went over to some friends' house to do a lifestyle photo shoot with them. I've wanted to do this silhouette shot for some time, I just hadn't found the right subjects and situation. I love the way this turned out.

1-24-14: Yes, it's supposed to be upside down.  My hubby convinced me to go for a jog with him Monday.  Let me just say, I don't jog. I was so sore/tired/defeated by the end of this jog that I pretty much collapsed on the floor afterwards. Once I recovered, I decided to do some yoga for my poor, poor muscles.  Jerry seemed to think it was a game and was running around all over the place, so I took this shot: my view from downward facing dog.

1-25-14: Que the night shift.  This was my "rockin' the night shift" selfie for instagram that I took on the first night when I was consuming way too much caffeine and driving a forklift around 'cause I was bored.

1-26-14: After work I thought I'd go home and crash.  I curled up on the couch and Jerry joined me.  I was exhausted! But I was so amped up on caffeine still that I couldn't sleep. And Jerry's nose was constantly in my face, so that didn't help much.  I ended up watching I Love Lucy all day instead.

1-27-14: My last nightshift was dragging on by the end.  I was still full of caffeine and spent most of the night jamming out to The Fratelli's, but as the last hour came I was losing steam.  I tried to entertain myself by doodling one a post-it note.

1-28-14: This was my recovery day, also spent on the couch watching I Love Lucy (I've decided I'm in love with Ricky Ricardo). This time Gizmo kept me company.

Like I said, it's was a crazy week. This one is off to a rough start, but I'm hoping for smooth sailing from here on out.  We will see. Until then I've got some serious house cleaning to do, so that's all for today!

Superbowl Party Homemade Pretzels

For me, Superbowl weekend is all about food, friends, and commercials.  I could care less about football, and especially so this year, since the game was awful.  This game bored me more that football normally does. Seriously. Luckily, my lovely hubby saved the day by deciding that he wanted to try to make homemade pretzels.  It was a random idea and it turned out to be amazing one.  The game may have sucked, but I was consoled by the delicious food.  Yum.

So I thought I'd share the recipe with you fine people.

Let me just start out by saying that this is not my recipe.  I found it here at Sally's Baking Addiction.

We didn't quite follow her recipe though.  I can't seem to stick to a recipe 100% in anything I make.  It stifles my creativity or something.

We made two different batches, since one of our friends is gluten free.  The first batch we made with regular all purpose flour, the second was with King Arthur all purpose gluten free flour.

The process is pretty simple.  The dough is a basic bread dough with flour, water, salt, and yeast.  You don't need to let it rise or anything, just roll it out and bake it.

I usually mix dough with my kitchenaid, but Robert wanted to do this old school and mix by hand. It didn't really take much kneading, so this wasn't a bad choice.

And so we have a nice little lump of dough to work with.

We cut it into pieces, rolled it out,

and shaped it into pretzels (some recipes recommend you to dunk these in a solution of baking soda and boiling water at this point to get them to brown up nicely, but due to laziness, we just cooked them on broil for a few minutes to get the brownness). We brushed on some butter, sprinkled on some course ground sea salt,

and then we baked them.  And devoured them.  Seriously these were amazing.

This was our gluten free batch, which didn't puff up quite as well and refused to brown, but still tasted quite good.  I know nothing about gluten free baking, so I just used the same recipe with different flour, but I'm pretty sure that you have to use something extra to get them to rise. That said, I'd eat these just as they were, and the friend we made them for like them, so I guess that's what counts.

And there you have it: homemade pretzels!

After all that work baking (not really, they were actually super easy) we were too lazy to make any sort of sauce for them.  Luckily for us, the pre-made cheese (or cheese-like) sauce that you can get at the grocery store was a perfect pairing.  You could also do mustard, or just enjoy the pretzels for the buttery goodness that they offer.  Either way.

If you aren't like me and you actually like the structure of a recipe, you can find it here. Or maybe my loose descriptions are good enough.

Either way, give it a try and let me know how they turn out!

Monday Photo Dump: Week #6 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Today we are launching the Monday photo dump since Fridays are now my afternoon at the animal shelter and I will no longer have time to edit and post my photos that day. You can find out all about that here. I know I've made a lot of changes all of a sudden, but the format for this post is still the same and the pictures are still from the same part of the week, we are just switching up the days.  With that said, here's last week's photos, the first set for the month of February.

2-1-14: Can I just say that I love food photography.  We see a lot of people posting pictures of their lunch on Instagram and it's kind of a running joke that gives food photography a bad name, but food that is prepared by hand can be gorgeous and really great to take pictures of, like this colorful pork stir fry that I made for a lazy night dinner.

2-2-14: More food! My husband had the random idea to make handmade pretzels for our Superbowl party.  It was actually pretty easy and very successful (I couldn't stop eating them).  A recipe is coming soon.

2-3-14: Just some Jerry toes.  I sure do love Jerry toes.

2-4-14: It's a pretty self explanatory shot of the penny jar.  I just like the colors of the pennies,

2-5-14: What used to be a nice view of a wooded area out of my computer room window is now construction.  They cleared the trees quite a while ago (which I was pretty upset about) and then just recently they started construction.  My work is now accompanied by the sounds of hammers and construction equipment.  This is my new view. I can't wait until they are done building.

2-6-14: X marks the spot, I guess.

2-7-14: This is one of my shots from my day at the animal shelter.  I didn't use this as something to post to get this dog adopted (for obvious reasons), but I do like the moment that was captured.  This dog is anything but vicious, I swear, but caught mid bark he does look kind of mean, doesn't he?

So there you have it, last week's photos.  I didn't do a theme, which left me with kind of a hodgepodge of photos, but I think they captured my week pretty well. As always, if you have any theme suggestions leave them in the comments below.  Otherwise, I'll see you next time!

Valentine Mini Sessions! | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Looking for a last minute gift for Valentines Day? Why not a mini photo session for you and your honey with Mikaela Joy Photography? This offer is only good until February 14th so don't miss it- book today!

It's Super Bowl Sunday!

Guess what day it is... It's...

It's arguably one of the biggest "holidays" (if you can call it that) in America, where people all across the country form harsh alliances and rivalry's based on which team of men (who most of us have never met) will maneuver a ball better than the others.

Can you tell I'm not much of a football person?

That said, my Super Bowl graphic there shows that I obviously have a preference.  This is the first year in, well, ever, that I've actually cared even slightly about which team wins.  It's not that have followed any football ever to know anything about any of the teams, but I'm from Washington, so if I were to pick a team this one makes sense.  Go Seahawks!

But even if I don't enjoy the sport, I do love Superbowl Sunday.  For me, it's all about the food, friends, and of course the commercials (nothing can tug at my heartstrings quite like a  good Budweiser commercial).

So this year I'm foregoing my sleep (I have to work tomorrow at 4:00 am meaning that I'd normally be going to bed ridiculously early tonight) to spend the evening with a bunch of friends eating junk food and drinking beer and watching the game.  My hubby and I made homemade soft pretzels to bring (I'll be sharing the recipe on here soon) and, somewhat surprisingly, they turned out great!

It should be another great Superbowl Sunday.

So how about you, what are your Super Bowl plans, and who are you rooting for?

Let me know in the comments!

Friday Photo Dump: Week #4 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Hey guys! It's that time of week again for a bunch more photos. This week I came up with a last minute theme (I seriously decided as I was taking the first picture).  The theme is:

Outdoors

it's pretty straight forward.  You would think that would be quite easy except for one little thing--

It's been really cold.

Okay I probably have all my readers from up North shaking their heads right now.  Fair enough, it's been really Georgia cold.  But the thing about Georgia cold is that it's not pretty in an "I want to go outside and play in the snow" kind of way.  Things are just brown and dead and cold.  I also haven't been feeling super motivated to leave my house this week, so that left me with the challenge of finding things to photograph in my cold, dead yard.

Let's see how I did.

1-18-14: For Saturday and Sunday I did actually leave my house.  My husband and I took our dog Jerry on a walk at the park.  It was pretty dang cold in the shade, but when these lovely rays of sun showed up it was perfect out! The rare thing about this photo is that my hubby is actually in the picture.  He hates cameras, so this may be one of only a few photos of him this year.

1-19-14: After my dad brought home my childhood kite during Christmas, the hubby and I decided to take it out for a test spin (I never got the chance to use it as a kid).  Well, during this endeavor we learned that Jerry loves kite chasing.  I'm just lucky those big sharp doberman teeth didn't snag my kite!

1-20-14: Did I mention that it's cold out!  Well, I had this brilliant idea that I was going to have a bonfire with the Christmas tree that is still sitting patiently in the backyard.  Turns out I kind of suck at starting fires.  This is the best flame I got.

1-21-14: I took advantage of this blue sky day to take a silhouette picture of the tree in our front yard. I love the crisp lines in this photo.

1-22-14: Here's Jerry basking in the evening sun.  Don't let the warm colors of this photo fool you though. I still had two sweatshirts on.

1-23-14: The Christmas tree is still in the backyard.  I should really do something about that.

1-25-14: It's just another beautiful, blue sky, sunny day.  And freezing.  I had to continuously pause from my paperwork at work this morning in order to breathe on my hands to warm them back up.  And that was inside the store!

And that's it for this week.

Since I've used this word entirely too much in this post, I've come up with a theme for next week and it is: Cold.

I'm still on the hunt for new themes, so if you have any ideas please leave them in the comments.

See ya next time!

Chia Seeds (What do you do with that?)

Alright everybody, after some grocery store inspiration last night (Thank you publix cashier), I have come up with a new segment for the blog called, "What do you do with that?"

Let me explain.

Almost every trip to the grocery store I buy something that most Americans would consider to be weird. Maybe I watch too many cooking shows, but for some reason, where most people would give it a glance and walk by, I find celery root, rutabagas, or parsnips in the grocery store and I see them as an interesting challenge.  I often fill my fridge with foods that I have no idea how to cook or eat.

Every time I get in line with these items, the cashier will ask the same question about at least one of them, "What do you do with that?"  I always have the same response: "I'm about to find out."

So this segment will chronicle my experience in figuring out how to cook my unusual food purchases.  I grocery shop twice a month, so you can expect these posts about that often.  So, shall we give it a go?

This week's item is: Chia Seeds

My first step in any unknown food endeavor is to check the internet.  In this world a person can teach themselves just about anything with a little youtube and pinterest.  I am sure to take full advantage of that.

Well according to Pinterest there is approximately a million things you can do with chia seeds. Case in point:

After a lot of browsing I did discover a few interesting things about the little guys.

• They are super healthy.  They are high in protein (great for all you vegetarians out there) and, according to a pinterest user called mygreenworld, they are high in antioxidants, useful for weight loss, good for the heart and brain, and much more. (http://www.pinterest.com/mygreenworld)
• They are also very useful in cooking.  A blogger who goes by Wellness Mama says she uses them as a gluten free substitute for just about everything.  She even uses them as an egg substitute in some recipes (seeds instead of eggs, really? This is where I get a bit skeptical).  She also says that they make a great thickening agent in many recipes, which is something I'd be very interested to try since my cooking usually involves a lot of flour. (http://wellnessmama.com/4981/10-uses-for-chia-seeds/)
• They actually taste very good!  This one I didn't learn with research so much as trial and error.  I happened to be making a tortellini salad last night, and since the Chia Seed bag said they were good with salads, I thought I'd give it a go, so I threw a tablespoon in.  They added a slightly sweet and nutty flavor which went perfectly with my haphazard recipe.  Doesn't it look good?

Does anyone else have any great ideas for how to use Chia Seeds? Let me know in the comments!

And if you are interested in seeing some of the recipes that I use in my cooking (well adapt into my own, anyway) you can follow me on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/mikaelajoyphoto/

Friday Photo Dump Week #2 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

My first full week of my photo a day project is complete and I'm here to share the results.  Want to see?

 

January 4th, 2014: A close up shot of the Christmas decorations that I just can't bring myself to take down (more out of laziness than the fact that they are pretty, although they are.)

January 5th, 2014: This morning started out with some canadian bacon that my dad cured and my husband cooked (delicious!)

January 6th, 2014: After having company at my house for almost a month during the holidays, I needed a few days of me time.  So after work I got lost in a good book.  In case you are wondering, the book is Enduring Love by Ian McEwan and it is quite good.

January 7th, 2014: Just another lazy day with my pets and my books.

January 8th, 2014: It's been surprisingly cold for Georgia this week, and the weather inspired me to start a knitting project.  I picked this gorgeous yarn, but the problem is that the yarn is very thin.  I might be done with this scarf by summer, just when I don't need it anymore.

January 9th, 2014: With the house to myself this day, I consulted my Julia Child cookbook and made a huge mess of the kitchen, leaving not much time for anything else.  I did happen to snap this shot of Blitz being cute though.  He does it every once in a while.

January 10th, 2014: I wanted to play around with Bokeh today and using it as the subject of a photo, rather than a background.  Technically that just means I took a blurry picture, but hey I think it looks cool. I took this using the Christmas lights since I still haven't taken down our tree.  I should probably get on that before it dies, huh?

This week was a pretty slow one, but it is exactly what I needed.  I spent some time in solitude, just relaxing and working on my own projects.  It may have left me with photos of food, books, and cats, but that's not a life that I'll complain about.  I could pull of crazy cat lady/librarian any day.

Why I'm Drawn to Photography | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

All my life I've been a writer.  It's always come easy for me, articulating my thoughts and feelings on paper.  I've off and on kept a journal since I learned the alphabet (that's only a slight exaggeration) and I've always excelled at anything reading and writing related in school.  I remember writing an essay about my favorite place, Green Lake, BC when I was in 4th grade and my teacher liking the details and descriptions so much that she gave it to the schools middle school language arts teacher to use as an example for her students.  Writing just comes natural for me. But I think in words, not pictures, and anything that requires visualization I struggle with.  When I was in middle school I was asked to solve a math problem that most of the class finished in 10 minutes or so. I, trying to use algebra, couldn't get it until the teacher finally showed me the simple solution-- draw a picture.  The thought hadn't even crossed my mind.

Fast forward to my last semester in college- I was taking a poetry class and wrote a poem from the perspective of an army wife whose husband is deployed.  It talked about everything that is different around the house- "your army boots left/ there is no longer dirty digi-camo on the dining/ room floor." and ended with something along the lines of, "I try to picture your face but/ I can't remember our nose."  Everyone in my class had basically the same reaction when I read the poem aloud-- a laugh accompanied by a question, "Is that supposed to be sincere or funny?" My answer was both.  Even if my husband is just in a different room than me I can't picture the details of his face.  I can describe him, but I can't picture him.

So at the beginning of the year when I picked up my first DSLR camera, I was introduced to a way of thinking very different from my own.  Sure, you have to think in words and numbers to understand the exposure triangle and get proper settings, but none of that matters if the image on the screen isn't interesting and well composed.  Photographers have to see the world in terms of light, color, and shape.  Theres a big difference between looking at a sunset and seeing beams of yellow light slicing through the pink clouds, and actually composing that into a picture that you hang on your wall.  I like photography because it's a challenge and a new way of seeing.  Even when I watch a movie now I see film techniques and shapes of bokeh where I used to see plot holes and underdeveloped characters.  It's so different.

The other thing that draws me into photography is the ability to save a moment.  Because I don't have the ability to picture a person's face, a photo is that much more valuable to me.  I may not be able to imagine how my husband and I looked today ten years down the road, but with a photo I can always remember.  I think that's pretty great.