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  • Crafting Beer with (512) Brewing Company
    Crafting Beer with (512) Brewing Company
    by John M. P. Knox

    "Definitely worth adding to your collection – it’s as good a visual record of the brewing process as I’ve ever seen." -Dave of 33Beers.com

Sunday
Jun102012

Sandwich in Little Saigon

I'm in San Francisco for WWDC, which means I get to eat Banh Mi. I love Banh Mi, especially when the bread is soft with a light crunchy crust. This meal cost less than $4.

Monday
May072012

2012 Austin Food & Wine Festival

Thanks to KitchenAid, I was able to attend this year's Austin Food & Wine Festival. I had a lot of fun. Take a look at a few of my photos from the event. You can click on any image to get a better view. Cheers!

 

IMG_0465-Edit.jpg IMG_0472-Edit-Edit.jpg


IMG_0500-Edit.jpg IMG_0503-Edit.jpg Chef Tyson Cole's winning taco at Rock Your Taco.

Chef Tim Love's fire starting team. Austin Food and Wine Festival Hands on grilling setup at the Austin Food and Wine Festival

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Sunday
Mar182012

Uchiko and Lytro

Do I contradict myself? I do. I told you not to expect much food photography with the Lytro. But the Lytro is so much fun to use I couldn't resist taking it to Uchiko last night. Uchiko was very generous to send us out several different plates to try in addition to our orders. Thanks Uchiko, we love you!

Don't blame Uchiko if some of the food has a funky color -- blame me. Despite the sometimes funky job the Lytro does with white balance, I think many of these photos are fun to play around with. Click on different parts of the photos to change the focus.

 

Saturday
Mar102012

The Lytro Camera and Food

Have you heard of the Lytro camera yet? The Lytro is a small, unusually shaped camera that's most amazing ability is to be able to re-focus a photo after it has been taken. You can read my initial impressions and thoughts on the Lytro on my more nerdy blog.

The Lytro technology might come in handy for food photography. Focusing on food can be difficult since the camera is often very close to the food. You can click on various parts of the cafe latte above and see how the image is re-focused. Nice, right?

Unfortunately I can't recommend the Lytro for food photography right now. At least I cant suggest it as your primary camera. Why isn't the Lytro a great camera for food photography yet? First of all, the amount of post processing available to the artist is limited to the same changing of focus that the Lytro viewer gives. The artist can't correct white balance, exposure, contrast, or even crop the photo.

When I take photos of food, I spend a lot of time and effort after the shot to make it look good and convey the story I want. While it is a relief to be able to take photos without worrying about post-processing, I don't feel comfortable sharing photos that didn't turn out well. And when it comes to food, I want to do the Chef and the Kitchen's work justice. I'm sure you'll occasionally see a Lytro photo here that fits the bill, but with the current technology it will be rare.

The good news is that Lytro has expressed their intent to add features and even potentially make a more professional camera based on their technology. I think it would be nice to avoid throwing away those photos with the focus on the sauce rather than the more interesting parts of the dish.

Sunday
Feb052012

The Texas Capital Building in Fog

The Texas Capital Building looked like a magical fortress from Norse mythology, wrapped in glowing mist.

The Texas Capital Building in Fog

All the lights punching up into the fog around it made it really stand out compared to the rest of downtown. For most of my walk from work to my parking garage, the Capital hides behind another building. I knew something interesting must be happening because a glowing tower of fog rose from behind the obscuring building.

When I reached the garage, I could finally see how the fog was swirling around the Capital and diffusing the light. I snapped this shot from a staircase near my car.