Posts Tagged ‘portrait’

I’ve pretty much lived in Arizona my whole life. Being from the Southwest, I really enjoy this side of the border Mexican food. I say that because real Mexican food is actually quite different from what we consider Mexican food. But what you can get here is very different from what you eat in other parts of the country-most are really tamed down and extremely Americanized. I mean do you really think Velveeta cheese and store bought precooked meat are authentic? Authentic Mexican food is really about fresh ingredients and food prepared with love (meaning a long time to cook ;) ). My chicken enchilada recipe won’t take hours but for the most part it is made from fresher ingredients.

Ingredients:
10 burrito-sized tortillas (I do use store bought-the kind that are made daily if possible)
2 16 oz cans enchilada sauce (I prefer green, you can use red. and I’m guessing on the can size :O )
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (or 3 smaller ones)
1/4 c water or chicken broth/stock (broth/stock adds more flavor)
1/2 c finely chopped yellow onion (sweeter, you can use whatever you have)
1 clove pressed garlic
1 c shredded cheese (shred it yourself-it’s cheaper and tastes better, we use cheddar you can use your favorite but not Velveeta)
1 6 oz can of sliced black olives (optional)
sour cream

Directions:
1. Put chicken breasts and water/broth in a crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 2-4 (I usually throw them in frozen, even if it’s against the directions but it works for me). They are done when they fall apart as you try to take them out.
2. When chicken is done, preheat oven to 350*. Lightly grease a shallow baking dish-13×9 is a good size.
3. Using two forks (or your hands if you can take the heat) shred the chicken. Place in a bowl and mix in 1 can of enchilada sauce, onions, and garlic (and some olives if you like them).
4. One tortilla at a time, put a large spoonful of mixture spread down the middle longways. Don’t overdue it-it has to make enough for all of the tortillas.
5. Time to roll the tortillas! Fold both ends up about 1 inch. Bring one long side over the filling and tuck under the mixture. Roll it up the rest of the way.
6. Place them in one layer (can overlap some) in the baking dish. Pour the second can of enchilada sauce evenly over the rolled up tortillas. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top.
7. Bake 15-20 minutes until they are turning golden and the cheese is all melted. Top with sour cream and olives if you want.

Serving suggestions: beans (black, pinto, or refried), guacamole, chips and salsa, Spanish rice-super easy to make (check for the recipe next week)
*you can definitely make your own tortillas and enchilada sauce but for the price and time saved I choose to buy these-just get the best tasting sauce and the freshest tortillas*

Surprise Portrait Photography Chicken Enchiladas

Surprise Portrait Photography Chicken Enchiladas

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Kayla Renckly Photography Boudoir Pin-up Newborn Maternity Engagement Portrait

Another installment of Wednesday Wisdom where I will try to answer FAQ, share articles and inspiration. Today’s FAQ is about crop ratio or why an image is cropped the way it is.

Often customers wonder how I choose to crop their photos or how their photos will look at each size. Most cameras (including mine) produce photos that are a 2:3 ratio (equivalent to a 4×6 or 20×30). This means that when you want an image of a different ratio (ex. 4:5 or 8×10), some of the image must be cropped away. As a photographer, I try to take into account for this and leave extra room within an image to allow for an appealing crop that doesn’t lose important parts of the image. Even then not all images will look good at all crop sizes. To help compensate for these differences, I proof my images at a 5×7 size so that it is a pleasing crop somewhere between the more rectangular 2:3 (think 8×12) and the nearly square 4:5 (think 8×10). When you order your prints at a different crop ratio than your proof shows you need to remember there will be a difference between your proof and your final print. I will use my artistic judgement when I crop at these ratios to ensure that all important elements are included and that the image is still appealing. If I feel that a certain crop will not work for an image, I will let you know so that we can make a decision together for the best choice of the display of your portraits.

Here is a visual to help you see the differences a crop will make on one image.
El Mirage Portrait Photographer Fine Art

Please keep this in mind when you order prints from our session.

If this doesn’t answer all your questions on the topic please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to help. If you have any ideas for future posts please let me know!
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We love all kinds of food in my family, but so many of our favorites can’t be eaten by my youngest the way it can be ordered at a restaurant. So we find ways to modify recipes at home that we love for him to eat. One of my husband’s absolute favorite foods is chicken parmesan-if we go to an Italian restaurant I can pretty much guarantee that’s what he’ll order. Here is my recipe and how I’ve modified his version:

Ingredients:
2 large or 3 smaller boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 c shredded mozzarella (can substitute other meltable cheeses)

-for the breading-
6 slices of bread (I save the heels and freeze them to make bread crumbs)
1/4-1/2 c oatmeal (optional)
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 c grated or shredded parmesan cheese (more if you want it stronger)

-for the sauce-
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1 clove pressed garlic

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425*. Put the bread, oatmeal (it creates a slightly crisper breading), and the spices in a food processor until it becomes a fine bread crumb mixture. Add the cheese and mix together.
2. I cut the chicken breasts in half through the long side so that I have 2 squarer pieces. You will need wax paper, plastic wrap, or parchment paper (what I used), a flat surface you won’t damage (I use a cutting board), and something heavy and not breakable like a rolling pin for the next step. Place one chicken piece at a time into the parchment paper or other material and fold over to cover both sides of the chicken piece. Pound the chicken piece until it is about 1/2″ thick.
3. Moisten the chicken pieces one at a time (you can use egg, milk, or water like I did) and coat both sides in bread crumb mixture. Place in a shallow baking dish and bake 8-10 minutes or until they look slightly browned.
4. Mix the spices and garlic into the tomato sauce. Spoon over the chicken pieces. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the sauce. Bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

To make this dairy and egg free:
After creating the bread crumb mixture, I used water to moisten the chicken piece and I breaded his piece before adding the parmesan cheese. I also left off the mozzarella cheese.

chicken parmesan recipe portrait photography

chicken parmesan recipe portrait photography

chicken parmesan recipe portrait photography

chicken parmesan recipe portrait photography

chicken parmesan recipe portrait photography

chicken parmesan recipe portrait photography

chicken parmesan recipe portrait photography

Ok you are right, that’s not mozzarella cheese. I was almost finished making it when I realized that I didn’t have any so I substituted cheddar-not quite the same but it worked.
chicken parmesan recipe portrait photography
Delicious with steamed broccoli!

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It’s Wednesday-time for another installment of Wednesday Wisdom where I will try to answer FAQ, share articles, reviews, and inspiration. This week I’ve decided to do a product review/recommendation for Photojojo.

Photojojo is more than just a quirky name. The first thing you see when you hit their website is the phrase “We believe in doing one thing, and doing it very, very well. We find the best photo shiz anywhere.”

They sell some really unique camera gear and kits for cool projects (think pinhole camera, sun prints). Where else can you find a Super-Secret Spy Lens, a Motherboard Frame, a Helmet Camera Mount, and a Bottle Cap Tripod all in the same place? They even have a book (Photojojo! Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas) full DIY photo projects like how to create temporary photo tattoos. **Hint: this would make a great birthday present for me in March ;)

So now on to my review. For Christmas my husband and I decided to pick out our own gifts and keep them small. I knew what I wanted: a sweater dress from an online boutique that I’d been eyeing forever waiting for my size to be in stock (I’ll review that lovely store when I finally get a picture in my dress :) ) and a slim case for my point-and-shoot (aka p&s or purse camera) so that I could throw it in my purse without my keys destroying it. I had searched online and in stores for awhile trying to find just what I wanted without a lot of luck except for at Photojojo. I kept coming back to it-the perfect little compact camera case. It’s made of neoprene (think wetsuit) which makes it water-resistant and hand washable, it has a sturdy core and fleece lining to protect the camera, and there are 3 different varieties (Hoodie, Pouch, and Scoop-which I don’t see at the store at the moment). I wanted a case that closed but was easy to open so I chose the “Hoodie” (which also has a small pocket for batteries or memory cards and a wrist strap). Now came the dilemma: red or polka dots? Seriously. I love polka dots but red is my favorite color ever. I resorted to eenee meenee and got….RED! Besides as I’m writing this I decided I could get the polka dot one for my phone and to put my driver’s license, debit card, and business cards when I’m on a shoot rather than bringing my purse. Psttt…somebody let my husband know that’s what I want for Valentine’s Day, k thanks.

Here is my beautiful case:

Phoenix Product Photographer
Phoenix Product Photographer
Phoenix Product Photographer
Phoenix Product Photographer
Phoenix Product Photographer
Phoenix Product Photographer

Not only do they have fantastic products at reasonable prices, they also have fabulous customer service with fast shipping and free shipping on orders over $50. So go check them out at the Photojojo store and follow them on Facebook to get heads up on sales and new products.

Oh did I tell you that they send a little dinosaur with their orders? Well they do and my boys thought that was awesome!

Phoenix Product Photographer
Phoenix Product Photographer

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We love pizza in our family, but having to pick the cheese off the youngest part and hoping that the residual amount wouldn’t cause problems wasn’t working. So when a fellow photographer posted she was making homemade pizza a little while back, I had to get the recipe for the dough. She sent me the link for the one she was using and it was delicious! You can make it as a quick recipe and make one pizza or go through the proper method and make 2 pizzas.

Ingredients:
3 c. flour
1 .25oz yeast pkg
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 c. warm (110 degree) water
cornmeal

Quick Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Combine dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients in slowly, knead on lightly floured surface if needed. (I used the dough hook on my standing mixer)
3. Roll out into a pizza crust shape. Dust the pizza stone or pan lightly with cornmeal and lay the dough on it. Roll the edges to form a crust if desired.
4. Top as desired and bake for 18-25 minutes.

2 Crust Directions:
1. Follow steps 1-2 in quick directions above.
2. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel for 40-60 minutes to rise until nearly doubled.
3. Punch dough down and let rise covered again for additional 20 minutes.
4. Split into 2 pieces and shape into balls.
5. Follow steps 3-4 in quick directions above.

*Suggestions*
Per pizza:
2 cups shredded mozzarella
2-3 tbsp pizza sauce (I make my own by starting with canned tomato sauce and adding 1/4 tsp ea. parsley, basil, and oregano and 1/2 clove garlic)
toppings-pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, pineapple, ham, whatever you can think of

*I used wheat flour (what I hand on hand) so the color is a bit different*
homemade pizza recipe Glendale portrait photographer
I used the dough hook on my stand mixer, it was much quicker than by hand

homemade pizza recipe Glendale portrait photographer
cornmeal on the pizza stone

homemade pizza recipe Glendale portrait photographer
rolled out pizza dough, I was told making the little finger indents kept it from bubbling up-don’t know it it’s true or not but mine didn’t bubble up

homemade pizza recipe Glendale portrait photographer
the sauce spread out about an inch or so from the edge

homemade pizza recipe Glendale portrait photographer
the finished product (yes there is a spot missing cheese, that’s for my youngest), it was delicious but the boys did like it better with regular flour when I made it again

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