Domestic Executive

Friends and bassets

2010-03-12T01:03:30Z

There are some people you meet in life who are just so loveable and you never want to let them go. We were lucky enough for two such people, Rich and Chris from Oxford UK, to pay us a visit this week as they travel around New Zealand by campervan. They formed a special bond with the bassets and a new branch of the basset admiration society has started. Visits by friends from the UK are always so fleeting but this is one that will definitely be remembered for a long time.

Rapturous morning

2010-03-12T01:29:01Z

With autumn upon us the morning skies are rapturous in their applause. The light is bright and golden and crying out to be photographed at sunrise. The only way I could capture this moment before it disappeared was to hang out of the living room window. It’s a perfect height for getting the Rimutakas in the distance in view.

Domestic Executive self portrait

2010-03-12T01:24:48Z

Waiting for the commuter train to arrive can be a tedious occupation. Perfect timing for creating a self portrait.

Why picture taking is so much harder than snapping

2010-03-06T04:07:29Z

The point has come where I need a little more formal practice to improve my photography. That is to say I photograph things rather than snap at them. But this is easier said than done. But never one to give up easily I took the opportunity during one of our basset walks to request a natural light portrait session. Or rather I yelled, hang on a minute this is a perfect spot for a few nice pictures. Just look how everyone hung on my every word!

MT is always up for a cheesy grin but so far isn’t keen on posing for more than 30 seconds. But in a gesture of goodwill and marital harmony he did indulge me and seek to bring the bassets to order.

Without much success, expect that Fortnum was delighted to be having a love in with his master. Mason was up to his usual delaying tactic of stopping for a scratch. Undeterred we pushed on for a little more posing attention.

Not bad although it’s fair to say that the bassets’ minds are elsewhere and certainly not interested in looking back at me. So it was time for my tried and tested method of getting their attention. This worked a treat.

Or not!

When Mason starts to behave like this it is truly deliberate. He knows what’s required but refuses to co-operate. But with a little manhandling we were starting to make progress.

But it was clear that this was going nowhere – Little basset just wasn’t up for any formal portrait and Fortnum was getting more interested in something rustling in the bush. So we just let them have their moment which is when I captured this my favourite snap. A little more candid.

Whereas this is more like candid camera as little basset demanded attention.

Of all the reading I’ve done about getting the great shots the best tip is to remember that the best shots usually come moments after the formal click. So all I need now is a little more patience and practice and maybe I can make my picture taking much more like my snapping but with better results.

I’m hankering after a better class of camera but the truth is that it doesn’t matter how good your camera if you’re not getting into situations where you can get great photographs. My daily snap regime has certainly focused my mind on not just getting out with the camera but practising something specific. Sort of like a daily assignment. It is time to step that up again this month with some broader assignments.

I’ve tried following along with other budding photographers’ assignments but I’ve learned that what I want to perfect is photo storytelling rather than just photographs for art sake. I’d like the photos to be artistic but I’m just not into photography in an abstract art sense. I consume photography blogs and the ones that impress me the most are wedding photographers who have to be portrait, architecture, close up and documentary photographer all in one package. I think its the essence of capturing life in all it’s dimensions that interests me so now all I need to do it work out how I’m going to create the right opportunities and then just go for it.

It’s times like these you really miss your family and long standing friends as they are the ones that I’d be arm locking into action right now. But they are 12,000 miles away so I’ll have to find a way of improvising. So any local blog readers who are game for some candid camera leave me a comment or send me a tweet and we’ll see whether I can do better next time.

Final golden wave

2010-03-06T19:46:03Z

I was propelled back into the house tonight to fetch my camera – the last of the sunlight glowing on Goat Rock was simply stunning. I love the spotlight effect on the hills. It’s like a last wave goodnight before the sun disappears for another day. This pictures is quite grainy though – camera noise. I bumped up the ISO to the highest level on my camera to let as much light in as possible. This is one of the reasons I yearn for a better class of camera. At one time it was all about the number of pixels in your camera but in truth people want to be able to take pictures however low the light. With a camera that has a higher ISO range this picture would have been sharper and brighter with very little noise. The good news though is I can enjoy this view without my camera and I can be more than satisfied with that.

Garden thief

2010-03-06T19:46:29Z

Living with basset hounds isn’t as predictable as you might think. Big basset has now turned vegetarian which places my kitchen garden at risk. This “butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth” basset snuck off with a courgette I’d picked and scoffed the lot. Adding insult to injury he stole this one too but after a little chat I agreed to trust him just to guard it for me until I’d finished the watering. If he made one false move towards this courgette he’d get wet. And he knew it. He complied with my request but then sulked when I wouldn’t let him carry it to the house for me. I may be trusting but I’m not completely stupid!

And this one makes four

2010-03-04T08:00:03Z

It was as if the sun was pouring gold into the garden this morning. It caught the Crab Apple tree like a spotlight and I noticed for the first time that we had a small but perfectly formed fruit growing. It’s only one but the tree is a a tiny specimen so I think it’s done pretty well to produce this one. It’s good to know that we can add this to the to the last count making four apples this year.

Whole food that really is naughty and nice

2010-03-06T02:49:31Z

When a recipe calls for wholefood it reminds me of my mum who went through a phase of being a bit of a wholefood nut. Wholesome, nourishing food that looks brown and had the texture of sawdust. Obviously things in food have come a long way over the years and this is a recipe for Date and Orange Muffins you can take whole food to a new level. Hold onto your apron because you are going to use a whole orange in this recipe. Actually, it’s two whole oranges.

This is my kind of cooking. A true gather, whizz and mix up recipe. The fact that you end up with a mountain of sweet and moist muffins is just a bonus.

Gathering all the ingredients together before you start cooking is a relatively new concept for me. I’m generally pacing back and forth across the kitchen which is exhausting and invariably ends up with me realising I don’t have the vital ingredient necessary. Also, ingredient cruising can be dangerous with two bassets to navigate around since they’d worked out that parking themselves flat out on the floor is the most effective way of catching the cooking debris as it falls to the floor.

Yes, cooking in our kitchen now requires you to master the quick step and perfect your assault course techniques. So to save energy and preserve my bassets I gather all my ingredients together before I start.

First whizz up two oranges in the food blitzer – yes, skin, seeds, the whole caboodle. Add the eggs and melted butter. Blitz for a few more seconds but don’t over do it. Then in a large bowl put the orange mixture with the dates. In a separate jug or bowl mix the yoghurt, lemon juice and sugar and then add to the dates and orange mix but don’t mix at this stage. Finally sift in the dry ingredients in small amounts and start to turn over the whole mixture together. It’s important not to beat or over mix – muffins like to be treated gently – blend all the dry ingredients together in small amounts until you’re left with a light batter.

Here’s the kicker. This recipe makes 24 muffins so make sure you’re hungry or have plenty of people around to share them with you. They do of course keep fresh in an airtight container for 2-3 days or better still freeze a few so that you can whip out a muffin to put in your lunch box and feel smug about having home baking in it. Bake the muffins for 15-20 minutes and cool in the muffin tray for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool.

Enjoy. These muffins are sweet but the orange gives a nice kick making them feel healthy to eat. This is where the whole orange is the perfect whole food to enjoy. We took a box with us when we went away to the beach and they were delicious with our morning tea watching the sun come up. I’m sure they’d have the same warm uplifting experience whether you’re at the beach or warming up in the snow!

Date and Orange Muffins

Adapted from Annabelle Wright from A Treasury of New Zealand Baking

2 whole oranges

2 large eggs

200g butter, melted & cooled a little

1 cup pitted dates

400g natural yoghurt

A squeeze of lemon juice

3/4 cup of sugar

3 cups plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Grease two 12-hole muffin tins or line with muffin papers.
Blend the whole oranges in a food processor. Add the eggs and melted butter and mix again. Don’t over mix. Put the mixture in a large bowl with the dates.
Mix the yoghurt, lemon juice and sugar together in a bowl or jug and add to the date & oranges but don’t mix.
Sift the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add them to the orange & date in small amounts blending all the ingredients until a light and fluffy batter is formed. Don’t beat or over mix.
Spoon the mixture into your muffin trays. If you want some muffin bling, slice an orange thinly and cut a segment and pop this on the top before baking.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until when your test skewer comes out clean.
Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes before completely cooling on a rack.

The muffins freeze well or keep in an airtight container for about 2-3 days.

A green haven in the city

2010-03-03T08:04:06Z

One of the things I did like about working in London was the ability to find a green haven somewhere close by. Parks and gardens that oxygenate the city and provide a cool haven for workers at lunchtime. I was struck today how little green space there actually is in central Wellington. One of my favourite spots is the gardens in front of Parliament. I only had ten minutes to enjoy it but the canopies of these trees gave welcome shade from the Indian summer sun. I could have laid down and taken a nap but that would have been rude to the people I had appointments with this afternoon. Maybe next time I’ll just invite them to meet me there.

A basset who loves his master

2010-03-01T17:56:13Z

With MT away in Sydney living it up at a conference, Fortnum is at home whistling at doorways looking for his master. An impromptu portrait session on a walk on Sunday was the perfect opportunity for Big Basset to be right up front. Little basset was a little less co-operative and to be frank refused to play along. His loss!