Growing with Self Assignments

I spent the last few days taking every opportunity to watch CreativeLive's Food and Culture Photography with Penny de los Santos.

I've been looking forward to this since they first announced it weeks ago since I do a lot of cooking and struggle with photographing food.

While it wasn't quite what I was expecting, it was an incredibly valuable learning experience. Penny's insights about the role that food and gathering for meal plays within the larger scope of culture really hit home for me. It's easy to get lost in all the technical details of a photograph. But what drew me to photography to begin with is how an image can immerse the viewer in the *feel* of a moment- and that is all about the wider view (figuratively speaking).

She also spoke several times about the importance of self-assigned projects as a means of growth and learning. I've had one of those projects lurking in the back of mind for a couple years now.  I think I've hit the right time to spend some time and energy on it. Hopefully, it will be a cookbook of our family recipes.

Here's a few recipe photo's I've taken in the last year. I've learned so much since then.