How I Blog Plus This Week’s Menu

Hey all!

I’ve talked before about how I meal plan, how I adapt recipes, and how I made my own light box, so I figured I’d give you a little peek into how a blog comes together. But first, an aside. Bingley is so used to going in his crate when we go out that I was cleaning out my purse and I look over and I see this:

It’s almost like he’s saying “YAY ALONE TIME”! Weirdo.

Ideas

My ideas come from all over. Sometimes it’s a suggestion from a friend, sometimes it’s a random thought in my head, sometimes I ask a weight loss Facebook group I’m in for ideas, sometimes it’s Pinterest. Sometimes I just come up with them all by myself. Sometimes I just take pictures of myself working out so I can see what body parts I need to work on.

Taking Pictures

I’m gonna shock you all RIGHT HERE. I don’t own a digital camera. I take ALL of my photos with my Samsung Galaxy S5. It’s true. You don’t NEED a fancy camera to take pretty photos. Will I eventually upgrade? Sure, if I ever have any spare cash. Anyone wanna buy me a digital SLR? I didn’t think so. So, maybe, the 12th of never? Besides, most of my food shots come out pretty good as long as the lighting is good. I mean, check this out:

See? Yeah it’s only an orange. But let me zoom out for you…

It’s in my light box, which is in front of a window, and has an extra electric light over top so I can use it at night. The orange photo was taken in just daylight. And yes, my light box is a cardboard box. If you think fancy equipment is required to take good food photos, you’re wrong. You just need to adjust your methods! The results look like this:

I also keep props close by, like that camel up there. My awesome step-sister Elaine brought me that camel from a trip to Egypt AGES ago, and I adore it. The eyes (complete with luxurious eyelashes) are drawn on in ballpoint pen. It may be my favorite souvenir of all time, no joke.

And my kitchen? Are you under the illusion that I have an incredible, top of the line chef’s kitchen? Wrong again. I live in an apartment, remember? I am, however, incredibly blessed to have a gas stove.

Seriously, what was the management company thinking when installing WHITE kitchens, ugh!

In this room I cook my meals, plate them, and photograph them to share with you, my fine readers, on my Instagram account (which posts to the main page of my blog). I haven’t been keeping up very well with posting my weekly menu on the Facebook page, but this week I did, so here are some photos you can expect to see this week:

I hope you enjoyed that glimpse into my process! Have a great week!