Taco Pie Served at a Luncheon for My Stampin Buddies 4/17/15

Last week I made a taco pie as the main dish for a meet up with my stamping buddies.  So I took a picture of it using what I call my outdoor studio, i.e.somewhere outside on my deck.   I had a difficult time with my background using various cloths.  I really did not want to spend a lot of time fixing this post processing.  So, I just used the dropper to select a color and then use the paint bucket to fill in the background in PSE 11.  Well, it did clip part of the silver edging on the right side of the plate but I am going to post anyway.  It is not like I am submitting this for a magazine or contest. Basically it is like a lasagna with a Mexican flavor.  I did use scoops corn chips crushed instead of the corn tortillas which can get soggy if you make this up ahead of time. You could vary the seaonings in the meat, the condiments and toppings and have various hot sauces available.  My friends do not like jalapenos nor do "spicy".  I got the recipe called "One Dish Taco Pie" from the spring issue 2015 BHG Ground Beef Recipes. Jack and I have been enjoying the leftovers.

Leather Wall Hanging - LaBamba Restaurant, State St. GSO, NC

Went out to eat at LaBamba Restaurant on State St. in Greensboro yesterday. They had changed their decor. I liked their leather wall hangings and took a few pictures of them. Did not use flash, but had incadescant room lighting. You will see some shadows. Also the leather will be lighter in some areas of the design because of the highlights. The hanging was higher than eye level and so some disortion present which I could not really correct. I used native camera app to convert to sepia (Fade filter) increased the midtones, lightened to show more detail and then sharpened. The other example with the image was to make high key.in PSE 11 which shows you more of the design and stitching.

Mexican Taco Dip

Took a picture of my Mexican Taco Dip with Bowlz tortilla chip dippers. Great for the Super Bowl coming up this month. You will be seeing more food pictures this year. Food photography will be another learning curve since I do not have studio lighting. I doubt I will be making altered images of food but may utilize different apps in camera for post processing. I used over the stove lighting. Image was cropped -edited in Snapseed. You can use sour cream, chopped cilanto, pickled jalapeno peppers, and/or guacamole as garnishes.These would have hidden the pretty chopped vegetables  but go will with the dip.  To top it off some Red Wine Sangria would be calling my name.  Bon Appe'tit!! Nannette