One of my goals for the New Year was to get back into a structured lifting program. I can do that at home, but it’s not as fun. We got our renewal form for our insurance and now it will cover up to $600 in gym fees for us if we go 50 visits every 6 months. So, I’m thinking about signing up at my gym again since there is a new yearly membership special of $149 for the whole year. That’s a pretty good deal and the insurance will reimburse every 6 months. So, I might go for that. Not sure if John will or not. He doesn’t care for the gym so much 😀
When I posted about the light box a few days ago, Ali asked about pictures with and without it to see the difference, so here they are.
This is an example of the light box effect. This first shot is with a light directly shining onto this object (annatto seeds).
It’s kind of dramatic, really, but not the look I’m going for. Note I used some leftover flooring for my backdrop (although I ditched this in favor of white later).
This is the light pointed through the sides of the lightbox with a light on the other side as well:
It diffuses and softens it. I took these with my phone, but my camera has a light ring on it so I can get forward light to reduce shadow even more. I still need to play around with what looks good. I’m not a photographer 😀 This is one final shot I used.
White background much better here, don’t you think? In case you are curious, annatto seeds can be used to make a natural yellow colorant and is used in makeup and food industries.
Since I’ve been so busy taking pictures and what not, John’s been doing most of the cooking this week. He did a pan fried sesame ginger tofu with rice and ginger sauce. The broccoli is my addition:
Yum! I’m actually liking the tofu when he cooks it that way. The tofu is crispy.
Tonight is more painting at my folks’ house. I am done painting the cabinet doors – finally!
This one just needs a couple coats of polyurethane and it’s done. It will be good to get these out of the house LOL!
That’s a good deal from your insurance with the gym!
The light box pictures are interesting – I was thinking, before I got to the last shot, that I was focusing more on the background than the item, so switching to white was probably a good decision. The light box really does make quite a difference!
It does make a difference, but I still need to practice a lot LOL!
Wow, for someone who isn’t a photographer, you’re sure doing a great job figuring it out!
Go for the gym deal – you’d only have to go about every 3 days to meet their criteria. Plus, that means that your insurance will pay for your whole membership and that can’t be beat. I’m not a gym person either but I bet I’d do it if my insurance covered it.
I am pretty sure I’ll do the gym deal. Of course, I tweaked my back yesterday, so that doesn’t make me want to do it LOL!
That crispy tofu looks really delicious!
Light box stuff is fun. With my old camera I was able to easily adjust the white balance and so my photos came out really crisp and beautiful in the lightbox. My new camera (which is amazing) is a little harder to do that with.
I can adjust white balance on my camera, I just haven’t tried it yet LOL!
COOL LIGHT BOX!!!!!
It is so interesting the different effects Lori!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Fun photos. Thanks for sharing.
How did John make the tofu? I’ve never cooked with it but that looks good, although I will substitute quinoa for the rice. (And keep the broccoli.)
It’s Nasoya baked tofu – this was sesame ginger. He cubes up the tofu. Then he uses a nonstick pan with a little oil and cook on a higher heat and stir fry until it gets crispy.
When I first started going to the gym, some of my senior friends told me that their insurance paid for it. So far I haven’t seen that on my insurance. It sure would be great to get it paid for–my gym is pretty expensive. But I like going, and of course, they have a pool, so its worth it for that too.
That’s a good deal that insurance pays gym fee. We don’t have that. We do have a new program at work where you can use your wage or vacation days to buy stuff very cheap. Gym memberships are also available.
It really makes a lot of difference using the light box.
Reminds me that I need to look into a workshop for using my camera. I don’t use the possibilities of it enough.