Beef.

 

I spent a couple of days back in September shooting behind the scenes images 

for a TV show/cooking contest between two popular chefs. The client was

the Texas Beef Council. It was so much fun. The work was through one of the ad agencies

I'm happy to continue working with. They still rock.

These images were done with a Leica SL2 and the amazing

24-90mm Leica Vario-Elmarit lens. It's pretty darn 

wonderful. Especially on controlled and lit sets like this one. 

Get your white balance nailed down and everything else just falls into 

place. Really, it's the color that needs attention, not noise or dynamic range or much

of anything else. 

I cooked a prime sirloin strip at home last night. It was my night to cook

dinner. I used my small, ten inch, cast iron pan. I rubbed the hot 

pan with beef fat, seared both sides of the steaks for 60 seconds each

and then popped the pan into a 405 degree oven. 

They turned out really well. I learned something while on the job.

Diet, like everything else, is best when everything is in moderation. I cook a steak maybe once a quarter. I eat ice cream maybe once a month. I eat a pastry with my coffee on Saturdays, after swim practice. Simple pleasures. Rewards for all the other things in life that require or request discipline. 

My favorite millionaires are the ones who drive old Honda Accords and eat some of their breakfasts at McDonalds. Like Warren Buffet. Their priorities aren't about impressing anyone else. They just do what feels right to them. Of course, Warren does have a private jet but he's come up with a good rationale for owning it. And that counts too. 

We're being ultra domestic around here. On the home front. Just met with the estimator for our favorite painting company. The interior is going to get a week long repair and repaint refresh. B. included my studio/office in the budget so my space will get its first re-paint in 26 years. The estimator looked at all the wear and tear to the studio walls, and the grime that comes from loading in and out nearly every day for a couple of decades and announced that these walls would need to be cleaned first and would definitely need two coats of paint.... It's good excuse for me to get rid of a lot of clutter so they have space to work. Trying to figure out how to get rid of more physical stuff. Like filing cabinets and shelving. 

New hardwood floors in the living room are next. And then a re-do for one of the bathrooms. Who knew that life as a homeowner would be so immersive? And expensive? I guess, at some level we all do. 

This is what happens when your focus shifts. 

Added: Swam the last three days in a row. The waterproof bandaids are good for about 75% of the workout but eventually start to fail. I just rip them off and stuff them under the waist of my swim suit so people don't have dodge used bandages in the lane. I still remember how to swim. And I am still loving the whole process of competitive swimming. Maybe convince the coach to celebrate my upcoming birthday with 68 X 100 yards on a nice interval. Or cake. That would be good too!

If anyone feels compelled to send me lavish gifts for my birthday I've had my eye on either of two cameras. The big gesture would be to send me a nice Leica Q3. I'd appreciate it. Really. If you've had a rough year in the markets and can't quite splash out that big you might also consider a nice, clean, Sigma fpL.... *

*(don't really send me anything. It would engender way too much guilt on my part.....)