The next couple of weeks will probably be quiet on the cooking/baking front since my parents did a fabulous job helping me pack up everthing in my kitchen. Every piece of china, glass, and ceramic I own has been carefully wrapped, boxed and sealed ready for unpacking in our new place. So at this point, cooking and baking will probably be at a minimum until I settle into my new kitchen at the end of the month.
One of the things that has yet to be packed is my lighting “studio”. Many fellow bloggers I know have created lightboxes to photograph their delicious creations using cardboard, lighting, tripods, etc. I have to give them props for taking on the project of making one because I went the easy route and purchased 2 tabletop florescent light units. It was much more expensive to go this route but I love that these lights allow me the freedom and ease to place them anywhere and can also be used as reading lights. The biggest reason for using these lights instead of creating a lightbox is that it was the non-unitaker way to go for me, not to mention that it doesn’t take any space up at all and isn’t cumbersome for me to work with or store away.
I know before I got the lights, my pictures were pretty hard on the eyes. I don’t have very good lighting at our current place and it’s especially evident with pictures taken at night or during the winter. I read up on reviews and researched on ways to make my food photos look as good as they taste. If you’re like me and use a point & shoot camera, one of the things that really helped my pictures is good lighting. A camera won’t do your photos justice unless you have optimal lighting to capture your subject.
So this week, a reader will be receiving a lighting studio to help with their photos. You don’t have to be a blogger to use this studio though! Aside from taking pictures of food, if you’re into eBay selling, this studio will be able to take great pics of your items which you could use on eBay!
The PS-101 lighting studio helps produce great images that are professional quality. This package includes light and dark backgrounds for the best color contrasts. Be a professional with Digital Concepts portable lighting studio.
Light Weight & Easy To Setup; Built-in Carrying Case; Includes 2 High-output Lights With Retractable Legs, 2 Colored Backgrounds For Contrasting Light Or Dark Objects, A Mini Tripod & Nylon Diffuser Screen For Balanced Lighting
So this week’s Foodie Freebie Friday, a lucky reader will be receiving this lighting studio! Interested? Read on!
Some guidelines:
– Giveaway is only for those who live in the United States. My apologies to my international readers!
– You must have a valid email address so that you can be contacted if you win.
To enter the giveaway and because spring officially starts on Friday, March 20th, leave a comment about:
– What’s your favorite part of spring? Is there anything specific you’d like to cook/bake during the spring season?
Deadline: Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 12 midnight CST.
One Winner will be randomly chosen by Random.Org’s Interger Generator based on the number of your comment and will be announced on Friday, March 20, 2009. Good luck!
My favorite part of spring is leaving the house without bundling up. 🙂
As far as cooking, it’s nice to be able to get outside for grilling easier. DH will grill in all weather, but I love to get out there when it’s nice to do some grilling.
I bet you’re excited to get unpacked in your new place. You’ll have to have a celebration dinner once you’re all moved in!
My favorite part of spring is having all of the windows in our house open. Everything smells so fresh and clean!
I love salads. Pasta salad, spinach salad, potato salad, you name it. My favorite part of spring is having more of these!
My favorite thing about spring is the wonderful weather and the snow melting ofcourse the flowers blooming too!
my favorite part about spring is how fresh and new everything seems..opening the windows, spring cleaning, bright mornings, fresh flowers..everything seems happy in the spring.
i love to bake anything with lemon. it is light, airy, and just perfect after all the heavy winter foods. specifically lemon cakes witha light butter cream
Warm temps! Definitely! And I look forward to pies in the springtime!
Great giveaway! My favorite thing about spring is the weather. I love the fresh cool air. I’m not an “outdoor” person, but spring turns me into one. I am hoping to get brave and bake something ivolving yeast this spring.
My fave thing about is celebrating our wedding anniversary on Easter! YIPEE, and I’m looking forward to making marmalade, and using alot of fresh ingredients from the farmers market. Anything fresh and easy!
My favorite part of Spring are the flowers blooming, birds chirping and being able to have windows in the house open!
I’ve recently gotten married so that’s forced me to get into the kitchen more so I’m not so sure what I like my Spring baking/cooking to be. I’d love to get some small vegetables planted and use fresh vegetables in my cooking.
My favorite part of spring is how fresh and alive everything feels. It’s great seeing the new flowers bloom and feeling the breeze. Spring really makes me feel so carefree.
I’m most excited about being able to cook food on the grill again. I love cookouts, and summer in Florida can be too hot for them, which makes spring the perfect time!
Ooh my favorite part of spring is to go back to my hometown and find The Daffodil Man. He sells bunches of daffodils for $2 a pop at the farmer’s market. I always got some for my mom when I was little and I love having them around now. 🙂
And spring for me is grilling and salads! I make pasta or caesar salad and the hubby grills steaks and shrimp. YUM!!!
Ijust love the nice weather, and being able to cook on the grill. 🙂
Great FFF! My favorite part is the sunny warm weather! I live for it! My favorite thing to make/bake are things that have lots of lemon and lime in them because they remind me of the new warm weather 😉
My favorite thing about spring is the beautiful weather and being outdoors.
My favorite thing about spring is watching the bulbs pop up. It’s so exciting to see them growing after all the snow we get up north!
I just made some delicious lemon cranberry muffins that I was looking forward to making, and they perfectly combined all the fresh flavors of springtime!
My favorite part of Spring is planting my herb garden & veggies! I love utilizing the fresh ingredients all summer long! I also love to use our grill all different ways during the spring, I love making grilled pizza!
I love the fantastic weather and outdoor time with my dogs and husband. I also love making tabbouleh in the spring!
I love being able to take walks outside and not have to wear a jacket. I love being able to grill again!
-Eva (evitawylie at hotmail dot com)
My favorite thing about Spring is the weather; not too warm and not too chilly…perfect for long walks after dinner.
I enjoy all the foods associates with Spring- dishes that are lighter both in flavor and content. Things made with lemons, limes and fresh herbs as well as salads with grilled meats/fish.
I love Spring because it is the bicycle racing season, so my husband and I go on lots of little weekend getaways to beautiful places for the races.
My favorite thing about spring is wearing FLIP FLOPS!! I love them. And I love to grill outside when the weather is nice… I can’t wait!
My favorite thing about spring is being able to hang out outside without suffering from the heat of the Florida summers. 🙂
I love the warm weather and start of hte farmers market!! I can’t wait til asparagus season starts in a few weeks, I plan on making my dad’s awesome asparagus dish, wrapping them in cheese and prosciutto, baking, and then topping with a creamy hollandaise-like sauce. Mmmm my favorite!
My fav thing about the spring is being able to be out in the yard without a coat. And my favorite thing to bake is anything with fruit. Something about fruit in a baked good makes me think of warmer weather.
My favorite part of spring is the fact that I can start to wear flip flops again. haha. My hubby and I like to grill out when the weather gets warm.
My favorite part of spring is the weather!!! Here in Florida it gets pretty warm and spring brings us perfect beach weather!
I love the warm weather and the best thing to eat?! Ice cream!!!
Well, I can use all the help I can get in terms of food photography, so… My favorite part of spring is the weather change – my sunshine, fresher air, higher temps. I love spending time outside, and cooking wise, hopefully pulling out the grill more.
My favorite thing about Spring?
Breaking out the grill after a snow-covered winter, being able to sit outside on the patio, and enjoy my favorite “summer is on the way” dish: Beach shrimp!
https://tinyurl.com/am4zkx
Can’t think of many things I’d rather do on a lazy Sunday…
Great giveaway!
~Tracy (TWebber16 at aol.com)
I look forward to lighter foods and fresher greens. Yum!
I love baseball! I also like spring clothes soooo much better than winter clothes – I feel like I lose 10 lbs when I finally shed my winter coat for the last time 🙂
I love the spring flowers. It is my new photograhy love-to take pictures of them all.
I love having all of the yummy fruits that start to arrive in spring. I can’t wait to cook and bake new recipes with all of them.
My favorite thing about spring is being able to have the windows open and having that awesome smelling spring breeze coming in. I love to bake things with fresh fruits and fresh veggies. All the local farmer’s stands open and I love visiting them, I go to a few of them for all different items.
I really look forward to Easter. This year, I can’t wait to try out my 3-d cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma. I found them a little tricky to work with last year, but I’m determined to make them work this time around.
thelittlethingsblog [at]yahoo.com
I live in southern California so we don’t really have “spring” but things are definitely greener here than the rest of the year, so I really like that! It’s easy to forget that Los Angeles is really the desert.
My favorite thing about spring is opening up the windows and letting the breeze flow through the house. I cannot wait to start making Grilled Italian Chicken. It tastes so yummy on the grill.
cece_mimi53 at yahoo dot com
my favorite part of spring is the weather! i love being able to open all the windows all weekend! its so great!
the flowers, especially the daffodils!
Oooh. I take such crappy photos. This would be cool! I’m really looking forward to grilling again. I miss the lack of dishes.
Favorite thing to bake is definitely cookies. But really? That’d be my answer no matter which season you asked about. 😉
my favorite thing about spring is my birthday, haha and my little cousins birthday ..they turn 1 this year and I’m making their cakes!
My favorite part about spring is the warmer weather because it puts me in the mood to start jogging outside! (of course this lasts for about 2 weeks and then the thrill wears off) I also love being able to start entertaining outside again. The foods I cook in the spring are ones that I can put on the grill like burgers, chicken, kabobs, etc. and I also love lemon flavors!
My favorite thing about spring is wearing flip flops!! I love them. And I love to grill outside when the weather is nice, and as far as baking, I look forward to making my easter bunny cake.
Alondra
sweet_nonis@yahoo.com
The first Farmer’s Markets in the Spring! Finding things like morel’s, ramps, green garlic, asparagus, spring onions and baby lettuces. I can’t think of anything that could make me happier (except for the disappearance of Chicago’s winter weather).
When I find these things I like to make an herb fritta recipe that I got from Mario Batali and serve it sliced up ontop of a greens mix tossed with oil and vinegar and then serve with morels and asparagus roasted with olive oil and some crunchy French bread. Simple, earthy, healthy and I look forward to it all year long.
I love when the flowers start to bloom. Those first little buds always make me smile.
This spring I’m going to try to do a lot more salads. I’m really ready for the local farmer’s market to start back up!
My favorite part of spring is Spring Training for baseball!!!
This spring I’ll be making Lamb for Easter. Not sure what kind of Lamb, but I’m looking forward to the new challenge!
Technically I guess we could grill all year round, but spring is when we really start firing it back up and even better when we can eat outside!
What a great giveaway!
I love all of the fresh fruit that spring brings. I love berries and grapes and everything is so much sweeter. I love to eat lemon ices in the spring. How refreshing.
I love spring dresses and coats too.
My favourite part of spring are the flowers – tulips, daffodils and especially lilacs. Growing up, we had a lilac bush in the backyard, and when it bloomed, my mother filled every room in the house with blossoms.
When it comes to cooking, spring definitely lends itself to much fresher, lighter ingredients, so I usually turn to Thai salad rolls.
My favorite part of spring is wearing flip flops and getting my feet out of socks and boots! I also like the lower gas bill 🙂
In terms of food, nothing says spring like grilling.
Oh I so need that lighting studio! My favorite part of spring is all the flowers and getting to wear dresses again. I can’t wait for simpler dishes with peas and fresh herbs.
My fav part of spring is the sunlight coming back, the flowers in bloom, and the birds chirping in the air. I also love March Madness and baseball! I don’t usually bake anything specific, but I always eat one Cadbury egg on Easter.
My favorite part of spring is that it begins with my birthday most years (on Friday!).
My favorite thing to make in the spring are Easter cookies for Easter baskets… simple sugar cookies all decorated pretty!
My favorite thing about spring is opening the windows and having fresh air! I love making salads and grilling in the spring. I have a feeling I”ll be making a lot of panzanella this year!
Being able to leave the deck door open and go to the park with the puppers. I got to do that last weekend and I can’t wait until it’s warm again!
Spring makes me want to make ‘church desserts’ (Lemon lush, chocolate eclair cake, cherry eclair cake, etc.). Yum!
I love being outdoors in the spring, the buzz in the air, being able to get fresh air and work outside. A big glass on lemonade is a good way to introduce the spring!!!
Saturdays are my favorite thing about spring.
Farmers Market followed by a beer garden followed by a good dolk wak and then firing up the grill for dinner.
Perfect spring Saturday.
oh!! oh!
I can’t wait to take my daughter out for her first spring and watch her face as the ind carries bubbles away. I love the smell and fell of lush, fresh-cut grass and I’m excited for her to feel that between her tiny toes.
As far as cooking- I can’t wait to break out the grill. I of course won’t be using it much, but my hubs will, and he’ll love it- and that means I get to have more space in my kitchen to bake pies!
My favorite part of spring is the warmer weather (that isn’t hot, yet) and seeing the color come back to the world.
I love being able to be outside comfortably again! And asparagus asparagus asparagus!
I know I say this every week, but I think this is the best giveaway ever!
I like spring mainly for the weather. Down here we don’t have a fall, so it’s nice to have not too cold, not to hot weather for a few weeks.
I like doing a lot of citrus stuff during spring time. Lemon tarts and pies are my favorite!
This is exactly the lighting system I wanted/needed. Here are my answers: What’s your favorite part of spring? Watching the kids in awe at the arrival of new life (buds, stalks, etc.)
Is there anything specific you’d like to cook/bake during the spring season? I get so excited for the farmer’s market and incorporating all of the fresh fruits and veggies into our meals….oh, and using the grill every day!
My favorite part about spring is that it’s one season closer to summer and outside activities. And fresh strawberries!
The best part of spring is all the abundant, glorious flowering bulbs!
The yummiest part of spring is rhubarb!
How fun – I was just telling my hubby that I need to look into getting a lighting studio to improve my pictures!
My favorite part about spring is being able to enjoy a jog outside in the fresh air. Fresh peas remind me of spring too.
The best part of spring would have to be all of the bulbs sprouting from the ground in their vibrant shades of greens.
I love baking cupcakes and sugar cookies to be decorated in spring colors!
I love to see the tulips in full bloom!
My favorite thing about spring coming is lighter and fresher foods like more salads and fruits.
I love all the Spring flowers, and the warmer weather means we get outdoors more. Living in Seattle, sunshine is a precious thing! As the weather gets warmer I find that I like to cook “fresher” things, more salads and grilled items. 🙂
I love seeing the daffodils starting to pop up and enjoying the moderate temperatures to get aside. Spring inspires me to start making lighter dishes and especially to start using the rhubarb, berries and other fruit that starts to come into season.
My favorite thing about spring is that all the dreary gray from winter gives way to the lush greens of grass and the pastel colors of spring flowers! Definitely puts me in a brighter mood = )
Spring means asaparagus season! Is there anything better than some steamed asparagus with lemon???
I love the newness that spring brings. It’s like a fresh start!
My favorite part is starting my garden and planting flowers outside. I love everything about Spring! I think the main thing I love cooking in the springtime is all of the fresh veggies and produce that shows up at the farmer’s markets around town.
Spring is getting in the garden and finding all the little goodies that made it through the winter. Spring is berries and salad. Spring is breathing.
I WANT THIS STUDIO! 🙂
That’s what Spring is. 🙂
I love seeing all the green coming back, the flowers, and the warmer weather. With the warmer weather, grilling is back, love grilled steaks!
My favorite thing to bake in the Spring is Ina’s Lemon Yogurt Cake – hands down! I like to sub mascarpone cheese for the yogurt and soak the finished cake in an extra lemony glaze…its moist and delicious!
-Amy
http://www.singforyoursupperblog.com
I’m just excited about the end to the cold weather, not to mention all of the flowers blooming.
Windows open, no socks, sunroof, flip flops and the fresh smelling air! ahhhh bring it on!
My most favorite thing about spring is the beautiful pink cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. I miss them so much! Since I don’t get to see them, my next favorite is being able to open the windows and get a fresh breeze into the house.
This spring, I’ve got a bug to cook with rosewater. I’m not sure where the urge came from, but it just seems to springlike!
More daylight, warm weather, flowers and so much more! I love grilling during the spring and taking advantage of fresh veggies (hopefully from my own garden if all goes well!)
My favorite part of spring is my lily of the valley blooms–the smell is incredible! As the days get longer and warmer, I love simple meals that allow me outside to enjoy them instead of in the kitchen!
I love the fresh smell of spring and the blossoming of flowers-it is the perfect time of the year to cook fresh asparagus and baby carrots with their tops.
My favorite thing about spring is the weather! I love being able to go for walks, open the windows etc. I also love to start cooking on the grill again and making fresh salads!
I love that we can start cooking and eating outdoors again. Everything on the grill, and pasta salads.
I love spring because the snow is melting! But I also love it for the little buds that finally begin to appear on the branches. The light green of spring is so beautiful as they turn into the dark green of summer.
As for what I like to prepare at this time – it would have to be tender asparagus, only lightly sauteed so that they’re still very snappy and crisp. They always set me in the mood for spring!
I love seeing all of the plants blooming but I really love being able to plant my own veggie seeds knowing in just a few short months I’ll be able to eat just picked foods out of my own garden!
My favorite thing about spring is starting to see fresh baby asparagus and artichokes and anticipating the summer bounty of produce!
My favorite thing about spring is all of the green (which happens to be my favorite color). I love to just go our and take pictures of everything budding and growing in spring.
My favorite thing to make in spring are spinich salads. But, my absolute favorite thing to bake is my grandma’s lemon bundt cake (it’s been my bday cake for as long as I can remember, and since I was born on the first day of spring, that is what symbolizes the start of spring for me)
My favorite part of spring is knowing I am going to enjoy more sunshine, and soon, I will be able to smell freshly mowed lawns……one of the greatest scents on earth!!!
I also cannot wait to enjoy local produce!!
My favorite part about spring is the revival of nature! I can’t wait for the beautiful colors to come back after dreary winter. This isn’t really a cooking/baking thing but it has to do with food: In spring I love dying eggs for Easter!
Was just introduced to your site and it’s fabulous!
My favorite part of Spring is the green grass, flowers growing on the hills and that everything smells fresh. I’m also looking forward to fresh fruits, salads and quick,easy meals.
My favorite things about Spring are the weather – it makes me want to be outside, and here in the Houston area, that’s a rare thing, and the produce. All the gorgeous produce starts coming out in Spring and makes me want to try a million new recipes!
Flowers, flip flops and patios! I love enjoying a cold beer with my husband while listening to live music at a barwith an outside patio. I can’t wait to get the grill out and cook tons of shish-kabobs. My favorite!
Living in Northern Michigan I’m getting desperate for spring weather!
I’m looking forward to the flowers blooming and the smell of freshly cut grass.
I’d really like to get our grill out and working (for the first time in 5 years!) this year and make some steaks