Happy Sunday all! As much fun as the Rocker Party and BlogherFood11 Day 1 were, Day 2 was even better! It might be because we took a road trip the the Sweet Auburn Curb Farmer’s Market or that I learned so many great Food Photography tips!
We didn’t have to be at our first session until 10 so Alli of All I Eat Food, the Husband and I decided to grab some coffee and explore downtown on food.
We walked all around the Centennial Olympic Park ~ it’s beautiful.
The Georgia Aquarium ~ I wish I had time to go inside to check it out (Both The Husband and Alli had a chance to see this along with the World of Coca Cola and LOVED it!)
The Coca Cola tour is 1 1/2 hours and you get to try cola varieties made from all over the world and make your own. Alli did a great recap on both her trips HERE.
Have I ever mentioned The Husband loves Coke, Soda & Pop? 
We walked through the CNN center ~ it’s HUGE! I bet the tour would be fantastic as well because they take you behind the scenes to see how the show is made.
The first track I chose for my breakout session was Recipe Writing. It was actually quite the controversial topic and I LOVED that you all participated in the tweets in Facebook questions.
The speakers were awesome:
* Diane Jacob (I have her book that I got at BlogherFood09 on recipe writing & it’s awesome!)
I didn’t see the LIVE Blog post up yet, but, when it is posted, I will add the link. We discussed what it means to adapt a recipe, be inspired by a recipe and more.
After the breakout session they served up fresh fruit & salad ~ I was so excited to have some greens & fruit that I NEVER snapped a picture to show you all.
For lunch, we took a road trip to the Sweet Auburn Curb Market.
You all would be surprised if I went to Georgia & didn’t find peaches, right?!
I WISH I could’ve taken some home back to California!
We also ran into Brandi of Bran Appetit ~ I just LOVE her – she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met.
The market has several different types of fresh fruit that is priced pretty reasonably (nothing organic, but, it is all local).
I would go here just to get these fresh fruit containers!
Tons of GREENS by the stalk and….
By the bag ~ these bags are 7 lbs ~ crazy, cool! I am wondering if I could actually eat that many greens in a week if I tried….the possibilities!
I am completely IN LOVE with this flavored popcorn from Miss D’s Popcorn.
We sampled and bought (but it’s gone now!) Fried Pickle Popcorn!
They also had a Cajun Chicken Dinner flavored one that they ran out of but it’s probably a good thing since I was licking the butter off my fingers 
Must get more…….
The Sweet Auburn Market sells a little bit of everything..it isn’t just about the fruits & veggies which I think it awesome.
After walking around and taking way too many pictures, we met up with Lisa of Jersey Girl Cooks, Robin of South Jersey Locavore (I am in the middle and Alli is on the right).
I spent the weekend with these girls and they are so fun ~ I can’t wait to see these Jersey Girls again
There were so many delicious sounding vendors to choose from for lunch and we couldn’t decide. So, we shared
We had heard that the Grind House makes the BEST burgers because they grind their own meats right before you eat it.
Original Grindhouse with grilled onions, CHEESE, grindhouse sauce and lettuce on a toasty egg bun. I had 1/4 of it and I have to admit, it might just be one of the BEST burgers I’ve ever eaten….it was packed with flavor, juicy and that bun just melted in your mouth as the spices in the sauce hit your tongue.
Stop #2 was the Sweet Auburn Barbecue Food Truck.
Alli and I split the Smoked Chicken Taco topped with Asian Pear Slaw. We dumped their sweet & smoky BBQ sauce on it as well. The flavor combos worked well and you could really taste the smoke in their tender chicken.
Plus a little Smoked Beef Brisket which we covered in BBQ sauce.
Watermelon that honestly tasted just like summer.
After lunch we headed back for the final breakout session and closing speakers.
Out of all the sessions, the Simple, Affordable Tools, Techniques and Accessories to Improve Your Food Photography might have been my FAVORITE session for TWO reasons.
1. I learned how to take amazing photography & what props to use for cheap (as in less than $100) ~ I might just start using my fancy camera yet!
2. Alice of Savory Sweet Life was speaking along with Sarah Olson and I had to chance to finally meet her. We have known each other for a few years way back when we both first started blogging.
I am going to share the highlights of their slides because they did such a great job with the visuals and explaining how you can take pictures like them!
You can check out the LIVE BLOG HERE for all the details of the session.
Their #1 BEST tool they recommended was a Tripod which you can get for less than $20. Here are all the reasons why.
The BEST camera is any camera you have that you know HOW TO USE. Read the manual!
Tips for the features to get to to know using a Point& Shoot (my favorite! ) LOL
Tips for DSLR including their thoughts on lenses. If you can only buy one lense, buy the BEST ONE you can afford.
Cannon 50 mm 1.8 or Tamron 28-75 mm
I actually NEVER thought to use a Cable Release before ~ this would be awesome if you are like me and take step by step food photographs of recipes. You simple position your camera, focus it on the settings you want and click away as you cook.
Then again, this could be dangerous for me since you all know I still manage to take over 100 pictures in a day without a clicker HA!
Can you imagine??
FILL CARDS ~ simply put ~ poster and foam board. You can buy them in several colors at the dollar store. No fancy background needed and they work well at deflecting the light to balance your photo.
Why buy fancy photo lights when you can make your own. The one of the left is a hardware store light with a daylight balancing bulb ($8) and the one of the right is a fish tank light ($15).
I LOVE how they gave specific picture examples using the tools they recommended so you could see the visual differences.
This is Alice’s home studio ~ not fancy as all like I had envisioned and I LOVE that!
Here is what she has in there on top of an old out door bench that they have. Her old cookie sheet looks just like marble in pictures.
Tips for shooting in low light!
White balancing tips and settings
Small dishes work best with recommendations on where to find them on the cheap.
Why spend the money on placemats when you can use fabric/cloth scraps from an art school or store, old linens, paper towels.
Resuse old jars – like baby jars are great for sauces or showcasing ingredients.
Textured aged materials like her bench and cookie sheet make for great props. Another suggestion they made was to visit a Home Goods/Design store because often they will give you their tile, wood, stone samples for free when they are done with them.
The #1 tip I took away for the restaurant photography was to use your glass as you”tripod” to stabilize your camera. I often hold my breath so this will work better.
If they only had $25 to spend, what would they get?
We had a little down time to relax before we changed and headed off to the final BlogHERFood11 Event ~ the Closing Party at The Tabernacle.
I was glad they let us bring guests because The Husband was able to meet all the girls I have been talking to all weekend.
I LOVE how they decorated the Tabernacle….these are the stairs at the entrance.
If you all saw me taking a bunch of random pictures and tweeting random facts last night it’s because we were entering for our chance to win a FREE ticket to BlogHERFood12!
There were several passed appetizers and a few stations set up. We shared a few of the main dishes at the event but we all wanted to head out to dinner to experience some of the great eateries in Atlanta.
I discovered I may just LOVE Bulgur!
The Husband got his steak fix this weekend for sure
Sippin’ on mini soup cups!
As we walked around, we tweeted for ideas asking everyone places to go for dinner.
We ended up at Max’s Coal Oven Pizzeria.
I could honestly have eaten this entire salad myself, but, I was nice and shared It has so much great chewing power with all the different textures and the fried green tomatoes were crunchy, yet, sweet like sun dried tomatoes.
CAPRESE SALAD ~ Marinated Roasted Red Peppers, Fried Green Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, Arugula, Basil and Balsamic
We couldn’t decide on which pizzas to get so we ordered two!
MAX’S MEDITERRANEAN ~ Roasted red peppers, mixed olives, artichoke, romano cheese
MARGHERITA ~ Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella and basil.
Sprinkled with crushed red pepper flakes ~ both were AMAZING ~ the crust is thin, yet, crispy and airy. The Mediterranean was completely flavorful from the olives and the cheese.
THE END! I will have my Weight Watchers 5K WalkIt! Recap for you all up tomorrow and I should be back to regular posting by then too! That includes Friends for Weight Loss (I am sorry I abandoned you all over there….I promise to start posting again soon at FFWL!)
GIVE AWAYS!!!
* Enter to win a copy of Charbroils America Grills Cookbook – it’s awesome!
* Enter to win a $50 Fitness Shopping Spree!
BLOGHERFOOD11 POSTS:
* RockHER ~ The BlogHERFOOD11 Pre-Party
Night all!
Great photo tips! So funny about white plates b/c that’s what I have and food always looks terrible on them so I went and got a couple plates from Pier One. I’ve been so busy trying to stay on track with WW lately that I’ve usually plated up before I remember that whatever I’m eating would look better on a colored plate!
What a GREAT weekend, Danica! The photo tips are awesome! I just have a Point and Shoot, but hope to get a DSLR one day!
WOW Danica, so much info, I’m going to come back and read this one tonight! What a super w/e you had! You did such a great job with your posts, I felt like I was right there too 🙂
your recaps are AWESOME! 🙂 the picture turned out so cute – i’m so glad we got to see each other more this trip.
and now i totally wish I had eaten at the burger place – yum!
Great recaps–looks like so much fun! Dill pickle popcorn? Yes please!!
Way to go, Danica! You managed to have a great weekend and share it at the same time! No wonder I look forward to reading your blog – you rock!!! And, you are lookin’ fantastic!
Beautiful photos and thanks for sharing the panels with us! I learned a lot! And, man I wanna live somewhere where there’s fresh local produce everywhere!! Really look forward to your posts, thanks again!