Cheddar Panini, Photography for Beginners, and my first DSLR

I did it! I finally bought my very first DSLR! I have been thinking about buying a new camera since when I started this blog. The camera I've used so far is a nice little point and shoot that does great pictures to be honest but it doesn't have any of the options that a "serious" camera give you, such as to control aperture, shutter speed, white balance, ISO...not even some basic ones that I've heard even a few point and shoot have. I did not want to rush into buying an expensive camera though. After all, I have been blogging for slightly more than two months, I'm still waiting for my working permit (i.e. no real income since January) and above all...I've never done photography before! Yes, I love taking pictures when I go on holiday but until a couple of months ago I didn't even know what "shooting in macro" meant. To sum up, it just seemed too early for me to buy a DSLR.

However, one day I really got frustrated by a failed attempt to photograph a wonderful cake...that just did not look wonderful at all in the pictures :( It was then that I really became aware of how bad my pictures were. I mean, I already knew it but that day I started to feel the urgency to change the situation. I HAD to do something to improve my blog pictures...and quickly. I have spent the last two months reading, reading, and reading. I started by asking advice to friends and other food bloggers. I've read their stories and I've got to know the most commonly used cameras. I also got good advice about which websites, blogs, and/or forums were good to get information about photography and again I read, I read, and I read. I read all the tips for beginners, all the theory about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, white balance, all the advice about framing and composition, and more, and more, and more.

At a certain point I felt it was time to put things into practice. I still waited before buying a camera. A real DSLR was a bit intimidating to me and not just for the price but for the fact that I don't have a great relationship with technology. I think I have already said that about technology on my first post. My lack of self-esteem with respect to it made me even doubt I could keep up with this blog! But hey, I did it...I kept up with it. It was time for me to start taking my blog a bit more (or less?) seriously and to work on my technology-fear.

So, first of all I have started to put into practice all the advice and tips I read about the right light to shoot pictures, I moved from the kitchen to my husband little studio to shoot because there I can have a decent table next to a window with lot of natural light. I also spent a weekend going to art&crafts stores to buy white foam and white poster paper to shoot as well as other types of scrapbook paper and I played all weekend with lightning and shades and backgrounds. Next, I bought a tripod...yes, long before buying my first DSLR I bought a tripod. Oh man, I want to say thank you to all the food bloggers around who post on forums about how they shoot and about photography tips: I followed ALL their advice and I have to say...my pictures got soooo much better. In fact, my first three pictures accepted by Foodgawker and Tastespotting were shoot with my humble point and shoot, but after following all this advice!

However, I still felt the need to upgrade my camera! Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who one day told me "you should go for it! buy a DSLR! You deserve it!". His words, plus the fact that we are soon leaving for our first trip together to Italy convinced me to buy the camera earlier than I planned. After all, it will be nice to be practicing all the manual photography theory I read in the last two month while on holiday! So there you go: that's how I got my first DSLR: a wonderful Nikon d40....nothing fancy....nothing waaaay too expensive. As I read from many bloggers, the camera alone is not enough. There is no point in buying a camera which is well above your skills. So I started with a good but still easy camera. I read hundreds of reviews and the thing I liked about the Nikon d40 was that every review was saying it's a great camera to transition from a point and shoot to a manual. Given my technology fear and my lack of photography knowledge I thought that was the most desirable quality. I did not want to buy a camera and not to use it because too hard to learn how to.

I think I'll spend a lot of time talking about my new camera in the future posts, so I guess I should cut short and just give the recipe of the wonderful cheddar panini, which had the honor to be the first food subject of the first few pictures taken with my new camera. As I said above, the camera alone is not enough to take great pictures...I still have sooo much to learn but boy it did make a huge different taking pictures with my new Nikon. As for the panini....amazing is not enough to describe them! Too bad the camera cannot recreate their smell!

Cheddar Panini

yields 5-6 medium size panini or one loaf of bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk

 2.5 oz unsalted butter

16 oz all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp white sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup grated Cheddar

2 tsp red peppers flakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and line a baking pan with parchment paper (or a loaf pan).

In a small bowl heat the milk and butter at 50% power in the microwave until the butter melts (about 2 minutes). Cool to room temperature.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl and mix.

Use a fork to beat the eggs into the cooled milk mixture. Pour into the flour mixture. Use a baking spatula to stir until the batter just moistened. Don't overmix. Stir in the grated Cheddar.

Form 5-6 balls of medium size (you can alternatively put the batter into a loaf pan but I like the idea of the panini because the cooked bread will be less dense). Bake about 35 minutes (45 if you bake it as a single loaf) or until golden. 

It is great while still warm. However, it keeps very well for a couple of days if covered with a kitchen towel. Just rewarm it in the microwave for 20 seconds or in a toaster or in the oven at very low temperature to avoid burning it. 

Inspiration: Kitchen for Kids, by Jennifer Low