Green Coffee Beans

~They smell SO heavenly when they are roasting~

 

Roasting Green Coffee Beans on an Open Fire

I put Green Coffee Beans in a cast iron pan and roast them either over a camp cookstove or an open firepit.  (The smoke is intense and gives my family a headache.)  I cover my beans and it gives them a smokier taste.  However, you can leave them uncovered if you are outside and they will taste “cleaner.”

Keep roasting until they are not quite as dark as you like.  Note:  stop before you think they are done because they will keep roasting after you take them off the heat.

Buy Organic Green Coffee Here

 

Read Full Post »

Watson Lake Dells

Photo Shoot at Watson Lake

© 2010 Gus Patrick

I had no idea Gus was taking this photo.  But it is one of the rare photos (of me) that I actually like.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

One More Reason to Love this Land

~How can I let go of a place that shows me this beauty every day?~

Read Full Post »

Old Time Fiddler

Kiva (10 years old) began fiddling when she was 6.  She plays in the Sharlot Hall Museum Cultural Music Conservatory.

~Kiva is the youngest member of the Conservatory : )

 

Read Full Post »

Five Year Wild

~Just posted on Five Year Wild.~

~Be sure to check out the ABOUT WALNUT CREEK CENTER page.~

Read Full Post »

Beautiful Wood Shelves

Local Ponderosa Pine

Locally Milled

~Made with Love (by Kevin)~

 

Handmade Ponderosa Shelves

The thing in the bottom right of the photo is a deer antler I found today while hiking in the forest.

Close-up of Shelf Detail

 

Read Full Post »

Spring Cleaning

It might be time to splinter this web journal into separate blogs.  I’ve been thinking about it for a while.  I’m beginning to document the whole Walnut Creek story on a separate blog (how we got there, how we lived there, why we’re not there anymore.)  That Blog is “Five Year Wild” and is for those just interested in the Walnut Creek story and the amazing adventures living off-the-grid for five and a half years in a remote AZ wilderness.

I will have a Photo Blog for those only interested in the photography part of it (not up yet.)

And then, I will attempt to move this blog to my website, so stay tuned for that.

In addition, I have a blog called the Creek and Mesa Review which has reviews of photo equipment, cameras, books,  and cool products.

If anyone has any feedback or ideas, send ’em my way.

Happy waxing moon!

 

Read Full Post »

New Green through Brown

~Papago Lily (or Blue Dicks)~

Dichelostemma pulchellum

Sweet little onion like bulb nestled (tightly) in rocky south facing hillsides.  Edible but difficult to extricate from the soil.

One of the first plant to show its precious green tips in the spring (late February.)

Purple-ish pinkish flowers with 6 segments.

 

Read Full Post »

My Trusty Fatso

A fun lighting technique described HERE

~I describe this on my other blog  (very similar to this one but with book reviews, photography product links, and other stuff)

I know:  the barrel of the gun is DOWN; how horrible of me.  I just liked how the stock looked AND it’s just a BB gun.

Read Full Post »

Focus Stacking (and seed saving)

I’ve been experimenting with getting sharper images front to back with a pretty easy workflow in Photoshop.  There are some really expensive programs out there to do this, but it is not hard to do right in Photoshop cs5 or cs4 (which is what I use.)

These are taken with 45mm lens, f/4.5, 1/90 sec. I took nine photos and began by focusing in front of the first bottle, then deepened my focus until I was focusing on the chair in the background.

I then open the photos in Camera Raw,  make some minor adjustments in clarity and whatever else needs it. Select all and synchronize the adjustments and hit DONE.  Select them all again in Adobe Bridge >tools>Photoshop>load files into photoshop layers. Wait….

Then, edit>auto-align layers>auto>no check lens corrections.

Then edit>auto blend layers>stack images>check seamless tone and colors.

Done!

If done correctly, a sharp image (front to back) will unfold in front of you.  I missed a couple focus spots on mine, like the last little jar of Tarahumara corn; kind of fuzzy.  (Second jar is Hopi magic corn, first is a variety of Hopi melon.)  Yes, I save my seeds.  (Watch out Monsanto!)

 

Read Full Post »