Dessertopia

Mmmmm, some of the deserts from Chef Eric Ripert at Le Bernadin, New York City. All shot with the Nikon D700 paired with the older Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF, not the new G version, wide open under natural window light (well, about f2.0). That aperture and about 1/80 second to keep it sharp while hand-held called for ISO 1250 or so ensures a narrow depth of field and that creamy bokeh to the rest of the image. I chose the settings manually to give it a white, dreamy background - perfect to match the dreamy deserts of celebrity Chef Ripert. I love the different shapes of the plates as well.

St. Andrews - Golf's Birthplace

Top: Links golf, where the land meets the sea.
Middle: St. Andrews, the home of golf
Bottom: A foursome starts down the 1st fairway of the Old Course, the St. Andrews hotel in the background.

Watching the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews golf links this week reminds me of my trip there in August 2006. We experienced perfect weather, 65F and sunny for four days of golf. However, the morning we stepped on to the famed Old Course, the golf gods reminded us of the nature of true Scottish links golf. They blessed us with 40 MPH sideways wind and rain. Later that afternoon, we played the New Course to glorious blue sky and puffy cumulus clouds.

But at least we got our taste of some real Scottish weather.