Even though I worked over the weekend, I savored the wonderful weather we had in San Diego on Saturday. Low 80s, sunny, lovely, gorgeous. Sunday turned nasty, cold, cloudy, and windy but Saturday was perfect.
I spent time with Skylar and we went to the park together.
And got in some great runs and streamlined, 20 minute at-home workouts, too.
Backtrack to Friday, I found a great Craigslist score: A table that I plan to use for photography purposes. It was $20 bucks, it’s teak wood (pretty certain) and it’s perfect for my needs and available space.
I had looked around Target, local thrift and antique stores but wasn’t seeing anything that just grabbed me.
I went on Craiglist on a whim and found the ad for the table I bought within minutes of searching (a blessing unto itself because CL can be such a pain to weed through all those ads).
Turns out, the woman met me 18 hours later a few miles from my house with table in hand, and it’s perfect.
I can set up near my windows so I can get better shots. As I mentioned in my Making Lightbounces & Using Light post, the lighting I have in my house is iffy, at best, and I think having a table near my windows will really help my shots. I can walk around the table and try to capture the best shot and will not be confined to my dining room table or my kitchen countertops which has been the case for the past almost year.
When I went to my Food Styling and Photography Workshop, I realized that wood is a beautiful medium in which to shoot food photos. Both as a backdrop to set plate of food on top of…
….and just putting the food directly on wood.
I would have never thought so, but wood just seems to work wonderfully well, especially for certain food like burgers or chips or potatoes.
I wanted a table like Matt & Adam’s. Well, they actually have a large table and then have various sizes of wood planks with different finishes, paint, textures, that they can put on top of one of their tables, too.
White, smooth wood and a more rustic, planked wood “table toppers” shown on top of their bigger table. Change the “topper” to get a whole new look for your images.
I can put any kind of tablecloth, napkins, other wooden boards, tiles, you name it, on top of my new table if I don’t want the weathered look.
And just like my new tripod that folds up when I’m done with it, so does my new photography table. I have a small living space and just don’t have the space or desire for another table to be set up, permanently, just hogging valuable square footage and living space.
If all this table talk is boring, let’s move on to food talk.
How about the Peanut Sauce Baked Tofu I just made. Glad you all enjoyed that recipe and thanks for letting me know you love your peanut sauce, too!
Foodgawker liked it, too, which made me super happy!
If you’re feeling more like breakfast or a snack, try a Microwave Banana Oat Cake (vegan, GF, easy)
Top with, what else, peanut butter or sunflower seed butter, or other nut butter.Or make some No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Carrot Cake Bites (vegan, GF, easy)
Questions:
1. Best thing you ate or did over the weekend?
Saturday’s weather was perfect. Sunny weather always makes me extremely happy. I just feel great when the weather is great.
I also had tons of time in the kitchen Sunday afternoon which was fun.
And my new table makes me happy.
2. Have you ever bought anything on Craigslist or Ebay? Or at second hand, thrift, or vintage stores? Ever sold anything?
I know I’ve mentioned it in the past but both CL and Ebay can be a great way to save money and find some unique, awesome pieces, and great deals in the process.
I have been an ebay member since 1998. I have bought and sold everything from maternity clothes to camera memory sticks to lamps to stevia on ebay.
I bought my Macbook which was just a couple months old from a local Craiglist ad and saved a ton of money in the process. (Not for everyone’s comfort level but for me, it worked)
I sold my Polar Heartrate Monitor I used just two times on CL
I have bought used/vintage clothes and like going thrift shopping for $3 tshirts
I bought vintage scarves to use in my photography shoots
I found the scoby mother I used to make homemade kombucha on Craigslist a year ago. It has since created hundreds of “babies”, some of which I’ve passed along to friends.
I love finding good deals and one-of-a-kind items. And, re-using someone else’s castoffs is great. Reduce, reuse, recycle. So you can think of using CL or Ebay as doing something green, right!
What have you bought, sold, or found on Ebay or CL?
If you’re just catching up on weekend posts, here are mine since Friday:
Oooh the carrot cake balls and the baked tofu look amazing! I’m craving tofu right now. Yum.
Love your table! It looks perfect for your needs!
I think I am gonna need to start coming yo you for photo tips girl!!! Can’t wait to catch up tomorrow! xo
I can’t wait either!!!!
Your pics blow mine out of the water, silly girl :)
xo
Love the table! I have a big/thick cutting board that my brother made for me that I’ve been using for certain meal pictures, placed in the sunlight; I love it!
You are becoming QUITE the photographer!! Gorge photos!!
I used to sell a lot of things on eBay, but when they took away the ability for sellers to leave comments for buyers, I stopped. I got screwed over too many times and it was frustrating! I don’t know, I just don’t trust so many things. Plus, with all of the shady stories about meeting up with people selling things on Craig’s List…I don’t know I’d just rather shop at a thrift store!
However, I have to say that table is such a great find! I really like it and I love things that are easily made smaller and easy to store!
that is so true about the feedback/ebay issue. I know quite a few ppl who boycott ebay now b/c of that.
Nice table! What’s even nicer is it looks like you can flip the table around to get some different colored wood(the one picture it looks lighter on one side than the other) And it’s nice that you can just turn it 90 degrees and have the slats running the opposite way if you want. My hubby does a lot of woodwork. He’s actually super spoiled in that department, his dad used to have his own woodworking business so he has a massive shop full of tools and great wood that he can use for whatever he wants. I’ve been bugging him to make me a little table for my photography. He did make me the cutting board I use for my pictures now though(but I used it to cut things before I started taking pictures so it has all these cut marks, LOL)
I loooove second hand stores, but we don’t have much around here. I buy things off eBay though. I just bought a corn tortilla press actually. I’m much more likely to find something on eBay than in a store around here.
I almost pointed out the color change, i.e. due to shooting with the windows in front of vs. behind me, but didnt want to get too “geeky” with photography and lighting trivia but I am glad you noticed!
Btw when you submit to tasteologie do they take awhile to get back to you or notify you with an email at all? Just wondering :)
Um… I’ve never gotten an email from them. I haven’t noticed a button or option to get an email either. It’s kind of annoying, I’d prefer to get an email just so I know. Sometimes it takes up to a full 24 hrs(or maybe longer) to get whatever you submitted onto the site though so I just wait and see. If you find an option to get an email let me know because I can’t see it!
Ok I will lyk. So far, not on their site and no emails. Limbo wait and see mode I guess :)
I love used stuff! Craigslist, Freecycle, thrift stores, yard sales, you name it! I don’t think I’ve actually bought much on craigslist, but I’ve found a couple jobs and an apartment.
By the way, I made your microwave blueberry oatmeal cake with pb on top a few days ago, ang it was delicious! It kept me full till late afternoon! I’ll definitely keep this one around for when I have a long, busy day ahead of me.
thanks for lmk you make the microwave blueberry oatmeal cake with pb on top a few days ago, and it was delicious!
heyyy, great find! i like how the table folds up, great way to save on the always-much-needed space! looking forward to seeing all of your food photography!
i love putting my photos on wood because its so earthy and natural!