I’ve been off the radar so far as the internet and social media goes for a few days which was a wrench at first and then transitioned into a great relief. It has been quite bizarre to pop the radio on for the news and not have a clue what the lead story would be (I’m normally glued to BBC rolling news one way or another). Thankfully all this wasn’t due to any great technical disaster or mis-hap, I just happened to have lots on non-computery things to do. I’ve been itching to get back though, so ta-da! Here I am!

One of those things to do was to bake a mega-batch of chocolate brownies which, even if I do say so myself, turned out super-fantastically-awesome and were a big hit at my Mum’s birthday bash. In a bid to actually use my camera after dark and practice with my flash-gun I photographed the process (there’s only a little bit of chocolate on my camera now).

As well as tasting fabulous this I love this recipe as it does not involve any of the three steps in baking that I loathe, namely; creaming butter and sugar, sifting or getting the food-processor out of the cupboard.

Presenting: My Recipe for Awesome Chocolate Brownies

(Based on St. Nigella’s ‘Snow-Flecked Brownies’ from her ‘Feast’ recipe book)

Makes 32 brownies (feel free to halve this recipe, but you WILL regret it)!

Ingredients:

• 375g unsalted butter (US =  3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons)
• 375g Dark Chocolate (US = 13oz)
• 6 eggs
• 350g Caster Sugar (2 cups)
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 225g Plain Flour (1.5 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour)
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 250g White Chocolate Buttons (US = 9oz)
• 2 Tsp icing sugar (US = confectioners sugar) for dusting

Method:
1} Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

2} Line the sides and base of two small or one large baking tins with baking parchment (I have two square tins that are 25x25cm each – they doesn’t need to be exact though, or even square).

3} Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan over low heat. You can do this directly in the pan – no need for a double-boiler – use a biggish pan, there’s more going in later.

4} In a bowl, beat the eggs together with the sugar and vanilla extract. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little, then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well.

5} Fold in the flour and salt. Then stir in the chunks of milk chocolate. Beat to combine then scrape and pour the brownie mixture into the prepared baking tins.

6} Pop tins into the oven. Over all baking  time will probably be about 25 minutes, but start checking after 15 minutes. You can tell when the brownies are ready because the top will start drying and look a paler brown and cracked, while the middle remains dark, dense and gooey.

7} To serve, cut into squares while still warm and pile up on a large plate, sprinkling with icing sugar pushed through a small sieve.

8} Eat.

PS – as a side-note: the chocolatey mix of butter and sugar you end up with in step 3 is exactly what I wish they’d used as the chocolate river in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory – that was the only bit of that film that disappointed me (the proper version with Gene Wilder).

If you find yourself in a pine wood on an overcast afternoon in winter with an SLR camera at your disposal then you might want to have a go at something like this…

I think they look quite painterly, don’t you? And it’s easy to do, too – simply switch to manual, slow the shutter speed right down, focus on the nearest tree and swoop up or down in the direction of the trees as you’re taking the photo…

It will probably take you a handful of shots to get the settings just right and undo all those years of training to be rigidly still whilst taking a photo…

These are pretty much straight out of the camera looking like this – no jiggery-pokery in Photoshop at all. Yes, the effect is quite limited, but it’s fun too!

All taken with Canon 5D MkII and EF 50mm f/1.4 lens.

Most settings are around 400ISO, f/22, 1/50th sec.

Have you had a lovely weekend? I have – it’s been one of those ones where you don’t do much apart from read papers, drink coffee, wander your local streets and chat.

Obviously (for editorial puposes) I am choosing to omit all the drudgy bits – the scrubbing of the funny smelling salad drawers from the fidge, picking out all the hair from plug-hole of shower, etc etc. No one needs to hear about any of that.

All photos taken with Canon 5DMkII and 50mm f/1.4 lens (my version of travelling light).

What is a prime lens?

I have a penchant (some would say unnecessary addiction), to prime lenses for my dSLR camera. This is an expensive habit to have but I can’t help it, I just love the images they produce so much!

Wisteria – Canon 40D and Canon 85mm f/1.8  lens

A prime lens is one that has a fixed focal length – that means you can’t zoom in and out. Your first thought might be that this sounds quite restrictive and much less convenient, and in many ways, yes, you’re right. However, I believe there are so many wonderful reasons why prime lenses are amazing and totally worth it – hopefully I can convince you to consider joining me in this expensive habit. Maybe you do already!

Horny Cow – Canon 5DMkII and Canon 85mm f/1.8  lens

Why I love them

1. Prime lenses do not have any moving parts, therefore the build quality tends to be much higher.
2. Lenses are optimised to let in as much light as possible i.e be ‘faster’ – this is a good thing, it means you can shoot in low light, use faster shutter speeds and get lovely shallow depth of field – look for those small f numbers after the focal length, for example, Canon EF-85mm f/1.8
3. Whilst they may still seem quite pricey, the equivalent quality lens that zoomed would cost a much more.
4. It makes you better at composing photos – rather than being rooted to the spot and zooming in and out until what you have is nicely framed, you are forced to move around to find the best shots.
5. The ones I have used seem to have a certain je ne sais quoi, a unique ‘character’ – this may be me reading too much into it, but for instance, even though I have a 70-300mm zoom lens which I could easily set to 135mm, I much prefer the photographs my prime 135mm f/2.0 takes.
6. We manage OK with non-zooming eyeballs, don’t we?!

Why they might not suit you

As mentioned before, you may find yourself in a situation where it would really be helpful to zoom in or get wider, in which case a zoom lens would be ideal.

Also, if you are like me and find yourself a bit smitten with these lenses you will end up with a camera bag that weighs you down like a ton of spuds – I find a small pack pony is useful in this situation though.

Shoes – Canon 5DMkII and Canon 50mm f/1.4  lens

How to choose

Some people will have very specific requirements for a lens in which case it becomes much easier to choose – a landscape photographer will probably want wide (short) lenses and won’t need to worry too much about the speed of the lens as they will mainly be setting up with a tripod – a sports photographer however will want a long focal length and a fast lens so she can freeze the action.

For me though, I’m a walk around photographer and I want a lens that will be versatile in all sorts of situations. For anyone on a budget (aren’t we all) you may have heard of the ‘nifty 50’ – a 50mm lens is a great all-purpose one to start off with – it’s the one that closest mirrors human vision which may be why it feels so natural to use. Whatever brand of lens you use you will find there are a whole raft of 50mm lenses varying in speed (and price) – the f/1.8 is around £70/$100 which is quite the bargain!

Vintage Finds – Canon 5DMkII and Canon 50mm f/1.4  lens

I tend to use flickr like a giant photographers shopping catalogue; I type in a lens name into the search box and browse through to see how I feel about the images I’m seeing – if I keep coming across photos I like that all use a particular lens I will check it out on a review site, I like the one at FredMiranda.com. Then it’s the scary bit; I look at the price. Nine times out of ten I give a low whistle and step away from the Internet for fear of agreeing to sell a kidney to feed my habit. I am lucky enough to have made some money from photography which I have invested back into equipment (that’s my rationalisation for it, anyway), so sometimes I will actually splash out and buy one (then I need to have a bit of a lie down)!

My collection

• Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens
• Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
• Canon EF 135mm f/2 L USM
• When I had a cropped sensor camera (my Canon 40D) by far my favourite lens was my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 – sadly it wasn’t compatible with a full frame camera and was the only downside to upgrading to my 5D

Danish – Canon 40D and Sigma 30mm f/1.4  lens

(I have a wishlist too, it’s quite long – let me know if you want to see).

Conclusion

At the end of the day though, it’s not about the lenses at all, or the camera. It’s about you, your vision, your photographs. Use what you love, love what you have and get out there and use it!

Queen Anne’s Lace – Canon 5DMkII and 135mm f/2.0  lens

Do you have a favouite lens? Is it a prime lens?

The sands of Bournemouth when the sun is shining are generally heaving with people – honestly, you cant move!

If however, you show up on an overcast weekday in September you can pretty much have the place to yourself (and be a little smug when the sun starts shining later in the day).

Canon 5D MkII with 50mm f/1.4 lens