I may have an obsession. I continue to try to make authentic rustic bread and this is the closest I have come so far. So here's the story ...

One day I posted on Facebook that I wanted a wood fired oven and a friend immediately loaned me The Bread Builders; Hearth Loaves and Masonry Ovens. The first 1/2 of the book was really about bread baking and leaven chemistry and I became so frustrated that I almost gave up on baking rustic breads at all. Then I made myself read some of the last 1/2 of the book about building ovens and soon figured out that having my own wood fired oven made no sense. I won't go into what I learned that lead me to that conclusion but suffice it to say that I could not keep one used often enough for it to make sense.

So back to square one ... learning to make rustic breads using the recipe that had been working so well for me but now with a few new ideas and knowledge about how the crumb of the bread is supposed to look, how to slice the bread deep enough to get the curls and multi-colored browns, and how to raise the bread in baskets on linen eliminating my frustration with the corn meal and peel method!

Last week I was ready, I thought, to bake a few loaves for the local farmer's market and that was my plan with a vendor willing to take my 2 loaves as a trial run. Alas on Wednesday it was becoming obvious to me that my leaven had died and I had to back out. Failure! Again!

But not to be discouraged I started a new leaven and baked some bread for home use. Tuesday this week I took a cup of that batch I had stored and created those beautiful loaves you see in the picture. I have improved. I have learned from my failures and I have trumphed ... at least this week. And today those 2 loaves are going to the market.

So what's up with the brick you see in the picture? Well that is the most fun part. To simulate the wood fired oven, I use stones, pre-heat to 500 degrees and bake with a brick that is saturated with water. That creates the humid conditions that help make the process successful.

I may not sell a single loaf and if not all the better ... I will take it back home and we will eat it. But at least today I can hold my head up and my obsession has paid off!

An Unusual Photo Job

It is has been a gray rainy week here in northwest Iowa for a most unusual photography job that I shot this morning. It was my first funeral job and I don't expect there will be many more. This was a unique request from a daughter who planned, for her deceased mother, a last ride behind a team of horses. That ride was to be from her memorial service at home on the farm to the Pikertown cemetary north and west of Rolfe surrounded by a small group of people whom she had loved the most. Her last ride was across the beautiful Iowa landscape with the cool blowing breezes of a typical Iowa spring morning just as we have moved into summer. I was privileged to be a small part of it by seeing it through the lens of my camera.

The gray skys proved to be my biggest challenge and if I could shoot the job over I would slightly over-expose ... maybe. My task was to take pictures of the team of horses as they left the driveway of the homeplace and then again as they approached the cemetery a few miles away. I prepared 2 cameras. I thought through my settings thoroughly and consulted with my photographer daughter inviting her suggestions. I arrived early. I made note of where there was a stop sign or a parked car to crop out. I positioned myself and took several test shots. I changed my mind on settings. I changed my mind again. I finally decided to shoot for aperature priority instead of shooting on manual because I figured I had no lighting situation to over-ride and I wanted to control my depth of field; or so I thought.

The team of horses began to emerge from behind the grove and I was ready. But they were moving and they were moving fast. I got in about 4 shots and it was over. They had about 2 miles to go and now I needed to respectfully wait for the procession before I headed out on pavement to go the long way around and arrive ahead of the horses! I lit out right after the last car and off I went. I arrived in time to position myself again and watch the procession as they travelled west on the gravel before turning north to come past me. The road sets higher than the edge of the cemetery so I knew I would be looking slightly upward with a lot of sky behind them when they entered my camera's field of vision. I liked the way it was turning out.

As the buggy began to emerge around a tree I began to shoot. I knew this time how little time I had, so I shot fast and furious for probably 15 seconds before I quickly moved myself along the south edge of the cemetery as discreetly as I could to try to get a few shots of the buggy as it headed back east on the cemetery lane. Later back in the studio at the computer, I was to learn that by this time, my best shots had been taken.

As it turned out the gray sky was a little over-bearing and letting the camera decide the exposure, I lost some detail in the horses faces. As it turned the speed at which I had to work meant that playing with my depth of field did not happen. I keep thinking about what I would like to do different if I could re-shoot the job. I know I would like to over-expose those shots that had a lot of sky, but would I have had time to re-set for those shots that had a lot of dark evergreen trees? I know I would like to have shot close-ups of the faces of the horses but what shots would I have had to sacrifice that were taken zoomed out, as a trade-off for horses faces? I know I would like to have shot more pictures with the second camera but how many of my precious few seconds to shoot would have been used up switching cameras?

So over-all I am happy with the pictures and while I know they could be better I know, given the conditions under which I was working, they could have been a lot worse. I hope that my intent to convey the heavens opening up was successful by keeping a lot of sky in the pictures and I hope that my inclusion of lots of horizon captures the essence of this deceased farm wife, mother, teacher and friend of many who was iconic to the community. This was a woman whose legacy will include her love of the land, nature, family and the simple pleasures of cooking and gardening. I was part of a group of carolers at her house more than once over the years, and you didn't get to leave without eating something. She will be missed by many.