The New Years Table 2012

Marty CohenFood Photography, Japanese New Year Celebration 20126 Comments

New Years Table 2012

The wonderful (mostly) Japanese food we got to make and eat this year in Los Angeles.

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I thought I’d start the New Years food photos with the final result, the New Years table. Its filled with wonderfully beautiful and delicious traditional Japanese foods, mostly made by the family but there was also food brought by friends. It’s a wonderful celebration we have each year. It’s fun to be together to make the food and to eat it. It’s fun to share it with friends and family.

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Over the next week or two, I will post more photos of the food preparation and some of the individual foods.

Kagami Mochi

Marty CohenB+W, Food Photography, Japanese New Year Celebration 201210 Comments

Kagami Mochi

Kagami Mochi

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Kagami Mochi is a traditional Japanese New Year decoration. It is typically composed of two flat, round mochi (rice) cakes (a small one sitting on top of a slightly larger one) shaped like kagami (“an old-fashioned kind of round copper mirror”) and a daidai (a Japanese bitter orange) with an attached leaf on top. The roundness of the mochi is said to symbolize fulfillment within the family. The stacking of the pieces are variously said to symbolize the going and coming years, the accumulation for another year, the human heart,”yin” and “yang”, or the moon and the sun. It’s not eaten immediately, but broken open after the new year begins on a special day called Kagami Biraki, which usually falls on January 11th.

This image was taken this January 1, 2012 at our family’s annual New Year celebration in Los Angeles. I have previously posted food images from the 2011 New Year celebration and will be posting more food images from this year’s event. Many friends and family come to enjoy the traditional Japanese New Year food that is cooked by my wife Cathleen’s family.

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The photo was taken with a Canon EOS 40D, EF17-40mm f/4L lens, 1/60 sec at f/4, ISO 200, indirect flash lighting, on SanDisk Extreme IV Digital Film.

Coffee Pot Rock in the Snow

Marty CohenArizona, Sedona7 Comments

Coffee Pot Rock in the Snow

Beautiful snowfall on Coffee Pot Rock in Sedona

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Here is a photo I took in 2003 while living in Sedona, AZ. In the five years I was there, 2003 produced more snow than the other years and it raised the beauty of the red rock formations to a new level. This is Coffee Pot Rock, named, obviously for its shape being similar to that of the old percolator coffee pots.

If you ever visit Sedona, in addition to all the great locations to shoot, I highly recommend eating at Coffee Pot Restaurant for breakfast or lunch. You won’t be disappointed. Great food and a wonderfully friendly staff to serve you. It’s located at 2050 W State Route 89A (with Coffee Pot Rock as a backdrop).

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The photo was taken in 2003 with an early model Canon DSLR, the Canon EOS D60, EF70-200mm f/4L lens, 1/75 sec at f/11, ISO 200 on Lexar Digital Film.

Lulu

Marty CohenLulu12 Comments

Lulu

A Portrait of Lulu

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Lulu, 8 years old, got a special new bed made by our niece, Kelly. What makes this bed special is, first, that Kelly made it, and second, that the jeans material comes from many pairs of jeans given to Kelly by family and friends. Kelly is a very talented and creative artist. She cuts, finishes and sews the patches into these wonderful dog beds. There is a strong zipper on the side, and the filling inside is made from old t-shirts and leftover pieces of the jeans material encased in a sack, also made from t-shirts. So both the jeans cover and the soft inside are washable.

If you have a dog who needs, or wants, a new bed, Kelly does make them for sale, customized to fit the size of your dog. If you wold be interested, email me or leave a comment on the blog and I will pass it on to her and she’ll contact you.

Birch Leaves on the Deck

Marty CohenCarmel Valley, Landscape, Trees6 Comments

Fallen Leaves 1

Birch leaves fall onto the deck as winter approaches.

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This Fall has been very special for us as the leaves changed colors this Autumn. We really get to experience the seasons out here in Carmel Valley.

My Gift to You
Use This Image As Your Desktop Wallpaper

As a thank you for following my work this past year and coming to this blog to enjoy my photography, I’ve made this photograph into an image that can be used as your desktop wallpaper on your computers.

If you’d like to download the desktop wallpaper file, click HERE to go to a special page I’ve created. The download link is on that page.

Thank you again for all your support and I hope you’ll share this website with your friends and family.

Marty