You know those weeks when you are so busy, there isn’t enough time to cook for yourself, much less eat at normal times?  Well that was this past week for me.  I caught myself chasing my tail every day, either pushing meals back or skipping them altogether.  I know, not good.  It was just one of those weeks, crazy deadlines, everyone’s been there at some point.

Well, my future mother-in-law came to the rescue.  Nadia, who is an amazing cook herself, called me up and asked if I wanted to come over and cook salmon the next day after church.  The timing couldn’t have been better.  For those that don’t know, I absolutely love to cook as well and salmon is certainly one of my faves.  Here are my top 4 reasons why:

1. Salmon are fun to catch.  My buddy Will turned me on to catching salmon several years back, this guy is a guru when it comes to all things fishing and hunting in Alaska.  We have had some good times wading cold waters in search of kings and reds swimming upstream.  Lots of laughs too.  So to me, eating salmon brings back the good ‘ole days.
2. Salmon is healthy. According to this guy and most everyone else it seems, salmon is really good for your brain and your eyes thanks to the omega 3′s.  From a fitness standpoint, salmon also provides a good source of vitamin D and protein.  And I totally use this excuse when I hit the fridge for a midnight snack.  Why not, its healthy!
3. Salmon is delicious, especially smoked. This is my kryptonite for sure.  I had been on this salmon-cream cheese omelet kick a few months back, so I thought about trying something different.  Without sounding too much like Paula Dean in a blog about photography, here is the recipe for the dish below.
4. Salmon is photogenic. It’s true, salmon lasts a little bit longer in front of the lens than other foods.  You know those images of a cut steak, cool pink center, juicy on top?  The shelf life of that photo opportunity is about 3 minutes or less, you gotta be quick.  But with salmon, after about about 20 minutes we were still going strong on a recent shoot.  Any way you look at it, food photography is really a game about seconds, its gotta be fresh.

I was also excited to cook the other day ’cause I got to try out the new 60mm f/2.8D Macro lens. Haven’t done much macro work with the D3x, so I figured now is as good as a time as any to see what it can do.  Not a bad piece of glass…