11/23/2010
10/12/2010
Chas & Rachel 9/25/2010 – Destin, FL
Was out of town for two and a half weeks visiting a myriad of people and places, setting foot in 5 different states and experiencing places I’d never been before like Nashville, Atlanta and cute ‘lil Chattanooga, TN. As I said in an earlier post, September was a busy month. Part of that busyness involved celebrating my brother-in-law Chas’ beach-side wedding in Florida. I took some photos for fun and these are just a small selection of my favorites.
Really love Rachel’s hair in these two photos. It looks elegant and classic. Perfect with the sepia toning.
Below: Grabbed the rings for some quick close-ups during the reception.
Saw the flower girl getting her feet wet while everyone else was milling around after the ceremony. It was so lovely I had to snap it.
06/21/2010
Vegan Chef Charmaine Daniels
Havin’ Fun in the Kitch-Un!
Vegan chef Charmaine Daniels and I had a great time tooling around the kitchen last Wednesday. Thanks to Jim & Donna for providing a FABULOUS location for this shoot. Bright, airy, scenic, clean. Great specs for a food shoot.
I love photographing food, Charmaine loves to cook, and we both love to eat good, tasty, colorful food–and it just so happens to be super healthy and vegan. Just look at her. She’s fit and gorgeous!
Be watching for more photos as she whips up a super fresh and tasty tabbouleh/tabouli…(However it’s spelled…I found about 9 thousand different spellings on Google…)
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A few of the ingredients.
Check out the size of this knife.
Choppin’ up fresh parsley, green onion and mint. The aromas were wonderful. Especially the mint.
By the way, I love how the green onion reflects off the knife in the middle photo. So shiny…
The dish is starting to come together. Beautiful! I never tire of these complementary colors in food.
Cucumbers…
Adding the cucumbers, fresh lemon juice and bulgur wheat (bulgur was soaked in water, then drained).
Drizzling some delicious extra-virgin olive oil into the mix.
Look at Charmaine! Isn’t she the cutest chef?!
Then it was out to the balcony for a lovely alfresco portrait.
The wind was mighty and blowing her hair all over the place, but we managed to get some nice shots. I do love the spontaneous look of this portrait.
Thanks for joining me on this food journey. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time….
05/31/2010
Artist Shona Macomber
Update: More photos added June 30, 2010
Two weeks ago I spent an inspiring Sunday with artist Shona Macomber. Her paintings and illustrations are absolutely beautiful. Although Shona is skilled in both acrylic and watercolor, I’ve always been a fan of watercolor for it’s fresh and unpredictable ways. I once took a course in watercolor and, well, let’s just say I’m quite terrible at it! My mind just doesn’t think the way you have to think when painting with watercolors. It’s an unforgiving medium so I am in awe whenever I see a well-done, professional grade watercolor painting. Which is what you get when Shona paints her lovely, timeless, idyllic and whimsical scenes. Peruse her site here and, while you’re at it, go ahead and buy a couple paintings! More photos to come from my day spent with Shona!
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Filled with color and whimsy, Shona’s studio & home refreshes, recharges and inspires me whenever I have the opportunity to stop by. Her kitchen is full of bright, happy-colored tiles (though I didn’t photograph the tiles…this time.) There are mementos all over and I can’t say enough about what a lovely oasis she’s created!
Let’s start with a shot of her studio, then I’ll take you outside with a few shots of her working on a new painting.
Below: Shona working outside on a brand new, mixed media piece. Busy mom that she is, the left photo depicts her painting while on the phone. Keep your eye on the piece sitting on the ground in the middle photo. I’ll soon get to a shot of the finished piece.
Call me a crazed, artsy-farsty person…but I was completely enchanted with all the colorful tissue paper blowing in the breeze. If I weren’t so busy shooting, I would’ve purposely strewn that paper all over the yard just to see the colors fluttering around. “Dance, papers, DANCE! Be free!” 
Above: Laying the groundwork for what will be a beautiful, textured bottom layer to the painting. By the way…if I can help it, I try not to shoot in speckled lighting conditions such as the one you see above. But, in this case, I couldn’t help it. So…there you have it.
I came back a few weeks later and snapped a photo of the final painting as it sat on Shona’s easel in all of it’s textured detail and glory. I highly recommend someone buy this painting. Immediately. It’s absolutely gorgeous. One sidenote though…since I wasn’t expecting to see the finished piece and this photo is just a quick snapshot, I can’t be sure that the colors are accurate as viewed here on my blog. You’ll just have to go into La Petite Maison in Jamestown, CA where the painting is displayed to view it for yourself–and then buy it. Or, go to Shona’s site and contact Shona directly.
The texture on this painting is so delicious I just don’t know what to do with myself! Those folds are amazing! I just want to eat them up! I am such a sucker for texture and mixed media! I definitely lean toward abstract, loosely painted pieces. Gorgeous!
Now let’s go inside and take a look around while Shona looks for some inspiration at her easel in the studio.
The following photo is one of my favorites. I love the little brown plush dog and the blue room peeking out from beyond the doorway.
My other favorite… The arched opening from the studio to the kitchen. Look at all the colorful fun stuff she has on the walls!
Beautiful dried flowers on the fireplace mantel. Isn’t that yellow-white checked container cute? And look at those bunnies leaping across the front of the mantle! Love that aged, antique paint look. See what I mean when I say Shona’s place is whimsical and inspiring?!
These happy chicks on the windowsill make me smile.
This unfinished watercolor with the little boy really captivates me. I’d buy it unfinished, actually, since it leaves much to the imagination of what it could be.
…and…just a few more samples of Shona’s work and I’ll wrap up this particular artistic journey.
Such beautiful work Shona! Thank you for sharing your creativity with me.
05/30/2010
Joe McNally Lighting Workshop
Yes, there he is. The man himself. Autographing his book right in front of me. WhooHoo!
I had the privilege of attending a lighting workshop with photographer Joe McNally a few weeks ago. I’ve seen him on Strobist, on YouTube and also on McNally’s own blog. It was exciting to see him in person, photographing the models, lighting, and working out issues. McNally is unquestionably a talented photographer and instructor. Very engaging and down to earth. The workshop was an all day event and every bit of it was captivating. Loved it and learned a lot. Thanks also to Kelby Training for putting this workshop together.