In March I had the great pleasure of being reunited with Canadian chef Mara Jernigan while on assignment for Travel + Leisure in Belize. Mara and I first met while I was vacationing on Vancouver Island a handful of years ago. I stayed at her farm and indulged in a luxuriously long Italian-style Sunday lunch, hung out with the resident chickens, and devoured her cookbook collection while sitting on the porch under a blanket each [...]
That old lottery slogan “you can’t win if you don’t play” is so true (duh). After many years of attending the annual American Photography party, feeling quite content visiting with former and current colleagues and sipping cocktails all night, I finally entered some work! You might remember a Hot Off the Press post last September about my Madeleines 101 story in Martha Stewart Living. The Chosen image is the opener from said story, art directed [...]
I’ve known the hugely talented Nicolette Owen of Nicolette Camille Floral Design and Little Flower School for about twelve years now. We met when we were in college via a very close mutual friend, even though we didn’t go to school together. I visited with her a good handful of years ago when she was living in Oakland, working at a flower shop and tending a memorable backyard garden at home. I sung her praises [...]
A client contacted me yesterday in search of existing images from great restaurants across the country. On her list was a place called the Walrus & the Carpenter, which is located in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. It was there, on a Pacific Northwest road trip last September, that I had the most amazing oysters of 2011 along with some of the freshest and brightest tasting salads of my life. My client’s request got me [...]
One of my favorite food stylists, the charming Simon Andrews, did the nicest thing for me recently. After finishing up a gluten-free cookbook shoot with another photographer, he squirreled away a bit of the leftover GF ingredient booty for me at the studio. I’m excited to play with some new things including the GF Bisquick mix. It works for waffles, pancakes, baked chicken and (the hero item) biscuits. I’m generally not a mix girl but [...]
I am recently back from a beautiful trip to Belize. Hush-hush till the story pubs, then I’ll tell you more. In the meantime, I have in my clutches one delicious gluten-free chocolate cookie recipe that I just couldn’t wait to share! Cacao grows readily in Belize and this comes from a lovely cook named Yvette, who works at one of the hotels I visited. She made them for me and a lactose-free guest–so very thoughtful! [...]
Back in December I promised to share my Aunt Flora’s simple and delicious risotto recipe. The one that she and her friend (my baby-sitter Peggy) used to make for me when I was a kid. The one my family resurrected this year and cooked together for Christmas Eve under her supervision. I woke up this morning and realized I’d better get to it–post it while it’s still a bit rainy and cool. This is the [...]
Okay, maybe I’m not really doing Happy Baby pose in this photo. I do however need to thank my yoga practice for being able to be half in Frog pose and essentially on the floor all day while shooting ten little cuties for Buy Buy Baby! It pays to wrap your tripod in your yoga mat when you travel–you never know when you’ll need it.We had a really fun and successful shoot with stylist Annie [...]
On Friday I returned from a super productive food and lifestyle shoot in Miami for Prevention. The weather was precisely perfect and I only wished that I could stay longer (especially since the Food Network SoBe Wine & Food Festival was over the weekend.) My lovely tech Kyle and I did get to see Al Roker from a distance while he was shooting at the Loews Miami Beach but other than that the only stars [...]
This season, I’ve been dying for a plethora of props, some serious color saturation, sexy winter fruit, and moody light. I’ve also been longing for snow, but some things are easier to conjure than others! This week I got a good dose of the former and had fun just playing and making pictures for a day. Thank you to Molly FitzSimons and Chris Lanier for this pretty little test shoot. As always, please check out [...]
