More from my shoot for Virginia Living at Levering Orchard!
I will never forget my first trip to Levering Orchard in Fancy Gap, Virginia. I was amazed by the height of the fruit laden cherry trees! The cherries were so plentiful that year that it was like picking grapes. We picked buckets and ate our fill along the way. With sticky cherry stained hands we brought our cherries to be weighed. Then home to pit them and freeze them. I think I made 20 cherry tarts that year . . .
I was thrilled to photograph my first story for Virginia Living magazine at Levering Orchard! I pitched the story to then Art Director Tyler Darden and then produced & styled it with help from my amazing assistant Maria. It was one of the longest days of shooting I have ever had and I loved every moment of it.
Levering Orchard has been in the family for over a 100 years and is now run by farmer, author Frank Levering. I am so happy they continue to farm in a time that has made it very difficult for family farms. If you have a hankering for cherries, peaches or apples just head up to Fancy Gap and pick some at Levering Orchard! You’ll be glad you did. . .
Here is the article and a few other favorites. More to come – stay tuned!
It is always exciting to get published & we were thrilled to have my portrait of Amanda Nisbet included in InStyle’s July issue. Yes, it is a small photo but perhaps the start of something new? You may remember the pretty Style at Home story this portrait was originally done for. . .
And then a couple of weeks ago the portrait I did of the beautiful Laura Vinroot Poole of Capitol in Charlotte, appeared the fashion section of the Wall Street Journal: “The Custormer is Always Right”.
It’s cherry week! Aren’t they divine? I have loved them since I was a child, eating whole baskets with my Dad. They stained our hands and mouths crimson but we couldn’t stop eating them! I think the most amazing thing I have done with cherries is to roast them in the oven with lemon zest and a little sugar – I can’t even describe the intense scrumptious flavour that erupts in your mouth!
Over the last year I have had some amazing photo assignments that allowed me to photograph both blossoms and fresh cherries in season. Hope you enjoy!
My dream to see cherry blossoms in the spring was finally fulfilled when I photographed at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for Canadian Gardening. To make the day even more special, my mother came with me to the fairyland of pink and white fluffy blossoms. This story ran in the spring for Canadian Gardening and I’ve included a few other favorites from that day. . .
We were thrilled to have another cover of Style at Home! What’s better than shooting a breezy cottage in beautiful Prince Edward Island? For all those Anne of Green Gables fans out there – PEI is as pretty as it looks in the movies. . .
It was great to meet Susan Snow of Moving Designs and of course to work with Margot Austin of Style at Home. Here is a peek at the article inside – see more on in my recent work.
Mmmmmmm juicy sweet peaches. . . I shot an amazing story for Our State Magazine at the family owned Kalawi Farms in Eagle Springs, NC. Rows and rows of beautiful peach trees, an ice cream stand with fresh peach ice cream and loads of peaches to buy and take home with you. We were so happy to see this beauty of a peach on the July cover!
Check out this beautiful Ontario lake cottage! Has orange and blue and white ever looked better? I had the privilege of photographing this gorgeous cottage last summer for Style at Home magazine with the talented Christine Hanlon. So thrilled that this ended up on the July 2011 cover! See the rest of the layout on my website in the recent work portfolio.
Our day was so packed with shooting that we didn’t take too many behind the scenes shots, but I thought it might be interesting to see how we get accuate colours in our photos. I use X-rite’s Color Checker Grayscale card – the gray, white and black card my assistant Stefanie is holding in all the shots. Once a photo is ready to shoot, an assistant places or holds the color checker card in the shot and I make an exposure. Then we use the White Balance tool in Capture One to standardize the colour.
And just one more photo. We love shooting portraits of Erin McLaughlin, editor of Style at Home and Canadian Gardening. She makes it easy with her beautiful smile and fantastic sense of style. Follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/erinmclaughlin1 to get plugged into all things design and gardening.
There is no doubt that Simon is a beautiful dog. . . I am not just saying it just because he happens to be mine. People stop me on the street all the time to tell me how pretty he is. This past Sunday Simon and I both appeared in the career section of the Greensboro News & Record in a story on the photo school I attended to study commercial photography.
But the best part is that I brought Simon to be a prop at the photo session and he ended up appearing in his own photo! So you see . . . Simon really is famous! Simon also appeared in a story about Lake James in NC Signature magazine a few years ago as well – see those stories below.
One of my favorite times of year is when my basil is ready. Is there anything more deliciously fragrant than freshly picked basil? Last night I went out with a huge bowl and filled it to overflowing with fresh organic basil. I really wanted to make some pesto and was excited when I came across a vegan pesto recipe and decided to give it a try.
I love nutritional yeast (or for fellow Canadians, “good tasting yeast” ). Some of you may not be familiar with this product – learn more here. In this recipe the yeast substitutes for the parmesan cheese. With fresh basil, toasted pinenuts and the yeast, honestly I couldn’t even tell the difference! It was delicous!
I ended up with seven jars of yumminess and packaged them up for gifts – invite me over and maybe one of these will be yours . . .
Some people call Vizslas “velcro dogs”. You may not like this type of clingy dog but I do. He is my faithful companion, intelligent, communicative, silly and wild and I wouldn’t trade him for anything. Learn more about these extraordinary dogs.
So, the basil was ready in the garden and of course Simon wanted to be involved. He waited patiently while I picked oodles of my favorite fragrant herb, then followed me into the house to sort and wash and make pesto. A more faithful friend I have never had. . .
I have become the dog whisperer of my neighbourhood. I seem to keep stumbling across stray dogs or they just show up in my yard. In the last few months I have rescued 4 dogs! With the help of friends, local rescue groups such as Triad SPCA, Almost Home Dacshund Rescue, Red Dog Farm and the power of Facebook – 2 of the dogs found loving forever homes, one was adopted and one still awaits adoption. My Vizsla, Simon Henry Haines, is also a rescue from the Vizsla Rescue. Simon has been so good to the dogs who have passed through even sharing his dog bed and my attention.
Little Pedro went to live with him forever family on Sunday – I think Simon misses his little pal a little but is glad to have my lap entirely to himself!
I was thrilled to join up with UNCG Threads designers, fellow photographer Chris Fletcher & Make-a-Wish Foundation to do a fashion shoot with a lovely young lady named Hannah. Hannah was a joy to photograph and we were happy to make her feel like a princess for a day.
Designed by Kerrie Rogers
Designed by Rachel Fisher-Shultz, Dianrea Campbell & Ashley Corsi
Designed by Lindsay Watkins
Designed by Erica Payne
After a lovely dinner dinner with special guests (more about that another day) I was too tired to clean up. The next day I came downstairs and noticed that in the glowing light of morning the remnants of our apres dinner tea looked so homey. A little turquoise teapot, a few dogwood branches and candles burned down, little reminders of a pleasant evening spent with friends.
Well, I thought it would be okay to bend the turquoise rule a little with teal . . . We are excited to have the {bigs & littles project} on display at Greensboro’s beautiful Central Library for the month of April. The official opening is this Friday from 6-8pm. Come join us in celebrating Big Brother Big Sisters and the amazing relationships of the mentors and children that participate in this life changing program.
My wonderful assistant Maria Arce took the photos of Brittany, Simon & I below. It is so special when I can step out from behind the camera and be a subject!
Hope to see you there!
In September I had the privilege to shoot ia gorgeous Amanda Nisbet home in the Hamptons for Style at Home magazine with managing design editor Margot Austin (see Margot’s behind the scenes post). We were all thrilled when one of the shots ended up on the cover of Style at Home’s April issue! Here is a peak at some of the inside story. See more photos.
We stayed at the lovely Inn at Quogue with it’s pretty picket fence. I was so pleased to have a little time to go for a walk amongst the beautiful homes and impressive hedges. I snapped a few quick shots of my little adventure. The scenery was so beautiful but the deer romping on the immaculate lawns did give me a chuckle.
Simon Henry Haines is my wacky and beautiful four year old Vizsla who came from the Vizsla Rescue of the Carolinas. He bounded into my life all energy and sweetness with a big streak of mischieviousness. There were days in the beginning that his tasmanian devil ways brought me to tears but when he snuggled under the covers with me, he won my heart. He is like a person to me – we communicate – me with words, him with gesture and eye contact. He cracks me up daily with his antics and I marvel at what a wonderful creature he is. I am so blessed to have him in my life. I thought I might make him a little project and share a few photos each week of him with you. Hope you enjoy!
I love spring flowers! Flowers are so cheerful and uplifting bringing life and color to any space. I was in NYC for work and on the way home I had the pleasure of spending a little time at the flower markets. I bought the peonies with my mother in mind and took them back to North Carolina to photograph for her. The lovely apple blossoms were found right here in Greensboro.
Turquoise has always been my favorite colour as long I can remember. Maybe there was a short pink phase but blue greeny hues never cease to fascinate me. Perhaps it is because even though I was a girl, my mother often dressed me in blues & turquoise. Or perhaps it is because it is the colour of the sky and the sea. I really can’t explain why this particular colour gives me so much joy but I never seem to get sick of it.
Here are a few more photos from Susan Hermann Loomis’ lovely cooking school On Rue Tatin. It was so thrilling to open her gate and see the beautiful courtyard with a tealy turquoise table and chairs!
My time at On Rue Tatin was so full of lovely food and beauty, I wanted to share a few more photos. . . you can actually read about Susan Hermann Loomis’ journey to France and the renovation of her amazing house in her book of the same name On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town.
I am thrilled that photographs from my trip to Susan Hermann Loomis’ beautiful cooking school On Rue Tatin have been featured in the April issue of Traditional Home magazine! Stephen Exel writes of his culinary experiences at the On Rue Tatin cooking school found in the little town of Louviers. My mouth is watering for the fresh local ingredients we found at the farmer’s market and for the lovely ambiance of the former convent converted into cooking school. Delightful and delicious
