It is exciting to have the October cover of Style at Home magazine! Calgary, Alberta was our destination to shoot this fabulous house. I was joined by two very talented women – senior design editor Margot Austin & Calgary designer Nam Dang-Mitchell. Nam used inspiration from 17th century Vermeer paintings to create a many beautiful spaces. I couldn’t resist taking a few photos of Nam’s shoes. . .
We were thrilled to shoot another story for the “Firsts after Forty” feature in MORE Canada’s October issue. Anne McKenzie dreamed of playing the bagpipes while on a memorable trip to Scotland and now she is pursuing her dream. Check out the magazine for more of her inspiring story! See the story below plus a few other favorites from the shoot. Also, I was a featured contributor this month – thanks to Melanie Litchfield of Whitebox Weddings for the lovely portrait that has been published over and over!
At one point in the summer, my pumpkin vines were climbing up the roof – I was so proud of them. Finally the time came to roast some of these little beauties. I followed the advice of Lynn at Simple Bites to make sure to drain the pulp before freezing and I think it made all the difference. I also saved the pumpkin juice to use in soups and roasted the seeds with a bit of olive oil and sea salt. Can’t wait to make pumpkin smoothies or pumpkin pie. Yum! What is your favorite pumpkin recipe?
This summer I had the amazing opporunity to shoot the Firsts After Forty grand prize winner in beautiful New Brunswick, Canada for MORE Canada magazine! Julie Hébert lost her leg as a young woman but when her husband Simon suggested she try cycling she was game to try. Julie won MORE’s contest and is now inspiring all women to pursue their dreams at any age no matter what obstacles they face. My assistand Maria and I fell in love with Julie’s sweet and vivacious spirt and the beauty that surrounds her on the coast of New Brunswick. A big thank you to our fantastic make up artist Sarah-Jane Britton and we look forward to working with her again!
My vizsla Simon came along for the ride to the Maritimes so we thought it was funny to take a photo of the two Simons . . .
As the 2011 Fall High Point Furniture Market approaches I was reminded that I never did get the time to mention the special visitors I had last spring. Margot Austin, senior design editor from Style at Home and her husband Kevin Austin, owner of Chair Table Lamp in Toronto stopped in for an impromptu late night dinner at my place. We had a super busy day at the studio so I went to the Fresh Market to get lots of yummy bits. We ate and talked long into the night and a good time was had by all. . .
Simon is a wonderful dog in so many ways but his ability to steal food is pretty extraordinary! He waits until your attention is diverted and then he strikes as quick as lightening and all you are left with are a few pieces of plastic or a plate. Don’t let his innocent stance fool you . . . one time he ate a whole pan of fudge, another time a whole rotisserie chicken!
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!
