Food Photography

While it's still a few weeks away, I'm preparing for my final photography class project. I have to create a portfolio that reflects what would become my discipline ... and when I grow up, I want to be a food photographer. While I don't yet have the skills of this guy, or this gal, you can understand why they are both my inspiration, and sought-after by the big food publications.

I went to one of my favorite places (the North Market) yesterday to gather my subjects. I love that you can eat them after you've shot them. As I prepare, I'd love your input on the images that best display food. What makes you hungry? What image would you use in a cook book or magazine article? What's missing?

Your input throughout this class has been extremely helpful in my progress. Feel free to offer me your input here or on my photostream here. And thank you!

Egg on my face

Hi friends, I've been a bad blogger lately; I've had, um, other eggs to fry. As you can see, the photo project for this week is "egg". I've photographed, and eaten, more eggs today than I ever thought possible. Even learned my cat loves them. So tell me, which picture do you think works best compositionally, chromatically, texturally ... and captures the spirit of "egg"?

I'm Ready for My Close-up

Thank you to everyone who responded to my "blue" assignment here and in person. It seems the ring has it!

One of the things that I love about a photgraphy class is that it forces me to really compose an image and take into consideration all of the elements that comprise a good shot. My second class assignment is a close-up, and must contain all of the general rules of composition; varying levels of interest, diagonal lines, an object in focus, and a repeated pattern of some kind. So here are the new contenders.

So, which, to you, fits the bill?

Blue

So, I'm taking another photography class and the first assignment is ... you guessed it, "blue." I have to choose my best shot to submit, and since I have such discerning and aesthetically advanced friends, I thought I'd turn to you to help me decide. Which of these images not only speaks to you of blue, but works compositionally as an image?

The Moon and Sixpense

As my husband and I drove home from Vermont, I read a book aloud as he drove, as we often do. It was Somerset Maugham's 'The Moon and Sixpense'. I confess I've never read anything by Maugham until now. The book is a fiction about a man named Charles Strickland, loosely based on the life of Paul Gauguin. Very loosely, actually, as facts and destinations that we know about Gauguin’s life don’t align very well with Strickland’s. It starts slowly and I had difficulty getting into it at first, but with patience I was rewarded with a stunning novel.

Everybody knows the Gauguin who went to Tahiti to paint the natives, but his life leading up to it and the mystery of his life in Tahiti makes for a fascinating read. In Maugham’s fiction, Strickland is not what you would call a friendly chap, but the book slowly draws you in and makes you confront the conventional premise of what society deems ‘nice’ and question what constitutes a meaningful life.

Gauguin, the real artist, was indeed a stockbroker, but he abandoned his career and his wife with five, rather than two, children. He was also less furtive than Strickland in his pursuit of art and who can tell if Gauguin was as callous as we are lead to believe. The man had vision, and he was slave to getting his vision out onto canvas. Who am I to say that making a living versus following one’s genius is morally good or bad? I think we must each decide for ourselves what makes a good life. But it can be said that Strickland, if not the real life artist, was true to himself and his priorities.

This book literally changed my life; the way I see art and one's responsibility to a life's calling.

Happy New Year!

I revisited my post from last New Years Eve, and enjoyed the idea of leaving you (and 2009) with a questionnaire.

What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Visited Fallingwater, the country home of the Kaufman family designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Words cannot do it justice, you must simply visit it.

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?As I mentioned last year, I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I make commitments. One year I committed to master the fine art of bread-making. After several flat, lumpy or doughy loaves, with the help of Julia Child, I made one glorious, crusty peasant loaf and checked it off the list. This year’s commitments include taking many pictures and making many paintings. And I have a special creative project in the works.

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?Like most people, I wear many hats. I’d like to streamline my life a little and find ways to get more out of every day.

What was the best thing you bought?I didn’t buy much this year; a black silk evening gown.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?Spending time with old friends, and making new ones. And being fortunate enough to attend the Art Ball. And as one of my Christmas gifts was a museum membership and tickets to ProMusica, I plan on having a very art-filled 2010.

What do you wish you'd done more of?Paint. And entertain.

What was the best book you read?Mrs. Dalloway. Virginia Woolf had a wonderful way of getting at the conversations we have with ourselves as we make our way through a single day. As the drama of a single day unfolds, the tragedies and victories of our past flit through the mind even as we’re working on the most mundane tasks.

What did you want and not get?Not a thing.

What did you do on your birthday?My husband and I drove to Cleveland to visit the West Side Market and the Cleveland Art Museum. It was sublime!

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.You can only control your own life, and even that is often left to fate. Worrying about situations that you can’t help or change is fruitless. Let others worry about being small, mean and petty; you have a life to live. Control only what you can, be quick to forgive, manage your expectations, and enjoy the rest.

What sums up this year?
I quote Erica Jong’s poem Autumn Perspective …
And we have plans that will not tolerate
our fears--a year laid out like rooms
in a new house--the dusty wine glasses
rinsed off, the vases filled, and bookshelves
sagging with heavy winter books.

I wish you all a healthy, prosperous and inspired New Year, friends! Thank you for sharing another year with me!

Wrapping Gifts with Pantone

I think that gift wrapping is more fun for me than the recipient. I've used many kinds of wrapping, but keep coming back to my favorite; brown paper. This year I thought I'd dress it up with Pantone's color of the year; turquoise (Pantone 15-5519). Perhaps you remember last year they chose Mimosa? Pantone has a huge influence on color trends and I've noticed that some companies (such as J. Crew) are already presenting their new products in turquoise.

Are you ready for the Year in Turquoise?

Dreaming of a White Christmas

I've been on vacation and have been taking it easy. REALLY easy, actually. Our cat has been sick, and five years into kidney failure, we can expect these peaks and valleys in his health and have learned how to manage the valleys with a variety of medications. The reward is a resilient creature who still loves life.

We're also getting ready for Christmas, which includes driving to Vermont to see my family. My family is not exchanging Christmas gifts this year. With the economy the way it is, it seemed a nice opportunity for everyone to focus on more important things like spending time together. Instead of exchanging gifts, my sisters and I are having a stylish white elephant exchange, which includes anything we haven't worn in some time and that we deem worthy of a continued life. My offerings? A red embroidered satin dress, an ivory shantung silk mandarin jacket, to name a few. I'm really looking forward to this!

A Young Artist

Three years ago, a colleague at work approached me about tutoring his daughter in PhotoShop. As an engineer, he didn’t know specifically what that entailed, but his daughter showed artistic promise and he wanted to support and encourage her efforts. She and I spent the summer going through assignments that I designed to develop her skills and establish a comfort level with design software. I was astonished at the pace in which this shy thirteen year old girl acquired and mastered the elements of the software. She soon transferred to a high school that puts prominent focus on the arts.

Just last week, with a mixture of excitement and wistful pride, I wrote a letter of recommendation for her to send to the three art schools she is applying to. She’s lucky to have parents that fully support her dreams. But I was also lucky to have a part in showing her what is possible, and sharing in her enthusiasm.

While part of me wishes she would attend the art school here in town so that I can continue to watch her artistic sensibilities evolve, I also think it would be really cool if she went to New York or Savannah, GA to immerse herself in a different environment. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she got accepted at all three.