Still Life Study

There is nothing like a beautiful Juliet rose to add a dose of grace to any scene. After peonies, these are a close second favorite flower.

Olive Oil Cake

The olive oil cake at Abraço is no stranger to, like, half of Manhattan. It is the perfect not-too-sweet, moist and dense companion to a cup of black coffee in the mornings (or anytime, really). On a whim, I hunted for their recipe online. It seems like it was printed in an old issue of Bon Appetit. Luckily for me, a number of people have blogged the recipe.


I pretty much followed the recipe, except for using a wee bit less sugar and blood orange zest (fancy, eh?). For the olive oil, I used what I had on hand (Lucini Premium Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil), and it worked out surprisingly well. I also was a terribly irresponsible baker and didn't time this at all. I just checked on it when I thought it'd be done and it was — I think it was maybe 45 minutes or so, a bit less than the original recipe called for.


This was way too easy to make. And quite rewarding. I will for sure make it again, perhaps next time in mini loaf pans so I can give them away!

Playing tourist

Back in November, Trent and Dara — the formidable duo behind Trent Bailey Photography — had me shoot their Christmas card photo. On top of a tour bus in Times Square! What we didn't predict was the pouring rain (I mean, how magical would it have been if it had been snow?). In a way, it worked out because no one wanted to brave the rain on top of the bus. We had it all to ourselves.

(All Contax 645, Portra 800 I think.)

These guys photograph so well. It was a pleasure!

Dark/Light Moods

I am definitely drawn to both dark and light styles of food photography, perhaps equally so. For me, dark has a certain richness that light lacks, while light has a fresh and clean feel that I also love.

One of my current goals is to learn how to mimic that kind of low side-light with artificial lighting. Ah, it's nice when it comes close to happening naturally though (like below at our table at Tribeca Grill — if I could modify the light there, I'd pull the imaginary shades down even a bit more until the light stops wrapping over the top of the food).


For my "light" example: I had a tiny bit of black sesame ice cream left from my pint from the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory; alas, scooping it with a rice paddle spatula does not yield a pretty scoop! (Not that I was expecting it to. This is more to illustrate a point :P.)


What about you — are you more drawn to one style over the other?

Tabletop

Well, thank you for the chiming in on the last post! Thought that I'd just hear crickets after hitting publish on that one. If I can find the discipline, I'd love to do a follow-up with full outfits for each pair of boots. This week, I also have some pretty white fringed tulips and tree peonies from 2hflowers adorning my dining table and desk. Thought I'd spread some of the cheer they bring me.


(I swear, my apartment could be a Mud Australia advertisement. Ever since they opened up on Crosby Street, there's been some magnet drawing me into the store every time I step within 10 blocks of it. I do love my newest acquisition — this teapot and cup.)


I know this photo fills one too many hipster/design-victim stereotypes. Deer antler, mason jar of flowers, and stack of books for show? Yikes.

Happy weekend, and here's hoping for more regular posts again!

Let's talk... ankle boots

Yikes, I know it's been a long time since my last post — it's not so much that I am lacking content (I am sitting on way too many unpublished photos that I'd love to share eventually), but more so that I've gotten a bit confused about what my blog should portray. It used to be a purely fun and personal space, but now I'm always worried that something I post may turn off a potential future client (who knows what someone might find offensive or off-putting?). And then, I decided to put that notion aside and post about... ankle boots. Yes, seriously.

I used to avoid ankle boots like the plague, because I have the shortest legs of anyone I know and ankle boots would not help conceal that fact. Yet, somehow this year I now have four ankle boots in rotation. And they're all very wearable. And they're all at very different price points. I not-so-subtly placed them in height order based on price. So the pair resting on the floor is the cheapest, and so on.


1 / DV by Dolce Vita Jamison Bootie in Taupe. I got these last February on sale and have worn them to pieces since. They were a great ankle boots starter pair.
2 / J.Crew MacAlister Wedge Boots in Mink. At least half of my girlfriends have at least one pair of these. Comfortable and go with anything pretty much. My only issue is that even the size 5 (!) is a bit big on me. And I'm a true size 6, so I'm not sure what's going on there.
3 / A.P.C. Stacked Heel Ankle Boots in Caramel. It was hard to pass these up after miss sophie's glowing review. Then I found them on sale at SSENSE left only in my size — surely a sign nudging me in the right direction.
4 / Burberry Ankle Strap Boots. I had my eye on these for a while when I was looking for a solid pair of black ankle boots. Despite their manly appearance, they won over some Acne and Isabel Marant contenders. I finally picked them up at Bloomingdale's Friends and Family sale. The quality is pretty impeccable, and I imagine they will last me for years and years.

Does this make me officially ankle boot-obsessed? I hope for both of our sakes, my next post will not be so frivolous. Or maybe some small percentage of you will find this post useful. ;)

The road home

It's hard not to really feel this line from E.B. White's Here is New York when flying over a tiny glittering Manhattan. My heart swelled when I saw the buildings of downtown peeking through the corner of my window.


Charleston was packed with fried things, grits, beautiful old mansions, grits, the nicest strangers, grits, AND good coffee. What more could a girl want? Posts to come, I'm sure.

Reflections

I know it's been awfully quiet around these parts -- I've been thinking a lot over the past few weeks about trying to hone my photography focus as I go forward. 2012 was my first full year in business and while I am extremely grateful for all the different jobs I took on, I often felt like I was spreading myself too thin. I know I will have to work extra hard this year if I want to get to where I want to be, and I think part of that will involve saying "no" a lot more to projects that may derail my focus and energy. Freelancing is still tricky to me -- I stress when I am idling and stress when I'm overbooked. How does one ever find the right balance? (Or hell, does one EVER?)

For now, a few black and white film images of cliché NYC from my Ricoh.