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Fun With Flowers…

California Country Magazine asked me to photograph the orchids and the process of growing and shipping the orchids, at Rocket Farms in Salinas, California. I had never seen so many amazing flowers in one place. It was a fun adventure and now I am the proud owner of my very own orchid, although I am very nervous, because I am not so good at taking care of things that don’t remind me when they need water and food. But if Rocket Farms can take care of thousands and thousands of orchids then I should be able to keep one alive – we will see how long my little one will last.

And for those curious photography minds who are wondering how I photographed these flowers… I held each one up in the air with my left hand so they were completely backlit by the light coming through the greenhouse ceiling and with my right hand I focused and pushed the shutter. It was definitely a shaky operation so I was happy for auto-focus and high shutter speeds. This assignment just proves the lengths I will go to, to avoid using tripods and lights.

Natural Dyes with Mimi and California Country Magazine…

It is nice to be connected with people who promote my photography, since I don’t do a good job of promoting myself. Ever since I returned from London, I have been meaning to take my portfolio around to magazines in the area, but I just haven’t gotten to it yet.

But luckily, Mimi, my soon-to-be-mother-in-law, is an amazing person with a wonderful lifestyle that magazines want to write about. So when Brandon, from California Country Magazine, called her and said they wanted to do a story about her and her natural dying process, she said, “I have just the photographer for you.”

It was so fun to have a taste of what real magazine work, and budgets, are like. The magazine gave me a shot list and an exact number of photos that they wanted… and when Brandon asked me if I would be “ok” with their day rate… I had to try and remain cool and not act surprised…. yeah, I guess that’ll do.

These are just some of my favorites from the day and what I learned about natural dying…

First… collect your plant material… Mimi uses black walnuts, dahlias, onion skins, marigolds and tansy (shown below.)

Here is a super simplified instruction list for making your own natural dyes:

Put your material in your pot…

bring it to boil…

cook for an hour…

strain it…

let it cool…

add a mordant (Mimi uses nontoxic mordants like alum and cream of tarter)…

add your pre-soaked wool…

bring to boil again…

cook for an hour…

cool in dye…

rinse until water runs clear…

and hang to dry.

Thanks to: Mimi for promoting me, and to California Country Magazine for giving me the opportunity to work on this project. I hope it is just the beginning of my magazine assignments.

You can buy Mimi’s beautiful natural dyed wool at the Pt. Reyes Farmers’ Market in front of Toby’s Feed Barn on Saturdays, or she will soon be at the Marin Civic Center Farmers’ Market on Sundays.

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