dinner party

A day of edible beauty…

June 17, 2009

Well, I wanted to boost my food photography portfolio… so I made it happen at Windrush Farm, with the help of the Gardening, Baking, Styling, and Photography Dream Team…

Most of the veggies and flowers were grown and harvested by: Rebecca Bozzelli at the Sonoma Garden Park, Paul Wirtz at Oak Hill Farm and Mimi Luebbermann at Windrush Farm.

Pizzas were made from scratch by Mike the Baker Zakowski, also from Sonoma.

The ingredients of the day were styled by the talented Esther Feinman (with her arsenal of pretty things) and her fabulous friend Stacey.

The location and many of the props were graciously provided by Mimi Luebbermann of Windrush Farm.

A big thanks also to:

The Firestarter/Male Model/Comedian Arann Harris.

Nick from Nik’s Chix for the eggs.

Jude Mooney, my photography partner who will soon be displaying her own version of the day, and her super helper daughter, Dixie.

The gorgeous James family for modeling, yet again.

The people behind Parducci Wine who generoulsy gave us wine for our wedding in exchange for photography.

Christy, Mike’s wonderful girlfriend, who helped with anything that we needed help with.

Here’s to teamwork and more amazing dinner parties on the farm with fresh food and wonderfully talented friends.

I had an amazing Sunday… it was full of yummy fresh homemade food that was grown, prepared, baked and styled by incredibly talented people. And I can’t wait to share my new collection of food photos… but you just have to wait… because this is slow food. I only have 300 more photos to sort through and then I’ll be ready to share the very best.

By the way, that pie up there… I made it! It is my very first made-from-scratch strawberry rhubarb pie… thanks to a little help from my dearest friend Rebecca and the Joy of Cooking.

More pie and other tasty treats coming soon.

The Aftermath of a Good Meal… for a book cover…

August 24, 2008

The night after I returned from my 3 week East Coast jaunt, I had to do another photo shoot for the cover of the farming book I have been working on, because the marketing department changed their minds and said this…

We're hoping to find an image that speaks a little more to the subtitle of the book: A Year of Farming, Eating, and Drinking Wine in California.

I'm thinking of something informal looking, the aftermath of a meal outside, before the table is cleared off. A meal involving vegetables and wine of course. Some background (blurry or otherwise) showing the farm might be nice. I don't think there need be any people in the picture (but maybe animals are OK!).

But the deadline was, of course, set for the Friday after I returned. So, nothing like jumping right back in. Luckily, I had Mimi, Arann’s mom, who is an experienced food stylist, with me to help make sure everything was as photogenic as possible, because I didn’t even have time to think about that aspect as well.

Now, which of these photos as a cover of a book would tempt you to pick the book up to find out more…