A Year of Pies

It's been a while since I actually worked on Ashley English's "A Year of Pies" (being published by Lark Books, available soon), but when I saw a pre-order ad for the book today, it brought back all the mouth watering memories of shooting that beautiful book. Of all the books I've shot for Lark, I would have to say that this is my favorite. Not only was it great to be working with the Homemade Living team again, but we added the talented Travis Medford as designer to make the team that much stronger. Team being author Ashley English, editor Nicole McConville and stylist, photo/food stylist extraordinaire, Chris Bryant and designer Travis Medford. We shot the entire book over an 8 day period in Chris's wonderful cottage in W. Asheville with his bounty of props that were just right, using mostly available light and reflectors - my favorite way to work. Of course we always lugged all the lighting equipment in the house, but many days we barely used them, opting instead to chase the sun around various windows so that it looked like these were prepared in a "real" home (they were). 

On top of interesting photography, we were treated at the end of each shoot day with slices of Ashley's delicious pies to take home to our grateful families (when they lasted the car ride home). The recipes were so yummy that I've already pre-ordered 3 copies, as this is one cookbook that I must  have, and am very proud of.

Here are a few shots from the book:

The Team, drooling...

The Perpetual Dilemma

What cameras to take on vacation?

Finding the perfect balance of convenience and quality in the camera gear I bring on vacation has become my holy grail - seemingly up until now, unattainable. Either I'm lugging around my big heavy camera and feeling resentful of it's bulk, or being disgusted by the image quality and slow speed of the point and shoot camera (one of many I've purchased) I've nicely slipped in my purse. However, I think I've come closer to success since I' ve reinvested in my equipment (all my camera gear was stolen in December). After waiting several months, my Panasonic GX1 Power Zoom finally arrived, and it is nice and tidy, fitting easily in my purse or jacket pocket, and allowing me to shoot in Raw mode with pretty quick focusing and fast shooting. I was even able to shoot bursts of images with this for my stop motion videos - now that is something. 

The GX1 is a little overly complicated if you ask me - I've yet to give the time required to read the manual and figure out the zillions of options. That said, I was still able to take some pretty good shots, even in low light, with this little guy.

I also brought my new Nikon D4, which is a hulk for sure, but man, is it fast! And you can shoot at unthinkably high ISOs and still get relatively grain free images in low lighting situations. There is a dark side however - I was thoroughly dismayed and stymied to realized that neither my Lightroom 3 nor Adobe Photoshop CS 5 was able to open any of the images that I shot on the newly created (and supplied) XQD card by Sony. I spent hours researching this, and the only real help I got came from a B&H photo rep that I talked to who said that if I upgraded to LR4, and if I added the updated Camera Raw version of my Photoshop, I'd be in business. That did work - however it's still a little slow going. So, while preparing for my next trip to NYC I was yet again faced with dilemma - bring my Nikon D700 whose files are easy to deal with, or the new D4, and wait for software technology to catch up, dealing with the slow processing speeds for now. I opted on the D4 so stay tuned. Maybe, just maybe, having the D4 and the small GX1 are the answer….lug the big one around while touring and the little one in my purse if I'm out to dinner. I'm writing this from a plane en route to NYC, so we'll see...

Conclusion - the GX1 was really fun to carry around in my purse with no effort involved at lugging it around. However, it just didn't compare to what I could to with my big ole Nikon. Duh, you could say. I guess it's like anything - results require effort! I need a viewfinder to look through, and it's hard to hold a tiny camera still. Mostly I worked on a stop motion video idea I have, but below are a few shots from Easter weekend. Now if I can just find the right shoes for my NYC trips.....

Join me at Hacienda Las Trancas in September!

I am very excited to announce this very unique opportunity! I am hosting a workshop for photo enthusiasts September 20-25th in a 400 year old hacienda in central, mountainous Mexico that Kelley and Stephen Wilkinson (of Asheville) have spent 10 years renovating into a breathtakingly beautiful vacation retreat - Hacienda Las Trancas (www.hacienda las trancas). This is in a very safe area of Mexico and the weather should be divine as the elevation is  7000'. The large hacienda staff will take of cooking fresh authentic Mexican meals for us (many items grown in their organic garden), taking us on horseback rides, transporting us from the airport to the hacienda, and basically being there to assure that we have a wonderful vacation. All  levels of photo enthusiasts welcome!

Here are the basics:

September 20-25th, 2012

Cost: $1400, which includes:
    All meals
    Luxury accommodations at the hacienda
    Photography instruction, including a private session
    Transportation to and from the Leon airport
    Transportation to and from San Miguel for a day trip
    Horseback riding trail ride guided by hacienda staff
    Access to mountain bikes, jacuzzi, heated pool and commercial exercise facility.
    Onsite spa features 6 massage therapists who offer wonderful treatments (additional fee, priced      very reasonably).

Photography Instruction:

I will be offering demonstrations, slide shows covering basic elements of photography including composition, lighting, point of view, storytelling, and working with your subject, and offering one private session per person, to answer specific questions you may have about technical or artistic issues. While the basis of this vacation is photography, you will have plenty of unstructured time to explore on your own, get a massage, read in a hammock or go for a hike. It is above all a luxurious and rejuvenating vacation.

There will be a maximum of 15 people that can sign up, so I expect this to fill up quickly. A $400 deposit is required to hold your place. See below for more detailed info:

Here is a sampling of what we will do:

We will be greeted by the Las Trancas staff with welcome margaritas and a delicious mexican dinner served alfresco.

There will be several classes focusing on photographic topics such as composition, lighting, working with people, point of view, and telling your stories. Also I will discuss software including Lightroom, Iphoto and Photoshop as well as "Digital 101 - how to organize your images on your computer".

I will have many demonstrations showing lighting tips and composing your images.

I will  offer one on one photo instruction appointments.

You will explore the hacienda with the group and on your own with your camera - capture the wildlife, the flowers blooming, the mexican people, the intense colors and textures of the hacienda and its landscape, etc. - the photo opportunities will be endless.

We will visit photographer's heaven - beautiful San Miguel, about an hour away, to take pictures as well as relax, explore and shop.

You can take a horseback ride on the hacienda's well trained horses, stopping along to way to take pictures. Optional, of course.

Soak in the nearby natural hot springs that the staff can take us to nearby.

Have the horse back riding staff do a demo for us with the horses running in the late afternoon sun, dust kicked up in the dusk "magic" light. Beautiful photos!

Enjoy an afternoon of massage appointments set up for us to cap off a busy morning.

Celebrate our week with a slide show of guest work to show off all your new photo skills and get feedback from the group.

While the focus of these trips is for you to learn ways to improve your photographic skills, there will be plenty of unscheduled time to relax, rest and care for yourself (as well as edit your photos). We will have approximately 2-4 hours of scheduled photo time per day with the rest unscheduled and open to spontaneous experiences.

Depending on the number of people that sign up, rooms will be may be booked with two people in each. The bedrooms are huge and gorgeously appointed, so this should not be a problem. There is also a gym, volleyball court, hiking trails, a pool, a hot tub and lots of hammocks. If you are interested in the photography but have a companion who is not, they can still come and have a wonderful vacation at a discounted rate.

Fees include all meals, instruction, transportation to and from the Leon airport, horseback riding, a day trip to San Miguel and lodging. Other expenses you could expect are private massages (about $25/hour), transportation for individual day trips,  and any alcoholic beverages that you would purchase during the week. There are wine and liquor available for purchase at the hacienda.

Deposit Due Upon Booking: $400, refundable until August 15th. It is strongly suggested that you buy trip insurance to cover you in case anything happens that makes you have to cancel, as well as cover you during the trip. I need a minimum of 10 people, so please don't delay if you are interested so that we can be sure the trip will happen.

Total Fee: $1400 per person ($1000 after deposit). Depending on the number of people that sign up we may offer discounts for double rooms with upcharges for singles.

Call or email Lynne Harty for more information at 828-777-7073/lynne@lynneharty.com



TO GET VERY INSPIRED GO TO THE LAS TRANCAS WEBSITE:  http://www.haciendalastrancas.com
Also see information on beautiful San Miguel: www.internetsanmiguel.com and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Miguel_de_Allende.

What to bring:
Camera (digital DSLR is best), tripod, laptop, card reader and flash drive.

I hope you can make it! Please forward this email to nice folks that you think would be interested in this opportunity.

All photos of Hacienda Las Trancas are from the hacienda's website.

Spain Trip Report

Last week I returned from 10 days in Seville and Madrid, Spain - we went to visit my oldest daughter, Jess, who has been living there since January. What a gorgeous city Seville is!!!! Every direction we explored provided more colorful winding mazes of stone alleyways peppered with bars, restaurants and cafes. There were stores mixed in there as well, though they were way outnumbered by the others (not to mention the stores were seemingly closed so much). Not one time did I see people walking hurriedly down the street talking on their cell phones - not once! The only people that we saw using their digital "attachments" in a cafe was in Madrid when we were in a nice restaurant, and the grumpy Americans next to us both had their smart phones in front of them avoiding table conversation. 

I will admit that when the four of us came home at night we had our version of the American family in plain view: four laptops, four heads down, 40 fingers typing fast and furious catching up on the events on the day and keeping in touch with people from home. Yikes! We were supposed to get away, be in the moment, yet we were pulled back to home and work by all the technology we lugged around with us. I was as guilty as the others. When I observed this scene the second night, I vowed to go to my already chosen favorite cafe, Cafe Piola in Alameda, the following morning sans any technology - just myself. When I was leaving I grabbed a book, but when I ordered my daily cafe con leche, I realized the book was yet another escape from my surroundings, so I put it aside and just watched the people around me. This is why we leave our wonderful country - to experience the culture of another, right? And what a different culture it was - in general, people are not in such a hurry. We've heard this, but it's interesting to see that even in a fairly large city, people linger over their coffee in the morning, talking to neighbors, family and friends, tossing their napkins many times on the  floor when they are finished. I found that the sign of an authentic bar populated by locals was one littered with napkins. At first I scoffed as this slovenly site, but then realized it was just different - "we'll clean up later after we've fully experienced this". 

When I was planning our trip, I decided to try to set up a home exchange through home link.org, and though it's like finding a needle in a haystack to find a compatible exchange, we succeeded, and were able to stay in a lovely apartment in Alameda - a very lively area near El Centro. Our kind hosts invited us to dinner on the roof of their building and served us a wonderful, typically Sevillian meal of jamon iberico, manchego cheese, salad with eggs and tuna, and a tart - with, of course, lots of "vino tinto".  When we asked our hosts whether we should take a car or a bus to visit Ronda the following day, they offered the use of their  car. When I demurred, feeling that was too big a responsibility, Carmen, the wife, asked me why I didn't want to use their car? I replied "What if we had a wreck?", to which she sensibly replied "Why would you do that?". Emilio, the husband, followed up by saying "It is not my mother. It is not my lover. It is a car. Take it". So the matter was settled, and we drove to Ronda the next day in their car - this was my favorite day yet. More about Ronda in the next post with photos from my new, big daddy Nikon D4…I tested it out on that day.

These were all taken with my little Panasonic GX1 that fits in my purse:

And here are a few taken from my new Nikon D4: