Smash the Cake

Food Photography with Penny De Los Santos

Cerritos_Farmer's Market_5.14.2011-13, originally uploaded by cd_terrell.

I was recently talking with a vendor I met at WPPI this year. She was giving me some information on a product I have on my wish list. She said she had viewed my blog and noticed that - in her words “You take pictures of many different things”.

True enough – on the days I’m not creating images of children and babies I’m looking for other subjects – anything I can find to create an interesting image. This past weekend I found a treasure trove.
 Creative Live presented a webinar with Penny De Los Santos on Food Photography. Nothing I have had a great interest in, since I don’t often find myself in the kitchen cooking – but I took a chance, turned on the computer and signed in early Friday morning. Wow! I am so glad I signed on – it was a great experience. One of the things that she reminded the participants over and over to do was to "stick with the subject"  If you get up on a ladder or out on a limb - take more than one picture.   


After a full day of inspiration I trotted off to the Cerritos Farmer’s Market early Saturday morning to capture some “cultural images” myself.

During the afternoon break  I prepared lunch using some of the veggies I purchased at the market.

You can see some of Penny’s work here:

http://blog.pennydelossantos.com/

Images from around the world @ Penny Live/group pool on Flicker

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1641169@N25/


Thank You Creative Live and Penny De Los Santos – what an inspiration you have been.

Picture Party - Outtake

Looking for something different and fun for an evening with good friends?  Throw a Picture Party.  Invite a group of friends to share in the cost of hiring a professional photographer to work with you individually to create professional quality photographs. 

The photographer sets up in one room and works with individuals or small groups for ½ hour or so to capture some great shots.  The rest of the time you and your friends get to catch up around a loaded snack and beverage table. At the end 
of the night everyone has created some great portraits they will treasure, not just for the image, but also for the experience.

Even these little ones, who were in the play room while I worked with their mommies to create special Valentine's Day portraits, thought the evening was a blast....

Breaking The Rules

Last week I went to lunch with a group of women I have known a very long time.  We are all members of the same service organization and we spend a lot of time together organizing civic and cultural activities in the Orange County area.  Occasionally we have a bit of time when we can "just have fun" and last week was one of those days.  We met at McKenna's on the Bay, in Long Beach, and spent the afternoon leisurely eating a delicious meal, sharing stories and celebrating a birthday.

After lunch I spent a little time walking around, clicking the shutter on my camera.  I liked the images so much I decided to break the rules and post them here.

What rules?  Glad you asked.. there seems to be an unwritten rule that photographers should "show what they want to sell" when they post photographs on their blogs, but that doesn't always work for me.  Sometimes I find something, a person, a rock or a plant that is intriguing, or beautiful, or just plain ol' strange and I want to share that image with my friends.

So today no people pics.  No families, no kiddos, no picture stories from special events...  just  a couple of my favorite images from a day with friends.

Tea at the Culver

I love tea.  Black tea, green tea, Chai tea, spiced tea, herbal infusions  and fragrant tisanes - I luv em all.  As a little girl my mom would offer me a cup of tea and milk (mostly milk). But I remember how grown up it made me feel.  Although  tea with milk is still a favorite of mine, I tend to drink more herbal infusions with just a little honey or stevia……So when I was invited to tea with my “Red Hat” friends I was raring to go.  I picked up my friend Barbara, we each popped on a red had and found our way to the Historic Culver Hotel for tea.

The Historic Culver Hotel, in Culver City, California

Designated as a historical landmark, it is well worth the drive.

We had a great time.  More Seniors Just Kickin' - Red Hatters at Tea
images here.  (PS. these are all low res images - so no full screen -
one day I'll be independently wealthy and will pay for the high-res
option  :)  In the meantime - have a chuckle...