Happy Birthday Susan!

Wednesday our sweet production assistant, Susan, celebrated her 25th birthday.  Her favorite birthday treat is a Trifle so that is what we made for her.  We used the recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts.  It is the most delicious, simple, and elegant creation you can imagine.  Our secret is the addition of Tennessee's own Pritchard's Rum and a little dark chocolate on top.  Here at beall + thomas we like to cook and sample good things almost as much as we like to take pictures of them!  Happy birthday, Susan!

Our first open house

Tomorrow, Friday February 29th, we're hosting our first open house as part of the Last Friday gallery crawl in Maryville.  We'll have music by Pfaffman & Ruberg, wine and cheese, and a photo booth set up to capture your mug!  Please join us from 5:30 - 8:30 pm.  We look forward to seeing you!  Look at the contact page for detailed directions to our studio -- our building is a bit tricky!

Ironing the Cheese.

On our last food shoot for Ruby Tuesday, the talented and lovely food stylist Angie Mosier pulled a new trick out of her hat: ironing the cheese!  Well, actually she used the steam feature of the iron to gently melt the cheese.  Worked out great and makes for a good story.

Buddy the flying dog.

Last week b+t made a new friend: Buddy the Irish Jack.  He's adorable!  Stocky and spunky and he flies!  We discovered his ability to fly while we were shooting the bunkie at Riverhouse in the lowcountry.  He flew from bed to bed with great ease and enthusiasm.  It brought us great joy to watch him.  A perfect end to a whirlwind 3 day shoot.  Thanks, Buddy!  You made us all smile!

Cover of HEART INSIGHT MAGAZINE

We've just learned one of our photographs is featured on the cover of the February 2008 issue of HEART INSIGHT MAGAZINE.  The magazine is a free quarterly magazine published by the American Heart Association and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins for patients, their families, and caregivers.  Please visit www.heartinsight.com to see the cover and story.  The story features 5 additional b+t images.  We are thrilled with the article and had a wonderful time with the subjects way back in November when we shot the story.  It's about 3 generations of women and the struggles they face to stay "heart healthy."  We spent a Sunday with these ladies in nearby Pigeon Forge, TN (hometown of Dolly Parton) in their home as they prepared a meal and out in the park as we all enjoyed a glorious Fall day.

Greetings from the lowcountry.

Wow.  Here we are in the lowcountry.  That's Low Country.  Down in the south such things are one word: lowcountry.  That means the coastal counties here in South Carolina.  These are the places of legend, the places of civil war ruins, fog, live oak trees, and spanish moss.  It is awesome.  We've been here since Sunday.  We're working on a series of interiors for the kind, fabulous, and gracious designer extraordinaire, Suzanne Kasler.  She has a line of furniture coming out in April with Hickory Chair.  We have a great team and have worked our tails off to get some amazing shots.  The light worked with us today, as did our old standby, the RZ.  Many have retired this workhorse but we still love her for interiors.  Our assistant Susan claims the RZ will NEVER be decommissioned as she's such an awesome camera.  We hope so!

Old House Journal

We just received our advance copies of the March/April 2008 issue of OLD HOUSE JOURNAL.  Our photographs are featured in a story about Sean Bolen's restoration of a George Barber House in Knoxville, TN.  George Barber was a famous architect based in Knoxville in the late 1800's.  He specialized in Victorian homes.  He was a prolific architect and produced catalogs of his work that offered his plans for sale.  His houses were intended to be "models of convenience, comfort, and good taste."  Amazing!  We enjoyed spending the day with Mr. Bolen (pictured at left) who is still lovingly restoring his home.  Victorian homes are rich with detail and it seems he hasn't overlooked any of it!  Good luck with the rest of the work!

Things from a time gone by

Yesterday we spent some time working on a personal project here at beall + thomas.  We photographed some heirloom garden items -- things like the dipping gourd shown in the polaroid.  These were gourds grown to be used as a sort of ladle at the well.  They also had many other uses.  I love their delicate shape and rich color.  They are light and beautifully strong and delicate.  We'll be photographing lots of things as they come out of the garden this year.  Yesterday we focused on seeds and cotton and gourds.  Tender seedlings will be coming up soon and from those we'll have radishes, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and all sorts of things.  Be sure to check back and see what we have!  

The Biggest Pork Chop

Tuesday we had a quick shoot up at Blackberry Farm.  We photographed 4 food items prepared by the Chefs.  We worked with Chef Glander and Chef Lenn.  I always enjoy the time we work with them.  It is truly a collaborative process.  We finesse the light and camera, they finesse the food and we produce beautiful images.  The shot to the left is a  dish created by Chef Lenn.  He is the Chef de Cuisine of the Main House restaurant at Blackberry Farm.  His dish includes all the important things here in the south: pork, collard greens, corn bread and black eyed peas.  He based it on a recipe his Grandmother used for Sunday lunches.  He dressed it up a bit in the presentation but it's all heart and soul.  Thanks, Chef!

Happy February!

Welcome to our blog!  We look forward to sharing our adventures with you.  It's true that truth is stranger than fiction and as photographers, we get to meet some of the most amazing and generous people.  Please check back often for updates!

It's hard to believe we are already in February.  January really flew by.  

We started off the year traveling down to Winchester, TN (about 3 hours southwest of us) to photograph Don Shadow for an upcoming issue of HORTICULTURE MAGAZINE.  What a treasure Mr. Shadow is.  In addition to running an amazing Nursery, he also provides a home for over 700 exotic animals.  Yes, 700!  He has everything from camels to deer to longhorn cattle.  He has the largest population of deer species outside of the San Diego Zoo.  We had a wonderful time touring around with Mr. Shadow and seeing his vast collections and learning about his passion for preserving things so the next generation can enjoy them.  It was a wonderful shoot to start the year with.

The rest of January was busy!  We had shoots for Wok Hay, Blackberry Farm, and a personal shoot down in the low country of South Carolina.