Per Se behind the scenes

Yesterday before class we made a trip to the Time Warner Center in NYC to check out Bouchon Bakery.  Last September, we photographed some of the folks from Per Se and Bouchon while they were at Blackberry Farm for the event, The Gathering.  It was an amazing summit of Chef Thomas Keller and his dream team of chefs from all of his restaurants.  After purchasing our ham and cheese on a baguette, cappuccino, and TKO (Thomas Keller Oreo -- unbelievable by the way) we ran into a couple of familiar faces from the Gathering and reintroduced ourselves.  The chefs were incredibly gracious and extended and invitation for us to tour the kitchen at Per Se!  Since we LOVE behind the scenes stuff, we took them up on it.  Jason Arendt led us through the 16,000 square foot kitchen (to service a 6000 square foot restaurant).  EVERYONE we encountered was smiling and gracious.  And so truly truly hospitable.  It starts at the top, Chef Keller our hats are off to you.  Thanks to your team for a remarkable tour and great memory of this trip to NYC. 

A different approach to weddings

This week we are in NYC attending a seminar at ICP (International Center for Photography) led by John Dolan (www.johndolan.com) and Holger Thoss (www.holgerthoss.com).  At beall + thomas, we feel it's important to always push our limits and continue to grow.  Taking a class is a great way to do that.  When our friend Cheryl mentioned the class to us, we signed up immediately and we're glad we did!  In the first two days, we learned a tremendous amount.  Our vision is getting stronger and stronger.  John and Holger are both accomplished editorial and advertising shooters in NYC who also shoot weddings.  Coming to weddings with a different background allowed them to develop a unique voice and amazing deliverables.  We are enjoying our time here and look forward to the next 2 classes!

Persimmon Creek Wine

Saturday we traveled to Clayton, Georgia to photograph Persimmon Creek Vineyard.  Wine?  Grapes?  In Northern Georgia?  Yes!  Mary Ann and Sonny Hardeman have created an amazing spot and delicious wine.  Humble, hospitable and hard working, Persimmon Creek is a labor of love for them.  Saturday they hosted a wine dinner with food prepared by our friend Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta.  His fried chicken and the Persimmon Creek wine made the 3.5 windy drive worth it!  We'll come back anytime.  Thanks for a wonderful evening and some awesome pictures.

Shot of the day

We're on day 7 of a 10 day food shoot for a cookbook/lifestyle book we are doing for Blackberry Farm.  We have an incredible team of people assembled here in Walland, TN.  This was our favorite shot today -- delicious blackberry cobbler with buttermilk vanilla bean ice cream, happy summer!

Wedding Fashion Shoot

Hello!  Last weekend we worked with Ayoka and Ashley from Charleston Magazine on a fashiony wedding shoot for David and Lauren.  We're photographing their wedding in August and they wanted some additional shots that would be impossible to capture during the actual event so we scheduled a pre-wedding wedding shoot.  Kreis, Lauren, Ashley and Ayoka had been talking and planning for a couple of months on this!  Each shot was carefully thought out and composed.  We worked well into the night on Saturday and then we were up at 5 on Sunday for some early morning light.  Lauren and David were amazing!  Lauren was channeling Grace Kelley!  They are so cute together.  We look forward to the wedding, it's going to be amazing.  Thanks for a great shoot.

Happy Birthday Natalea!

Well, happy belated birthday!  We're a week late but we were on vacation!  At b+t we hate to miss an opportunity for cake, especially birthday cake so today we celebrated with Natalea's favorite Italian Cream Cake from MagPies.  Natalea is the newest addition to our team and she's brought great energy and enthusiasm to EVERYTHING she does.  We love having her on our team.

We love Sophie!

Last night we had a photo session with one of our favorite young people, Sophie.  We photographed her with her parents about a year ago in our Maryville studio.  We fell in love with Sophie on the spot!  She just turned one so we had a session at her house in Knoxville and she was a trooper.  We photographed a few things, starting with an orange vintage dress.  Mid-way through the shoot, her Mom knew a bath would perk Sophie up and it did!  We love Sophie's parents, too.  They are busy and always positive.  They own ABODE in Knoxville (www.abodeishome.com), the go to spot for furnishings and other home decor.  Also, Allison runs an event planning business called The Modern Hostess (www.themodernhostess.com).  She has designed some amazing events!  And she is fun to be around.  Thanks for a fun evening.

Greetings from Mexico

Hello friends!  It's been a long time since we've updated the blog.  June was an incredibly busy month for us -- really.  We had an amazing shoot for our friends at Ferebee/Lane for LeCreuset (pinch us now -- we love the shots and LOVE LeCreuset), shoots for RT Lodge (a cozy retreat in the heart of Maryville), and a big wedding.  There were some other shoots in there, too and lots of pre-production for projects coming up.  We are happy to have so many interesting things to shoot with so many great people.  The end of June we took a little break.  Heather Anne headed down to Tulum, Mexico for some rest and relaxation.  She swears its the end of the world!  The most amazing beaches.  She had some time to read, clear her head and work on a tan.  Kreis has been busy gathering props for our upcoming photo shoot -- no time for vacation yet!  She logged 1400 miles in the car last week alone searching for the perfect accessories!  Her eye is amazing and her passion for finding just the right thing endless.  Zane took some time down in Charleston and Natalea took some time down on the beaches of Alabama.  So, we are back, heads cleared, tanned and ready for exciting projects.  July is devoted to photographing food for an upcoming cookbook penned by the fabulous Molly O'Neill.  Stay tuned for updates from the set next week.  We hope all are well and enjoying summer.  Get outside!