Behind the Lens THIS WEEKEND

We are delighted to be co-teaching with David Marx, our third edition of Behind the Lens this weekend at Blackberry Farm.  There are still a few spots remaining for this unique weekend!  Please call Andrea May at Blackberry Farm, 800-557-8451 or send her an e-mail amay@blackberryfarm for more information and to reserve your spot!

Smoky Mountain Sports Club

Thursday we spent some time with the folks at Smoky Mountain Sports Club photographing their various clay courses.  The spot is down the road a bit in Louisville.  It's amazingly beautiful and a challenging and fun course.  Thanks to Matt and Keith for hosting us, we really learned a lot!

Freshly Ground Corn by Mr. Coykendall

We also spent some time with Mr. Coykendall, Master Gardener, on Wednesday.  He's one of our favorite people and provides endless photo opportunities.  He's been into heirloom seeds since way back!  Wednesday he demonstrated his latest in low tech gadgets: a corn grinder.  He uses it to grind the corn into cornmeal.  He's used it for grits and we talked about using some to make cornbread on his wood stove (using Benton's Bacon as the fat of course).  We hope to be back when he tries that!  Thanks, Mr. Coykendall, it's always a pleasure.

Chef Josh Feathers

Wednesday we spent some time photographing the food of Chef Josh Feathers.  He specializes in creating the breakfast and lunch menus at Blackberry Farm (in addition to lots of other things -- it seems there's nothing culinary that he can't handle!).  We photographing new breakfast and lunch items including the sandwich you see.  Of course we sample everything we photograph and, it tastes as good as it looks!  Thanks Chef Feathers!

Chef Adam Cooke

Today we photographed the food of Chef Adam Cooke.  Chef Cooke heads up the Barn at Blackberry Farm.  He and his sous chef, Dustin, were great today!  We enjoyed photographing Spring and Summer dishes.  The colors and smells took us to warm summer nights and green grass and lush trees!  Chef Cooke's food smelled, looked and TASTED delicious.  Take note!  He'll be in South Beach for a food and wine event this weekend.  Catch him down there if you can.  Thanks so much!

Kayaking in the Smokies

Last Friday we joined Thomas Krajewski, head of the outdoor adventure department at Blackberry Farm to capture some images of a new activity they are offering: kayaking.  It was sunrise in the Smokies and though the temperature was about 20 degrees, it was clear and beautiful.  We dressed in many layers and captured some really beautiful images.  The kind it seems you can only capture when you wake up before the sun does!  The picture on the left is one of our favorites.  After shooting images from the shore, we hopped in one kayak, Thomas in another and took them for a spin.  Paddling and taking pictures took some balance but we had a great time and hope to get out on the water again soon!  Thanks, Thomas!

Portraits of Parker

We photographed the lovely Parker last week.  With this mornings low of 12 degrees, it's hard to imagine we had an outdoor shoot just a week ago!  It was crisp but the light was beautiful and clear and we captured some great images of Parker!  Thanks, Parker!

OUR STATE MAGAZINE and Bee Global

Last week we took a trip over the mountain to Robbinsville, NC to do a shoot for OUR STATE magazine out of North Carolina.  We were contacted by Lindsay Emeigh, the Associate Designer for OUR STATE a couple of weeks ago.  We were excited to work together and loved the story.  We spent the day with Crim and Jeff Bassett in their studio and shop, Bee Global.  Crim and Jeff were incredibly hospitable and the studio was a great place to spend a cold and rainy day.  They have been in business for 14 years, and in their current space for 4.  It's so lovely and creative.  They make the most beautiful beeswax candles and globes.  The globes incorporate dried flowers from the gardens.  We can't wait to see the story in the April issue!  Our thanks to Lindsay, Crim and Jeff!

Favor Events Atlanta and Southern Weddings Launch

We recently took a road trip to Atlanta to attend the Southern Weddings launch party.  It was incredibly fun and we made lots of new friends!  We look forward to getting back soon.  One of our projects while we were in town was to photograph the team of Favor Events, headed by Jeannine Kennedy.  We had a great time photographing her and her team at the Moulin Rouge at Paris on Ponce.  What an amazing "set!"  Jeannine and her crew were incredibly energetic and we captured some fun images.  She heads up an events planning company in Atlanta.  She is thoughtful and has a keen eye for details!

Southern Foodways Alliance Gala Dinner

Back in January, we photographed the gala dinner for the Southern Foodways Alliance TASTE OF THE SOUTH, hosted by our friends at Blackberry Farm.  It was an extraordinary event which raised money for the SFA through a silent and live auction.  It was a who's who of the southern food world -- all of the chefs, farmers, artisans and enthusiasts together at one table!  Wines were from the fine folks at Vision Cellars and the food was made by the talented team of Chefs at Blackberry Farm and visiting chefs Mike Davis of Terra, Donald Link of Herbsaint, Barry Maiden of Hungry Mother and Hilary White of the Hil.  A good time was had by all!

Emile de Felice and Caw Caw Creek

Emile de Felice of Caw Caw Creek in South Carolina was recently inducted into the fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans and Chefs.  This fellowship is part of the Southern Foodways Alliance and it is their charge to provide a forum for people to share ideas and to reinforce the bridge between field and table.  Emile raises heirloom pork.  His pigs are pasture raised and humanely treated.  He's made quite a name for himself in the fine food world and the local community.  We were happy to have the opportunity to learn more about him and meet him on this occasion.  We wish you all the best!