culinary getaways: raspberry galette video

I met the lovely and talented Sherry Page of Culinary Getaways a couple of years ago through my friend and video partner Melissa McArdle of Reverie Daydream

Sherry has a long love affair with food, starting with her early life in Georgia gardening and cooking with her grandmother.  In 2005, she started Culinary Getaways which "...introduces guests to the riches of the Northern California Wine Country, Paris, Provence, the French Riviera, Savannah and Tuscany through unique, carefully-crafted, food and wine experiences".  Now does that sound like a slice of heaven??  She is an avid chef and having tasted the raspberry galette in this video that we produced together, I can vouch for her prowess.

I have made Sherry's recipe with gluten free flour and it was equally delicious.

Enjoy!

video by kim thompson steel
recipe and food preparation by sherry page, culinary getaways
food styling by melissa mcardle, reverie daydream

 

 

5 on 5 - june

Five photos on the fifth of the month - a no pressure photo project with like-minded photo friends.  No rules and no themes, just tell a story with some favourite photos from the previous month, and link to the next person in line.

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Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to shoot fine details - whether it's food or flowers or ceramics or art pieces.  After re-launching my website last year, I've been very focused on seeking out photography (and video) projects that allow me to shoot what I love.  One of my new clients (and a budding friend!) is a floral designer and creates unbelievably beautiful arrangements and installations.  This week I accompanied her to the San Francisco Flower Mart to pick up the supplies she needed for her latest creation. 

Sara and I lost each other a number of times in the rows of flowers and greenery and ceramic paraphernalia and to-die-for aromas.  Luckily she was having as much fun as me since she too is pursuing her passion!    

Sara Marshall of Sara Florals.  You would be happy too, surrounded by all that lovely.
Stay tuned for more on our collaboration!

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Please check out Janice of SHINE Photo + Design's 5 on 5 this month and then click on to the next person in our blog roll (and so on, and so on....).

Thanks for joining us this month!

cheers,
kim

5 on 5 - april

Five photos on the fifth of the month - a no pressure photo project with like-minded photo friends.  No rules and no themes, just tell a story with some favourite photos from the previous month, and link to the next person in line.

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This past month had an abundance of chaos.  Despite my best intentions, I didn't always have my camera with me except for when I needed it for work.  Any photos outside of work itself were captured on the way somewhere....

... or during a shoot for a restaurant pop-up, where I grabbed a moment for myself....

... or at the beautiful co-working space where I am a member ...

... or right in my own backyard, where my beloved calla lilies finally emerged almost a month later than usual.

It feels appropriate to finish on a welcome sign of spring ... a time for fresh starts.  Here's to scented air, no spring allergies, and an abundance of time to mosey without chaos.

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Please check out the glorious light in my talented friend Stephanie Smith's 5 on 5 for this month and then click on to the next person in our blogroll.  Thanks for joining us!

cheers.

10 on 10 - march

This month's 10 on 10 incorporates some of my favourite things - winter, time to wander with a camera in hand, coffee, colour, and a face-to-face with an online friend who is now a friend in real life.

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

In February, I flew home to Toronto with my daughter to visit family and experience some honest to goodness winter, with minus temperatures and snow.  I always try to fit in a visit with a friend or two, new or old, and this time managed to coerce the incredibly talented Lisa Macintosh into meeting me for coffee.  She invited me to visit the amazing space where she shoots her Great Hall Series.  The Great Hall is a well loved local music hall on Queen Street, very close to my old stomping grounds and workplace of many years ago.  "You've Changed" greeted me after I parked and made my way through the slush to the sidewalk, and it resonated deeply... it's almost a different lifetime since I worked in the neighbourhood almost thirty years ago. 

I didn't have to go far to find the colour and street scenes I crave...

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

iPhone6

iPhone6

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

After coffee at the charming El Almacen (best almond latté ever), where Lisa and I chatted like long lost friends and discovered much in common, we made our way over to the Great Hall.  Lisa was meeting another musician for the next installment in her absolutely fabulous series, but she had made time for us to hang out, and of course, take some photos of each other.  Lisa is not only a gifted photographer, but generous with her knowledge and support.  I came away from our short time together feeling inspired and ready to make a start on my next project, which I've been letting roll around in my head for more than a year.  (Stay tuned for more news on that in the near future.)

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

I am a lucky girl.  And change?  All good.

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

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There are some amazingly talented ladies posting their 10 on 10 stories today.  Please check out Maite Pon's, and then keep clicking on the links on each post to see them all!

5 on 5 - march

Time for another 5 on 5 (five photos on the fifth of the month) - a no pressure photo project with like-minded photo friends.  No rules and no themes, just tell a story with some favourite photos from the previous month, and link to the next person in line.

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For winter break, my daughter and I visited my hometown outside of Toronto, traveling from the beginnings of spring in Northern California to sub-zero temperatures and frozen nose hairs.

Although we spent short stints outside, the cold required warmer pursuits so we went to Casa Loma - a local landmark - where my eye was immediately drawn to the small details (who doesn't love an old typewriter?) ...

...and dinners cooked by both my sister and my mother, whose well-loved and dog-eared cookbooks are as familiar to me as the meals made from them.

In between staying warm, family dinners and planning fun events for my daughter and nieces, my sister and I always try to carve out some time to spend together.  At the very least it's a glass of wine and a movie, collapsed on the couch in her family room, but even that didn't work out during this visit.  So on our last afternoon she and I dropped the kids like hot potatoes at home and went in search of things to photograph in the snowy landscape and time to chat without interruption.

When I was growing up in Ontario, we would head north in the summers to lake country and I was always charmed by turn-of-the-century farmhouses and barns along the way.  I've always wanted to go back and photograph a series of them, especially since these days they are an increasingly rare species as developers buy up the farm land and contribute to urban sprawl. 

My sister and I found two farmhouses on our afternoon jaunt.  I found it sad to see them unloved and abandoned...

On a future trip, I'm determined to make time for drives in the country in search of not only the sad and empty, but the many remaining working farmhouses and barns.

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Please check out Janice of Shine Photo+Design's 5 on 5 for this month and then click on to the next person in our blogroll.  Thanks for joining us!

cheers.

5 on 5 - february

Another photo project and more reasons to stay inspired, accountable, creative, and have some fun with fellow shooters!  This 5 on 5 (five photos on the fifth of the month) is a no pressure project cooked up with some online and IRL friends, and one real life sister.  There are no rules and no themes, just post some favourite photos from the previous month (or two.  or three.), tell a story about them (or not) and link on to the next person in line.

In my most recent post on Viewfinders, I ended with a teaser of sorts about rewarding my dog Toby for waiting patiently in the car while I made numerous stops on a photo jaunt.

Just look at him.... what a good boy.  Okay buddy, it's your turn.

Where else would we go but the beach?

Where there is ample sand to dig and dig...

... and dig some more.

And after an hour of running and barking and chasing balls and digging at least ten holes, there was this....

Because sometimes a nap is exactly what's needed. 

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Please check out Janice of Shine Photo & Design's 5 on 5 for this month.  She's got a brand spankin' new website and after you've had a look around, click on to the next person in our blogroll.  Thanks for joining us!

cheers.

c+p wedding - 10/2015

I don't shoot weddings as a rule, except when I do!  There are incredibly talented wedding photographers out there whose experience at capturing a bride's and groom's special day far outstrips my own.   However, sometimes you just have to say yes when a bride-to-be asks you to capture their day for the simple reason that she wants her day documented in your photographic style.  I was completely honored to be asked and hoped I could deliver photos that were true to my candid style and which lived up to their expectations.

The incredibly beautiful bride, her gracious groom, and the location at the San Francisco Film Centre in the Presidio made my job (relatively) easy. 

These two lovely people were completely supportive and I felt fortunate that they had so much faith in me.  In the end, I learned an incredible amount about shooting a wedding and enjoyed every moment. 

When I do shoot another wedding, my only requirement will be that the bride have tattoos.

10 on 10 - january

I haven't made any official resolutions this year (yet), or even picked a word to define what 2016's theme will be for me.  It's not a given that I even will.  But in conversations and in my journal, the word "accountability" keeps coming up.  I decided that in an effort to not only pick up my camera more and live up to my intention of telling visual stories, I would take on some personal projects to really make me walk the talk this year.

One of the projects in which I'm taking part is a 10 on 10 with a group of talented photographers.  We shoot 10 photos in one day, post them on the 10th of the month, then link to each other so we can see and be inspired by what stories are being told elsewhere.

In a lovely example of serendipity, an online friend came to San Francisco earlier this week and we met (in real life) for coffee and an honest-to-goodness old fashioned photo walk.  It's one of the best ways I know to break the ice when meeting someone new.  I loved meeting Cara Monaco of Tumbleweed in Eden. She is a film shooter who completely wows me with her work.  We have known one another (online) since the early days when Flickr was all the rage and before Instagram filled the gap of community and photography so many of us craved. We walked and talked for a couple of hours in the Mission neighborhood, starting off with coffee and then a stroll down (and around) Valencia Street to Clarion Alley, which is always full of color and photographic goodness.

The rain luckily held off until the moment we hugged and said good-bye.  A new friend, with the bonus of photos from my camera and my iPhone to remember the day.  Color me happy.

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II

iPhone6

Canon 5D Mark II

iPhone6

iPhone6

iPhone6

iPhone6

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There are some amazingly talented ladies posting their 10 on 10 stories today.  Please check out Stephanie Gough's, and then keep clicking on the links on each post to see them all!

portrait series - meghen

 

In early December, I was thrilled to shoot a Portrait Day at The Hivery.

Meghen was one of the ladies who signed up and she made me realize once again how lucky I am that I get to do what I do.  Because not only is she beautiful and photogenic, willing to walk around on a chilly day looking for the right location, and then posing without a coat and making it look like it was actually balmy out, she is an amazing writer and it was so much fun working with her. 

It was an added bonus that she and I have both co-produced Listen To Your Mother shows in San Francisco.  She is a published author in the compilation "Mamas Write:  29 Tales of Truth, Wit, and Grit". 

Please pay her a visit at:  Meghen Kurtzig.com

firefly institute photo camp

I recently did an interview on Viewfinders with my friend Hillary Sloss, creator of a photo camp for women called FIREFLY INSTITUTE

Hillary was a photojournalist for many years and has a longstanding love affair with photography.  She has long held a dream of collaborating and sharing inspiration with other women photographers and in November 2016 will be holding the first photo camp in Sonoma, CA.  The venue is beautiful, many in depth classes will be offered for the intermediate to advanced photographer, and because it is a camp, there will be FUN!

I will be teaching iPhone and DSLR video classes, alongside some incredible women teaching classes in everything from polaroid to iPhoneography, lighting, food styling, Photoshop and Lightroom, and how to market your own work. 

My interview with Hillary on Viewfinders is HERE

REGISTRATION for the first camp opens this Sunday January 10 at 8 a.m. PST. 

It is going to be AMAZING - I highly encourage anyone with an interest in not only expanding their skills but creating connection with other women photographers to register.

video by kim thompson steel