Ellen and Anthony are Engaged!

This is why I love my job. My day started normally enough. By lunch, I had found my way into shooting an engagement...not and engagement session, but an actual engagement at the Blacksmith Shop. Ellen loves the Blacksmith Shop and Anthony was smart enough to ask for her hand in marriage there. It was a true honor. Congrats and good luck!

Bubba, the Vietnamese Southern cook from Houston

According to John T. Edge, local boy made good, Bubba is evidence of what makes the South great. French restaurants in New York are manned by extremely talented Mexican cooks, so why can't a Cajun restaurant in Houston have an experimental Vietnamese cook at the helm...named Bubba?

John spoke last night at Mercer as part of a visit to the Southern Foodways class at Mercer. He decided to speak about a 20 some-year-old cook book called White Trash Cooking. Many received a copy of this book as a joke, but John used it as a scholarly work documenting a period of time for a group of people. He explored White Trash Cooking like your English professor would discuss Hamlet. It was an unexpected point-of-view on a book that was rejected by publishers repeatedly. Once it was printed, it became highly reguarded. Some worried the title was offensive. Others realized its power to shock and affect change. John even spoke at length about the shocking, honest nature of the photography in the book and how it might have referenced the work of James Agee and Walker Evans, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Three Tenant Families. The book is filled with traditional, Southern recipes. The kind of recipes you'd expect in the local Baptist church cookbook. The kind of recipes that worry not about calories or cholesterol, but instead concentrate on creating maximum flavor from things discarded by people of greater means. My favorite part of the story was the lawsuit threatened by the Junior League of Charleston because they felt the Opossum recipe was stolen from their cookbook.

I have been a fan of John's writings for some time. He has written for numerous magazines, written a few books, and even appeared as a guest judge on Iron Chef. He is also the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi. Check out the links to see all John is doing. Last night was a great opportunity to merge my love of food and photography.

Networking?

This video was quite interesting to me when I watched it on another photographer's blog. It makes me realize where I should be spending my time. We all try different ideas to see what works. I know what works, but still I try new things. Maybe I should stick to what I know works?

A Gift for Mom

I'm very excited to announce a very special Mother's Day promotion for the Macon Telegraph--A Gift for Mom. The Telegraph is creating a special section which will be published on Mother's Day. The section will be filled with images of Middle Georgia mothers and their children and will make for a great keepsake. Each image must be created by one of a small group of professional photographers...including me. Best of all, the session is complementary. You only have to pay a $25 fee for the listing in the Telegraph and make a minimal purchase. For me, the minimal purchase is simply a single print of the image you want submitted. I will also be offering a 20% discount on all regular prints (tirage) for orders from these sessions. The deadline is April 17th, so don't delay scheduling your session.