Sorry for the delay in posting some new material. I am a mere 19 days away from graduating with my Bachelors of Science in Commercial Photography from the University of Central Missouri. Needless to say, I have been busy completing my last photo projects of my educational career. I’m so excited to graduate and find myself a job doing what I love more than I could possibly imagine. So keep me in your thoughts as I take my next steps towards a better and brighter future.

I have been wanting to photograph ice cream for a very long time, but I could never decide exactly how I wanted to present it visually. I stumbled across a food blog which had a tutorial on creating homemade chocolate bowls/shells. As soon as I saw it my mind instantly flashed to a bunch of scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream served in a big chocolate shell with mint leaves and shavings of chocolate as accents. I just now had the opportunity to bring this vision to life.

Creating the chocolate bowls was as with most of my food shoots incredibly labor intensive. First I blew up 8 white balloons to a nice softball size shape. Next, I took melting chocolate and melted it in the microwave. It was very important to let the chocolate cool just a bit, that way my balloons wouldn’t explode sending chocolate all over the kitchen. Once I knew the chocolate was cool enough, I dipped each balloon in the chocolate. I made sure to twirl the balloon all around to get a nice even coating. Then each balloon had to be put aside to allow the chocolate to set.

Once the chocolate had set (I let it be for about 20 mins or so) I had to take a thumbtack and very gentle poke a small hole in the top of the balloon. Slowly the air would let out and the balloon would start to deflate. At first I was impatient and let the air out too fast and my chocolate shell collapsed and crumbled before my eyes. This happened to all but 2 bowls. So it was a good thing I made 8 because I ruined 6 of them. The ones that were successful I was much more patient with. I let the air out slowly and very gently peeled the balloon from the sides of the shell.

While I think the bowls turned out beautifully, unless you are really wanting to feel the love and sweat you put into making them, perhaps purchasing something similar from your grocery store might be easier. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the images!

Anyways, Anneka ordered butternut squash soup and immediately in my head I was thinking “yuck!” she smiled at me and could probably sense my not so inner monologue and encouraged me to try it. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become a little more adventurous and decided what the heck. UMMMMM YUMMY!!! It was so delicious, I can’t believe I’d been snubbing this deliciousness out of my life for so long! I decided that it would later be a soup that I would make myself and photograph. So…..

I finally got the chance to sit down and finish editing a fashion shoot I did a while back. I have been noticing that Native American patterns and design have began to find their way into modern fashion. I wanted to try to experiment utilizing this type of design in fashion mixed with a natural setting and some heavy cross-processing photo techniques to create a little mini fashion editorial.  A thank you goes out to my model Brianna Roth and my assistant Kris Walden! Enjoy!

All I did was take 2 medium sized red potatoes, sliced very very thin, brushed both sides with olive oil, sprinkled an garlic and onion spice medley on the tops of each medallion. Then microwave each side for 3 mins until crispy. Super easy and tasty!  Enjoy the photos! Hope they make you HUNGRRRYY!!

Needless to say, I have been and will be busy creating new work. After browsing through what seemed like hundreds of professional food photographers I realized one thing. Each one had an amazing burger photograph. I decided it was time for me to try my hand at it. I wanted to make my favorite burger which I discovered from the book Build A Better Burger by James McNair. If you’ve never had the pleasure of reading this book and trying the recipes within, I made it super simple for you. Click that link. Buy that book. Make some burgers. Dance with happiness. Collapse from full belly and food induced coma.

ON WITH THE PHOTOS!(Oh, and I made a super tasty regular burger too. That shall be my next post. Also, big thanks to my very sweet and patient husband Chester for helping me grill. )

I came home to find my wonderful husband tending the grill. He had surprised me by starting on a delicious beef brisket with his special homemade rub. He was slow-cooking it with mesquite wood chips and a spray of apple juice every 15 mins. Needless to say, it was labor intensive but totally worth it. He also had my favorite cross cross potatoes cooking away and some delicious baked beans. Here’s a quick shot of my tasty birthday dinner!

After seeing what delicious dinner I had awaiting me, I decided that it needed to be paired with an equally delicious birthday dessert. Now, as I’ve gotten older for some reason I have become somewhat disinterested with traditional birthday cakes. I wanted to make something a little more complex. I decided to try out some chocolate cupcakes with Nutella filling and Nutella frosting. I know, sounds pretty darn rich, and you’re right. These babies are packed full of flavor and chocolatey goodness. It is the kind of cupcake you only need one of and a tall glass of ice cold milk beside you while you eat it. Of course, I can’t make such a decadent treat without photographing it. Enjoy the photos and do try the recipe sometime for yourselves!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Beautiful bouquet of "magic lillies" that I picked from a friend's house

While I was there my brother was kind enough to model for me. We walked around my grandparents 40 acres of land which they are working hard to restore. Both of my grandparents are advocates of conservation which I think is amazing. Enjoy these few images from the shoot!