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It’s a Carimanolas kind of day

Karen Schmautz — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:32:31 +0000

My youngest son, who is a Junior in High School, had a Spanish project which involved making a food from a Spanish speaking country and bringing it to class for the rest of the class to try. He decided to make a Panamanian food called Carimanolas. They are made with Yucca…I’m not sure what Yucca is, but I took a picture of it. It’s very shiny and has lots of wonderful texture. I placed a couple of jalapenos next to the to demonstrate the size of these things.

My son’s mis en plas (everything in place), which he learned from his daddy and a cooking class he took at school.

The recipe and spices.

Here he is peeling the Yucca. The skin is very waxy and the firmness of the “fruit” (?) or “veg” (?) is similar to a butternut squash. His hand was hurting after peeling and chopping 4 yuccas.

Once he set the yucca to boiling on the stove (similar to boiling potatoes), he began cooking the filling of hamburger, jalapenos, onions, garlic and lots of different spices. The filling was kind of sweet/spicy/meaty.

After the filling is made, a dough is made out of the boiled and mashed Yucca, adding flour and some spiced. A small dough ball is made of the yucca and it is stuffed with the spicy meats. Then it is dipped in egg and bread crumbs so that it can be deep fried.

He looks like a deer in the headlights, but this is the product right before it gets fried up.

My husband handled the dough ball making, stuffing and frying. He’s such a trooper. He walked in the door from work and immediately began helping my son. Being the meaner parent, I took pictures and helped very little…I chopped up the onions and garlic.

Here’s the final product. I think they are a kind of “street food” because they are served at room temp without any sauce.

Neither chef tasted the creation. I thought a cardinal rule of every chef was to make sure you taste before you serve…

I didn’t taste it either.

Loooks good, though.

Maternity Bliss

Karen Schmautz — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:00:57 +0000

This is Brittany and she is pregnant and beautiful. I’ve photographed her before about a year ago and she just gets more beautiful. And she is as gracious as she is beautiful. Congratulations, Brittany…you will be a great mom.

Beloved Friends

Karen Schmautz — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:40:40 +0000

This is my best friend, Julie. She lives in Southern California with her wonderful husband and their darling son. This weekend they came up to our house in Northern California for a quick visit. I always enjoy spending time with her as she is a very busy woman. Her 10 year old son was diagnosed with medium to severe autism. He is a sweet, beautiful little boy, but he is a full time job as he has many needs.

She and her husband have devoted their lives to this little guy. Through their efforts he has learned to look at people, say please and thank you and communicate his needs in short sentences. The love they have for him and the love he returns is obvious. As he is a full time job, Julie’s husband, Jack, works hard and without complaint, to support them both.

Autism is not something I was familiar with until my friends had their son. I have watched them learn about it through their efforts to treat and understand their child. They are the bravest and most loving parents I know. I’ve seen the blessing that little guy has been through the trials and joy that he brings. Autism is a very chaotic and hard to understand world. This little boy has let me into his life and I thank God for that. I also thank God for my friends who love this child with a fierce and wonderful love. I pray blessings upon this loving and hard working family. They never give up.

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching

Karen Schmautz — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:57:37 +0000

I love Valentine’s Day. It’s so romantic and full of kisses and roses and candy and holding hands and other romantic things.

That’s why I’m offering a Valentine special. Let me photograph you and your valentine for a romantic photograph and a romantic photograph session that you won’t soon forget.

Ten romantic photographs, fully retouched, ready to print on a CD. You pick the place. The cost…only $100.00. (Cost may be more outside a 30 mile radius of the Placerville, CA area.)

This Valetine offer is available through February 5, 2010. Contact me at schmautzhaus@sbcglobal.net for an appointment.

Spot

Karen Schmautz — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:41:28 +0000

My old faithful cat passed away today. I think he was about 17 years old and we have had him since he was born. This photo was taken last week, but you can see by his eyes that he seems very tired. Poor old guy.

This is the first time in 30 years that I haven’t had some sort of pet. Spot was the last of three pets to pass on this year.

He was a good old cat and he will be missed.

Rest well, old friend.

Happy Thanksgiving

Karen Schmautz — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:13:48 +0000

to you and yours…

We’re heading out to Plymouth (California not Mass) to celebrate with over 100 relatives at an old one-room school house. What a treat.

Some fantasy photoshop work

Karen Schmautz — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:58:55 +0000

CD cover

I’ve been taking an advanced Photoshop class at the local college. It is taught by a Sacramento Wedding/portrait photographer and I have learned so much. The class has also sparked interest in learning to do more with the photos that I take.

Here’s a couple of examples:

Movie Poster

Ipod image

Fantasy image (the young man and yoyo are real, but everything else is fantasy)

Poster or info card

Use the light, Luke

Karen Schmautz — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:08:39 +0000

You just can’t take a bad photo when you make good use of window light…especially windows that are huge and grimy like those at Preston Castle. Here’s Brittany with a beautiful Renaissance outfit on. Just look at the light on her face, will ya? Good, huh? Here’s another:

Now this gal has got so much good stuff going on. She’s got that wonderful red hair which complements the fur coat. Her blue, blue eyes are knock out beautiful and she’s wearing red lipstick. I placed her in front of a huge, dirty north facing window (best light) and just snapped away. The only bad photos I had of her were operator error on my part.

Here’s a young man, senior in high school.

I prefer using a north facing window, but in this shot put him in front of a large, filthy south facing window and I got away with it because the sky was totally overcast at the time providing a nice soft light. Look at the way the window lights up his eyes. I love that he was wearing a tie and a nice vest. So classy.

One more window light…

Now, what’s not to like about this gorgeous gal. She’s standing directly in front of my big, huge, filthy, north-facing window. I just love this photo. Her eyes are just knock-out. The light on her face is soft and attractive. Pretty much anyone would look good in this light, but she is a true beauty.

I keep telling my husband that the reason I don’t do windows is because they make better light for photographers when they are dirty. He’s not buying it.

Happy Birthday and Happy Halloween

Karen Schmautz — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:55:51 +0000

Where was I 19 years ago today? Oh yeah, I remember. I was in the hospital giving birth to my darling daughter. I don’t think she’s changed much from the darling little girl, to the beautiful young woman she is today. She’s still goofy, fun, stubborn (she gets that from me) and fiercely independent. She’s also a wonderful sister to two brothers and a loving daughter.

When she was growing up we used to take her to Halloween festivals on Halloween. Consequently she grew up thinking that everyone celebrated her birthday by dressing up and handing out candy. Heh.

Happy Birthday, darlin’.

So, where’s the scary photo? Okay. Here’s one I took of Preston Castle last year. I dolled it up a little to make it look a little spookier.

Happy Halloween.

Double Yo

Karen Schmautz — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:04:01 +0000

This young man is a long-time friend of my youngest son. He came over for a visit the other day and I asked him if I could photograph him. He was game and he happened to bring his yo-yo with him. I thought it would make a fun prop and so we shot a couple of quick photos using my studio lights and white backdrop. The yo-yo moves very fast, so I asked him to show me a few tricks, and he was happy to oblige.

Because I was using a white backdrop, I was able to cut him out of the pic and paste him here on a New York rooftop. And he didn’t even notice. I even had time to run around behind him a do a little artistic spray painting.

And here he is with a little more serious look.

Handsome and fun young man.