Urban Dictionary:  A person that spends a keen amount of attention and energy on knowing the ingredients of food, the proper preparation of food, and finds great enjoyment in top-notch ingredients and exemplary preparation.

Lemon Scented Sunday Roast chicken with Rice and Asparagus

Amazing Best You Ever Ate Chicken Parmesan

 

Enough of chicken.  How’s about some dessert?

Another definition of Foodie:  A dumbed-down term used by corporate marketing forces to infantilize and increase consumerism in an increasingly simple-minded American magazine reading audience. The addition of the long “e” sound on the end of a common word is used to create the sensation of being part of a group in isolationist urban society, while also feminizing the term to subconsciously foster submission to ever-present market sources.

 

Hahaha…a little cynical, don’t you think?  My husband is the true foodie (first definition) in our house.  See his adventures here:  We Call Him Yes!Chef!

 

 

 

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San Francisco: City by the Bay

There are many beautiful cities in this wonderful world of ours that I have never seen and would love to see.  But, there is something a bit magical about the City by the Bay:  San Francisco.

I’m a Northern California girl, born and bred.  My family has been in Northern California for 5 generations.  Many people say they are natives of California when they have only been here 20 years.  I scoff at their silliness.  I have deep roots here and it would be difficult for me to leave this state even though it is not so Golden anymore.  But, I do not want to dwell on the negatives today.  Today I want to talk about our visit to the Beautiful City last weekend

My Photographer Buddies: The Photograteers

I have spoken about my photog buddies in prior posts.  I call us the Photograteers (ala Muskateers:  All For One and One For All!).  The rest of them call us The Flashers. (I secretly think they use that term because they can’t pronounce Photograteers.)  Anyway, we get together every year in February and go on a photography adventure for a day.  Last year we went to Bodega Bay and the year before we went to Napa.  We get together other times to shoot together, but our February trip is something we look forward to all year.

This year we headed to San Fran and concentrated mostly on The Golden Gate Bridge:  a true icon of the United States.

The first place we hit was Baker Beach, which is the ocean side of of the Golden Gate rather than the Bay side.  I had never been to Baker Beach before, even though I have lived in San Francisco before.  I must say that our nickname, The Flashers, came to mind as we drove up to the beach and one of the Photograteers said, “Karen, you know what Baker Beach is famous for, don’t you?”  I naively said, “An iconic view of the Golden Gate Bridge that many portrait, family and wedding photographers have used for years?”

They all laughed.

“No.  It’s a nude friendly beach.”

Uh, oh.  I am a modest person, by nature, and I didn’t want to see a bunch of nude people, but my sense of adventure overcame my desire not to see nude men propelled me to grab my tripod and trudge down the beach with the rest of the “Teers”.  All for one and all that.

?

The view from Baker Beach

Wide Angle view of Baker Beach with dog and no nudes

It is a beautiful beach and a great view, as soon as the tripods went down, the nude men came out and parading their naked bodies in the surf in front of the rocks so it was impossible to take a picture without at least one nudie-not-so-cutie in the shot.  Luckily, it was February, so there weren’t many of these guys.  But, two of them were quite insistent.  Even when the family with little children showed up, they were trying to be in every single picture that this family took.  I was able to photoshop out these “charming” men without too much trouble.

After this adventure, we headed over to another place on the South/East side of the bridge.  I had also, never been to this location.

The Photograteers checking out the view

View from the South Tower

It was the middle of the day, so the light was not the best, but it was still a beautiful view.

 

Under the Bridge

After that, we crossed the bridge and headed over to Sausalito, a charming little Marin County town.  It was a three day weekend and the weather was beautiful, so the crowds were out.  We wandered around there for a while and then we went down to Fort Baker to shoot the bridge and The City from Bay level.

 

Now you know what’s under the bridge

As it was starting to get a little late and the sun was settling down to provide some great light, we headed over to the Marin Headlands to shoot the bridge as the sun went down.

There were lots and lots of tourists trying to do the same thing we were trying to do and so finding a parking place was a challenge. We got lucky several times and tried several different places.

Pacific Ocean view of The GG Bridge and San Francisco

Another spot, another view

We finally got to the place that we wanted and because the sun was beginning to get lower in the sky, it was a bit chilly and many of the tourists were not so interested in seeing the view.  We waited for a parking place and we were rewarded!  We hiked up to the peak of the viewing area, planted our tripods and waited for the “good” light.

And we were rewarded.

The fog rolls in

Zoom in on The City thru the Bridge Cables

The Bay and a tanker

As the afternoon stretched toward evening the light on the bridge and on the city just got better and better.  We were all glad that we brought jackets and gloves, though.

Color begins to appear in the sky

And when the sun set, the lights came on.

We decided to finish up our adventure back at Fort Baker where we could get some night shots.

Farewell to the Bridge.  I’m sure we will return to see more of what San Francisco has to offer the Photograteers.

 

You can find some of these prints for sale here:  Prints for Sale

 

 

 

 

 

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  • February 24, 2013 - 8:35 pm

    photowannabe - Beautiful series and the copy is so well written.
    I am getting antsy to make a trip there myself.

  • February 25, 2013 - 9:05 am

    Karen Schmautz - Thank you. I am ready to go back.

Still Life in Fort Ross
Best of Show: Black and White

Last night was my camera club’s print competition.  I love to go to these print competitions because we have open judging by different photographers around the area.  Their viewpoints are always interesting to me.  I usually enter several prints because it’s a growth experience.  I hadn’t entered any last year for one reason or another, but this time I entered 6 prints.  The one above was awarded First Place in the Black and White Open Category Division.  It wasn’t much of a win because there were no other entries into this category.  However, it did go on to win Best of Show, Black and White Division.  That made me happy.

I also took Two First Places in the Portrait Category.

First Place
Black and White Portrait

I took a First with the above photo in the Black and White Category.  I love this photo and I’m hoping to do more 1940’s retro style photography this year.

First Place
Color Portrait Category

I also took a First with the above photo of one of my favorite subjects:  Krista.

Finally, I took a First in the Color:  Nature category.  This is a surprise to me because landscape is not my strong point.

First Place
Color: Nature

This photo was taken at Taylor Creek in South Lake Tahoe in October during the Scott Kelby Worldwide Walk that I participated in with two of my photography friends.  I like this shot because it looks like a Fairyland.  The judge apparently liked it also.

The Bridesmaids

I entered this one under the category of Black and White:  Events.  It was the only entry.  I do love this photo, though.  It is from a wedding I did last fall.  As you can see, the wedding party was a party.  They were great fun and it is one of the best weddings I have ever shot.

I might just participate in the competition again in May.  It is nerve wracking because it’s open judging (meaning the judge comments on the photo…how it can be improved, the good points and the bad).  But, I always learn from it.

 

 

 

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  • February 22, 2013 - 6:27 pm

    wedding photography high wycombe - Simple but very meaningful..Nice Shoot

  • February 23, 2013 - 9:50 am

    photowannabe - Thanks for showing all your winners.
    I have to agree with the judges, A#1 choices.
    I love the “Fairyland” shot and think I took one in the same spot. I like yours better. (:0)
    Sue

  • February 24, 2013 - 7:38 am

    Karen Schmautz - Thank you very much, Sue. I’m hoping that more people will submit entries next competition (in May) so that I can really test the entries for the County Fair coming up in June.

  • February 24, 2013 - 7:38 am

    Karen Schmautz - Thank you.

Leap of Faith

I had the opportunity to photograph some very talented people at a very unique place.

Leap thru time

The place is called the Free Flow Academy of Hybrid Arts and it is located in Roseville, CA.  I knew very little about Free Flow or Parkour when this opportunity arose, but boy did I learn quickly.

I think these kids could either fly or they had springs in their legs.

When these young people weren’t flying around, jumping around and leaping around, they were also learning fighting skills and dancing skills.  We also got some great photos with a little bit of photography magic.

The costumes just added to the ambiance of the place.

And, of course there were a few gorgeous and very fit women.

All in all, it was a very good day.

If you would like your portrait taken, or if you have an event that you would like to have photographed, please contact me at schmautzhaus@sbcglobal.net.  I will be glad to speak to you about it.

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Vintage

A friend of mine invited me to share some studio time with him at a wonderful studio in Placer county. I had never worked in a studio before (although I do have a very small studio in my home.)  This studio had several different backgrounds, and backdrops, cool chairs and a bunch of other fun things.  We had a great time and I got a chance to practice some lighting techniques.  I’ve always been fascinated with Hollywood portraits and Hollywood lighting.  It was hecka fun and I would love to try it again.

Vintage with a chair

The above model, Krista, is so professional and easy to work with.  I’ve been shooting her for several years now and it is so wonderful to watch her blossom into such a lovely young woman.  Here are a few more of her during this session.

 

Isn’t she just gorgeous?

She also brought her young cousin with her, a darling young gal.  I used her a couple of times as a stand-in while the other models were getting ready.

Definitely has a future as a model

The other model, Mckenzie, has been modeling for a couple of years and I’ve been shooting her since she first started.  She is easy, fun and gorgeous.  Here’s some of the photos I took of her:

Cast

 

White backdrop with lots of lights and a fan

Black and White and Moody

And finally, a great shot of her with a little movement.

I had a great time and I can’t wait to do it again.

If you would like some “studio” portraits, give me a call.  I do have a studio that works well with one or two people and I love to play with lights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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