Quick Stroll through Georgetown

Had another APA/DC event to attend recently, this time in Georgetown. I arrived a hour early to deal with parking and have a nice pre-event stroll. As usual, I took way to many photos of random things but there's so much good stuff around if you just look and allow yourself to see. Besides, it keeps my brain busy and at least makes me feel like I'm being creative and productive. here's a few. (click images to see larger)

Pot of Gold

The passing of my Father from this Earth hit me a little harder than expected. I have been Walking the Earth but with my head down low. I planned to take a break from all things work related until July to get my head screwed back on straight. Some time has passed now and I am feeling my obsessive creative urge return, gurgling up inside me (either that or it's the contaminated water I drank Tuesday).Yesterday we had a freakish sudden cloudburst, but it was sunny and beautiful. Three minutes of intense hard rain in the bright sunshine. A perfect arc rainbow stretched accross my entire side yard and right over my truck. I searched for the Pot of Gold thinking perhaps one was left so I might buy a tank of gas and go to the beach. But, I realize the Pot of Gold exists right inside my head as I Walk the Earth as illustrated in this quote from a previous post.

"If, by some strange convergence of the force, you have been able to combine your creative talents with a level of business acumen necessary to sustain it, do not forget about that creativity. That tap is a well from which you can always draw. Yet, to leave those well waters stagnant, is to neglect your sustaining abilities. The more you draw from that well, the more clear, and refreshing it will be. If you neglect to think yourself, and use other people's ideas for great imagery, giving them utterance only, you will fall far short of your own abilities, and what you are capable of."
~adapted from George Augustus Sala (1828 - 1895), Journalist

Also, thanks to Mark Ippolito with Digital Railroad for again featuring me in their Blog. View Blog here. I greatly appreciate his insight and understanding in that my work should be constantly blatantly promoted to achieve complete and total world domination.

See you in July!

The Joy of Cooking

Well, it's been to long since I checked in here, and with good reason. A week ago Monday we had to take my Father to the hospital for complications due to his chemotherapy. I'm not sure if anything sucks your soul dry as sitting in a hospital room all day for 9 days. I am in serious need of getting my groove back on.

Two activities I love in life, photography and cooking. I haven't done either in almost two weeks. In a perfect world for me I would make images all day while they are aggressively marketed, distributed and licensed worldwide, then make dinner for my family. I love to cook, I really do, it makes me happy and yesterday I needed to be happy. Also, I just happened to get a call from my friend, the ever delightful and fabulous Renee Comet, an outstanding food photographer. I told her how I felt, haven't been working, ect, was going to cook dinner and she suggested I cook, photograph the results and put it on my blog. I instantly felt better, I now had purpose and motivation. Thanks Renee! (btw- Renee we had no budget for props, food stylist or assistants on this shoot, it's just the plate of food by the kitchen window)

I decided to try Roasted Mahi-Mahi w/Fennel, Olives, and Oranges. Wanting some fennel is what inspired choosing this dish (and Mahi-Mahi was on sale at Safeway). If you've never cooked with fresh fennel (the bulb, not the seed) it's wonderful. Also read of it's medicinal properties here. Now I never follow a recipe exactly, what fun would that be, so I did a few thing differently than the recipe above. One thing I decided was to not bake the fish, I prefer mine with a little pan roasted searing action and brought into play my beloved Sauteuse my Mom gave me for Christmas. I decided to add a little wine while roasting the fennel to ratchet up the sweetness but more importantly to give me an excuse to run out to the liquor store (Honey, I need one of those really big bottles of wine for this recipe). I chose a playful Mouton Cadet Bordeaux, an amusing little wine, a tad bold yet refreshingly unpretentious. 1 cup into the pan while roasting, remaining liter straight down your gullet. Even though this dish has a Mediterranean flair I thought I'd try including popovers. If you like popovers, and who doesn't, here's a pretty simple recipe for Easy Ethereal Popovers . I grated some fresh Parmesan to sprinkle on top before baking but that's just how we roll up in here.

Cooking for me is great therapy. Like photography I am creating something I enjoy, another form of creative self expression. These are important things to have in anyone's life. When you don't have them, or are missing them, you realize how important they are. Without them I would dry up into an empty lifeless husk and blow away.

Roasted Mahi-Mahi w/Fennel, Olives, and Oranges

Happy Leap Year

Just got back from a shoot in Wisconsin. Yes, I know it's February. The shoot was a corporate gig, on location headshots of execs. Good job, great people, but unfortunately didn't have an opportunity to shoot anything creative on my own that I would share here.

I will however share something I bookmarked long ago and just this morning re-read. It's a bit long but definitely worth skimming through. I think it's brilliant and can relate to many points outlined. GapingVoid: How to be Creative

For me personally, February is the toughest month to keep the creative fire burning. I am ready for Spring, everything is fresh and reborn, anything is possible. I am the caterpillar, transmorphing in the chrysalis ready to emerge as a thing of wonder and beauty.

Happy Leap Year!