A few months ago, I met Mimi and Ron in Germany and we hit it off immediately. After a great weekend full of great food, laughs, and volleyball, I knew that we would be great friends. Throughout that weekend, we found things in common, for instance, our husbands love to eat huge chunks of beef and are on a worldwide search for the best one! Fast forward to June when Mimi contacted me for a photo shoot. When I asked the standard question, “Have you thought about a photo shoot location or do you need recommendations?” She replied, “I’ve thought of something a bit unusual that I’d like to run past you.” Well, nothing gets my imagination going like that and I couldn’t wait to hear her ideas.
As it turns out, she wanted to do a shoot in Tuscany. How can I turn down a trip to Tuscany? Of course, Steve was willing to carry my gear with the promise of a large steak from his favorite meat restaurant in Italy, Osteria Acquacheta in Montepulciano. Add in another great family (blog post coming soon), and we had a wonderful weekend planned. It took until September to get everyone together. I arrived in Tuscany with a list of five locations in my head (two locations for each family) and spent Friday afternoon alternately shopping at mercatini (Italian thrift stores) and checking the light at each location so I could plan out the shoots. After sitting down with a notebook and scheduling the shoots out, the other families arrived, we had dinner, lots of wine, and agreed for a sunrise shoot the next morning at Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta in Pienza. With amazing light, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the morning. I cut the shoot short to not overwhelm the men and children since we had four more locations to hit before heading home.
Heading back to the agriturismo, everyone was ready for a great breakfast and then off for a day of exploring, photographing, and eating meat. Unfortunately, a call came in that both Ron and Paul (from the upcoming blog post) needed to return home immediately for a work emergency. After an emotional half hour, the Aquinos and Paul left, and it was the responsibility of the Langs and Williams’ to finish the day of drinking wine and eating meat (with a bit of photography thrown in when no one was looking).
The next weekend, the Aquinos finished their photo shoot in a (very foggy) Soave. We found a gorgeous vineyard with the largest grapes I’ve ever seen (we must have caught them just hours before harvest) and a lovely shoot at Soave castle. The photos turned out beautifully and I couldn’t be more pleased! Thanks, Mimi, for such a great idea and taking us on a lovely weekend that unfortunately, you could not enjoy!
