Beyond my photography, I love food and wine.  Occasionally I am lucky enough that other people want to hear what I have to say or look at my photos in magazines.  Over the years I’ve gotten some lovely opportunities to share both.  This summer I am featured in Publix Grape Magazine for my story about wine.  If you aren’t familiar with Publix, let me share with you, it’s a lovely supermarket chain in the southern part of the United States.  Definitely one of my favorite places (even before they decided they like me as well) with a huge wine selection and lovely shelves of food.  I’m not sure if it is still the case, but their logo used to be “Where Shopping is a Pleasure” and it always has been.

If, by chance, you live where there is a Publix and can pick me up a copy of this magazine, I would pay for shipping.  Unfortunately, though shopping is still a pleasure here in Italy, there is no Publix here.  Steve, my gorgeous husband, now thinks he is super famous and wants a copy of this article.

Cristal and Christopher embody romance.  They met and fell in love in Italy (what could be more romantic than that?) and dated only a month before he left for seven months.  When Christopher returned, he proposed.  I adore photographing young couples and these two were as easygoing and sweet as could be.  After days of rain, it finally cleared up on the evening of their shoot.  Just before leaving the house, I stored my umbrellas away.  The sun was shining as I drove to Monte Berico and we had a glorious 5 minutes of shooting (just 11 frames) before there were a couple of raindrops.  Since I could see blue sky, I told them that we would keep going.  Two minutes later we were amid a torrential downpour.

Hunkered in the church door we waited for it to stop.  After ten minutes, I made a run for the car and we drove the mile back to my house to pick up umbrellas.  Poor Christopher was shoved in the back of the car with tripods, studio lights, and backgrounds (in preparation for a shoot the next day at the Art Center), and of course, by the time we returned to Monte Berico it had stopped raining.  We still had some fun with the umbrellas and they were great sports.  All the best, Cristal and Christopher on your upcoming wedding!

Often I get a photo shoot scheduled a few months in advance, but Nahomi took it to a whole new level booking her Saturday in Venice over six months early!  I thought, “This is a girl who knows exactly what she wants.” And she is!  Nahomi and I spent some time together before the shoot, but I didn’t meet Will until the day of the shoot in Venice.  What an adorable, well-dressed couple!  I had such a great evening with them in Venice as we wandered about in the gorgeous Italian sunshine.  The fact that Nahomi and Will are happy with their photos makes me so excited.  There was such pressure on me since they’ve been planning this day for so many months!  I really enjoyed meeting you both, Easthams and thanks for allowing me the honor of capturing some of your Italian memories.

In a gorgeous city such as Vicenza, it’s so wonderful to meet people who appreciate the history and architecture of Italy.  For an architecture buff such as José, it must be a dream come true to live in a city with so many Palladian masterpieces.  What a wonderful morning with the Cepedas wandering around Villa Capra (also known as la Rotunda) and Villa Valmarana.  Despite the numerous tourists out on such an unseasonably warm day, we were able to capture some great shots.  Gié’s adorable and so well spoken for such a young girl.  What a great day and I so enjoyed meeting all three of the Cepedas.

Another sad goodbye to great friends.  I met the Marshalls last June when I shot Jackson’s six month photos in Soave.  Just weeks later we spent a great weekend in Pamplona together.  As the months went by, we spent more together and today I call them close friends.  I am so honored that they allowed me to be a part of their lives as I photographed Jackson’s one year photos and Easter photos during the Easter mini shoot.  Even as Jonathan’s sister and fiancé came to visit, I had the pleasure and joy of photographing Sarabeth and Karson’s engagement photos in Venice.  That’s a year full of memories and lots of photos.  I feel so lucky to have met them and to call Sara and Jonathan friends.  And little Jackson will always be my special buddy, even when he isn’t little anymore.

So, in May, we did a final photo shoot of the little Marshall family in Venice before they move to Florida.  Though I know their friends and family in the States will be so happy to have them closer to Dallas (and happy to visit them in their lovely beach home), we’ll miss them.  And my little dog Siggy will miss his little friend Sherman terribly.  Good luck, Marshalls!