This isn’t the Usual Austin festival.  It’s not like ACL or SXSW where tens of thousands of people gather for music or technology, no La Dolce Vita, translates from Italian to mean The Good Life, and indeed, this little soiree, is indeed all about the good life.

There are 50+ booths with food from local restaurants (scroll to the bottom of this post to see some participating restaurants), wines from all over Texas, live Music, and even Vespas and art.  The Mansion at Laguna Gloria makes the perfect backdrop.  Of course I got there a bit early, as I know the perfect time to take pictures of food is immediately before all the guests arrive.  The different restaurants have all their booths set-up, and food ready, and are just waiting for the gates to open.  So I take this anticipation time to run around with my little Leica, and snap some photos of everyone.

Feel free to download and share these pics and slideshow, too!  Contact me for instructions if you can’t figure it out.

Participating Restaurants at La Dolce Vita 2009

34th Street Cafe at Laguna Gloria
34th Street Catering of Austin
A Taste of Italy in Austin
Andiamo Ristorante
Annie’s Cafe & Bar
Austin Cake Ball
Bess Bistro
Cannoli Joe’s
Cool River Cafe
Cover 3
Creative Creations
Cuatros Bar and Grill
Cuba Libre
Delysia Chocolatier
Driskill Grill
East Side Show Room
Eddie V’s
Fork in the Road
Hey Cupcake!
Highball
Imperia
Jasper’s
J. Black’s Feel Good Lounge
Judge’s Hill Restaurant
L’s Cupcake Cafe
La Condesa
La Traviata
Lamberts Downtown Barbecue
Malaga Tapas and Bar
Maudie’s Tex Mex
Max’s Wine Dive
Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill
NoRTH Modern Italian Cuisine
Parkside
Perla’s Seafood and Oyster Bar
Piranha Killer Sushi
Primizie Osteria
Ranch 616
Renee’s Catering & Events
Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Restaurant
Sao Paulo’s Restaurante
Satay Restaurant
Steiner Ranch Steakhouse
Sterling Affairs Catering
Stories Fine Dining Establishment
Sullivan’s Steakhouse
SWB Restaurant
Sweet Leaf Tea
Tacodeli
Taj Palace Indian Restaurant
Texas Coffee Traders
The Carillon Restaurant
The Hub
The Melting Pot
The Roaring Fork
Trattoria Lisina
Truluck’s Seafood, Steak and Crab House
Whole Foods Market Culinary Center Catering
Word of Mouth Catering

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The bride found me on the internet, and until the wedding day, we had never met in person.  All the wedding planning was done via email and telephone.  Since this was a small wedding, the couple only wanted hourly coverage, and hired me to use my Nikon Digital Cameras.   Of course I arrived a bit early to check out the place, see what had changed, and take some detail shots.

But while I was there I also decided to try a little experiment – I loaded up my Leica M4-P with a single roll of Fuji 400 Pro H film, and decided to document the entire wedding with a single roll of film.  That’s right I had to get 36 great shots that would tell the story of the entire wedding.  Since I was using film, and a camera so old it doesn’t have any batteries, I had to rely on my timing, and light meter to ensure I got each shot perfect.  There would be no going back, and no chimping (checking the back of the camera to see if I got the shot).

I carried my digital camera on one shoulder and my Leica wedding camera on the other.  When I saw a great moment, a moment worthy of film, I snapped a quick shot.  I wanted to get both great shots of the people, but also incorporate in some of the landscaping and architecture of Villa Antonia.  Couples getting married have lots of choices in wedding venues, and when they choose one, I try to get as many wedding photos as possible incorporating the details they selected.  This means finding great angles that show the place, as well as the couple.

Are you interested in some of the wedding details?  Of course you are!!  The couple wanted a small affordable wedding – an intimate wedding – a classy wedding.  Simple blue hydrangeas were used as the flowers on the tables.  There was a stone ceremony, as well as a sign in table where guests wrote well wishes to the couple on cards.  And my favorite part was of course the gelato bar.

This was a small saturday wedding – around 5o or so guests, mostly family, but a few close friends were in attendance.  The wedding was in the morning, and although it was a bit cold, and the skies were a little overcast, everything was absolutely beautiful.  You see, the best light for weddings is overcast light.  Your skin won’t ever look any better, I swear!

Of course there are hundreds more pictures in their private gallery.  These are just a few of my favorite from my little experiment.

Formal Portraits are quick and easy.

Group Wedding Photos - I'll even pose the gorup for other people with cameras. I'm not the kind of photogrpaher that prevents others from taking photos.

Here's the happy couple at Villa Antonia

A quick pre-wedding bridal portrait at Villa Antonia

Decorations at Villa Antonia - Blue Hydrangeas on a beautiful table -

Weddings at Villa Antonia

One of my favorite times for wedding pictures is when the bride approaches the ceremony - There are so many great emotions happening.

The old family bible was used during the ceremony. I wonder how many weddings it has been to.

The bride saying her vows during the wedding ceremony.

Formal Wedding Photos in Austin - Group wedding Pictures

The official wedding picture of the couple

Pictures of the first dance at the wedding

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Kodak 400 TX with my Leica M4-P

Sometimes you just don't want to say cheese.

My nephews

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Thanks guys for a great night, amazing food, and good company.

Oh yeah, if you are in need of some catering, check out their website, and give them a call. They have worked a ton of weddings, catered a bunch of private events, and know what to do.

Chalkboard with ingredients

Grating white chocolate into a soup

Was this one of the best soups I've ever had? You bet it was. A Celery Root and White Chocolate Soup (White Chocolate has a lot of fat and is great in soups)

The next course was a Pan seared scallops - I didn't eat them as I am a vegetarian, but my wife said they were amazing!

If you really know me, you know I love pasta. This Oricchetti with Parsley Root and Carrot in White Wine Cream Sauce, was divine.

Dan made me a special plate of this without the duck. He even went the extra mile and used vegetable broth for the base of the polenta and greens.

mmm mmmm good

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But then things changed.

We all know Central Texas has some strange weather, because as soon as Fall arrived  the rains came – 5 inches in a day.  It’s a real yo-yo weather pattern.  But since fall is now here, it’s time to plant those spring bulbs.  I’m not really sure if Tulips will grow in Austin, so I didn’t invest much effort or money just in case.

While at Costco the other day, I saw these bags of 50 tulip bulbs for like 15 bucks.  So I picked up a couple of bags.  I knew just the right spot, against the back fence where there is a lot of morning light.

Each bag had 2 tulip varieties – the first contained Red Riding Hood and Mary Ann.  These are early spring bloomers – that are a great red and pink color.  The other bag contained Syaeda Amor and Hauran varities – purple bulbs that bloom in mid spring.  I planted them  arranged in a big row with the taller ones in the back (I think). I’m sure I could have done more to prepare the beds like add some amendments or fertilizer or something, but I’ll add some top-dressing mulch which should do the job.

But first I started by planting some Blue Lobelia to use as a border between the turf grass and the planting bed.  I’m not a fan of pre-made borders – you know the metal lawn edging, or bender board.  I’ve spent hours looking for a modern lawn edging, with no success.  I thought about pouring a concrete border, but that was too permanent for me (and expensive), so I decided to go natural, and let the plants define their spaces.  Later in the year, we’re planning on putting in some decomposed granite and flagstone, to define the spaces a little more, but until then this flat of low growing blue flowering groundcover will work just fine.

All in all it took a couple of hours – I needed to prep the bed a bit and pull out some weeds, then lay out the Lobelia at regular intervals. Once the small holes were dug, it didn’t take long to finish the border ground cover. Then I carefully laid out the bulbs, and put each in it’s own spot, covering them over with the recommended 6-8 inches of soil.

Now I have to grab a couple of bags of mulch to cover over the beds.

Of course the hardest part, besides the waiting until spring, will be to keep Riley out.

I got a flat of Blue Lobelia to use as a lawn border - I hope its not too late in the season to plant them successfully

While picking up AA batteries the other day from Costco, for my wedding photo biz I saw these bags of bulbs - I decided to pick up a couple an plant them - if they bloom this spring, I'll be amazed.

Tulip bulbs from Costco are arranged for height, color, and blooming cycle. Notice the Rain lilies going to seed in the foreground.

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How does this help you with your wedding budget?  Easy.  I charge for my services based on your wedding size.  This isn’t like every other photographer in the area.  They charge based on time – 5, or 8 hours of coverage.  I’ve been to enough weddings to know that that model doesn’t work.  Not if you want a fun, relaxed wedding.  Trying to capture all the important moments in a 7 hour timeframe causes you to rush around making sure everything is on schedule, and that makes for horrible photos.

So to make your wedding more relaxed, I do things differently.  Every single bride and groom gets the best service before, during, and after the wedding.  What does this mean, exactly?  Let me tell you.  You get:

• All day coverage (unlimited hours)
• A CD with the full size digital images (I’ve got my own wedding pictures, these are yours)
• a gallery on-line for 3-months to share your wedding photos with friends and family who couldn’t attend (and the ability for them to download copies for themselves)
• at least 1 additional experienced photographer (2nd shooter)
• an engagement session
• a bridal session
• prints to display at the wedding (at the sign-in table, or gift table, or whatever)

All for one reasonable cost based on your wedding size.  You see, if you are having a small wedding (under 150 guests), I don’t have to work as hard as if you were having a large wedding.  To me this just makes sense.

There is even a package for the something in-between weddings that includes all the same stuff.

And if you are having a very small wedding, with only a few guests, lasting only  couple of hours, I offer hourly wedding photography in Austin.  Just send me an email and I’ll tell you all about it.

I also travel for weddings.  Quite a bit, actually.  Since I live in Austin, and I don’t advertise, my rates are lower than a lot of big city professional wedding photographers.   You can fly me in for the weekend, and still save money on your wedding photography.  As long as I am in your city, I’ll be working for you, covering rehearsals, weddings, and post wedding brunches.  The same thing goes for  destination weddings, too.

So if you are looking for a local wedding photographer or a destination wedding photographer, just send me an email with your location and date, and I’ll send my rate card right over.

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So the very first thing I did was head over to my laptop, and Googled Austin Stage 3 water restrictions. Nothing. Nada. Zip, Zero, Zilch. This is probably the same response you got, and the reason you are visiting my page. But don’t fear, I’m on a mission to find out what Stage 3 restrictions means.

So I called 311, the city non-emergency and question hotline, and asked the operator. Who had no idea of course.

Then I surfed over to the website of the local paper, and I was able to find this article: Tougher water rules on way? LCRA reviewing drought plan.

Let me summarize what the new restrictions will be:

Watering your lawn less

Is this for real?  There are so many other ways to conserve water.  Now is the time to enact rules for our future that ensure water conservation, and make sure future generations have enough H2O to drink, cook, and bathe with.  I’m thinking of things like mandating tankless water heaters for all new construction, requiring drip irrigation for all new commercial landscape projects, and adding a tax to all sales of water bottles (did you know it takes approximately 6 times the amount of water inside the bottle to manufacture and transport the bottle? Here’s the source to how much water it takes to produce a bottle of water).

According to the LCRA, 2009 is the most severe draught on record since the 1950’s. Stage 2 water restrictions call for a 35% cut of use, and stage 3 will add an additional 10% – resulting in a 45% reduction in water use over regular levels.

Of course I’ll add more things to this list as I learn more.

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I’ve got a row of these little books on my desk – some are red (calendars), some are green (gardening journals), and some are black (travel and photo journals).   I always have a regular size (5×3½) moleskin notebook when I go out, and when I travel to a major city for a destination wedding or personal travel, I am sure to add that specific journal as well.

I’ve found it’s a great way to organize my thoughts and experiences.  Each black book has street and subway maps (so you don’t get too lost), sections for restaurants, hotels and attractions, a little pocket in the back for ticket stubs and small paper souveniers, and of course lots of blank pages for sketches and travel notes.

Instead of starting a new one every time I travel, I simply grab one of my existing journals and add to it.  That way I have all my previous notes at my fingertips and can visit my favorites, or recount some stories to my travel buddies over a pint.

At first I would only journal my daily chronologies – what I had for lunch, where I was staying, and so on.  But over time, I began to incorporate more feelings, and ideas – and even more slowly a bit of my style, and art began to emerge in my writings.  Of course I’m nowhere as good as this guy, some of these architects (in Italian), or these artists, but maybe someday someone will look at my ramblings….

Right now, my collection includes journals for Roma (Rome), London, San Francisco, Barcelona, Venezia (Venice), Firenze (Florence), Paris(my paris notebook is now a 2-volume set)  London, Madrid, and a few others.  Moleskin makes journals for most major international cities, and a quick search of Amazon.com for Moleskine City Guides yields all the results.

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Map of Austin Wedding Venues (you can drag, zoom and click on the markers for more info)

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