One of our favorite places to visit on the weekends is this little place above Santa Barbara called Cold Spring Tavern.  It’s famous for being an old stopping point for the WellsFargo stage coaches.  It has been maintained as a Tavern to this day and is an awesome watering hole for bikers and locals alike.  It’s beautifully tucked away off highway 154.  Cold Spring Tavern

When I sit down with my clients I guide them through the whole process.  I am in my clients home so I can see their style and space so I can make suggestions on how best to display their images.  And I know how hard it can be.  I’m still trying to decorate my walls after moving into our house.  It’s not easy!

Here are some recent client installations I did and why I made those suggestions.  Hopefully it will give you a little inspiration on how you want your images to be displayed.  And just a side note; pictures are for viewing and not for taking up one’s and zero’s on your hard drive.  If you have invested in a portrait session don’t just let the digital negatives sit lifeless on a hard drive.  PLEASE!!

We went with a 20×30 canvas over their fireplace mantel.  Notice that it is a far away image and it so it lends itself to a large print.  We measured the width of the space which was about 60 inches.  The rule of thumb I use is make the final size no less than 50% of the wall space.  Otherwise it just doesn’t look balanced and the wall could over take the image.  Here it looks perfectly balanced and the spot light really sets it off!

This display was for the casual  family room. I love the way these images balance each other with the somewhat casual family grouping and close ups of each individual.  The colors work really well in this room too.  And again it fits my rule of no less than 50% of the wall space.  It fits perfect in that space!

We also went with a more formal family grouping in the formal living room.  It’s a big wall space so we went with a 20×30 framed and matted which made the final size about 28×38.  It looks a little like it’s just floating on the wall right now because they haven’t installed the fireplace mantel yet but I left enough space for it and then it will look balanced on the wall.   And Yes I install all of my clients work for them!!

Wall Displays don’t always have to be big.  Here is one I installed in my office.  These are a series of 8×12′s mounted on standouts.  It’s just the right amount of space for my limited wall space and I think it looks Awesome myself.  I seem to have a lot of images of my son with his shirt off and he hates its!! LOL!

Then on the adjoining corner in my office there is a small corner where I put a framed and matted 8×10 which final size made it about 11×17.  It fits in the corner just right and I just love that image.  He was 3. …ahh… my sweet boy.

And maybe you’re style is just not to have large family images in your home.  What do you do then?  In the next post I will talk about photo albums and what to look for and what to ask for!

Since so many families lost everything including their family photos they formed this group of volunteer photographers to give families new portraits.  I found it so compelling to be able to provide these families with photos to begin putting their lives together.  Many are shy in front of the camera and these photographers are helping to bring smiles to their faces.  I especially like the experience of photographer Brian who helped bring a smile to one woman’s face:   “At the moment that we took the photo they all burst into laughter because of something silly probably that I said,” he said. “And the woman saw her photo … and she started crying. I’m almost crying just thinking about it. And she said I didn’t think I would be able to see myself smile again.”

This story speaks to me because I’ve always felt that family photos are so valuable.  They help tell our history and help connect us to each other.  These victims in Japan lost so much but what a valuable gift to help build their family history again.

You can check out the story here.

Story of Tsunami victims and group of volunteer photographers

And of course to top it all off we got a puppy!  Introducing Dasher!  We found him from Doggie911 Rescue.

He’s a Terrier mix and I’m sure there is Jack Russell in him!  He’s energetic and very sweet.  He’s a best bud to my son who can’t get enough of him.  Isn’t he cute! :)

Okay, enough about me! I can’t wait to share the great clients I have able to work with and fun stuff coming up!  I’ll be BACK!

We enjoyed another great meeting for the local CCLA girls.  We were treated to a great event put on by Anthropologie in Thousand Oaks.  We enjoyed finger food, gelato, sangria… so good ;)

I was privileged to be one of the featured vendors for Creative Connection USA along with Jamie Long, Graphic designer who you can see made the most adorable name tags.  I’m keeping mine because I love it!  And Crystal Sanford of Recycled Love Story, Floral design.  Then of course there is the wonderful organizer of the event Emilee Hegg of  Tasteful Tatters who made the whole thing come together.  Thanks for a lovely night!

Thought I would share this sneak peek of a family portrait session at Mandalay Beach in Oxnard.

It was photographed on Fujicolor Pro 400H 35mm and Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lens

Processed at Richard Photo Lab

What a doll! and nice family too!  I enjoyed spending time with the family and grandparents to create a family session in and around their home.  Why is photographing your child in your home so much better?  You know as well as I do that little ones don’t have much of an attention span and don’t like to be told what to do.  So when posing is not going to happen or teething takes over we have time to take a break and regroup until your little one is happy. Things don’t always go as planned with little ones but being in the home makes it easier to be versatile and adapt.

If you are interested in photographing your child or family at your home and decorating your home with photographic art call or email to setup a consultation.  I would love to meet you!  (818) 585-1621 contact[at]imagesbydesiree.com

But I have been working on a recipe to try to get my son to eat Quinoa.  I could gobble up a whole pot of this stuff myself but I thought that if I fry them and make them crispy that it might be a winner.  Well so far I succeeded in winning over hubby but picky son is still out.  The first green thing he saw he was done.  :(   I omitted said green thing the next time but he decided he was still out on the “Q” bites. You have to know my son to understand.  I know I’m not the only one out there with a picky kid but I’m cursed with a genetically picky kid (paternal side of course).  Throw in an acute sense of stubbornness and I have my work cut out for me.  But I love this recipe nonetheless.  It just so happens that all my pantry items were from Trader Joe’s (surprise, surprise!)  So it’s a one stop shop if you want to try it yourself.

Cook the Quinoa according to package except instead of water use vegetable stock – takes 15 minutes.  Oh and about 5 minutes before the cooking time is over throw in about two table spoons of jar tomato sauce  for even more flavor. If you can sneak in more vegetables then this is the time.  Be careful not to create too much water, the consistency is important here.  (okay so not exactly according to package)

It should be beautifully fluffy and delicious right here.  Feel free to gobble up a few spoon fulls I can just eat the whole thing at this point but oh wait there’s more!  As it is cooling add a generous handful of shredded mozzarella cheese.  It adds sticky glue which you’ll need and a touch of saltiness without too much moisture.  At this point you can let it cool before you being to handle it and form the patties.

Yum! already!

When you’re ready to start forming the patties add about 1/3 or so cup of Parmesan cheese, one egg and one slice multigrain brown rice bread if you’re keeping it wheat free (woot!)

So here’s a tip on the rice bread.  I keep it in the freezer.  Then I take out a slice and let it come to room temperature or toast it it remove some moisture.  Then I put it in a food processor and instant bread crumbs!

When it’s all mixed this is the consistency you’re looking for.  You should be able to make one clump that holds together.  If not, add another slice of bread or bread crumbs or another egg. Then form into little bite size pieces.  I learned that if you form the pieces with wet hands it’s easier.   I lined a dish with wax paper to place all the pieces.  Then I put them in the refrigerator until I was ready to fry them up.  Since they don’t need to cook all the way through it’s fine to fry them cold.  I just used about an inch of vegetable oil in a skillet and fried them about 2 minutes on each side until they look crispy and hold together.  Place them on a paper towel to drain And Voila!   And a sprinkle of Salt and Pepper to finish them off.

And I cannot resist this Cilantro and Chive Yogurt Dip and once more with the adorable Frog cheese spreader ;)

Tadda!!

[Caught on Fujicolor pro 400H]

[Processed at Richard Photo Lab]