Some recent work. . .

Orange Fizz. . .
Nectarine Mint Iced Tea. . .
Tibetan Prayer Flags. . .
Antique Bottles. . .
Maya and a big bubble!

Visions of The Robinhood Free Meetinghouse

On March 5, 2009, I drove to Georgetown, Maine to take photos of a fabulous restaurant I have had the joy of eating at twice, The Robinhood Free Meetinghouse. I had discussed the restaurant and the shoot with the Chef/Owner/President, Michael Gagne, who was very gracious and told me all about how they renovated this beautiful building, which was once an actual meetinghouse from the 1800s. As you can see from the first photo, in the upstairs diningroom, they have left the beautiful, austere pews intact, along with all of the original light fixtures and oil lanterns.
The upstairs dining room in particular has a very sacred, peaceful feeling to it. I was there near sunset, so I was able to capture the beautiful late afternoon light, slanting across the simple furniture and elegant table settings. So take a walk through the meetinghouse with me.


A place setting with a handmade lantern.

Note the interesting molding above the chandelier on the ceiling.
The original meetinghouse organ is still in one corner. Not sure if it works or not, but it certainly looks the part!
the original antique oil lanterns, afire with late afternoon sunlight:

An antique chalkboard with the story of the building written in chalk and covered in glass:
Although Chef Gagne wasn't there to meet me in person at the restaurant, the Chef de Cuisine, Troy Mains, talked to me about the restaurant, and the vision he and Chef Gagne share in creating a sacred dining experience out in beautiful Georgetown, Maine. I got to share a fabulous meal with he and the staff before the diningroom opened. They seemed to be a tight-knit, friendly group who instantly welcomed me and chatted with me as we all ate together at one table. The food was incredible!
A detail looking up at the chandelier upstairs. . .
The diningroom downstairs in action:
I had such a great time and I felt very lucky to have been able to capture a few brief moments in time at this one of a kind "recycled" building! If you want to make your own "real-time" visit and try out the incredible food they have on offer, here are the contact details:

210 Robinhood Road, Georgetown, ME 04548
Approximately six miles south of Bath, off Route 127

Phone (207) 371-2188 • Fax (207) 371-2424

Their website: http://www.robinhood-meetinghouse.com/index.htm

Thanks for visiting with me! Cindy

In the forest primeval. . . Or a morning at the Audubon Society

I took this shot out at Gilsland Farms Audubon Society preserve this morning, lying on my back and looking up at the graceful forms of these two birch trees. I like how they act as leading lines to the beautiful blue, blue spring sky. . .
Then I saw this clump of ferns and thought, "Why not really ruin my nice clean shirt and lie on my stomach and look up at the ferns?" I call it "In the forest primeval," because I read once that the first trees were relatives of today's cycads, a type of fern, and they were ENORMOUS. . . This looked like giant fern trees to me from this perspective. A worms' eye view. . .

Happy Spring. . . Cindy

The last of the great tulip photos. . .

Magic Carpet. . .
Field of Dreams. . .
These shots were both taken in Portland's triangle park, near USM's law library with my FA 50mm f/1.4 lens. The first was taken with extremely shallow depth of field (DOF: or a very wide open lens, which creates the out of focus blur in the background) and the second taken with more depth of field at f/8.0 to show more of the tulips in focus, just for kicks and giggles. But what a beautiful sight they were however in or out of focus they were! My favorite is the first one. It rained the entire day heavily, and when we had a break in the weather, I drove to the park to try and salvage the day to at least get two good photos!

Thanks for looking, as always. Enjoy the day, Cindy

Spring is Sprung in Maine!

We had a break in the rain yesterday afternoon long enough for me to get a few shots of our beautiful new spring plants in the garden. I've always wanted to get a nice shot of my bleeding heart plant. Jon said the one in sole focus (above) looks sort of like Wendy, the Wendy's fast food chain girl with red hair in braids!
Lady's Mantle with raindrops--one of my favorites in the garden. Very shallow depth of field used here. . .
Catmint--Maya eats this by the handful all season. . .
One of the heirloom tulips Mom gave Maya when she turned one. Maya and I planted them "together," one afternoon--Maya's version of "help" was to get her hands very dirty and scuttle into the street numerous times while I tried to plant the tulips! Cute memories. . .
Wee hostas (above.) I love how tender they look early in the spring, just unfurling. The light was perfect for capturing their delicate green. . .

Thanks for looking! Happy Spring everyone! Cindy

Three of my photos in the latest issue of Maine Food & Lifestyle Magazine. . .

I'm happy to report that issue 1 of 2009 was just released by Maine Food & Lifestyle Magazine and I have three photos in their article, "How do you take your tea?" The first picture is of the cover, which I'm sorry to say I DIDN'T take, but the next picture shows my three photos. Here is a link you can paste into your browser in case you'd like to learn more about this wonderful magazine: http://mainefoodandlifestyle.com/

Enjoy!

Patrick Dempsey was seen, reading the Portland Magazine with my cover. . .

Well, how many kinds of cool is that? Admittedly, my February/March seafood paella cover had Patrick's face on it, too, but does this mean that there are now only something like 2 degrees of separation between myself and Patrick Dempsey? Ah, my brief brush with Hollywood. . .

Here is the link to the article with pics of Pat holding MY cover. Be still my beating heart. . .

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=88890867737&h=LCfFy&u=2mIzb

You can paste it into your browser to see. Enjoy!

I've got a sweet tooth. . .

This was an enormously delicious chocolate mousse tartlett served in a dark chocolate "cup." I liked the way the birthday candles looked in it.
Both of these confections were made by the European Bakery on Route One in Falmouth, Maine: http://www.europeanbakeryinc.com/Welcome.html And they were delicious!
Shot with my Pentax K20D and the Pentax SMC-FA 50mm f/1.4 lens that does such a nice job. I shot the one below using my grandmother's delicate green Depression glass set. I like how the color of the kiwis are echoed by the dishes. . . By the way, this is a fruit tartlett with slices of strawberry, kiwi, half-grapes and dark cherries, on a "bed" of sweet cream cheese mousse. Yum. . .

Ah, the simple life. . .
Hope you enjoyed the shots as much as I enjoyed taking them (and eating the subjects later!)

Cindy

Some recent shots I've been working on. . .

I was pleased with how this shot of lemons in a bowl came out. It got into istockphoto last week, which was cool. New shots keep trickling in to my gallery there. . .
I like this shot of the eggs. It makes me very happy. It reminds me of something one might see in a Martha Stewart Living Magazine article about organized cooking. I like the soft, natural lighting and the asymmetry of the whole thing that somehow brings it together.

I bought a huge 11x14" picture frame at JoAnn Fabric last weekend on clearance for $4.95 so I could have the large sheet of clear glass at my disposal to create shots like the ones above! I love the reflection look. . .
I got really interested in taking the "perfect" shot of slices of lemon floating in bubbly water recently. I haven't gotten it where I want it yet, but I will continue to work at it. What I need is better lighting, I'm afraid, as I already "have the technology," to create the shot, but not the light needed to backlight the slices enough to make them translucent while also showing a larger part of a glass, indeed maybe even a large chunk of the glass. This is because I am using cheesy contractors' lights, shining them directly on the glass, and if I were to open the shot any wider, you would see my truly amateurish lighting setup!

Yo Yo Ma at Merrill Auditorium

Last month, as many of you may recall, I was lucky enough to meet and photograph Yo Yo Ma at a wonderful concert he gave in Portland at Merrill Auditorium. He is such a generous, outgoing and amazing person--the energy in the concert alone was just beautiful, but meeting him in person, he instantly makes you feel comfortable as opposed to nervous that you are talking to a world-famous, brilliant cellist/musician. He also has a silly side!
Here is Aimee Petrin, of PCA Great Performances, Yo Yo Ma and MPBN's Suzanne Nance, helping me make a few very fun photos!

The staff of PCA Great Performances with Yo Yo Ma after the show:
And one of my favorites--the closeup shot of Suzanne Nance and Yo Yo Ma:
It was a really fun night and I was on a high for several days after that, and when I saw the photos in print in Portland Magazine, it was fun all over again! (Some of them were used in the Flash Column at the end. And finally, I think I posted it a couple of posts ago, but here is the photo of myself and Mr. Ma, kindly taken by Suzanne Nance! She did a great job, didn't she?
Thanks for taking the time to read and look as always. Cindy