Let me start from the beginning. Shelly from Vegetarian Ventures sent me message a few weeks ago. I was so excited to hear from her – like spew-tea-all-over-my-computer-monitor excited. Her blog was one of the first ones I discovered in my quest for yummy veggie foodie things and over the years I’ve watched her work go from absolutely beautiful to over-the-top gorgeous. Her posts are always killer creative and it’s been my dream to meet her in person. So when she told me she was headed to North Carolina for a food photography & styling workshop it hardly took any convincing for me to buy a ticket.
The workshop was hosted by Eva and Carey along with Molly and I just can’t say enough wonderful things about these beautiful talented people. So cool to meet this inspiring bunch after years of following them on the internet – they’re all even more amazing in person! Every morning at the crack of dawn I heard them rustling around the kitchen like little mountain fairies or something. They whipped up the most amazing breakfasts – biscuits with mushroom gravy, roasted brussels sprout and ribboned asparagus hash, custardy french toast, granola with yogurt and a different flavored baked oatmeal everyday! Like magic the table was set and styled in the most beautiful way with hand-picked flowers, the cutest little wooden bowls and knives made by Carey’s dad and this pottery which I’m now obsessed with. After breakfast we got to work – I took my camera off automatic for the first time ever and just tried to soak-up every bit of knowledge and inspiration that was coming at me nonstop. In between learning, styling and shooting we went antiquing, fly-fishing and ate… a lot. The Sunday dinner was hosted by Jacob from Snap Pea Catering. I still can’t decide which course was my favorite but I can’t get this black bean, onion jam toast out of my mind. I had such a blast with the other attendees. Jordan, Rebecca, Patty and Kelly, it was so fun standing on chairs with you, playing around with 30 second exposures in the moonlight, roasting marshmallows a bit too long – then eating them. Thank you all for such a wonderful time, I know I will remember it for years to come.