WARNING:  This post is extremely high in calories and will absolutely use up all your Weight Watcher points for at least a month

Oh, but it is goooood, oh so good.

If you have been hanging around my blog much over the last two years you will have seen and read about some of my work with specialist cake designer  Juliet Sear, owner of FancyNancy.  Well, Fancy Nancy has a fancy new home on Broadway West here in Leigh-on-Sea and Juliet and her crew are busier than ever creating bespoke dream wedding cakes, handpainted boutique cakes, organic cookies in every design imaginable and luscious cupcakes with fresh fruit icing, or belgian chocolate and espresso.  Is your mouth watering yet?  Is your head buzzing yet?? Is it? Is it? Is It?

Well, this might help.

Feast.

Okay, now wipe the drool off your keyboard.  I’ll bring  you Part II in a few days!

xo

dena

I have already told you about my plans to team up with Rebecca for Darling Art starting this summer.  Well, we are also getting the wonderful opportunity to work with the incredibly talented Anna Jones of IndieArt Photography for a day or two of mentoring workshops this July in Utah!  Like most professional photographers, we field daily requests for mentorships and lessons.  It is about time we pooled our resources and gathered all these requests together, all in one place.  Here is what we are thinking:

A day of mentoring in Salt Lake City on either Tuesday, July 21st or Wednesday, July 22nd for people wanting to take their photography to the next level.  Participants will get a chance to watch (and participate in) a photo session and learn post-processing techniques from each photographer as well as ask all the questions they can think of.  The cost for a full-day of mentoring with all three of us would be around $500.

What we are hoping to find out is a) does this sound interesting?  b) what date works best for you (July 21st or the 22nd)?  and c) is there anything else you’d be interested in learning?   We would really, really love to hear from you.  Please leave your feedback either in the comments section at the Darling Art blog or email info@darling-art.com.  Only serious inquiries or feedback please.

I spent some time on Anna’s website this morning hoping to pick 1 or 2 favorites to share with you here.  Well, after nonstop TWO hours of ‘ooooh’  and ‘aaaaah’ I had finally narrowed it down to a list of 30 and was still going strong.  I adore the work she does with teenagers and adults and her magical use of light and color.  Check it out:

Here is a small sample of some of my favorites from Rebecca’s website.   Gorgeous as always.  Her subjects always seem so natural and at ease in front of her camera.

To even things out a bit, here are a few of mine.  I am taking this opportunity to bring back some older favorites that may not be found on this blog.

We look forward to hearing from you very soon!

xo

dena

A sneak peek for Lovely Hannah from our session at the beach in Old Leigh.  You were amazing and very brave (and tolerant) in the cold, wind and rain.  Your complete gallery will be ready very soon, I can’t wait for you to see it!

notes:  Canon 5D, 90mm TSE, texture (1st image) from Brenda Acuncius.

**UPDATE:

We are having A LOT of fun with these sessions!  I have opened up one more appointment to squeeze in on Saturday afternoon, 11th April.  Email me as soon as possible if you want to get in on these sessions.**

Periodically I get the chance to test out new cameras and lenses or other photography equipment.  I have need of models for these test sessions and the next one is coming up in April.  There will be 4 choices for location: Beach, Country, Home, or Urban (Sundays only.)  Sessions will last from 30-60 minutes.  All the details follow…

I expect these 8 spots to book up quickly so send me an email right away if you are interested. UPDATE:  There are only 3 appointments left, email me ASAP to book yours.  If you miss out on this round there may be another opportunity for 4 additional spots in May or June.  Looking forward to hearing from you!

I have been working with SatinSkin for about a year and a half now, creating all the photographs for web and print and assisting in web development.  I have to say I have quite enjoyed the perks of using the product as well.  For those who don’t know about SatinSkin it is all about one of the oldest beauty secrets that has probably remained a secret for too long.   The healthful benefits of silk.  In the case of SatinSkin, it is the healthful (and beauty) benefits of sleeping on silk pillowcases.  You can visit the website to learn more.  It is probably the easiest change to adopt in your beauty regime.  I can certainly attest to the end of bedhead and creases on my own skin.    So, through testimonials it was found that a lot of children were benefiting from using SatinSkin pillowcases, especially those girls with long hair that is a tangled mess in the morning.  Add to the fact that it is never too early to teach our children about proper skin care, and the need to represent children on the website came about.  Here is a quick sample  from my session to bring the younger face to SatinSkin.  Special thanks to the models.  We had a lot of fun…a regular pajama party which of course ended up in some fab bedjumping and pillow fighting!

xoxo

dena

mmmmmmmmmmmm  Valentine’s Day is so0000 close and my mind is hopelessly obsessed on the sweeties and chocolates and flowers.

Cue in FancyNancy !!   I have been working with Juliet Sear, owner and creative baker-extraordinaire of Fancy Nancy Cakes.  You might remember some of my previous blog posts of her  here and  here.  I am always excited to support local businesses and to witness their growth and popularity.  Fancy Nancy is about to move to a classy bigger studio and open a storefront and I can’t wait to watch the future of the business…and of course sample some new goodies along the way.  I can only hope that a gym will open up across the street too.  LOL.  Exciting times ahead! Here are a few sample of what we photographed last week.  Kiss cookies and the Pastel Rose Wedding cake.  I do believe those lovely roses are handmade of white chocolate…yum.

When I started out in the photography business (gasp!) 17 years ago the last thing in the world I was interested in photographing was children.  Don’t get me wrong, I have always loved being around little ones.  Kids and I are kindred spirits.  We go way back.  So everything else in the big wide world—I photographed. I made a living in the wedding business, studio work, fine art, modelling, you name it.  Fast forward to the present and I am truly overjoyed to have spent the last several years of my time with kids and my camera.  I do admit that I get a wee bit of rush of excitement once in awhile to be commissioned to photograph other subjects too.  Enter Fancy Nancy.  Enter…yummy sweet delicious artistic cakes.  CAKES!  I drool.  Now, the beautiful photographs on her website are not a product of mine, but I did get to spend a morning with the creator Juliet Sear to shoot her cake creating process for an upcoming feature story in the magazine Black Meringue.  Here are a few photographs from the last few steps.  Get your fork!

The finished product:

Tres yummilicious vanilla marzipan brandy berry goodness:

Oh yes my friends, I had a sample of every cake that day.  How could I refuse??

Indulge.

xo.  Dena Robles