Sit. Stay. Smile. Photography & Art

I took my little dog Zoe out for an urban photo session last night…wow was it hot. Poor Zoe had her tongue hanging out half the time…We found a few cool new spots for pictures…nice and grungy, just what I like. Here are some of my favorites.

I would like to wish my sweet little girl a very Happy 12th Birthday today. She is growing up on me so fast I can’t stand it. Each year I try and come up with a special cake for her…I am not a great “baker” but I usually manage to get by. This year I decided to take on the daunting task of creating a Rainbow Cake. I have seen these on different cooking blogs and knew that I would have to try it. Here is the recipe I used for the cake, as well as the steps (and a few hints) to create this amazing, HUGE cake. Don’t make this unless you have a small army to feed…seriously, its a big cake. Also, you will need gel food colorant for this recipe, as well as, a lot of icing. I used a homemade cream cheese, but buttercream would also be good.

Doctored Up Cake Mix Recipe - You will need two batches of this!

1  Box white cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Super Moist)
1  cup all-purpose flour
1/2  cup granulated sugar
3/4  tea. salt
4 egg whites
1  1/3 cups of water
2  Tab. vegetable oil
1  cup sour cream
1  tea. vanilla extract
1  tea. almond extract (optional, makes cake fairly sweet and rich)

Mix dry ingredients together, then add wet ingredients. Beat on high for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Separate the batter into 3 equal portions in 3 separate bowls. Make second batch of cake mix and do the same. Next you will add your gel coloring (I bought mine from Michael’s – Wilton Gel Colorant). Each bowl will be colored a different color of the rainbow…Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. Add enough gel to get fairly deep, rich colors or less if you want a more pastel feel to your cake.

Next, you will grease and flour six, 9 inch cake pans. If you don’t have six, just do them in batches. Pour the batter into each pan and bake at 325 degrees until done. For my oven, this was about 20 minutes. Check on your cake about 15 minutes in just to make sure you aren’t over baking. Cooking the cakes at this lower temperature helps to keep the cake from doming too much, which makes them easier to stack. Cake is done when toothpick comes out clean and the cake starts to pull away from the edge of the pan. Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wax papered, hard surface. I used small pieces of cardboard that would fit into my freezer, but you could use cookie sheets as well. After the cakes have cooled, dust off any visible crumbs and if your cakes have domed to much while baking, now is the time to level them using a large serrated knife. Put them in the freezer with wax paper in between the layers for about 1 to 2 hours. This step is very important and will make your life so much easier when you go to stack the layers.

After the 1 to 2 hours in the freezer, remove the layers. Starting with the purple layer, place it on your cake stand, well centered. Frost the top of the cake with your frosting of choice, letting a little spill over the edge. Next, add the blue layer and frost. Repeat with the green, yellow, orange and red layers. This is what your cake should look like now.

Next, apply a thin layer of frosting to the entire cake. This is called the crumb coat. It will capture all the little crumbs still on your cake. Return the cake to refrigerator or the freezer for about 20 minutes or until the crumb coat has set. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and apply your final coat of icing. This should go on smoothly and look very clean if your crumb coat set properly…

Voila, you are done! I iced my cake with a cream cheese frosting and I kept it pretty simple looking on the outside intentionally. I wanted it to look like a boring old white cake, until you cut into it….WOW was that an amazing moment. I have never been so proud of all my hard work and my daughter thought it was the coolest thing she had ever seen.  So, if you have an entire afternoon to kill and feel adventurous…try this cake! The end result is worth the effort.

Meet Mackenzie and Harvey…two incredibly handsome Collie’s I had the pleasure of photographing this past weekend. The weather has been so unbearably hot here lately, I have had to postpone several shoots until the heat wave passed through. This has been the hottest Spring/Summer we have had in a long time. These guys were so well behaved…we went down to Chix beach for some fun in the sun…Harvey likes to chase birds and Mackenzie has a thing for barking at jet ski’s. We had a beautiful day for photography and I think everyone had a great time. Here are some pix from the shoot..

Hey everyone…I just had the pleasure of reconnecting with an old friend of mine from my jewelry making days at the Va. Beach Boardwalk Art Show. Her name is Dawn Estrin, and along with her husband, George Wilson they create a line of jewelry known as Bijou Graphique. I have been a fan of her work for many years and I was so happy to see her new line, full of animals and other whimsical imagery. She is is also launching a new line of pet jewelry called Jou-Jou B that is so beautiful, you may want to share it with your dog or cat. All of the pet jewelry is customizable and made from sterling silver. I hope you enjoy her work and by all means, take a moment to visit her website…I bought myself a bird necklace and ring and I LOVE them both. Stay cool everyone…it has been one hot summer so far….

All of these pets need forever homes….If you live in the Hampton Roads area and are looking for a cat, dog, hamster, rabbit or guinea pig, please stop the VBSPCA this weekend to adopt an animal that needs a second chance. I don’t have the names of all the pets below, but anyone at the shelter can help you find them…Rio is the little Chihuahua and he has some special requirements like no kids…Georgia, the beautiful grey and white long haired cat is amazing….she is so regal and loving, she will make someone a great pet. Stop by the shelter at 3040 Holland Rd in Virginia Beach and visit with the animals…

I recently had the pleasure of meeting and working with Kelly Willette of  Willette Designs. She is a Norfolk based children’s photographer who was named as Nickelodeon’s Parent Choice Award winner for best family photographer in 2009. Kelly also offers online workshops on children’s photography, as well as other helpful hints for the aspiring photographer.

Kelly came by my booth at the Stockley Gardens Art Show a few weeks ago, picked up a card and decided to email me about having her sons picture made into a collage. I was so excited when I received her photo because it was the most adorable shot I have seen in a long time…I looked at her email and noticed she was another local photographer, so I emailed back and asked if she would like to do a trade…Trade is a lost art in today’s culture and I find it interesting how artists seem to be the ones who are most open to it nowadays…I LOVE to do trades with other artists….9 times out of 10 I would rather have a new piece of art that someone made than a few bucks in my pocket.

We have been in desperate need of a family photo for a long time, so I asked Kelly if she would mind photographing my family. Kelly is a children’s portrait photographer and she usually does not photograph entire families…she made an exception for us and I am so grateful. We are so happy with our pictures and I know we will cherish them for a lifetime. It is really easy as a photographer to get caught up taking everyone else’s photos and neglect your own family, not to mention the fact that it is nearly impossible to get out from behind the camera to actually be in the shot!

Here are a few photos I wanted to share with you…The first shot is Kelly’s image that she emailed me of her son and the second image is of her completed collage that I made from that picture. I love the way it turned out…it shows you how important it is to start off with a really great image when you comission a collage. The rest of the pictures were taken by Kelly of my family. I could have posted many more images, but I thought this was enough to give you a general idea. Thanks again Kelly!