Tower Bridge Dinner

Earlier in September, I was asked to do photography for the Farm to Fork Dinner event on the Tower Bridge. It is always exciting to work with Savory Cafe, and I was again asked to assist them this year with photography. My time spent with Juan, Kristin and Toby is always a blessing to me. Their teamwork, love for the community, and work ethic are something to admire. They are true community leaders, and I'm grateful for their friendship. In addition to working with Savory Cafe, I did product photography for the Capay Valley Ranches. CVR produces premium olive oil, nuts, and honey and they partnered with Visit Sacramento to provide olive oil for this event. To capture both parts of this event, that of restauranteur and product provider was exciting as it gives a full picture of what makes this day so incredible.

This year I began at a Meet and Greet for renowned Chef Jeremiah Tower at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel. Savory Cafe chef Toby Barajas was invited to meet Chef Jeremiah along with several other special guests. While waiting for Toby to arrive, I was able to get a quick photo with Denise Reinnoldt and her daughter Lauren with Jeremiah. Denise is the owner of Capay Valley Ranches, and it was great to connect with her before going to the dinner on the bridge. Just before Chef Jeremiah left to prepare for his time with all of the chefs preparing for the dinner, he graciously stopped and allowed me to get a photo with Toby. I then was off to the bridge to capture meal prep for the evening.

I arrived at the commissary kitchen to find Kristin working away preparing for the appetizer that Savory was providing for the meal. What I enjoy the most of about participating at this end of an event like this is the amount of collaborating and teamwork among all of the restaurants. An event like this can't come together without this type of effort on everyone's part. For me, it's the best part of this evening. I enjoy watching people connect and have fun while serving the community. I appreciate the various gifts and talents each person brings to present each course. But the part that is the best is that we live in such an agriculturally productive region and all of the farmers and ranchers who bring their unique piece to the menu. I had the pleasure to represent Capay Valley Ranches and the unique part they played as product sponsor and the provider of olive oil for the dishes that were prepared by the chefs.

It was a day celebrating all the richness, and bounty of the region in and around Sacramento. Thank you, Juan Barajas, Kristin, and Toby for this fun opportunity and Capay Valley Ranches and Denise Reinnoldt. Such a fabulous day celebrating what our various cities bring to the Farm to Fork way of life.

The link below is from the 2017 Tower Bridge Dinner.

https://www.dawnkincadephotography.com/my-adventures/2017/9/27/tower-bridge-dinner-2017-with-savory-cafe

Bouquets to Art at the de Young Museum

On Thursday I went into the city with a friend to the de Young Museum. The exhibition was called Bouquets to Art and it runs for one week with the last being on Sunday the 18th of March. This year, it’s 34th, the opening Gala was on Monday the 12th with a special VIP tour of all of the floral displays. The proceeds from Bouquets to Art help to underwrite exhibitions, conservation projects, and education programs at the Fine Art Museums. 

I have always wanted to go to this beautiful exhibition but it has never worked out and I honestly didn’t want to go by myself. So this year I found someone who has the same love and passion for art and flowers so we went. If you haven’t been to the de Young it is near the California Academy of Science and it can sometimes be hard to find parking. We missed the rain on our walk to the museum but weren’t as fortunate on our departure but it was fun just the same.

It was very crowded when we arrived but we started from the top and worked our way around the different galleries. As someone who is intrigued by floral design, I was so impressed with many of the florists' renderings of their art piece. The florists used so many different textures and flora to create these unique pieces.  I had several that I loved and when I came home and downloaded the photos they were just as beautiful as I experienced in person.

If you have the opportunity to go to this exhibition I highly recommend it.  Thank you, Christy, for going with me and for the great conversations we had. Love you!

I’ve included the link to the de Young for this exhibition.

https://deyoung.famsf.org/exhibitions/bouquets-to-art-2018

Photography as my Canvas...Painting My World

It was four years ago this last week that I wrote the following post on Facebook:

"I have been thinking a lot about this season that God has placed me....from leaving a job that has been the source of ministry and connection for me for over 12 years, to a position that stretched me in ways that I did not think possible....being allowed to spend time with a dear friend before her home going, to feeling the emptiness of not only the holidays but many areas of life without that dear friend....visiting my ailing parents, return from that visit only to have my mom fall and injury herself, celebrating the holidays with my husband and kids, turning around and going back to my parents only to return to say good-bye to my father in law...Monday I step into a new job...with new possibilities and opportunities that are far reaching...Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!!! I am very grateful for this time that God has reached down and given comfort in a way that has changed me.

Those life events set me on the path to photography as I began taking lessons and to see the world through the lens of my camera. It was honestly a hard season. I had no firm purpose. I was without direction. Many of those feeling came from a place of fear...lack of experience...and pride. I was starting a new job and a new hobby both of which I lacked the experience but my enthusiasm was unbridled. I have never gone into situations where I didn't have some knowledge of what I was doing and although I had a great deal of experience with my new job the environment was new and unexplored by me. My thoughts in that were I can love people anywhere so as long as I had that mindset I'd do my very best to love people. How could I go wrong??? The photography was just something I thought I would do to pass the time. To be reflective and it didn't cost much but time and brain matter. I jumped in with both feet and I've not looked back.

Which brings me back to the original Facebook post...Evan has been gone 1 year, 3 months, and 4 days ~ my Dad 1 year. During this time but really just recently I've felt a lack of purpose and direction. Reflectively, as I look back at that post many of the same feelings of that time come back to me as I've taken this "pause" to just ponder what God is calling me to do in this season of grief, loss, and reflection??? I know that there are several things that have been made clear in regards to both my vocation and photography but until that time that it is all made clearer I will continue to pause, ponder and pursue. How are you seeing your world???? What canvas are you using??? I'd love to hear from you.

Super Blue Blood Moon 2018

It has been over a month since my last blog, more about that at a later date.  Each time I do one of these astronomical shoots I glean a bit more experience and see so much of the challenges it gives me. I didn't really start to see the red until it got nearly covered by the Earth. I have a full day ahead of me so I hope you enjoy these photos of the lunar eclipse.  

Look for a blog post soon.