Making a Garden

So I'm working on a garden. I finally got tired of the dirty, ignored, weed infested, spider filled situation happening outside the door of my guesthouse. I decided it was time to do something about it.

And since my mom is a landscape designer I figured I had a good chance of making something nice.

The whole garden is covered in this sand (like what you'd find in French jardins) so I knew I wanted to create a planting bed and not just a container garden. You know what that means, hard labor:

First my mom and I layed out the edge of the planting bed with the garden hose. Then I shoveled all of the sand out of that area. Then I had to cut away the protective layer between the dirt and the sand. Then, the good part, I turned the soil.


It all would have been really overwhelming and I considered hiring one of those guys outside of Home Depot to just do it all in an afternoon, but part of me wanted to be able to say I did it myself. So i set the timer for 15 minutes at a time and just did it. Over 4 days I got it done and it only took about an hour and a half total. The key is just doing that 15 minutes at a time.


Today I amended the soil so that it would be ready for planting later this week. My mom's go-to is worm castings (Worm Gold is the brand I used) which help to add minerals and fertilize the soil. I sprinkled that on the turned soil and then added a top layer of potting soil:


Also, this probably isn't a good idea, but I did all this work in my 'garden shoes'.


Next is picking the plants, which I'll be doing this tuesday. The area is small and mostly in the shade so I'm thinking chartreuse and green and easy to maintain. If I'm really ambitious I'll do a drip system and document that too!

Interview with Sunset Magazine's Tom Story

In my life as a photographer I have had many heroes: Uta Barth, Robert Frank, Andreas Gursky, Julius Schulman, William Eggleston, the list goes on. I appreciate photographers that excel at capturing the mundane and who are able to translate real life into something that makes you look twice.

One of my heroes in the contemporary (and more practical world) is Tom Story. He is the man responsible for 90% what feels like 90% of the images you see in Sunset Magazine and is a huge inspiration to me. I love the way he captures a space: open, light, crisp, but always with warmth. He shoots architecture, lifestyle, decor, food, travel, you name it. He sets the tone for much of the magazine's more recent modern bend. He was also nice enough to answer some of my questions even though he is a very (very) busy man:

How long have you been working as a professional photographer? Were you trained or self taught?

Well, I've been with Sunset for going on 11 years now, before that I was freelancing, mainly architectural photography. I started college in Munich, Germany, went to Salem State College in Mass where I was extremely fortunate to meet with and take classes from an amazing photographer, Shelby Adams, who gave me the push to explore photography as a medium. I finished up my degree at the Academy of Art College in SF, where having landed at a very commercial oriented school I proceeded to primarily study alternative processes, such as making Daguerreotypes under another extraordinary photographer Jerry Spagnoli.



How did you start working with Sunset?

I was assisting different photographers who were shooting for Sunset, so I met and worked with various editors and directors on shoots. The director of Photography at the time, George Olson and I struck up a good relationship, primarily concerning vintage Mini Coopers, one of which I was the owner at the time and he got to see me working as an assistant on cover shoots and big home shoots and liked the way I carried myself I guess. Eventually, the staff photographer at the time Norm Plate decided to retire after 30 years and go freelance. Sunset asked if I would be interested in becoming the replacement garden photographer. This was right at the height of the dotcom explosion in the Bay Area and I was very busy, but also having talked to architects at the time who were telling me that this company just bought a new couch for 12k, but only had enough money to run for 6 more weeks etc. I had been hearing that story over and over and was realizing that maybe it was a good time to explore a steady paycheck.



With shooting such varied subject matter for Sunset, are there certain set-ups that intimidated you at first? Is there a style you prefer i.e. interiors vs outdoor travel shots?

The first three years were almost exclusively garden oriented, which really taught me the patience for light, early morning, late afternoon the weather such as wind, taking advantage of overcast days (giant softbox!) ~ at the time, there was another staff photographer, the very talented James Carriere who primarily shot food and I learned a lot from watching him. Slowly I shot more home stories, and felt my strengths lay in the home/garden realm. Over the years I have started shooting food more which I love to do, and travel, which I think takes an incredible amount of energy and concentration, organizational skills, and finding ways to work with people as subjects. That has probably been the most fun and the biggest challenge in my career. Most of my people photography up to that point had mainly been contained within a home or garden shoot. So learning how to take a shot list, break it down into a schedule, dealing with travel light weather etc has been a fantastic challenge on many levels and completely enjoyable. I have to say that I am incredibly lucky and fortunate that I am shooting food in the studio one day, a home the next, traveling to Hawaii or Canada or New Mexico the next week and then shooting a garden in SF the next day. It keeps all of it fresh and the skill sets are definitely interchangeable.



Do you like to work with a defined shot list or do you like to go off the grid during a shoot?

I generally work with a shot list, fortunately there are editors and writers and they do a great job researching and narrowing the story down to fit the pages and needs for that issue. That said, I can't remember the last time I ever stuck strictly to a shot list. There's a reason behind hiring photographers, you need to be engaged in the story, experience it for yourself and bring your vision back also. If I find something that seems visually more appealing or a better fit for a certain story, I'll definitely shoot it and let the editors make their choices back at the ranch.



Do you have any tips for amateurs that are shooting their homes for blogs?

Level your camera, use the longest lens possible for the shot, use a tripod, slow down and compose. It's all about editing. You have four walls in which to compose your image, be aware of your focal point, but have fun playing with the edges. Expose for a mood or feeling. Vignettes tell the story better than 1 wide angle shot. Details tell the story too, finishes, hardware etc... not everything has to be in focus...



Are there some homes you've shot that stand out as favorites?

My personal taste runs more in the mid-century modern and I've shot quite a few of those for Sunset, but I really like it when you can see the owners personality in the home.

What camera do you normally shoot with?

They will pry my Contax 645 out of my cold dead hands. I use the Phase P45+ back on it, upgrading to the P65+ hopefully soon (hint hint Sunset!). I primarily use the Contax glass, but have collected some tilt/shift lenses that I use when I shoot homes. I also use a Sinar P2 when I shoot food or product in the studio. The Canon 5dMKII comes along also, I primarily use it when I need the speed of use, or any ISO over 800 which the Phase does not handle well. I also picked up a Panasonic GF-1 this year which I love, have adapted manual focus lenses for (a whole nother conversation) and I tend to use it for things like a Bi-Plane ride I had to shoot this year or where I want to be a little more low key. The RAW files are quite nice.

Do you continue to shoot for pleasure when you're off the clock? What do you like to shoot?

I have two small kids now, Clara age 4 and Miles age 2 so there is no shortage of material on my days off! When I do shoot on my days off for projects it tends to be more landscape oriented.


Do you have an iphone or use any of the camera apps for it?

I love my iPhone and use it ALOT. I almost exclusively use shakeit, I have an extensive SX-70 collection and miss the images from that camera, but feel like the look I get from Shakeit comes real close. Really the best camera is the one you have with you, and to be able to shoot snaps or video with something that's almost always on you is fantastic. The editing process that comes with the Phase files can be exhausting time wise, it's really nice to have something that shoots jpeg and I don't have to deal with it in post.


Thanks Tom for taking the time to share!

(All Images: Thomas J Story for Sunset Magazine)

DIY Raised Bed Vegetable Garden

On my list of things I wanted to do in 2010 was build a raised bed vegetable garden. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have done it. With the help of E and Thea and my mom I am now the proud caretaker of a vegetable garden complete with cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, swiss chard, lettuce, beans, artichokes and squash. I'm also trying to start some pumpkins, watermelon and other tomatoes from seed, so those might end up in the bed further down the road.

I was surprised how easy it was to build. A lot of sites suggest some pretty complicated ways to build a raised bed, but here's how we did it:

Pick a spot.



We picked this spot because the grass was already dead and it got really good light all day (south facing).

Choose Dimensions:



I did 4x6 so that I could still easily reach across about 2 feet on each side. I plotted where the box would sit and turned the soil to discourage any of that grass from growing underneath my vegetables.

Deter Weeds and Rodents:





I used a wire mesh to keep gophers and moles from burrowing up below and a weed cloth to keep the grass out.

Build the Frame:



To build the box we used 2x6 pieces of redwood (you want to get redwood or cedar because they're just straight wood and won't leach any chemicals into your food the way a pressboard or plywood would). I wanted the bed to be about a foot deep so we built two levels of 4x6 dimension frames and stacked them. Nothing fancy, just screwed it all together and stacked them.

Fill It With Dirt/Compost/Fertilizer:





I bought a whole car load of soil (24 cubic feet of soil). I got 'organic' and didn't go for anything with a fertilizer built in because that stuff scares me. I also bought 2 bags of manure for fertilizer and 2 bags of compost to work into the soil to keep it from getting too dense.

Placement:


We poured all the soil in, stirred it around and then leveled it off and started plotting our placement. Since it was my first vegetable garden I wanted to start with some momentum so I didn't start everything from seed, I just went to armstrong and picked out the things I wanted to try and grow. I followed the directions on the packages for placement and made sure that anything that would grow really large wouldn't end up shading other plants. I'll need to make a trellis for the beans once they grow larger so I put them on the northern side of the box so that they won't cast a shadow when they're growing up. Besides that, I just tried to make them look nice.



I can't wait to watch these things grow and then walk out to the garden to pick things to cook. Delicious!

Mom's Garden

My mom's garden is out of control these days (with awesomeness). I grew up gardening with my mom and about 10 years ago she started designing for clients. She specializes in drought tolerant and california native plantings and experiments with different plants in her own garden. She lives in a place that's hotter than shit so it's important that she not have to water constantly and that stuff survives.

I just love how lush and colorful her garden is. On an overcast day all the colors really pop. I'll have to go back and photograph some of the details.

Thoughts on the Parker Palm Springs

So we went to Palm Springs for the weekend (yay! getaway!). We stayed at an awesome place that I'll post about later this week. For now, my thoughts on checking out the Parker Hotel Palm Springs, where we had breakfast yesterday:

-It's cool, but honestly, looking at the pictures is better than being there, it isn't that cool.
-To me, the decor is one notch too close to 'grandma'. I love Jonathan, but really, all this?
-The gardens are awesome, probably the best part.
-Um, where's the pool, we couldn't find it to check it out.
-Way too scene-y and didn't seem at all relaxing, everyone is just checking out who else is there and what they look like.
-It took WAY too long to get our food. Like, really way too long.
-Loved the patio.


The garden design is lovely! Elysian Landscapes in LA put it together and the idea was to create intimate little nooks tucked away in the meandering paths of the garden. Totally worked, the garden really isn't even that big, but they used the space well.



This is Elliott when we had been waiting for 25 minutes for waffles and no one else was in the restaurant. He wanted to leave. He was not impressed.

This was the waffle. I was impressed. I could not finish it to save my life.

This was too grandma for me, just way too much stuff, and oddly for Jonathan Adler, not enough color for me.


Those are just my thoughts. What are yours?

The garden is growing

I spent a little bit of time freshening up the garden in Venice and finally got a cushion made that I am in love with. I found some discount sunbrella fabric in this basic striped linen look and had an extra long cushion made for lounging. My garden (which started with tiny plants so that it wouldn't cost a lot or be a huge investment--I think I spent $200 on plants, total) is growing in really nicely. Remember what this place used to look like (here and then here)?

Dwell Home Tour: Judy Kameon

Although I was mainly tied to the convention center for all of Dwell on Design, I did make it to one of the homes on the home tours: that of Judy Kameon. I've been a huge fan of Judy's since I saw her speak on a panel at Dwell on Design three years ago. She owns landscape architecture firm Elysian Landscapes (they designed the garden at the Parker Hotel in Palm Springs!)and has a line of mid century inspired outdoor furniture called Plain Air. I think she's hugely talented and, at the same time, completely down to earth. So I couldn't miss seeing her home.




Modern with definite mid century influences, Judy's use of color is stunning. With a background in painting and some help from this guy, Judy and her husband have woven in color, texture and personality into their home. And even though there is color everywhere you look, the overall feeling in the house is one of lightness and space and warmth. The inside is seamless with the outside and the garden abounds with nooks and private spaces that make it feel much larger than it is.










The kitchen is particularly stunning with its aqua colored heath tiles and orange-red cabinet fronts. Judy's husband built all the cabinets himself. The cork tiles throughout make the space feel open and warm. I also love how the downstairs is one big space that spills out into the garden--great for entertaining.





Happy Weekend Everyone!