plants at night in philadelphia

knob: part I

KNOB is a series of analog landscape photography based on the geography, landscape, and life that around the ridge of knob mountain, pennsylvania. knob mountain, or knob ridge, runs through luzerne and columbia counties with its terminus ending in the town of orangveville, outside of which I have lived for the past year. its highest most point, 1720ft above sealevel, makes it one of the highest points in its counties and surrounding areas.

KNOB explores the physical aesthetic, size, and impact on its surrounding areas and my own personal relationship with the landmass and the habitat it creates for bordering inhabitants

in the near future I hope to incorporate multimedia elements: historical research on the area and knob mountain culture and natural elements such as wood pieces harvested from the ridge

on summer and small towns

a collection of pictures I took during july in and around my hometown. there's something so wonderful yet so very ordinary about attending these same carnivals in the same parks at the same parades I've attended for almost 20 years. even after a few years away I'm so familiar with every stand, every piece of food, every corner and almost every face but I already feel myself starting to grow out of place.

morning beekeeping

happy solstice! summer is finally here and I'm humming with joy and warmth. between developing and prepping film prints for a show, shooting for work, and editing old work, it's been a boring summer so far for personal work. but! about two months back I stumbled upon a local beekeeper's website where he mentioned he was interested in some photographic services from anyone "brave enough to suit up." hey! I'm brave as heck! and I love bees! two weeks back we teamed up and made some killer bee shots together(I look like a 5 year old in the ridiculously oversized bee suit, sorry no pics). I didn't even wear gloves and I got right up in those little bee faces without any issues! how cool! hopefully this will be a continuing relationship, so look for more bees here in the future and give my pal Andy some facebook love if you like that kind of stuff.

andy's been keeping bees as a serious hobby for about six years, picked up from his father

 little male bee, a drone. stinger-less and able to be held

andy tries to keep his operation as natural as possible! he smokes out his bees with recycled burlap

right: queen bee

memorial day garden stocking

on memorial day I had a portrait session at a local greenhouse with a veteran who wanted recent shots in uniform. being only a short drive from my house, and me being a plant enthusiast, I'm surprised I've never visited this place. although pork and I tried to start as much as possible from organic seed this year, we had a few holes to fill.

this greenhouse was beautiful and expansive and full of so many plants I badly needed. rows upon rows or hanging plants, growing flats, and encouraging little pots-- a place I literally got lost in. the portraits took less than thirty minutes, but I spent another two hours browsing and buying and barely scratching the surface of what they had to offer

we walked out with an abundance of kale, a curly curry plant, a few peppers, rosemary, thyme, a discounted struggling aloe(which looked twenty times better after I put it in proper dirt), and a little mint bush of the kentucky variety. a fruitful day, for certain

gluten free blueberry muffins

the reality of summer business and the rest of spring is starting to hit me square in the face.

between gardens to plant and tend, farms to assist, dg training, art festivals and all my regular work, I just hope this warm season doesn't take my life for good.

But on to more positive things!

I've recently cut gluten out of my diet and the inner foodie in me has been going crazy! So many of my staples are full of this grainy goodness. My pastas, dumplings, pizzas, tacos, brownies! So far I have been attacking my regular cravings fairly well. I've made meatloaf, taco salad, and cookies successfully and am now pretty confident in my abilities to cut out the wheat flour.

however, breakfast has become a bit of a roadblock.

I'm already picky when it comes to breakfast foods. I usually go for an easy bagel, english muffin, maybe eggs and toast. I got sick of eating eggs and only eggs every day, quickly. I decided to mess around with what I had and figure out SOMETHING else. And success I found:

Blueberry Pecan Gluten Free Muffins

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 C sour cream
• 1 1/4 C brown sugar
• 2/3 C potato flour
• 2/3 C brown rice flour
• 2/3 C arrowroot starch
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 C chopped pecans(or nuts of choice)
• 1 C blueberries

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, sour cream, and brown sugar until they form a smooth mixture. You can use plain yogurt in place of the sour cream, if you desire.

Gradually sift and mix in your three flours and baking soda/powder. If you have an all purpose gluten free baking flour, you can use that in place of this mixture. You should only need about 2 cups of any standard baking flour.

Gently mixed in still frozen or fresh blueberries and the pecans, mix until just combined.

The batter should be thick and chunky once you get the fruit and nuts mixed in. Line a 12-muffin pan with baking cups and spoon the mixture into them. You can probably get more than 12 muffins out of this recipe, but they will be on the smaller side as they don't rise as much as standard muffins.

Bake for about 25 minutes in the center of the oven until they are golden and spring beck when pressed on top. Take about 5 minutes off of your baking time if you are using fresh vs frozen blueberries.

Make sure to remove muffins from the baking pan shortly after they are out of the oven! They may get too soggy if you leave them

good luck and happy baking!

saturday in williamsport

we didn't know at the time, or even when I originally wrote this, but we lost someone very dear on this day. A lot of hard feelings arose from it: feeling selfish we took times, guilt we didn't reach or visit when we could, deep regret we spent their last moments enjoying ourselves as best we could. but this person knew we loved them, and they loved that we loved each other. they wouldn't have wanted us to mourn with their living form any longer than we had, I'm sure. He was a vibrant individual, overflowing energy and pride. the last thing he would have wanted was for us to regret not being with his frail, failing state self when we were enjoying things in which he also found life. these memories are about finding small joys in life, even when it all feels like it's falling apart: and also for heber.

a lovely saturday from last week. we try our best to savor these moments-- of adventure, with each other. we're so young and already in our monotonous grind. it's a grind made to be unrefined and sometimes broken. 

we decided on a trip to williamsport, pa for the day. This small, quaint city sits about forty-five minutes northwest of us. It offers a little tease of city life for us backwood folk. It only houses 30,000, but that's sixty times the five hundred souls in my town.

a good of start as any, with coffee! weak for adorable mugs, overt positivity, and floral patterns, I'm more than certain this mug was made for me. The current favorite in my collection, and the words echo volumes on days like these. The weather was cloudy and quite down the short ride ride, a physical and emotional fog that lingered all day. only brightened with bursts of energetic sing-a-longs and reading of nat geo world cup coverage.

all the activities that make a small city trip great: soft paint jobs, harsh architecture, everything's a dollar rummage stores, tiny but seemingly endless book stores(seriously, my town doesn't even have one anymore!), and highly underrated east asian food

like any couple with sometimes varrying interests, I left pork in an antique store and I found alabaster coffee roaster & tea company on pine. And I'm so glad I did! This place had the best touches: fresh flowers in winter, a large chalkboard wall, exposed brick, and fantastic french press. I popped in right as they were closing, so more shots of their interior were missed-- But more reason to go again, eh? coffee selection was impressive, with engaging descriptions of each roast and its origins. I went with colombian los naranjos through a french press, which is a roast of their own! excitedly, I received my french press with timer and a mug. my nine minutes were up, and I thoroughly enjoyed the hearty, dark flavor with a soft and almost sweet follow. And of course after lingering in the cold most of the day, I felt the caffeine instantly. A wonderfully warm end to my day.