Real Women of Blogger County with Kleinworth & Co.

Welcome to Real Women of Blogger County! We’ve taken a break from the series for a little while but we’re back! Ever feel like you are the only person that does NOT have it together all the time? You see the wonderful staged photos that all of us bloggers share and it gives off the impression that our lives are perfect, our kids are perfect and our homes are perfect. Well, that is NOT the case! See for yourself!

Hi there The Girl Creative friends!!!

I’m Gina- from Kleinworth & Co. where I share recipes, crafts & the occasional photography tip or two. I’m thrilled to be here today with Diana to share with you all a glimpse into the “behind the scenes” of Kleinworth & Co. I love this idea so much because I think there is a misconception out there (I even get it from my extended family) that we just work when we want & create something & post it. What most don’t realize is the time & commitment it takes to blog professionally & it is indeed a full time job- often times with looooong hours. I’m so happy that Diana started Behind the Scenes {Blogger Country} & that I get to be able to be a part of it. I was so inspired by it that I will be starting my own series on my blog. A couple times a month I will share with you all my pull back shots & show you how I created the images you see in my space. So stay tuned for that – first one will be tomorrow (3/23).

So – Kleinworth & Co is where I share my passion for food. To be specific- I blog about food mostly because I love beautiful food images. I swoon over a gorgeous shot of something tasty. I often times will create things like you see above- have a quick taste for quality control & then it’s off to be photographed. After that- I try not to sample anymore. It’s either something we are eating as a family for a meal or the kids & hubs will share a little treat after dinner. If I get too overloaded with things here – I send a gift package to the station with the hubs. (He’s a fire chief here in North Idaho)

First – let’s start with the camera. This is my current set up – Canon 5D Miii. My favorite lens for wide room shots- 17-40mm f/4.0L & for food is the 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. I like this lens better than my 50mm f/1.4 because it’s a little wider for my tight space (because the 85mm f/1.8 is just too close) & it’s far more affordable than the 35mm or 24 mm. I love my current camera – I HIGHLY recommend it. However- up until January I was shooting with the Canon T3i. It’s an awesome little workhorse. Everything you see captured on my blog up until January 2014 was shot using that camera. That being said – I chose the 5D Markiii because of it’s ISO capabilities. When I was learning photography with my T3i – we lived in Southern Nevada. I had 300 days of full sun per year. I had light flooding in to nearly every window. Finding adequate light for blog photos was not an issue-ever. But a year ago we moved to North Idaho. I can say that although we are so happy to be out of the suppressing heat of the desert- I truly took the light for granted. It’s DARK here & our current little rental is like a dungeon- even on a totally sunny day. So I needed a camera that could handle low light like no other. This one certainly far exceeds my expectations in that department.

So this is our space. Aside from blogging full time- I also homeschool my 3 teens. My daughter sits here doing her school work at our 250 year old table. This table also doubles as my craft table when I am working on a project. This open floor area is also where I lay out a shower curtain for all my painting projects. Yep – this is my creative space at the moment when it comes to projects. My son sits at our antique secretary desk just outside of this frame to the left while he does school. The munchkin actually sits on the sofa in the master bedroom at a little table to do her school. Yes- we need a better school system. But we had 30 days to find a place & get relocated for the hubs job. We found this place- downsized our house by 50% & have learned to get a little cozy. You can see on the table a stack of clothes – those are there so I can alter them after school was finished for the day. Yes- this is also where I set up the sewing machine.

So what I used to have was an office space. In the move – I was lucky to claim this little nook space in our master. It’s where I am writing this post at the moment. You can see that my boards of things to remember are overloaded. I think I single handedly support Post-It because I use stick on note paper all the time & there is no less than 12 different ones on my desk with things to remember right now. When I took this shot I was in the process of setting up my new computer. So I temporarily set up a TV tray next to my desk to hold the old computer while I transferred files & referenced back to it during the transition. Once our situation is changed this old computer will finally be a dedicated place for the kids to have internet access for school- without having to hijack my tablet for forever.

So this is my current kitchen set up. Aside from the random things left on the counter by the kids- this is what it looks like before I get going on creating. Typically if I have treats or things that will keep for a while- I will spend 1-2 whole days in the kitchen creating recipes & getting them photographed. Then it’s all about getting the posts written.

So this is the first round of dishes. I create, create, create – until I need all those things again before I can move forward. So this stack happens at least 3-4 more times in my blog recipe creation process each day. It’s probably more time consuming to clean up after than it is to actually create whatever it is I’m making. Then if the hubs is in here helping- just make this pile 10 times bigger.

This is my current prop storage. Plates, bowls, buckets, silverware, baskets- you name it – it’s all kept here. It’s an old hutch of my mom’s from my childhood. We plan on painting it. It currently lives in my garage because I don’t have room for it in the house. So that means that when I am creating- I have to run out here choose what I need- take it back in & re-wash it from any garage dust that may have collected & then I can proceed. I’m really ready to make this situation more functional for me. Oh & I can’t fit another thing in here – it has storage on the bottom, however I am one that if I can’t SEE it- I forget about it. So I end up trying to fit it all up top here.

Right next to the hutch is my “studio” space. I also do product photography backdrops for some wedding paper goods suppliers – so when I say I am in studio all day – this is where I am. It’s in the garage. So being that we are in North Idaho – I’m usually bundled up to the point that I can hardly move when I am out here working. This obviously isn’t ideal – but it’s where I create the following image for now.

These tags – photographed in the space shown above.

But when photographing things like food- natural light is ideal. So for a while I tried using my studio space for my blog photos- I just wasn’t loving it at all. I tried having another little table set up near the nice open light of the garage door- but I finally got tired of being cold every time I had a dish to photograph AND I got tired of being the entertainment of the neighbors while they watched me compose & capture every single thing I made. I liked the ease of having a place that could stay set up for me- however I have resorted to a less convenient situation for now just to be warm.

This is one of the many scenarios I use for food photos. We have some etched glass windows that flank the front door. So I set this up in the entry way to harness the only decent natural light that comes in this house & use it to my advantage. It’s super glamourous – TV tray, boards & reflector to put together the shot you see for the final image of the Blueberry Lemon Green Tea.

Buuuuttttt – all of that- things are changing for me!!! This space you see right here – will soon be my new space. I was hoping they would be farther along in the process when it came time for this post so I could better show you what my new space will look like. But – you will have to imagine it. I’m super excited. I wanted to be able to share it on my own blog & share the process – however, people that work for my hubs also read my blog. Soooo- in an effort to not show our whole life to his crew- I’m not sharing it there. Which means I’m thrilled to be sharing it here instead.

Imagine it!!! This is sort of what my space will be like. Picture hard floors – so no mod Podge or chocolate syrup dripping on carpet. Then that window you see there – it will be larger to let in MORE LIGHT. Like 5 feet wide & another 5 foot wide one added in the stairwell for even more light there in the loft. There are also 3, fairly large, square windows behind the hubs there on that other wall. Again- if I could add a window in a space- I did. After living in this dark hole for a 18 months – I’m ready for some light. Then there is a full wall in the area from where I was standing where my desk will go. I plan on having my food photography table in front of the window, the studio space in that corner there, a nice large craft table in the center of the room & adding lots of storage so that I don’t have craft supplies scattered between 3-4 different rooms & all my photography stuff will also be in one spot. It can’t happen fast enough- seriously!!

So there you have it- my space & how I do it! Where do you blog??

Thank you Diana for having me here today to share.

You can connect with Gina via Blog, Twitter, Google+, Instagram & Pinterest