Smash Bash

Ready for the weekend? Wether you are looking to porch sit with your sweetie or throw an all out party, the Indie Shopography curated Crafted Taste “Smash Bash” cocktail kit is the perfect way to get your weekend going!

A few months ago our good friends at Indie Shopography asked us to team up with them to visually showcase the cocktail curation and design they were doing with the subscription cocktail service, Crafted Taste. Susan got right on it and knocked it out with her styling by creating the perfect setting and finding goods from some of our favorite makers, Alabama Chanin and Heath Ceramics. Not only was it a ton of fun planning and photographing, but at the end of the day we asked some more friends to come over and this Smash Bash really came to life!

blog-smashbash-1blog-smashbash-3

 

 

blog-smashbash-4blog-smashbash-8blog-smashbash-10blog-smashbash-11blog-smashbash-12blog-smashbash-41blog-smashbash-39blog-smashbash-27

that’s fashion smash

A smash variation of the Old Fashion.

1/8 orange
2 cherries
1/2 shot of simple syrup 1/3 cup of bourbon
1 mint leaf
Nugget ice

Put in orange, cherries, and simple syrup. Muddle well. Fill cup with ice and pour in booze.

Using mixing tin, swish contents of the glass from mixing tin back to the glass 2 or 3 times. Pour back in glass.

Rub mint leaf around the rim of a short glass. Top with more ice until full, garnish, and enjoy.

blog-smashbash-15blog-smashbash-16

blog-smashbash-17blog-smashbash-18blog-smashbash-21blog-smashbash-22

blog-smashbash-28

whiskey smash

A smash classic.

8 mint leaves
1/4 lemon
1/2 shot of simple syrup 1/3 cup of bourbon Nugget ice

Place mint, lemon, and syrup in a short glass. Muddle well.

Fill cup with ice and pour in booze.

Using mixing tin, swish contents of the glass from mixing tin back to the glass 2 or 3 times. Pour back in glass.

Top with more ice until full, garnish, and enjoy.

Note: Substitute peach for the lemon for another yum- my treat.

blog-smashbash-30blog-smashbash-31blog-smashbash-51

bocce smash

Because this combo just feels a little “Downton Abbey,” and pairs great with Bocce Ball.

1/2 plum
Rosemary leaves
1/2 shot of ginger syrup 1/3 cup of gin
Nugget ice

Place plum, rosemary, and syrup in a short glass. Mud- dle well.

Fill cup with ice and pour in booze.

Using mixing tin, swish contents of the glass from mixing tin back to the glass 2 or 3 times. Pour back in glass.

Top with more ice until full, garnish, and enjoy.

blog-smashbash-44blog-smashbash-45blog-smashbash-46blog-smashbash-52blog-smashbash-35blog-smashbash-34blog-smashbash-36blog-smashbash-49blog-smashbash-50blog-smashbash-56blog-smashbash-57Huge Thanks to Emily, David and Kris at Indie Shopography for introducing us to the Smash Bach a few summers ago and for the super fun collaboration!

throw your own smash bash

Smash Bashes are about experimenting. Fill a table with sliced fruit, bundles of herbs, and a few bottles of simple syrup, flavored ones if you want to get fancy!

Here are the other tools you’ll need:

• cutting board
• small knife
• mixing tin

• muddler
• bar spoon
• shot glass
• lots of high ball glasses (or small mason jars)

The point is that it’s not supposed to be fussy. Everyone makes their own cocktails, experiment- ing with flavors and combinations. You can even pass them around and vote on the best creation!

Want some help from your guests? Ask them to bring their favorite bottle of booze, while you provide the ice and assortment of fruits, syrups, and herbs.

symple syrup

1 cup water 1 cup sugar

Put water and sugar into a pot, and heat over medium heat just until sugar is melted. Cool.

Note 1: traditionally regular white sugar is used for simple syrup, but you can also use raw sugar or honey for the same effect.

Note 2: Making syrup on the fly and need it quick? Reduce the amount of water by about 1/4 cup, continue as instructed, and after sugar is melted, throw in a healthy handful of ice to cool it down quickly.

Marisa & Matt Wedding

Marisa and Matt’s downtown Florence wedding had all of the elegance you could hope for without any of the fuss. Both the Bride and Groom are working artists (Marisa started Scout By Two a leather goods company and Matt is the lead singer in the band Belle Adair) so we knew working with them would be a fun collaboration. Marisa has such a clean cohesive look in her work and it translated into their beautiful garden wedding seamlessly. Susan and I were also super excited when Marisa asked about the possibility of us photographing the wedding with film. We had been shooting film photographs at weddings over the past year or two, but not the entire wedding, so it was both a thrill and a bit scarry. The wedding day was a perfect fall day as the late afternoon ceremony gave way to the reception at 116 Mobile, just a two block walk through the streets of downtown Florence.

M&M-blog-001 M&M-blog-004 M&M-blog-006 M&M-blog-019M&M-blog-018M&M-blog-022M&M-blog-014 M&M-blog-023 M&M-blog-029 M&M-blog-030 M&M-blog-053M&M-blog-066M&M-blog-063
M&M-blog-052M&M-blog-083M&M-blog-071M&M-blog-109 M&M-blog-074 M&M-blog-075M&M-blog-073 M&M-blog-079M&M-blog-058 M&M-blog-087M&M-blog-055M&M-blog-057

M&M-blog-112M&M-blog-096 M&M-blog-097 M&M-blog-105 M&M-blog-116 M&M-blog-135 M&M-blog-144M&M-blog-149 M&M-blog-150 M&M-blog-154 M&M-blog-158 M&M-blog-159 M&M-blog-165 M&M-blog-161M&M-blog-171 M&M-blog-172 M&M-blog-176 M&M-blog-188 M&M-blog-195 M&M-blog-196 M&M-blog-199 M&M-blog-208 M&M-blog-209 M&M-blog-214 M&M-blog-216 M&M-blog-220 M&M-blog-235M&M-blog-230 M&M-blog-251 M&M-blog-259 M&M-blog-260 M&M-blog-267 M&M-blog-275M&M-blog-283 M&M-blog-337 M&M-blog-345

Indie Film Lab Shindig

Earlier this month we got the chance to go visit our awesome lab, Indie Film Lab, in Montgomery. I feel rather lucky that we have such a fantastic lab right here in Alabama! The Shindig was a great chance to meet the folks at the lab, see the equipment, ask geeky scanner questions, and meet a bunch of fellow film photographers from all over the country. One of Indie Film Labs most well known clients, Ryan Muirhead, talked us through his process of shooting and gave a walkabout demonstration. It was inspiring to watch him engage with the light. After the demonstration all of us got to know each other, did tons of portraits around the courtyard, and enjoyed a delicious low country boil.

blog-indiefilm-001 blog-indiefilm-002 blog-indiefilm-003 blog-indiefilm-004 blog-indiefilm-005 blog-indiefilm-006 blog-indiefilm-007
blog-indiefilm-009 blog-indiefilm-010 blog-indiefilm-011 blog-indiefilm-012 blog-indiefilm-013 blog-indiefilm-015 blog-indiefilm-016 blog-indiefilm-017 blog-indiefilm-018 blog-indiefilm-019 blog-indiefilm-020 blog-indiefilm-021 blog-indiefilm-022 blog-indiefilm-023 blog-indiefilm-024 blog-indiefilm-025 blog-indiefilm-026 blog-indiefilm-027 blog-indiefilm-028 blog-indiefilm-029 blog-indiefilm-032 blog-indiefilm-034 blog-indiefilm-035 blog-indiefilm-036 blog-indiefilm-037blog-indiefilm-030blog-indiefilm-031 blog-indiefilm-038 blog-indiefilm-039 blog-indiefilm-040

How we accidentally bought the camera of our dreams and became film photographers…again

Susan and I were very fortunate to have some great friends from here in Alabama who were working in Germany last year and invited us to come visit! We decided to take an old medium format film camera along for the fun of it! Shooting film again was great, but all the architecture was so big and tall and the streets so narrow, we needed a wide angle lens, bad!

We decided to look for one on the second leg of our trip, in Paris! Thankfully, Susan had a friend living there who hooked us up with an awesome place to stay! On our first day in the city we found the camera district. With about 20 camera shops within a two block radius, we were in heaven! We found a medium format camera store and sure enough, a wide angle lens to fit the Bronica 645, 80 euros was even a great price! We spoke no French, but the lady at the store spoke enough English to verify the price and make the transaction. After signing the card receipt I looked at the price and it was 800 Euros! That can’t be right I thought. I talked to the owner and he verified the price and explained to me that he could not give me a refund on a credit card and that they were leaving for lunch for an hour or two. We had just paid 4 times more for one lens than we had for the camera and lens in the states. After getting shown the door and freaking out a little, we found a cafe around the corner to try to figure out what to do about our overpriced lens and our newly blown budget! Susan mentioned that she had seen a used Contax 645, which is a camera some of our favorite photographers use. Maybe they will take the lens back on trade for the camera, she suggested. After a quick search on ebay, we discovered the price on the Contax was far less than in The States. I know the folks at the camera store thought we were crazy Americans, but thankfully, they let us trade the lens in on the camera.

We shot so much film for the rest of our trip in Paris and in the French Countryside and discovered how much fun photography was all over again. Shooting film forced us to slow down, compose, see, and best of all think! You cant just fire frames off like digital because every frame means something and costs something. It has even helped us become better photographers when shooting digital, because the same principals we re-learned shooting film, apply to digital as well.

Since we have gotten back to the states we have had fun incorporating shooting film into our work and using it in certain situations or on special projects. Here are a few shots from France, photographed with the amazing camera we didn’t even mean to buy.

blog1-1 blog1-2 blog1-3 blog1-4 blog1-6 blog1-7 blog1-8 blog1-9 blog1-5blog1-10 blog1-11 blog1-13blog1-14 blog1-15 blog1-12blog1-16 blog1-17 blog1-18 blog1-19 blog1-20 blog1-21 blog1-22 blog1-23 blog1-24 blog1-25