NATURAL LIGHT & NATURAL FOOD photography workshop- Summer 2010
As the world of photography grows increasingly technical, from high resolution megapixels to sophisticated processing software, I asked my friend Tim Clinch, professional food photographer, just how does he make the beautiful pictures he takes a Camont look so natural, so true?
Look at this cutting board of charcuterie and radishes from the potager. shot on my terrace table, under the dappled light of the grape vines, Tim captures the texture and tastes of my Gascon Kitchen like no one else. Tim says, “it’s not the camera, but what’s before the camera that counts.”
I often say something similar about cooking in this 17th century kitchen- “It’s not about the equipment!” For example, a whisk and a copper bowl will do what an expensive food processor can do; a sharp knife and a sure hand will slice as thinly as a professional mandolin. So I knew we had made our match– Tim Clinch’s natural way of photographing paired with the delicious natural food I cook. Using only available light and good edible food, we offer food photography fans the first Natural Light & Natural Food styling & photography workshop.
In a special on-site workshop at Camont in Southwest France, using only natural light, internationally-renowned interior and food photographer Tim Clinch demonstrates to a small group of students how to get the most out of what is in front of your camera- the Natural Light way. Natural Light & Natural Food is a collaborative workshop in which Tim and Kate each share their well-honed approach to food styling and photography in a 5-day workshop at Camont: Kate Hill’s Gascon Kitchen in Southwest France.
Camont is the creative site, a food photographer’s dream, where Hill teaches workshops on the traditional and local cuisine at her 17th Century French farmhouse. Since their first collaboration in 2000 for Food & Wine magazine, Tim and Kate have partnered at Camont to produce articles, books and commercial work exploring cooking at its source in Gascony. Now you can work alongside them to learn how to cook beautiful food and then photograph it beautifully, and naturally.
Natural Light & Natural Food- styling & photography workshops
Two-day Weekend and Five-day workshops feature daily classes that focus on: learning the natural approach to food photography without artificial lights, using reflectors and tripods instead of harsh electronic flash, cooking and styling for photography, working on a photo shoot for a major publication, building portfolio content and story development. All work is digital and students will review and post their photographs daily to a dedicated Natural Light & Natural Food Gallery. Of course, Kate’s cooking is done with only local and natural ingredients.
Students will work with their own cameras. Basic materials for classes (food, etc) are provided as well as lunch daily. Workshops are 6 hours per day and begin with cool morning light at 9 a.m. and end at the golden hour 7 p.m. (including a 4-hour break for French lunch, rest, high noon sun). Food photography isn’t only about recipes and ingredients. We’ll take you to our favorite farmers markets in picturesque French village and towns, meeting (and photographing) some of the artisanal food producers.
Natural Light & Natural Food Workshop Fees: Two-day weekend workshop fee- 950€ per person; Five-day workshop fee- 2250€ per person.
Payment by Paypal or Credit Card.
DATES 2010:workshops May 22-24, June 19-24, July 17-21; Fall dates to follow.
Includes: Daily 6-hour workshop sessions, all material for photo assignments including external hard drive and software for processing images, lunch daily, Camont’s Gascon Kitchen location and tuition.
Does not include: your own camera, airfare or other transportation, accommodation ( we are happy to assist you in booking from a wide variety of lodging available- B&B’s to Chateau Hotel) and other meals.
FOR MORE: images and information about the workshops and other Clinch-Hill collaborations please consult www.clinch-hill.com
TO BOOK: kitchen-at-camont (at) email.com
Picture yourself in France
Camp Camont Souvenirs…
From the exotic birds of passage to the broody farmyard hens, many Kitchen Chicks have passed through Camont’s open doors. We invite our friends, former guests and students to send us your favorite Camont souvenirs in words and images.
Camp Cassoulet-Le Frechou Chapolard Tribu Feb ’09
The Fat Duck- a New Year Weekend . Duckfest 2010 . Shaw Island Washington, USA
This is a French fable for foodies…
The Queen of Gascony packs her Fat Duck in a vintage Louis Vuitton knockoff market basket to meet Podchef on his island kingdom in Washington’s Puget Sound. Clad in her Woad Bleu crown, arriving for the end of one decade and the beginning of another, she steps ashore with a three centuries of French cooking savoir-faire to share with New World gastronomes.
A festive start to the New Year with a weekend of good food and fat ducks as I join Neal Foley (le podchef!) at his Shaw Island farm for three days and two nights of good food, conviviality, duck butchery and confit-making. Learn the little secrets taught by French farmwives and their time-honored traditional recipes for preparing and preserving confit de canard, terrine de foie naturale and le Grand Cassoulet, of course!
Jan 1 Friday is New Year’s Day.
- Arrive on Shaw Island by Ferry, enjoy the gentle hospitality of the good Benedictine Sisters’ organic farm and monastic lodging and then join me at Neal Foley’s Kitchen Garden headquarters for a traditional French, super-authentique, Camp Cassoulet class & feast. Pairing red wine and armagnac with cassoulet is a perfect way to start a new decade!
Jan 2 Saturday-
- Morning: Duck Butchery- Podchef leads the how-to workshop on Duck Butchery. A primer for the professional or home chef, come to the farm to learn humane slaughter methods, plucking, eviscerating & processing. This course is for beginners, chefs & cooks who want to know where their food comes from and how to make intelligent food choices.
- Lunch: Neal shares the diversity of his Island farm and Kitchen Garden headquarters as he and Kate orchestrate a winter pique-nique of found and foraged foods.
- Afternoon: Traditional French Confit Making Part 1- The importance of proximity becomes apparent as we work with the fresh carcasses, removing the natural fat livers, learning the meat cuts, then trimming and rendering the fat while learning the nuances of salting and seasoning. Our Rouen ducks, special raised for this workshop are larger and meatier than roasting ducks. Preserving meat by poaching in fat (confit) is the perfect way to showcase that flavor as well as preserve and store them canned at room temperature.
- Dinner- In Gascony we grill the duck carcasses and eat with our fingers- a Gascon version of BBQ ribs called a carcassade! Let me show you how.
Jan. 3 Sunday-
- Morning: Cooking and preserving Confit Part 2- We begin the confit process à la ancienne over an open fire and in a large marmite over the gas tripod. Steam and sizzling sounds permeate the air. Cooking the duck confit to perfection is a slow and patient process. No rushing allowed: stir, stir, rest. When cooked, the tender meat is preserved for pantry storage in its translucent golden fat in glass jars then sterilized.
- Podchef Island Lunch Feast of rillettes, pates, terrines and sausage.
- Afternoon: departure for the mainland with a basket of Duck Delices in hand.
Cost:
Duckfest 2010- $495 per person- 3 days/2 nights (accommodation available- request information)
If you cannot attend the whole 3 days, consider just coming for the special New Year’s Day Camp Cassoulet feast & dinner–only $125 (accomodation extra).
For more information and reservations write us here!
Cooking at the Source- Gascony- November 2009
In collaboration with Robert Reynold’s Chef’s Studio in Portland Oregon.
- Robert Reynolds in his Chef’s Studio
When I hear Robert speak about France, I am transported there– to this land of cheese and wine that he believes in like some believe in Père Noël- passionately, profoundly and wholeheartedly. Forget that I am already here in France, when Robert Reynolds speaks about my own home in Gascony, I listen. And learn. Here, he describes a visit to my own weekly markets in Nerac and Agen. As a Chef and Francophile, Robert captures that Gascon spirit precisely- giddy, proud and lyrical. I recognize the players- the cheese merchant, the baker. I know and understand the tastes, textures and perfume that he describes so carefully of a country that values these characteristics above all in food- taste, texture & perfume. Continuing culinary students, cooks and serious food lovers will discover what Robert describes, a lesson in taste and in cooking at the source of the finest products in Southwest France. Join me for a Chef’s Studio/Kitchen-at-Camont collaboration in continuing education in Gascony.
Cooking at the Source- Gascony.
6 Days – 5 nights in Gascony
November 17-22 & 24-29
AGENDA
DAY 1- Tuesday- Arrive Agen*
Traditional Welcome Dinner at Camont featuring Henri IV’s favorite chicken in a pot or Poule-au-Pot
DAY 2: Wednesday- Tasting Gascony- terroir on our plates
Market at Lavardac
Bread production Original Wood-fired boulangerie- Poudenas
Lunch out at Poudenas- Cafe des Artistes/Chez Gracia
Afternoon touring the armagnac region and tasting
Cooking in the Kitchen-at Camont – Dinner/Class
DAY 3: Thursday – A certain Gascon perfume- Aperitifs to Digestives
Wines of the Great Southwest-
Chateau de la Bastide- an aperitif history of Rose, Ginger and Marie-Antoinette
Lunch out- Auvillar at the clock- L’Horloge
afternoon- tasting Chez M. GROS of his magical Honeysuckle and Pear Eau de Vie
Dinner at Camont – cooking with wine and armagnac class/dinner
DAY 4: Friday- The French Pig and Duck- meet the producers
PIGS- Visit the Chapolard Charcuterie Farm
Ducks- Jehanne Rignault – producer/eleveur of foie gras ducks
Lunch at Jehanne’s Ferme-Auberge de Boué
DAY 5: The fabulous fun, delicious and exciting SATURDAY MARKET at NERAC!
Lunch on your own and open afternoon for shopping in Agen for kitchen supplies, etc.
Dinner at Camont – class/dinner
Day 6: SUNDAY –Last words- a Farm Brunch
Savoury and sweet pastries made with Camont’s own eggs and local butter with friends and neighbors.
Departure** afternoon.
COST: 2000 € (euro) per person. 500€ deposit on booking, balance due no later than Nov 1.
includes: local hotel accommodations, meals cooked at Camont, transport locally, tours and instruction & pick up from train station.
*Arrival via TGV from Paris/Montparnasse on train # 08519- 11:30 am- arrives Agen 15:57
**Departure from Agen on TGV # 08548 14:19- arrives Paris 18:53
