A TASTE OF THE MIDWEST.

WILLOW RIDGE IN FORT DODGE, IA

Not too long after working with Chef Geoffrey at Cattleman's Steakhouse, I was contacted again and asked if I would like to join them at an event they are holding soon called "A Taste of the Midwest". At this event, the culinary students were assigned to come up with an traditional midwestern style dish or dessert, and create it into a small portion size for the event goers to taste. After trying each different dish, visitors were then asked to vote for their favorite. This event was very lively, had I had a lot of fun visiting with the culinary students and seeing all their unique creations.

After taking photos at Cattleman's, I felt much more confident walking into Willow Ridge for this event, however, I was still faced with a few challenges such as bad lighting and a very crowded dinning room. I persevered however, and had another great experience working with the culinary team. All of the culinary students made me feel very welcomed in their space, and got to know me while I was there. They made the experience very positive for me, and made it much easier to get over the pressure of working with a subject matter and I am not the most experienced with. And because of the friendly staff and students I feel that I was able to learn and experiment in this type of photography very freely, and the positive comments from other about the images I took for them made me feel that my time working with them was very valued. In the future, I will be very excited to continue my relationship with Chef Geoffrey and his culinary team.