The Bakery

 We skipped breakfast this morning because our first shoot of the day was at a bakery where we would be sampling some of their treats after having a chance to photograph them making the goods sold in their store.  Santa Caterina Baker is housed in a former nunnery where at one time the novices would live and work making baked goods.  Today it is privately owned and operated and is one of the more popular bakeries in the city.

We broke into groups to take photos of the items being made for the store.  We had two different areas to work in, one for the filled baked goods and the other where a chef was forming marzipan fruit and painting it in realistic, edible colors.  They work very quickly but slowed down for our group to take pictures.  











After the shoot we got to choose items to sample before we left.  Some of our group toured the adjoining church while a few of us visited to old kitchen and the giant nativity.  The kitchen was up some back stairs and still looks like it did when it served as the main kitchen for the convent and bakery.  On our way out they asked if we wanted to see the nativity.  This was a room that housed two giant nativities.  The detail on them was truly amazing with one even having Mary rocking the baby Jesus through some kind of electronic motor.












We also had the opportunity to take portraits of the owner and her mother and also our guide and her two brothers.




We had a break for lunch followed by our first class with Joe.  He had arranged three models for our group to work with.  I have to say this was not my finest work but it was good practice for the rest of the trip.

A large group of us dined al fresco in a little sidewalk cafe just a few feet from our hotel.  I think this was my first meal that didn't have a pasta course!  I sampled the swordfish with a nice cooked tomato puree for a topping.  Delicious...

Tomorrow: A puppet show





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