We are Sarah and Andrea – lovers of food, photography, & life. We are reaching beyond the flavor to capture the stories behind meals shared at the tables of local chefs, farmers, bakers, and food enthusiasts, because we believe that recipes are deeper than the ingredients used to prepare them. This project has been an independent dream for each of us over the past couple of years. After several lunches, many glasses of wine, long hikes with our dogs and an inspiring trip to New Orleans with our husbands, we took the leap and combined our two visions to create this delicious collaboration. We love working together, and are thrilled to finally share our new project with you.
We are so happy that you are here! Sit back and enjoy the stories behind the meals that fill our town. This is just the beginning.
Sarah Cramer Shields
Sarah specializes in environmental portraiture. Her focus is documenting the creator behind the meal with honest, accurate portraits. Her passion for food and stories stems from a life filled with exposure to food and travel. She credits her parents for planting these seeds.
She has been in Charlottesville for the past eleven years, where she spends her days documenting people, creating in the kitchen, working on their old house and living life well with her husband, Matt, and their two dogs Charley and Crosby. Earning dual degrees in Fine Art Photography and Anthropology was a natural extension of her passion for understanding people and making beautiful images.
Her studio, Cramer Photo, is located on the downtown Mall above Christian’s Pizza. She has been documenting people professionally for the past 7 years and she lives to tell stories with her photographs.
What is your favorite ingredient?
Fresh Parmigiano Reggiano, lemon, olive oil, garlic, and fresh tomatoes.
What is your favorite family recipe?
Too many to pick! I am so thankful that meal time was a huge part of my upbringing. My parents are wonderful cooks and always allowed me to participate in the kitchen.
Are you savory or sweet?
SAVORY!
What are your favorite condiments?
Mustard, onions, and honey. Not together. They just tend to be my favorite additions to meals.
What is your favorite cooking gadget?
Wine opener? Just kidding. I love my Microplane zester for my fresh Parmigiano Reggiano and lemons.
What is your favorite music to listen to while you’re cooking?
Bossa nova. I love to cook with all the windows and doors open, the music blasting and yummy smells coming from my house. I like to pretend I’m in Bora Bora, with a breeze blowing through my entire house on the water with waves crashing in the distance. Oh yeah.
Andrea Hubbell
Andrea specializes in interior, lifestyle and culinary photography. Her focus is to document the process of preparing the meals for Beyond the Flavor, and to create portraits of the finished dish in the environment in which it is most often enjoyed. With a background and education in architectural design, Andrea has cultivated an appreciation for form, space, composition and color that is present in every image she creates. Her love for photography she credits to her daddy; her passion for food to her momma and step-father, Joe.
She believes that sharing food is a way of sharing love. Some of the best moments of Andrea’s life have been spent around a table with her favorite people, eating and listening to their stories. She had a camera in her hand from an early age, but it was the creation of her recipe blog, Bella Eats, that sparked a passion for food photography in 2008 and led to the launch of Andrea Hubbell Photography in 2010.
When not behind the camera, in the kitchen, or texting Sarah, Andrea enjoys collaborating with her husband, Brian, on design and house projects and loving on their pups, Hank + Lucy.
What is your favorite ingredient?
Lemons! I will add lemon zest to pretty much anything. Other loves: garlic, quality goat cheese, and pork.
What’s your favorite family recipe?
Goodness…this is tough! I love my momma’s macaroni + cheese. We have a favorite chocolate cake that I make for Brian’s birthday every year. And orange danishes…oh orange danishes. They take me straight back to my childhood.
Are you savory or sweet?
SWEET!
What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to food?
Cake! I love, love, love cake. Also, Cheez-its. I just can’t help myself.
What is your favorite cooking gadget?
I would be lost without my Kitchenaid stand mixer.
Friends are coming over for a last minute dinner party, what do you cook?
The tomato and goat cheese tart pictured above (if summer…veggies vary by season), an arugula salad with lemon olive oil + fresh Parmigiano Reggiano, and dessert! I love dessert. Go-to quick favorites are a simple almond cake, berry cobbler, and lemon buttermilk cookies.