It’s time for another edition of Creative Babes! This time, we’re talking to , an awesome photographer, baker, and beer enthusiast (some of my favorite things!) I interviewed Mary about all of her varying creative interests. And she shared some photos of her baked items that look truly delicious. Enjoy reading the full interview below!

When and why did you first get started with photography?

I bought my first camera when I was about halfway through college and really struggled with finding my own style…and really just learning to operate it. I tried practicing for the first couple of months I had it but nothing really clicked.

It wasn’t until I was in my last year of law school (about a year and a half ago) when I started to teach myself how to bake desserts as a stress reliever that I sat down and tried to figure out how to use my camera. Essentially, I was trying to make my sweet treats look as amazing as the pins on my .

I was really surprised with how much my friends and family loved my shots! But for their encouragement, I probably would have even thought of putting my work out for the public to see, let alone launch my own photography business.

What are your favorite things to photograph?

Originally I only shot still life: flowers, landscape, and food…mainly dessert. I am so fortunate that many of my clients are chefs or small business owners, so my bread and butter is sometimes photographing bread and butter!

However, in recent months, I challenged myself to start shooting outdoors and experiment with portraiture. Surprisingly, I have really grown to love it!

I have been commissioned for several portrait photo shoots and love to see women who might not think they are photogenic begin to beam when I show them the finished images and they see how beautiful they are. I am not photoshopping 5 pounds out of the picture or giving them luscious hair extensions, so I think it’s amazing to show people how candidly and naturally radiant they are.

From where do you draw creative inspiration?

Instagram! It is truly amazing to see other foodies and photographers from around the world share their creative and beautiful work. The talent out there is mind-blowing and a constant source of inspiration for the next dish I want to learn how to cook or the next type of editing style I want to learn. Instagram has also been a great social tool for me to connect with other local foodies, bloggers, and photographers. I have met several people who ended up being amazing mentors and friends (shout out to Tra of Two Twenty Photos and Dave of Dave Shilling Photography).

Do you have any other creative hobbies?

I have a tendency to keep busy! Aside from baking and photographing, I picked up the ukulele last year. I never really stuck it out with a musical instrument before (flute, clarinet, guitar…) but I have found the ukulele to be extremely easy to learn!

I also have a monthly food column for a local Sacramento lifestyle blog called and am a contributor/photog for Beers in Sac.

What is your favorite dessert item that you’ve ever baked?

It’s actually a tie between mini macarons and baked Alaska, both of which I made for the first time recently. The mini macarons were such a feat since there are so many opportunities to mess up during the recipe! If you use eggs at the wrong temperature or over fold the batter too many times you can end up with a culinary disaster.

The baked Alaska was delicious, but probably the scariest thing I have ever made. I basically had to bake ice cream insulated by cake and meringue at my oven’s highest temperature (500 degrees). I am still not sure whether it was science or mere magic that my oven didn’t explode, let alone the ice cream melt!

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Thanks so much to Mary for being an awesome Creative Babe! I don’t know about you all, but I’m super hungry for desserts now. If you enjoyed this interview too, please be sure to visit and follow along with her on and !

And if any of you would like to be a part of this feature in the future, please feel free to leave a comment or email me at wattlebirddesigns at gmail dot com.