The summer heat enveloped Natchez on one of the city’s warmest summer days.

It was late August, and the proverbial egg on the sidewalk perhaps really would have fried in the noontime sun.

But at Karry Hosford’s South Commerce Street house, Christmas was in the air. Decorations adorned her handsome dining room table, and holiday foods filled the kitchen with familiar aromas. Only one thing was missing, she said.

&uot;I have searched everywhere for cranberries. I have even been to Baton Rouge to five stores to look for cranberries, and there are none,&uot; said Hosford, whose work as a professional photographer for food magazines and cook books keeps her seasons in constant disarray.

With enough time before deadline, she might have called the Cranberry Council, Hosford said. But her work must be done in only a few days this time, leaving her to improvise.

&uot;Food photography is different,&uot; she said. &uot;You have to have a thing for it.&uot;

Hosford’s story begins in Walla Walla, Wash., the small town where she grew up. Few people ate in restaurants there, and food was ordinary family fare, she said.

When she entered the University of Washington in Seattle, however, a new world opened to her. &uot;There were Asian, Greek, Japanese restaurants, anything you could imagine, all near the school,&uot; she said. &uot;I loved seeing all these different types of foods.&uot;

She was hooked. Majoring in biochemistry, she found more satisfaction in experimenting with food than in the science lab.

&uot;I started watching Martha Stewart on television. I started buying the magazine,&uot; Hosford said. &uot;I began to give dinner parties, and everything had to be just perfect.&uot;

To the amazement of her parents, Hosford decided to attend culinary school, first going for six months to the Seattle Art Institute. &uot;My parents thought I was crazy,&uot; she said.

She checked out other culinary schools, choosing Johnson and Wales at Charleston, S.C., one of the top ones in the country. &uot;I had always been fascinated with the South,&uot; she said. &uot;I sold my motorcycle to pay for my moving expenses.&uot;

At culinary school, she met her husband, Doug. Together, they completed the two-year course and married soon after graduation. Already the future was clear, Karry said. He loved being a chef. She, on the other hand, would be a food photographer.

Self-taught as a photographer, she began to take pictures of foods prepared during classes at Johnson and Wales. Not only did she enjoy that, but also classmates began to encourage her and ask her to make photographs for their portfolios.

She remembers a big plate of hors d’oeuvres she and her partner prepared for a class. &uot;I started taking pictures. I brought in backdrops. My chef said, ‘you really should do food photography.’ It clicked.&uot;

The magazine Cooking Light hired her immediately following graduation. &uot;We moved to Birmingham.&uot;

With her husband working as a chef at a hotel and then at a large country club, the couple saw little of each other during their time in Birmingham.

&uot;I had to be at work at 7 in the morning, pull plates and other props for a taste testing at 11. I finished work at 2:30,&uot; she said. Doug worked nights. &uot;He went to work at 3 in the afternoon. We had completely opposite schedules.&uot;

Finally, the Hosfords decided to look for a small town where they could own their own businesses. They chose Natchez, where Doug caters and teaches cooking classes and she works as a freelance food photographer for several magazines.

Together, they have worked on cookbooks and look forward to more.

&uot;We promote ourselves as a package. We’re a team. Usually, Doug does the cooking,&uot; she said. She does the styling and staging as well as the photography. She showed off recent work, a cover shot for the holiday issue of Low Carb Energy magazine, featuring chocolate pie, fudge and chocolate mocha custard and pudding.

She regularly shoots for Diet Fitness magazine, managing her work from an office and studio in downtown Natchez. &uot;It’s all e-mail and telephone,&uot; she said.

Expanding her work to other venues always is on her mind, and some interesting possibilities lie ahead, she said.

Meantime, her parents have come around, recognizing that she has chosen a profession that suits her talents. &uot;They love to come to Natchez and love this new lifestyle we have,&uot; she said. They also come to see two young grandsons, who are flourishing in the Natchez environment, Hosford said.

Gourmet foods, elegantly prepared, are the norm in the Hosford household. It is their work. But after all of that, Karry Hosford is quick to name her own favorite food.

&uot;No doubt about it. It’s my mom’s corned beef and cabbage. It’s the best,&uot; she said.