Food Photography
I am not a food photographer. In September 2014 I produced and photographed a fashion shoot with the theme, "The Perfect Date." This shoot was a spin from a shoot I had done a year prior entitled, "The Perfect Picnic." Both shoots incorporated fashion and incorporated food. The food was just one small accessory to the shoots. Both shoots were fun. Other than that, when food has made an appearance in my work it is been brief.
In 2013 I filmed a photographed a Pop-Up Restaurant that took place a few blocks up from my studio. There I met Chefs Jeremy Kean and Philip Kruta. Together they own "Whisk," a pop based restaurant. One of my photographs of Jeremy from the night of "Deposit," the first pop I filmed, was featured on Guy Fiery's show, "Guy's Grocery Games." Later that year, in December I went to their small pop-up restaurant in the North End of Boston. The food was incredible. I tried a few things I hadn't before, such as black squid ink pasta and a sort of beet dish. Prior to that night I had never liked beets. How they prepared it changed my perception of beets. I was hooked on their food. Shortly after they closed their pop-up in the North End, they opened up another restaurant that I had never tried.
This past Friday night I went to their latest pop-up Restaurant, "Whisk at Fazenda." Located in Jamaica Plain, within a cafe, with plans to expand, this pop-up has been the culmination of their careers, as how I see it. I met with my friend and visual artist colleague Chris Davis. Chris is a super talented designer that I met when I attended the Art Institute of Boston for a short period of time. Recently Chris produced a new logo for me. I was in the middle of a visual rebranding and he was responsible for the new logo that is being attached to everything that gets mailed out, featured, shot, whatever I can put it on basically. I invited him to join me.
I must admit, the following photos were shot at the table with my iPhone 6. In addition, that was the first meal I had physically eaten in 4 days. Yes, that is right, first bites of food eaten in 4 days. Before you call me crazy, let me quickly explain. On Sunday I had watched a doc, "Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead." The gist of it, he was sick, over weight, almost dead. He embarked on a 60 day course of drinking just juice. He lost the equivalent of a small human being, in terms of weight, stopped taking drugs that were prescribed to him, and became healthy. His work inspired people that he met along the way. As I watched, I said, wow, what a way to become healthier and lose weight. I figured, Ill give that a try. So I did. I set a goal and began working on it. I knew that I was scheduled to eat dinner on Friday night, so I figured that would be the only meal I would have and until then and after then I would keep a strict regiment of fruits and vegetables.
By the time I sat down to dinner I was starving. My brain knew food was about to be introduced into the body, well prepared fine dinning. I was beyond ecstatic. I chose the pescetarian option. It was a no meat but fish 5 course dinner. It was incredible. I am going to spare you the boring, wanna-be food critic breakdown of each dish and allow you to enjoy the photos.
NOTE: I am traveling to the Pacific Northwest at the end of February. I will be producing some travel photography work while we navigate around a few different cities in that region. In addition to the travel photography, I am going to be starting a personal project. When I return I will be sharing the details along with some of the images from the personal project. I am very excited for this project and I hope that you enjoy reading the photographs as much as I will be making them.
Editorial Photography: Feature
In October I received a request for photographs of Holyoke to be featured in Land Lines, a publication put out quarterly by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. I have a studio in Holyoke, a post-industrial city with a sea of mill buildings. My studio is situated almost directly in the middle of Boston and New York City. I have spent a lot of time making photographs in Holyoke. While I have featured the tear sheets on my website, I wanted to also post them here.
Bottom image, view of canal, mill buildings, river.
All the photographs that are featured in the article are aerial images of the city. I flew in a helicopter to produce the images. It was my second time flying in a helicopter for an aerial shoot. I would jump into a helicopter any given chance. On this particular shoot I had a friend accompany me. It was a lot of fun because our pilot was very skillful at flying. At one point she turned the machine at almost a 90 degree angle to give me a complete downward view over a landmark. Fun times.
Portrait Photography: Pregnancy Progress
Debra is a friend of mine. I met her through her husband Aaron. Aaron and I connected when I came back from Boston in 2009. Him and I co-produced a photography project, Yoga in Unusual Spaced. Since then Aaron and Debra have been a subject in front of the camera dozens of times throughout the growth of his political career and the expansion of his family. When Aaron and Debra found out they were pregnant, I was the first person to find out after Aaron. For months they did not tell friends or family, all while Debra was coming into the studio once a month to be photographed. The year before Debra had seen a progression series I had worked on for another client. She was so impressed that she asked me if we could do one for her.
We spent a few days emailing and discussing some options for the styling of the shoots. She had an idea from a magazine and I had a few ideas of my own. Debra, being a former Rockette, was drawn to dance pose that I found. I really liked a pose that she had found. We ended up producing a pose that was a combination of a few different variations of what we had for inspiration. This being the second progression that I was producing, I had come up with a set of rules that would allow me to reproduce the same pose with ease every time Debra came in. There are subtle changes that you can see, but each shoot resulted in the same pose, but with the obvious change, the development of their baby.
Pregnancy Progress
I am eager to produce another progression series. Email me, call me, beep me, snail mail me, and we can produce a progression shoot.
Portraits: Headshots and Fashion
Every so often someone will tag in a Facebook status or connect me with someone I am not friends with that has posted "I need a photographer." Kim posted a status that she need a photographer for head shots for her business that she launched. Kim is as comfortable in front of the camera as she is behind the camera. She has commercial modeling experience and was excited to work with me. A client of mine connected us. We began discussing her needs and then started discussing incorporating some fashion into the shoot.
Kim needed some new headshots for her makeup business that she launched. She wanted to feature the photos online, business cards, and social media. Her face is her brand. Below are a few shots that I delivered to Kim.
I went through some saved images, work that I liked and found inspiring, you know a mood board and sent them along to Kim. For this portion of the shoot I wanted things to be simple. I wanted the photographs to be more commercial, ad based work. There are a few photos not posted here that are on my website and within the print promo that is being delivered to some special recipients this week.
Travel Photography: Charleston South Carolina
Charleston embodies the south and southern living. There is a rich history that can be seen, tasted, heard, and enjoyed in all parts of the city. I am spoiled, as we all are, by such travel shows like Guy Fiery's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Such shows are as entertaining as they are informative. My wife and I have made a point that when we travel, we are going to eat at the places we see on Guy's show. This trip to Charleston, we had neglected to think of doing that, probably because that was before we became obsessed with his show. We did however get a chance to try a well known restaurant, Poogan's Porch.
A culture can not exist without its people. People are the creative force that designs the food, art, and music that make up each region of the world. When I photograph someone I have an instant connection with them as well as I can understand them better. This is irregardless of age, race, or gender. The same can also be said for when I photograph the places I travel to. I try to experience the music, food, architecture, and art as best as I can. One of the things I fell in love with is the rich, vibrant, saturated colors of the buildings. The colors reminded me of Bermuda and some regions of the Bahamas, bright.
Whats better than food and art? music. Country music all sounds the same, just like a lot of other styles of music. But there are some artists that embody the places around them and become an element of that region by the sounds they create. One of the best ways to absorb the sounds of an area, get very close, so close that you can feel the tones, the sounds, each strum of the guitar or hear the sound of the singers lips opening and closing. Get close and take it in.
The area around Charleston is just as beautiful. We rented a car and made a point to visit Angel Oak. I am pretty sure the tree is older than the dirt that its roots are firmly planted in. Other things that come out of the ground are vegetables. Colorful, beautiful, natural vegetables. Crossing the bridge from Charleston we headed towards Sullivan's Island. Along the way we stumbled upon a farmers market that was part of a larger fair.
The south is known for a few things, BBQ is one of them. I wanted to find something authentic. I am not sure where we stopped, Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ, was authentic, but it was pretty damn good.
Charleston is a wonderful place to visit. For New Years eve I wanted to take a trip, like we have done in the past, but due to some work related events, we couldn't take the time away. When I had suggested the idea, I suggested Charleston. When you find something someplace that inspires you to go back, you go back. My wife had said why go back when we could have gone some where else. Charleston I know, there was a great Thai restaurant that I would love to get back to again and for a holiday trip, a few days away, Charleston is the perfect destination.
Happy New Year: 2016 and promo
I wanted to wish a warm and happy new year to all my friends, family, clients past, present, and future. In 2016 I am looking forward to some new work and big business changes.
Next week a promo will be dropping to some potential clients. I have been working on some new ideas, new work, and have a new trajectory for my photography. The photo below is from part of the promo kit that will be dropping.
2015 was a great year. I made some new friends, new connections, had some fun shoots, and most importantly got married. Second to getting married, we traveled. Below are 4 photos that are from Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome.
Paris, France
Venice, Italy
Travel Friend, Florence, Italy
Caught, Rome, Italy
2016 is going to bring more travel. I am looking forward to landing in the Pacific Northwest in February, seeing Portland, Seattle, and Canon Beach. I want to travel for leisure, pleasure, and work. Between the work, I want to enjoy the places I travel to. The world is smaller than we think, yet bigger than we could expect. I have never been one for "resolutions." I am however one for setting goals and accomplishing them. To all my friends, family, clients past, present, and future, I want to wish you all a safe, happy, and prosperous new year. I hope that you accomplish all that you set out to do.