sixty seconds with david reamer

little t's sweet biscuits

2012-02-07T14:39:00.003-08:00

just messing around with the natural light in the studio today before breakfast. gotta love little t's. its as much fun to shoot as it is to eat.

plus i just made 5 new tabletops from scrap wood at salvage works. spent a sum total of $17. i Love that place!

thrift store project pt. 14

2012-02-07T14:36:00.002-08:00

i picked up this little milkmaid (?) recently. this was actually a hard one cause there were lots of different cool angles, so here are two options. haven't decided which i like best.

self portrait

2012-02-07T14:34:00.003-08:00

i'm trying to get better about being in front of the camera. its just not my thing.
chances are, if you see me this winter, i'm gonna be wearing this hat and this sweater...

new Catching the Ox shot

2012-02-07T14:28:00.003-08:00

so this time around i enlisted the help of Bo Baumgartner, husband of one of merediths coworkers. (we sat across form each other at the christmas party!)

The subject we chose was baking, but being a big fan of Instagram, Bo suggested we do our subject in that medium. I'm always up for a challenge, so there you have it. check it out HERE.

and if yer not following me on Instagram.... wtf? get on it.

Wafu Pdx pt.2

2012-02-01T13:05:00.000-08:00

just had to throw in a few more images.....

Wafu Pdx

2012-02-01T12:58:00.000-08:00

i was recently hired by Wafu to document the restaurant: the comings and going, the cooking, eating, drinking, noodle making and everything in between. suffice to say, after just two days of shoot i had over 100 finished images that i was proud of.

here are just a few. check out Wafu for menu, hours etc. then go get a big fat bowl of ramen...

harding & wilson

2012-01-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

if i haven't mentioned it in a while, i love my studio. its a great space with great light and there are some really cool neighbors who i share with. one of the other studios is occupied by 2 dudes, Alex and Peter, who have a clothing company called Harding & Wilson. they are an emerging brand in portland right now, specializing in bow ties and other accessories, but with a few new things on the horizon.

i was killing time the other day and asked if i could poke around their space and snap a few images. here what i can up with. make sure to visit their brand new website with the link above.

new Catching the Ox shot

2012-01-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

i just finished the first catching the ox of 2012. it was a fun wintery one with fellow photog matt h. king. can you guess the subject matter? i'll give you a hint.... it ain't potatoes.

check it out HERE.

thrift store project pt. 13

2012-01-20T16:22:00.001-08:00

with this one, its all in the eyes. a little bit creepy, but certainly mesmerizing. thats why I'm having so much fun with this project. where do these figures come from? who bought this and how did it end up at the goodwill? its gotta be 30 years old at least. these characters definitely have personalities.

good enough to eat

2012-01-20T16:19:00.000-08:00

the purpose of this shot was to capture the 3 amazing textures and flavors found in the simple combination of fresh radishes, whipped butter and sea salt. if you have eaten this, you know what i mean.

radishes

2012-01-20T16:17:00.001-08:00

i happened to have some radishes in the studio from some test shots i was working on so i chose a few to play around with.

the holga goes to the coast

2012-01-18T16:46:00.001-08:00

shooting the mumiya 220

2012-01-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

its been a while, but i haven't given up on the old gal. still love the feel of 26 pounds of photographic steel in my hands. here are some recent film shots:

the old man can make it into the forest okay, but these days sometimes he needs a little help getting out.

im not much for B&W nature photography, so it was a surprise to see these on the contact sheet.

thrift store project pt. 12

2012-01-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

this figure is something I've been holding onto for a while. i tried a bunch of stuff that just didn't work, but I'm pretty happy with this image. i am still having a blast with this project. i think I'm gonna do a few more than maybe turn it into a little book. not sure, still thinking...

if you are unfamiliar with this project, scroll back thru the blog and check out some of the other posts. (hint...there are 11 of them.)

in da New York Times

2012-01-18T16:33:00.003-08:00

so i finally made it into print in the NY times. pretty cool article about Little Bird. you can check out the full article HERE.

sense of humor

2012-01-18T16:28:00.000-08:00

this was a little detail i spotted behind the scenes in a kitchen recently. I'm not saying who's handywork it is, but some might recognize the handwriting...

click on it to see the detail.

toro bravo bowling party

2012-01-16T12:44:00.000-08:00

just when i pulled out my camera to capture some hot bowling action, all the lights went out! bummer. still caught some of the ladies in their sunday evening finery.

downtown houston

2012-01-10T12:56:00.000-08:00

had time to pull out the nikon and shoot one frame out the car window before the skyline was out of view....

anvil bar and refuge

2012-01-10T12:48:00.000-08:00

on our recent trip to Houston, we took some local advice and stopped for a crazy good cocktail at Anvil. the folks were super nice and it was a really cool spot. best Pimms cup I've ever had...

check out January GQ

2012-01-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

i have another image in GQ this month. (this makes 3 times in total!) its a story about bars or liquor or something... i don't know. its got matt damon on the cover. pick one up and check it out.

whats really funny is that i did about 30 minutes worth of retouching to clean up the wood in the top left corner and then they cropped it out. oh well, it was good practice.

one for the cooks

2011-12-13T14:19:00.001-08:00

new woodsman tavern food shots

2011-12-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

hungry yet?

the woodsman market

2011-12-13T14:01:00.001-08:00

i have had the good luck to do all the shooting so far for the woodsman tavern and market. if you haven't been over there, whatcha waiting for, yo? check em out. the food is dope, the drinks are sublime and, lets face it, its a design major's wet dream.

here are some new shots from the freshly opened super bad ass market, offering the best of the best from portland, brooklyn and elsewhere in-between.

clyde common 2011 pt. 2

2011-12-13T13:57:00.001-08:00

heres a few more.

how bad do you want some olives and almonds right now...

clyde common 2011

2011-12-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

there are certain spots around town that i love to shoot at: good light, good people, good food. clyde common is definitely near the top of that list. i hadn't been back to shoot in over a year, so it was time to update the images.

it was a full day of shooting but we got a ton of gorgeous images...

kettleman bagels

2011-12-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

lets face it, we all know kettlemans are the best bagels that portland has ever seen (read: don't fuck that up, Noah's...) and i was recently hired by the designer/owner to shoot all of their spots around town. it actually ended up being a super fun assignment. i got to check out some new spaces and met quite a few cool kids working at the shops. here are just a few of my favorites.

light quality

2011-12-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

i was killing time the other day at woodsman tavern while the kitchen was setting up. i happened to look around and realized the light quality was just too good to pass up...

(i love these shots, and this is exactly why i keep this blog going.)

Happy Turkey Day!

2011-11-30T15:36:00.003-08:00

killing two birds with one stone this year... no pun intended... i decided to have the first ever Holiday session of the Catching the Ox project centered around thanksgiving and featuring the one and only heather hawksford. here were a few of my favorites shots from the day. click HERE to see which one made the cut.

thrift store project pt. 10 & 11

2011-11-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

its been a while since i had the time or focus to shoot one of these, and to be honest i just hand' t been finding any cool characters in my thrift store adventures. then low and behold i found this awesome mod couple yesterday. whats even cooler about them is that they are supposed to be matching bookends, but he lost his stand somewhere along the way, and now just sits in waiting for his lady.

these fellas were something i had picked up a while ago and just held onto. i wasn't sure how i was gonna shoot them and it took a good bit of fiddling around, but i think i got the most out of the subtleties of their expressions. i really spent some time focusing on the little guy's position. the impotence of his gaze is kind of heartbreaking if you look closely.

hopefully more to come soon...

opening night of Interurban

2011-11-22T12:46:00.001-08:00

i got invited up to snap some shots before the door officially opened on the new spot up on mississippi opened by john gotham, dan hart and kurt huffman. gonna be a dope spot for a beer and a snack. check it out soon.

portraits on sauvie island

2011-11-22T12:39:00.000-08:00

owner and paterfamilias of Blue Moon Camera, (and all around awesome dude) Jake Shivey took meredith and i up to sauvie island for some old school 8 x 10 portraits to commemorate our engagement before all the autumn colors faded. i usually hate being on that side of the camera, but it was a great experience.

finding myself in the fine art mood, i snapped a couple of jake and his pup. stay tuned for the finished portraits to hopefully come soon....

bethel heights grape harvest

2011-11-11T14:00:00.001-08:00

over the past year, i have gone out to bethel heights winery in salem to shoot each season. obviously for a winery, the most crucial time of the whole year is harvest. so last week i headed back out to shoot the grape picking and processing. this is something completely new to me, and turned into one of the best shoots of the year. the whole process is pretty amazing. and when the downpour came, i got dumped on. but it was worth it, cause the light after the storm was perfect.

BTW. think yer job is tough? try picking grapes. those dudes don't fuck around.

the holga goes to san francisco

2011-11-11T13:17:00.001-08:00

shootin' at OP

2011-11-11T13:11:00.000-08:00

i love shooting the food, the folks and the space at olympic provisions. recently i was hired to reshoot both spaces. here are some of my faves....

the holga goes to the metolias river

2011-11-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

i have had an amazing run of assignments this fall. grape harvests in Salem, cow slaughters in Joseph and just recently i was hired to spend 2 days in a cabin on the metolias river (with several men of questionable moral fiber), to document their fly fishing trip and a subsequent 6 course meal. it was an amazing trip. the weather was perfect, the fall colors were going crazy, and the food was off the hook. unfortunately, i just found out that this story apparently isn't going to run for a year, so those images - amazing as they are - are going into the vault for a bit.

but here were some holga shots of the amazing fall surroundings.

the woodsman tavern

2011-11-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

i have been doing tons of shooting in preparation for the launch of duane sorensons new restaurant The Woodsman Tavern. lots of my friends and other super cool people work here. go check it out, have a fancy pants cocktail and get some chilled seafood.

the Interurban Mafia

2011-11-11T12:48:00.000-08:00

i was called in to shoot some of the construction at the new restaurant Interurban, opening Nov. 18th up on mississippi.

here are the dudes who deal with outstanding invoices....

2 autumnal images

2011-11-11T12:47:00.001-08:00

getting ready for halloween

2011-11-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

meredith and i took our "little sister" (read: rent-a-kid) Wendy and her little sister Eunice up to Sauvie Island to pick some pumpkins straight from the patch in preparation for halloween. naturally, the holga came along. a good time was had by all.

one more Cover shot

2011-10-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

i got to shoot the cover for the Mercury's Halloween spoof issue. Super cool! - pick one up and check it out.

Portland Monthly 2011 Restaurant Guide

2011-10-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

I just landed my second PoMo cover. Pretty stoked! once again, Big Big thanks to Art Director Mike Novac for pulling off a solid issue (the largest in PoMo history i am told.) its full of lots of great stories so pick one up soon.

some serious photo geek stuff

2011-10-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

so, i am mainly what one might call a "natural light shooter" especially when it comes to food. i will go out of my way in any situation for that shred of nice natural light. but as i expand, i am finding more and more, especially on these short winter days, that sometimes a back up plan is needed. obviously, for me, the goal is to have the strobe lighting perfectly mimic natural light. practice makes perfect and just yesterday i had a bit of a break thru with a slice of meredith's apple pie. . here are two shots. one natural light, one strobed. try to guess which is which.

(see, i told you this was some serious photo geek shit.)

new Catching the Ox

2011-10-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

this session of CTO featured fellow jersey boy (and portland transplant) neil dacosta. i really dug neil's work and when i asked him to be part of the project he had the brilliant idea that we shoot Taylor Ham. never heard of the stuff? sucks for you. better check out the full story HERE.

Saraveza all the way

2011-10-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

I was recently hired to update the images of Saraveza, one of the coolest beer bars in pdx. (especially if yer a green bay fan.) here are some of my faves.

a few more details

2011-10-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

Lynne and her family had a beautiful house full of really cool stuff. here are just a few details i got to capture in between dish shots.

Portrait of the Artist in a Field of Cows

2011-10-07T12:44:00.001-07:00

I like to give credit where credit is due, and as i said, this project couldn't have been accomplished without the dedication and hard work of some seriously good folks. My food stylist, Caroline Ford absolutely killed it! Check her out HERE.

I also had a new and very awesome assistant on the trip named Galvin Collins. Check him out HERE.

One huge benefit of letting your assistant take his own photos on location is that he will often snap some portraits of you. I don't think i could ever say to an assistant "hey, take some photos of me" but I'm sure glad he did.

the holga goes to Eastern Oregon

2011-10-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

now obviously, i can't show you most of the best photos from our trip, but of course the holga came along for a little medium format documentation. Much love to One Eyed Willy and the cast of characters at the Mingo Motel.

Team Pure Beef

2011-10-07T12:28:00.001-07:00

So the other main project that i had in September was shooting the Pure Beef Cookbook out in Joseph Oregon, written by Lynne Sampson Curry. For those of you unfamiliar with Joseph, all you have to do is drive straight to Idaho and then back up 50 feet. (that might be a slight exaggeration, but its Out There, Man.) So myself, Caroline the Food Stylist, Galvin the Assistant and Joshua the Philly Creative Director all saddled up for 4 days in Eastern Oregon.

Everything went amazingly and we got some beautiful images. Although we shot on location at Carmen Ranch, much of the time was spent at Lynne's house where she and Caroline cooked and styled all of the plated dishes. In that time we got to know Lynne's family and of course our shoot mascot, Chloe Kitty, who are all pictured above and below.

I just want to express my gratitude and say a giant thank you to everyone on Team Pure Beef for all their efforts and hard work. (portrait by Galvin Collins)

Po Mo Restaurant Guide 2011

2011-10-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

September was the best photo month I've ever had. Two main projects took up the whole month, the first being the Portland Monthly Restaurant Guide. When the smoke finally cleared, I had done 19 location shoots in 11 days. Now, i can't talk details yet, as everything is still very hush hush, but here are 3 outtakes from undisclosed locales we shot at.

Much love and thanks to Art Director Extrordinaire Mike Novak for the patience, flexibility and creative guidance to make this what is going to be the most kick ass issue ever!!

Look for it on stands in a few weeks.

Kitchen Coquette

2011-10-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

a long time ago in a galaxy far far away (that would be sometime last year in sydney australia) i was contacted by a food writer named Katrina Meynink to participate photographically in a cookbook she was writing called Kitchen Coquette. After waiting and waiting and waiting... last week i finally got a copy in the mail, and its Awesome! They used 5 of my photos - 2 are full page bleeds- as well as submissions from several other photogs.

click HERE to check out Katrina's website and order your very own copy.

the holga goes south

2011-09-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Labor day weekend found meredith, elvis and I as far south as klamath falls (who's town motto, BTW, should be "klamath falls: been there, done that".) we stayed in a great cabin in the southern oregon lakes district which opened up to a huge meadow, and even did a little canoeing around one of the lakes in the shadow of mt. mcloughlin. a fitting end to a full summer.

new catching the ox shot

2011-09-12T10:54:00.001-07:00

i'll tell ya, elvis was a real trooper on this one.

i just uploaded the newest installment of the catching the ox project with a photographer i have know since day one in this town, amaren colosi. it was by far the most conceptual subject, and both pics are top notch.

you can check it out here.

the 2012 Taste Makers

2011-08-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

earlier this week the 2012 Taste Makers calendar hit the shelves. and people went wild! not really, but it was still kinda exciting for me.

working with the 3 wonderful women of Silver Moss Productions was a blast. this was definitely the most involved project i have done in a while and i am super stoked on the final result. i got a giant photo credit, most of my friends are in it, and its a benefit for the oregon food bank, so everyone wins.

click here for more info on buying the calendar for you and all your loved ones.

english lit. geeks of the world unite and take over

2011-08-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

just caught a great show by a great band at a great bar.

last week Run On Sentence played down at Bunk Bar and i was front and center and rockin out waaaaay past my bedtime. check out a live performance here.

the Newspace Retrospective Book

2011-08-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

chris and all the wonderful folks at the Newspace Center just published their first book from all the shows since they first opened.

and since, back in my halcyon days of fine art photography, i guilted them into giving me a show, i have an image in the book. very cool and very exciting.

there are only 250 books printed, so show yer support for the best non profit in pdx and buy a copy here.

what a mess

2011-08-23T12:46:00.001-07:00

so what happens to everything when after 3 days of prepping cooking styling and shooting fish, shrimp, clams, mussels, onion, celery, leeks, bacon, potatoes, broth and homemade croutons you finally get the shot you really wanted?

yer lookin at it.

been workin' like a dog

2011-08-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

well, its been quite a summer. soooo many amazing shoots with great people at fun and fanciful locations. and it ain't over yet. i just finished up a stretch of 13 shoots in 12 days and although i can't show off too much of that right now, if i had to pick a single favorite from all and everything, i'd say this was it. this is Cathy Whims and her cat Cinto. he was a natural.

definitely worth clicking on the image to see the detail...

back out to Bethel Heights

2011-08-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

i just drove back out to the deepest reaches of salem to do some more shooting at bethel heights winery. (i was out there in february doing some winter shots, so this was the summer edition.)

great folks and great wine. snapped these two real quick in the barrel room. thought they were pretty amazing.

the holga goes sailing

2011-08-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

my brother is the proud owner of a 26 foot pearson sailboat. yeah, pretty sweet. (you may have heard the old saying, its better to know someone who owns a boat than it is to own a boat...)

and the folks were in town, so we went out for a monumental day. and , of course, the holga came along.

dinner on Sauvies

2011-08-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

this was probably one of the best assignments i've ever been given. it was for a portland monthly story about some new family suppers up on sauvie island. by coincidence, my good friend jason barwikowski was cooking this dinner, which takes place on wild goose farm. the farm, the host family and the food were all spectacular and made for a great day of shooting. i'd like to post about 40 images, but here are some of my faves. check out the story...on shelves now.

shootin' woo

2011-08-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

i was hired recently for a quick portrait shoot of Natural Selection chef (and all around good guy) aaron woo. NS is a newer all vegetarian restaurant on Alberta Street and it is well worth checking out.

new Catching the Ox shot

2011-07-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

i finally wrangled one of my favorite portland photographers, Leah Nash into joining the CTO family and she brilliantly suggested popsicles. this was a Rough one for me, but quite happy with the final outcome. check out the site to see both images...

the holga enjoys the nice weather

2011-07-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

whether canoeing on Frog Lake in the shadow of Mt Hood, picking berries on Sauvie Island or just cold chillin in the backyard, the holga is never far from reach on the sunny days of summer

happy birthday America!

2011-07-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

this year, we spent the fourth with the toro bravo family. it was a beautiful day and a good time was had by all.

thrift store project pt. 9

2011-06-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

this could possibly be the saddest bear in the whole world. i passed him up on the shelves several times, but kept coming back to him.

cheer up, little buddy. everythings gonna work out.

gotta love that 2nd amendment

2011-06-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

when i showed up to shoot the owners of Olympic Provisions last week (see the "Eat Meat" post) i couldn't help but notice a few of the fellows came strapped, as they say.

turns out they were headed out to scappoose for some good ol fashioned backwoods shotgun shootin. luckily they let me tag along to shoot some photos, and a few guns as well. suffice to say, a good time was had by all. and the shots turned out amazing!

the holga goes to seattle

2011-06-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

recently the missus and i had a chance to spend a few days in seattle. we ate some ridiculously good food at How to Cook a Wolf, Le Pichet, and the Walrus and the Carpenter.

and since i had an afternoon to myself, i decided to hit up the ol' Space Needle, not just for the view but as a mini photo exercise as well.

walt and darcie get married

2011-06-19T12:42:00.001-07:00

so as most folks know, i am not a wedding photographer. i will, however, shoot one wedding a year for whichever friend asks first. (i have shot one wedding a year for the past 5 years.)

i recently shot my good friend and Pine State Biscuit owner Walt Alexander's wedding out a edgefield. it was a beautiful day and everyone had a blast. here are a few of my faves.

the final billboards...

2011-06-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

here are the Bistro Montage and Infinity Tattoo billboards, my final two in an amazing run of 8 billboards for the google hotspot campaign. everyone i worked with at google was tremendously cool and it was a great ride while it lasted. i really hope to have the chance to work with them again in the future.

Eat Meat

2011-06-19T12:31:00.001-07:00

being a (quote unquote) food photographer, i don't get to focus my lens on people as much as i would like, so i always jump at the chance. when the opportunity arises i try to follow one simple rule. whenever possible, just make em look like badass rockstars.

me and my gal

2011-06-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

its not often that i will step around to be in front of the camera. this was snapped for us at walt and darcie's wedding by the one and only brooke lack.

lets get baked!

2011-05-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

while shooting a bakery story for this months portland monthly, i had the honor of shooting (newly Beard Awarded) chef and baker Kim Boyce's amazing baked goods.

i had to wait til the mag hit the stands before i could show these off, but here are my faves.

her book, "Good to the Grain" was shot by one of the most amazing food photographers working to day, the appropriately named Quentin Bacon. pick up a copy. its beautiful.

my very first cover, Nov 2008

2011-05-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

since i've been on a cover kick, i dug this beauty out of the archives. this is actually my first official cover, from November 2008. pdx magazine has since folded, mainly, i think, because the owner was a crook, a liar and a scumbag, but hey. the art director was a really cool guy, i learned alot about editorial shooting while working for them and i scored my first cover to boot.

thrift store project pt. 8

2011-05-31T12:14:00.001-07:00

i picked up this little southern belle a while ago. just pulled her off the shelf to be part of the project. i actually shot her with a blue background for about 2 hours and coundn't seem to get the expression i wanted. so i switched to this red background, took about 5 frames, got tired and called it a day. but i love this one. funny how that works sometimes.

catching up with an old friend

2011-05-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

my buddy dave was in town a few weeks ago and stopped by for a cup of joe on a rainy sunday morning. when he left, i realized we had actually been friends for 20 years. crazy.

time to shave the pig

2011-05-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

here are 2 very varied details from a recent shoot at Ned Ludd. why was i shooting at ned ludd you might ask? keep yer hat on! you will find out soon enough.

the fine and friendly folks at aviary

2011-05-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

okay, here's whatcha do: drive up to alberta st., eat dinner at Aviary, make sure you get the rhubarb tart made with fortune cookie crust for dessert, then call me and say, "Wow. thanks for the recommendation dave. that kicked ass!"

the new studio

2011-05-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

i'm so excited about this space. awesome morning light and its less than 3 miles from my house.

an open letter to Saveur Magazine

2011-05-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

dearest Saveur,

greetings. it seems pretty obvious you would rather not deign to covering the portland food scene. yes, it was nice of you to give us, as a collective city, a quarter page mention a few months ago, blurbing on one of our finest french restaurants in the same breath as (an amazing) thai food cart as well as sundry others.

well, i dont know if you have heard of a little something called the james beard awards, but portland just took 4 of them. here are three of the recipients:

i don't mean to sound aggressive, but lets face it. since Gourmet folded, you are the best game in town.

so whata say, Saveur. get on board. GQ loves us, Details loves us, Food and Wine loves us, and the New York Times....well lets face it, they mean well but they kind of have this whole Single White Female thing going on right now (reel it in NYT, reel it in.)

so be our guest. fly on out here, meet our fine folks, enjoy our food , and then hire me to shoot it!

thank you and bon appetit,

sincerely DLR

more for the OX

2011-05-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

just finished up another catching the ox project with local portland photographer daniel cronin. this time around, the subject matter was chocolate. this is what i came up with. (really scored on the milk jug at goodwill.) gotta say, pepperidge farm makes a damn fine looking chocolate chip cookie.

on a related note, this is the first completed shot taken in my new studio space. sooooo excited to finally have a space to call my own. the light is beautiful, the space is solid. i will post some pics soon. some people take inspiration from a muse. i tend to really find focus in a great space with tons of natural light. good things to come, i can feel it.

sometimes you eat the tarte tartin...

2011-05-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

sometimes the tarte tartin eats you.

i wanted to put an apple tarte tartin in a shot i was working on and i've been on a pretty good roll as far as food styling goes, so i made this tester on sunday night. it came out great, so we ate it. the lesson learned? never eat the prop before the shot. (they must teach that in art school, right?) cause then i actually had to make 4 more in the next two days and never got it right again. oh well.

thrift store project pt. 7

2011-05-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

wouldn't want to be out at sea for too long with this little dude. he looks pretty menacing.

evening light

2011-05-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

we all know i am no nature photographer, but there has been this great half hour or so most evenings this spring where all the dark clouds have blown east and the sun pops out for 20 minutes just before setting. it makes the trees in the 'hood look very cinematic. (the details of the pic actually look better if you click on it so it gets bigger...)

alder pastry shop

2011-05-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

alder pastry is one of the newer baking spots in portland. they're desserts and gelatos are amazing. they are open late, so take yer lady or gent there for a sweet treat after dinner sometime soon. i guarantee you won't be disappointed.

whats that? another cover?

2011-05-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

i guess its true what they say... when it rains it pours. this is my 3rd cover in 7 months. we hadn't planned on this as a cover which makes it even more exciting. i was genuinely surprised (and obviously super stoked) when they sent over the mock up. the layout for the story looks amazing too- great story and lots of images. pick up an issue soon!

to Infinity and Beyond...

2011-05-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

i recently spent and afternoon shooting the goings on at Infinity Tattoo for Google. everyone there was super cool and i had a great afternoon. here are a few of the outtakes.

happy easter

2011-04-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

every year on easter, my brother Adam (following the tradition and recipe of our Very polish grandmother) makes a batch of homemade pierogis. its rare that i find myself in the kitchen on a holiday with nothing to do, plus the afternoon light on sunday was pretty great, so i figured i'd pick up the camera and document the process.

the Allmighty Dagwood

2011-04-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

the latest catching the ox subject was sandwiches and i decided to really challenge myself. i'd like to think of the Dagwood as the holy grail of food styling so i thought i'd give it the ol college try.

i am proud to say that there is no slight of hand in this pic. that sando stood on its own for almost an hour. from top to tail, there are 36 different food items composing this sandwich that are all technically visible. if anyone can guess 'em all, i'll treat them to lunch anywhere in portland.

thrift store project pt. 6

2011-04-17T17:36:00.001-07:00

i really feel like this project is finally starting to take form. this was definitely the most fun figure to shoot so far. it was amazing how the slightest shift of angle or light could change the whole feel of the photo.

good enough to eat.

2011-04-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

i rarely shoot the dishes i order in restaurants. not too sound like a douche, but i find it pretty gauche. but sometimes ya just gotta capture the moment.

and lets face it. toro bravo.... its worth the wait.

one more billboard

2011-04-13T16:07:00.001-07:00

its been a great run with the Google Hotpot campaign. this one is extra special to me because as many probably know, besides from being great friends with toro & tasty family, this was the last restaurant i worked in before throwing in the proverbial (kitchen) towel for a life of unbridled fame and luxury as a full time freelancer.

thrift store project pt. 5

2011-04-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

this little dude was made in israel, but he reminded me of Rigoletto crying for the loss of his daughter Gilda.

Nongs Khao Man Gai

2011-04-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

what can i possibly say about this cart? in the immortal words of Snoop Doggy Dogg,

"If you don't know, you betta ax sombody."

hittin it RawDawg

2011-04-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

for those of you who haven't been following along at home, my catching the ox project is still going strong. this time around we went a liitle more abstract, choosing "Raw" as the general topic.

the image pairing this time was really pretty amazing. probably the best since the "Apples" round. i chose to shoot oysters, coming up with 13 final images in the series. here are a few of my faves. check out the site to see which made the final cut.

pok pok noi

2011-03-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

hey, north portland.... welcome to the modern world.

thrift store project pt. 4

2011-03-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

did i happen to mention i went to 12 years of catholic school....

billboard-o-rama

2011-03-26T22:20:00.000-07:00

getting all these billboards is cool enough, but the fact that they are for some of my best friends places makes it that much better. here are two more, and tasty & sons will be coming soon.

cocotte

2011-03-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

i was hired recently to shoot a great new restaurant in north portland called cocotte. i got some really amazing photos but this one is just my absolute favorite. its one of those few random photos that really gets more awesome every time i look at it.

(click on the image to enlarge it if its too small.)

thrift store project pt. 3

2011-03-18T12:59:00.001-07:00

i always loved the word "chuffed". it's kind of anachronistic, sort of cute and fluffy while still being just a little cocky. all in all, its about feelin good and enjoying life.

i think this little guy looks Right Chuffed.

rainy sunday afternoon eggplant tart

2011-03-18T12:55:00.000-07:00