one more Cover shot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.