Ain't no Half-Steppin'

The skill, strength, concentration and perseverance of line cooks will never cease to amaze me.

The last two months, i have been doing a whole series of shoots for Andina,  another one of Portland's truly classic old school family restaurants.   Its been really great to work with all the people,  front and back of the house,  to create  a whole new library of images for them.  I think they now have over 200 new shots,  and we still have a little more shooting to do! 

Last Saturday night,  i went down to document  various aspects of a busy night.  I have hidden in the corners of many kitchens to capture  the action,  but this one was extra intense.  With about 200 seats and a nonstop flow,  it was really amazing to see how mellifluously the whole operation ran. 

These dudes are pros!  

Spending some time with the Harms Brothers

As most of you know,  i have been documenting the rise of Union Wine Co for the past few years,  and have had a great time getting to know everyone involved.  Just last week I finally achieved the Herculean task of getting  the owner and founder of Union,  Ryan Harms,  together with his brother Eric  in the same place at the same time for a quick portrait shoot for another of their labels,  Christopher Michael.  

I heard that their mom loved the shots,  so thats good enough for me!    Here are some of my favorites...

 

Exploring our garden by Twilight

My wife  Meredith has done an amazing job of getting our garden set for the upcoming summer months.  I have always been fascinated by successful gardens,  having never really been able to grow one of my own,  so i am really lucky to be able to bare witness to and participate in the process.  She makes its all happen,  and then its up to me to then take the veggies and turn them into delicious meals.... a job i am much more suited to.

The other evening,  the light quality was really beautiful,  so i decided to capture the garlic scapes before we harvested them.  Visually, they are elegant but mysterious at the same time.

New work for ¡OBA! Restaurante

I had a great time doing a series of shoots for ¡OBA!, which is one of the true old school Portland restaurant  institutions.   If its been a while,  get down there and check it out.  Have a margarita and get the table side guacamole.   Its off the charts!