Flying Star story for Edible Santa Fe

I'm working on a story profiling the Flying Star and their food buying practices for a great local food magazine called Edible Santa Fe. It's my first non-academic writing in almost 10 years, and it's been a a bit slow so far, but I'm pretty happy with what's developing.  The chef is Michael Geise, owners are Jean and Mark Bernstein. I don't know the bakery girl's name. Dishes: the famous Southwest Benny, made with locally-grown turkey sausage, organic eggs and english muffins made from scratch; the 100% New Mexico-raised premium angus burger. Also pictured is the Buddha Bowl with American Humane® Certified chicken. These photos were taken at the commissary and the Paseo del Norte location. View full gallery here.

Back at Waves Salon

This assignment has been great fun for me. I've been forced to think more about lighting than I usually do, incorporating three Nikon speedlights (SB800, SB600 and SB28) off camera. I'm using the SB28 for hair at 85mm, clamping it to the rafters with a Manfrotto Justin Clamp. The SB800 is the main light and is used through a PLM. The SB600 is shot through a small white umbrella. These are some of the many photos I took, and include Chris the stylist and Andre the model.

P'tit Louis Bistro

My old friend Steve Paternoster called me yesterday with great news: one of the restaurants he had an interest in, P'tit Louis Bistro, was being featured in an upcoming issue of Sunset Magazine. He wanted to get some photos to them by later today, so I went down right away and met with Christophe and John, the owners and operators. Two great guys, and very nice looking food. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Sunset will use them (and not forget a credit). The dish is Moules Roquefort, and the gentleman is the founder, Christophe. Check out the rest of the gallery here: P'tit Gallery.

Cochiti Feast Day

My son has a school buddy from Cochiti Pueblo (mom's side). We were invited up for the annual Feast Day, and it was an amazing experience. I'll never forget the look on my boys faces when they saw their friend getting ready to dance. It was interesting to attend as the dad of a buddy rather than the son of an anthropologist, as I did in my younger days. No cameras up there, except at the house. 

Associated Press and Waves Salon

It was about 11am and I was at La Havana Restaurant on Menaul getting ready to photograph their food for the Weekly Alibi. I felt my phone buzzing, and since my wife was out of town I took a look. It was AP, calling me for the first time in over a year. There was a workplace shooting, and they needed photos right then. It was awkward, but I told the fine folks at the restaurant that I'd have to come back. Oh, and I was scheduled to shoot photos at Waves Salon at 1pm. I went up to a half mile from the scene of the shooting APD had set a wide perimiter with reports of a possible second shooter coming in. I got the shots I could and raced home to caption the photos and upload to AP. FTP didn't work --  feeling like crying as I was later and later for my Waves shoot. Lucky for me, the models there were patient and everything basically worked out. By far the most frenetic day of photography to date for me. And it was my little boy's 7th birthday. Famous people in the AP pics include Mayor Barry, Police Chief Shultz and David Letterman -- or maybe that's Stuart Dyson.