Saffron Tiger

I have photographed the food section of the local weekly, The Weekly Alibi, for a couple of years now. It's been a good, consistent way for me to experiment with food photography and hone an approach to it. Lately I've been trying to broaden my reach to include more of the people behind the food -- as much for my own sanity as anything. With that in mind, I twisted executive chef Rashpaul Sandhu's arm for a few photos. He even got a line cook to stoke some flames on the line for a shot. The food here is surprisingly complex and fresh, despite the 'express' approach of the restaurant. I won't be putting every installment of my Alibi assignments up on the blog, but if I do, consider it a recommendation!

State Fair 2010

I lugged around my tripod at the fair today. It's times like these that my wife wonders what I'm thinking. But it's the fair, and there are spinning rides with lights and long exposures to be had, and I can still have fun lugging 25 pounds of gear, and chasing the kids around. Right? 

Back out at the apartments

My contact at the Prime Group requested a few more exterior shots of the apartments so I set out. Had to be the middle of the day, so I did a lot of waiting for cloud cover and blended exposures. This was the kind of assignment that made me stretch my wings a bit, so I'm very happy for the opportunity. 

A Wedding in September

This was an incredible wedding. The church featured gorgeous stained glass everywhere and the reception was held at the perfect time of day in beautiful Tijeras, NM. The bride and groom were glowing that day and are both easy on the eyes to begin with, making my job that much easier. And they were patient with my constant requests of them... I was able to test a D700 during the day, and I am sold on it. I also cracked the seal on a new 85mm 1.4 just in the nick of time. I culled the 2000 images taken that day to 650 or so that I am extremely pleased with. The next step is to put together a book. Time to get to work!

Unexpected Lessons

I was commissioned to shoot 5 apartment complexes in Albuquerque. This was a first for me. The director wanted to shoot all five in a single day, so I knew that hauling around lighting was not an option -- I'd have to shoot slow on a tripod and use HDR more than I might like. Once I got there, it became obvious that even without lighting I was going to go over the 1 day allotment. There were model apartments at each complex with 5 rooms to shoot, there were pool areas, laundry rooms, exteriors of buildings, signage, offices, gyms.... The day was the most exhausting I've ever had in photography, even more so than marathon weddings. My lithium ion battery almost ran out, which never happens. But it was very rewarding. I learned as I was going to reconsider angles. I set up panoramics of tight spaces to avoid wide-angle distortions. I leaned to love my tripod. I learned to love my 24mm 2.8 lens. And I practiced making mid-day light look ok by using filters and HDR. Overall, very happy that I took the assignment. You can view more of it Here.

Cousins in the backyard

Working with families can be a challenge in lots of unexpected ways. This session, however, was a true pleasure to photograph. The cousins were in town and we got them all together one evening and just let them be themselves -- which worked out beautifully.  Photographing families is becoming a favorite part of my business. It's a process that can be a bit like a mini-wedding, with some similar pressures built in, but with rewards that make it all well worth it!

Edible Magazine Fall 2010

I'm happy to report that the Fall 2010 Edible Santa Fe (and Albuquerque/Taos) Magazine is on stands. It was a blast to work on the project for the first time with publisher Kate Manchester. I was able to take lots of photos for the issue, and got back into real layout for the first time in many years. If you haven't picked one up yet, please do -- and let me know what you think!