Not an everyday cupcake...

The other day I got some coffee after a meeting and was almost ready to leave the area and head home. See, the meeting was at a Starbucks, which isn't uncommon at all. What's special about this particular location is that right around the corner, in the same building, is a cupcake bakery known as My Delight Cupcakery.


This was my second time in visiting this particular cupcake bakery. I wasn't sure what I was going to buy this time. I wanted something that looked interesting because I knew I was going to photograph it. I also wanted something good because, let's face it, I wanted to eat the cupcake when I was done.


After some very kind assistance from the person behind the counter, I had chosen what was a very limited edition cupcake, Pink Champagne. That's what sold me. Most of the other cupcakes would be there upon a future visit, but this one. This pink champagne flavor would not be. 


I know I made the right choice because I'm here to tell you, that this one was a delight to not only eat, but to photograph as well. It has a pink champagne flavor and an even better strawberry cream cheese frosting. I just hope my photos capture just how lovely the flavor of the cupcake was. 


It was so good I went back for another one the day after.

freelancers...

Shame on me for neglecting the blog for most of the week. I won't go on about how I had every intention of posting more, but it's been a slow week. One of those weeks.

That being said, there are things I'm sketching out and creating, but for this fine friday I decided it was time to share some photos that I took with some awesome people in Los Angeles one cool brisk sunday morning in December a couple of years ago.

The idea was to round up a bunch of creative people from the LA area that were living the dream. Be it modelling, acting, styling or running their own clothing label these were people who were creative and grabbing their dreams.


This wasn't a project to show off their individual areas of expertise, though I wouldn't have minded that, rather it was an opportunity to come together and create some photos. So we started at one point in downtown LA and worked our way through a few different planned locations as the day progressed. It worked out beautifully. The weather forecast had called for rain, but luck was on our side and not one drop fell until after we'd finished and were packing it up.


I had a lot of fun being a part of this project. Photographing people is one of the more interesting and challenging things for me to do. I do love photographing food, but it's a nice tie between food and people. Ok, maybe people win on that one. It's satisfying and fulfilling in a way that I'm not sure I can describe. So I'll just share them.


I won't be sharing every photo here on the blog, but I have put them up in the portfolio section of the site. Go on. Take a look.

Crab Legs

I can't honestly say that this fits the criteria for comfort food. At least, it doesn't for me. But it is a tasty meal. And it's always welcome as far as I'm concerned.

There were a few times, while I was living in the wharf in San Francisco, I would walk the few blocks down to the corner of Taylor and Jefferson to buy a whole crab or two from the cart they had on the sidewalk. To this day, I'm not sure if it was really called Guardino's or not. Didn't matter to me. They had crab and took cash. No questions and it was quick albeit busy most days.

Anytime I have crab that's what I remember. The walk. Weather that I loved. Never really hot, but almost always cool. It made for pleasant walks, except of course for spring, when it'd rain for a month straight.


The other thing I usually remember is having to get used to breaking the shell bare-handed because I was too lazy to walk across the street to the grocery store. I'm certain they had something to crack the shell. Maybe a device to crack the legs of a crab is needed with a particular kind of crab, but it was never needed with what I was buying and eating. At least not once I became accustomed to how it was done.


I didn't take photos of the crabs then. Maybe I was too hungry to take the time to do it. But I made these photos recently. I'm more than glad I did. They don't establish a sense of place, but they do secure some of those memories I have.

PB & J

So today I thought I'd share some images of what is probably more of a snack than a meal to me. Still, there are few things that are as quick to make as a lovely peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

At almost any time of the day, I can probably be persuaded to make and/or eat one. So long as it's heavy on the peanut butter and the bread is toasted just a tiny bit.

It makes all the difference.

From the Archive: Beer Can Chicken

Today I thought I'd share a photo that I took quite a number of years ago. It was made at a dinner party among friends. Since I wasn't the one cooking, that meant I was the one making photos.


This photo feels like an old friend. Or maybe it's the chickens that feel like old friends, I'm not sure. Most of my friends and loved ones have seen this photo perhaps countless times. No one else really has though. I had this photo on a previous website where I showed my work, but who knows how many people saw it then. There's something very comforting and exciting to me about this photo. It seems to always remind me to keep having fun and to keep exploring everything with a camera in my hands.

Comfort Food: Macaroni and Cheese

Today's food subject is brought to you by the fine person/people who decided that mixing melted cheese and pasta would be a fine meal.


I'm here to agree with that kind of thinking. I've wanted to do a series of photos that show all the different foods that I really enjoy. Macaroni and cheese is something that I may not be able to eat all of the time because quite frankly I don't think I could run that many hours in the day to keep in shape were I on a macaroni and cheese diet. If anyone remembers, yes I've kept that particular goal going. It's going very well, actually.


Heroic macaroni and cheese. It's one of those meals that never let me down. When I felt that I couldn't stand another bowl of top ramen or was just too lazy to make anything else, macaroni and cheese was there for me. And now, here it is, for you too. Enjoy.

Comfort Food: Pizza

For many, including myself, pizza is an always welcome comfort food. This particular set of food photos will mark a week of various foods getting in the way front of my camera. All joking aside, I've said it before, I love food photography.


As I stared at this mouth-watering just-cooked pizza, camera in my hands looking to make sure I got the shots that I wanted, it took all of my willpower to keep from reaching out and grabbing it. I almost convinced myself that since crumbs are a good element to include in a food photo, had I eaten some of the pizza first, there would've been plenty of aesthetically pleasing crumbs. But as you can see, I held strong and made the photos I wanted.


Oh and the pizza itself was delicious. 


Happy Monday, there's more to come.

Black and White Shoot

I did a shoot recently with Vanessa. It was originally to be in color. But after we looked at previews that were rendered in black and white, she knew that black and white was the way to go. Of course I wasn't against it at all. It was just what I wanted given my recent journey into black and white photography. 

It was a very simple setup. Two lights and a simple background. A main light off axis and one light for fill, which was on axis. Oh, and a chair for sitting.


There really wasn't a lot that needed to be done after I imported the photos into Adobe Lightroom and then Photoshop. Some simple tweaks and sharpening and I was done. Easy peasy.


Now that the photos are done I realize something. I don't want to stop shooting in black and white. Yes, of course, no one says that I can't shoot in black and white, but this is a direction that really intrigues and fascinates me. So while I begin my search for more subjects to collaborate with on this black and white photo journey, enjoy these photos. 


I'll be returning to food photography shortly. Stay tuned for more updates.