Farm to Table Shoot in Santa Barbara: Dahlia Farm

Last August, I had the awesome and unique experience of photographing for 3 full days in and around Santa Barbara, California, in organic tomato and corn farms, in dahlia-filled fields, farmers’ markets and in a private lemon orchard.

Organized by Kelly Oshiro of Santa Barbara Chic, we decided to collaborate on this farm to table shoot from long distance. I was in New York, having never visited SB before. But with phone calls and scout pics, we were able to produce something great from afar. Before I headed out west, I just knew it would be a stunning and busy weekend of shooting.

From the moment I got there, we captured Santa Barbara’s natural beauty. I shot the fresh fruits and vegetables at Santa Barbara’s Saturday market, while our friend Ashley of Duo Events who was guiding us, chose the ripest produce cook. The following day he concocted a beautiful and delicious meal for Kelly’s friends just north of SB. The friends had gotten together to celebrate Samantha + Todd’s recent engagement, in Todd’s family’s garden just north of SB. The dining table was set up outside, decorated with the local dahlias Kelly and I picked from a nearby farm.

Only in California can one plan this kind of party, without the fear or rain, cold or hurricane coming through! Instead we were guaranteed a beautiful and lengthy sunset, and a sky filled with stars while candle light enhanced the mood.

All of the above images were photographed on Fuji film. Wine provided by Cambria Estate Winery.

My film was developed, scanned and printed by the awesome Richard Photo Lab in LA.

Design Sponge Farm to Table Shoot

Check out my recently featured Design Sponge Farm to Table shoot! What a pleasure collaborating with stylist and producer Kelly Oshiro, Roots Farm and caterer Duo Events and more talented vendors on this shoot in Santa Barbara, California.

Excerpt from the Design Sponge’s Photo Essay: A Santa Barbara Farm-to-Table Dinner:

One of the best things about midsummer is the ready access to fresh, local food. Whether it’s from your neighborhood farmer’s market or just the grocery store, you can be sure to find extra ripe, full-flavored bounty this time of year – making it the perfect time for delicious dinner parties. Karen Wise, a Brookyn-based photographer friend of ours, recently sent us photographs of a beautiful farm-to-table dinner she worked on in Santa Barbara. Featuring fresh-picked flowers and a fully seasonal menu, these photos have us jonesin’ for our own outdoor summer festivities…

You may also see more of Karen’s food photography on her Food and Art website.

Image of the Month: Lemons and Kisses

Hope you are continuing to have a great summer!

I just returned from a long and lovely week of shooting a wedding in Massachusetts and then driving up to visit family and friends in Canada (my homeland). Spending time in Ontario’s “fruit belt” reminded me of a beautiful engagement dinner I photographed last year under the stars decorated with freshly picked dahlias, ripened fruits and local wines.

Here are a couple of images from that session, shot on film.

Stay tuned for a surprise feature later this afternoon!

credits:

couple: Samantha and Todd

styling + production: Kelly Oshiro

dinner: Duo Events

film development: Richard Photo Lab

produce: Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market

dahlias: Carpinteria flower farm

Get ready for Karen’s upcoming food and styling workshop to be held in mid-October in NYC.

To sign up and to get more info click HERE!

Ultimate Nachos Cookbook Photography

Ultimate Nachos, a new cookbook by Lee Frank and Rachel Anderson, which I photographed last May, was just released in bookstores! It has over 70 delicious nacho, guacamole, salsa and cocktail recipes!

I’m so in love with the cover image. Two days of cover shooting, and with added help from prop stylist extraordinaire, Kira Corbin, made it so worthwhile in the end. Can you believe the Ultimate Nachos cookbook photography took only 4 days to complete with over 100 images…

This St. Martin’s Press publication is selling on Amazon, B&N, Nachos NY, as well as at Urban Outfitters, so check it out!

Featured in a Kodak Film Brochure

One of my portraits is featured in a Kodak film brochure!

This portrait of Abbi and Luke, on a Brooklyn stoop was taken on a chilly winter’s day, was chosen to promote Kodak’s Portra 160 print film. Really proud to be a part it, as most of you know I continue to love and support film photography, using it as often as allowed with every project I do.

You may see the whole brochure here.

And you may see more images of Abbi and Luke on my website here.

Wedding Album Design

Lately I’ve been using Skype a bit more to “meet” with prospective clients, some of whom live in London, Montreal or California. I photographed a few albums and album layouts to show what they would typically see at my meetings.

Here are a few pictures of Beth and Josh’s 12″ x 15″ Duo Queensberry Wedding Album Design which I thought came out exquisitely: