Emerald Bay Photo News and Updates

I'm so damn lucky.

I have these incredible friends. They are a talented and generous bunch - who also happen to be awesome human beings to boot.

One of them is Adam Z.

Now - I've never actually *met* Adam. And yet, I count him as a dear friend.

Our lives first touched about 9 years ago, when he was running a powerful site about geek stuff out of his native Toronto, Canada, and I was an Online Evangelist for O'Reilly Media who was looking to partner with exactly such sites to promote our geek books. After the tech bubble imploded, and I had forged on as a freelance photographer, we worked on a couple of client projects together - him doing the design, me providing the photography.

Remote and online-only collaboration has its own challenges, but Adam turned out some incredibly creative designs for my clients, on insanely tight deadlines, and with a level of professionalism and attention to detail I had seldom experienced before. Even the pre-flight guy at the printer's wrote to me in awe that he had never seen such clean and precise files in his life before.

So I am grateful to Adam for many things. Not in the least for designing my beautiful logo years ago... as a pure courtesy.

But now he's done it again.

The other day, I was completely lost, staring at that empty expanse of pixels on my screen, that yawning horror of white I was supposed to fill with colors, shapes and prettiness, spouting out of the creative fountain of my mind. It was all supposed to form itself into a new card for my business, and a slide for the upcoming BendFilm festival (where Emerald Bay Photo is a sponsor). Except - nothing happened. The fountain was dry. No colors came to me. No shapes. No fonts. Nada.

I gnawed on my lip for a while. Then I ran in screaming desperation to Adam.

And he was there for me. With blazing speed, incredible creativity and that awe-inspiring precision, he spawned something of utter beauty, sleekness and simplicity. It was exactly what I had wanted, yearned for, but what my brain was unable to conjure up.







So this is a nod and a deep bow to my friend Adam.

THANK YOU.

Labels: design, photography

Earlier this week, I shot this beautiful home in The Highlands development of Bend:










The house is up for sale now (did you see the one-page ad in the Bulletin today?), and you can get more info and see more images right here at www.bendhighlands.com.

Labels: architectural photography, architecture, Bend photographer, interior architectural photography, photography, The Highlands

Gleaming metal. Clean lines. Sharp glass. Shadow and light, working together to create unexpected and dynamic patterns. Harmonic colors that enhance eachother, play off eachother, contrast and produce an environment of simplicity and grace.

These are the things I live for when doing architectural photography. Yes, I admit, I'm a junkie - my favorite fix being contemporary buildings.

So here's a good example I recently shot for an architect client:









Mmmmm. Mmm. Mm.

Labels: architectural photography, architecture, photography

I'm so terribly behind in posting fresh images to my blog - a side effect of being always on the run and working, I guess...

But - I recently had the privilege and delight to shoot a portfolio for a company that specializes in concrete floors and countertops, and I thought I'd post some shots here. Not in the least because there's a special - and surprising - beauty to concrete that made me personally abandon my previously held (wrong) conception of cement as a rough material, suitable only for rudimentary construction uses.



Over the last few years, concrete has experienced a surge in interest as the versatile, clean and modern material that it is. Refined with color and in the hands of an artist concrete contractor, it can be turned into a thing of true beauty. It is nearly endless in its uses, highly customizable (with inlays and custom shades of color), easy to take care of, and stands up well to the test of time.





Wikipedia educates us on this interesting tidbit also: "Cement should not be confused with concrete as the term 'cement' explicitly refers to a dry powder substance. Upon the addition of water and/or additives the mixture is no longer referred to as 'cement' but 'concrete', regardless if aggregates have already been added or not."



And did you know? Unlike with a granite countertop, you're never locked into a certain color with concrete. Want to remodel that kitchen, but the new look doesn't jive with the current color scheme? No problem with concrete. You can simply have a new color applied over the old one. Cool, eh?

Look in the Sept/Oct issue of Concrete Decor Magazine for more of my shots.

Labels: architectural photography, architecture, concrete, countertops, floors, product photography

I don't even think I need to elaborate past the headline ...





More options on how to delight your palate in the Home Cookbook section of Bend Living, out on newsstands now.

Labels: chocolate, food, food photography, photography

In the world of magazine publishing, working a few months ahead of the print deadline is nothing unusual. So the results of the assignment that took me to San Francisco last July only just hit the newsstand last month.

You can check out the article "Sushi Quest in the City by the Bay" in the March/April issue of Bend Living Magazine - or, given their rather meager selection of images from that assignment, take a minute and indulge in a sort of "extended version" of the adventure...

Truth be told - at first, the idea of a quest to find the best sushi in a city, awash with some of the freshest seafood on the coast and a selection of great restaurants featuring it, seemed rather intimidating. For me personally however - as a sushi aficionado - the promise of spending 3 days reveling in raw fish approached a small slice of heaven.

Oh how very, very, wrong I would be.

Between some rigorous net research, recommendations from friends and my editor, writer Vi Ho and I settled on three restaurants to check out: Blowfish, Sudachi, and Kyoya. With swing in the step, elated tastebuds, camera gear and notepad ready in hand, we arrived at the first place, Blowfish.

Now - to make raw fish look attractive and appetizing, you sometimes really have to work hard. That goes for both the chef and the photographer. Blowfish however really had the presentation down, which made things decidedly easier for me:





Maybe it was the combination of dishes, maybe it was the sashimi - my small intestines didn't really care to make that distinction. They only knew that a short while later, they were very, very unhappy. And not being able to ignore them, so was I. Because in effect it prevented me from being able to enjoy the sushi - and any other solid food, for that matter - served up to me in the following two days.

Talk about being in a depression situation. Here I am - in one of the world's greatest seafood cities, a veritable plethora of choices tantalizing me at every turn, and kind chefs and restaurant managers serving up a seemingly endless procession of (free) dishes. And just the mere thought of tasting a piece of fish making my stomach squeamish.

Mostly I felt bad for the restaurants - they worked so hard to accommodate us and make a good impression. So I tried to be a trooper, indulged in the offered miso soup and edamame, smiled and nodded, and instead of salivating over the offerings, focused on making their food look good.

Sudachi's miso was indeed memorable - but (I was told) even more so were their unusual combinations of sashimi and exotic oils and condiments:





Kyoya shone with their exquisite presentation skills, but Vi proclaimed that their Shrimp Tempura roll was quite other-wordly too. How I wished I could have tasted it ...





After all was said and done, we returned to Bend - satisfied with our quest, and loaded with great story material. Even my intestines had arrived at a place of peace again. Alas, I'm still waiting for that subtle sushi craving to return.

Labels: food, food photography, photography, sushi

Life is challenging without sugar.

Trust me. I know.
I'm going through withdrawals as we speak.

Such is the sacrifice you make when doing a little Spring cleaning on the ole carcass. But hey. I know, it's temporary only. Luscious chocolate cakes, covered with thick shiny coats of couverture and adorned with ripe sweet raspberries loom in the not-too-distant future...

In the meantime, I have to satisfy my cravings by chewing on a low-fat cheese stick - while convincing my discriminating taste buds that it's really a Snickers.

For the rest of you, there is this:



Yepp, it's a berry cobbler with home-made whipping creme - photographed on a recent shoot for Bend Living magazine's "Home Cookbook" section. For the recipe, check the May/June issue.

Labels: food, food photography, photography

More so than comfortable living rooms or serene bed rooms, kitchens and bathrooms are the jewels of a home - a place where an architect or designer can make things really sparkle. Maybe with the choice of glimmering tile, some brass inlay in the concrete countertop, an eye-catching sink, or a scintillating light fixture.

Lucky for me, my interior architect client Kirsti Wolfe is an unmatched talent at putting ever so slight touches of architectural bling into a home, and she consistently applies her touch and unique sense of aesthetics to every one of her projects. Then I get to go in afterwards, admire them slack-jawed, and point my camera at it all.



Recently, Wolf and Sub-Zero - makers of high-end kitchen appliances -
staged a contest for best kitchen design. Kirsti and I were feverishly shooting projects for submission - and not surprisingly, Kirsti emerged as Regional Winner!

The project that convinced the judges was no other than the kitchen she designed for her own parents, also featured in Bend Living Magazine (shot and written by yours truly) last year:







So congrats to Kirsti for her stunning work, and also to her entire crew for putting it together so seamlessly and beautifully.

It appears bling pays.

Just as my ticket for Burning Man 2008 is lingering at the local post office, on the very verge of being delivered, I am finally catching up with posting the last images from the 2007 event.

A tad late, you might say? Sure. And the good people from the Oregon Fire Conclave will certainly and whole-heartedly agree. But better late than never - no?

In any case ... being commissioned to shoot Oregon's contribution of fire dancers to the great show before the Man burned on Saturday night was quite the privilege. Not only did it give me the opportunity to photograph one of my passions (fire artists), but it also allowed me entry into the Great Circle - providing an unusually up-close and therefore unforgettable view of the actual burning of the Man.

So - without further ado, valued reader - please enjoy:











More.

Bend-based travel writer Tim Neville and I have been working for the past 8 months on a 4-part series of articles for Canoe & Kayak Magazine, chronicling his efforts to build a kit kayak in his garage.

Arriving at Part 3, he writes:

"You start out building a boat with all these grand, romantic visions of Man and His Craft, getting sawdust in your hair, sanding a keel that's fair and true, and then reality hits. You don't know shit and things that should take an hour take a day.

Then winter hits and it's freezing outside and you have no place to work. But you're not alone with your troubles. In fact, there's a whole community of boat builders out there with all the knowledge you need. Hit it right and not only will you have a warm place to work with an expert to guide you, but you'll become friends in the process and that means paddling buddies when it's all said and done."

And looky here - a community of saw dust, glue and cedar he found indeed:



Look for the entire story and more pics in the May or June issue of Canoe & Kayak Magazine.

Because I'm lame though and forgot to post pics of Part 1 & 2, here they are now. Better late than never, right?

Labels: boat building, Canoe and Kayak, Editorial Photography

Last Tuesday, February 12th, BendFilm and the Tower Theatre premiered the first film in their new Indie Reels series, a celebration of independent film outside of the annual festival.



The brainchild of new BendFilm director Sandy Henderson and Tower Theatre chairman Eli Ashley, the series debuted with the film "The Breast Cancer Diaries", and drew a packed house.



A sometimes sober, sometimes bitterly funny commentary, the film chronicled the story of a thirty-something Maine newscaster who turns the camera on herself during her ordeal with breast cancer. The excellent documentary was followed by an equally interesting panel of local doctors, discussing the disease and answering questions from the audience.



It was an enlightening evening - part entertainment, part education, but wholly for a good cause. Getting the opportunity to be part of and photographing important events like these makes it all worth while for me. More pics here ...

Labels: BendFilm, Editorial Photography, Event Photography