Seeing my photos in editorial pieces, especially cover shots, gives me pretty much the same feeling as I remember from being a kid at Christmas. Or when I order a book online, get busy doing other things and forget about it, only to jump in joy at the sight of the Canada Post delivery person coming down my walk way.

This Early Spring cover of GardenWise magazine was no different. Photographed last Summer, it was a pleasure to spend time with Terri-Lyn Storey in her East Vancouver community garden and it was so clear how proud she was of it. And check out her adorable red garden shed inside the magazine, which may have been my favourite part; yes, I have serious garden shed envy as mine is far from adorable!

I photographed several more Vancouver and Victoria community gardeners who will be featured in the coming issues of GardenWise throughout Spring and Summer 2011~ also a great resource if you’re wanting to go see some of the amazing things people are growing in these cities.

Pick up your copy of this Early Spring issue on newsstands now!

~~~

Meet Brooklyn. She is the beautiful child of a dear, dear friend — and let me tell you, she embodies the word ‘adorable’.

These two graciously spent a few hours with a fellow photog and I at Vista D’Oro Farms for some fun in the garden. It was a day of firsts for the little one: first play in the dirt, first feline sighting, first view of a horse. Pretty cool to be witness to those experiences I must say.

Enjoy.

~ j

It’s finally here. I haven’t spoken to the author about it yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion she’s doing her happy dance in her living room. And so she should be. I know I did!

I’m incredibly proud to have my photography included with her brilliant words in this project, and incredibly amazed at the number of hours she’s put into this book (think LOTS)…she deserves every piece of fan mail and blog commenting and re-tweeting you can send her way.

I hope you pre-order yours today, and learn all about gardening in your small space.

Enjoy,

~ j

A fellow photographer and I organized a fun Sunday shoot in a friends house last weekend. It involved fresh fruit, jam and cookies, so everyone was happy. I’ll use some of the images in a new section of my website and print portfolio (details to come soon!) and some have been accepted by FirstLight, a Toronto based stock agency I just recently signed on with (link to stock gallery coming soon too!).

And what food photographer doesn’t drool at the chance to shoot in a beautiful, luxurious open-concept kitchen with natural light flowing in from every angle? Well I certainly do.

Here are some of my shots from the morning….have a great weekend!

~ j

This was pretty much a dream day of shooting for me…except that I had to forego my breakfast with these three lovely ladies. But duty called, and I hope they will forgive me when they see what fun I had, and the teeny tiny, crust-less sandwiches I got to shoot!

I hope you enjoy these shots from Afternoon Tea at Shangri-la Hotel in Vancouver. And then I hope you go for tea! And invite me with you!

~ j

I love team efforts. There’s not much else more satisfying for me (the collaborative type) than to work with other creative, brilliant, talented and FUN foodies.

This article was written for the Winter 2010 issue of Chefs Quarterly by Simon Ogden, Lead Bartender at Voya in The Loden Hotel (and my other half, and yes, all talented bartender AND writer), featuring cocktails made by the fabulous Lauren Mote of The Refinery, and photographed by yours truly. What a team!

I’ve also included some of the other shots we photographed that day (above and below)…thank you to Simon and Lauren for a nice little afternoon.

Shooting meat can be tough - especially when it’s a giant rack of ribs slathered in an extremely thick, dark sauce. Usually shooting brown food is something that can easily turn out unappetizing, but when a client requests their half rack of ribs to be included on the shotlist, you’d better make it look good.

So, here’s the half rack of ribs I photographed last week along with my Food Stylist Angie and photo assistant Naz for Rockford Wok/Bar/Grill, Northland Properties‘ newest restaurant in the Nelsen Lodge at the base of Revelstoke Mountain Resort in Revelstoke, B.C.

Issue #1: dark sauce. I mean look at that - it’s nearly black.

Issue #2: we’re shooting in front of a window for the beautiful back-lit effect that I almost always strive for and most clients love, but because the ribs are so dark & glossy, the sheen that the entire right side of the ribs has is way too high contrast for my liking. We want the sheen, but not that strong.

Issue #3: that is one large plate of meat.

high contrast Ribs

Issue #1: the rich, dark sauce is what makes these ribs a signature item on the menu, so there was certainly no changing that. However Angie and Chef Harley did a great job of using it just enough to make the ribs, well, look like ribs, but not enough that we would have to shoot a saucy, soupy plate of ribs. Success!

Issue #2: Placing a diffusing panel between the food and the natural light coming through the window solved the problem of all those sharp edged shiny reflections. I carry a 5 in 1 reflector made by Interfit and I use it daily…it’s one of my ‘don’t leave home without it’ items.

Issue #3: Again, when you’re shooting a menu item for a client it’s extremely important to stay true to form - there’s not going to be much deviating from how a guest would receive the item when ordered off the menu, so shooting this rack of ribs, at this portion size, was a must. The key here was composition; keeping a focus on the ribs while using the french fries & coleslaw to balance it all.

Better Ribs!

Atlas lunch menu: Fish Tacos

Avenue Bistro & Atlas Cafe, both in the Comox Valley and owned by the lovely Sandra & Trent, are return clients of mine for which I’m incredibly grateful. I’m not even exaggerating for the purpose of this blog post - they are talented and generous and collaborative and I could eat nothing else but Atlas Cafe’s falafel for the rest of my life and be happy. Ok, and maybe bartender Christina’s smoothie to balance it out.

Initially I photographed Avenue when it first opened (2 years ago? 3?! Wow time flies!) and recently went back to take some updated shots, followed by a day at Atlas shooting food, staff, and the restaurant interior for an update of their website. I occasionally need to dust off my headshot shooting skills for some of my restaurant clients (there are actual people full of talent & creativity behind all of the delicious food that I shoot) and they need to be in the spotlight sometimes too, as much as they resist every waking second of it. The interesting part about this here though, was that we shot customers: real restaurant guests that we often ambushed prior to their lunch. Thankfully they were all wonderful sports! Here’s a few of my favourites, plus some tasty food shots too.

Christina @ Atlas garnishing a Mojito

Atlas dinner menu: steak, potatoes + seasonal veg

Avenue Bistro

Find Avenue Bistro: website •  @avenuebistro • Facebook Fan Page

Find Atlas Cafe: website

Seriously, go for the falafel! Go now!

~ j

So this was a dose (ha ha) of something different into my food and beverage shooting routine: prescription medication! However, Jane & Greg at Living Room Pharmacy were a breath of fresh air. They were recommended to me by a dear and long time client of mine, Sandra of Atlas Cafe & sister restaurant Avenue Bistro, all of which are in the Comox Valley (that’s on Vancouver Island, about mid way up, for all you city dwelling folk).

The main focus of the day was to get some shallow depth of field still-life shots of what happens behind the pharmacy counter, as well as a few lifestyle photos in and around the store. The behind the scenes shots was the fun part, because us creatives on set got to pick out the most colourful, crazy, psychedelic looking pills for the shots…like kids in a candy store (and then we got the explanation of what each one was for!).

Also on this project, and driving Living Room Pharmacy’s re-branding from their previous identity, was Perry & Mandy at Spring Advertising. I’ve been to Spring’s office, and it’s busy, let me tell you. I don’t know exactly what they’re doing, but they’re doing something right because they’ve got some great clients and neat projects on the go. Maybe it’s because they offer to go out and grab a coffee for all those waiting in their lounge chairs like they did for me (or else that kind man thought I was someone much more important than I actually am). Either way, I just hope Perry’s fancy new wheels didn’t get him a speeding ticket on the way home from our shoot that day. Perry: I, too, have new wheels now, so ha.

Find Spring: @SpringAd •  Facebook Fan Page •  website

Find Living Room Pharmacy: website

Find Atlas Cafe and Avenue Bistro: Atlas website • Avenue website • @avenue • Avenue Facebook Fan Page

~ j

MARKET by Jean-Georges has been a great place to shoot. Twice now, and last time I got black truffle pizza AND a nifty banner, so really I can’t complain. Seriously though, Chef David and Communications guru Jill are always so welcoming and professional, and with Jean-Georges’ dishes it’s hard not to have everything turn out delicious looking.

Here’s the shots for MARKET’s ‘certain sporting event’ themed menu…you’ve still got a few days to head over and try them out!

Happy Friday and last weekend of the Olympics!

~ j