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

Through this vast interweb and the likes of Twitter and Facebook, I recently met Bethany from Comox Valley Dwellings, a great little “online magazine (or web-log ”blog”) for Renovations and Interior Design in the Comox Valley” contributed to daily by Bethany. I think I tweeted something about heading back home to The Comox Valley for a weekend, and we came across one another. We chatted, Bethany then offered me the great opportunity to reach out her Valley readers by posting a weekly recipe and food photo, and I gladly accepted! Since the flattering intro post there, every Friday you’ll find a photo+recipe combo from me as part of their weekend round-up.

Some of the recipes and accompanying photos included on Comox Valley Dwellings so far have been  harissa prawns, Vikram Vij’s burttermilk pakoras, and red potato salad.

To keep up with Comox Valley Dwellings:

• • follow Bethany
• • become a fan on the CVD facebook page
• • Sign up for their emails

Bring on everything home reno and decor  in the Comox Valley ~ including food!

I have come to the conclusion that the saying “be careful what you wish for” really is true. In the Spring, I told myself (and the Universe apparently) that I should spend more time on Vancouver Island. My family still living in the Comox Valley is certainly one reason for this, but I also have been working with some new clients in my hometown (I promise to write more about that soon) and want to become more involved there. Funny to me how these things end up materializing, but in this case it was all a good thing.

So I put it out there, and as I look back over June I’ve spent over 10 hours either on or waiting for a BC Ferry to get to Vancouver Island. But it has been worth every minute.

Taking full advantage of the sun this month, we organized family BBQ’s that included seasonal fruits, rhubarb cake and a to-die-for locally made salsa; my sister and I tested a new veggie burger recipe (full post with recipe to follow) as part of a larger project; and a few of us went boating to Tribune Bay. All in all my June travels turned out to be a healthy mix of work and play.

Why does everything taste better barbequed?

This was the only shot of the rhubarb cake...it went that fast.

Chrome Island Lighthouse Station

Tribune Bay, off of Hornby Island

July has some great things in the works: a cookbook local to Vancouver Island, a vegetable gardening book with a fabulous local gardener and blogger, food photography for a new Vancouver restaurant, a trip to Calgary, and a birthday. Looks pretty darn good to me.