I love beer (photography).

The Fall issue of Beer West has finally hit the newsstands and I am really excited to share with you the assignments I had the opportunity to work on with art director Amy Johnson.

A couple weeks before the photo shoot Amy and I sat down to discuss possible cover concepts, as well as the front-of-book opener and the final full-page closer. All-in-all I was hired to shoot the cover, FOB and BOB, and a full-page product shot. Needless to say Amy and I really enjoy working with each other. She’s a very talented designer, and I’m always really pleased with her layout skills and concepts. We are currently in the process of a very exciting (and long-awaited) personal project collaboration- I will be handling the portraits/photography for the project, and Amy the layout, copy, and design. We hope to have this project ready for the world by the beginning of 2013- so get ready to be blown away!

For the food issue of Beer West we tossed around a number of cover ideas and both  decided the packaged-meat “EAT” was easily the most fun option. We spent the whole day in studio with my good friend Brian Cannarozzi styling the food for all three shots.

Art Direction: Amy Johnson
Food Stylist: Brian Cannarozzi

The studio shot of Jon (James Staton) was a lot of fun for everyone- especially him because he got to munch down on a delicious Fir Burger (from the infamous Doug Fir restaurant in Portland) while the crew was working hard and being hungry. The final dessert shot had it’s immediate rewards, as we all had a chance to eat some of the meaty dessert as soon as we got the shot. Devon Chase, head-chef at Oven + Shaker (located in the Pearl District in downtown Portland) was kind enough to make a special dessert of baked berries and prosciutto, heating the berries in a wood-fired oven until they burst while simultaneously crisping the meat. She then tops the dish with house-made vanilla gelato and biscuits, and garnishes with fresh mint. Her goal is for people to eat this dish and leave loving savory desserts as much as she does. “When the dessert is fresh, it’s a mixture of temperature, texture, savory, and sweet” says the chef.

Thanks to the whole crew: Devon Chase, Brian Cannarozzi, Jon James Staton, Ashely Anderson, and Amy Johnson!

Z-Life Magazine, Portland Monthly Trail Shoe Guide and More!

Z-Life Magazine // Fall 2012 Issue
Art Director: Sarah Russin

A couple months ago I had the opportunity to photograph 3 local Zumba instructors for Zumba’s trade magazine- Z-Life. We shot on location at Refuge PDX in inner southeast Portland. These particular instructors specialize in a nightclub-esq Zumba dance class which involves a DJ and hella crazy stage-lighting. They were really great to work with.

A week after the Zumba shoot I was hired to shoot Portland Monthly’s summer issue Trail Shoe Guide. We handled this whole shoot in the art director’s backyard. The opening shot (with the shoes hanging from the branches) was a little tricky getting the perfect balance (visually and literally!) but made for a great spread! I love shooting product and have recently been approached more and more for my particular style of product photography. I approach most of my product shoots as “product portraits” as opposed to simply capturing an image of an object. Giving that object a bit of personality!

Portland Monthly Trail Shoe Guide // July 2012
Art Direction: Kate Madden

The Monthly had also commissioned me for a couple fashion-related shoots the past two months for their Prét-Á-Portland feature:

Portland Monthly // Prét- Á-Portland // August 2012
Art Direction: Kate Madden
Styling: Eden Dawn

Portland Monthly // Prét- Á-Portland // July 2012
Art Direction: Kate Madden
Styling: Eden Dawn

Last weekend we wrapped up a great shoot for the Fall 2012 issue of Beer West magazine. I have a handful of conceptual studio portraits in there, plus the cover, and a couple product shots. It hits stands later this month and I can’t wait to share the tear-sheets with you! Stay tuned…

Portland Monthly // Peter Zuckerman // June 2012

Last month I was assigned to photograph local author/reporter Peter Zuckerman for Portland Monthly. Not only is Zuckerman an incredibly talented writer, but also one of the kindest, most out-going people I have met in a very long time. He welcomed me into his office and was open to all sorts of concepts and ideas for the shot. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of his latest work of nonfiction- Buried in the Sky (the extraordinary story of the sherpa climbers on K2′s deadliest day). He’ll be speaking at Powell’s Books in downtown Portland on June 13th at 7pm- maybe I’ll see you there! Until then, you can read his PM interview here!

Portland Monthly / Peter Zuckerman
Art Director: Mike Novak

Beer West // Summer 2012 // The Green Issue

Art buyers have recently been hiring me for more editorial product shots. This makes me very happy. I love photographing people, but there’s something so enjoyable about working with still life and making beautiful images in-studio that I find very rewarding and relaxing. The three shots below are from the most recent issue of Beer West magazine (a west coast rag dedicated to beer loving and making). I worked very closely with art director Amy Johnson to nail these shots. The cover was based on the my “signature” style of product photography that Amy was really drawn to from looking through my product work (it’s always great to hear you were hired based on personal style and work). The other two images were clean, simple feature shots- with the Can Vs. Bottle shot being a lovely collaboration with local illustrator Taylor Blackwell.

May was a wonderfully busy month- I produced some fresh work for three new editorial clients (expect more new tear sheets in the next couple weeks), and was hired to shoot a couple other features outside my “standard” portrait work for one of my regular clients, with the help of a new (to me) art director. I’ll be able to tell you more about that in July! In the meanwhile, enjoy! :

Beer West // Summer 2012

Versus // Can vs. Bottle

In Season // Herbal Beer

Drinking: A Portland Romance

I’ve gotten behind on my blog posts again- but with reason! I’ve been staying super busy since the beginning of winter, and 2012 has already proven to be way more awesome than 2011. My first Portland Mercury assignment for the year took place almost two weeks ago, to shoot the cover and feature story for the infamous “drinking issue”. The art director already had a sweet concept in mind for the story: a romance novel-esq feature. We handled the shoot at five locations over two days. I was lucky to be working with a great crew, and our talent (Jesse Champlin and his fiancé Marjorie Skinner) knocked the poses and passion out of the ballpark. This was my third cover (and second feature) for the Mercury since moving to Portland late last spring.

The Portland Mercury Bike Issue

Earlier this month I was approached by the new AD at the Mercury to shoot the cover and feature for the Bike Issue. Having only been in town for two months I was very excited to produce a conceptual cover shot for a publication with such a large local following. It took us two shoot days and (luckily) a lot of sunshine, and we nailed it. After showing the editor a couple shots in-camera of publisher Rob Crocker on his mountain bike at the Eastbank Esplanade, the first words out of her mouth were, “That sh*t looks crazy!!”.

portland mercury bike issue :: rob crocker

I will take that as a compliment… not to mention the high-fives that ensued once we wrapped for the day.
The next day found us at two other eastside locations. First off– the cover shot!
Our cover model, Marissa Sullivan, is one of the lovely sales reps for the Merc, and she showed up on set ready to rock! She gave us so much energy and literally kicked the shoot’s ass.

We ended our adventure in SE Portland for our “Portland Gothic” shot.

portland gothic :: bike issue

Thanks again to everyone involved! We really made a winner of an issue! And special thanks to Art Director Suji Allen and Editor Sarah Mirk for making it all happen! Below are the digital tear sheets from the issue: