The Willamette Valley is painted with a green swath of farm and forested land, sitting between the Coast Range and the Cascades, making Oregon justifiably famous. In the last ten years, this cool and misty breadbasket of the Pacific Northwest has produced everything from Hazelnuts, Marionberries to award winning Pinot Noirs. Some people would argue [...]
Category Archives: Food
The Bounty, of Oregon that is
August 12, 2010 – 9:45 am
One of the nicest things about working in a collaborative environment like Polara Studio is how we often “feed” off each others creativity for ideas, images and inspiration. Jeremy, one of our photographers, spent a weekend hunting for something that Oregon is rightfully famous for, mushrooms. He didn’t have much luck as these wonderfully tasty [...]
Pearfect – Pears and Vino Gelato
March 11, 2010 – 6:12 pm
It hard to believe it’s been almost 3 months since I posted. Between the holidays and a great studio party of almost 400 people the first part of this year has flown by. But as promised here’s another recipe from the Ponzi Vineyards Cookbook and honestly one of my favorite photographs in the book. Hope [...]
Finally a recipe link
December 28, 2009 – 2:39 pm
Here’s the first recipe from the new cookbook I promised to post. Everything shopped local and all the food photography natural, natural light, that is. I thought something hearty for winter…so to quote Nancy Ponzi…”Winter in the Willamette Valley is often, well, inevitably-cold, grey, damp and drizzly.It’s really not that uncomfortable outdoors, days of snow [...]
The Ponzi Vineyards Cookbook
December 16, 2009 – 3:12 pm
Here a few of the photos from 10 amazing days my crew and I spent in the kitchen of of one of the most charming and self-effacing chefs I’ve ever met, Nancy Ponzi. Matriarch of the Ponzi Family which is not only one of the pioneer wine families in the Willamette Valley but also founded [...]
Beer is serious business
October 16, 2009 – 2:24 pm
Working in restaurants and pubs always presents a different set of challenges to the food photographer. First of all one is often not just showcasing the food in all its glory. Though most of us go to restaurants or pubs BECAUSE of the food there is much more that influences our decision of where to [...]
Thoughts for the end of summer
September 16, 2009 – 2:39 pm
It been awhile since I made an entry..all thank goodness to the fact my clients have been keeping me very busy. With the end of summer I thought I post an image of one of my favorite summer appetizers, prosciutto and figs. A simple light dish prepared by my friend from portlandhomechef.com, Brittany Baldwin. This [...]
August 21, 2009 – 11:22 am
Sometimes when I say it takes a village to make a photograph it can scare off clients because the feel they are working with a “diva” who brings a whole “entourage” with them. But in reality we work with a really tight team in a very collaborative environment. The group consists of me, my photo [...]
August 6, 2009 – 3:34 pm
After a little break where I was shooting soup in a back-of-house environment and some chocolate and pecans for a catalog, I’m back working on the cookbook. We photographed (and had later for lunch) one of the mostly unusually named dishes I ever had. It was called “Oiseaux san la Tete” which literally means “birds [...]
July 30, 2009 – 3:02 pm
After shooting chocolate on Portland’s hottest day of the year, I just wanted to write a couple of words about food photography. The best food photographers work collaboratively with a food stylist. These people are professionals, sometimes with a fine art background, sometimes with a catering or chef ‘s background but always with lots and [...]