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| Crab Cakes by Chef Jared |
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| Bayview is on the Detroit River across from Belle Isle. |
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| Bayview sailors have won an astonishing array of trophies at venues around the world. |
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| Yes, the sailboat in the window is real! |
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| The large gathering room. |
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| Main dining room. |
A well-crafted California Roll at Blufin, atop a fine Bloody Mary, photographed on the lovely patina of the long copper-topped bar.
Marcia's Muchies has the best pickles! And now the best pickled asparagus and the best pickled cherry tomatoes too.
First some basic package shots, with the camera closer than usual to give the packaging a more monumental effect.
The chefs at Mack Avenue Grille have been delighting diners with new specials - including this bright and light Asian Sesame Salad.
Playing up the bright theme with some bright and airy lighting from a raw light and a diffused fill, this photograph captures the spirit of the dish.
Delicious! In Apple, Fruit Punch, Cranberry, Grape, Orange, Pineapple, Grapefruit, Prune and Tomato.
It has been a perfect season for berries this year. These raspberries were delicious and the antique footed bowl is a great complement with its amazing green glass.
I was a humdrum person, leading a life apart, when love flew in through my window wide - and quickened my humdrum heart.
Love in this case is a cupcake from Delight Bakery. I have always admired their work - and now a chance to photograph it. Yep, love flew in - in the form of very chocolate cake with a most voluptuous frosting and a Ghirardelli chocolate... hiya cupcake!
I might say that the people of Chazzano Coffee Roasters are just jazzed on caffeine, but I'd be taking a quick swipe at the low-hanging fruit of a glib little joke.
Truth is: they know coffee, live coffee, sleep and breathe coffee. They really are jazzed about it - it's the first thing on their minds - all the time. They roast some of the most interesting coffee bean varieties from all over the world. Here you can buy the freshest coffee anywhere - roasted, like, yesterday - and ground - right now - just for you.
And you can enjoy sampling an eye-opening (really!) variety of those coffees, brewed in so many different ways. I was served the same beans ground and brewed as espresso, as Turkish coffee and in a French press - each was a completely different experience. They even have an extraordinary range of teas - from the blackest, smokiest Lapsang Souchong to the greenest of green teas - ground into an impressively bright-green powder.
We produced a great big pile of images for stock use on their marketing materials, including brewing, roasting, products and a portrait of owner Frank Lanzkron-Tamarazo. Thanks to Ed Marsh at Nightcry Graphics for facilitating a productive photographic session - always a great pleasure to work with professionals who are also artists.
New work for GLO Marketing - photography for the upcoming website of Dough and Spice in Warren. Great folks to work with there - the owner is totally into his pizza dough - they make a frozen product that is used by many food service companies and more. We did portraits, 'hero' sort of food shots like these, manufacturing process images, a quick pic of the delivery truck and more - all in a very efficient half-day of photography.
It's nice to do the food photography - and for such an interesting and historic place like the Ardmore Park Place. The images are to be used in advertising for Grosse Pointe Magazine, a real work of art for the Pointes.
Some new work for the Grosse Pointe Magazine: advertiser City Kitchen needed some photographs of their dishes. I was only too happy to show up with my lighting kit and get started.
I like to use a simple setup with a dramatic backlit kick. I drag the shutter speed so the room's ambient light fills in some of the background information for me. Then I use a soft front-left light for detail and a raw backlight to give it all some sparkle.
We decided on one setup with the dishes changing places as they came from the kitchen. City Kitchen can use all these images together, or as separate shots as time goes by. I bet a single-page image of one of these dishes is all they need to keep their dining room full. Count on City Kitchen for beautiful, well crafted food served in an upscale setting.
I also made a few photographs of the dining room. While it may be preferable to do those at night when the windows don't intrude on the feeling of the space, I tried to make the most of it and minimized the windows while allowing them to make their presence felt. There is a single table in a bay window at the front of the restaurant that looks onto the streets of The Village in Grosse Pointe and its lively shopping district. I'm sure it is a favorite place for many City Kitchen regulars.
Pointe Magazine needed some shots pronto for a new advertiser, Dylan's Raw Bar in Grosse Pointe. We had three new dishes, some interior views and a portrait of Chef Derrick Collins to do. It was 11am and the final images had to be uploaded to the graphics people by 4pm.
So I set to it, thanking heaven for radio-controlled flash triggers and digital cameras so I could dial in a lighting setup quickly (and without an assistant too). I was also thankful for years of work in fast-paced product photography studios and for years in a premier food photography studio in New York city.
And it all turned out very well. I am pleased with the results and the Dylan's folks are loving it too. Let's hope that the ad pulls in new diners who no doubt will be ecstatic about the great food and great atmosphere at Dylan's in Grosse Pointe.
A new food photography job for John Minnis, publisher of Pointe Magazine. This project brought me to the Cafe at Beaumont Hospital Grosse Pointe.
A beautiful plate of healthy food by chef Dan Kellogg looks really tasty with a great lighting setup inspired by my years in New York working in the food photography studio, with a strong backlight that helps to bring out the texture in the salsa.
Lately, I like to keep things bright a zippy when photographing food. I think everyone is a little tired of dark and dramatic. Open and sparkly is my new method.
