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“…Music requires years and years of practice in order to make what is conscious unconscious. If you want to fly off the edge of a cliff, you have to know where the cliff is.”—Pat Metheny in The New York Times.

I finally know where the cliff is. And that is very freeing. In my last post, I discussed how my studio is a perfect creative environment for me to do my best work for clients and myself—my terra firma. But, when preparing to fly off that creative cliff, it’s nice to be able to tell clients: I can bring my tools with me into their own particular wild-blue yonder!

Depending on the scope of a job, I can go solo—just me and my camera. Or, I can replicate my well-equipped, state-of-the-art studio on location. When shooting the cookbook Dining with the Washingtons at George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, I did both. I went alone to capture fruits and vegetables close up, like the glorious, dewy cabbage above. I was inspired by the working, historic garden, and the editors decided to use these shots to enhance the book’s storytelling and design.

With two photo assistants, a food stylist, camera and computer equipment, I made other scenic images and shot a large collection of prepared recipes and other food images—some with lighting equipment, some lit only by natural light. We even stayed overnight in the historic mansion so we could rise early enough to capture fleeting dawn light on a table set with breakfast, on the vast lawn that slopes down to the Potomac’s edge.

Early-evening sun beaming through tall, mullioned windows was all the lighting I needed for this still life in the Washingtons’ household. I could almost sense the aftermath of a convivial meal—fading, hearty laughter and soft clatter of gathered tableware. Often during this project I had a feeling of timelessness, like experiencing quiet moments from centuries past as I rendered them.

To do justice to the fabulous treats in Classic Desserts Redefined, an award-winning cookbook for The Ritz Carlton hotels, I set up a location studio with a food stylist, a photo assistant, props, cameras, and lighting and computer equipment.

The gorgeous desserts were prepared by Ritz Carlton chefs in the excellent kitchen facility provided by gourmet food importer/distributor Albert Uster Imports in Gaithersburg, MD.

Above, Ritz-Carlton project art director Claudia Barac-Roth of Marriner Marketing Communications (at right) offers her perspective, as food stylist Lisa Cherkasky positions the props for the shot below. (Lisa was the food stylist on this project as well as on these others in this post: Mount Vernon, Ritz Carlton and The Palm.)

The right props are critical. They communicate through materials, style, mood and color, and affect lighting and compositional elements. For this book, in addition to providing unique props like the rustic pottery above, a large collection of simple, elegant Fortessa tableware was brought in to the location. Below, clients from Ritz Carlton and representatives from Fortessa review options with Claudia from Marriner (bottom, left).

Taking my studio mobile for the Ritz Carlton job was similar to my operation for shooting at the Washington, DC location of the national restaurant chain, The Palm (below). Bringing camera, lighting equipment and a computer, I shot many of the menu favorites for their website. This job also required shooting in the front-of-the-house, as The Palm wanted to include their characteristic decor and their own table settings in some shots.

So, between lunch and dinner services, I set up a studio in the dining room, where the walls are decorated with The Palm’s iconic, celebrity caricatures. Some of the carciatures show in the background of the lamb-chop shot below.

Having pre-pro details worked out is important. With representatives from The Palm in their DC location, I did a walk-through, making test shots in the dining room, bar and kitchen, which helped me plan logitistics and aesthetics.

Shooting in the public area of a restaurant brings special practical considerations. Some restaurant clients want a photographer to come in only at off-times when the kitchen and dining room are not busy, as I did to shoot for The Palm, including the burger photo below.

However, some restaurants want to capture lively activity dining room and kitchen. I really thrive on the energy of a bustling restaurant, and love to shoot when it’s busy—cooking and service.  I was a server myself for many years, so I feel very at-home in all areas of restaurants. The shots below were made in the kitchen at Pizzeria Paradiso in Washington, DC.

I am very comfortable hanging back with my camera to capture the action, as I did at Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco, CA (below).

I also love shooting restaurant interiors. I shot the the glowing hearth at Washington, DC’s Blue Duck Tavern (below) for Food Arts magazine .

I love the flambe action below, shot in the kitchen at Susan Gage Caterers of Washington, DC.

Whether in my own studio, or on location, I am always ready to tell my client’s story—well-equipped and in expert company, with all my senses attuned, I capture their decisive moment.

“The best musicians are not the best players, they’re the best listeners.” Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny made this observation, reflecting on the nature of musical improvisation in a recent New York Times article. The best photographers are excellent “listeners,” too. When I shoot, I have to “listen,” while I “play.”

Simultaneously focusing inward and outside myself, I’m keenly aware of what my heightened senses feed me about my subject, the light, my surroundings and my collaborators. I always stay aware of my goal—to make my clients’ food look appetizing to their target market. But, I always leave my mental window open so recognition of serendipity can fly in. Those happy accidents can result in the most exciting pictures.

“…music requires years and years of practice in order to make what is conscious unconscious.”—Pat Metheny

“…improvisation is not just free-form playing – there has to be a mastery of structure and discipline.”—Pam Belluck, the article’s author.

Even when I am improvising, my technical mastery works in the background. With a BFA in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology, my formal education plus decades of professional shooting empowers and frees me to respond to what Cartier-Bresson called “the decisive moment.”

When shooting food, that decisive moment might be when a drip of cheese is at its most sensually pendulous, as it is in the above shot of “Ultimate Grilled Cheese” with “Simplest Tomato Soup.” It could happen when a plume of steam is curled most seductively, as in the top photo, of “Not-Macaroni and Cheeses.” I shot these images for Delicious By Design: 30 Years/30 Recipes, a fabulous cookbook by my longtime client, DC graphic designer Rob Sugar of Auras Design. They each brought out my instinctual impulse to recognize and seize that decisive moment. Training and experience allow me to optimally capture it with technical accumen. My camera is just a very articulate extension of my imagination.

The elegant expression of my imagination happens when I have all the tools I need. The eloquent expression of my client’s message happens in an efficient, well-equipped workspace. Both my spacious, modern, full kitchen and state-of-the art photography studio are essential for clients such as Marriott International, Whole Foods, Australian Lamb, Foreign Policy, The Almond Board, the American Diabetes Association and Food Arts.

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All of my senses were engaged at The Summer Fancy Food Show this week in Washington DC. Bright displays, cooking aromas and high-profile, assertive spokespeople all competed for my attention. Produced by The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade this annual exposition presented 2,400 vendors and 180,000 products. Having this significant industry event in DC gave me a great chance to visit clients’ booths, see old friends, make new connections, and simply explore. Face-time, social networking the old-fashioned way, is still the best!

My client John Sorial of TaDah! Foods (at left in above photo), had the timely inspiration to hire Barack Obama impersonator Reggie Brown to present his product, TaDah! Wraps. Many people did genuinely mistake Brown for Obama (also accompanied by two “Secret Service officers”). John was a bit late arriving at the TaDah! booth for his scheduled event—while he escorted Brown along the Show floor, they were besieged with photo-opp requests. Like a circus parade, they collected a large crowd on the way to the TaDah! booth. Integrating his Obama routine with TaDah! product information, Brown noted that TaDah! Wraps’ fresh, natural ingredients align with the First Lady’s food- and-health initiatives. After his speech, “President Obama” obligingly posed for pictures with attendees at John’s booth.

The “Yes We Can” spirit also lives in TaDah!’s “Eat Good, Do Good” mission to donate 25%+ of profits to local non-governmental organizations. Their delicious falafel wraps are now available in Eastern US locations, including several DC-area Whole Foods stores. John Sorial always inspires me with his generosity, good ideas and good energy.

It was great to see Zoe Tsoukatos of Zoe’s Chocolate—and not only because she generously slipped me a whole bar of her dreamy dark chocolate with hazelnuts. She is a third-generation chocolatier, and it inspires me to see how she is reinventing her family’s business. I fell in love with Zoe’s story when I shot the signature images for her website. As her website explains, she’s combining “the spirit, skill, and tradition of fine artisan chocolate preparation with today’s flavors, trends and ingredients.” Order Zoe’s Chocolates online, or find them in her own stores and other US locations.

The Show featured attendees from 80 countries. I was pleased to see the familiar faces of my friends at the Meat & Livestock Australia booth. Keeping my eye out for them, I knew I was close when the mouth-watering smell of their hot, grilled lamb wafted to my nose! Linden Cowper, (above, at left, with me), is their Retail Business Development Manager. She was part of the team on their World of Flavor cookbook that I shot last year. Her usual upbeat warmth makes it a real pleasure to work with her and the MLA team, along with the DC agency, Levine & Associates. It was fun seeing my shots in their materials at the booth.

My photography for DC-area Gold Crust Baking Company, Inc. was a principle element of their large Show display. Well integrated with their appetizing, bounteous display of breads, my images as backdrops and video slideshows really took on a third dimension. The Gold Crust team, including owners Allen and Nausika Lyubinsky (above, center and right), are redesigning their website, which will feature my images of their entire product line.

There were food-world celebrities galore at the Show, including Rick Bayless, Lidia Bastianich and Cat Cora. But, while visiting the booth for Chronicle Books, I was excited to run into DC’s own Domenica Marchetti. A journalist and cookbook author, her latest work, The Glorious Pasta of Italy was published by Chronicle. This beautiful book has received much buzz and bears this lovely back-cover endorsement from Chef Michael Chiarello: “Domenica has captured the heart and soul of true Italian pasta.” To her fans’ delight, she actually brought along a very tasty pasta dish to share—and I was lucky enough to try some! Domenica was also a speaker at the Eat, Write, Retreat (EWR) food blogger conference where I taught food photography. I hope our paths continue to converge.

Also represented at EWR was La Querica artisan-cured meats. Although they didn’t attend EWR, La Quercia was a conference sponsor and generously supplied their products. So, it was a really nice surprise to actually meet La Quercia co-founder, Kathy Eckhouse at this Show. We used her silky prosciutto in my shots of food set-ups made by my photography workshop participants! I really enjoyed chatting with her and hope we’ll meet again.

One of the coolest things about a trade Show is meeting enthusiastic, emerging entrepreneurs. Some people who charmed me at this event were Uncle Bunk’s Condiments. Based in Sistersville, WV, they make “gourmet products based on old-time Appalachian recipes,” including pickles, relishes, rubs and other spice blends. They won a 2011 Silver sofi Award for their Hot Mustard Relish. Holding his award statuette is Larry Young, AKA Uncle Bunk. Sharing the booth and their family business, are his wife, Rose Marie (center) and their daughter, Stacey Young Kasun (left). I loved their amiable, down-to-earth openess—and the tangy kick of their relishes. I hope the Show brought them lots of business for even wider distribution. Order Uncle Bunk’s condiments online and find them in these stores.

The wonderful, final act for the Show was to give back to my community—literally! They very generously donated exhibitors’ remaining food to DC Central Kitchen (DCCK). According to DCCK, “The food recovered from the Fancy Food Show will be put to use in the more than 5,000 healthy meals that DC Central Kitchen prepares each day for local agencies. The Fancy Food Show recovery event is set to become the largest donation in the Kitchen’s history.”