As we wrap up the first week of the new year I can’t help but reflect on the past year. There were struggles as there are with anything, but I’d be remised if I didn’t sit back and be thankful for the good things. I met a lot of great people, made a few new clients, learned a ton of great things and made a few decent images along the way.

2009 was the year I was blown away by being accepted as a participant into the Eddie Adams Workshop.
2009 was the year my first major documentary project premiere to a sold out audience of over 250 people.
2009 was the year that documentary project won not 1, but 4 awards including a Gold Remi.
2009 was the year that I owned the copyright for 100% of the images I captured.
2009 was the year that I got to visit 5/7 continents in the span of 4 months.
2009 was a good year.

Here’s to 2010 being even better. The short piece above showcases about 65 of my personal favorites from 2009. They may not have run, they may not have been the best pictures, but they are my special to me in one way or another, so sit back and enjoy.

As per my previous scribblings, my lady has started a new endeavor as a creative baker extraordinaire, focusing specifically on cupcakes. After years of cupcake pins, patches, clothes, stationary, etc I figure it’s only a natural progression. Regardless, the other day she made a batch of sushi cupcakes. I love sushi, and not because the portion of my ethnicity demands it, but because it’s just, well, good. So when I saw these bad boys I was instantly juiced. Being a photographer herself, she snapped a few photos, but I instantly had a shot I envisioned which required very specific props. My Japanese family would not forgive me if I made this mediocre so we spent some time around town trying to acquire the right items. We ultimately found ourselves eating none other than sushi at our favorite local spot. After lunch I asked the manager if he would let me borrow a sushi block and sauce dish. Success! With our props assembled, we shot some frames and put together this little diptych you see here. Shot with available light and my trusty 50mm 2.5 macro, a hidden gem of a lens. I think the pair allows the viewer to contextualize the shot and immediately recognize what they are looking at. Upon closer review you see that they are confections, not sushi. My brainchild on the left just wasn’t good enough to tell the story of the product so the second, detail shot was added to show the texture of the fruit rollup seaweed that is mostly hidden in the overhead. To get more information on the cupcakes or to order some for yourself visit www.luxcups.com. Props to Sushi Coast for the props!

PUBLICATION OR LOCATION: print mailers/flyers for The Lodge at Bayou Bend restaurant in Houston, Texas.
PUBLICATION DATE: Spring 2007
LINK: N/A
NOTES: Some of my food photography for the upscale restaurant, The Lodge at Bayou Bend (formerly the Rainbow Lodge, now Landry’s owned Brenner’s on the Bayou) was featured on these print mailers to promote the restaurant.