Waiting

I love shooting landscapes and working with natural light. It's such a different approach than what I am used to working in studio. I had an opportunity to do this recently on a commercial shoot in Oregon and I was reminded how much waiting is involved. Waiting for the sun to move into the right position or waiting for the clouds to clear, waiting for the light to work it's magic and bring the landscape to life...so much waiting. Sometimes the waiting is completely wasted as the sun gets into that perfect position and that's when the clouds roll in and ruin everything. I don't really mind this though. It's a refreshing change of pace. It's like going fishing, it's fantastic when everything lines and you get that awesome shot, but it's also just nice to be out there even if thing don't fall into line. All that waiting gives you an opportunity to reflect and everything just seems to slow down a little.

So here are a few shots I took while waiting and waiting and waiting...

Toronto Star Cookbook

Jennifer Bain's Toronto Star Cookbook hits the shelves this week. We shot this project in studio last April. It's funny how you kind of forget about the work for a while and then it comes back to life with the release of the book a year later.

With recipes ranging from Brazilian fish stew, to bimbimpbap to beef kaftas to grilled cheese sandwiches, this cookbook is definitely the most eclectic selection of recipes i've ever shot.

The Toronto Star Cookbook includes recipes from the province's chefs, farmers, home cooks, food writers, store owners and many others. Inside are recipes from more than two dozen cultures, reflecting the province's rich multicultural food scene, as well as many Canadian classics. Jennifer selected and personally tested every one of the book's recipes, most of which have been featured in the Star since she took over the food beat in 2000. Also included are 25 READERS' CHOICE recipes, chosen by Star readers as their favourites of all time.

Prop Styling: Madeleine Johari Food Styling: Noah Witenoff

Publisher: Appetite by Random House

The Cover

Smoked Cheddar Grilled Cheese with Sriracha Ketchup

Ontario Buffalo Mozzarella with Tomatoes and Basil

Pasta All'Amatriciana

Bread Spread

Chapter Opener

Porchetta & Co's Rapini with Garlic and Chili

Garlic-Basil Smashed Potatoes

Beef Kaftas with Tahini-Lime Sauce

Caju's Brazilian Fish Stew

Geetha's Sweet Potato Usli

Noodle Spread

Carrot Quinoa Pie

Chocolate

Flavour Principles

Here is a sneak peak at Lucy Waverman and Beppi Crosariol's new cookbook, Flavour Principles, due out in the fall. We shot this cookbook over 2 weeks in Lucy's beautiful home last September. The house was turned upside down as the living room and dining room were converted into a studio and the basement was filled with props. I'm sure she was happy to have her home back after we left.

I've admired Lucy's work for a long time and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with her on the new cookbook. Her recipes are by far some of the best I've shot. Visually, the sense of colour, texture and freshness made these recipes a pleasure to shoot, and absolutely delicious to eat!

We saved the cocktail shoot for the end of the shoot, and as you can see in the last shot, Beppi's cocktails were a smash hit!

Art Director: Colleen Nicholson Prop Stylist: Madeleine Johari Food Stylist: Eshun Mott

Buffalo Mozzarella with Roast Tomoatoes

Stockyard Spare Ribs

Bubbly Drinks

Lemon Poppyseed Cakes

Grilled Pork on Flatbread

Korean Beef

Oysters

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake

Celebratory booze fest at the end of the shoot.

New toy in the studio

We recently got the new Mola Rayo in the studio.Not sure what it does, or how to use it, but we're pretty pumped about it.

Toronto Life Real Estate 2013

The new Toronto Life Real Estate guide is out with cover shot by yours truly. I was hoping to see my adopted home of Mimico crack the top ten of the 'Where to Buy Now' neighbourhoods, but unfortunately, we didn't make the cut.

Interestingly, Greenwood-Coxwell (home of controversial, bad-boy designer Brooke Hennessy) made the list. Seems like there's a lot of great things going on in the east end. It's very cool to see how the city is changing as the years keep rolling on.

Out with the old, in with the new.

The time has come for me to part ways with my snapshot camera,the beautiful but dumb, Fujifilm x100. I was drawn in by it's beautiful retro exterior, but after using it for a over a year, it's safe to say it's just not working out.

Here is my detailed review of the X100

Focus system: Garbage

Auto Exposure: Brutal

Image Quality: Decent

Body: Gorgeous!

So I've replaced my Fuji with the Olympus OM-D E-M5. I've just started to play around with it, but right off the bat it seems to be a vastly superior camera.

We shall see i suppose...

The Old Grapefruit League

For the past few years, near the tail end of winter, my pal and I have been scooting down to Dunedin, Florida to see some spring training baseball.It's the perfect cure for the winter blahs. Unfortunately this year it was freezing while we were there. Still it was great to feel the sun and watch some baseball in a 5000 seat stadium.

So why do they call it the Grapefruit League? Well here's the story:

"There was an aviator named Ruth Law who was doing exhibition flying... she took a Dodgers player up in the plane with her. And the idea was for him to throw a baseball down to his manager on the field. I guess at some point he realized that might kill the guy. So instead of throwing a baseball, he threw a grapefruit. And the grapefruit hit the manager in the chest and exploded. The manager, for a few seconds, actually thought it was his chest that had exploded from the force of the baseball hitting him. And felt the juice, thought it was blood, screamed out, 'I'm dying! I'm dying!' His whole team thought it was great fun 'cause they knew he wasn't dying -- they knew he was just hit by a grapefruit."

Weird Story...Anyways, looks like it's going to be a good year for the Jays.

Here are some photos from my most recent trip.

The Blue Jay - Bully, Thief, Trickster, general low life.

Florida Auto Exchange Stadium - Dunedin

Clearwater Beach

Having second thoughts. The temperature was like 5C

Whooping it up with the Dunedin locals

This guy was a bastard

The Phillies Stadium in Clearwater. Definitely one of the nicest parks in the Grapefruit League.

My personal hero

A Moveable Feast

I recently shot a fall picnic story for the Globe & Mail's Style section.Emma Reddington did the prop styling and Sasha Seymour handled the food. Always a pleasure working with such a talented team.

Art Director: Bryan Gee Props: Emma Reddington Food: Sasha Seymour

"Ok people, let's think outside of the box here."

So that's what we did for restaurant IQ Food Co.'s take-out menu items. We shot their wraps, salads, soups and bento boxes......outside of the box.

Food Stylist: Noah Witenoff

Everyday Kitchen For Kids

No sharp knives, no stove-top cooking, no motorized appliances. I recently had the pleasure of working with the original J-Low, Jennifer Low, on her new cookbook 'Everyday Kitchen For Kids'. This cookbook is put together specifically for kids, so they can make their own dishes and treats. We shot for 2 weeks at her beautiful home in Ancaster. Here are a few fun shots from the cookbook, which you can find in stores now.