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.

Motion

Last week Noah and I spent the day making coffee and frying eggs.

To see these videos in HD click on this link.

Food Styling: Noah Witenoff Prop Styling: Madeleine Johari

Blasted by the Sun

'It's a dry heat'. My trusty assistant Matt said to me over and over again as the sweat poured off his face. We were recently sent out to Nevada to shoot Enbridge's new solar plant, the Silver State North Solar Project. The heat was intense and we were scorched by the constant desert sun, but there is something that I just love about being in these wide open spaces.

Here are some images from our shoot.

Canadian Living Holiday Issue

Christmas in June is such a strange thing to get used to. Nevertheless, the holidays were in full effect as we teamed up with Canadian Living for their annual Holiday issue.For our 2 week shoot we had Katty D-Ho on the props with Nicole Young cranking out the food. I was hoping we'd get to shoot the old Festivus Pole, but unfortunately we ran out of time. Maybe next year!

Art Director: June Anderson Food Editor: Annabelle Waugh Prop Stylist: Catherine Doherty Food Stylist: Nicole Young

Quinoa Revolution

Last winter we teamed up again for round two with the amazing quinoa sisters, Patricia Green & Carolyn Hemming. We spent two weeks shooting their new cookbook Quinoa Revolution and enjoyed a preview of all the tasty recipes it will feature.This book is a follow up to their best selling Quinoa 365.

Food Stylist: Nancy Midwicki Prop Stylist: Madeleine Johari Publisher: Penguin Quinoa Revolution Website

The crew from left to right - Patricia Green, Madeleine Johari, Ryan 'Big HEAD' Szulc, Carolyn Hemming, Nancy Midwicki, Matt Gibson

Toronto Life Cooks!

I recently had the opportunity to work on Toronto Life's first Cookbook. Working with 40 of the city's top chefs mostly on location, it was such a fun project to be part of.The formidable duo Raina+Wilson shot some amazing portraits of the chefs and Reena Newman did some really nice food shots as well. Here are my favourites from the book.

Editor: Maryam Sanati Art Director: Una Janicijevic Photo Editor: Anna Lisa Sang Food Styling (Cover): Noah Witenoff

Dan and Kristin Donovan - Hooked - Butter Poached Lobster

Sarah Bell and Allyson Bobbitt - Bobbette and Belle - Chocolate Cupcakes

Rob Gentile - Buca - Puntarelle Salad

Joanne Yolles - George Brown Chef School - Plum Tart

Cory Vitiello - The Harbord Room - Burger

Bruce Woods - Modus - Spaghettini and Mozzarella Meatballs

Rocco Agostino - Pizzeria Libretto - Fresh Ricotta

Jonathan Hamilton and Andrew Richmond - La Carnita - Cochinita Pibil Tacos

Chris McDonald - Cava - Paella

David Cherry and Natalia Simachkevitch - Lady Marmalade - Huevos Migas

Frank Parhizgar - Frank's Kitchen - Oysters Rockefeller

Benjamin Deacon - Momofuku - Bundy Bear

Ben Heaton - The Grove - Parsley Root Soup

Leemo and Leeto Han - Swish By Han - Pork Buns

Woodlot - Bread

Aaron Joseph Bear Robe - Keriwa - Bison Pemmican

Patrick McMurray - Starfish - Seared Trout and Smashed Potatoes

Bitchin' Kitchen Cookbook

A little while back, Bitchin' Kitchen's Nadia G made her way down from Montreal to work with us on her new cookbook 'Cookin' For Trouble'.Such a fun shoot! We were encouraged to make things as messy and crazy as we could. Check out the funky shots. The cookbook is in stores now.

Prop Stylist: Madeleine Johari Food Stylist: Noah Witenoff