PDX Squared 3.0

American Society of Media Photographers puts on an annual event called PDX Squared. Four square miles of Portland are divided up on a map and randomly assigned to 70 photographers. They have 24 hours of shooting time and can win up to $5,000 in prizes awarded in seven categories.

I have participated for three years as a photographer. I was asked to join the panel of judges this year. Each judge represents a different discipline of photography.  I came from the commercial photography side. Live judging in front of an audience, we discussed our feelings about the images presented and made the final choices, debating and even sometimes arguing about what was best in each category. You can see a slide show of the winners here.

As for myself, the first year I parked myself in front of the Oregon Convention Center, photographing people as they came in to a runners/fitness convention. Here are a couple of the shots, so you get the idea.

 

The second year I went around on a boat with my fellow shooter, Steve Cridland as we photographed certain members of the "live aboard" boating community on the Willamette river.

This year because of my judging, I didn't have as much time to go out and shoot, I did get one evening and took out my infrared converted (by Life pixel) Nikon D2X and did a few river landscapes.  Here are few examples.

As always, PDX Squared is a great opportunity to shoot things one doesn't normally shoot while getting to know other photographers. Seeing how some of the "old" pros came through with some amazing images and how all the young new talent stepped up to compete and win, only made me feel better about the great photo community here in Portland. And only one of my friends complained how we had "completely blown" the judging on a particular category. 1 out of 7 is not bad. ;-)

Michael Shay's Bounty of Oregon Series

Figuring out what's healthy to eat is continually challenging particularly if you are a meat eater. Pork has become a go-to choice for it's price, leanness and flavor. The question is what kind of pork? 

Organic, natural, grass fed or grazed - all these terms can be really confusing. So when Cory Nickels and I began working on another image for the Bounty of Oregon series we chose a couple of beautiful pork chops to showcase Oregon's pork.

The package simply read,
"...pigs raised humanely on family farms, and fed an all-vegetarian diet as nature intended. This results in pork that is tender and flavorful — the way pork should taste.
No antibiotics — ever.
No added hormones — ever.
No preservatives.
No artificial colors or flavors — ever.
Always 100% vegetarian-fed."

That all sounded pretty good!

As my German ancestors would say, who always loved pork, “Mahlzeit!” 

Rhubarb, is it a fruit or a vegetable?

With large irregular leaves and hefty stalks, rhubarb looks like so many leafy vegetables that grow in your garden. An obscure New York court decision in 1947 counted it as a fruit for the mere purpose of regulations and duties. Whether this decision was reached at the behest of some large rhubarb importer who wanted his duties reduced or the judge fondly remembering his grandmother's recipe for rhubarb pie, rhubarb remains the harbinger of spring.

It is one of the first plants that are ready to eat in April and May. Richard Pie, Chef and Food Stylist, decided to pick rhubarb to illustrate another chapter in my series of photographs entitled “The Bounty of Oregon”.

We've enjoyed the amazing agricultural production of Oregon. Beautiful stalks of rhubarb along with Richards' grandmother's recipe for rhubarb jam made for such a wonderful composition that for the first time in this series there are both raw and prepared in the same photograph. 

The crew here at Polara can attest to the fact that jam tasted as good as it looks.

An Apple a Day or More!

Great food photography is all about great collaboration and great inspiration.

The “Bounty of Oregon” is termed bandied about here in the Pacific Northwest but that bounty is not just limited to the Willamette Valley. Salmon, hazelnuts and marionberries are only part of the richness of this area of the world.  

In the Southern Oregon, where it is a little drier and sunnier, apples and pears have found a lush, growing environment. Hood River grows some of the best stone fruit and cherries on a ring road at the base of Mt Hood known affectionately as “The Fruit Loop”.  

Let Jeremy Dunham, Polara's go-to videographer and editor get in the act you have this video to check it out.

Finally with Carol Ladd slicing, dicing and cooking you get a yummy apple tart that we hope is as much a feast for the eyes as it was for our tummies. Natural foods shot in natural light always the perfect recipe.

Inspired by Michael Shay, Polara's food photographer started working with one of his favorite food stylists, Carol Ladd, to create a series of images that reflect the love of this bounty both in its natural form and used in tasty dishes. Start with apples from Carol's garden, take them into Polara's natural light studio and play with shape and form and this is

what you get.

The Bounty, of Oregon That Is

One of the nicest things about working in a collaborative environment like Polara Studio is how we often “feed” off each others creativity for ideas, images and inspiration.

Jeremy, one of our videographers, spent a weekend hunting for something that Oregon is rightfully famous for, mushrooms. He didn't have much luck as these wonderfully tasty little gems take part science and part arcane magic to find. Nevertheless he was determined to eat some mushrooms so went off to the local Farmers Market and bought two big bags of morels.

That afternoon at Polara, he brought those two big bags to the studio, smelling wonderfully of green and earth. As a food photographer at Polara, I asked Jeremy if he could hold off on dinner while I did something with them. I took them up to the natural light studio with an old piece of metal and a bottle of olive oil and just started “following” the light. That's how this first photograph was made. For our photo friends reading this I'm shooting with a Nikon D4 and a 85mm tilt/shift lens. This is a great combo that allows spontaneity at the highest image quality while giving control for both depth of field and focus plane. God did most of the lighting (and does a great job BTW) with a little assist from a white card and a shaving mirror.

In the meantime, Jeremy looked up a recipe on how how to prepare his prizes. One peek at that gave me an idea for a neat image pair, showing this yummy food raw and ready to eat. An old cast iron frying pan and a little of the same lighting and this second photograph was created (with a little help from Chef Jeremy).

The only sad part is that many of his mushrooms didn't make it home as we both ate a fair number of them after shooting. The morels, sauteed with little onion and garlic, had a taste reminiscent of a nice steak, rich and almost beefy. It is always fun to see how, with a little creative collaboration a the bounty of Oregon can make those little things in life both look and taste a bit better.

Gluten-Free, Dairy-free, Soy-Free AND delicious

What word comes to mind when you hear ...

"Gluten-free"
"Dairy-free"
"Soy-free"

Was the word "delicious?" Didn't think so.

Michael Shay Photography

Have a seat at Abby's Table restaurant and enter a new dietary realm. With inspiring flavors and inventive twists using 100% gluten, dairy, and soy free ingredients, there is a place for everyone: vegans, vegetarians and even confirmed carnivores.

Michael Shay Photography

We first started working with Abby Fammartino when shooting the Open Kitchen events with Michael Baker of Showcase Enterprises, and we were thrilled to continue collaborating with her. Photographer Michael Shay created the stills and worked with photographer/videographer Jeremy Dunham to shoot a video for Abby's Table Healthy Kitchen Membership recipe service, which offers 4 recipes a month in combination with how-to-instructional videos on eating heartily, healthily, and easily for people with or without food allergies.

 

 

 

 

Jeremy Dunham Videography

 

Michael Shay Photography

 

 

 

 Although "delicious" was not the first word to come to mind when thinking of "gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free," after viewing these photos and video of Abby's tantalizing creations, you will never think or eat the same again.

Beer is Serious Buisness

Working in restaurants and pubs always presents a different set of challenges to a food photographer. The space to shoot is not often ideal and photos not just showcasing the food in all its glory but have to tell a story about the ambiance of the place where it is served.

What story do the photographs (or the owner) want to tell? Is this place warm and cozy, bright and airy, casual, more modern or traditional? How do you fit the mood of the photograph to the mood of the place you're in at the time?

Recently we've been able to document the ambiance as well as food and drinks in a couple of local restaurants. Thanks to the amazing staff and fun-loving patrons it has been a wonderful experience. We plan to do a blog for each location we have photographed over the last couple of years and how we approached shooting and handling the needs of each with keeping their own character.

The first is a series of photos from a local organic brewpub called Roots. According to the owner, it served the usual pub fare but he felt what it did best was create a community around the family and of course great beer.

What made this project so fun is the way our newest digital photo technology allowed us to play with light, mood, color and composition in a very intuitive way. High sensitivity cameras that produce a wonderful image at 1600 or even 3200 ASA, portable lights which can be remotely controlled while they are adding accent or fill to a dark scene make this job easy. With instant feedback of the camera screen lighting and compositional problems become obvious.  Stick a light in the corner of the room, play fly on the wall and capture people in their environment as they go about their daily pleasures or business. For the photo geeks in the crowd, I used an SU-800 controlling two separate strobes, 1 SB800 bouncing in the ceiling and one SB900 into a 36" umbrella and while shooting at 1600 ASA to bring some of the ambient light in play.

The one thing to remember is if you are going to use peoples faces in advertising somebody is going to have to collect model releases or the photographer will get in trouble.  Whatever anybody says, the photographer holds the primary liability but the client can also be held liable. Most people are really open to being in the shot once you explain what it is and maybe buy them a drink for their trouble. ;-)

Sometimes it seems computers and anything digital just adds unnecessary complexity to our already complex lives, in this case the new cameras and way of controlling the lights help us find new ways of seeing and isn't that great!