WINE MAKERS | Photographed @ Da Gigetto, Valdobbiadene and Conegliano | Veneto, Italy
Time goes too quickly when you are in the company of the Ruggeri’s. This trip was only two days, with three locations to photograph Alberto, Veronica and family having a social get-together, and to do some marketing material in the vineyards. Always a pleasure to be in the company of a true family endeavor.
EVIL GENIUS | Photographed @ St. George Spirits | Alameda, California
Everything at St. George Spirits has Lance's stamp on it. From the kitsch in the over sized warehouse, to the laboratory, to the letterpress room. Bespoke is the only word that comes to mind. What a place to have a camera in. Good light, great booze and cool people.
ARTIST | Photographed @ his studio | Santa Cruz, California
Blaise was introduced to me through a mutual friend, whom I still thank for the introduction. At the time of this shoot, Blaise was just beginning what would now become his defining statement as an artist.
BAR MANAGER | Photographed @ Mystic Room + Tavern | San Francisco, California
One of my favorite shoots, partly because of the lighting challenges and the decision to just run with high contrast and grain. Josh was a generous subject and carefully prepared each drink with finesse and plenty of information.
DAVID DUNLAP| EXECUTIVE CHEF | MAPLE & PINE || JASON TESAURO| AUTHOR/SOMMELIER || KYLE COX | SOUS CHEF | MAPLE & PINE | Photographed at Maple & Pine Restuarant for Fire, Flour & Fork | Richmond, Virginia
Fire, Flour & Fork is an annual Richmond food-centic event that partners up various characters in the Virginia food scene, to produce unique, inspired events for the public. Maple & Pine in Quirk Hotel, pulled off a 'brunch of impossibles', an eclectic show of pairings executed by Chef David Dunlap and Chef Kyle Cox, with Jason Tesauro serving as Master of Ceremony.
MUSICIAN | Photographed @ Tiny Telephone & his home | San Francisco & Oakland, California
Pietro and I first met through the wine business, and it wasn't until we casually had a conversation about music that this collaboration came about. He was finishing up what would come to be quite the launch project for his musical ambitions, and we agreed to shoot on three different occasions - in the studio at Tiny Telephone, at his home during the day, and on one magical night recording the final track to his latest release.
ARTIST / ENTREPRENEUR | Photographed @ his studio | Sacramento, California
Still today, this was one of my favorite shoots. Having combined the talents of painting and bartending, Ryan is a great story teller. Most of the afternoon was spent in his studio, and then the evening was filled with Manhattans and conversation about how to get a good cocktail into a can.
MASTER PASTRY CHEF/PROPRIETOR | Photographed @ Emporio Rulli | Larkspur, California
Kid in a candy store is about the only way to define this day. Gary is a master in the world of pasty, and this a documentation of the production that goes into the pre-holiday rush that decends upon Emporio Rulli.
WINERY CONSULTANT | Photographed on the road | Slovenia, Venice, Friuli, Emilia Romagna, Genoa
Vittorio called me to go on a road trip to document some of the producers he was working with. We started in Slovenia and eventually got back to his hometown of Genoa with plenty of stories in between.
WINE IMPORTER | Photographed @ Vinity Wine Company | Emeryville, California
More common practice in the wine world is for a distributor to show up at your place of work and run through a bag of varied product - tasting, talking, negotiating. Dino and his team change it up, and that means, a meet and greet with a winemaker, and a little lunch over at his place.
BREWER | Photographed @ Woods Beer Co. | Oakland, California
My relationship with Woods Beer come about accidentally when I was waiting for a table in San Francisco and wandered into a small, one room spot that served beer and empanadas. It was a year later in Oakland, I was again confronted with the same menu. It was meant to be. Sam was the perfect host for the afternoon and an adverturous brewer as well.
PROPRIETOR | Photographed @ Ordinaire | Oakland, California
Part wine bar/shop and part house of curiosities, Bradford has created a warm and curious tasting environment in the heart of Oakland, California that focuses on natural wine.
FOUNDERS/DISTILLERS | Photographed @ Spirit Works Distillery | Sebastopol, California
A husband and wife team running a grain-to-glass distillery specializing in sloe gin? I had to get this in the portfolio. A visit to this small distillery in the Sonoma wine country proved both personable, educatonal and a bit tipsy.
WINEMAKER | Photographed @ Medlock Ames | Alexander Valley, California
Nothing like the California sun and wine country to inspire a shoot outdoors. Ames Medlock is a cheerful host, full of knowledge of his craft and a humble charm.
BREWER/PHOTOGRAPHER | Photographed @ Baeltane Brewery | Novato, California
Baeltane Brewery is right in my backyard, yet it took a couple of years to figure out where it was and those years I can not get back. Alan is a guy with a strong opinion about what beer should be and although his working space is compact, he shared more information about the brewing process than I could have asked for. He is also quite the photographer in his own right.
WINE MAKERS | Photographed @ Lumen Winery | Santa Maria, California
Lumen is proof that good juice is the beginning of great wine. There is no fancy tasting room here at Lumen, just two passionate people with a vision to create cool climate wines in an urban setting.
PROPRIETOR | Photographed @ Bergamot Alley | Healdsburg, California
Kevin may not be unique in the wine business, passionate, esoteric and indulgent, to name a few things, but his establishment truly is. Bergamot Alley is all things to the Sonoma wine country. At once a wine shop, events space, bar and some of the best grilled cheese in the Bay Area.
EXECUTIVE CHEF | Photographed @ Seven Hills & Marin County Farmer's Market | San Francisco & Marin, California
Anthony had just recently taken over the kitchen at Seven Hills, a small, extremely popular, neighborhood gem in San Francisco. We agreed to go shopping across the bridge in Marin first, partly because we could meet some of his purveyors, and because his work space at the restaurant is almost impossibly tiny.
ARTIST | Photographed @ her studio | Vallejo, California
Quite possibly the most inspired art studio I have been able to photograph. Jennifer's space is a museum of kitsch, that serves as some cerebral inspiration for her dramatic, intricatly layered abstract paintings.
EXECUTIVE CHEF/PROPRIETOR | Photographed @ Ristobar | San Francisco, California
I met Michele from Gary Rulli, at his restaurant Ristobar in the Marina district of San Francisco. This was Michele's first roll as a culinary lead, and it was great to be able to photograph him and his team producing some of the most ethereal pasta in the city. Michele has since moved on to be the proprietor of his own establishment.
WINEMAKERS | Photographed @ Scribe Winery | Sonoma, California
This shoot actually took place on two occasions about a year apart. The first attempt mostly focused on the old estate house as the brothers were not on property at the time. The second, began with a lunch hosted by Andrew and finished with a bit of tasting and conversation with Adam.
ARTIST | Photographed @ his studio | Vallejo, California
This studio visit was just around the time when John made the decision to focus on painting as a full-time career. One of the best drafts-people I have met, his work has now become so graphically stunning and mature, that this documentation seems dated in comparison to where his work has advanced.
BAR MANAGER | Photograhed @ Wingtip | San Francisco, California
There are lots of bartenders in San Francisco and then there are guys like Brian. Talented, unassuming, personable and funny. These were taken prior to opening to the public for the day at Wingtip, a members-only club in downtown San Francisco. It was more fun than it ever had to be.
SOUS CHEF | Photographed @ Ragazza | San Francisco, California
Captured Sean while he was cutting his teeth in a the tiny neighborhood kitchen of Ragazza. He has now moved to the East Coast, but on this day, he quietly churned out plate after plate of perfectly executed, rustic Italian dishes.
BAR MANAGER | Photographed @ AVB Bar | Alexander Valley, California
AVB bar holds a special place for people who have been lucky enough to find it. Medlock Ames' tasting room closes for the day and AVB opens up. Kristi gave me the rundown of the operation, and we toured the garden for ingredients to mix up at this little micro-bar.
PROPRIETOR | Photographed @ High Treason | San Francisco, California
What happens when two talented sommeliers drop out to open there own wine bar? Well, High Treason is the answer. Michael Ireland of French Laundry & Meadowood along with John Voung for Gary Danko & Ame opened this neighborhood joint and there is no looking back.
CONCEPTUAL ARTIST | Photographed @ his studio | Los Angeles, California
Mungo, and I go back over a couple of decades now to when we first studied art together in Santa Cruz, CA. I was back in Los Angeles visiting another friend for a shoot at her home, when Mungo and I found a little bit of time in the afternoon to catch up and have a studio visit.
DISTILLER | Photographed @ Sonoma County Distilling Co. | Rohnert Park, California
This is a small company with big ambition. A true garage project, the whiskey that comes out of this distillery is at the top of the game for a young project. Adam was generous enough to indulge my curiosity before noon time as well.
INTERIOR DESIGNER | Photographed @ Los Altos Residence | Los Altos, California
Kathy lives her life making other's living environments comfortable, chic, and design blog ready. This was a new build project in Los Altos, California that Kathy was putting the finishing touches on.
WRITER/FILMMAKER | Photographed @ home | San Francisco, California
Kim invited Riccilli into her home to showcase the self-made menagerie that has served as this writer's inspiration when she is not travelling. Not one to overstay her visit in a particular city, these objects and curiosities lend a sense of comfort and style to wherever the next home-studio may be.
PROPRIETOR/BAKER | Photographed @ Boncora Biscotti | Sonoma, California
Daniela and her team invited me into their production facility, for the morning, to get behind the scenes for everything except the measuring out of their long held secret recipe. A recipe that produces one of the crispiest and lightest biscotti I have tasted.
FOUNDER of TOP HAT PROVISIONS | Photographed @ Globe | San Francisco, California
You would be hard pressed to find a guy with more projects or titles than Shane McKnight. I caught up with him one afternoon as he was consulting for a restaurant in San Francisco wanting to put in a craft-on-draft cocktail program. This is what Shane does best.
BON VIVANT | Photographed @ at home | Long Beach, California
Every year Adan Villalobos throws a birthday party for himself and invites close friends and new acquaintances to participate in something themed, and something special. Many times, travel is involved to exotic locals, but this party was a DIY style house party in a rented bungalow in Long Beach, CA.
FOUNDER of CANNELLA SPIRITS | Photographed @ SFAI | San Francisco, California
Joe is the guy who left his comfortable Bay Area tech career to follow a wild hair, and start his own spirit company, entering the market with a cinnamon cordial, Cannella. This shoot was from his launch party in 2014. Cannella Spirits has now expanded into Fernet and Amaro.
SCULPTOR | Photographed @ his studio | Willow Glen, California
I met David because I was asked to document a dinner party that his wife was throwing on his behalf. It is hard not to walk into a house filled with amazing talent on the walls and not want to find out where someone's studio hides on the property. We set up a shoot a week later, and David ran me through the current process for his new work.
EXECUTIVE CHEF | Photograped @ home | Santa Clara, California
This was one of those rare fly-on-the-wall shoots were you just get to capture the true nature of a dinner gathering of friends. No time limit, no appointments, meetings or dinner service about to begin.
WINEMAKERS | Photographed @ Brack Mountain Wine Company | Sonoma, California
Dan Fitzgerald is the Director of Winemaking at Brack Mountain Wine Company, located outside of Sebastopol, California. Together with his assistant, John Harley, they bottle of 15 different brands, including John's own wine, Inizi.
EXECUTIVE CHEF/PARTNER | Photographed @ Starbelly | San Francisco, California
This was by far one of the more fascinating shoots of culinary expertise. Starbelly is a hip little neighborhood restaurant in the Castro district of San Francisco. I got a call to document a whole hog butchering that Adam does a few times a year. It is a true skill, and nothing goes to waste.
FOUNDER of FRIEND IN CHEESES JAM CO. | Photographed @ The Elks Lodge | Santa Cruz, California
If the name alone wasn't crazy enough, when Tabitha and I set up a date to photograph, she told me that she was renting space at an Elks Lodge in Santa Cruz, California. This girl has a rock n' roll attitude when it comes to running her own business, and the products are out of this world.
PASTRY CHEF | Photographed @ Smitten Ice Cream | Rockridge, Oakland, California
It is not everyday that I get followed around a shoot by an owner, and a marketing director, so as not do accidentally photograph anything considered proprietary information, but nitrogen frozen ice cream is big business, and the competition is real. Robin, Smitten's consulting Pastry Chef, was extremely gracious and her talent in making an honest product was on full display.
CONCEPTUAL ARTIST | Photographed @ her studio | Los Angeles, California
Kerry and Mungo Thompson have adjoining studio spaces in LA, and although Kerry had a prior commitment on the day I was shooting, she granted permission to photograph in her space. Most of her work is in video, so it is a particularly still space aside from her characters watching as you walk from room to room.
PROPRIETOR | Photographed @ Whitechapel | San Francisco, California
After successfully opening up a rum themed bar, Smuggler's Cove, Martin Cate decided that gin was the next movement and so Whitechapel took over an overlooked spot in the Tenderloin of San Francisco. These photographs were for an article in 7x7 magazine taken on opening day.
PROPRIETOR | Photographed @ Satori Tea Company | San Jose, California
Satoria Tea Company holds a special place in the hearts of the residents of downtown San Jose, CA. While it has now moved to a new location, these photographs document its first incarnation as a hidden, almost, speakeasy-style tea room.
EXECUTIVE CHEF | Photographed @ Blackbird Tavern | San Jose, California
Curtis and I had worked on a popular food blog project after his benchmark downtown San Jose restaurant had to close due to the economic downturn. These photographs are from the pre-opening of a new restaurant, Blackbird Tavern where Curtis was serving as a consulting Executive Chef.
BRAND DEVELOPMENT MANAGER for HOTALING & CO. & FOUNDER of NEXT VENTURE WINES | Photographed @ home | San Francisco, California
These two mainstays in the Bay Area beverage scene, never miss an opportunity to entertain friends and clients. This was an intimate pre-party shoot from their space with the most spectacular view of the city.
MUSICIAN | Photographed in her practice room | Woodacre, California
This was a rare shoot, where the subject didn't have to tell a story, give a tour, or offer too much explanation about process. Shirley just started playing, and as I photographed the space around her.
