Funny how the universe works, once I decided that food photography was the way I wanted to go, I unexpectedly connected with a great food photographer, Matt Armendariz. Matt is a great photographer and a great guy to work with. Just like me, Matt started on the design side as an art director for a grocery company. He started his Matt Bites blog in 2005, and partly based on the popularity of his blog, decided to go full-time into food photography. I’ve only been working with Matt for a about a month but we have already done jobs for Target, California Avocado Growers and Top Chef All-Star Fabio Viviani.
There are more shoots on the way which will keep me busy while I am building a new body of work. It’s great to be in the studio and on location learning things that only experience can teach me and contributing my expertise when it’s needed. I can only share some of the behind-the-scenes photos because most of the things we shoot are confidential until the images come out. Nobody wants their big new campaign “outed” before they’re ready.
Here’s some of what went on in the last month:
What would we do with out cell phones while waiting for food on a shoot?
Armando going above and beyond in helping Matt get that sneeze out.
Our version of the last supper featuring Armando, Ryan and Matt.
Matt doing the limbo under the camera arm.
Food stylist extraordinaire Adam Pearson working his magic while Matt looks on.
My “bonus” for teching an avocado shoot. Guacamole for days.
A quick breakfast. We were definitely feed well while shooting at Cafe Firenze.
The famous Fabio turtles. They had babies but don’t have names because, “Come on, they’re turtles”.
Matt hard at work directing Fabio.
Checking out a greenhouse in Moorpark as a possible location with Fabio.