goldenberg photography blog

Russet

Russet, by chefs Andrew and Kristin Wood, opened last night at 16th & Spruce. Wow. I had been there twice, shooting for their website - but all my expectations were blown away, it was that good. This is no dainty, west-coast, hand-picked sprouts, why am I still hungry?, food "gallery" - this is a true farm-to-table eatery. If I didn't know better, I would assume the chef was an 85 year old matriarch of a European farm family who just got her degree from the CIA (no, not that CIA). Every dish is meant to be eaten, and eaten, and eaten - and when you take a break to wash it down with some wine - you realize just how amazing every component of the dish is. And then you eat, and eat, and eat some more.

Their menu will be changing daily, so "what to shoot" posed a bit of a challenge while brainstorming the look and feel of the website. We couldn't really shoot completed dishes, or diners would be arriving expecting to order things they'd seen. Instead, we decided to concentrate on the ingredients, and components of the final dishes - the pieces that make the restaurant what it is. I'm really proud of the imagery we created - and the website is beautiful thanks to the super-talented designer Nikki Hagedorn.

I'll be heading back there shortly to capture some interiors and exteriors, but here's some of my favorites so far:

Go.

Nylon Magazine - Beauty

Awesome to see one of my beauty product shots get a treament from Nylon Mag. BLAM! by AMMO. For sale at Woodley and Bunny.

Hangups & Baggage

My very good friend just started a line of really cool home products, with the awesome name Hangups & Baggage. They're a bunch of pieces that hang on the wall to hold your stuff, and look beautiful. Check them out when you get a chance - she just launched her website (here) and will be exhibiting at the NY International Gift Fair later this month.

Interiors & Furniture - Lucky Brand

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to shoot some kick-ass furniture that was custom-made for the Lucky Brand corporate offices by Amuneal Manufacturing. I'm very happy with the overall lighting, composition and styling considering we started with a big empty room. The challenge was  making the furniture live in a space that could easily be both a residential and corprate environment, and I think we nailed it.

 

Fab.com - AMMO Sale

I've recently been addicted to a new shopping site - Fab.com. It's kinda awesome. Like most of these shopping sites that are popping up and flooding your inbox - it basically consists of daily offerings of discounted items, for a limited time. The cool thing about Fab, is that whoever is doing the curating is spot on, and should be my personal shopper, which...they kind of are at this point. Really great modern, design-oriented stuff, and most items are very affordable. 

I was super excited to see that my friends (and client) over at American Mortals are having their product line featured today. And it was pretty cool seeing my shots on the Fab site, considering it's one of my daily reads.

Check out Fab when you get a chance. If you want to sign up, you might as well use this link - I think I get free shipping or something.

The Fondue Effect - Videos

Here are two final web video spots that we shot for The Melting Pot a few months ago, created by Red Tettemer + Partners. And click here to see some additional finals form the shoot.

 

 

Thanksgiving x 2 = Stuffed

What a great, great Thanksgiving break full of family and friends.  Part I was spent in Philly, and Part II took place in LBI where we were lucky enough to have some unseasonably warm weather. The beach was amazing, and being there off-season with no crowds is really spectacular.

To continue along with the gluttony theme of the weekend, we cooked another turkey as well. If you haven't tasted a deep-fried turkey yet, it really is a must. The cooking process is a group effort, and you get to stand around drinking whiskey whilst you attempt not to burn down your home (or your neighbor's).

Speaking of whiskey, this small batch bourbon was from King's County Distillery, in Brooklyn, NY. And the turkey:

Yes, the skin is perfectly crispy. I need to stop eating...

Communication Arts - 2011 Advertising Annual

The Kiwi Ads that I worked on were selected for the 2011 Communication Arts Advertising Annual. Out of 4,793 submissions, it was one of the 141 winning projects. Hats off to the guys over at Hanlon Creative. I'm especially thrilled to see my name mentioned amongst such select company, not to mention finding my name in the index was pretty cool.

Hopefully the first of many.

Red Hook Coffee & Tea

I've mentioned this in an earlier post about Yard's Brewery - but I love when I get to do good work for a business I admire. This time it was for my local coffee shop - Red Hook Coffee & Tea on 4th Street's Fabric Row. I love this place - I go there every morning to get my coffee, see my neighbors after the school drop-off, and get inspired to start my day by whatever awesome music they're playing. And the owners Kelsey and Chloe couldn't be nicer.

They're currently updating their menu (and creating a new website) so we did a food shoot last week:

We'll be shooting some interiors over the next few weeks, but in the meantime, stop by and check it out yourself. You'll love it, and let me know when you're in the neighborhood. Until they're website gets going, you can find them on Facebook and Yelp.

The Melting Pot

The past three months has been the busiest we've ever been here at goldenberg photography. I'm not sure what to attribute this to other than my business is growing, and my work is getting better (at least I hope that's the case and it's not just random).

Now that it's October, some projects are being completed and I'm psyched to be able share some of them.

The latest is a shoot I did for The Melting Pot through Red Tettemer+Partners. The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant with over 140 locations in 36 states, not including Canada and Mexico - so it was a big client, through an awesome agency.

The shoot consisted of two days on location shooting a ton of food still-lifes, and then a day in the studio shooting beauty shots of chocolate and cheese for the full page ads below. These were all fairly big productions with multiple assistants, food stylists and chefs all being overseen by the client and the agency. 

And here's a quick screen grab from The Melting Pot's website highlighting some of the new food photography we produced during those two days on location:

I'm really pleased with the way everything turned out, and I think the client was very happy with the final results. All the retouching was handled by us, and it's great to see it all come together as a final piece.

NYC Weekend

We spent last weekend in NYC celebrating my birthday with some great friends. The impression I've always had of the big city was masses of people surrounded by cold concrete in the midst of constant construction and traffic. I'm pretty sure this impression was reinforced by the fact that I only knew it from class trips, broadway shows as a child,  and visiting friends in mid-town - who seemed to always live in doorman buildings. It all just never made sense to me. 

Seems I was way off target, that the "big" city is really just like anyplace - made up of small amazing neighborhoods. I've been spending most of my recent time up there in the Flatiron Dsitrict, close to Union Sqaure and Gramercy Park. It's stunningly beautiful.

Farmer's market in Union Sqaure:

I can honestly say that I don't think the food in general is any better up there, but the variety of locations and options are staggering. There's just this design sense everywhere that doesn't seem as staged or forced as it does in Philly.

Some places we ate & drank were: The Lion (amazing burger), Pete's Tavern (perfect old-school New York corner bar), The Mondrian in SoHo (jaw-dropping exterior garden and interior dining room), Pastis (Parisian brunch at the start of the Highline) and The Standard New York (see images below).

And then there's the aforementioned Highline. If you haven't been, it really is something to travel for. It stretches from roughly 14th to 30th along 10th Ave. and it's truly spectactular. An amazing way to travel through the city:

I can't wait to get back up there and explore some more.

Yards - IPA, Brawler & Phila Pale Ale

A few more bottles from Yards that I shot this week.

Cary Neff - Food Stylist

As mentioned in previous posts, I've used "restaurantreprenuer" Cary Neff a few times to style some food shoots. My brother recently threw together this awesome promo mailer for him using some of the shots we've collaborated on. And yes "throw together" is a technical term that refers to spending hours concepting, designing, laying out, revising, writing copy and overseeing the printing process.

Such a perfect tag line for a food stylist - love it. 

Yards Brewing Company

I'm very psyched to be doing work for Yards Brewing Company. A great local company, with amazing product - I'm a huge fan. It also doesn't hurt that their product happens to be beer.

I recently shot their newly repackaged Extra Special Ale (bottle, six pack and group shot) and their newly released Cape of Good Hope, Imperial Pale Ale (same shots). Until recently, the Cape was only available on tap, but now you can enjoy the 8.3% alcohol content in the safety of your own home.

Good Neighbor Pharmacy - National Ads

Just saw some completed ads that I shot last month for Good Neighbor Pharmacy, which is a collection of over 3,700 independently owned and operated pharmacies nationwide. These were done through Hanlon Creative and I love how they turned out.

The highlight was shooting Rocco (a real biker) next to the 5'1" actress/model. Not sure which one was more of a sweetheart...

 

FoundFolios Launched

I recently launched a portfolio on the FoundFolios Creative Network (here). Just another piece of my global marketing attack. So, my marketing plan now consists of my portfolio website, blog, posts to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, national emailers sent every five weeks through Adbase, and now Foundfolios.

Anyone else doing anything differently? It's a constant battle getting your name out there to potential clients, creatives and art buyers and I'm always looking for new ideas.

Food Arts Mag - Ribs

I was lucky enough to shoot an assignment for Food Arts Magazine this month. By lucky, I mean it was a story on ribs, and it was at Percy Street BBQ…if you've been there you know what I mean. If you haven't been - the food is really good. It's also super relaxed and a great place to take the kids for an early dinner. And they also have great drinks to help you manage that situation.

Erin O'Shea is the chef over there, and she couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating. Can't wait to head back over.
 

BBQ - Faves and Outtakes

Here's some of my favorite shots from the BBQ Shoot:

BBQ - Long Island Pulse Magazine

It's summer time, and that means I got to do another BBQ spread for Long Island Pulse Magazine. I shot it much differently this year - not a single drop of sunlight used - which is quite a departure for me, but where I've been gravitating to lately. I used all strobes with bare heads which gave everything real punchy, crisp look.

I'm really excited how well everything turned out, and they did a great job with the layout. I'll post some of my outakes and favorite shots soon.

Devil's Den - Food Network

I got a last minute call late last week from AgileCat asking if I could find some time to head over to the Devil's Den. Apparently they've been nominated for a Food Network show about spicy food, and needed to get some shots of the featured dishes over to the editors/producers ASAP.  

Everyone was able to accommodate my 9-11am Monday morning window, and I think the shots came out great. Spicy mussels and spicy eggplant. I actually passed on drinking the beer at 10am…I must be getting older.