Product and ingredients photography for new sustainable beauty and wellness brand Ace of Air. Their skincare products and supplements use organic renewable ingredients and come in re-usable plastic-free packaging. Packaging design and art direction by Bartlett Brands and styling by Pakayla Biehn.
Competitive polo player Dale Johnson and his horse Sunny were such a treat to photograph! I met him down on a beautiful ranch in Half Moon Bay, California. The Kitchn has a column, The Way We Eat, profiling interesting people and what they eat in a typical day. You can read the story here.
I’m proud to share these Lunar New Year still lifes made in collaboration with Abacus Row to ring in the Year of the Ox. We incorporated auspicious flora and foods like peonies, chrysanthemums, pomelo, citrus, and lychee. And can’t forget that little quail egg! We’ll be offering both a LNY calendar and art prints with 100% of proceeds benefitting Good Good Eatz, a local nonprofit formed during the pandemic, that offers aid and business development for Oakland Chinatown and other POC and immigrant-owned small business throughout Oakland. Check instagram in the coming week for more details on how to purchase a calendar or print!
A mix of lifestyle and product photos for Oakland-based spice company, Diaspora Co, with prop styling by Jillian Knox. The whole Diaspora Co. team (pictured below) brought the good energy and helped create a festive Diwali spread. I love seeing the journey of this small business —they’ve grown from carrying their hero spice, turmeric, to carrying an ever-expanding collection of spices, collaborations, and masala dabbas!
For this project, I had the chance to both concept and photograph some fun imagery for Bay Area cleaning company, Kindness Cleaning, who works with both commercial and residential clients. Styling by Maggie Lindsey.
I’m proud to share this festive shoot published in Food & Wine, featuring blogger and cookbook author, Hetal Vasavada of Milk & Cardamom. She baked up these color and delicious treats inspired by Diwali, the Indian festival of lights that takes place in November. I loved the use of decorative flowers and gold that feels so celebratory and special.
I photographed this dream food story for the latest issue of Bon Appétit magazine. It features the incredible Salvadoran food of Popoca restaurant and a first person account of Anthony Salguero’s food journey. Shot on location at Popoca in Oakland! Props by Jillian Knox.
Some recent commercial product photography work for Allbirds shoes. Styled by Anna Brockmeyer.
Some bit of new beauty still life work for San Francisco based skin care line True Botanicals and campaign photos for their new Glacial Clay Detoxifying Mask. Their products are a dream to photograph! Styling by Pakayla Biehn.
HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR /gung hay fat choy —it’s the year of the (metal) rat! These still lifes were a favorite collaboration, styled by myself and Christine Trac of Abacus Row. We printed up some dual sided posters, with the green image on the front and a Lunar New Year calendar, designed by Christine, on the back. I still have a handful, so please send me a note if you’d like one!
Meng Jin’s debut novel Little Gods, published through Custom House, came out in January. I had the pleasure of taking her author portrait at my studio in Oakland last year.
I photographed some cuties for a product lifestyle shoot featuring Humble Abode’s 100% organic fair-trade cotton towels! You gotta love a brand whose motto is “For the clean, not the tidy.” I got to work with an awesome team of ladies! Hair and makeup by Katie Nash, product styling by Pakayla Biehn and art direction by Tina Hardison.
I’ve been wanting to share more of my ongoing commercial work with Biossance, a clean beauty brand based in San Francisco Bay Area. Though I was fairly new to beauty photography when I began working with them on their 2018 holiday campaign, I’ve really enjoyed this niche. It’s been sweet to be able to photograph both portraits and still life for the same client. Here are some photos for their limited edition rose oil and rose mask. I love the hair and makeup on Selah by Marine Vaisset!
It’s always a pleasure working with the folks at St. George Spirits —it’s clear everyone there loves their job and is passionate about the craft. They’re an independent distillery in Alameda, California that makes some very special spirits. At the helm are distillers Lance Winters and Dave Smith. During this shoot, the warehouse had the best all-encompassing smell of pears, since they’d literally used tons of the fruit that week to make their brandy and liqueur.
Dave Smith
Lance Winters, Dave Smith
St. George Distillery
Diaspora Co sells the best turmeric and the heritage spices organically farmed and directly sourced from their farmers in India. Founder Sana Javeri Kadri is building a more sustainable equity-focused spice trade, and admirably everything about Diaspora Co from their ethos to their product is bold and beautiful! Styling by Jillian Knox.
New fall catering offerings from Rice Paper Scissors!
Lea and Andre opened Excelsior Coffee in their beloved neighborhood after 2 years of getting it off the ground. I grabbed before and after photos for them (before photos to come) and it’s incredible to see the transformation after all their sweat equity, all while holding down their day jobs and having their first kiddo! They’ve got ube treats by Ube Area and serve their coffee in black ceramics by Elle Ceramica. Hand painted mirror sign by Avila Rose Signs. Beautiful interior and branding design by Valerie Shagday.
A bit of recent product and on-model beauty work for Biossance, a clean skin care company.
Makeup and hair by Elizabeth Chang, product styling by Maggie Lindsey
Borsch Mobile serves up Ukranian and Russian comfort food on the go. I photographed owners Igor and Kirill on assignment for SF Magazine.
Dim sum ALL DAY at Dumpling Time in San Francisco. These images were created to be used as signs for a new location. They’re well-known for their Xiao Long Bao, dumplings with soup inside, and have an XL version served with a boba straw!
