I have incredible friends! I find myself at a loss for the proper words to describe my friend Sarah. She is genuinely one of the most talented people I've ever met in my life. She is exploding onto the music scene and there are things in the works that she isn't allowed to tell me yet, but, I look forward to hearing what the big secrets will reveal.

Sarah is the person I have worked with the most- I am not exaggerating for once ;) I have thousands of photos of her from the shoots we have done in Santa Barbara, LA, and New York. She remains one of my most dear friends, a muse, an encouragement, a dream realized. You will see her again, I promise.

This photo was the result of our magical creative collaboration- unplanned, in between shot, which are always my fav at the end of the day. I give to you- Sarah- who just wants to rock :)

I was recently putting together a stock submission, and happily came across this oldie but goodie travel photo. (and when I say old, I mean something more than a year old in the photography world can feel like a long time ago.. goodness, yesterday feels like a long time ago to me!)

This wooden carving of a lion on the door to the city hall, Prague, Czech Republic appears to be quite famous. There's something exceptional about Prague... so far it is the most spotless country I have ever been to, one of the most interesting, and one that I did not have enough time to visit properly. As my friend Adela from Prague said to me upon her recent NY visit "Prague and NY have something in common, they are both very photogenic cities". I couldn't agree more! :)

On February 8th about 12 hours before I was meant to get on a 7:00 am flight to Vegas to surprise my sister for her 40th birthday, I was shooting a dinner at the James Beard Foundation. I appreciate and respect the professional involvement with both photography and food, and was truly honored to be allowed to shoot a dinner at JBF!

So, for those who may not know, the James Beard Foundation is a non profit here in NYC that promotes the Culinary Arts. There are a number of activities going on throughout each month from honoring chefs, journalists, sommeliers, cookbook authors, as well as providing opportunities for chef hopefuls/students. I always feel right at home when I walk into their cozy location.

The dinners have now become so famous they are something of a competition and the chefs invited to make exceptional dinners for their members and any guests who pay entrance for the dinner. The James Beard Awards are considered the "Oscars of the Food World" ;)

The dinner I shot was the crew of Palladio restaurant in Barboursville Vineyards, Barboursville, Virginia. Melissa Close Hart is the executive chef, the theme- Elegant Vineyard Getaway =delectable on every imaginable level. This is one of my fav shots of their version of fish n' chips- Virginia Trout on a potato chip- how clever! It really tingled my tastebuds! Enjoy :)

This is an oldie but goodie :) Back in my photo school days, one of our assignments was a CD Cover. I, of course was overly excited to be forced to shoot a CD Cover, and quickly enlisted one of my oldest and best friends, Bobby, to model for me. This was actually shot on film! I am definitely having my film nostalgia moments lately, however, I have sold all my film cameras... I wonder if it will make a big comeback? Anyway, it was always fun to play around with double exposures, long exposures, and darkroom tricks and techniques.

I give to you Bobby, the ultimate singer/songwriter in the middle of his process (and to me, the process is the most fascinating part of art) :)

...(town) The Great Blue Wall of Chinatown, Melbourne! :) I love Chinatowns... every single one of them !! So far, NY, LA, SF, Boston, and Melbourne Chinatowns have been a lovely experience. There's something incredibly tangible that resonates with me about Asia, Eastern thought, philosophy, and lifestyle.... so it is no surprise that I find myself right at home in the Chinatowns of the world.

Colours are an essential part of my function as an artist, a visual person, and a photographer! I respond to colours, shapes, patterns,and this was one of my fav views of the glorious Chinatown wall colours in Melbourne, Australia- my home away from home. The next episode will be music... stay tuned :)

For about 3 years I have been eager to get Edible magazine as a client. 2 years of vision boards later, my wish became a reality, and I have shot for both Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan. The photo editor, Michael Harlan Turkell, is one of the nicest and most knowledgeable guys around... through portfolio reviews and getting to know him a bit better, he set me up with some really cool gigs for the magazines.

This shot is from a Beer Dinner put on by Edible Manhattan magazine in conjunction with Almond restaurant. I have never been to Almond before, but after this one meal, I vow to become a regular. The people there truly blew my mind... you expect a nice restaurant in NY to be pretentious, but they were some of the most down to earth, good humoured foodies around! (and oh yea the restaurant has so much personality, and cool decor!) The dinner took place in December 2010, and was such a lovely way to celebrate a family style dinner that got back to basics. All food was locally and sustainably sourced, and tasted absolutely delicious. I was thrilled that I had 2 guest invitations, and invited my friends Michael and Hamish (who just arrived from Australia!)

MANY more from this shoot will turn up in your immediate future, and for now I leave you with Michael's fav dish and my fav shot- Shrimp cocktail appetizer :) OH, I just LOVE that little bottle of hot sauce :)

This is the lovely Anna- my first piano teacher. I found her via a plea on facebook to find and I do quote myself " A crazy, passionate, obsessed with music- piano teacher, please!" (mostly quoting word for word ;)

I wish I could explain the power of someone with the ability to teach- to truly be able to transfer information to you and to do it in a way that is understood, absorbed, and processed. Having zero musical background, I was really nervous but ambitious and excited to learn to play my first musical instrument (at age 30, haha!) Anna made everything incredibly easy, relatable, and fun. She even encouraged me to try to play something WAY above my skill level (Bella's Lullaby from the Twilight soundtrack)... and when I finally got some of it down- I will never forget that she said "I can see you playing the piano, truly.. the way you just played shows me you can do it."

We had an amazing shoot at The Mansion on 5th Ave- the most incredible location a photographer could ever dream of! Much more from this shoot to come, but in the pensive mood of this photo- I give you Anna and her NY state of mind :)

Just when I got the ball rolling.... had to drop it because I was on a mini-vacation in Vegas! Had an absolute blast with my family, and will post some photos from our whirlwind getaway soon :)

Back to my regularly scheduled blogging! I figure I can keep my own attention as long as I can keep yours, so in the interest of our collective societal a.d.d.- the short blogging continues... this is a fav travel photo of mine from Australia. I believe this was taken in Sydney either at the Taronga Zoo or at some kangaroo sanctuary- either way I adore this photo and wanted to share it. I will never tire of how cool kangaroos are, how fascinating their muscular physiques remain, and how entertaining they are to watch.

Cuddle up with the Roo and I :)

.... oh yea! I am a board member of a professional photo organisation called ASMP- American Society of Media Photographers- it is just about as close as professional photographers can get to having a union in my opinion. We have an annual holiday party in December, and last year I was in charge of organising the party. I found a fantastic caterer, Monterone, and we ate, drank, and were more than merry :)

I particularly liked this shot of the lamb meatballs with salsa verde dip (that looks like a magical pool of some sort) which went over very well with the crowd :) Have one !

I have finally found the happy medium! Blogging something short everyday is working out beautifully! :) I am even finding myself planning ahead and eager for the next day so I can share photos from the past, present, and perhaps even share some inspiration for future shoots.

Today is brought to you by the letter T for Travis Sullivan :) I met Travis via another amazing pianist, Anna Dagmar. Anna and Travis were both my piano teachers, and for someone like myself without any previous music experience or training, they truly tailored the lessons to my needs and abilities. They are both other worldly talented and intelligent about music theory- highly recommend for anyone in NY looking for music teachers!

So, here's a shot from my shoot with Travis- he is a master jazz musician/sax player/pianist/teacher... shall I go on? We shot at Louis Brown Recording Studio in Midtown West, had a blast and got great images for Travis' label and promo material.