Blog

New Work: Ashley Shelton and Bess Kretsinger for Wine Enthusiast

A couple months ago I had a fun shoot with Chef Ashley Shelton and Bess Kretsinger Heffernan, the GM, from Sardella, one of the...

New Work: Cheese Boards for Feast Magazine

I had a fun shoot for Feast Magazine a couple of months ago, right before Easter. It was fun to spend some time back...

New Work: Rebel Yell

New work from my new studio! A fun portfolio session for Rebel Yell. Since I had free reign on this one I went for...

IKEA Lingonberry Old Fashioned

Here is a little something that I put together last year and never got around to posting – a little IKEA hack for a...

A Walk Amongst Hogs

I arrived at Geisert Farms at 5:55am, pulling into a spot next to the self serve vegetable stand, the sun just a purple glow...

St. Louis Food Roof Farm

When I was growing up, my dad had a wonderful garden at our home in Pennsylvania, and we always had access to fresh vegetables...

Ice Cream Editorial Photography

As a food photographer I am exposed to a lot of food on a daily basis, but I have to admit that I have...

Mayana Mexican Kitchen Commercial Photography

Mayana Mexican Kitchen is a fast-casual concept that has recently opened in Clayton, MO. I worked with an incredible team to create some beautiful...

The Insatiable Lens Issue 2: Rogue!

I am very excited to announce that the latest issue of my personal project, The Insatiable Lens has been published! This issue turned out...

Home-Made Date Nut Protein Bars

Whew, it’s been a crazy few weeks. The new year rolled in like a tank in January of this year, with a lot of...

Friday Happy Hour: Classic Margarita

I just took a quick look at the thermometer on the balcony here at the studio and saw that it is currently reading 113...

Friday Happy Hour – The Martini

In this world of internet shaming and trolling there is always going to be someone out there who is going to tell you that...

Evernote for Photographers: Part 3

In Part 1 and Part 2 of my series on Evernote for Photographers, I talked about why Evernote is so amazing and how I...

Evernote for Photographers: Part 2

In Part 1 of my series on Evernote for Photographers, I discussed why I love Evernote and the ways that this powerful tool helps...

Evernote for Photographers: Part 1

I’ll admit this right off the bat: I am an Evernote addict. I use Evernote to keep track of all aspects of my personal...

Salt Crusted Fish Recipe

An ancient dish that is easy to prepare and will wow even the most cynical of your foodie friends. When I am cooking there are...

Beverage Photography: The Salty Dog Cocktail

I am an unashamed dog person. After adopting a rescue mutt from a local shelter, I went from being the guy who merely tolerated...

The Insatiable Lens: Premiere Issue

At the end of each year I put together a larger-than-normal promotional mailing, mainly targeted at the clients that I have worked with over...

Editorial – Peacemaker Lobster & Crab

  Chef Kevin Nashan is an institution in St. Louis. His first restaurant, Sydney Street Cafe has received numerous awards and is on the top...

St. Louis Food Photographer: Ultimate Sandwich Shoot

Who wants a sandwich? How about six of them? In August I had the opportunity to photograph five of the most popular sandwich shops...

St. Louis Food Photographer: Hawaiian Flavors

If you say you don’t like Spam then you are no friend of mine. Sure, I shot a lot of high end food but...

St. Louis Food Photographer, Feast Magazine Cover August 2014

I’m pleased to report that one of my images was chosen for the cover of the August 2014 Issue of Feast Magazine. This is the...

Healthy Hawaiian Pizza

I love making pizza at home, and have gotten pretty good at a variety of different styles and crusts. When I make pizza at...

St. Louis Beverage Photographer: Moscow Mule

It has been a while since I’ve done a how to post, so I thought I’d talk a little bit about a really fun...

A Haunting Reminder to Backup Your Files

Back in February I wrote a two part series of posts detailing all of my backup procedures for my photograghs – the media I...

Fresh Asparagus Soup

Now that the weather is finally on the nicer side of “when the hell will spring get here anyway” I’ve been wearing shorts, finally....

Cellophane Noodles with Ginger Peanut Sauce

I’ve been trying to eat healthier things these days, and one of the things that I’ve been trying to cut down on is gluten....

Spring Potting Shed Photo Shoot – Feast Magazine

Each month I am luckily enough to shoot a column for Feast Magazine called What We’re Buying. The column focuses on a variety of...

Home-Made Black Bean Chocolate Protein Bars

Keeping my energy up during big shoots is important. Sometimes I’m too busy to take the time to sit down and eat something. Other...

Moll’s Cup No. 3 for Sauce Magazine

I worked on a number of assignments for Sauce this month including a feature called The List, where Sauce talks about “the people, places,...

Healthy Eating: Avocado Egg Salad

You know what is delicious? Mayonnaise. You know what is really bad for you? Mayonnaise. Since I’ve been on this whole health kick lately,...

Healthy Eating: Couscous Salad with Broccoli Pesto

I rarely eat what I photograph. I’m not getting any younger over here, and when you spend your day photographing food and booze …...

Backups and Archiving for Photographers (Part 2)

In yesterday’s post, Backups and Archiving for Photographers (Part 1), I talked about how I make multiple backups of my data on a daily...

Backups and Archiving for Photographers (Part 1)

One of the biggest challenges as a professional photographer these days is managing all of my digital assets … in other words, my photographs....

St. Louis Food Photographer: Element

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to photograph Element, one of the newer restaurants in St. Louis for Sauce Magazine. Located...

St. Louis Beverage Photographer: Egg Nog

Each month I shoot a cocktail for a column called The Mix in Feast Magazine. For the December issue I photographed Egg Nog. Not...

Vegetarian Hot Wings with Sriracha

It is freezing cold in St. Louis (today’s high is in the single digits). Luckily for me, this week has been filled with mostly...

Tripel for Sauce Magazine

Last month I got a fun assignment for Sauce Magazine: photographing Tripel in Lafayette Square for the November issue. The photos were for the...

FAQ: Do You Get To Eat That?

Shooting editorial food photography assignments can be a little tricky. When you are shooting in a restaurant where people are eating, it always draws...

The Perfect Bloody Mary Recipe

Good ‘ole Jeeves always gave Bertie Wooster Prairie Oyster in the morning for a hangover cure, but me? I prefer a good old fashioned...

Making Cocktail Bitters (Part 2)

As I mentioned in my first post about making cocktail bitters, (Making Cocktail Bitters (Part 1)), the process starts with making your own extracts....

Rainbow Carrots

Dr. Wife and I have been using Green Bean Delivery for a few months now, and although we have gotten a number of things...

Making Cocktail Bitters (Part 1)

In an episode in the most recent season of Mad Men, Don Draper orders a drink at a dinner party by asking for something...

Black Walnut Season Is Here!

When I was growing up there was a black walnut tree growing in an alley at the end of our property. All that I...

Photo Essay: Slingin’ Beers with The King

Each month I work with writer Brandon Chuang for a Feast Magazine column called How To. Each month, Brandon interviews someone working in a...

St. Louis Food Media Forum

I’m pleased to announce that I am going to be a presenter at the second annual St. Louis Food Media Forum August 9 -11,...

Impractical Beauty – The Eve Decanter

Working as a food photographer for food magazines often means that I end up doing a lot of food and beverage-related product photography as...

Thinking Outside the Porthole

Let’s be honest, sometimes corporate head shots can be pretty dry. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; in many cases a corporate portrait is...

Glass Wall Corporate Portrait

The first thing that I do when I’m setting up a portrait is to scout out the area where I’m going to shoot to...

On Using Public Space for Photography

Over the last few days there has been a mild uproar over signs posted in Faust Park in St. Louis County advising that “professional...

Beverage Photography Tips: Invest in Cubes

For anyone who has worked with beverage photography, they will all tell you that ice cubes are a real pain to shoot. First of...

Photo Essay: Thai Kitchen

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, one of the great things about being part of the food industry is getting to see what goes...

Bring Out Your Inner Jackson Pollack

These cookies will turn your kitchen in an art gallery faster than you can say abstract expressionism. Instead of oil paint you’ll be dripping,...

February Shoot To Cook Roundup

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to get back into regular posts over at my food and photography blog, Shoot To Cook. Business...

You Haven’t Got It Until You’ve Got It

The great thing about digital photography is that we are no longer bound 12, 24, or 36 frames at a time. And we don’t...

Rye Whiskey Pork Tenderloin with Apples

Many years ago when I was in New York, I decided that I needed to learn how to drink bourbon. I don’t recall whether...

Building A Better Bar

It’s the start of a new year, and I’m really excited about all of the photography I’m going to be shooting in 2013. My...

Food Gift Idea: Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

Here we are at the end of another wonderful year. I was thinking about doing one of those posts about all of the awesome...

Food Gift Idea: Ancho Chili Pecans

Merry Christmas everyone! I was lucky enough to see a few snowflakes at my parent’s house in Pennsylvania on Christmas Eve, although today on...

Food Gift Idea: Holiday Spice Sugar

This week I’m talking about some of my picks for holiday food gifts this year. And much like yesterday’s post about home made peppermint...

Food Gift Idea: Peppermint Marshmallows

As I was walking the dog this morning in a balmy 55 degree morning, I realized the Christmas is a week away already! What...

Single Serving Cocktails: Safer Than Punch

The holidays are a busy time in our house. Lots of entertaining, being entertained, drinking, eating, laughing. Last month I did a project for...

Listen to Your Clients: They Have Good Ideas Too

Being creative and finding the perfect shot is the photographer’s job. Period. When you accept a job, you also accept the responsibility for taking...

Tips for Photographing Beer

People often ask me why I’m a Redskins fan, and although I often ask myself that same question, the answer is really quite simple....

Dramatic Cocktail, Dramatic Lighting Technique

At the end of June and the beginning of July, I worked on a large project for Feast magazine which involved about sixteen individual...

The Lunch Tray: Re-Mastered

Remember lunchtime in grade school, middle school and high school? That 45 minute hour of minimally-supervised trauma that happened every day at 11:05am? Your...

On Assignment: Lighting in Tight Spaces

If you can’t stand the heat … get out of the kitchen. When I’m booking editorial photo shoots for restaurants, whether it’s food or...

Hidden Kitchens for Feast Magazine

Back in July, I undertook a daunting project for Feast magazine: documenting Mexican tiendas (grocery stores) and the taquerias that reside there. Why was...

Chris Sommers, Pi Downtown

Those of us who live downtown are super excited about the new branch of the Pi chain of pizza restaurants that just opened up...

Americana

Spanks $2 to Receive

I love this photo of my friend Renee being spanked by Arch Rival Rollergirl Kirsten O’Loughlin at the 2012 Midwest Mayhem in the City...

Backyard Grilling with Rob Uyemura

Another of the fun assignments I got to shoot last month was a quick portrait of Rob Uyemura for Sauce Magazine. Rob is the...

Hotwings are for Wimps

I loves me some hotwings, don’t get me wrong. When football season rolls around they are a regular part of my diet. But if...

Dodging a Rainy Bullet

St. Louis weather always keeps me guessing. Blistering heat one day, then cold and dreary the next. Toss in the odd tornado and/or momentous...

Chinese Lanterns

I took an over-priced stroll through the Missouri Botanical Garden last night to check out the 2012 Chinese Lantern Festival. Tickets are a whopping...

Jermain Todd

Recently I had the chance to meet local artisan Jermain Todd, who I photographed for Sauce magazine. Jermain owns Mwanzi, an eco-friendly design-build-supply firm....

Overdue Vacation and the Fuji X100

Dr. Fiance and I hadn’t had a vacation since we went to South Africa in 2010. Which isn’t to say we haven’t traveled at...

Food Photography Tips: Using Salt and Pepper Shakers as Stand-Ins

If you’re shooting food for a commercial client, before you get to the actual shot you have plenty of time to prepare. You start...

Hot Pots!

Once upon a time, I went a birthday dinner of a friend at Grand Sichuan in New York City. There were about ten people...

Wes Johnson for Feast Magazine

Last month right before the print deadline, I squeezed in a quick shoot with Chef Wes Johnson for Feast Magazine. I met Wes at...

Still Life With Eggplant

Working with raw foods can be an interesting task, mainly because you need to create drama and interest without having a fully cooked dish...

Personal Projects and A Bitter Melon

How many posts do you think I can possibly start with some variation of the phrase “It’s been a busy month and I haven’t...

Bacon, Lettuce and More Bacon

You know, the best things in life come with bacon. Pretty much everyone will tell you that adding bacon to something will make it...

The Art of Making Coffee

Let me get straight to the point: my name is Jonathan and I am addicted to coffee. Like a lot of people I start...

St. Louis Taste Makers

I have a fascination with the food culture, which is one of the reasons I jumped at the chance to photograph some of the...

On-Assignment: St. Louis Magazine’s 50 Best Dishes

There is a lot of really excellent food in St. Louis, but with my work schedule I don’t get to eat out as much...

Catherine Neville, Publisher of Feast Magazine

If you’ve been following my blog for the last few months, you will have noticed that I’ve been doing a lot of work for...

Strip Mall Cuisine: Korea House in Creve Coeur

I always seem to start my blog posts these days with some sort of comparison of my old life in New York City versus...

On Assignment: Mayor Francis G. Slay

When people ask me what I like about St. Louis, almost always the first thing that I mention is the awesome loft that Dr....

Comfort Food at Dressel’s Public House

Even though it hasn’t been super cold in St. Louis so far this winter, there have been a few chilly days. If you’re looking...

Food Gift Ideas for Self Promotion

2011 was a really spectacular year for me as a photographer. It was my first full year working as freelance photographer in St. Louis,...

Blood & Sand

Last month I was given an assignment to photograph Blood & Sand for Feast Magazine. Unlike other speakeasy-style bars in St. Louis, you don’t...

Salsiccia Pizza with Egg at Mad Tomato in St. Louis

A few days before the Cardinals won the World Series, I was on assignment in Clayton at Mad Tomato photographing (among other things) their...

To Crop or Not to Crop

Cropping in photography is an important tool that can be used to change the meaning of a photograph, by drawing the viewer’s attention to...

Home Wine Kitchen

Last month I photographed Home Wine Kitchen in Maplewood for Sauce Magazine. Nestled in a strip of retail stores and restaurants Home Wine Kitchen...

The Other Side of the Camera

As a professional photog, it is a rare occasion when you are the subject rather than the photographer, and it can be a bit...

Feast Magazine Donuts and Coffee Shoot

Back in August I was assigned a coffee and donuts shoot by Feast Magazine. The brief was fairly straight forward: five local donut shots,...

Feast Magazine and The Beauty of the Spork

Over the last few months I have continued to extend my editorial client list which now includes Feast Magazine, another excellent culinary publication here...

On Assignment: The Block in Webster Groves

I have been in St. Louis for just over a year now (where did the time go??) and while my navigational skills are getting...

On Assignment: Dvin for Sauce Magazine

I recently had the pleasure of photographing Dvin restaurant in Webster Groves, St. Louis. Dvin is a tiny family restaurant run by the mother/daughter...

Website Refresh and PhotoShelter Integration

I usually try to update my website every year or so to adapt for the way that my career and life has evolved. Last...

On Assignment: Sauce Magazine – July 2011

As I mentioned in my previous post, I did some work for Sauce Magazine, a culinary magazine here in St. Louis. While the majority...

The Boat House for Sauce Magazine

In the world of corporate photography, the summer is always the slowest time of the year. In my experience Memorial Day sparks the time...

Fourth of July

Celebrating our second Independence Day in St. Louis was even more fun than last year’s. This year we threw a little barbecue in our...

I Won’t … I Won’t … I Won’t … Love.

iPhone Weekend

I’ve been utilizing my iPhone more and more these days for my “always with me camera”. Here are some of the images I shot...

Going Farther

There is nothing more satisfying than making a photograph that you are really excited about. When I make a shot that really inspires me,...

Proofing, Post-Production, and Delivery

Ok, so we just wrapped on our photo shoot and you’re itching to look at the photographs we made together. What happens next? Luckily...

Wardrobe, Makeup, and Style FAQ

I get a lot of questions about wardrobe advice and styling for corporate head shots. For some projects, the creative brief will dictate wardrobe...

Corporate Head Shot FAQ

These days having a professional portrait is as important as ever. When you are asked to provide a head shot for a trade magazine...

COLOR Magazine Bronze Award

I was at my favorite bookstore, Left Bank Books today and much to my surprise I found that the latest issue of COLOR Magazine...

Companion Bakery at Niche Food Blogger Event

I was recently invited to attend an event at Niche along with other local bloggers and food writers. Sponsored by Companion the event was...

Food Gallery

Jonathan is also a food photographer in St. Louis. He publishes a food blog called Shoot To Cook which features his recipes and experimentations...

Making Pasta

I love the taste of home made pasta. Like home made bread, it is hard to go back to the store bought kind once...

Shoot To Cook

One of my motivations for getting into food photography was learning how to cook. As a way for me to learn how to be...

Portrait Photography

Nothing says success like a professional portrait. Jonathan has worked with Fortune 500 companies on marketing materials, annual reports and national ad campaigns. Portraits...

Vegetation

Having grown up with a large and luscious family garden, I am drawn to the amazing shapes and colors that can be found in...

Fall Foods

When the fall hits, the farmers market stalls get emptier and the foods that are available lend themselves to warm comfort foods rather than...

But That Night

Past midnight on a rainy late December evening in Manhattan. To say it was raining was an understatement: it was torrential, and cold as...

Is My Starter Started, Starting, or Stopped?

One of the things that I want to do is photograph bread. I have been wanting to do a bread related project for some...

Work Continues, Progress Happens. Slowly.

I have been working pretty hard at a couple of new projects. I’m learning a lot and attempting to set a foundation for the...

New Projects and Pie

I know, I know, it’s been forever and a day since my last blog post. One excuse is that I have been working my...

Fog And The City

I just got back from a week in NYC. I had a couple of jobs for early in the week and then stayed on...

St. Louis Hot Air Balloon Race

Xina and I stopped by Forest Park last night to see the hot air balloons. It was pretty impressive although we got there a...

Returning to Normality

Airport, by Jonathan Gayman. As you can probably tell from my previous posts and also from the silence around the blog that I’ve been...

Heading Home…Eventually

I am finally nearing the end of my epic photography projects that have kept me away from home for the last three weeks. My...

In the Air

I know things have been a bit quiet around here lately, but I have been intensely busy working on a large project involving a...

Weekend Fun + Work

Xina and I have the special treat of having friends from New York in town this weekend/week. We got a chance to get out...

City Seeds St. Louis

I went out for a walk one evening, ostensibly to explore the neighborhood and work on some urban decay photography. In Saint Louis, there...

Once a Day Theory: Bananas

Once a Day Theory: The theory is that having to post a photo every day will make me a better photog. It’s also a...

Once a Day Theory: Tea Bags

Once a Day Theory: The theory is that having to post a photo every day will make me a better photog. It’s also a...

Friday Night Gallery Opening

A few weeks ago I talked about going around to the Open Studios on Cherokee Street and one of the places we stopped was...

Left Bank Books

I spent the day Wednesday shooting a project that have been in the concept stage for a while with some limited success. I created...

Printed Images from the Past

A few years ago before I was making a living making photographs, I was packing up my apartment in anticipation of our move from...

Running Shoes, Bail Bonds and Firecracker Press

1. My Running Shoes Loves My Feets I just got some new running shoes! Finally. I am at least six months overdue and my...

Office Buildout: DIY Tables

The last couple of days I have been working my hands to the bone building out the office in my studio. After much consultation...

Open Studios in Saint Louis

This weekend, the lady and I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon exploring the studios of local artists in Saint Louis. The Contemporary art museum...

Back To My New Home

I just got back to Saint Louis from a last minute whirlwind trip to New Jersey and New York for a photo shoot. It...

Underneath the Missouri Sky #12

For those of you who aren’t fans of Pat Methany and Charlie Haden, there is a fantastic album that I discovered years ago which...

View from the Arch

We have our first visitor in Saint Louis this weekend. Our friend Elsa came into town yesterday to help Xina as she sets up...

Photography 101: Test Your Equipment

Today is the start of my second full week in Saint Louis. I had this little app on my iPhone that I was using...

Safe Deposit Vaults

Readers of my blog will surely know by now my love of shooting into the sun. I love the unpredictability of the solar flares...

Junk Shop Konica

I moved to New York in the fall of 2000. For the first couple of months I couch-surfed at my friend’s place and when...

Always Be Shooting

Parking garage, downtown Saint Louis It has been a busy week here in St. Louis, and it’s only Wednesday. I had to actually pull...

Buried in Packing Paper

It’s kind of like Christmas in July here in the apartment as the lady and I work our way through the task of unpacking...

Getting Settled In

So, it’s finally official. Dr. Fiance and I arrived in Saint Louis Wednesday afternoon and now we are in the process of getting settled...

Castle in the Sky

Once a Day Theory: The theory is that having to post a photo every day will make me a better photog. It’s also a...

Conservatory Water in Central Park

A friend of mine worked on the project to rehabilitate the Conservatory Water in Central Park and has been wanting some photographs for his...

Cafe Office

I am a little over a week before my move from New York, and the reality of the situation is starting to sink in....

Once a Day Theory – Gateway Arch

Once a Day Theory: The theory is that having to post a photo every day will make me a better photog. It’s also a...

Once a Day Theory – Band of Light

Once a Day Theory: The theory is that having to post a photo every day will make me a better photog. It’s also a...

Once A Day Theory – Ceiling Fan

Once A Day Theory: The theory is that having to post a photo every day will make me a better photog. It’s also a...

Summer is Here

Summer is here for real this time. Hot summer nights, open air bars, flipflops, late night steaming subway stations. There is no getting around...

Dance Parade!

While packing for the big move this weekend, I was surprised to hear a massively loud drum line outside my apartment. I’d noticed metal...

The Creative Process is Usually Not Pretty

Photo by Mattox Agatha Christie’s creative process was insane: Her less-than-refined writerly day began with finding her notebook, which surely she’d left right there....

Will iPad Format Dictate Editorial Photography?

I just watched a really interesting video about Bonnier and BERG’s Mag+ release of Popular Mechanics (see video below). I played with an iPad...

Sabi Sands Game Reserve

I just got back from a much needed vacation in South Africa. As I head back to the office tomorrow, I have visions of...

Broadway, 7th Avenue, Morning

The cross streets of New York City align directly with the sunrise and sunset at certain times of the year. When I’m walking to...

Random Goodness: Scenes from New Year’s Eve

When the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve 2009 and we started were swept into 2010, I was at a party with some...

Underneath the California Sky

In the fall when I was out in San Francisco shooting for Connect magazine, I met up with a friend of mine and we...

Christina

Dr. Girlfriend and I love our apartment, but it is on the dark side. There isn’t a great deal of light from the windows....

Plaster Mask

Walking to Work

I’ve been walking to work for the past couple of months (excluding the very snowy days) and have been loving it. In addition to...

Must See: At Close Range with National Geographic and Joel Sartore

I shot a corporate event at Madison Square Garden tonight and then came home and watched At Close Range with National Geographic and immediately...

Post Project Blues

There is always excitement about finishing a project. Especially if it’s a project that you have been working on, or thinking about, or conceptualizing...

Post Production

This photo of Avedon’s instructions to his printer has been bouncing around the interwebs recently, and although I think I’ve discussed this before, I...

Affecting Change

I know it’s a little early for starting to think about the new year, but 2010 is shaping up to be a year full...

On Being Prepared

There is no such thing as being prepared enough. As evidenced by shoot yesterday, nothing I did in advance could help me when the...

Bottle Shock and Wine

I was going through some of my images working on my portfolio and I put on the movie Bottle Shock in the background. I...

Transportation In Washington DC

Here are a few transportation related images I made while on a trip to Washington DC this past week.

Fist Model Test

One of my shoots last week was for the current and previous three chairmen of the client company. It was a tough shoot, due...

Visual Acoustics

There is a new documentary about architectural photographer Julius Schulman. It looks really good. I may have to actually go see it in the...

Nature Photogs Have All the Fun

Nature photographers generally get to see things up close that most people only get to see on Blue Planet or one of the other...

Minneapolis

It’s been a busy week, and today was the first day back in the office. My last assignment before the long weekend was in...

Chicago

I am in Chicago for a shoot, then off to Minneapolis this afternoon for another shoot. It’s hectic and I’m tired of traveling alone...

Cabbage

Here are some more garden photographs that I made recently in PA. I think these go quite well with the corn photos from last...

End of the world

I was in Martha’s Vineyard last weekend (along with the President and the Clintons, apparently) visiting some friends who were vacationing there from California....

Into the sun

I was in PA for a wedding last weekend, and I took the opportunity to photograph things that I’m normally not able to do....

Clay Patrick McBride on Bravo

I don’t watch much regular TV these days. My couch time is spent watching streaming netflix or hulu, so when I watched Bravo’s Make...

Handmade Coasters

Florida

The best thing about Florida is the feeling of being at a resort while at the same time being surrounded by the inescapable feeling...

Portfolio Site and Update

On Friday I went to a friend’s gallery opening which was amazing and inspiring and got me all fired up to stop k’vetching about...

Another Tree

Trees

iPhone Photo of the Day

Identifing as a Photographer

Rockefeller Center on a warm February day, iPhone I was out celebrating the 30th birthday of a friend last night. It was one of...

Moody Friday Goodness

I have a few shots to share from a while back that I’m finally processing. I had just gotten my 50mm 1.4 and was...

"…your kid is UGLY"

Ha ha. Haven’t watched one of these in a while, but this one is great!

Obama Inauguration in Times Square

One of the first things I did when I moved to New York was to spend a weekend protesting in Times Square. I’d been...

Faces of Hope

On a frigid day in January 2009 I ventured out with thousands of fellow New Yorkers celebrating the end of a dark era in...

Highball Glass

I assume I will tire of the Camera Bag filters sooner or later but for now I’m loving them.

Film

I’m reading that new Leibovitz book and am enjoying the hell out of it. I love photographer biographies, and although this one is more...

Titles

How does everyone feel about titles? When I was in college I would tend to make up romantic, moody, and cryptic (read idiotic and...

Corporate Event Photography

One of the aspects of my job is to shoot events. It’s one of the things that I am least good at, and although...

Mobile Fotos App for the iPhone

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been utilizing my iPhone a bit more lately for scouting, idea capture and in general, just another way...

Megan at the Races

Here’s a quick shot from October that I finally have gotten around to doing the post-production on. This was taken at a steeplechase race...

Portfolio Review

I’m stuck at work this week without any actual work to be done. When I look at my office IM system, the only people...

How Fun Does This Look?

(Via)

What I did today….

More on this later.

Chelsea Liquor Store

I heart my new 85mm lens.

Victoria

Sometimes I fall in love with a photo I’ve taken and can’t stop looking at it. This was an outtake from a shoot yesterday...

Photographing a Candidate

The View

Last week, I mentioned a shoot on the streets of New York commissioned by our London office. Apparently they were pleased with the shots...

Apple Picking

Dr. Girlfriend as Eve… Over the weekend we went upstate a ways to go apple picking, something that Dr. Girlfriend has been begging to...

Some Street Shots

On Monday I am going to be shooting a portrait of a partner in my firm for an upcoming publication. I have been given...

A good week

I don’t have a ton of time to do a full post, so I wanted to share a preview of a project I shot...

David Alan Harvey Workshop Party

On Friday night, Dr. Girlfriend, my friend Tim and I trekked out to Brooklyn to the loft/studio of photographer David Alan Harvey. David has...

Photoshelter Collection Shuts Down

Well, my first foray into stock photography didn’t last long. Just a few weeks after I was accepted as a contributor to the Photoshelter...

NYC Photography Now Means “Filming”

The new permit rules for NYC took effect in mid-August, and in some ways they are a bit more draconian than they were before....

Keywords and Metadata

Since I don’t have much in the way of interesting visuals to show off this week (damn, I need to get away from my...

Inexperienced Photog

Dad: Why don't you take some pictures of all the buildings? Little boy with camera: I already took pictures of those buildings. (aims camera...

Driving

I don’t own a car and therefore don’t get to drive often. But when I do I drive million miles an hour, like a...

Me and My Lightmeter

To meter or not to meter. I’ve been reading photo blogs religously for the last couple of years, and the one over-arching theme amongst...

Model Mania

Boy, do I need to work on my posing skillz. I was tossed into a studio with three lovely models last Thursday without any...

Hard Light, Soft Fill

Last night in class we were experimenting with some hard light as our main light, and soft light as our fill. One thing that...

More Classwork

This week, edge lights and ring flash. Mostly stuff I already knew, but having someone explain the details and finer points, always helpful. Plus,...

Working So Hard You Get Carpal Tunnel

One of my clients wanted to add some images of people with disabilities to the library of stock they keep for the company. So...

View from the Rainbow Room

I shot an event one of the event spaces at the Rainbow Room on the 64th floor at Rockefeller Center last Friday night. The...

More From My Lighting Class

I have been having a lot of fun at my lighting class – there is so much to learn. Last week we broke out...

Seamless

Last year I was shooting almost exclusively on white seamless for my firm – the type of advertising we were shooting for was all...

iPhlog

I came across iPhlog yesterday, which is a photoblog by Ryan Donnell from my home-state of PA. I love the soft-focus Polariod-eque atmospheric quality...

Canon G9 – Quick Review

Since I started shoot professionally about a year and a half ago, I pretty much stopped carrying a small format point and shoot around...

Wedding Photog Sued for Sucking

Actually, he was sued for breach of contract AND producing craptastic work. Apparently he misrepresented his skill set, didn’t bring an assistant, and generally...

DIY Small Format Snoot – Silver Edition

As I’ve mentioned before, a large part of my job is to make portraits of executives at my firm. The new visual identity for...

Canon Outsourcing Lenses

Although I have never really paid much mind to the Canon/Nikon “whose lens is bigger” contest that rages on photoblogs across the internets, I...

Self Portrait At Work with Poster

Alternate title: “I’m Too Busy To Play With My New Camera and I Am Therefore Grumpy” Poster in the background is a beautiful photo...

Photo in TimeOut New York

I had a photo published in TimeOut New York this week. It was from a photoshoot of a theater company that I did some...

Lion Versus Model

You gotta love being a photographer. You get to shoot all kinds of cool stuff, like women doing martial arts with lions and shit....

Fette Sau and Beer

On Friday night I joined some friends at a BBQ joint in Brooklyn called Fette Sau (Fat Sow for the who’s at home). It’s...

Save Polaroid

Apparently people aren’t willing to let instant film go gently into the dark. SavePolaroid.com On February 8, 2008, Polaroid Corporation announced that it will...

Hardcopy

In the digital world of Flickr and the plethora of online photography applications, we don’t often think about making actual prints. Hell, Polaroid has...

Real People

I am envious of the big name photographers. Duh. No, seriously. I wish I was in a position where I could shoot beautiful and...

Business Traveller

Note: This post was written Thursday evening at SFO in California I am currently sitting at a cafe in SFO, awaiting a flight that...

London PoPo Make Tourists into Terrorists

Got a camera? Taking photos in London? You’re probably a terrorist. It’s even worse if you look odd. Odd people with cameras are scaaaaary....

From Great Heights

I’ve seen the National Geographic shots by Joe McNally from the top of the Empire State building before, but Joe has posted a video...

Mexico City

Sometimes the travel aspect of my job seems like it will be a whole lot of fun, but in the end seems to be...

The Kind of Shoots We All Want To Do

From My Diary: A Day With The Angels, photos and background from the latest edition of Esquire featuring an homage to Frank Bez. 10:00...

JonathanGayman.com

After a long battle with some php, I’m happy to announce that my photography portfolio site, JonathanGayman.com is now up and seems to be...

Year In Review

2007 has been the first full year that I’ve been shooting professionally as a staff photographer. One of the things I am learning about...

Mark Holthusen

Remember how a while back I was talking about pairing images together and how much I liked it? I was browsing over at Photo...

Large Format

Last year we hired several models for a photo shoot for a recruiting campaign at my firm. It was the usual “united colors of...

Gear Envy

Lets face it, no matter what you say about how a good camera doesn’t make a good photographer, and how a real artist doesn’t...

Details

When I shoot a portrait, I love shooting a closeup of something in the room where the portrait is shot, or some detail of...

Power of B&W

Converting a color photo to black and white is a pretty standard way to turn a mediocre photo into a good photo. We’ve all...

Bill Sullivan: Works

A friend of mine sent me a link to Bill Sullivan’s work, which is really quite interesting. He surreptitiously snaps photos of people in...

Outside My Bubble

It’s been a little over four years since I first started hiring and working with professional photographers, and almost exactly a year since I...