Mason Adams — THE DEN by Big Leo

Posts by Mason Adams

Dog Days of Summer

The biggest downside to working with food photographers and stylists is that when you’re mad hungry, being surrounded by images of amazing food is a mild form of torture. Take these hot dogs, for example. Not just the the dogs themselves, but the idea of a weekend afternoon at the grill, under some shade trees, with a cold beer and hot dogs with pickles, relish, tomatoes, onion, mustard, and peperoncinos. Put that image into your head before lunch on a Tuesday, and you’ll see why Andrew Purcell again flaunts the Geneva Conventions’ rules against cruel and unusual punishment.

Posted June 14, 2011 by Mason Adams |
Filed Under: Virgo

Colorspace

Earlier this year Björn Wallander traveled to New Hampshire to photograph the home of designer Lisa Teague for the June issue of Country Living. While the article was about how a small 2-bedroom row house was transformed by color into a spacious palace – I’m going to give at least a little credit to Bjorn’s sharp eye and wide lens. He’s got a few more stories coming out soon and we can’t wait to share!

Posted June 13, 2011 by Mason Adams |
Filed Under: Cancer

Double Triple

Hector and Mariana‘s take on beer, sausage, and mustard for the June 2011 issue of Food & Wine. Why yes, don’t mind if I do!

Posted June 10, 2011 by Mason Adams |
Filed Under: Capricorn, Pisces

And the living’s easy…

Summertime… yesterday it was almost 100 degrees in NYC; around 6 p.m. a thunderstorm blew in with flashes of lighting and a hard cool rain. It was the most refreshing feeling and a real release – much like the arrival of the new issue of Sweet Paul Magazine. Filled with drinks, dishes, and an overwhelming atmosphere of relaxation – this issue features not just the creativity of Sweet Paul himself but the laid back touch of several artists in the Big Leo family. We’ll soon feature some of those shoots right here but in the meantime head over and check it out!

Posted June 10, 2011 by Mason Adams |
Filed Under: Taurus

Upper Crust

Mariana Velasquez was testing pie recipes when photographer Joshua Kessler asked about a collaboration. A sharp edit and voila! Looks delicious any way you slice it.

Posted June 3, 2011 by Mason Adams |
Filed Under: Pisces

Meat Gilt

Gilt Groupe has been steadily expanding – Gilt City for local deals, Jetsetter for travel, and now their newest venture, Gilt Taste. The new site is chock full of the most amazing cuts of meat and hard-to-find culinary ingredients. This isn’t about getting a deal, it is about spending money to have the best of the best; they should know, they hired Ruth Reichl. So it only makes sense to bring on the best food shooters that money can buy. See: Andrew Purcell.

And the extravagance extends to food stylists as well – this spread of fine meats and olives was brought to life by Carrie Purcell. When it comes to the finer things in life, you can count on Big Leo artists for same day delivery. And free shipping!

Posted May 27, 2011 by Mason Adams |
Filed Under: Aries, Virgo

Crystal Clear

In Macy’s catalogs this week: Björn Wallander for Waterford/Wedgwood.

All we need now is some champagne to toast the incoming summer!

Posted May 12, 2011 by Mason Adams |
Filed Under: Cancer

With Mom in the Kitchen

This Sunday, celebrate the matriarch in your life by cooking up a taste of the old days. If I had to choose one of my mom’s dishes it definitely be the 1929 chocolate cake recipe that was passed down to us from grandparents – but of course I always butcher the fudge icing because it is so fickle and can turn rock solid in an instant. We may just stick to pancakes this year.

Food stylists Carrie Purcell and Mariana Velasquez each worked with the masterful Hugh Stewart for the May issue of InStyle magazine.

Carrie cooked up Ooey Gooey bars for Neil Patrick Harris. Since she made such huge batch, she sent him home with a bag of extras (mostly the edges, since those are his favorite).

Mariana said that after her shoot was finished, Blair Underwood, his mom, and the rest of their family all sat down to eat the casserole that she prepared. They told her: “It was so good you just put your foot in it.” That’s as good as it gets!

Posted May 5, 2011 by Mason Adams |
Filed Under: Aries, Pisces

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can’t tell where to find them;
Andrew Purcell, with Sarah Cave,
With flowers and clothes they styled them.

It happened one day, as Bo-peep did stray
Into a meadow hard by,
There she espied them asleep side by side,
Looking at clouds in the sky.

Then Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep,
And dreamt she heard them bleating;
But when she awoke, she started to choke,
For the sheep, Andrew was eating.

(photographed for the April issue of Better Homes and Gardens)

Posted April 21, 2011 by Mason Adams |
Filed Under: Aquarius, Virgo

May Flowers

With these last few rainy days it was no surprise that the May issue of Martha Stewart arrived with a new story on floral patterns by stylist Scott Horne. Normally I would launch into commentary on just how amazing it is that the story was concepted, researched, styled and shot, but you’ve probably heard it all before.