THE DEN » Aries

Drab to Mega Fab

Mary Dail — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:43:09 +0000

There is nothing better than digging in with your fingers. Utensils are so stodgy. Carrie and Andrew Purcell were perfect for this shoot on finger food, because they are both just so hands on when it comes to cooking and capturing the magic. This is part of why their shoots have such a personal feel and individual style. In this shoot for the holiday issue of Sweet Paul Magazine, you can learn how to make Maple Bacon Popcorn. Goes well with just about anything. Especially a warm fire and to defrost those fingers.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Mary Dail — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:50:18 +0000

The past year was a whirlwind of new projects, new friends and new faces. Below is a sampling of the images that Big Leo artists helped produce in 2011, and it represents only a small fraction of the projects that we took on. We are so grateful to be able to collaborate with so many creative people and look forward to a whole new season of making the best images come to life. Thank you everyone who was a part of so many successful teams. Happy New Year to all of our friends, clients, families and all! May 2012 bring joy and prosperity to each and every one of us!

Jingle all the way…

Mary Dail — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:44:48 +0000

The world of Christmas is colorful, magical, and sugary sweet. Photographer Nicole Hill Gerulat perfectly captures the essence of this kid-friendly holiday, in all it’s vibrant greens and reds, with the wide-eyed excitement of children on Christmas morning. On behalf of Nicole and all of the Big Leos, we wish everyone a very happy and safe holiday. May 2012 bring joy, success and possibility. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Truvia

Mary Dail — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:31:53 +0000

In this week’s episode of ‘Keeping up with the Purcells,’ Andrew and Carrie are faced with their greatest challenge yet – there is no more sugar left in the world and all their recipes need to be rethought in a newer, healthier light. Enter Truvia. The seemingly daunting task was far easier than anyone could have thought as mastermind Carrie developed a whole new crop of recipes. And the verdict? Super sweet. And by sweet we mean gorgeous!

First, Dessert

Mary Dail — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:07:57 +0000

I don’t know about you guys but for me the best part of this last Thanksgiving weekend was the morning after. Probably the only time all year when tradition calls for dessert first – pie for breakfast! Carrie Purcell styled this scrumptious story for Rachael Ray, shot by the all star Jose Picayo. With that gluttonous holiday out of the way, from now until the rest of the year, we’re only doing posts on salad (probably).

Aquatopia

Mary Dail — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:55:24 +0000

Kid-friendly photographer Nicole Hill Gerulat spent a hectic couple of days shooting 19 toddlers with mountaineering stylist Ed Gallagher, for the new Aquatopia line. The production on a shoot like that is always so much work – finding the right team as well as great kids, it always takes more time than the shoot itself! Big Leo’s own Karen Tighe wrangled the whole group of artists and children (same skillset – also includes cats) to bring the whole project together. So many shots that day, and it turned out super sharp! Check out more over at Nicole’s blog – and for all your full service production needs, Big Leo is ready to rock!

Morgan & Milo & Meyer

Mason Adams — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:12:56 +0000

Out now, Jörg Meyer‘s images for the Morgan and Milo fall campaign are full of energy and color. Kids fashion is always tough to shoot because you just can’t stop for an instant lest you lose a moment, but these turned out so well. But the one I don’t understand is sneakers with no laces. If you’re going to make a slip-on, why put eyelets on the shoe? Is that some kind of cool thing with the whippersnappers now? Does it really have no practical value? Could somebody please get those kids off my lawn?

Hack the Salad Bar

Mason Adams — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:40:02 +0000

I wonder if places like Whole Foods track the most popular salad ingredients that people choose, and keep an eye on how the salad bar fares as a profit center. There are a lot of ways that you can save money there – in this story from Food Network shot by and styled by Andrew and Carrie Purcell, you can see how different ingredients are more or less expensive compared to the produce on the shelf. Of course, you could always take it to the extreme, but I’m not sure how a salad composed entirely of bacon bits and sun-dried tomatoes would taste. For more ideas there is an extra chart from the NYT.

Pizzaz

Mason Adams — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:15:38 +0000

In this month’s issue of Health, Carrie Purcell and Sarah Cave team up with the inedible Quentin Bacon to bring readers the best pizza ever. What qualifies a pizza as ‘the best?’ How can you even begin to approach something so subjective? I mean, there are situations where even mediocre pizza is elevated to ‘life-saving,’ like this one time when I was in college… but I digress. Certainly an argument could be made that this is the best looking pizza ever. That little swoop of arugula, the shapes of red onion and texture of cheese… I bet if you ate the page it would still taste pretty good.

Meat Gilt

Mason Adams — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:24:25 +0000

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!