What are you up to this weekend? Want to see some good friends and eat great food? Then come out to the BLP BBQ!
This Saturday at Proper Fools Studio – 55 Chrystie Street between Canal and Hester.
2 PM.
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See you there!
Entries filed under Pisces
Saturday BBQ!
Sweet Memories
Ever felt like a kid in a candy shop? You would if you were at our office today where we received a basket of vintage sweets reminiscent of the days of roller skates, skinned knees, and real arcade games like, Galaga, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and Super Ms. Pac Man.
Pop Rocks, Bazooka, Charleston Chew, Jolly Ranchers, Good n Plenty, Pixy Stix, Big League Chew, Sugar Daddies, Fun Dip and yes even candied necklaces. It’s in there!
The candy came to Big Leo courtesy of an awesome client who spent the day shooting with our very own Björn Wallander, whose work and stellar demeanor simply inspire this sort of sweetness.
Zoë and Mariana
Mariana Velasquez cooks up Zoë Saldana’s favorite dish for this month’s InStyle. Photo by Art Streiber.
Piscean Qualities
Shall we take a dip into the Piscean qualities of Big Leo’s own Mariana Velasquez on her birthday? Get it? Dip in the piscine? Nevermind.
From Astrology Online: ”Even when they cannot express themselves creatively they have a greater than average instinct for, and love of, beauty in art and nature, a catlike appreciation of luxury and pleasure, and a yearning for new sensations and travel to remote, exotic places.”
You don’t need to travel far – just a quick trip to Mariana’s site will open up a new world of tastes from all over South America and beyond.
These are from a recent shoot with Big Leo fave Judd Pilossof. Perfect for an early spring weekend in the sun! But don’t drink too much, as Pisces governs the liver.
This tangerine salad is an ode to citrus, pretty much the only good thing about the depths of this past winter. Tangerines really embody Pisces – they represent the bright and fresh taste of a tropical place, they take you out of the cold. Farewell winter, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Effort and the Future
If you want to regain confidence in commercial photography try producing your own photo shoot. And I don’t mean showing up with a camera and some friends to take whatever pictures come to you. I mean, start with an idea and develop the concept visually, wrangle a team of talented people, plan logistics around a specific date, execute the photos well, push everything through post-production, and if that doesn’t wear you out, promote until you can’t stand it anymore. It takes a village.
Digital photography has brought great power, but as Stan Lee said, with great power comes great responsibility. You have a responsibility to make and show great photos! Of course the price of stock pictures is being driven down to nothing, the market is saturated and a lot of them are terrible. And they’re the reverse of assignment photography – you have to tailor the concept to the photo options you have. So if the photos aren’t good, then your concept isn’t going to magically swoop in and save the day. That is first and foremost why assignment photography is so important – QUALITY.
Fill of Love was released last week, styled by Pamela Duncan Silver and Susan Spungen, with photos by Anna Williams. Just flipping through the photos on the site it is very clear that the assignment made all the difference. With planning, Pamela was able to keep the palette consistent through the entire series, so much so that the only narrative that ties it altogether is visual.
Compare this to the New York Times slideshow on aphrodisiacs. Sure, it is just a normal story for this time of year – see this article from 1990 on the same subject. They collected various recipes that had been previously published, using photos that were taken without a sexual concept in mind. Let’s talk about this oyster shot:
First of all, I can’t believe that the original article was about ‘things to pair with absinthe’ and did not even mention that both of them are aphrodisiacs! This photo was done quickly for a recipe, and then pulled much later for an article that had a different concept entirely. It is no wonder that not only does it not fit a visual theme for the slideshow, but it only applies to the concept in the most obvious way. It is a perfect example the limitations of choosing an image to match the story.
Ok, so this is ridiculous, it is like comparing apples to oranges. One is an assignment by a team of professionals with much planning and direction, while the other is just a web-only feature using pickup for the images. EXACTLY. The power of assignment photography is undeniable, and that is why I sincerely believe that there will always be a need for amazing images tailor made to fit an idea. There will always be a need for artists who are at the top of their field. If you really want to stop someone in their tracks and make them see an idea, sell them a story, then you need the best artists to transform your idea into pictures. And never the other way around.
Do you need a drink?
Because I could certainly use one right about now. Especially one as beautiful as this, styled by Big Leo’s own Sarah Cave and mixed by Mariana Velasquez. Cheers!
On Set with Ellie Krieger
I was on set the other day with Alexandra Grablewski, who shot Ellie Krieger’s new release ‘So Easy,’ and she could not say enough nice things about her. Alexandra worked with prop stylist Lynda White and Big Leo’s own Mariana Velasquez to produce the images.
“Ellie was very involved in each shot, on set the entire week. So nice, so easy to work with, she really had a passion for each dish. She was really just part of the team, it was just so natural.”
I really think that this kind of hands-on is so important, it will always make the difference in quality. We just got our copy of the book and it looks fantastic. The printing is very sturdy and each recipe is accompanied by serving sizes, nutritional info per serving, and a thorough list of each essential vitamin + mineral in the dish. The images are all full-page and beautiful, testament to a great creative team.
The book is out Oct. 26th, published by John Wiley & Sons, edited by Justin Schwartz.
Chocolate? Absolutely!
Hot off the press, Absolutely Chocolate: Irresistible Excuses to Indulge.
Food styling by Heidi Johannsen, photographs by Anna Williams, prop styling by Helen Crowther.
Design and layout are so important on this kind of project – Alison Wilkes did an exquisite job on the design for Taunton. The photos (over 70 full pages of chocolate images!!!) are given a lot of room to shine. Hopefully we’ll have a video preview of the book up shortly so you can peek inside.
And since we’re on the subject of chocolate…
…here are two recent Godiva images styled by Pamela Duncan Silver. Photos by Antonis Achilleos, food styling by A.J. Battifarano.
There’s really nothing more to say – how can language possibly sum up the taste and visuals of the images above. It can’t. But does Big Leo know chocolate? Absolutely!
All the Wine that’s Fit to Drink – UPDATED
Sorry for the headline – it was too easy. Following in the footsteps of the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Forbes, the New York Times has started a wine club. Much has been written on the decline of newspaper publishers, but one thing that remains strong is the newspaper brands. Ventures like this are a good way to draw on the creative capital of the brand to make a little money on the side. And wine, there are just so many amazing wines that I always feel paralyzed in the store. A wine club, if you can trust it, saves you the time + energy of becoming educated on the subject. That trust is what the Times brand brings to the table.
Mariana Velasquez teamed up with photographer Judd Pilossof to create the images for the new site. It looks (and I’m sure tastes) fantastic.
UPDATE: Here it is in print!
Summer Snow
One of my favorite things is raspado – shaved ice with fruit syrup and drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. To be honest, raspado is really just an excuse: the condensed milk is the best part.
Growing up in Colombia, raspado in a paper cone was perfect for hot days on the beach. It would quickly begin to melt and dissolve, trails of bright colors dripping down our arms… perhaps once upon a time the syrups were natural fruit juice (I think only the tamarind might still be the real thing) but as kids the flavors we wanted were the bright red and blue!
Last Saturday strolling around the Brooklyn Flea market under the beating sun, carrying the heaviest most beautiful white Danish pan I had just found, I saw a sign for “People’s Pops.” I immediately got in line and once closer to the stand realized there was a guy shaving ice off a large shiny sloping block. I was so excited!!!
The flavors were more refined, with no dyes: Rhubarb mint, blueberry, lemon ginger etc…. When my friend Suzanne and I had our turn she asked the guy shaving the ice where he had found the metal tool for making the perfect snow. “They don’t make them anymore,” he said. “I got it from some obscure shop in the Bowery, they told me that they were only made in Colombia.”
I had the rhubarb mint and then had to come back for a lemon ginger. The only thing missing was the sweetened and condensed milk, but maybe the perfect raspado doesn’t really need it…
