Bergonia Photography

Let’s Talk Turkey

admin — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:20:33 +0000

Being a food photographer, and a food lover, Thanksgiving is my kind of holiday. I love the turkey.

I love the fixings that go with the turkey (all made with the help of the fabulous Garden Gourmet products).

Like this stuffing.

And this one with cranberries and apples.

And this medley of winter vegetables….. But what I really love about Thanksgiving is all of the different things you can make with the leftover turkey… Almost makes me wish it was Thanksgiving every day…..

The post Let’s Talk Turkey appeared first on Bergonia Photography.

Photographing Food on a Budget

admin — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 01:28:18 +0000

I pride myself on taking beautiful pictures of food. As anyone who reads this blog knows, I love food. And I love cooking. And I think that passion comes through in my work. Now, it helps if the food I’m photographing has been prepared by some famous chef like Paul Virant or Stephanie Izard or John McLean. Or if the plate’s been prepped by a food stylist who’s job is to make everything look perfect. Or if I have my lighting equipment, and can set up the shot “just so”. But what about the times when I have none of those things? Well, you get something like this. Just looking at this picture makes me feel healthier.
Or this. I sprinkled some pepper on the salad to provide contrast, and to ground it visually.

Or this. The blueberries serve the same function as the pepper. And the peaches look like they might take flight..

Or this. It’s amazing how good fruits and vegetables can look in just the natural light that comes through a window. I took these photos on a run and gun recent assignment for Top Box Foods, one of my favorite non-profits – no food stylist on set, only a group of gutsy dedicated volunteers led by Sheila Kennedy. And seriously, if these photos don’t get people psyched about eating their fruits and vegetables then I’ll eat my shorts. Or at least a berry or two.

The post Photographing Food on a Budget appeared first on Bergonia Photography.

The Sous Vide, Seafood and Me

admin — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:27:48 +0000

A while back, I was hired by PolyScience to photograph their Sous Vide machine, which was reformulated for the home chef. For those of you who are not food geeks such as myself, Sous Vide is a method of cooking in which food is vacuum sealed in plastic bags, and immersed in water. It’s often referred to as “low and slow” cooking as the temperature of the water is carefully controlled. It’s been kind of the rage among professional chefs for awhile as it really maximizes the flavor of the food. And now, home cooks are catching on to the trend as well. Since I love photographing food and I love cooking, it was important to me to show the machine “in use”. In collaboration with Poly Science and an amazingly talented chef, we spent the day photographing beautiful food a la Sous Vide. The end results looked great, and tasted even better.

It was a really fun shoot for me as it combined two of my passions: food and photography. And the pictures keep cropping up in other places like the February issue of “Seafood Business” magazine. It’s kind of a thrill to see a Bergonia Photography photograph on the cover of a magazine. Even if it is one that I’d never heard of before…..

The post The Sous Vide, Seafood and Me appeared first on Bergonia Photography.

Guatemala: Faces & Hands

admin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:51:44 +0000

Last year, I was lucky enough to accompany my friend Leslie Thomas to Guatemala to meet the women of Trama Textiles. They’re the cooperative who weave the fabric that the WORKSHOP/CoOp bags are made, and with which I’m obsessed, as you know.These women blew me away. When Guatemala’s civil war wreaked havoc on their community, killing most of the men, these women came together, and started weaving. The art of backstrap loom weaving has been passed down through generations from grandmother to daughter, but now, with the formation of Trama Textiles, this tradition has also become their livelihood — a way for them to feed their families, educate their children, and literally save their community. I fell in love not only with these women’s faces — warm, open, and full of character, but also with their hands. Maybe because they practice an art form that is still hand made? I don’t know. But I found that their hands told the story of their lives. And their grandmother’s lives. And their daughter’s. And there’s something incredibly beautiful in that, don’t you think?

The post Guatemala: Faces & Hands appeared first on Bergonia Photography.

Introducing Wendy Pashman’s Personal New Entertaining Space – AD 1917

admin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 17:42:09 +0000

Even though I’ve recently decided to focus my business on food photography and portraits, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to photograph Wendy Pashman and Entertaining Company‘s new party space: AD 1917. Not only is Wendy someone that I really admire, but she’s truly an entrepreneur – always “ahead of the curve”. Which is why she quickly realized that ball rooms have become passé. People are now craving parties in intimate, interesting spaces. Like the one she created: Entertaining Company’s AD 1917 to create just such an experience. Interior Design by Steve Quinlan, owner of OBJECT, whom Wendy refers to as her “life-style concierge”.

Exclusive to Entertaining Company’s friends and family, this new space reflects Wendy’s passion for travel as well as her great eye for detail and color. I love the fact that each corner feels like you’ve entered another country: Morocco, Africa, India. It’s like going around the world in a single party. How’s that for fun?

The post Introducing Wendy Pashman’s Personal New Entertaining Space – AD 1917 appeared first on Bergonia Photography.

Portrait of an Entrepreneur

admin — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 14:42:41 +0000

Having worked as a professional photographer here in Chicago for a number of years now, I have shot all kinds of things: faces, food, places. But recently, I’ve decided to focus my business on two areas: food, and portraits. Now, food can be tough, especially to light, but it’s fairly inanimate. Portraits, on the other hand, are truly a challenge. Especially when you’re dealing with someone who’s used to being”behind the action”. Like Wendy Pashman of Entertaining Company.

The key with a good portait is to capture the personality of the subject. And the key to working with a non-professional is to shoot fast. I love the way these portraits of Wendy came out.

The red lipstick, the leopard print, the fabulous pin, the piece of quilt — they all help to tell you who Wendy is: Bold. Well travelled. Confident. An entrepreneur. These shots were taken during a video shoot contest for Crain’s called “A Day in the Life of an Entrepreneur”.

Stay tuned to Crain’s…… the voting will begin shortly..!

The post Portrait of an Entrepreneur appeared first on Bergonia Photography.

Escape Summer with Tequila Avión

admin — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:56:40 +0000

Recently, I had the honor of shooting Entertaining Company‘s event for The Art Institute of Chicago’s Society for Contemporary Art (SCA). For the party, Wendy Pashman and her team at Entertaining Company created a series of really beautiful, seriously delicious cocktails using Tequila Avión to go with their equally amazing food. All of which I photographed. Well, the team at Avión liked the pictures so much that their PR team used my photography of the “Summer Escape” in a bunch of different blog postings.

Below are the links. Check them out. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing like tequila to help you battle the summer heat.

http://www.basilmagazine.com/blog/?p=801

http://www.yourresidentgourmet.net/?p=288

http://play.lifegoesstrong.com/slideshow/celebrate-national-tequila-day-fun-facts-and-amazing-recipes-slideshow-image/recipe-summer-escape

http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/summer-drinks-1#slide=50805106

http://images.burrellesluce.com/image/8749JD/8749JD_5293

The post Escape Summer with Tequila Avión appeared first on Bergonia Photography.

WORKSHOP/CoOp: The Tassel

admin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:45:35 +0000

I love WORKSHOP/CoOp. The product, the message, the philosophy — they’re all fantastic so I’m always happy to volunteer my services. This time, friend and WORKSHOP/CoOp founder Leslie Thomas needed some alternate tassel shots since if you love your bag enough, as I do, the tassel will eventually fall off. And some summer colors shots. Well, it was about 100 degrees in the shade so we had the summer part covered in spades. I enticed two of my daughter Alex’s friends — Annie and Addie (I know, talk about aliteration) to pose for us. The dogs, not ones to miss out on a party, decided to join the fun. I love the way these came out. Don’t you?

The post WORKSHOP/CoOp: The Tassel appeared first on Bergonia Photography.

Top Box Foods

admin — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:27:00 +0000

I consider myself fortunate to count Chris and Sheila Kennedy among my friends here in Chicago. Smart, interesting and fun, this is a couple who knows how to give back. When Chis stepped down as the head of the Merchandise Mart, he and Sheila decided to start Top Box Foods, a non-profit hunger relief organization, because they recognized that there was a real need in our city for affordable, healthy groceries especially in underserved neighborhoods known as “food deserts”.This is how Top Box Foods works. It’s really quite genius in its simplicity. Top Box Foods buys high quality meats, fruits and vegetables from wholesale distributors and then organizes them into meal themed boxes. The boxes are then distributed through churches and other local organizations who promote Top Box Foods to their members. These organizations then get a percentage of the profits to fund their own community-based hunger fighting programs. In addition to buying foods in their raw form, members also have the option of buying healthy, delicious, prepared meals in both family and individual sizes. By giving those in underserved communities a chance to buy healthy food at a reduced cost, Top Box Foods is not only doing its part to fight the obesity epidemic in our country, but they’re also empowering each one of their members by allowing them to take pride in paying their own way.Really, it’s a win-win situation for all. Members in the community get great quality food that’s healthy for their families at a price they can afford. The churches and organizations that distribute the food make money to support their own relief programs. And, by buying the food through these churches and community organizations, members get to give back to their community while also aiding in the war against hunger. Great idea, don’t you think?Well, I did which is why I volunteered my services to Chris, Sheila, and Craig Dooley to photograph the food — one of my passions, as you know. We not only wanted to make it look good, but we really wanted to show members all of the different things that they could do with their “box”. So with the help of food stylist Vanessa Dubeil, Sheila and two other volunteer friends, Nora Weir and Cindy Yingling, we cooked and put together all of these different plates in order to inspire members.It was a lot of work, but totally worth it. I love what Chris, Sheila, Craig and the gang are doing with Top Box Foods and frankly was thrilled that my photography and cooking skills could help contribute to the cause.

The post Top Box Foods appeared first on Bergonia Photography.

Hilary Schwartz – Event Stylist

admin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:52:34 +0000

I wanted to give a shout out to the amazingly talented Hilary Schwartz of Estera Events. Hilary was responsible for the design and styling of all the food stations for the Entertaining Company wedding shoot that I photographed a couple of weeks ago. What does that mean, exactly? Well, as you can see in the photo, she sketched out a plan for each station to best show off Entertaining Company’s fabulous array of food. With a background in interior and floral design, Hilary has a great eye for color and composition. And since weddings are sort of her speciality, Entertaining Company wisely brought her in to help concept this event. Genius, don’t you think?

The post Hilary Schwartz – Event Stylist appeared first on Bergonia Photography.