Kimberly Sandie

Digital marketing guru, Chris Haddad

2017-10-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

Erin

2016-03-12T17:12:00.000-08:00

Comedian Paul Barach

2016-01-05T12:02:00.001-08:00

Seattle is losing one of its talented citizens today. Comedian, author, producer, Paul Barach is headed to Denver. This is from a shoot we did recently. You're welcome, Denver.

Vietnam Vegetable Carving

2015-06-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

I am a sucker for produce carving. Last month, while I was on a small cruise in Halong Bay, Vietnam, the ship's talented chef gave us a quick class. I gave it a shot, but I have no plans to quit my day job.

Tony, on drums

2015-03-24T12:56:00.001-07:00

Tiny Assistants

2014-08-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

These are from a shoot I did at the end of May. I was looking back over them yesterday and realized I needed to give a shoutout to my very helpful and eager photo assistants.

Theo stands in with dynamic poses while I balance lighting.

Soren has a very hands-on approach to color matching skin tones.

Untouched Eggs

2014-05-02T16:15:00.002-07:00

Shooting food, we strive for the same perfection that the beauty industry does. If chickens were self-conscious about their eggs you can bet the advertising and editorial industries would be giving them a complex, too.

So here are eggs, sans retouching.... but still posed very carefully, in the afternoon light. Thank you to my dear friends, Darren and Steph, and their backyard hens, who who gifted my household with these beautiful imperfect eggs.

BTS: Kyle Kinane

2013-05-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

Apparently Mr. Kinane has some fans. There was over 700 views of my last blog post before 10 AM just this morning.

As promised, here are a few behind the scenes shots. This is the kind of hijinks we get up to on a Tuesday. Did I mention how much I love being a photographer? That's the lovely and talented Sienna DeGovia pouring the honey.

Kyle Kinane has had me in a conundrum... in the land of milk and honey

2013-05-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

In March, comedian Kyle Kinane volunteered to be the latest subject in a personal series I'm working on called Food is Funny. We shot in Hollywood at Tulino Design Group's studio and teamed up with food stylist extraordinaire Sienna DeGovia.

The premise for the series is simple: my favorite comedians photographed with food. The artsy catch is that it must say something about their comedic style. If you don't understand the artistic choices below I hope you'll check out Kyle's comedy. His album "Whiskey Icarus" is my favorite comedy album right now.

Often times I see exactly what I want in my mind's eye before I shoot. Other times I give myself options - and then add a subject like Kyle, who ultimately gave me too much of a good thing - and now I'm left reeling trying to pick one image. It's a good place to be, don't get me wrong.

Here's a taste.

I'm leaning towards this one, though. Tomorrow I'll post some behind the scenes.

Family

2012-06-01T10:32:00.001-07:00

I know I have neglected the blog for some while, and it's high time I explain myself.

Back in October, my father began seriously battling multiple cancers. He is stubborn, loving, and independent. He insisted I not cancel my month-long work trip I had planned to NYC after his first surgery.

When I returned, my need to be in Sacramento with him became greater and greater. He is now terminal from his pancreatic cancer and I am here full time since February.

Amazingly, I have continued to take jobs when I can, and it's a wonderful respite. Anyone who has experience care-giving knows how demanding it can be. I am also often the single point of contact for family and friends and my social networking life has definitely suffered.

Without blurring the professional and personal lines too much I'd like to thank all of you who have offered support in this difficult time. I think it is one of the many benefits of being part of the creative industry.

Bug Me

2011-10-27T05:22:00.000-07:00

Shooting with bug chef, Daniella Martin, was definitely an experience. She was a fantastic subject that came along with a whole host of little friends: some frozen and some live. Art director, Andrew Nilsen, put together a really fun animated gif of our images for the web version of the story.

Barret & Strater

2011-06-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of shooting all the catalog images for Barret & Strater - a new online sustainable fashion boutique based in San Francisco. Green really is the new black...

Models: Katy Hankins (pictured here), Elena Stepanova

MUA: Mother Joseph

Hair: Ellyse Bernales

Wardrobe Stylist: Maxie Mccarley

Assistant: Jeremiah Damian

Art directors can be so uptight sometimes.

2011-05-03T15:04:00.000-07:00

Wrestlers

2011-04-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

I'm just sure they battle for supremacy while I'm sleeping. My friend Jamie, who is a former professional wrestler in the U.K., gave me the guy with the chair and my friend Tony bought me the Luchador in back when we were in Mexico a couple years ago. In case anyone is wondering I don't collect them, I just magically ended up with these two characters.

As a performance artist, Jamie taught me to look at wrestling and masculinity in a whole new light. This little picture is definitely an "inspiration nugget" or place holder for a future project.

Plate Shop: Kimberlys Rule!

2011-04-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

I'm totally behind in my blogging. Bad Kimberly!

A couple weeks back I had the pleasure of shooting a slideshow for Jonathan Kauffman's review of Kimberly Alter's new joint in Sausalito: Plate Shop. I'd met Kimberly a while back on a shoot for San Francisco Magazine that I was assisting for, where I earned my "chicken wrangler" badge managing her two young hens that turned out to be a little camera shy.

Plate Shop rocks. I'll leave the reviewing to Jonathan, but you should totally go. A big thank you to Kimberly and everyone there for helping me get some great shots and feeding me amazingness, fresh from the garden.

Citizen Cake

2011-03-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

This shot didn't make it into the article but it's my favorite. That's what a photo blog is for, right?

V Day assist

2011-02-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

I may be a cover girl but I still enjoy assisting. We photographers have a somewhat insular trade and assisting offers me exposure to different methods and styles.

Spent Valentine's Day with NYC photographer Julia Baum and the incredibly fine folks (and not-so-far neighbors) over at Myth Busters. Adam is to be featured in her upcoming book on redheads.

Eat Your Heart Out

2011-02-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

Art direction: Andrew Nilsen
MUA: Mother Joseph

I managed to coerce one of my colleagues - architectural photographer extraordinaire, Rebecca Daniels - to step in front of my camera this week for a cover, no less.

Locavore

2011-01-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

My photo got lots of real estate in the paper issue of SF Weekly which made me happy (you know us photographers can really be size queens). You can still read the interwebs version here about this new Bernal Heights joint.

Beijing

2011-01-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

On sunny [work] days there is nothing better than driving to the Outer Sunset. There's plenty of parking and a big blue ocean sparkling in front of you.

Beijing opened a second location out there, and SF Weekly sent me to snap pics for their review. The dish below wasn't even on the list of dishes to snap - and I'm not sure if it was a language barrier or the owners' enthusiasm - but they sent this dish out first. I show it here, proudly, on their behalf.

Rice salad.

Cotogna

2011-01-05T14:10:00.000-08:00

My brother, Eric, has been in town for the holidays visiting from Austin, TX and wanted to see his sis at work. When SF Weekly sent me to shoot for Jonathan Kauffman's review of Cotogna I enlisted him to assist. I kept him on his toes following me around with lights and reflectors, and made him carry all my gear just like a little sister should. He has a lifetime of big brother karma he's working off so it was a win-win.

Chef Tim Caspare with spit roasted pork.

Chef Tim Caspare and team were so incredibly great to work with and even made a wood-fired pizza especially for my assistant on top of all the dishes we shot. A slideshow of more shots can be seen here.

Brother gives it the thumb's up and contemplates a career change into photo assisting.

Citizen's Band

2010-12-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

I had a grand old time snapping pics at Citizen's Band for SF Weekly this week. I'd been out there before to shoot for Pinkie's Bakery, which is under the same roof and represents half of the partnership of the operation. It's the kind of joint my friends would own. They are definitely worth a visit if you love American classics re-invented for these modern times. Mmmmmm, modern.
A slideshow can be seen here.

SF Weekly: The Naked Guys

2010-12-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

SF Weekly put me on Lauren Smiley's feature story covering the 'naked guys' in the Castro, whom (if you live in San Francisco) you may have seen socializing in the public area at Market and Castro streets where the F Train ends. Fun fact: public nudity in San Francisco is not a crime.

I shot my unclad subjects in the Castro a couple of times for the story but art director, Andrew Nilsen, came up with an idea for the cover that we executed in the studio with a paper set that mimiced the Castro. We were both really happy with the results and I think it's a testimony to what you can still do with paper and tape.

It was late when we were done with the shoot and going over the images; Andrew started choreographing the review to the latest Scissor Sisters album I had playing on set. In this day and age of multimedia it made it onto SF Weekly's website, and is maybe one of favorite parts of the story. It's not work safe as there is nudity, of course.

More interviews and BTS:

SF Weekly Feature: The Clay

2010-12-01T09:09:00.000-08:00

I shot the feature and cover in last week's issue of SF Weekly for Jonathan Keifer's story on the possible closing of one of San Francisco's oldest theaters: The Clay. I have a huge love for arthouse theaters but, like everyone else it seems, I just haven't been going to the movies like I use to. In covering the photos for this story I learned so much about San Francisco's cinematic history that is definitely worth a look.

This is Marzette Henderson a former classmate who is still doing hard-time at AAU. He shadowed me for an assignment in his editorial class during the portrait sessions. I know he was probably desperate, but it was still a huge compliment. Marz is sitting inside The Castro Theater which just loves to eat all of your light.

This is me working. I love my job. In case you're wondering that's my assistant, Matt (upper right), holding a reflector so the strobes would sync properly also due to the massive eating of light.

SF Weekly Cover this week

2010-10-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

I shot Jane Kim for the cover of SF Weekly this past Wednesday. Art direction and concept by Andrew Nilsen.