Rustic Farmhouse Style at Saraghina

There are few restaurants that really take me back to the Brooklyn of yesteryear, but this place always does. The style is often imitated these days, but as my mother pointed out on a recent visit, this is the genuine article. It really reminds me of why I love this place, along with upstate new york. There's a coziness to it that is just so comforting. It's a great place to go for a slow, drizzly day.

The pasta is pretty, the pizza is better.

Saraghina Restaurant
Italinan / Pizzeria
435 Halsey Street
Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn

The Story

Oct. 24th, 2017, Tuesday

My mother and I were roaming around in Williamsburg running errands while Regina was having hear hair put into braids in anticipation of our honeymoon trip to Hawaii. Braids are no-muss, no-fuss, so Regina can collapse in to bed at night and hop out in the morning without having to do any daily maintenance. Very good for traveling. She was having it done in Bed-Stuy, and she was finished around the time we were ready to have lunch. Any time I'm out, I try to find a restaurant in the neighborhood I'm in so I can have excuse to go there without having to travel. But nothing in Williamsburg was really jumping out to me. However, the last time I'd dropped Regina off at the salon to get her hair done, I wandered around the neighborhood and seriously considered having dinner at Saraghina, so much so that I was standing at the door reading the menu. I decided to have my money and go home that time, but the desire to eat there lingered. You know that feeling when you really want something, but don't get it and it's still nipping at you in the back of your mind. Yeah, that's the one. So I had to go.

It was a drizzly day, which felt perfect for this place. It was slow and there were only a few other diners present. So we got a great seat right by the windows, and I was able to get a few photos of the place without having to avoid patrons in the photos.

There's a quick photo tip for you. Want to photograph a restaurant? Go in the middle of a weekday. This was 2pm on a Tuesday. I only had my iPhone 7 on me because I'm trying to be more conscious about not carrying my camera constantly. It's nice to go out in the city and not have a heavy bag with me. But of course I always get into a situation where I wish I had my camera so I could take better photos. This is one such occasion. But still, I'm happy with the results. It's not like the iPhone is bad, per-se. Just not as good. But if you're reading this on your phone and the images are small, then it's not as obvious as it is on a larger display. So, there's that tangent.

I focused on photographing the space right around the windows, to capture the mood of the day and a bit of the design of the the place. I went very minimal on the edits, but now the lack of perfectly straight lines on that one picture of Regina with the windows behind her is making me a little crazy. But I'm not going to change it. It's important to be comfortable with imperfection. I slipped a few photos of Regina's silhouette in because 1. I love her & 2. I've been playing with more silhouette and dark areas in my photos. So a lot of these were a trial in embracing having really dark areas in my images. I shot so many super bright, light filled images for so long that I'm looking to go in a different direction, and these are experiments in that realm, pushing my iPhone to see what it can do.

After the interiors I took a photo of my menu, which reminds me of a book I made in college out of an old pair of pants. I took a bookbinding class that has always stuck with me. Hand made books always catch my eye and I have to pick them up and inspect how they're put together, which is exactly what happened with this menu. The denim cover is really what too me back to my pants book, which I believe my mother still has on her mantle. I don't make books much anymore, but I still seeing handmade ones, so this was exciting for me. The stamped logo is really nice, too.

The drink was a special that day. Spiced, Spiced Cider. It was fantastic, comforting, a great herald of fall. Regina and I were flying to Hawaii the next day, but we both really love fall, so it was good to get a potent taste of it right before we left.

Finally, the pasta. I don't eat much pasta, so it's a great treat when I do have it. So I was very excited to order this Tagliatelle al Ragu. It's the dish I was eyeing that other day when I was outside looking at the menu. It was good, but the pizza Regina ordered blew it out of the water.

Sorry, no pizza photos, because I've gotten over the hump of making my fellow diners wait while I photograph their food. No reason they should suffer for my craft. If I'm going to take food photos it will be of my own dish, and I try to get my shot as fast as possible so I can enjoy my food at its peak, too. Somethings, though, I get caught up in the moment and keep snapping. But that's how I know I still love doing this, so I'm never going to chase that feeling away.

New Headshots by Chris Setter

Nooklyn has been doing a few rounds of headshots to streamline their look when it comes to agent photos. They asked me the take the portraits and I told them portrait photography isn't my bag. Fortunately, they asked Chris Setter, who is doing, as you can see, a fantastic job.

I still had a Profoto B1 and 5' Octobox left over from a week rental for the Convene Food shoot, and I wanted to get some more use out of it before I returned it. One of the Nooklyn photo sessions was on the day before it was due back, so I brought it by for Chris to use for his headshot session. We got it set up and Chris took a few test shots of me before he got started with the agents.

I did some minor retouching on the first two images - removing a few blemishes and a lot of hairs and dust from the shirt, as well as making the background solid white. We were having some trouble getting all the lights to talk, since profoto doesn't like to play with others. He got it working after these test shots, though. The hotshoe passthrough was loose.

I didn't do any retouching on the last image because I'm hoping to use it as a passport photo. We'll see how that goes.

I'm excited to have some top notch photos. Time to go upload them everywhere. I already added one to my About page here on the site, and my page on Nooklyn, which Moiz has been updating to display my photos. Ain't that snazzy?

A telemarketer interrupted my blog. I got mad.

I was a recording Vlog 002 and a telemarketer called to sell me some bullshit that I might have actually bought if it were an ad on a channel I like that I choose to visit of my own accord. Not someone invading my space and time. Stay out. It's not your world anymore.

My first VLOG! Episode 1! Or 2. Or 1. Y'know.

I chat about my experience shooting real estate rentals, and other recent projects. Rudely cut off by a telemarketer at the end. Don't worry, I rant about it in the next video.

I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks when I’m driving, but this day I decided I didn’t want to listen, I wanted to create. So I jumped over my barriers and just hit the record button and started talking. I made an episode before this a while back but it requires editing because there are a bunch of cuts - that’s why this one is made it up first. Fewer barriers to entry. I uploaded it straight from my phone to youtube. I almost added music, but it was a distraction. So here it is, pure and simple. If you want to start a vlog, here are the steps:

• Hit Record
• Hit Publish
• Success!

Improved Transcript:

Driving Vlog, Episode, I dunno, Two! I made one a while back but I never posted it. Maybe I’ll post it before this one. We’ll see.

Oh look, a stack of video files awaiting edits. I wonder where I've seen this before?

I’m out shooting apartments for Nooklyn today. You know, i could tell myself:
“I’m too good to be shooting apartments because I shoot luxury architecture”
But really it’s still fun. I still get to run around town and be outside. It’s just a few minutes in each place, some really quick easy pictures. I’m shooting handheld with my tilt-shift, which is pretty fun and challenging. It keeps me on my toes because it’s not easy. Doing that helps me to develop my skills as a photographer. It helps with composition and learning the ins and outs of the lens, like how distortion is introduced when using the tilt and shift features, as well as developing an intuition for leading lines in the composition. With this, what’s nice is that I get a bunch of rapid fire experience with shooting rooms. This is still what I do even when i’m shooting high end properties and the camera is on a tripod and I’m using lighting equipment. The ideas of composition are still the same. We learn by doing. So going out and shooting tons and tons of places helps to improve my skills.

596 captures across 6 disparate locations. Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bushwick, Clinton Hill, & Prospect Lefferts Garden.

So my tip is to always keeps shooting and always be open to trying new things. You never know it all and you’ll never be perfect at it. Always approach it with the excitement of a beginner. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.

I’m sorry about my shirt being so bright in the video. I’m not going to color correct it, because I’m shooting on my iPhone while driving and I’m intentionally keeping it incredibly simple. I make videos all the time that require editing and color correction, and then they NEVER get done. So I have to lower the barrier.

Make Imperfect Things - inspirational hand lettering from Sean McCabe.

That’s what’s fun about the apartments, actually. I don’t spend 4 hours editing a single image like I often do with architecture. It’s usually just minutes, and sometimes even seconds. And then on to the next one. It’s fun to make really quick stuff. I enjoy it. I may not do it forever, but I’m doing it for now.

My heroes in the business sector like Seanwes and GaryVee (notice anything similar about their handles?) constantly say “Document over create” and this is the same thing. Recording this video and being okay with it just as it is, that’s documentation. I don’t get caught up in all the requirements of high quality created content. It’s just:

“Hey, here’s what I’m doing today and I’m talking to you about it!”

Click the pic to see him rant about it.

I’m in Prospect Lefferts Garden now, going to shoot a place on Clarkson. I’ve shot 6 or 7 buildings today, each with 1-6 units in them. Most of them are just vacant apartments, there’s nothing special about them. But they’re fairly good in build quality. They’re probably in the $2000-$4000+ price range.

I checked:
From $2100 to $7600
Neither of these links have my photos on them at the time of posting. I’ll update this when they do. If I remember. ;D

I enjoy shooting the showrooms the most, because the furniture and that makes them more engaging both to shoot in and to look at. But even in an empty room, there are still lines to use to enhance the composition and lead the viewer’s eye. So there’s still much to learn even when shooting an empty room.

I had coffee today, as you might have noticed by my talking fast, by the way. It was a great cup of cold brew at Little Roy. I mention this place in a later video, but here are some pics of it anyway. No coffee pic, sorry.

Another thing that I really enjoy about doing this is being outside and free to enjoy and explore the town. I’m bouncing around, an hour at this place, 30 minutes there, 30 minutes at another spot - this gives me a lot of time to travel around between each of these mini-projects to explore the city. I can pop into a new coffee shop to see what it’s like, or a smoothie joint for something healthy and refreshing. I really love this, I love exploring the city and experiencing all it has to offer. Going to these apartments often takes me to sections of neighborhoods I might not visit otherwise. If I’m just sitting at home editing photos on my computer, I’m not doing any of that. And if I went to be a laptop warrior at a coffee shop, I would end up staying at that one spot all day long, rather than bouncing around this much.

You see, I love variety. It’s good for me to go out and explore tons of different places. This style of work allows me to do that by having a little work here and a little work there. What’s really nice is that we’ve gotten a system down with Nooklyn where I don’t have to worry about pricing out every shoot before I do it. Most of these places are pretty standard and we worked on a per-shoot price list. So long as the place isn’t extra special and deserves more attention to detail and more in depth photography, we can just stick to that system and I can breeze through these places, and I know I’m going to get paid. The same day. It’s a really nice feeling for it not to be ambiguous. It’s so satisfying to know it’s certain. I shoot an apartment, I get paid. I buy a coffee. Rinse and repeat.

Tasty tasty coffee at Fort Defiance in Red Hook.

Compare this to my being a real estate agent some years back. Advertise like crazy. Talk to too many people. Take half out on showings. Maybe rent one place. Maybe. I know this isn’t everyone’s experience with real estate and some folks are totally killing it. But I never found the love for it, and I certainly don’t love that style of “do tons of work and hope that it all works out in the end.” It’s different with the ambient work I do for my photography business - I always have something to show for the work I’ve done. If I spend time producing photos for my portfolio, I have a new and better portfolio. If I shoot videos or post a lot on Instagram or Facebook, I have that many more things that I made and am proud of out there on the internet. So it feels good at the end of the day no matter what. But I’m sure some folks find the same love in doing their real estate advertising. It just wasn’t for me the way this is. And I’m happy I am here now and not there.

Mr. Businessy Business Man

Another contrast is with really large photography projects. Lately it seems to be that when things get above around $2000/day threshold, they start to get pretty complex. For those I collect 50% up front, and the remaining balance when we wrap up at the end of the shoot or shortly after. Once the funds are paid in full, the finished photos are delivered and the usage license conveyed. It’s not like this on every single shoot of course, at least not yet. I shot a food project last week that was organized by a producer and not by me. He did Net 30. So, it happens sometimes. But, that's on me because I didn't say anything. Always take responsibility.

It’s because of this that the simple system of shooting apartments can sometimes be satisfying - it’s just so simple I don’t have to think about it. Wanna make $1000 today and have fun tooling around town and recording Vlogs the whole time? No problem, just hop to it.

Fun facts on that food shoot. It was for an event and meeting space company with a catering arm called Convene. Good name, right? Their tagline is "All inclusive premiere meeting & conference rooms." It was organized by my friend Hal, a photographer I met when we were both shooting the same event for different clients - the North 2014 Nordic Food Festival. I wonder if I have those photos up somewhere.

Here, I found two blog posts on Honest Cooking that feature my photos. Honest Cooking put on the North Nordic Food Festival, probably simply because Kalle is Swedish and missed home. J/k. But really.

Hey look, it's me! Oh wait, no, it's Kalle. Don't worry, you're not the first person to be fooled.

NORTH Festival 2014 Kicks Off with a Bang in NYC

Damn, who white balanced this photo? Really Fkd that up. Oh wait, it was me. It's always painful to look back on your old work. Remember: humble beginnings.

NORTH Festival Pop Up Brought Innovate Nordic Cuisine to New York City

Haha, the links on these article go to my tumblr, which predate nsdoyle.com. I wonder if I should have them change it, or just let people go to tumblr and then on down the rabbit hole. I’ll see if I can link tumblr to my website. I probably will have them change it, because I believe our dear and glorious leader google likes for there to be external links to my website If you’re well versed in SEO, back me up on this. I hear they like written content to, so that’s why I’m not uploading this video all by its lonesome. By the way, big props if you’ve ready this far. I’m so proud. Shoot me a high five in the comments if you make it all the way to the end.

( I would insert a photo of folks giving a high five, but I don't think I have one. Not quite my style.)

Here's some bros and Nowadays doing something congratulatory, kind of like a high five. Also not my style, but, hey, I was there. Note the guy with the dual birds in the background.

Let’s get back on track. I met Hal Horowitz at North '14. I then saw him again at the Dinner en Blanc, this time I was shooting for Great Performances, by way of my friend Kat, whom I met at a Backyard BBQ (Thanks for the hook up Johnny Stoops. I owe you dinner). I’m pretty sure we ran into each other while shooting the same events more than that, but those are the two that really stick out.

This lady's got her dramatic pose ready to go at a moment's notice.

When Hal’s friend German, the executive chef at Convene told Hal they needed photos of the Fall and Winter menu items, Hal know just the guy to call.

RUDELY INTERRUPTED BY A TELEMARKETER AND I’M STILL SOUR ABOUT IT.

>:(

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Hal, I was so pumped to see you at Dinner en Blanc, by the way. I was getting really bored with it and I had already made up my mind that this was the last event I would ever shoot. It was so exciting to see a familiar face there. Still lights me up. Lemme see if I can round up that photo of you I took there. Here we go.

You know, I believe I can honestly trace my wearing all white back to this very event. I don’t remember how much they paid me for this, but I’m pretty sure I spent the entire amount on my outfit. I’d been wanting to get some silk clothing for a long time, so I bought some white silk pants and a white silk shirt from Tommy Bahama. I then googled Rockport to see if they had any nice white loafers, which is how I discovered:

Rockport Men's Bennett Lane 3 Venetian Slip-On Loafer

The shoes I'm currently abusing.

My favoritest shoe since my Rockport ‘Business Runner’ ground pounders.

Rockport TruWalk Zero Wingtip in dark brown and bonkers-ass orange.

Pretty bummed that both of these are out of production. Although I am currently rocking my second pair of Venetians, I wore my first ones into a pretty sorry state, and the TruWalks I wore right through to the ground. Literally. Speaking of wearing out clothes, those Tommy Bahama pants I bought in July 2015 had their final day today, August 25th, 2017. So they made it just over two years until I strained them too hard doing photo crunches in the second to last apartment I shot today. I should have worn a belt so they weren’t sagging, but oh well. I’m not so good about keeping clothing in peak shape for a long period of time. I’m more in the “have 5 pieces and wear them until they’re totally decimated” school of thought. Can’t say it’s the best approach, but it’s just what I do.

But I have been needing some more walking shoes. I’ll ruin these Venetians if I keep this up, so I tend to wear my trail runners when I’m out shooting these apartments. They do they job, but I want something new. Maybe Rockport’s latest truwalks? We’ll see.

I saw a guy in Father Knows Best wearing these badboys Cole Hann’s ZEROGRAND and oh man do I want some. But that’s not really going to solve my “shoes I can walk 20k steps a day in and not obliterate both them and my feet” issue here. I remember hunting for those shoes a few hours before the Dinner en Blanc. Do you know how hard it is to buy solid white loafers in a physical store at the end of July? Ain’t easy. I probably hit 4-5 places before landing in the mega Macy’s on 34th, where I bought the only pair they had, the display pair, which though some stroke of magic were the right size.

Wait, shoes, what?

It’s 4am and I’m still writing, so if you were wondering where all these bizarre tangents are coming from, there’s your answer. I really thought I was just going to publish this video with the content I’d already written and a text saying “and I stopped here so I could produce more videos’, but there’s a time when you can’t or shouldn’t produce more videos, and that’s when you and everyone in your house is supposed to be asleep. But I can write all I want, so maybe I’ll start writing late at night when I’ve still got tons of fuel for creation but can’t make noise. The gentle clickity clack of my laptop keyboard isn’t going to hurt anybody, right?

But all of this could be its own post, so let’s get back on track, shall we?

North 2014 was my very first paid food shoot, as far as I can recall. If I’m wrong and you happen you know of a previous one, please chime in. I don’t have the most solid memory. That’s why I’m trying to write, blog, and vlog so much more. Need to make up for the shoddy memory and get the stuff down on paper.

What my food photography looked like in the good old days.

Thanks for reading! 6:48am. Hope you got a kick out of all of this. Let me know in the comments.

Ancolie Photo in New York Post

One of my photos of Ancolie was used in an article in the New York Post about foods being served in reusable glass jars. The sustainability aspect is one of my favorite things about Ancolie, so I'm happy to see more busiensses doing the same.

Fun fact: Regina and I went to see Hamilton last week and I was marveling at the design of the Tyme booth in Times Square. You can't see it all that well in that picture, and I was resisting the urge to take photos of it in that moment, but of course now I regret it. The bent wooden slats with a crown of plants is to lovably eco.

Check out the article here.

How to Post Stunning Videos on Instagram Stories

Shortly after Instagram rolled out its “Stories” feature - the 24-hour shelflife “snapchat clone”, I discovered that you can upload items from your camera roll! Hell yeah! Why keep posting super compressed snapchat videos or be limited by the capabilities of the iPhone’s camera when I already have a DSLR on me every day?

I begin producing and posting with fury, and soon I got a ton of people asking:

“WHOA! What kind of phone are you using!? This looks AMAZING!”

“Thank you, thank you, I know, I know.”

But, really, anyone can do it.

The reception is great. People love it, and it does give you a more polished product than you can manage with the phone.

It is a lot of work, though. 

Even when you streamline it, it’s still more effort than just snapping a video with your phone. I feel this is best suited to someone that just wants to experiment with video and improve their skills. Or maybe you’re a pro who can hammer out amazing videos in seconds, in which case you may already be doing this. I actually haven’t encountered a single account that has, though, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.

Especially since I’m spilling the beans here.

So, because we cover a ton of local restaurants at Nooklyn, that’s mostly what I’ve been filming. I do a little bit of atmosphere, a little bit of food, and a little bit of character. Take a look at the @nooklyn Story feed to see it in action.

So, how can you do it, too?

1. Grab your video-capable camera and shoot some video in portrait orientation. That’s right, hold it “wrong” for shooting video. Why? Because the medium you’re shooting for is vertical, and that’s how it’s meant to be watched. Keep it steady. It helps if your camera has a built-in stabilizer, or if you have stabilized lenses. You can also use a support like a monopod, but we’re trying to stay mobile here. A little hand movement keeps it alive.

2. Import your videos to your favorite video editor. I started with iMovie, then I’d flip the videos in quicktime. I’m now using Adobe Premiere Pro, because you can do everything in just that app. And it’s better than iMovie. Just sayin.

3. You’ll need to rotate the video to vertical, add color correction, and probably a stabilizing effect like a warp stabilizer - but it can get wobbly if you moved too much, so only use it if you have to.

4. Export your pretty, polished, vertical video. Don't tell Mykki Newton.

5. Airdrop it to your phone. 

6. Post your video within 24 hours. Instagram only allow you access to files you’ve created in the past 24 hours, so don’t forget to post it. If you do forget to post it in time, export it again.

That’s it! You’ve got some lovely pro-ish camera footage on your Instagram stories. Don’t worry too much about perfecting it. The nice thing is that you don’t have to try very hard to get footage that beats the pants off of most of what’s out there. You’ll get better in time, just keep at it.

I’ll talk a bit of behind-the-scenes of the videos I post on my @nsdoyle Instagram stories, so keep tuned there if you’d like to know more. 

If you’d love to get more detail on the process, let me know in a message via Instagram @nsdoyle. If people are interested, I’ll make a training video.

Go make something great!

Edit: Fun Fact!

This is the most popular post on my website!

So let me know how I can make more like it for you:

Comment below and tell me:

• What are you struggling with?
• What do you want to know more about?
• Got any questions about this process?

RIP Northeast Kingdom

These are the last 3 pictures I took at Northeast Kingdom before it went out to pasture. The final "closed" image is pretty appropriate.

This place along with Hana Natural, made the Jefferson Station section of Bushwick what it is. It was a classic Brooklyn rustic farm-to-table place, the type that brought the food scene to Brooklyn over the past few years. In it's honor, I'm dedicating this autumn to photographing similar restaurants throughout Brooklyn to feature on Nooklyn Hoods. 

About these photos:

On April 6th, 2016, Moiz (far right, second image) and I were picking up burgers for the office, and I snapped a few quick pictures. The top one is the best, thanks to the beautiful sunlight pouring in the window balanded with the incandescent bulb above, the depth of field obscuring the foreground clutter, and the sharp clarity of the two diners and the menu. There's a great tonal range of bright spots to deep blacks. Very happy with this one, and the memories it brings back.

Rest In Peace, Northeast Kingdom.

What is the best camera to get today?

You want a camera that is going to make the best pictures ever. One that will make all your photo dreams come true. 

Here it is!

Any camera you love to use.

Not quite what you were expecting? Let’s break it down.

1. Do you have a camera now?

Most likely, you have a cellphone camera. You’ll upgrade that phone every few years, so it’s going to keep getting better. Do you use it? Do you love it? Sweet, you’re done. Go snap away.

2. What are you struggling with?

If you’re not getting the photos you want, why? Is it because of your camera, or is because of inexperience? Is it because your camera is so big you don't carry it around?

The camera is just a tool. You need to understand light, composition, and your subject much more than you need to know how to use a camera. Once you have a clear idea of the photos you want to take, you can upgrade to a camera that solves your specific problems.

3. Get the camera you want.

Spend $100. Spend $10,000. Get a camera you’re excited to use every day, so you wake up and can’t wait to take pictures.

Don’t worry about getting the ‘best’ or the ‘right’ camera, just get one that makes you happy. Practice will make you good, and if one camera or another gets you taking more photos, then that’s the one that will make you a better photographer. So go with your heart.

4. Get a different camera. Get more cameras.

You’re not stuck with the first camera you get forever. If you decide you want something else from your photography your present camera isn’t well suited for, get one that is. Sell your old one, or keep it. Doesn’t matter. What matters is that you keep taking pictures, whatever it takes.

To recap:

• Start with the camera you've got
• Get a camera that solves your specific problems
• Get a camera that makes you happy.
• You're not stuck with one camera forever. Try something new.

So grab a camera and have fun.

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Let me know what you're struggling with, and I'll make some content just for you. :)

What I’m working on now : Finishing what I’ve started.

I wrote this draft at the start of the year, just found it in the drafts folder now! I thought you'd appreciate a little insight into the start of my year, so enjoy!

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My first Quarter of 2017 is devoted to editing all of my backlogged photos. Why? When I pick up my camera and think of taking photos lately, I am met with the thought “Do I really want to add this to the pile of images I have waiting for me?” This can be both good and bad. 

The benefit is that I am way more picky about the kind of photos I take, only picking up my camera for the best possible photos. 

The downside is that I am discouraged from experimenting, so I use my camera very little. Which means I’m not learning and growing as much as I’d like. I’m not happy with that. 

Rather than let that just continue to be my life in photography, I’m taking an intentional approach to eliminating that problem. Here’s a bit of insight into what I’m up against.

I’ve got several catalogs in Lightroom with images spanning from 2014 - 2016. Before the end of 2016, I got through every image in my “Fall 2016 II” Catalog. Why “II”? Because the first one became unstable, probably from having too many images in it. Lightroom seems to act up once the catalog gets up around 30,000 images, even with an SSD style hard drive. For this reason, I’ve taken to splitting up  catalogs when the numbers get high.

I also finally got some extra space freed up on my hard drive. There was a time that I was down to 7 megabytes of free space. This had a severe impact on performance. After a ton of editing and moving finished raw files off of my working disc to an external drive, I’ve finally gotten up to 118gb free (on a 1Tb drive). It’s important to keep at least 10% of your drive empty to keep your computer performing at its best. So, that’s another reason not to let images pile up in the backlog.

Here are the catalogs I’ve got now, with their total unedited images in need of processing:

0 - “Fall 2016 II.” Hooray! All done.
7548 - “Lightroom Catalog 2016” - Very creative name, I know. Images in here are mostly from 2016, with a handful of images from 2015 and oddly a set of images from 2013.
3106 - “San Francisco June 2016” 
4433 - “Lightroom Catalog 2015”
492 - “Lightroom Catalog” - These are from 2014, and I’ve actually processed most of them already, so they really shouldn’t be here taking space on my active work drive.

It’s really not all that much, now that it’s written down. Yay for data! 
I’ve been tracking my progress on editing these images since January 1st, and here are some stats for my progress.

Note: I use the term “processed” here because many of the images won’t actually get edited, but discarded or set aside so that the best images from the set receive edits. Put simply, “Edit” means improvements in color and crop.

Most productive day - Jan 12. Images processed - 1030. I was having a really good day. I discovered some really jamming tunes that got me going.
Least Productive Day - Jan 6th. Images processed - 31. Guess I wasn’t feeling it that day. But I don’t recall because I didn’t journal every day. Reminder: Journal daily.
Days off: 7. After two years of working every day, I’ve decided that weekends are good and that recharging is a good idea. I can go into how I structure my weekends another time, but the simple version is ‘Schedule nothing on Saturday’, and I usually end up spending quality time with Regina.  Sunday I tend to still work on my business, but I just do parts of it that aren’t photography or editing. That accounts for 3 of the days, and the others were an annual winter trip to Vermont with friends.
Active Days: 9, Not counting today (I haven’t edited yet today).
Average per day: 332.4
Total Images to Process: 15,579
Days required at current average pace: 46.87
5 Day weeks required: 9.37

So, at the current pace, It will take me a little over nine weeks to finish. I’m not into that. So, time to ramp it up. At 750 images a day, I’ll get it done in 4 weeks. That’s my new goal. I’ll post the number of images I edit each day on my Instagram to keep me accountable. Have a look there if you want to keep up with my progress. 

Update: I finished all of these photos sometime in March. I don't remember when exactly. Hooray!

Cape May from Modern Map Art

In an earlier blog post about beaches and travel, I mentioned a trip to Cape May, NJ. Jennifer from Modern Map art recently added Cape May to her selection of fantastic map art prints and she was kind enough to send one my way! I don't get many goodies in the mail that I haven't ordered myself on Amazon, so I decided to do an unboxing video!

It's really nice and I'm happy to have it. Beautiful colors, though there are also black and white versions. It's nice and clean.

Regina and I joked about some things that the landmass resembles:

• Whale
• Pipe
• Shrimp
• Gooeduck

Suprisingly, all nautical things.

Like the print and want to pick up a similar one? You can get them at Modern Map Art

Reading Intentionally

I’ve been reading a lot of books this year, certainly more than I’ve read in previous years. I haven’t kept track of it well enough to know for sure. But I certainly feel like I’ve been getting through them. Reading has been a priority for me lately as I search for inspiration and know-how to guide me down my path as a photographer. There are infinite directions to go, an entire world of things to explore and possibly photograph, it’s difficult to know which to choose, but I’ve narrowed it down considerably. The things I'm most interested in showcasing are Architecture and Food.

The Arman - Grade NYC

Spring Street Salt Shed - Dattner Architects

Frost Street - Purekitchen

Union Avenue - Purekitchen

Architecture images from recent client work & photo crawls.

Architecture seems pretty straight forward at first, but once you dig into it, it could include anything that’s built with intention. But sometimes beyond the architecture, I like the interior design, furniture, or objects in a space. That could all potentially still fit under the same heading. Buildings and stuff in them. Why they matter, what they mean to us, how they make us feel, how they tie us to a place, how they help us escape from another place.

Crab Fritters - Cebu Bar & Bistro

Daquirir - Appleton Estate

The Diamond Tray - Alan Ck. & Co.

The Abstract Board - Alan Ck. & Co.

The Barge Board - Alan Ck. & Co.

Ice Cream - Buttermilk Channel

Food images from recent client work.

Food is my other photographic love and has been for most of my life. Both of these passions have been a long time in the making. I learned to cook when I was young and kept at it for a very long time. I don’t consider myself to be exceptional, but I am aware that I took with more intention and have studied the subject much more than most of the people I know. And when you have a deep understanding of a subject, it makes photographing it significantly easier. You know what to look for, what to expect, what is going to happen next, and you can break apart the process from start to finish. I can look at a plate of food and stories unravel about how the dish came to be, where its ingredients came from, the people involved along the way. I can start to see the world in every plate of food. I’ve had significantly more practice here than in my study of architecture, but that’s been the focus of my diving deep lately.

Moiz on the Hudson

The Rhinecliff Hotel

Octopus & Bubbly - Boatyard, Ft. Lauderdale

Regina - Boatyard, Ft. Lauderdale

Aerial of Olivebridge Cottage, Catskills

Olivebridge Cottage, Catskills

Harriman State Park Hike

Kammok Wallaby on National Hammock Day

Photos from this year's travels.

And finally, travel. When I travel, those are the two things that I look for everywhere - beautiful places and delicious food to experience and enjoy. But is travel photography a third thing?  There’s overlap in all of them, for instance, if I’m shooting a restaurant built by a renown architect. Chances are it’s also in an interesting or beautiful place, so there you’ve got architecture and travel, and you can throw food in there. Much of what I shot for Nooklyn I would consider food and travel photography. Food travel? Culinary exploration.

Don't worry Infinite Space, you're staying.

Magazines to catch up on.

Autumn was being adorable when I took those last two images.

Stuff to read.

So these things inform where my heart is and what I like to spend my time on. Knowing all of that should make my list of recent reads pretty understandable. I've been reading a mix of magazines and books, both physical and digital. I joined both the Queens and Brooklyn libraries. I've got tons of photo books on the shelves that I've been meaning to look through with intention, some of which I'd like to purge after looking through. And others will get to stay. You've been reading for long enough now, so I'll save the in depth list of what exactly I've been reading for a future post.

Have you been reading much lately? Do you want to read more?

Here's my best tip: spend less time on Instagram, and more time in a book. Might not work for everyone, but it certainly works for me. :D

Photo Critique - Morning Minimal Stone House

I saw this a while back on Archdaily.com. April 24th to be exact. I set up my new tab screen to show me beautiful places from Archdaily, and this one really caught my eye. I poured of the images one morning and felt inspired to write a bit about the pictures. Enjoy.

I love the feel of these photos, and how it so perfectly matches the house. The blank, dull blue-purple sky reflects the simplify of the house and does not distract from it, but is almost part of it. These photos wouldn't be nearly the same if there were clouds.

The rocks, which seem to form a fence in the foreground, compliment and ground the image. Solid stone below, open sky above. My god, I've become an art professor.

If you look closely, you can see this one breaks the illusion of the house existing solemnly. In the first image it feels like it could be in another dimension all by itself. In the second their are some fields around it, but still it exists alone. And the pulverized stone driveway around the house definitely says lunar landscape. In this third image, though, you can see there are actually other houses around. The one on the right might even be a small apartment building. It's subtle and you have to look at the images closely, but it does break the illusion. This could be good or bad, of course. It's good if you want to be truthful about the surroundings, but the first two images had an artistic feel about them, and this one breaks that artistic rendition of the house. Not to say that's wrong, but I really like the direction it was going and would have liked a follow-through.

Want to see more photos of this gorgeous place? Click below.

VMS House / Marcos Miguelez

Photos by Antonio Vázquez

Olivebridge Cottage Photos Featured in New York Magazine

Yesterday my photos of Olivebridge Cottage were featured on The Cut, a section of New York Magazine, as their 'Space of the Week.' My photos are interspersed with photos from the house's designer, Daniel Kanter.

Check out The Cut's slideshow here.

Thanks to Adriana Kertzer & Wendy, Marvin and Gabe at NYMag for making this happen.

Tomi Jazz - Live Jazz + Tasty Japanese Food

Regina and I haven't had a night out on the town for longer than we can remember. I also haven't blogged in a really long time, so where's a two-for.

I was taking some photos in the James Hotel a few weeks ago when I overheard the fellow at the desk mention a low key Japanese jazz club in midtown by the name of Tomi Jazz. It sounded amazing so when Regina suggested we have dinner in Manhattan for a change, I knew just the place.

We got in at 7pm, just in time to hear the last half of The Greg DeAnglies Quintet set, which I loved. The band performed just on the other side of our table, which was amazing. We were only 3-4 feet from them.

The atmosphere there was great - it was dark and only had a few little lights and flames giving it a very intimate feel. I didn't take any food photos because I was trying not to be obnoxious with my camera. It's been a while since I've just shot something for fun like this, as lately it's been client work and portfolio projects. Here I just got to listen to some great jazz in a beautiful with my lovely lady, and I took a few quick shots to showcase the vibe. Here they are:

And here's what we ate, if you're curious:

Japanese Pickles - Great

Seaweed Salad - A greens salad with a little seaweed. Not what I was expecting.

Japanese Curry Rice - I've been obsessed with this lately. It was good.

Look good? Go check it out:

Tomi Jazz

Case Study - Cebu Restaurant, Brooklyn, NY

April was crazy!

Still from a behind the scenes video of the Nugent House shoot, with Sergei Hasagawa of Purekitchen

Looking back on April I realize it was quite packed. It felt pretty busy while I was in it, sure, but when I came back to review it I saw just how intense and productive it was. Let me fill you in.

Quick Overview:

• Completed 8 Photoshoots.
• Assisted on a fashion shoot & shot behind the scenes photo and drone video
• Went on a cabin adventure upstate
• Hiked a mountain
• My photos got featured on an architecture blog
• Previewed a beautiful restaurant for a big project next month
• Met an incredible architect from the UK
• Had a great birthday party and got myself a drone, which I flew a ton

In Detail:

April 1st - Birthday Party for Me!
Kicked the month off Right with a birthday party on April first (the weekend after my actual birthday on March 28th.) Got a DJI Mavic Pro drone and started flying it all the time.

2nd - Another party party, this time in Jersey, for someone not me.
Went to Jersey City for a friend’s birthday party at Barcade. We’ve done this at least once or twice before and I get excited at the idea of playing old arcade games, but then I get there and nothing in their selection really excites me. I did have a surprisingly amazing cuban sandwich, though. Usually, they’re dry and boring, but this one was amazingly juicy. I’d forgotten about it until I wrote this. Man that thing was good. Also, the street plaza between the subway stop and Barcade is really nice. I'm really into the contrast of architecture with the short buildings in the foreground and these residential skyscrapers in the distance, and there are some good art murals about as well. And the Path train is so nice. Wanna move to Jersey yet? I kinda do.

Nugent House - Shot this gorgeous house in Staten Island at the end of March, edited the photos at the start of the month.

88th Street Townhouse - The biggest, fanciest townhouse I’ve ever seen. Also shot at the end of March and edited in April.

3rd - Ancolie
Tia suggested I shoot this new restaurant that sells salads in reusable jars, for sustainability. I’m into that.

10th - Taxes.
Did my taxes. Last minute. Of course.

6th - Alan Ck & Co.
Shot lifestyle and product photography of cutting boards and serving ware. This shoot was a lot of fun because there was a lot of food styling involved, so it was an exciting mix of food photography and product photography. And, of course, anything food and home kitchen related is right up my alley.

7th - Dungeon Beach
My friends have owned this subterranean post production studio for years, and I’ve been to many parties there and snapped a few pictures over the years. They brought on a new partner recently who realized it’s time to freshen up the image, so they brought me in to shoot the space.

8th - Hiked a mountain!
I hiked a bit of Hogencamp Mountain in Harriman State Park with my brother, Dustin. I flew the DJI Mavic briefly, but it didn't like the 16mph winds. We ate some fancy packaged Wild Sockeye Salmon from Patagonia. It as really good. Would recommend.

12th - Fashion Shoot BTS
I made some behind the scenes photos and drone video of a fashion shoot with my friend Hannah Cohen.

13th - Waffles with Hamish
Met UK Architect Hamish Herford, who recently completely the gorgeous Stepping Stone House, for breakfast waffles at Cafe Ghia - Which is closed by now, and that's pretty sad. Their waffles were amazing. Hamish made a crack about "you Americans and your jug of maple syrup at the table", which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Also on the 13th - Food Photography at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola
A new season means a new menu at Dizzy's, which I've been shooting for a while for Great Performances. Click that link. It's always nice to see my photos on a website's homepage. :D

14th - Cashier at the PSFC
Got trained as a cashier at the Park Slope Food Coop, so now I’ve got a fun new option for doing shifts there. Speaking of which, I should sign up for my next one. Yeah, I'm part of the fabled Food Coop cult.

April 15th - Olivebridge Cottage
I met Sophie at Creative Mornings at the end of March, and we hit it off and started planning a cabin retreat. It finally came to fruition with this spot, which I spent most of the weekend taking pictures of while Regina and Moiz took it super easy. We also tried the Phoenicia Diner, which was amazing, and explored Woodstock, NY, which was really cute.

April 17th - Never stop learning
Bought Where Art Meets Architecture III, an architectural photography masterclass from Mike Kelley and the crew at Fstoppers, the second it was released. This one deals heavily with the business side of photography, which is immensely helpful.

22nd - Featured on a blog!
My photos of olive bridge cottage got featured on architects and artisans.

24th - Location scouting for an upcoming shoot.
I visited Cebu Bar & Bistro, in Bay Ridge, to preview the space for a photoshoot of the space and their menu. It's a really beautiful place that sort of transports me out of the busy city to a more chill place. I spend several hours there soaking in the atmosphere and getting to know the feel of the space. That way when it comes time to photograph it, I'll be in the right frame of mind to capture its intricacies. I'm really looking forward to this shoot in mid may.

Also May 24th - Whisky Tasting
I attended a Suntory Toki Whiskey tasting at EN Japanese Brasserie. I used to look down on adding soda to whiskey as a move done by people who 'couldn't handle straight whiskey', but after having this refreshing highball, I've got a newfound respect for it.

27th - Cherry Blossoms at the Brooklyn Botantic Garden
I took Tia and new photograph pal Erin Lewis to the BBG. They'd never been to it before, which is an oversight I was very happy to correct. They fell in love with how gorgeous the place is, as any reasonable person would. Erin's pumped to meet up with me for more photo adventures, which is always a blast.

28th - Real Estate Photography
Shot several apartments in a new development for Nooklyn at 581 Ocean Avenue. Some of the apartments have really nice balconies with good views of the Varrazzno bridge and of the manhattan skyline. I'm into the simple brick and glass fascade, too. I'm headed back soon to shoot the showrooms when those are completed.

End of April

Bonus photo of Autumn for reading to the end:

That’s a lot of great content at could be tons of great blog posts, but I haven’t devoted nearly enough time to writing and getting all of that work out there. Here’s to hoping I get a lot more writing in this month, and that I get the month-in-review up at the actual end of the month. :)

Let me know how you enjoyed this recap, and if you’d like to see more stuff like this.

Olivebridge Cottage

I love cabins. I love upstate new york. So I went upstate and shot some photos of a great cabin for Red Cottage Inc, a vacation rental company with a big portfolio of lovely cabins upstate.

It's a little more modern than what you might typically think of as a 'cabin', but who says you can't have a slice of nature and a slice of design on the same plate?

Olivebridge Cottage
Olivebridge, NY
 

Ancolie

Ancolie is a great concept to see here. After working in the food industry, I've seen just how much waste it produces and it can be pretty rough. Ancolie looks to fight back by using almost every part of every ingredient and composting the rest. They package their food in cute reusable glass jars to offset packaging waste as well. What's in the jars? Salads in many different forms. And you get to give them a satisfying shake-shake before munching on the healthy goodness.

Read on below to learn about the photos I took there and my visit.

Ancolie
Greenwich Village - Manhattan
$
★★★☆☆

Play with your food. Make a little mess. Shake things up.

Green is great. Matcha + Chia + Coconut = a powerful day starter.

Snag this snazzy tote for your salads and you can walk out with no waste at all!

I discovered Ancolie through my friend Tia Meyers, a digital marketing consultant doing work for their instagram. She mentioned I should check it out and do a little food photography so we could get them some press on Nooklyn and my Instagram feed. Another friend, travel blogger Sophie Chan Andreesend, joined me for the shoot and did a little bit of modeling. She really appreciated Ancolie's no waste approach. For these photos I wanted to play with the styling a lot and fill the frame with the components of the dish. Ancolie already has highly meticulus and detailed photos of the ingredients, so I went with something a little more free-form by spilling out the ingredients around the jars. I amplified the bright daylight look and added a little pop by using an off camera speedlight flash for all of the interior shots. I also got to try my first turmeric latte, so that was another fun new experience at this shoot.

gear list for gear heads:
canon 6d
canon st-e3-rt flash controller
canon 600ex-rt flash with fstoppers flash disc
manfrotto 055 w/ 410 geared head

 

Florida in February: Part 1 - Yeah, so, about the beach.

I’ve only been to Florida once. I was in my early teens and we took a family road trip from Mississippi to Pensacola, in Forida’s panhandle. Fake Florida, really. Might as well still be in Mississippi or Alabama. I don’t remember the water being pretty or the beach looking particularly nice, but I do recall playing in the water with my brothers for a long time. Too long, actually, without reapplying sunscreen. It was bad. I had scabbed burns all down my arm and back. I was in constant pain, I couldn’t sleep in any position, and no amount of aloe would help. I didn’t care much for beaching after that.

I didn’t return to the beach until I moved to New York. Here, the beaches are only good as an escape from the city, not as a stand-alone attraction. The sand is coarse and unpleasant, the water is a gross brown color and frigid. The nicest beach I’ve been to nearby is in Cape May, which unsurprisingly is the furthest south out of the local options. I really enjoyed going to Wildwood in 2015 with Regina just prior to that Cape May visit, but the fun there is in its quintessential New Jersey-ness of the sprawling boardwalk, not the beach itself.

Wildwoods & Cape May NJ

Wildwoods Manta Kite

One of the coolest kites I've seen

Color Tornado Kite

The other coolest kite I've seen

Last Mack's Pizza

I got a kick out of this. Retro pizza joint inside. Totally Jersey.

Wildwoods Boardwalk

New Jersey Boardwalk: Teen heaven?

Ferris Wheel

Regina and I drove around in the evening to check out the strip, which was fun. Saw a lot of neon.

Boardwalk Trolley

More boardwalk classics

Wildwoods Sign

You need a big sign to know you're in the right place.

Curley's Fries

Another Jersey Boardwalk requirement.

Softserve

Also obligitory.

Cape May Trail

Pretty path leading out to a beach at Cape May

Regina loves a sunset

"This beach is better than the last one"

Sunset at Cape May

Sand Grass

I'm a fan of the grass growing in the sand look.

Hey Regina, take my picture.

Because I'm vain, but I don't like selfies.

Colorful Sunset

Several other folks showed up to take in the sunset with us. They walked from a house nearby and brought glasses of wine. Obviously they won and we lost.

Cape May Beach Day

So, I still wasn't complete sold on the idea of going to the beach. What’s different now?

If I had to guess, I’d go with:
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- All the travel photos I’ve seen of the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Thailand’s gorgeous beaches and colorful waters
- Snazzy sailing yatchs. So classy.
- My affinity for rum and tiki cocktails.
- My fairly recent discovery of Tommy Bahama’s incredibly comfortable warm weather clothing, which now dominates my closet.

Oh Boy, Tiki Cocktails:

Hail the Tiki Parrot

See how happy I am?

Snapping drinks at Fort Defiance

Sunken Harbor Club is a secret tiki popup at Fort Defiance in Red Hook.

Beautiful drink at Sunken Harbor Club

Smuggler's Cove

Real-deal tiki bar in San Francisco decked out with treasure chests and strange lanterns.

Drinks at The Commodore

The commodore is known for fried chicken, but also has some great tropical drinks.

Mai Tai & Coconut Shrimp at Tommy Bahama Bar

While I still don’t love the beaches here in the north, the idea of warm summer weather and vibes has really grown on me, and I’ve always wanted to travel to far flung tropical places. This trip was my first step in that direction.
 

Kermit Westergaard Apartment

I've photographed a great many rental apartments in Brooklyn over the past few years, mostly of my own listings when I was an active agent, and then for several months for Nooklyn until we hired a second photographer. In all that time, the best apartments for the rental market that I've seen have come from one man - Designer Kermit Westergaard. Here's his latest project, which I photographed on Wednesday.