If I haven’t updated my blog quite as often as I should have lately , it’s probably because I’ve been having too much fun with another blog. It’s true. I’ve  been seeing another blog and it’s been really sweet. Sweet with frosting, sweet with cake, sweet with all kinds of things I’d never tried before. Anyone who knows me well, knows that the real reason I love to shoot weddings is because the cake is always really great (and often more than one flavor!), so it should be no surprise that I have been spending recent months waiting by my phone like Pavlov’s dog for the call from Jenny at Vintage Sugarcube. After that first call, and subsequent eating-of-what-I-shot for Jenny, I was hooked.

Jenny launched the Vintage Sugarcube food blog to showcase her unique talent of deconstructing desserts, but it’s never been about just the dessert itself. Sometimes I think the desserts are just an excuse for Jenny to get into trouble…or ‘Shenanigan’s’ as she calls it. Jenny has more than ideas about desserts, she has a vision.  I don’t think any other food blog exists where the scene is so well set; where they dish up a story with every plate. I’m going to share some of my favorite examples here for you in this post and  you’ll see exactly what I mean. Jenny remains largely a Sugar Mistress of few words, chosing to adhere to the KISS principal in writing and in dessert preparation when possible. She has a knack for leaving you wanting more…

As of this writing, the current post features a cherry cheescake with pistachio in the crust, along with Cherry herself. I’ve always wondered how close to a landing aircraft  I have to be for the jet turbulence to blow over my light stands. Now I know. It was super loud, but mostly, it was a lot of fun.

Speaking of large metal objects…I recently learned a couple of things. One is that Airstream trailers come from Ohio, and the other is that ‘Buckeye’s are a chocolatey / peanut-buttery dessert that I can eat about four and half of at a single sitting.

Sometimes Jenny has company, as she did for her special dessert with nuts, a.k.a. Menage a’ Trois Bars.

Even when Jenny isn’t in front of the lens, it doesn’t mean she’s not in the picture. This cake tasted amazing, especially for having an identity crisis.

Sometimes I get to travel to exotic locales to practice my trade….

The ‘Dirty  Delicious‘ cupcakes, compliments of the Queen.

Or even the gym, for a Spinach + Orange bread. Really, you should try it!

It was worth sneaking these into the libray to eat them. Ice cream sandwiches made with Cornflakes and Bourbon.

In case you’d like to sail away with a Cantaloupe Martini.

One of my favorites, and my first time photographing a dessert for Vintage Sugarcube, the Petit Four. I never knew what ‘Drexting’ was until this!

Of course, a picture is only worth so much. You owe it to yourself to go over the Vintage Sugarcube and get the whole story, and even some recipes. There’s bound to be at least one dessert that will spin your beanie, and then you could even leave a comment on the blog!

I’ve been wanting to shoot Darwin for a while. You can quote me on that, but out of context, it probably sounds bad. What I mean to say is that if Frank Sinatra is ‘Chairman of the Board’ then I suppose Darwin is at least the Chairman of Cortez Hill, and he’s one of the cast of characters that makes living in Cortez Hill so awesome. Since we are both addicted to the sort of caffeine they grind at Cafe Sole Luna, (7th and Ash, everybody!) we’ve talked about collaborating on a shoot more than a few times over morning coffee.

The right time to do a shoot finally came along, since Darwin booked a return gig, singing at Dizzy’s jazz club, down on 2nd and ‘J’ street. Darwin wanted some new art to use for a promotional poster for the gig, so we put together a plan to shoot at the Santa Fe train station for fun, and then do something else among the city lights of downtown for the poster art. Friend and fellow photographer Felice Kinnear  was kind enough to come along to assist and shoot, and it was great – we had a blast!

Starting at Santa Fe

After the sun went down, we headed over to one of my favorite spots on 4th Avenue with two lights and a microphone. I have long been inspired by the amazing jazz photography of the great Herman Leonard , especially his work in the 1950’s, so this was a perfect opportunity to tip my hat to Mr. Leonard, and do my best to practice the sincerest form of flattery….immitation! A shoot like this is something I’d been wanting to do for a long time and I think it was worth waiting for.

Felice grabbed one of my favorite shots of the night. I wish I could take credit for the lovely wide-angle shot below, because I love it!

So when it came time to creat the poster for the gig, we worked up a few ideas for it. These are two that I didn’t think were ‘the one’ for Darwin, but  that I just wanted to see as a poster just for fun.

This is probably my personal favorite.

From 4th Avenue, we move across to the steps of the convention center for a few closing shots.

For Darwin, the mood of this image most closely matched the feel of the evening he will be presenting, and so this is the ‘official’ poster.

Oh, and P.S…….want to see a little ‘behind the scenes?’ Apparently Darwin has a fan club, and they ambushed us in the middle of the shoot. He was very gracious about it all and we even got to have our own little ‘We Are the World’ moment and snap a group photo.