So Pho

Film Test

I had to test some new film stock -- on white wine braised chicken. mmmmmmmm....

Box of Fish

When I was a kid my father and I spent as much time together out on the water as we could manage -- and most of this time was spent fishing. During the summer we used to do pretty good with king mackerel and spanish mackerel. The kings are big (3-4 ft.) and the spanish are small (1.5-2 ft.). Now, I like pretty much any fish and mackerel are no exception for me, but most people I know don't care much for mackerel (or bluefish) -- unless it's smoked. Back then, dad received a smoker as a gift (i think) and we tried smoking our catch in it. I can say without any reservations that that first batch of smoked mackerel we did was the first great culinary achievement of my life. It was delicious -- and so delicious it was almost addictive. All during my teens I had the "L'il Chief" fired up doing it's thing in the summer months.

My good friend and Maine Guide, David Cassidy recently invited me to go along mackerel fishing in Stonington harbor. I had always wanted to fish for mackerel up north because you can do it up there from a dock or pier or bridge pretty easily (in the south we'd have to head offshore). We half-filled a 5 gallon bucket with Atlantic Mackerel (@1-1.5 ft.) in no time -- and it seemed like a lot of fish (to clean). Dave didn't have too much of an interest in them that day as he and his family had recently gotten their fill, so he sent them home with me. Luckily, after a little shopping around I found the exact same model smoker may dad and I used to use when I was a kid -- the "L'il Chief". Here's how it all looks....

Pork Makes the Man

I had the great fortune to photograph and hang out with Chef Sean Brock again -- this time at his farm on Wadmalaw Island, SC. He leases a small chunk of acreage to grow veggies and now pigs for the menu at McCrady's restaurant in Charleston, SC. Most chefs I know are passionate about food, but Sean is especially so - raisin' bacon! Here are some out-takes....

Cornbread, Stewed Tomatoes, and BBQ -- Birmingham, AL

I love a gig like this -- Southern city, tremendous chef, great food....
I was sent to Birmingham to photograph cornbread for the cover of Garden & Gun magazine. Chef Frank Stitt of Highlands restaurant was very accommodating, and while it was a relatively quick shoot , it was a nice collaborating with him on the look of things. We also shot at Niki's West and we hit Full Moon BBQ for "personal research"....

Fried Carp

Yep. Fried Carp. Better'n catfish. Kelley's Fish House, Blair, Nebraska. 3 things on the menu -- all fried of course -- carp, catfish, alaskan walleye. "what do y'all catch?", I asked. "carp."

They score the meat so it fries deep and increases the surface area to fry ratio. It's a little earthy and bony. 3 big slabs of it in my basket and probably 100 slabs on tables in the dining room while I was eating.

Jimmy Cat

While working on an assignment in Tulelake, Ca photographing Japanese Americans on a pilgrimmage to the site of a WWII internment camp I had the great fortune to meet Jimmy Miriktani, who was imprisoned there from 1946-48. There is an excellent film -- The Cats of Mirikatani -- that is about him, his art, and his dealing with his imprisonment. He is a great REAL character -- definitely a film to see.

Big West

We've been on the road in northern California and southern Oregon working on a 4 part editorial project that will also take us to Iowa, NYC, and Ohio. While out west we took part of a day before hitting the road to see some sights and we headed off to Crater Lake, Oregon. WOW! This is one of the most incredible landscapes I've ever seen anywhere.

Brook Trout Breakfast

Dad and I are up in Maine for the holiday weekend and caught a few trout that ended up on the table....

Spot On!!!

This place is so special -- Ocean Fish Market in Conway, South Carolina. You can buy whole or cleaned fish to take home -- or have them fry it for you there. I ordered up the most popular item - a spot sandwich. 3 fried spots, 3 slabs of Sunbeam King Thin bread. I stole a couple of legs off of Sandy's softshell crab sandwich too.

Martha Lou

Sucker!

Here's a little taste of the vibes that we're working with our bud "the Good Doctor" for his latest spangled adventure -- Sucker Jeans.... like he says: "I feel a Sin coming on....

Beef and Carrot Stew

Here's a peep at last night's hearty meal at the cabin in Bucksport. This was a variation on a recipe that we found in this months Food and Wine magazine.

Eating Seattle

We traveled from Charleston, SC to Seattle to check out the food scene and eat. Seems like the big thing these days is farm to table dining and Seattle must be at the front of that movement. We went to the typical hotspots like Pike Place Market -- and I loved seeing all those fish -- even though that's probably not cool. Much more true to the real deal was when we hit University Farmers Market and then took the ferry over to Vashon Island -- which was my favorite part of the whole trip. Got into some gangster eateries -- a couple of which have the distinctions of being rated in the NYT top 10 -- The Herb Farm and Tilth. Shot lots of film -- lemme know if you want to see more....

Quiet Snow in Floyd, Va

We're here in Floyd, Va. photographing a falconer named Lee Chichester for Garden and Gun Magazine -- more on that later. I was going to try to do a photo-essay on the town of Floyd which is known primarily for its arts and bluegrass, but we ended up being snowed in for most of the day and nearly all of the town was shut down. Here are a few images from some rambling around....

Big Sun and Sky in the Keys

I'm down in the Florida Keys solo working on a project for a couple of days. Flew into Miami and made the drive down to Sunshine Key in short order -- now that the moonshine from last nite's experiment has worn off I thought I'd make a post. This image is of a huge group of migrant workers picking green beans on Key Largo. Remember where your food comes from....

McClellanville, SC New Year

We brought in the New Year quietly in the beautiful fishing village of McClellanville, SC. Our friend Natalie came in from NYC for a little R&R -- but that didn't keep her from pulling on some rubber boots and grabbing the fishing rods.

Estill, SC

We headed back to the land of deer stands and sweet potatoes over the weekend to look for something a little more "refined", "luxurious", "cosmopolitan" in the western sc neck of the woods. well, we didn't really find that - but we did meet some more extraordinarily nice people and stumbled onto a pharmacy -- where adjoining the druggists counter was a gun cabinet. Yep, you can purchase an analgesic and a pistol or rifle in the same shop, but you might have to move the stuffed bobcat to see everything available....

(W)Ehrhardt, SC

We just got back from part 1 of a road trip piece about southwest SC. It's starkly beautiful there this time of year and you almost feel like you'll fade to the same tone as the leaves and the grass at times. My grandfather was from somewhere near here. They say that when I-95 opened it sucked the life right out of the area.... All that seems to be left is hunting, some farming, and sweet sweet people.

They do it slower

A hog as big as a Fiat rubbed his snout and about 1,000 pounds of shoulder on my leg. Later, I couldn't get enough of Chef Andrea Reusing's sweet pork belly at her Lantern restaurant in Chapel Hill. We were in middle North Carolina for a few days documenting a "farm to table" story for Garden & Gun magazine, this one about organic growing and the Slow Food movement. We saw a goat being born and fed calves with a huge baby bottle. Very cool.