B.T.S. Violife Foods Photo Shoots!

I love what I do because you never know where your next food project may take you! The Violife brand 100% Vegan is a fun, tasty, and fresh product hitting the shelves in the USA! I’ve been working with the T&C team creating colorful social assets featuring their products used in recipes. Each month we have been shooting different recipes that may correlate with an upcoming FOOD holiday or special event. The recipes are tested and concepts are sketched out for each recipe. Lisa Russell helps with styling, art direction and sourcing props for each setup. Each recipe gets a hero still image and a supporting stop motion. So fun to watch these shots come to life. Make sure to follow along @violifeus

Food Face Mask Fundraiser! Help support the cause!

COVID-19 has shaken our economy globally and locally. You might of seen this first hand in your own neighborhood, or someone directly in your family. When restrictions start to lift we will still have an up hill battle ahead of us, one area that was hit hard and is close to me is the restaurant industry.

Article Reference Forbes.com
”Many independent restaurant owners have used personal savings or taken on new debt to support their employees. Restaurant workers accounted for the largest share of unemployment claims in March but less than 8.9% of approved PPP loans went to restaurants and hotels combined. 
The IRC says restaurants contribute $1 trillion to the U.S. economy each year, and only 30% of them will survive the crisis if it lingers four months or longer.
Those who do emerge may face even more difficult tribulations after reopening their doors. The first thing survivors will need to do when they reopen is pay old invoices. Then they’ll have to hire and train a skeleton staff to help unveil a newly configured, socially distanced dining room that’s expected to be legally required to cut previous capacity by 50%.
Many restaurateurs will decide it’s just not worth taking on more debt and will permanently close shop. Some will have to reimagine their concept to accommodate a new dining room layout, no large groups and reduced tourism, plus either less service or higher menu prices. The rest will go back to business fully expecting to ring an average of 50% less revenue over the first 12-18 months than when the virus forced them to suddenly close.”

Please consider supporting this cause by purchasing a custom face mask. CLICK HERE

Profits of EVERY SALE goes to https://www.jamesbeard.org/openforgood Open For Good, campaign to support the recovery and rebuilding of the independent restaurant industry.

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Felicia Perretti is a commercial food and beverage photographer and director based in New York City. She works nationally with food and beverage clients in advertising, packaging, editorial, and video. She has worked with food and drink in all shapes and knows how to craft the right team to get the job done! Her passion for food and beverage shine through on set as well as outside of work in her everyday life. Whether it’s trying new restaurants, traveling, or cooking with her husband Joe. Send her an email or give a call to discuss your next project, she would be more than happy to chat!

Melbourne's Yarra Valley

I haven’t had much time to share on here my photos from our trip to Australia. As you saw in my last blog post we came home and immediately had to self quarantine, then the country went into shut down mode. Nothing we could do! I did have time to work on my scrap book album with trip highlights but I want to share some of my favorite moments abroad.

As you know Joe and I are big fans of traveling to wineries and tasting locally made wine. Australia of course is home to one of the world’s most beautiful wine regions; Yarra Valley, about an hour outside of Melbourne. It DID NOT disappoint. We mapped out a few days to stay in the Yarra Valley going to various vineyards (14 total?) and see some of the most spectacular views.

If I had to pick our top three wineries we drank/ate/toured at it would be 1. Oakridge Wines 2. Tarrawarra Estate 3. Yering Station

Good resource here for the wineries: https://visityarravalley.com.au/

OAKRIDGE: The views were unmatched. The design of their winery was able to transport you into the vineyard as if you were walking through it. The large windows surrounding everything made that possible. We stayed for their pre-fix lunch and I had the best EMU. Business casual, but not stuffy at all, which I love about modern dining.

TARRAWARRA ESTATE: I don’t know if I really want to call them second, they were equally as good as Oakridge. The views were beautiful. Again the architecture (award winning!) was amazing to witness. The cellar door was really really cool! We also stayed for their lunch, I had the kangeroo, it was prepared like a sausage, really good.

YERING STATION: Entering their cellar door was breathtaking. They had up a sculpture art exhibit that made it feel like a museum walking through. Beside the overcast skies that day it was very cozy inside. Their wine selection was so good and you could tell they had a passion for their wines. This is a must stop!

A Few Others Highly Recommend:

-Coombe

-De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate

-Domaine Chandon

-Punt Road

-Yarra Yering

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Felicia Perretti is a commercial food and beverage photographer and director based in New York City. She works nationally with food and beverage clients in advertising, packaging, editorial, and video. She has worked with food and drink in all shapes and knows how to craft the right team to get the job done! Her passion for food and beverage shine through on set as well as outside of work in her everyday life. Whether it’s trying new restaurants, traveling, or cooking with her husband Joe. Send her an email or give a call to discuss your next project, she would be more than happy to chat!

Working Remotely

How are you doing?

Looking back at my February email to this months, wow, what a stark difference. End of February my husband and I left for a much needed vacation to the beautiful country of Australia. The brushfires were clearing up and the trip as a whole was fantastic. The food, views, and people were great; really a trip of a lifetime!

In those short 3 weeks away, we were leaving Australia on one of the last normally scheduled flights by Quantas to America. We landed in San Francisco to see the news coverage of the travel ban to Europe. The immediate following days everyone’s world turned upside down. Business came to a halt and an illness was creeping among us.

As I write this we are starting to adjust to the new normal. We are creating a virtual routine with friends, family, and co-workers. The same goes for me while running my business. I’ve reached out to several of my clients to see how they are doing and what I can do to help. When the time is right to get to the new normal of working I’m there for support. Like others adjusting and working from home, I have a home photo studio setup and working well. In addition to email, text, and phone, I have ZOOM the virtual platform where you can share screens live and I can mirror my tethered screen so you can see the images come through. If you have food or product that needs to be captured please know I’am here for you. COVID-19 might of removed me from my normal studio, but it certainly didn’t take my creativity.

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Felicia Perretti is a commercial food and beverage photographer and director based in New York City. She works nationally with food and beverage clients in advertising, packaging, editorial, and video. She has worked with food and drink in all shapes and knows how to craft the right team to get the job done! Her passion for food and beverage shine through on set as well as outside of work in her everyday life. Whether it’s trying new restaurants, traveling, or cooking with her husband Joe. Send her an email or give a call to discuss your next project, she would be more than happy to chat!

B.T.S. Honey Nut Cheerios Shoot

I recently got to work with CANTEEN on a Honey Nut Cheerios campaign, Director Etienne Proulx on the video side and myself on still photography worked to capture beautiful shots of the products. I was able to shoot beauty shots of their Honey Nut Cheerios in a branded environment. We had a hand model for the 2 days, who allowed for more dynamic shot options. In addition to shooting stills, we came up with really creative stop motion concepts, being playful with the cereal. This was a great job to be apart of, can’t wait to see this out!

Client: Honey Nut Cheerios

Studio: Be Electric http://www.beelectric.tv/

Agency: 72andSunny

Set Build: Swell - Makoto Aoki http://swellnewyork.com/

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Felicia Perretti is a commercial food and beverage photographer and director based in New York City. She works nationally with food and beverage clients in advertising, packaging, editorial, and video. She has worked with food and drink in all shapes and knows how to craft the right team to get the job done! Her passion for food and beverage shine through on set as well as outside of work in her everyday life. Whether it’s trying new restaurants, traveling, or cooking with her husband Joe. Send her an email or give a call to discuss your next project, she would be more than happy to chat!

In Motion: Creating a Storyboard

Putting a video together isn’t simply picking up a video camera and shooting. Just like in still photography you sketch out the idea and start to visualize what you want. With a storyboard you sketch out how each scene will develop. Even if it’s 2-3 second clip, what is going into that visual? Also like shooting any production what’s most important is the planning and communicating it to the team. The more organized and planned you are for the day of the shoot everything will go smoother and no time or money is wasted!

Making a storyboard can be sketched out anyway, but usually it’s a number of rectangles(where you draw your vision) followed by lines or an area to write your specific notes on the action, if there’s script, lighting, and camera angle. You can sketch literally by hand or composite stock photos together or magazine clippings. Get creative! The rectangles ideally would fit the 16:9 ratio as video. I usually use the program Keynote, it’s a simple software that you can change and edit with by using text and images.

Latest Personal Conceptual Series: "Condiments"

Conceptual projects for me come together through daily experiences and things I see that inspire. I really want to develop some unique “mini” series of conceptual shoots that show another side of my capabilities to clients and potential clients. My latest series Condiments really came together nicely. My vision and what I wanted to accomplish with colors, lighting, and camera angle happened exactly the way I envisioned. Constantly practicing the craft can really pay off.

The list of condiments was an ongoing discussion of just using the weirdest condiments in the world, to unique condiments, then to iconic condiments. I have others on the list and if you see any I should photograph I would love to hear your thoughts!

For this particular series I really want to put together a special promotional piece at the end of the year showcasing these images and include a little leave behind that represents the idea.

Photo Shoot New Jersey Monthly: Cave A Paleo Eatery

Just wanted to share a quick recap from a recent shoot for New Jersey Monthly! They asked me to shoot this charming restaurant near Asbury Park, New Jersey called Cave, A Paleo Eatery. I’m always interested in different diet plans people choose to live by and Paleo is certainly one many people know! It was great chatting with Chef Doug Stehle; chef and owner of the restaurant who eats a Paleo diet and runs his restaurant as one. The staff was super friendly and excited to see me there taking photos. The restaurant itself used to be owned by a antique dealer and when it was sold to Doug the previous owner still had some items there for sale. It gave the restaurant a unique feel. Also Doug is a surfer and being near the ocean there was appropriately placed surf boards he owned decorating the restaurant! All the items on his menu were dairy and gluten free. I tasted a couple things from the menu and I have to say their desserts were nothing like I had before. Their brownie was so rich and packed with chocolate it was the best thing I’ve ever had. There was also bacon on top! It probably took me 2 or 3 sittings to actually finish it. Also the chocolate chip cookies were stuffed with chocolate chips and the cookie itself was soft just like a homemade cookie. If you make a trip this way I would certainly stop in for lunch or dinner.

Personal Project: The Orchard

Personal projects are always something I enjoy working on. It requires a vision and time! Some photographers have personal projects that span a year, while others maybe over the course of a week. I can’t say there’s a right or wrong answer here. It has to be what your feeling and how satisfied you are with the images. When I go into personal projects they may last 3-6 months depending on how many final shots I’m looking to create, the time it takes to make them, and the budget I have allotted for travel, food, props, etc.

My last project I worked on was cartoon food which I really had a great time shooting. Some of my other past personal projects and my professional work have left me in the studio. I was looking for another challenge, and all I could think of was doing something outside in the elements. Working on location is something I haven’t done in a very long time; probably since college. I found this really great orchard right outside the city that seems to have a lot of potential for photos. I’ve only been there once and I had this rush of excitement being there shooting something new and different for myself! I’m excited to see where this takes me. Here’s just a couple shots from that day.

Getting Ready For Fall Seasonal Foods!

Summer and Fall are probably my two favorite times of the year. I really enjoy the summer for the weather and the beach! Fall because the leaves change beautiful colors, there’s pumpkin carving, and I think one of my top seasons for fruits and vegetables! Things I look out for in the Fall are apples, brussels sprouts, and figs! These are so versatile and beautiful I love experimenting with them. This year I plan on doing more savory dishes with apples and figs such as incorporating some cheese. For brussels sprouts I always bake them with cubed slab bacon which is great! However I want to change things up and try some slaw or cold salads with maybe a vinaigrette. Another reason I love this time of year is making soup. It’s cold enough where I can get away with eating soup all day.

Here are some links to get your season started:

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/recipe-finder/brussels-sprouts-recipes

http://www.marthastewart.com/275229/fig-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide

http://www.southernliving.com/food/holidays-occasions/apple-recipes

National Beer Day

Today is the greatest Un-Birthday/Holidays you could experience. We can thank our former president Franklin Roosevelt for this. Today is National Beer Day! 82 years ago Roosevelt declared it legal to sell, and brew beer ending prohibition.

Time has 8 reasons to love beer on beer day: http://time.com/money/3773998/national-beer-day-why-we-love-beer/

Photo Shoot: Patron Tequila 7anos Limited Edition

This past year I had an awesome opportunity photographing a "top secret" Patron tequila never released before. Cramer-Krasselt the advertising firm in Chicago/New York reached out to me for their client Patron to photograph the unique tequila and specialty bottle along with some other Patron products to be released this year.

Finally the day has come where it's now available along with the photographs I've taken for the brand. The iconic Patron images are something I always loved and to photograph them myself was something I could not ask for more. The creatives were amazing to work with and created the amazing shots. You can read more about it online and see it at Patron's website. I'll be posting some of my favorite final shots to my site soon!

http://www.lamag.com/liquidlablog/patron-scratches-seven-year-itch-oldest-tequila-ever-made/

http://www.patrontequila.com/7anos

Personal Project: Margins

I recently entered the ASMP LA photo contest that had the theme "Margins" interpret it anyway you want. Whenever I have the opportunity to push the boundaries with subjects (and involve food) I like to jump at the idea. For this series of images I interpreted the word margins as the mouth. We use it everyday and really it has its own boundaries or "margins."

I thought it would be interesting to play with the edges of the mouth while someone was eating. I would photograph their movements of chewing and carefully selecting food that could create a mess or fall outside the edge of the mouth. There are a couple from the series on my conceptual portfolio and more at my APA gallery.