life with the lights.

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It's been a long long time since I've posted anything on here. I've been far too busy with my side projects (Campbulance and now unfolding, Traveling Tuttles!)

However, with a little scheduling finesse and good timing on both our parts, myself and old college-buddy-turned-illustrator Austin Light, managed to put into motion a plan for a very special family photo shoot.

I'm not much for traditional portraits of any type (family, engagement, senior, etc), so when Austin and I came up with this idea years ago, it was with the understanding that there'd be no posing, no fancy skin-smoothing filters and no photoshopping of scratches, snot bubbles or the like. A pure photojournalistic approach was my aim, so when he flew me out to Charlotte to stay with his family, I became a sort of massive unapologetic fly on the wall with a camera at the ready to capture every moment, good and bad.

What resulted was by far some of the most authentic series of family photos I've ever shot. (The documentation of my sister's brain surgery and recovery will always take the cake in that arena.)

Below is a sampling (that has taken me weeks to pair down to) of photos from that weekend. (All in all, I ended up with a total of 625 edited photos from the original 2347 taken.)


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Chelsea Tuttle

swoon.

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I can't say enough good things about Swoon, a dessert bar that recently opened here in San Diego. Literally a bar…you sit only a few feet away from the chef and sous chef working their magic to create some of the most incredible food I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying. I've been really making an effort to kick my butt into gear to get back into the photography game lately, and one of the biggest hangups I've had to overcome is just plain laziness about seeking out opportunities. Seeing as waiting around lazily for them to come to me hasn't worked that well (or at all for that matter), I've been brainstorming ideas to pursue. Doing photo "stories" of people and their craft is one of them.

After my first visit to Swoon, I decided to grow a pair and ask if I could do a photo story on the dessert bar. Lucky me…Ian said yes!

They serve a variety of tea, coffee and espresso drinks to enjoy throughout the day and then begin their dessert service at 6pm. Each dessert is meticulously assembled to order by one of the two awesome gents working behind the bar. Ian, the Chef and creator of Swoon is pictured first, and Evan, the sous chef, second. Along with about five or six desserts that Ian seems to be constantly tweaking and perfecting, they also make a couple of savory options. Both of them are pictured below, but the real star of my visits (between both the sweet and the savory) has been the Smoked Salmon Eclair. If I were to choose a food to be romantically involved with…it would be this. Seriously. This is the stuff my inner fat kid's dreams are made of.

Pictured below are photos of Ian and Evan prepping and plating the food with the utmost care and attention to detail. I had a blast hanging out with and getting to know them while spoiling my taste buds and I couldn't be happier with how the photos turned out. I'm already looking forward to going back.

1Coffee

2Ian

3Details

4Evan

4Sorbets

5BoysPreppin

6Herbs&CarrotCake

7Pastrami

8SalmonEclair

9StrawberryThyme

don't go chasing waterfalls.

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I know that this is completely unprecedented for me, but I decided to post another one of my "assisted self portraits" from my trip to Canada last year. Using the same technique as my previously posted photo…I got all my settings and framing worked out and then stuck my camera in the hands of my buddy Jeff, who had hiked up to the waterfalls with me. As you can see from the photo, I was ill-prepared wardrobe-wise for hiking. This year, I plan to be better equipped. At least I was fashionable, which makes for all-around better artsy self-portraits like this. IMG_0192