Lifestyle
I love food! It is my entire life’s passion. My college degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, my internships, my corporate career, and over 20 years of freelance work - all food!
Being a freelancer allows me to develop recipes and style food photos for companies big and small, farmers, commodity boards, branded food products, food service companies, and everything in between. I’ve had the opportunity to tour farms, factories, wineries, and artisan cheese dairies. My favorite vacations are to far away destinations and are centered around – what else – food!
Food Editor
In 2005 I took on the role of Food Editor for a major Northern California-based supermarket chain that had been purchasing an outsourced publication.
Working with an Art Director, I proposed bringing the magazine in-house. Originally it was published quarterly but along the way, special issues were added and it often published from six to eight issues per year.
The magazine, Something Extra, evolved into something special for consumers and I subsequently created a sizable catalog of recipes and styled photos for the company. During that time I interacted with many food vendors, brokers, dieticians, and agribusiness representatives which further deepened my product and culinary knowledge.
In 2009 I styled a food shot that was featured on an outdoor billboard that won a Northern California “Addie” award for advertising excellence.
Versatility
I’ll admit to a bias toward healthy, easy-to-prepare recipes, but my assignments have me handling all kinds of foods from coast to coast. I can also provide nutritional analysis of recipes.
In my food styling, I try to combine my visual skills with creating a sense of appetite. For me, food is art, taste, and celebration.
I’d like to think that in much of my styling work, even the fussiest eaters have been deliciously encouraged to enjoy food. In fact, I know at least one art director that was so taken by some finger sandwiches that I’d prepped for a TV special effect, (they were especially glued to that they could fly through the air), he picked one up to take a bite! No harm done and I was complimented by how compelled he was to eat what I had prepared.
Indeed, I’ve had an array of assignments to fry chicken for Florence Henderson, pop popcorn for Orville Redenbacher, grill pork for Guy Fieri, smash avocadoes for an NFL quarterback, style food and wine for golfer Greg Norman, and style ice cream for funnyman Jack Gallagher in 100 degree plus temperatures!