Covering the Oakland Food Scene

I was recently given several assignments to cover the Oakland food scene. If you don't live in the Bay Area then you may not know that Oakland has recently taken some of the spot light off of San Francisco as being the place to dine in the Bay Area. Many East Bay and San Francisco chefs looking for cheaper rents have opened restaurants in Oakland over the past few years, with many others in the works. Having lived in Oakland on and off now for over ten years, it is exciting to see what's going on here. Having grown up in a community that grew its own food, had its own bakery, and even made its own tofu and soy milk, seeing restaurants like Ramen, where they make all their own broth and noodles, thrive, is just great. I love what's going on here and getting paid to photograph it brings it all full circle for me.

My Work

Food Photography!!

I've been very busy producing a new food portfolio. It's been exhilarating, exhausting, messy, and fun. Back when I was an assistant in San Francisco in the 90's I used to help my friend Steve Underwood all the time on big food shoots. He does a lot of packaging photography-like the photo you might see on a cereal box or a Nature Burger box. He is the photographer, but people in the industry know that a food stylist works on that type of shoot and the stylist has an assistant as well. I would help Steve and we usually had a second photo assistant too. That's five people working on a single shot.

Well, we are living in a new era. It's the age of the do it yourself-pairing down-going lean business model. The do more than one job at once era, is more like it. (I was recently photographing a news caster and she told me how she no longer has a camera person, she carries and sets up all the equipment herself.) I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. In this spirit, I decided to go it alone and do the styling and photography for this new portfolio all myself. It's kind of tricky, and hard at times to not get food on the camera. Sometimes I put tape over the shutter button so I won't get flour stuck in the crevices of my digital SLR. I don't plan on doing this for clients, but it's exhilarating to create these photos with out depending on anyone else. For more go to http://www.smcintyre.com/

Hill Country Getaway!

I finally got out of Austin! A nice little jaunt to the country side. My friends arranged a girls trip to the Hill Country over Mother's Day weekend. We stayed at a house in Center Point, a small town on the Guadalupe River.

The weekend was all about relaxation, laughing, and also FOOD. Mary Louise Butters (of Butters Brownies) was along with us for the weekend and her family has a ranch nearby. We were invited to the Ranch for dinner, and what a treat! This family loves it's food-smoked a pig for the occasion! We also had skillet cornbread, roasted turkey, two kinds of cole slaw, rosemary roasted potatoes, pound cake with berries and cream for dessert. We ate out on their patio which has amazing views, overlooking the valley.

The next day I meandered home, stopping here and there to take photos. I've always wanted to stop and photograph those hay bales! It was Mothers Day, and a perfect way to spend it was wandering around in a field in the middle of the country. Why don't I do this more?

See more photos at http://www.smcintyre.com/

Food for Tribeza

I love food. Let me clarify; I love whole foods, and not like the company, but food that isn't processed. Food that is as close to how nature made it is the best, nutritionally, and also aesthetically (for me anyway). Vegetables and fruits that have flaws, eggs that are brown or green, bread that looks hearty and home made. These are the things that inspire me, visually and otherwise. They make me hungry and then, I also want to take a picture of them. So when Tribeza asked me recently to photograph some breakfast food for the July issue, I was happy to see the cinnamon rolls from Upper Crust Bakery were on the list, because, these beauties are as rustic as they come. Big and crusty and covered in sugar and cinnamon, they make you want to curl up on a Sunday morning and do a crossword puzzle (or eat one and fall back asleep). 

See more work: http://www.smcintyre.com/