on shooting for a magazine.

One of the nicest surprises I've had as a photographer was an email from the art director of Madison Magazine, asking if I'd be interested in shooting for his magazine. I thought at first he might have the wrong person -- I mean, I have always thought Madison Magazine was amazing and I especially loved all the photography. I actually knew all the food photographers' names by heart. I still have no idea how he found my work.

Of course, I agreed -- and the current issue features my work for the second time. I first saw the issue at a bookstore, and then I smiled embarrassingly wide upon noticing that I scored a spot on the Table of Contents page (What? -- that's exciting! You, as photographer, have no idea who will get that spot until it's published :)).

Shooting for a magazine is completely different than shooting a wedding -- and really challenging too (but I love a challenge!). You get to coordinate the shoot with venue owners, chefs, servers, models, the art director etc. Whether it will be a horizontal or a vertical photo is already decided for you, many times. I have learned a lot about lighting, that's for sure! I love natural light in most cases, but when you are extra-concerned about a photo's crispness (things look differently when printed in a magazine!), you are in a dungeon-lit lounge, you don't want to disturb the diners, and you hate using a tripod -- you have to get creative sometimes. All-in-all, I LOVE it, and I can't wait for more opportunities to shoot for this awesome magazine.

In other news, Troy and I are trying to buy a house and sell our condo. It's been exciting and already-frustrating. But I can't wait to have a garden and a huge front porch. We went to IKEA for the first time yesterday and we can't wait to return! Troy and I agreed that it's pretty overwhelming ... being surrounded by massive amounts of furniture that actually looks awesome!