Work for Booking.com

In the whirlwind of the summer, I did a big job for Booking.com. If you book a stay in Seattle on their website they'll send you a Seattle Travel guide comprised of all of my images. I spent 6 days crossing my favorite city, capturing all the different neighborhoods and attractions. It was exhausting, but super fun and it helped that I know this city so well.

This Week's Food Shot

This week I wanted to shoot a plated dish using contrasty lighting and props to create a very rich image. Jean-Pierre Chery created and styled this delicious dish of herbed pork ribs with red chard and rustic mashed potatoes. I love the specular highlights on the meat and the bright rich colors.

www.tegrastonenuess.com

Food Shot: The Walrus & The Carpenter

This week I went to The Walrus & The Carpenter, one of Seattle's long standing best restaurants. I popped in for happy hour, taking advantage of the half off oysters. Beautiful, fresh and all from Washington and BC, the oysters were piled high in wire baskets covered in ice. The clean marble table and beautiful afternoon light made it an easy shoot. I ordered a 1/2 dozen oysters, the 'one night in salem' cocktail and the citrus salad. The herbaceous and sweet flavor of the cocktail went really well with the oysters and the grapefruit and fennel in the salad complemented each other perfectly. If only I could have tried everything on the menu... 

'I travel for...' Project Week 10: The Return Home

Rounding out my series 'I travel for...' is appropriately 'The Return Home' with Nora Venne. Although Nora loves to explore new places and learn about foreign lands, her favorite part of traveling is coming home to her own bed and her loved ones (especially her dog Tonka). 

That's it for the series for now, but I plan on continuing to ask people why they travel, so let me know what you travel for and if you want me to take your portrait! 

'I travel for...' Project Week 9: The Open Road

The 9th portrait in my series 'I travel for...' is Tyler Lucas and his love of traveling in his VW Vanagon on the open road. He loves hoping in the van on the spur of the moment with his dog Babe and traveling in comfort. With the freedom of the open road, pulling over when he's tired or in a beautiful spot, Tyler discovers places he wouldn't normally without the van.

So why do you travel?

Day trip to Beacon, NY

Last week I wanted to get out of the city and explore a little. So I headed north on the train to Beacon, NY. Beacon is a small town about 60 miles up the Hudson River and is known for it's art scene. It's home to Dia Beacon, a monstrous and beautiful modern art museum that used to be a Nabisco box printing factory. So I rented a Canon 16-35mm lens to check out and caught the Metro North train from Grand Central. 

My favorite: a Richard Serra

After the museum I wondered the town. People were friendly and although it was chilly, it was nice and sunny out. Cute cafés, vintage clothing shops and funky art galleries line Main street. 

As the sun lowered in the sky I caught the train back to the city. I didn't quite get my fill of nature and fresh air, but Beacon did quench the thirst for art and exploration.

This is my favorite shot from the day. Oh and the 16-35mm is a great lens, but since I mostly shot at 24 I think it's too wide for me.

'I travel for...' Project Week 5: The Surf

I started noticing that every time Matt Reistetter went on a trip he was going surfing. I asked him and he said it is the discovering of new breaks around the world that he loves about traveling. Surfing has taken him to places like Fiji and Baja, not terrible spots to explore. Stay tuned for next week's portrait!

So why do you travel?

'I travel for...' Project Week 3: Le Quotidien

The third portrait in my travel series is the lovely Caitlin Kelley, taken in her home in Tanzania. When we talked about what most appealed to her about travel, Caitlin said, 'It's more than daily life, it's living in a place, rooting, inhabiting, creating a home, living a little portion of my life there". The French of course have a word that encompasses all of this: le quotidien. So I photographed her in her doorway and paired it with her laundry drying in the sun, hopefully capturing a little portion of her life.

So why do you travel?

'I travel for...' Project Week 2: The Architecture

2 of 10 in my series 'I travel for...'. When I asked Kevin O'leary what draws him to travel the globe, he told me it's definitely the architecture. Seeing historic, groundbreaking and beautiful architecture pulls him to the different corners of our planet. 

So why do you travel?

New Personal Project: I travel for...

Why do I love to travel? It's when I feel most alive, most in my element. It's the adventure of navigating my way that I love the most. I think that's because I get to test my abilities and challenge myself, whether it's actually navigation, or communicating in a language I don't speak. I also love exploring and discovering something new to me. It's always the unexpected that thrills me the most. The other wonderful part about traveling is connecting with people on a basic human level. Through a wink or a smile, a hand motion or a helping help, there's a connection that doesn't need language, culture or circumstance.

So why take a camera with me? Why combine photography and travel? For me they've always been fused together. The camera is a means to travel or reason to go. But I also take photographs to try to capture a special moment. I do this for myself, but also for the feeling I get when other people appreciate it. Like when a chef sees someone eat their meal with joy. Or maybe I just want to instill the desire to travel in others. :)

As I thought about all of this I wondered why others travel. What is their favorite part or their reason for going? I've since made ten portraits with their answers in a project I call "I travel for...". Here's the first one:

Sahar travels for savoring the food around the world. 

I'll be sharing one portrait each week so stay tuned to see the rest...    

So why do you travel?

New Project : "Analog 128, The handcrafting of a violin"

I'm very excited to share a new personal project! A few months ago Ed Sozinho and I decided to create a film piece about the making of a violin. In this highly digitized world, we were intrigued by the age old craftsmanship, the process and the art of creating an instrument by hand. We decided to document the highly talented Seattle violin maker David Van Zandt from start to finish on his 128th custom violin. 

It was amazing to see the raw wood in the beginning and how precisely he formed it into an instrument. He says that violin makers have the ability to work within 1/10 of an inch. How rare is that these days! My favorite part is when he takes huge gauges out, risking taking too much. 

I hope you enjoy our film "Analog 128, The handcrafting of a violin". Please feel free to share it with your friends and send me your feedback! 

http://www.vanzandtviolins.com

Fun with Aerials

Last week a client sent me up in a helicopter to get some aerials of their project. After getting over my initial shock that this tiny toy of a helicopter was for humans and not run by a remote control, I had a blast shooting out of the open door. We took off from Boeing field and headed to Issaquah following I-90. It was a bit foggy, but the fall colors were spectacular from the air. While we hovered between 500 and 2000 feet, my numb fingers shot continuously. I could do this every day!

Seattle in the fog

I-90

Mercer Island

Suburbia 

Love the fall leaves

Hanging out the door

Shout out to Helicopters Northwest for taking me up! http://www.helicoptersnw.com 

Magazines for Sale

Tanzania

A collection of images from Tanzania by photographer Tegra Stone Nuess

Thailand

Collection of images from Thailand and Laos by photographer Tegra Stone Nuess.

Fashion Test

A week ago Sheehan Osborn and I collaborated on a fashion test shoot. We crammed into my little studio in Pioneer Square and had a lot of fun styling and shooting. Thanks to Alicia Boyd for the beautiful hair and makeup!

Tanzania Magazine Promo

Just thought I'd share my latest printed promo. It's a simple magazine format with 20 images from my adventure in Tanzania. Each image is also accompanied by a quote from my blog to add a little bit of my personal experience. I used Magcloud.com for the printing and am very happy with the quality. Thanks to Joe Smith (http://lookatjoe.com) for the cover design work!