The classic “Flying Hamburger”… 
 I’ve been wanting to prefect this technique for quite some time and finally got it done. Not too bad for a first attempt.
Special thanks to Executive Chef Bruce Tisler for preparing & styling this Gourmet Hamburger right here in the studio at ArtofEricJames.com Photography & Video Productions with minimal kitchen facilities.
Nikon D800 camera through Nikkor 200mm macro F/4 Manual focus lens and custom built LED studio lighting. Post production compositing with Adobe Photoshop CC

Production Notes:

Two suspension methods were used, Glass & Wire rigs both had advantages and draw-backs.

Obviously liquid elements, like sauces can not be hung from wires. The glass seamed to be the best solution for this issue and required some extra work in post to remove reflections of each item staged this way. Perhaps by using polarization this could be minimized in future shoots. However, I did not wish to re-adjust my exposure to compensate for the light loss of using filtration during this test shoot.

I felt the wire rig needed to be able to articulate to chive as many different angles as possible during the shoot with minimal strike and reset time. The clamp solution configured at a 90º angle provided full rotation and tension control in the stage area. 

By bracing of the two C-stands at the top with a cross bar, it prevented the stands from changing their relative distance from each other during the shoot. This insured the wire staging area was more stable and maintained consistent tension. There was still significate bouncing of some items placed on the stage that took just a little time to dampen out and become still enough to shoot at longer shutter speeds. The system worked quite well and will be developed to include multiple layers in future shoots. 

 

Changing out the wire for glass was easily done by extending the clamps out from the C-Stands on each side with rigging hardware to accommodate the smaller size of the the Glass.    

All-in-all it went as good as could be expected and I believe this shoot was a great proof of concept test that will lead to using this technique in a verity of ways with numerous possibilities to add a fun illustrative quality to whatever the client may request. Again many thanks to Executive Chef Bruce Tisler for all the help and culinary advise.

©2021 Eric James Swearingen

Normally I use Studio strobes when producing the majority of my food photography. However when a client needs Video the modeling lamps in my strobe lights are not quite bright enough to get the best results.

So all the light modifiers I would normally use to control those lights are unusable as well, making it quite a challenge to adapt the techniques to the LED system I am currently developing for video use.

Colour balance is critical to food imaging in order to accurately depict the items. I have selected 5000º Kelvin LED lights as the most practical base colour temperature calibration and this seems to work in most all locations, provided that there is not an over abundance of ambient light and matches the colour of sun light making it blend better when there are windows nearby to the shooting set up. Also this reduces production costs in that expensive specialized Bi-colour LED panels are not required. Standard off the shelf LED are far easier to acquire and modify plus a verity of beam widths are available making for even more light focus control.      

More experiments in lighting to come.

©2021 Eric James Swearingen

Get your popcorn ready…
The long awaited premiere of the Pineapple Project is finally here!
Over two months of continuous Time-Lapse Digital Cinema Filming went in to this 4K edit. All timelapse image acquisition was done using a GoPro Hero 4 Camera with Vivitar close-up filters. Lighting was achieved using off the shelf 5000º and color (Green & Blue) LED lamps. 
GoPro cameras will not focus on close objects under 24″ or so, but by using the Vivitar close-up filters, I was able to get in tight on the subject. 
The editing was done on my newly built  supercomputer in 4K resolution using Adobe Premiere Pro CC.   

 ENJOY.

The project was shot in the greenhouse right behind my studio. Filming began on August 15th 2020 when I first noticed that the pineapple was producing a flower. I had recently been experimenting with a Hydroponic system and used the General Hydroponics® nutrients to help all my other plants and the pineapple to grow. 

 The Pineapple plant had been growing for many years and was originally started by cutting the top off of a store bought pineapple and water rooting it until it got established enough to plant into a 5 gallon container with good draining mulch & soil. 

The GoPro Hero 4 with C200 Aluminium case has a 37mm thread fitting over the lens and with a 37-58mm adapter, I was able to place the Vivitar 58mm Close-Up Filters on the camera to get the focus inside of the normal 24 inch range limitation. When stacking multiple filters, some vignetting occurred because of the super wide angle lens that is stock on the GoPro cameras. I was able to reduce this effect by resizing the raster in post production and zooming in just a bit with little degradation to image quality.

When I first began shooting, I realized that I would need lighting during the night to be able to maintain shooting 24 hour a day and keep a contiguous image stream for the edit. I quickly set up an LED light with a 5000º K color temperature to match my daylight exposures. Then to spice things up just a bit more, I introduced some color to the background by using two 15 Watt PAR38 LEDs of Blue & Green. This made the night portion of the shooting more visually interesting.  

After the first week of filming while checking my dailies, I notice that I had a real insect issue going on in the greenhouse during the night scenes. At first I was very annoyed. I wanted to keep things organic in there and not use pesticides, so I just went with it. The bugs began to add an element to the edit as things progressed they became supporting characters in the production.

It was amazing to see what new critters would show up each night of filming and then figure out how to best use them in the edit.

The project began to take shape after the first month of filming. I had chosen the music by Stingray called “The Nude Party” because I thought it had a really good surfer vibe and would be fun to edit to the beat, with  plenty of nice breaks for scene changes. 

Also, in my mind surfing and pineapple somehow go together.
As the project progressed,  I was able to plan out my next scene with the right cinematic dynamics trying desperately not to duplicate previous shots. Turns out there are only so many ways to shoot a pineapple. Plus I was limited to only the one camera for each sequence and only one focal length. I decided that in order to break out of that restriction, I’d have to sacrifice some resolution and crop into the image area to provided some variety in the edit. By enhancing the sharpness in these cropped images I think turned out pretty okay. Once I had broken free of maintaining full resolution, adding tracking, panning & zoom into most scenes gave it more motion along with the illusion of the pineapple growing larger by zooming in slightly on each shot.  

So the only thing left was an ending. Not wanting to wait another two months for Pauline Pineapple to reach full maturity, I decided to finish up the project with a stunt double and purchased Paul Pineapple at the local Smart & Final.

Besides, if I screwed up the cut I could just get another one and try again. Honestly, I was tired of filming and needed my camera for other projects. 

This whole thing started as a “Let’s see what happens” test of long duration time-lapse capabilities and something to do during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. 

So, that’s about it. Hope everyone enjoys this little flick. I had some fun and learned a thing or two on the journey. 

©2020 Eric James Swearingen

Since it’s launching in 2014, PeerSpace.com has seen over 3 million people attend a gathering in there locations. PeerSpace is a network and online directory of rental venues providing short term work places, meeting offices & production studios in numerous locations around the world. Think of it as the “Airbnb” of studio rentals locations.

PeerSpace.com has a massive following throughout the industry and a ubiquitous presence on social media.  I am so very pleased to have been featured in their editorial “The 5 Best Bakersfield Food Photographers” . This is a tremendous honor and I look forward to the new business opportunities that will arise from this exposure. 

 I use the PeerSpace service when I require a studio space while away from my primary studio here in Bakersfield. It’s so very simple to find a facility that meets my needs and then to book that venue for my sessions. It can even be done from an iphone or ipad using their app (available for download at: The App Store). 

Thank you Liz Owen of PeerSpace for the nice email letting me know of this article. I look forward to my next out of town adventure where I’ll be needing a creative space. 

…

Laumiere Gourmet Fruits is a food product and service company located in Bakersfield, CA., offering premium gourmet assortments.  Wholly committing to the provision of innovative upscale gift products that meet or exceed all customer requirements and well on their way to become a recognized global brand.

Laumiere Gourmet Fruits goal is always be to creative with products to reflect gift-givers choice across the world and translate them to high end offerings.

At the heart of Laumiere, is attention to quality, health, and wellbeing, and this resonates through everything they do. Laumiere Gourmet Fruits always thinks of the customer, imagined in the act of indulging in generous gift giving.

 Laumiere’s luxury boxes are perfect for use on all occasions; whether to celebrate engagements, weddings, graduations, or to say ‘thank you’ to a loved one. Choose from our luxurious corporate assortment of business gift boxes. With each pack full of nutritious, mouth-watering gourmet dried fruits and nuts.

Laumiere’s current product line consists of the following items, but changes with the seasons as the harvest yields new delectable choices.  

Marrons Glaces

Dates with Oranges

Apricots with Roasted Almonds

Figs with Caramelized Pecans

Laumiere is committed to providing products and services that exceed all customer requirements, as well as applicable standards and specifications. Laumiere will ensure a high level of customer satisfaction in a bid to foster long term commitments and productive customer relationships. 

For more information on Laumiere products, visit their website at https://laumiere.online/

Laumiere Gourmet Fruits

3331 Pegasus Dr Ste 101, Bakersfield, CA 93308

(661) 218-9768

Photography Notes: This session was shot on in the studio using Paul C. Buff lights on a backlit product table. The camera was my trusty Nikon D800 using a Nikkor 200mm macro manual focus prime lens.

©2019 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

In 2014 K.C. Steakhouse celebrated its 75th anniversary
of serving their fine dinning experience.
Located at 2515 “F” Street in Bakersfield, CA
Phone: (661) 322-9910

The interior decor is kind of Mid-Century Modern meets the old West, with a free-form dropped ceiling lit in a Vegas night club vibe from the 1950’s. A giant copper fireplace at one end of the venue dominates the room and patrons clamor to be seated next to it.  There are a few red leatherette booths that you would almost swear you saw Frank Sinatra & the boys seated having dinner with a few martinis.   And on the ceiling above to top it off, a few wagon-wheel chandeliers finishes this eclectic dinning decor.

The bar adjacent to the dinning area continues the free-form curve and the Wild West Mid Century Vegas theme where some of the best “wickedly strong” libations are served by the frequently uniformed bar tender and waitresses staff. Behind this bar and tucked into the corner is a tiny stage that host live performances most every evening from 6:00 pm to 11:30 pm.

The Stuffed Pork Chop

A premium hand cut, bone in loin chop stuffed with apple and bread crumbs, topped with cranberry relish served with seasonal vegetable sides and “cowboy” potatoes.

NOTE: The image above won Foodelia Collection 26 International Food Photography competition in 2017

New York Strip Steak

All dinners include choice of soup or green salad, beans, salsa, choice of baked potato, garlic mashed potatoes,
rice pilaf or cowboy potatoes, fresh sourdough bread and butter.
Add Peppercorn Sauce, Sauteed Mushrooms or a Caesar Salad for a few bucks more…

Classic Desserts

Here we have the basic yet delectable Peach Cobbler Ala Mode with French Vanilla Ice cream.

History

On October 13, 1939,  “Doc” Kennedy (a retired pharmacist) opened the K.C. Steakhouse at 630 Union Avenue across the street from the world famous “Bakersfield Inn”.  During the early days, the K.C. Steakhouse did not serve liquor, but just across the street was a bar owned by Martin Jaussaud and Clyde Barbeau, called the “Bomb Shelter”.  Both of these establishments became a quite popular with the cadet airmen training at Minter Field in Shafter, California during World War II.

After the war, the K.C. Steakhouse became a favorite dining spot for local residents and tourists alike.  It has always been a gathering spot for city, county and government officials and heads of departments.

The K.C. Steakhouse remained the same until 1967 when it was moved to its present location by the then operator, Charles Gibson.  It has been in this location ever since that date.  In October of 1984, the business was purchased by Hughette Hardy known as “Frenchie”, until 1991 when it was purchased by Aubrey Carter.  In June of 1997, then K.C. Steakhouse was purchased by Charlotte Carter who continues the great K.C. Steakhouse tradition at 2515 “F” Street.

In 2003, Charlotte Carter married Terry Campbell and they operate K.C.’s as co-owners.  It remains the favorite dining spot for locals and for the hundreds of “out-of-towners” who always revisit when they are again in town.

The present building housing the K.C. Steakhouse was built circa 1949; and was opened as “Greg’s Hi Life Club” circa 1952.  The room remains virtually the same as it was then.  The wood paneling and mirrors have replaced the Victorian Age red papered walls, and a partition over the back bar has been removed.  The kitchen has also been recently renovated.

©2018 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

I am please to announce that two of my images have won entry into Collection 25 at Foodelia; the international contest for food photography. Every month, a curated competition is open for submissions to Foodelia members. Of those submissions, less than 3% are selected by the panel of curators as “Foodelia Awarded” images. So it is quite rare to get multiple awards within a signal submission cycle. I am very please with the results and here are the two winning photographs.

Gourmet Toffee by Chief Cheryl Mestmaker at GoodNut.com 

 Craft beers from Temblor Brewing Company cover shot for Bakersfield Magazine 

All of the Collection 25 awarded images can be viewed at Foodelia.us

©2017 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

The owner and Executive Chef of Little Italy (who prefers to be known simply as Chang) said he has learned not to underestimate the people of Bakersfield.

“They know good food,” said Chang, He can be found seven days a week at his 85-seat, full bar, white-tablecloth restaurant, tucked away in the South-East corner of The “Town and Country Shopping Center” located at 8200 Stockdale Hwy in Bakersfield, CA 93311-1029 Phone: (661) 833-4055

“Most of our customers come at least twice a month, and many three times a
week,” said Chang, who prepares every dish himself.

Chef Chang was born in Thailand and moved his family to The United States in the early 1970’s, stayed here to complete his education and make his way up in the restaurant business. Chang chose the location for his Little Italy restaurant because he found the shopping center pleasant and relatively quiet. He chose Italian cuisine because he finds it easy to prepare and enjoys the many flavor combinations he can create within this genera.

Personally, I find it fascinating when someone can break through the confines of conventional thinking. “How can an Asian cook Italian?” …is a ridicules preconception. Chef Chang’s abilities are amazing and have nothing to do with coming from an Italian heritage. 

I highly suggest going to Chef Chang’s Little Italy and trying the numerous exceptional menu items. It is wise to make reservations! ..There is usually a waiting list around 6:PM every night, fortunately the full bar can help easy your delay time while waiting for a table.

*

Calamari Friti

Lightly fried baby squids served with a Tomato sauce shown with Little Italy’s fresh baked Bread served with olive oil and their aged balsamic vinegar.

*

Chicken Piccata

Boneless chicken breast sautéed with pepperocini & capers

*

Grilled Pork Chop with Pine Nuts

12 oz. center cut pork chop, garlic and rosemary topped with pine nuts

*

Chicken Francaise

Chicken breast sautéed in garlic butter & lemon juice

*

Cappellini Scampi

Jumbo shrimp in a light white sauce, parsley and pine nuts

*

Linguine Frutti di Mare

House-made linguine with thick marinara, large shrimp, cherrystone clams, mussels, calamari, and scallop

.

©2017 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

Tony’s Firehouse Grill & Pizza

located at 10701 Highway 178 in Bakersfield, CA 93306 

Phone: (661) 366-0129

Chile Verde Pizza

CHILE VERDE, STRANDS OF SLOW COOKED PORK with CHEESE

Hawaiian Pizza

CANADIAN BACON, PINEAPPLE, BELL PEPPER

Tony’s Combo

SALAMI, PEPPERONI, SAUSAGE, MUSHROOMS OLIVES, BELL PEPPER, LINGUICA, ONIONS

Pepperoni Pizza

PEPPERONI & CHEESE

Mexicana

CHORIZO, ONIONS, TOMATO, JALAPEÑOS

Create Your Own

Choose from a number of TOPPINGS…

ANCHOVIES, BELL PEPPER, BLACK OLIVES, CANADIAN BACON, CHORIZO, GARLIC, ITALIAN SAUSAGE, JALAPEÑOS, LINGUICA, MUSHROOMS, ONION, PEPPERONI, PINEAPPLE, SALAMI, SPINACH, TOMATO

©2017 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

I recently collaborated with life long friend and fellow photographer Cheryl Mestmaker on a project for GoodNut.com shooting a variety of commercial images for website end use and cataloging of products illustrating locally grown (Kern County) pistachios, almonds and a most delectable gourmet toffee perfected by Cheryl Mestmaker from an old secret family recipe.

We had an outrageous amount fun and spent the better part of four days creating a wide variety of images with multiple props, lighting & settings to play with, creating numerous set designs and layout possibilities for the clients to choose from. Here on my blog, I have uploaded just a few of what I feel are the best example of what we created during this session.

It is sometime quite difficult to find the right mix of props to product ratio, when given so many choices of peripheral objects to either discard or use in a setting. I find that the dissension to include set pieces really depends on whether or not it adds to the image a mood that is indicative to the clients target market or if it furthers an editorial content that accompanies the images in publication. Something that will reach that market on an emotional level and results in additional sales for your clients. If you believe those extra items tell the right story… use them, provided that they do not distract from the primary subject.

Here are a few “straight forward” product shots giving the client the ability to show their product without any distractions. Very important when the product is physically small in size, like nuts are. These seemingly simple images were some of their favorite shots from the session. Largely in part because they display the product directly without confusing the audience. “Less is more”, especially when it comes to displaying tiny subject matter.

Cheryl’s amazing gourmet toffee will be available in the near future for online ordering at GoodNut.com just as soon as possible. The final selections are currently be made for the best packaging and delivery methods that provide the freshest and most pristine arrival conditions to the recipient. I highly recommend this toffee! …It is so addictive in such a great way, you will truly enjoy every sumptuous bite!

©2017 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

Food Photography test video of Rio Bravo Ranch’s; Award Winning Gourmet Extra Virgin Olive Oil using direct natural sun light modulated through the glass brick window here in the studio facility at Food.ArtofEricJames.com. The shadows were cast using Bamboo branches moving just outside of the window. Shot on a Nikon D800 DSLR video camera @1080 30P through a Nikkor 24-85 mm Macro lens with post production done in Adobe Premiere Pro CC-2017 for color grading and editing.

For best viewing, choose the 1080HD playback settings…

GlassBrick_Window_Light_001B from Eric James Swearingen on Vimeo.

©2017 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

Another cover for Bakersfield Magazine of Raffaele Giovanni Fruguglietti (Ralph Frugatti) owner of Frugatti’s Italian Restaurant. Shot using a Nikon D800 and lit with two Nikon speed lights mixed with ambient light. The background is a painted wall mural behind the “Rat Pack” booth, a prized seating location in the newly renovated restaurant venue. Ralph presents a couple of his most popular appetizers, The Bacon Wrapped Asparagus & Garlic Bread plates served with a smile. Frugatti’s offer the best Italian dining experience and Italian catering services in Bakersfield. The first thing he would like everyone to know is that Frugatti’s is all about family. His wife and children work there, and from their family to yours, they provide one of life’s greatest pleasures: to sit with friends and loved ones around a table, enjoying good food, good wine and laughter.

For more information contact:

Frugatti’s Italian Eatery

600 Coffee Road
Bakersfield, CA 93309
661-836-2000

©2017 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

*Special thanks to executive chef Bruce Tisler for his assistance during this shoot.

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Fresh asparagus wrapped with our applewood smoked bacon then baked in our wood burning oven

Garlic Bread with Mozzarella Ciabatta bread with garlic butter and mozzarella cheese.

Margherita Napolitano Pizza The ingredients for this pizza and our wood-fired oven are all imported from Italy. This pizza is crafted to the strict guidelines for an original pizza from Naples, Italy. Frugatti’s start with Caputo flour “Lafarina di Napoli”, a historic flour mill in Naples to make our authentic pizza crust. They add San Marzano tomatoes which are grown within the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in extraordinary fertile soil that is perfect for growing a stronger, sweeter and less acidic tomato. Then it is topped with the finest hand-made Mozzarella di Bufala (Buffalo mozzarella) from a 125 year old cheese maker at the foot of the Campania Subapennine mountain range just outside Naples. Extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and fresh basil… that’s it! (This pizza is only made one way, the authentic way and we cannot add other toppings.) It is Frugatti’s hope that you enjoy the simple and fresh flavors this true artisan pizza provides.

Meatball Lasagna Frugatti’s famous Lasagna Classico meat sauce and Wisconsin whole milk mozzarella cheese. Baked to perfection in their wood-fired oven.

Lemon Ricotta Italian Cheesecake Amazing! A lite and refreshing ricotta cheesecake with fresh squeezed lemon, caramelized lemon peel throughout and a lemon and white chocolate cookie crust.

Tony’s Cannoli Ralph’s son, Anthony’s favorite dessert that Nonni made especially for him. A southern Italian favorite, made with cannoli cream, cinnamon, Amaretto de Sarrono liqueur and chocolate chips. All filled into a sweet pastry shell and topped with caramel sauce and powdered sugar.

Frugatti’s Fountain Plaza Fountain Plaza, (Now “Frugatti’s Fountain Plaza”) 600 Coffee Rd L, Bakersfield, CA 93309 Phone: (661) 836-2000 OPEN: Monday – Thursday: 11:00am till 9:30pm Friday: 11:00am till 10:00pm Saturday: 11:30am till 10:00pm Sunday: 11:30am till 9:00pm

©2016 Eric James Swearingen
#ArtofEricJames

*Special thanks to executive chef Bruce Tisler for his assistance during this shoot.

Coseree’s Deli has salads, wraps, sandwiches, panini’s and Barbecue on the weekends with steak or hamburgers. Wine and Olive oil tastings too.

Located near the mouth of the Kern Canyon at 15701 CA-178, Bakersfield, CA 93306

Phone: 661-871-3764.

Open open 11am – 7pm everyday.

The olive varieties grown on 50 acres of dedicated land at Rio Bravo Ranch are; Ascolana, Maurino, Frantoio, Pendolino, Nocellara del Belice, Coratina, and Picual. The Coratina Extra Virgin Olive Oil was the Silver medal winner at the 2015 LA International Olive Oil Competition & 2015 California Olive Oil Council Competition. Many verities of favor infused oils are available at Coseree’s Deli. This is an amazing gourmet selection of locally sourced olive oils that truly make the difference in fine dining.

The Red Grill Onions Mexican Café and Bar
1418 18th St. 322-2138. 

The ambiance of The Red Grill Onions Mexican Café and Bar is a warm and comfortable interior of traditional Mexican atmosphere with a Neapolitan edge in its design. The banquet room has ample dinning capacity, while the bar area and lunch room is a cozy and more intimate space.

To begin your dining experience, The “Cadillac” of Margaritas is highly recommended.

Camarones (shrimp) fajitas: Fresh from the sea, large sautéed shrimp grill red onions, bell peppers savory tomatoes with a specially prepared salsa on the side,  severed with rice and beans.

The Chile Verde is the best with just the right amount of heat and amazing flavors. Slow cooked pork in a tomatillo sauce with roasted peppers, onions & garlic.

The Chile Verde is also available as an appetizer in the form a bean dip severed with crispy warm from the oven tortilla chips.

Los Angeles combination plate: Beef or Chicken taco, enchilada with Spanish rice and re-fried beans. A very popular dish for when you are not quite sure what you want, this dish has it all.

…And to finish off your meal, the Deep Fried Ice Cream is an excellent choice.

The Red Grill Onions Mexican Café and Bar
1418 18th St. 322-2138. 

©2016 Eric James Swearingen

ArtofEricJmaes.com

Bakersfield Magazine

“Alms” are traditionally donations given to the poor or needy…

Alms Soup is an interesting approach to blending culinary expertise with community investment thru soup.

Alms Soup will soon services the public in the Metro Bakersfield area Monday thru Friday with Gourmet Soups, Salads and Breads made from locally sourced fresh ingredients, while providing jobs for the “hard to employ” by partnering with Kern High School District and Kern County Employers Training Resource.

All products from Alms Soup Kitchen will become available in the near future for ordered & delivery using the Alms Soup Kitchen online app. currently in development.

By purchasing a single lunch from Alms Soup Kitchen, each meal will provide an opportunity to support four addition needy members of our community by feeding and/or training them with food service skills that can later be used to acquire jobs within the work environment.

The creator of Alms Soup Kitchen, Executive Chef / Culinary Consultant and Host of TV Talk Show “In The Heat”: Bruce Tisler was asked, ‘Why a Soup Kitchen’?

His response was:

“During several catering events in 2012 where we served soup and received an over welling positive response from the attendees, we thought how cool it would be to open a soup kitchen or a restaurant. We then asked the question ‘what is a soup kitchen?’ What we learned was, a soup kitchen is a place for nourishment and comfort to communities and this tradition has a very long history that dates back well over two thousand years.  In our research we found the first written accounts of Soup Kitchens were during the construction of the early Egyptian pyramids. Soup Kitchens in more modern times severed to feed the masses during the Great Depression of the 1930’s and this is what most people envision when you use the term ‘Soup Kitchen’, these days.

Alms Soup Kitchen is a new variation of this concept where the public purchases lunch at a very affordable price and we deliver the orders directly to them at their office or workplace and as a result, supports those in need by offsetting our cost of production. This then allows us to donate large amounts of our product to various food banks for redistribution. Alms Soup Kitchen also provides training and jobs for many people that might not otherwise be fortunate enough to ever have the opportunity to learn these culinary skills. This will prepare them to seek future employment in the food serves industry after their experience at Alms Soup Kitchen has concluded.

In addition to this Soup Kitchen service, we provide a medical nutrition version of our soups called ‘Emerald’ prepared primarily for cancer patients. Soup is a highly effective delivery method of nutrients that are extremely easy to digest and studies suggest that it can have exceptional health benefits to those suffering from malnutrition and/or patients with suppressed immune deficiencies brought on by the side effect from chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

So, you see, ‘soup’ isn’t just a convenient canned item in your pantry, if prepared properly with an arrangement of fresh ingredients, it can quite literally be lifesaving!”

Alms Soup Kitchen service is scheduled to become operational by the 2nd quarter of 2017. For more information please visit http://www.almssoup.org and support this project on KickStarter 

Gourmet Soup * Ordered Online * Delivered Fresh

©2016 Eric James Swearingen
Studio: 661.322.0913
#ArtofEricJames

Studio test shot using a newly re-built vintage 1970’s Norman® Tri-Lite projecting a gobo that produces a lovely dappled lighting pattern onto the subject.

I plan on using this effect more often now that I have seen the results and qualified this test as a success. This image is also a preliminary concept for producing a series of image advertising the ALMS Soup Kitchen Project in Bakersfield CA.

©2016 Eric James Swearingen

Studio: 661.322.0913

#ArtofEricJames

Photographed using my proprietary “Light Painting System” comprised of multiple specially modified LED illumination tools. This method of lighting yields some very desirable results. There is level of control no other lighting technique can achieve. Plus the weight of the complete system is negligible making set-up and load-out so very quick. The down side is that the venue must be completely dark and not operation to be attempted during business hours while patrons are present. No, this must be done on a “Dark” day for the restaurants wishing to do this…
http://www.food.artofericjames.com
Studio: 661.322.0913
©2016 Eric James Swearingen
#ArtofEricJames

JFC Brand Tomoshiraga Somen Noodles of Japan

Photographed using my proprietary “Light Painting System” comprised of multiple specially modified LED illumination tools. This method of lighting yields some very desirable results. There is level of control no other lighting technique can achieve. Plus the weight of the complete system is negligible making set-up and load-out so very quick. The down side is that the venue must be completely dark and not operation to be attempted during business hours while patrons are present. No, this must be done on a “Dark” day for the restaurants wishing to do this…
http://www.food.artofericjames.com
Studio: 661.322.0913
©2016 Eric James Swearingen
#ArtofEricJames

Often times a customer will decide to tryout a restaurant based solely on how it appears. People are motivated to dine out, in order to experience something unique. That je ne sais quoi not easily replicated at home. The first impressions of the interior design elements within a venue will influence the expectations of your customers and keep them coming back time after time.  Knowing the importance of this presentation; it is imperative that high quality images of this investment reach as many potential customers as possible to entice them to partake. With the multiple avenues of social media available today that goal is more attainable than ever before.

Any novice photographer can bring bright lights and blast the interior with illumination to get a shot. However, in the process they destroy the ambiance of the décor. I have spent decades perfecting techniques that capture the true atmosphere of that unique environment so meticulously crafted by the client. There are many technical issues that often arise when shooting on location. The intensity of lighting within a restaurant is usually low, to set the appropriate mood. And often time there are mixed color temperature illumination sources such as incandescent, fluorescent, LED & even window light. All of which appear quite differently to a camera. Knowing how to treat each of these types of light and maintain the overall impression of the venue is what sets me apart for other photographers.

Sometimes an interior simply cannot be photographed with a single shot and may require a mosaic imaging process where multiple pictures are blended back into one photograph in order to cover a large or irregular shaped room. And occasionally additional lighting is required to fill in some details. This should be done with finesse and not by brute force. Having the control to match the ratio of ambient light levels and add only the minimal amount of artificial lighting to complement the existing atmosphere is a skill that not just anyone possesses.

The images in this article are just a few samples of interior décor photography that I have chosen to illustrate this concept. Please look them over and if you have any question, feel free to contact me. My Studio number is 661.322.0913 and/or leave your comments on this page.

©2016 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

BBQ

There is nothing more satisfying than a juicy steak char broiled on an open fire. This image depicts a classic barbecued thick cut New York steak on the grill.

The initial idea for this shot derives from the other night, when I was sitting at a camp fire as the coals burned down to mere embers. I decided to try photographing them using a Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 prime lens and my Nikon D800 @ ISO 580 around a ¼ of a second exposure time.

The next day when review the results, I thought it would be great to have a steak cooking over that fire. After a brief search though the archives I was able to find a suitable image from a previous shoot at Krush Restaurant & Bar photographed using full production lighting system, so it looked really nice and well defined. Then, I add a photoshopped grill silhouette between the steak and embers. Last thing needed to sell the images was a bit of smoke again retrieved from archived pictures. Hopefully the composite looks natural enough to pass undetected by the casual viewer and is accepted as just another production image. I think it could work well with graphics for an Advertisement.

©2015 Eric James Swearingen
#ArtofEricJames #KrushRestaurant #BakersfieldMagazine

Red Stone Pizza & Italian Grill

Located at 9901 Hageman Rd #100, Bakersfield, CA 93312
Phone:661.587.9090

Italian Combo Pizza: Red sauce, five blended cheeses, black olives, bell peppers, mushrooms, caramelized onions, pepperoni and Italian sausage.

Fettucine Alfredo: Fettuccine pasta tossed in Alfredo sauce made with Parmesan and garlic add chicken.

Bruschetta: Tomatoes, red onion, garlic, basil and olive oil served over toasted bread

©2015 Eric James Swearingen
#ArtofEricJames

…and don’t forget dessert!

Bakersfield Magazine 

Wiki’s Wine Dive & Grill is located in the Grand Island Village shopping mall at 11350 Ming Avenue, Suite 260 in Bakersfield, CA 93311
For reservations call: 661.39WIKIS (661.399.4547)

Best described as Bakersfield’s only casual gourmet restaurant with a fun atmosphere. Wiki’s features wine pairings, gourmet food at reasonable prices, boutique wines from around the globe, plus high end wines from California at affordable pricing. 

Salmon

Wiki’s Rice | Heirloom Tomato | Basil | Mint | Lemon Butter

Pork Chop

 | Sweet Corn | Mascarpone Polenta | Bing Cherry Jus

Napa Pizza

 Basil Pesto | Artichoke | Sun Dried Tomato | Roasted Garlic | Mozzarella | Truffle Arugula

Martha’s Vineyard Salad

 Hydro Bibb Lettuce | Red Onions | Candied Walnuts | Pears | Goat Cheese | Raspberry Vinaigrette

©2015 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

High-Speed flash of approximately 1/30,000th of a second captures action of an ice cube being dropped into a glass of whiskey.

The gradient background was created with velum diffusion material illuminated with a single Paul C. Buff White Lightning model 600 monoflash using a 30º honeycomb grid and rosco 111 diffusion gel and other various color gels to make the warm orange hue. The foreground setting is a large piece of crinkled blue gel with “whiskey” spilled on to it from previous attempts of dropping the Artificial Acrylic Ice Cubes Crystal into the glass. Additional lighting was placed frame left using another White Lightning model 600 monoflash modulated through a softbox strip of 14 X 54 inches in size and a silver reflector placed on the opposite side of the glass. The “Whiskey” was actually watered down coffee that emulated the correct color of liquid. No actual whiskey was harmed in the filming of this photograph.

©2015 Eric James Swearingen
#ArtofEricJames

The Pyrenees Café was originally opened in 1899 and has been an iconic Bakersfield establishment serving old-world Basque dishes from the very beginning. Recently (September of 2014) The Pyrenees Café has been rescued from decades of slow decay by its new owners Julie and Rod Crawford who have revitalized the venerable business into an invigorating new venue without compromising the traditional menu. A complete floor to ceiling restoration of the building’s interior was accomplished in short term, to revive the décor with a historic ambiance creating the perfect environment for their abundant loyal customers.

A short time ago, I had the great pleasure of photographing the new appetizer menu that has many of the favorite old traditional items as well as some innovative new culinary delights that go so well with the numerous liquid refreshments served from the historic bar in the Pyrenees saloon.
It was an all-day shoot starting around 10: AM where we set up a full studio lighting package with multiple soft boxes, reflector cards, support stands, electrical distribution cables, and a full product tool kit in a small back room adjacent to the kitchen. This made for easy delivery of each food item just at the moment of completion ensuring freshest quality products without entangling any of the patrons.
We shot non-stop though most of the day to accomplish the mission objective of photographing the thirteen item appetizer menu. Well, okay …there was of course the occasional pause after many of the really yummy ones to sample a few tastes and savor the flavors of each item knowing the incredible skills that went into preparing these delectable dishes, but this was only after confirming that we had absolutely without fail gotten the desired shot.
The fun and talented owners Julie and Rod Crawford made for a most enjoyable experience and I plan on doing many more shoots for The Pyrenees Café & Saloon very soon.

Be sure to check it out first hand if you are one of the few that have never been there before!

The Pyrenees Café & Saloon in located in the historic “Old Town Kern” area at 601 Sumner Street Bakersfield, CA 93305
And online at The Pyrenees Cafe Facebook Page for more information.

Taking the advice of Scott Libolt (a colleague photographer/Art Director and dear friend), I decided to experiment today using available light to produce food photography with the intent to give my images the appearance of occurring more naturally in the true “Still Life” style.

By carefully crafting the set in front of the glass brick window in my studio and defusing that light source with translucent white velum paper and re-directing that same light back onto the subject with just a few delicately angled thin mirror cards, the resulting image is quite satisfying. Plus, it had the additional benefit of minimizing the equipment load that is often problematic for locations shoots.

Now this is not going to work for every situation, but given that if the venue where my next location shoot takes place has the adequate window light, I may be trying this technique there. It would sure beat dragging all those studio lights, power cords and soft boxes out onto location. If I can replace them with nice lite weight reflector cards and a couple of stands, that would be great! Not to mention freeing up some time ordinarily spent setting strobe light ratios. This technique should give me even more opportunities to fine tune the details in the plated subjects.

Thanks! Scott.

©2015 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

Appetizers

Beverages

Entree

Salads

Desserts

Other Items

Venue Decor

Westridge Market: Fruit Tart

Fruit Tart from Westridge Market Ojai, CA.
The China is Hutschenreuther of Selb Bavaria and is the 1955 Alice pattern. The Sterling silver pastry fork with mother of pearl handle is an original early 20th century Shreve’s of San Fransisco.

Nikon D800 Nikkor 24-85mm f/2.8 Macro, Nikon CLS light control.

©2015 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

I have been concentrating lately on my Food Photography and Culinary Arts portfolio. This image is of a MOMO KAWA Rice Wine (Sake) bottle photographed in studio using my new “Strip Light” soft boxes and shot with a Nikon D800 through Nikkor AF 180mm F/2.8 prime lens. Each soft box (one on either side) housed a White Lightning Ultra 1200 set to it lowest possible power so that the lens aperture could be set to F/2.8 @ 50 ISO in order to maximize the bokeh effect making the background fall way out of focus. The light splashed onto the backdrop was a done with a single White Lightning Ultra 600 set to its maximum output using a 20º Honeycomb grid and a Rosco 181 Congo Blue gel filter. There was no need for any Adobe Photoshop post-production alterations. All effects were achieve in a practical manor, using lighting and camera setting alone.
©2015 Eric James Swearingen
#ArtofEricJames

Krush Wine, Bar and Restaurant,
located at 10500 Hageman Rd in Bakersfield, California

(http://www.krushbar.com/home) Call them to make reservations at: (661) 695-8018

One of the finest dining experiences in the greater Bakersfield area.  Executive Chef Bruce Tisler has created an amazingly scrumptious menu based loosely on classic French cuisine of “old School” Julia Child recipes with a modern twist. Using the finest and freshest of ingredients prepared in meticulous technical processes each course becomes an exceptional culinary experience bordering on pure perfection. The presentation of each plate is immaculate and shooting the Krush menu was a fabulous assignment yielding some of my best works in the food photography genre. Here are just a few images from that day.

Be sure to check out their web site to see even more samples of my photography.

Editorial image depicting Asparagus as a paint brush for an article describing various methods of preparing this perplexing vegetable. Published in The Dinning Divas online magazine using the tag line of “Get a Handle on your Asparagus”. Shot in studio using all practical effects (no Photoshop needed) I found an old paintbrush out in the tool shed and disassembled it removing the dried out paint bristles and carefully replacing them with fresh organically grow Asparagus sprouts.

©2015 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

Here at the Art of Eric James Studios we take great pride in crafting the highest quality images to faithfully reproduce your culinary creations to a hungry audience.

Food photography and video production is a specialization of commercial photography, aimed at producing attractive images and video of food for use in advertisements, packaging, restaurants publications like menus or cookbooks and is especially useful in social media presentations where it is extremely important to engage your patrons with special offers and current promotions.  Good quality food photography can really help counter the foodies that take bad cell phone snap shots and post them to blogs and online review sites.

Professional food photography and video is often a collaborative effort, usually involving the client, an art director, the photographer, a food stylist, a prop/set stylist and assistants, all working in concert to depict the chef’s vision.

Much thought is placed on presentation and mood of the finished image to convey the correct ambiance of each unique restaurants theme and menu. This is usually accomplished by pre-production meetings where ideas are discussed to plan out the details and objectives of the photo and/or video shoot. This insures that during production all required elements needed to produce best possible images will have been acquired as part of the logistical process leading up to day of shoot and that all participating member of the production staff are fully prepared to create the quintessential vision.

Depending on the level of complexity required to achieve the shot, there may be a lot of production equipment arriving day of shoot consisting of numerous studio strobe lights with large soft boxes on support stands with electrical distributions cables along cameras and tripods, monitors, reflector cards, color calibration charts and a food styling kit (just for example). This may take a little space to set up and is best situated away from high traffic areas in the venue.

It is in fact this support equipment that makes the shot! I have to laugh when the first thing someone asks is “Do you have a nice camera?”

Photography is really more about lighting then anything else. In order to visually describe the shape, texture, color and details of any object, you must be able to define it with lighting. The final presentation of all photographs whether it be in the form of digital on a kiosk, smart phone, tablet, computer or in print in a magazine, cook book, billboard, menu or packaging, all of these forms of presentation are in fact 2 dimensional. It is the photographer’s duty to convey to the audience that what they are viewing is a 3 dimensional object.
I achieve this through the effective use of lighting and is what sets the Art of Eric James Studios apart from the other photographers. (or as I like to call them “Faux-tographers”). Even if they have a really nice camera…

For more information call the Studio: 661. 322. 0913

The Mark Restaurant

1623 19th Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: (661) 322-7665 ©2014 Eric James Swearingen

#ArtofEricJames

Doritos® Curiosity: Mars Landing was entered in the 2012 Doritos® Crash the Superbowl commercial competition under the title of “Planet Doritos”. We did not place, but had a great time with this production. (Guess we were ahead of our time) Many thanks to the crew and cast:
Director/Writer: Eric James Swearingen
Producer/Audio: Dave Pracy
Cinematographer: Michael Fagan
Actors: Doug Patrick, Julie Sims, Dee Cherry, Mike Llewellyn, Zak Glover, Jay Rosillo, Rezzo Sway Giggz
MUA: Ramona Potts of Atomic Kitten Salon
Audio: Mike Lambrix, Jim Gianettoni
Key Grips: Danny Sims, Tyler Johle
Craft Services: Bruce Tisler
Projection provided by: Brent Milton at Pacific West Sound
Additional Lighting by: Kirk Milton at Innovative Concert Lighting
Casting: Richy F.Rich, Charles Wells
Location provided by: East Hills Mall ; Bakersfield, Ca.
Additional product support provided by: Ben & Jerry’s of Bakersfield

For behind the scenes photos of the production go to:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150412911408599.380541.304121628598&type=3

Broadcast Television commercial produced back in 2004 for La Mina Cantina in Bakersfield, CA. Shot entirely on a Panasonic HMC-150 camera and edited in Adobe Premiere 5 with motion graphic produced in Adobe After Effects 5.5