Many who follow this little blog know that I spend most of my time talking about documentary cinematography, especially vérité shooting. Being fully present in the moment, witnessing life as people let me into their story, is what feeds my storytelling soul.

But living on one creative diet for too long can leave other parts of me hungry. My photographic muscles sometimes want a different challenge, a space where I have more control over light, texture, and composition. Before I became a documentary cinematographer, and after years as a photojournalist, I spent a lot of time doing tabletop photography. That background still calls to me when I want to step away from unpredictable field work and shape images more deliberately. Today I sometimes work with Food Styling Toronto to bring food stories to life for commercial and editorial clients.

Working in controlled environments lets me shape every detail: how steam curls from a dish, how light plays across texture, how movement can make a still subject feel alive. It is a very different rhythm from vérité, but it uses the same instincts: patience, attention to story, and finding beauty in small, honest moments.

I also enjoy doing other types of photography between documentary projects. I also enjoy tabletop photography and find it the ultimate of control. A totally different experience than doc when you look at a “house of cards” set surrounded by 4′ x 4 white bounces, 5 strips of cut black foamcore on various grip arms and Aclamps and 2 mirrors that looks like it all could tumble down if you as much as breath on it. Perhaps, that is just my sets.

For the past year or so I have been doing shoots involving food with Kari Svenneby, a very talented food stylist in Toronto.

This type of shooting is the antithesis of my documentary work, but I find it no less gratifying. It tickles a different part of my artistic self, but it is still telling a story.