Oregon’s Bounty – Food Photographs by Susan Seubert

Yesterday I received a stock request for some local food. As I was digging around in my archives, I was reminded about yet another reason I love Oregon – the food. For restaurant variety, quality and price, Portland is hard to beat. Of course it’s upstaged by the major cities like New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, but we still are regularly celebrated in the national press for some of the greatest restaurants in America. However, this may not be possible without the amazing behind-the-scene scene: the farmers and fishermen that harvest and grow the bounty of Oregon. The slow food movement abounds here, and sustainability is practiced like a religion. My favorite thing to do is to visit the farmers’ market in downtown Portland on a Saturday in the summer – to marvel at the outstanding quality and peruse the amazing variety of produce, meats, cheeses and treats, then stock up for meals for the week. Here are some images from the Portland Farmers’ Market to enjoy while we wait for summer to arrive.

Oregon Blackberries

Hood Strawberries – the sweetest!

Farmers’ Market display and sentiment

Dungeness Crab at the Portland Farmers’ Market

Wild harvested Chanterelle Mushrooms

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Justin Woodward named finalist for James Beard Award Rising Star Chef of the Year

Castagna Restaurant in Portland, Oregon not only happens to be in my hometown, it is also one of the finest restaurants at which I’ve had the pleasure of dining.  One of many things in life I’m grateful for is the fact that my husband loves to cook and has quite a talent for making everything – from dashi to demi-glace, simple pastas or seared duck breast with peppercorn infused, poached pears.  Because of this, it’s very difficult to find a restaurant that can out-do what my amazing partner in life creates in our humble home kitchen.  Castagna is the only restaurant we’ve been to together where when we sit down, we prepare for the question that always arises, “how did he do THAT?”  The food at Castagna is art and is often celebrated, (and criticized), for the same reasons.  However, there is one undeniable fact – you can’t eat like this anywhere else West of the Mississippi and most definitely nowhere else in Portland.  The food at Castagna has amazing attention given to not only the quality of the ingredients, but also the beauty of them.  The service is absolutely world class.  The desserts, like this chocolate dish, are some of the best I’ve ever encountered, thanks to the pastry chef,  Eve Kuttman. Although I love the food scene in Portland, I’ve always felt that Castagna is in a class of its own.  This year, the chef Justin Woodward is receiving the recognition from the James Beard Foundation in the form of a nomination for Rising Star Chef of the Year.  Congratulations Justin!  Thank you for all of your creativity, hard work and the delicious, incredible food.

Executive Chef Justin Woodward of Castagna Restaurant. Nominated for Rising Star Chef of the Year by the James Beard Foundation

The dining room of Castagna Restaurant in Portland, Oregon

cherries, almond ice cream and birch

Cucumbers, salmon cured in cypress and yogurt

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Bon Appétit Names Pok Pok and Swan’s Oyster Depot in their top 20 Most Important Restaurants in America

One of my favorite photographic subjects to cover is food.  I have found food to be one of the best ways to learn about a culture, explore a city, or use as an avenue to common ground with just about anyone.  Food unites us in so many ways, so I’m always interested in making sure that some aspect of food is included in most of the feature travel stories that I am assigned.  I’ve been extremely fortunate to have photographed two of the 20 Most Important Restaurants in America that appear in this month’s Bon Appetit Magazine.  You can read the story online here.  I like the way they laid out this story on their web site.  Most locations have a lead image, then there are details of the food or interiors in a smaller slideshow – images that give a sense of place – in a gallery under the main photograph.  For our home town pride of Portland, Andy Ricker represents, founder of Pok Pok, the Whiskey Soda Lounge and Ping, and is featured in the article.  When I was working on a story about San Francisco, I was excited to cover Swan’s Oyster Depot – a classic San Francisco eatery where locals dine on some of the freshest seafood available in the city.  Bon Appetit used my image to illustrate the restaurant in the story.

A nice summer’s evening at Pok Pok, Andy Ricker’s famous Thai restaurant in Southeast Portland, OR

Restauranteur, Andy Ricker with freshly pressed sugar cane juice at his Portland, Oregon restaurant, Pok Pok

Swan’s Oyster Depot in San Francisco has been open since 1912. Fresh oysters on the half shell.

The interior of Swan’s Oyster Depot in San Francisco, which often has a line out the door.

All images on this site are copyright © 2013 Susan Seubert and may not be used for any reason without express permission from Susan Seubert

Thank you!!!

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Portland Photographer Susan Seubert shoots 2013 Chicken Coop Calendar

Last year I worked on my first calendar project with Amber Lotus Publishing.  The topic was something I was vaguely familiar with: urban chickens and their coops.  I’ve done a fair amount of assignment work photographing various gardens and a few stories about people who have urban farms, but this was the first time I’ve worked on a project specifically for a calendar.  The 2013 version is now available either directly from the publisher or on Amazon.com.  I’m sure you might run across this in garden stores too!  It was great fun working with each coop owner as every chicken coop had wildly different personalities.  It was also wonderful meeting the ladies, who turn out to make not only great pets, but also great eggs.  I’ve posted a few photos from the shoot on my stock photography site and will add more in the near future.  This is the perfect gift for anyone who keeps chickens as the coop ideas featured in the calendar are all very original.  We photographed the 2014 calendar this past summer and it was neat to be able to show those coop owners the ideas that are featured in the 2013 calendar.

City Chickens and Their Coops 2013 Wall Calendar featuring photos by Susan Seubert

Lydia Hess, the art director, and yours truly working on the perfect light for those glorious eggs

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Travel and Editorial Photographer Susan Seubert shoots Oregon

One of the finest pleasures in life is exploring one’s home territory through the fresh eyes of someone new to the place.  In this case, I got the call asking if I was interested in shooting a story about Oregon for the Dutch edition of National Geographic Traveler.  The editor-in-chief would be traveling from the Netherlands to Oregon to explore the bounty of the region.  It was a fantastic experience, driving around the state, showing off some of the places that I love, and exploring new places together.  The adventure paid off and this month’s issue of the Dutch edition of National Geographic Traveler, I’ve got a 12 page spread featuring the beauty of the state I call my first home, Oregon.  The feature story is below.  Currently I’m in Maui, preparing my gear to head out on assignment here on the island.  Maui is my second home, and I’m anxious to see what this next adventure offers up.

Proost and Aloha!

The opener! Roses at the Portland Rose Test Garden and sunset at minus tide in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

The view of downtown Portland, Oregon, with Mt. Hood in the distance and a vignette of the Portland Farmers’ Market.

Oregon Wine Country, the cowgirl who helps out with the Equestrian Wine tours in Dundee, Oregon, and Oregon Hood River Pears.

Thump Coffee in Bend, Oregon and the trail leading down to the boat ramp at Crater Lake.

The magnificent Latourell Falls in the Columbia River Gorge and the historic Liberty Theater in Astoria, Oregon

Fly fishing in the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, near Bend, and the inset of the historic Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood

 

 

 

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photojournalist Susan Seubert shoots for the New York Times

In today’s New York Times, a photograph I made for a story about organic dairy farming was published in the New York Times both online and in print.  The piece is in the Sunday Review section under the opinion pages.  It was written by Nicholas Kristof about a friend of his who lives here in Oregon.  Bob Bansen raises Jersey cows in Yamhill County, Oregon, about an hour away from Portland. Eight years ago he decided to go against the grain of dairy industrial standards of pumping cows full of antibiotics and other industrial chemicals and instead, let these milk producers range freely on the grassy plains that surround his dairy.  He has about 300 heifers and he knows each one by name.  It’s an uplifting story about an independent farmer that has a unique relationship with his animals, treats them with respect and produces a quality product working together with his cows.  You can read the story online here.  I’m putting up some outtakes from the shoot because the New York Times only had space for one photo.  It was a joy to meet Bob and some of his lovely gals.  I may have to go have a glass of organic milk to drink while I read the story again.  Moo.

young Jersey cows in the barn. Cute!

Portrait of Bob Bansen, a dairy farmer in Yamhill, Oregon, standing in the pasture with his herd of Jersey milk cows as seen today in the New York Times.

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Editorial Photographer Susan Seubert Shoots for National Geographic Traveler

Summer is definitely on its way out as is evidenced by the fall magazines that are arriving in my mailbox.  The October 2012 issue of National Geographic Traveler landed and features a story I shot for their Road Trip section on central Washington State.  The adventure begins in Centralia then wanders over the Cascade Range, winding up with explorations through Yakima, Ellensburg and Prosser.  This is a beautiful area of the country, particularly at this time of year when the stone fruits of the Yakima Valley are ripening and everyone is getting excited for harvest.  There are some fine wines produced in this area, which also boasts the second largest hops growing area in the world.  If you decide to take this trip, I highly recommend staying at the Cherry Wood Bed, Breakfast and Barn where one can go on trail rides through the vineyards on horses that have been rescued and rehabilitated. While I was there, a pony named “Wild Bill” adopted me when I was shooting in one of the places where they keep some of the horses.  He was adorable!!!  Spend the night in a truly luxurious tee pee and take a bath under the stars in one of their outdoor tubs.  You can read the story on National Geographic Traveler’s web site here.

The opening image for, “Northwestern Exposure,” a story by Freda Moon about an adventurous road trip through Central Washington State. Photographs by yours truly.

Me on assignment, with the rescued pony, “Wild Bill.” My childhood dream of having a pony, if only for one night.

All the photos were made with Canon 5D Mark II cameras and a litany of Canon L Series lenses.  The images were processed using Adobe’s Lightroom software.

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Canon 7D with the 70-300 f4/5.6L IS USM at high ISO: Hummingbird in the evening

We have a summer resident female rufous hummingbird that often visits the feeders and plants that we place for them on our deck.  As their migratory season comes to an end, which sadly means we’re entering into the early throes of autumn here in the Pacific Northwest, I thought I might test out my Canon 7D with the 70-300mm that I’ve been using on assignment lately.  I bitterly complained about the auto-focus when I first purchased the camera and, as usual, it was trial by fire.  I knew that I needed to have a higher fps than my Canon 5D Mark II cameras, so I decided to go with the 7D.  Now that I’ve been shooting it for a while, (and after reading a bit of the manual ,  I am now really loving the autofocus system and, although the camera is noisy at the higher ISO’s, it’s still pretty darn good.  The other night we were out on the deck and the female rufous came by to check out the salvia and other flowers.  She hung around long enough for me to get a few snaps.  These were all made at iso 6400 shooting in aperture priority.  I processed them in Adobe’s Lightroom using some capture sharpening and luminance noise reduction and I must say I’m impressed.  The focus is tack sharp, the shutter speed was fast enough to stop most of the movement and the colors look beautiful.   I do enjoy birdwatching and although it’s only a simple hobby that I do at home, it’s fun to use this as an opportunity to practice outside of assignment work.  I hope you enjoy these little snapshots of the wee bird.

female rufous hummingbird perched in a Western Cedar tree in the Marquam Greenspace in Portland, Oregon

Female rufous hummingbird investigating the salvia on our porch

Female rufous hummingbird investigating the salvia on our porch, showing off her diminutive gorget

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Editorial and Fine Art Photographer Susan Seubert on Oregon Public Broadcasting

Last night, Oregon Public Broadcasting aired their twice weekly segment on art, called Oregon Art Beat.  I was one of the three persons featured on the show.  It is so strange to watch myself on tv, as I’m used to being on the other side of the camera.  The piece is about the fact that I work both as an editorial photographer and a fine art photographer.  I would like to thank OPB, Jule Gilfillan, Tom Shrider and Randy Layton for putting together such a nice piece. I’d also like to thank This Old House for giving OPB permission to photograph us working on location for the March 2012 cover. I am also grateful to Michele Greco for allowing herself to be filmed while we were working – so a big thanks to my favorite stylist/producer. Although this feels like more shameless horn-tooting, I really hope that you’ll take a moment to watch the video.

Oregon Art Beat video about Susan Seubert Photography

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architectural photographer Susan Seubert lands two magazine covers

It is my great pleasure to announce two covers that I photographed which are currently on the newsstands: one for a regional magazine, Oregon Home, and another for a national magazine, This Old House.  I love shooting these assignments because I get a chance to peek into people’s houses and pick up some ideas for my own!  The desert home was amazing, and we had a glorious day of shooting – sunny and bright.  The extra treat was a full moon rising as the sun was setting.  I had difficulty concentrating but we had to move fast as we were shooting several situations and had only about 20 minutes to work.  The cover for This Old House was shot in Carlton, Oregon, right on the main highway and we were again graced with beautiful, late afternoon light.  The stylist, Michele Greco, is one of the best in the industry. We did a variety of porch setups which took some time, but yielded wonderful results.  I’m thrilled the magazines used the images and I encourage you to go out and pick up copies.  Thank you!

The cover of the February/March 2012 issue of Oregon Home Magazine

March 2012 Cover of This Old House Magazine photographed in Carlton, Oregon

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