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PDN 2015 TASTE FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD WINNER //

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Well, this is really so very fun! It's been a solid four to five years since I last entered a professional photo competition, but a couple of months ago a great friend of mine sent me an e-mail with a link to PDN's TASTE Food Photography Awards competition. It was one of those days where you had *just* enough time to whip together a submission and I sent off my photos - if anything, just happy to have them in front of the amazing judge's panel (which was filled with a load of talent).

To be honest though, when it comes to submitting for anything - to be published, for competition, etc. I am of the mindset that I 'submit and forget'. There's too much going on here to dwell on if we are going to win or not and I always want to stay focused on the clients and projects at hand. 

However, when you get news that you WON! that is something to be excited about, take a moment and celebrate! I am happy to say that we are one of four winners in the Professional Editorial category, with a series of images that were created for the July 2015 issue of Food & Wine Magazine, featuring Jim Christiansen of Heyday and his award as Best New Chef! Liz Gardner did the styling on this shoot and it just turned out to be a magical set of images that I couldn't be more pleased about. 

PDN is a global leader in the photography industry and to be a part of this roster is a HUGE honor. I'm just happy that this opportunity came across and that we actually took the time to submit. It's a great reminder that sharing your work and taking a risk is most definitely worth it! 

Check out all of the winners here! 

 

The Charlie Awards Campaign!

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A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working with MAYER to create the new campaign for this year's Charlie Awards! For those of you who aren't familiar, the Charlie Awards is an event that recognizes the exceptional contributions of the Twin Cities metro area food and restaurant industry. It's a pretty cool concept for the community. Basically, there are several categories that restaurants can enter and then the general public can vote on their favorites. Along with a panel of experts, the winners are chosen. We have ah-maz-ing food here in Minneapolis, and personally, I'm a big foodie, so this project was perfect for me! For the shoot, we collaborated with Open Arms of Minnesota, who so graciously invited us into their space to shoot, while still producing meals for that day! Open Arms is an incredible organization that I fell in love with, if you are thinking of volunteering, you should definitely check them out! We also assembled a dream-team for this! Our subjects were all previous winners of the Charlie Awards and some of the best in the restaurant industry! Michael Dodes styled the ladies in Joynoelle and Amber Rose & Susan Swanson beautified everyone to be camera ready! Jackie of Munster Rose styled our table and the wonderful people of Flashlight Photo Rental were a giant help for all of our gear!Of course, I couldn't pull a shoot like this off without an amazing team of my own. Thank you to Paul, Duane, and Marcie for lending a hand and making this all happen!

The official Charlie Awards campaign rolled out about a week ago at Le Meridian Chambers hotel and will be seen in all over the city, as well in local and regional publications over the next couple of months! Keep an eye out for it!

As a special little bonus, I had Chris Wegner come to our shoot and document some of the behind-the-scenes footage of what our day was like and also what it takes to pull of a shot like this! I absolutely love it!

Behind the Scenes // Charlie Awards Campaign from Photogen Inc on Vimeo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greenwich Vintage // Online Store

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The fellas over at Greenwich Vintage Co. have officially launched their new online store and I'm happy to say I've been a part of it!

It's a pretty cool concept. They take vintage shoes and restore them like new! Until this point, Greenwich has been a by-appointment-only store, but they've stepped up their game to make their shoes more accessible to all! Check out their online store for a shoe you like or go ahead and get a custom order made by the cobbler himself!

I photographed the shoes for the website and photographers - you'll be happy to know this was all done with natural light!

 

A Simple Portrait //

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This is the perfect time of the year to test. It's the calm before the storm and an opportunity to add to your portfolio! Amber Brenke, who is one of my favorite hair and makeup artists in the city, helped me brainstorm the idea to do some simple, beautiful portraits of models. The whole concept was to document these ladies in a way that was true to themselves. We didn't want them to feel like they were modeling or playing a part, we simply wanted them to be themselves. Our inspiration was an Adele portrait that was just simple and stunning. A big thank you to all of our ladies from Ignite Models Inc. who took the time to come on into our little studio and be our subjects! Tasia, Jo, Cana and Molly were so lovely. Another big thank you goes out to Corey DeGuia, who has been testing himself and exploring video. I love the little behind-the-scene bit he put together for us!

Jason Wu for Target RED Magazine //

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The images have been released for the shoot I did for Target RED Magazine, which is Target's internal editorial. This issue featured real-life Target team members showing off Jason Wu's super-popular line! I was incredible grateful to be a part of this shoot, which was my first time collaborating with the people over at Little & Co. and Viet Do, who is a great designer and freelance art director. As always, a project like this doesn't come together without a small army of people, so I would love to give credit to our entire team:

CREATIVE TEAM//

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Producer: Conor Lawrence

Design, Processing & Layout: Little & Co.

First Assistant: Bryce Bordenkecher

Second Assistant: Sara Montour

Digital Tech: Liz Hardt

Laydown Photographer: Larry Callahan

Laydown Digital Tech: Josh Syx

Laydown Stylist: Lynn Ostrowski

Stylist: Erick DeLeon

Hair & Makeup: Amber Brenke

 

 

Test Shoot // Marcellina

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Remember back in the film-days, when you shot off a roll and didn't know at all how things would really turn out? Some of the best images came from those perfect mistakes, and it made you fall in love with photography. There was a mystery, a giant un-known that was challenging us. With digital, we have instant gratification...and many times that translates into judging out photographs far too quickly. Of course, there are major perks that digital photography has brought to us as well, but I miss the mystery. Last week, I tried to bring some of that back. I hadn't really picked up my camera in a couple of weeks and I was itching to shoot. Lucky for me, our fabulous hair and makeup artist, Amber Brenke, was feeling that same itch. We simply wanted to create. Sometimes a test shoot should not be over-thought, over planned or over styled. We literally picked a date, called up my intern, Marcie, and raided her closet for clothes. Then I called my friend Sara and borrowed her apartment for a couple of hours. We didn't have a plan or any direction when we showed up. We literally just sat and dreamed up some looks and some ideas. Our concept ended up being a little commercial, a little happy and very colorful. Personally, I approached the shoot as if I were taking Marcie's portrait for an editorial or campaign. After all, this is a real girl, her real clothes and real attitude. This is Marcie thru and thru. I'm really happy with these images and a few of them might just make it in my book! Here's to collaboration and the element of the unknown.

 

 

 

Society 6 // The Store is Officially Open!

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I wanted to share with you a little project we have been working on over here at the studio! I have a pretty solid shelf of images from my personal work, and for some reason all they were doing was sitting on my hard drives! So, with the help of our crew, we put together an official store on Society 6!

If you haven't heard about Society 6 yet, I highly recommend checking out their website! Basically, it is a fantastic resource for photographers, designers and artists to get their work in front of the public for purchase. From Society 6, you can browse around and see a whole bunch of work from some amazing artists. You can then purchase products of our work from their site!

In my store, you will be able to purchase prints, canvas, laptop skins, iphone cases and the occasional t-shirt :0) Make sure to check out the store to see if there is anything you love!

I will be updating the store on a regular basis with fresh work as well!

 

 

Ceci Style // Winter Reverie

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The latest issue of CECI Style has just hit the world and we are super excited, once again, to be a part of this project! We photographed 4 covers for upcoming issues of Ceci's online editorial, so stay tuned for more fun images! Make sure to check out the entire Winter Reverie feature on Ceci's site HERE! As always, a BIG thanks to my amazing team who help me make all of this happen! Ceci's shoots always take place in New York, and it is simply SO much fun to bring this crew together...magic always happens!

CREDITS//

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Hair: Danielle Nelson

Makeup: Jaclyn Accetta

Jewelry: Tejani Jewelry

Assistant: Allan Zepeda

All Tied Up in Knots

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Testing is one of my favorite things to do, because it's all about pushing your limits, trying something new, having complete creative control - and simply having fun! Amber Rose and I came up with a slew of ideas for testing one day over lunch, and braids seemed to be a common love between the two of us! We thought it would be fun to incorporate some stunning portraiture, more on the beauty side of things for this shoot and I love the way everything turned out! It was simple, it was a small crew and a super fun set. One light, White Paper, Boom.

CREDITS//

Photographer - Eliesa Johnson

Hair/Makeup - Amber Brenke

Talent - Caroline and Alexandria from Ignite Models Inc.