Photos © Brian Stechschulte

One of my favorite things to do in San Francisco is spending Saturday morning at the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market.  I love the great food from farmers and vendors, the views of the Bay and overall atmosphere.  I usually go very early when it opens at 8am to beat the crowds and I follow the same routine: get coffee, breakfast and pick out a bench seat at the water’s edge with views of the Bay Bridge.  If I’m lucky a seal will swim by.

This past Saturday was a bit different.  It had been awhile since I paid the market a visit.  For some reason my Saturday’s have been filled with activities for the last several months and weekend construction on my transit route has been a deterrent.  Thankfully that wasn’t an issue this time, so I decided to get up even earlier and do some photography.

There’s about an hour of amazing light that blankets the market each morning depending on the season and fog.  Photographers call if the “golden hour.”  During this time sun’s angle is sharp enough to squeak under the tents and light up the fruits and vegetables.

The following photographs and image above were taken during that timeframe.  Once the beautiful light was gone I went into the historic Ferry Building and took a few more shots that I also included.

Saturday at the Farmer’s Market

At this point my work has only been published a handful of times, so it’s novel and mesmerizing. I’ll closely examine the quality of the printed images looking for flaws and then compare it to the computer monitor. In this instance the photo editor of Market Watch actually changed the tint of my glassware photo from black and white to sepia so it would match the title of the article. No big deal.

Photos in Market Watch Magazine

Easter Sunday in Photos

The pilgrimage usually takes place in the winter months and started more then 10 years ago. We spend the weekend hiking in the nearby dunes and spend the remaining time drinking beer, watching sports and shooting the shit around the fire. It’s a brief and necessary escape from reality in a gorgeous surrounding.

The photos below were taken on our hikes along the dunes and shore of Lake Michigan, or at the lakeside home. The weather was ridiculously warm for this time of year. A typical March can bring snow and sub freezing temps, but we enjoyed 70 plus degree weather, which will make this trip memorable in the years to come.

Lake Michigan and Sleeping Bear Dune in the distance.

Bald Eagle Siting

Foggy sunset on Crystal Lake

Snapshots from Michigan

If I Was a Rich Dog

Photos © Brian Stechschulte

The more people turn away from mass produced food conjured up by scientists in undisclosed labs, the more people are embracing edibles and drinks made by hand with love in small batches from tangible sources. Butchers, bakers, and in this case chocolate makers, are turning their passion into successful businesses.  It’s a movement and borderline obsession in San Francisco, so it’s no surprise I discovered Mast Brothers Chocolate in a Hayes Valley candy shop last month.

Billed as craft chocolate, the Mast Brothers pay close attention and appreciate every detail in the chocolate making process starting from the agricultural source of the beans to the packaging.  Don’t believe me? They once chartered a schooner to sail 20 metric tons of beans from the Dominican Republic to Brooklyn so they could participate in that part of the production process.

The packaging is what caught my eye in the candy shop. Each bar is dressed in thick high-quality paper cloaked in gorgeous patterns and they’re wrapped and labeled by hand. They’re also stamped with a batch number.

Even with a sticker price of $10 ($7 from the factory in NYC), I couldn’t resist the temptation. Yeah, this chocolate isn’t cheap, but it’s not Nestle or Hershey. The two brothers, Rick and Michael, spare no expense and the price is a reflection of their demand for quality.  I look at these types of items as rare treats and respect the amount of work and money that goes into their creation.

Mast Brothers offers two different types of bars, those derived from a single geographical source, such a Papua New Guinea, and blends they produce in partnership with other companies like Maine Sea Salt. They’ve also developed their own blend.

So how does the chocolate taste? I’m not going to tell you they’re the best chocolate bars I’ve ever had since I’m no expert, but they’re pretty darn good. Good enough for me to seek out the Mast Brothers factory on a recent trip to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg last weekend. That’s where everything is made and the whole production process is on display. I bought the three bars you see above. Sorry, I didn’t have my camera in hand.

The only one I’ve cracked into so far is the Serrano Pepper. It’s a wonderful dark chocolate and the pepper is quite prominent. I’m eating it at the moment and trying not to scarf down the whole thing.

Here’s a few videos about them that are definitely worth watching. The first was produced for a website I love called Cool Hunting and the second video was made by the Mast Brothers and talks about their relationship with the cocoa bean farmers.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Mast Brothers Chocolate

The reception took place on Saturday, March 3^rd, and was well attended. Three of the paintings had already been sold and I was fielding many questions about his work and creative process. Mullen’s work is wonderful and I hope this is the beginning of a well-deserved and notable career.

The show is on display until April 14 and here’s a few photos of the installation.

Marlon Mullen at White Columns

Click here to view the embedded video.

This also seemed like a good time to share a photo I took a few years back in San Francisco.

Political Mad Libs

I discovered this wonderful logo on the side of a semi-truck in West Oakland today while picking up some new postcards for NIAD. The design has a nice vintage feel and I love how the company name is embedded right into the contours and anatomy of the fish.

Follow That Fish

Elevation 66 Brewing recently opened their doors in the town of El Cerrito, CA. It’s a small brewpub operation started by three friends who use to work for Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley. When I caught wind of their impending grand opening, I got in touch with one of the partners to write a story for Bay Area Craft Beer.

Shortly thereafter I got a sneak peak of the new space and did a short interview with partner Brian Kelly. As usual, I snapped a bunch of interior photos and a couple exterior shots so readers could get a good look at the new venue.

After the story was posted online Kelly got in touch with me. He asked if they could use my picture of their lilac draped sign on their new website. I quoted them a very reasonable price, asked for a photo credit, wrote up an amicable contract and the deal was done. This is how things should work.

They did a nice job of incorporating it into their homepage and it looks pretty sharp. If you’re ever in the area do stop in and have a beer. I’m partial to their British IPA.

Photo Client: Elevation 66 Brewing