wanderlust

Soup Galore! My latest cookbook for Williams-Sonoma

2011-12-02T10:42:00.001-08:00

Here's a preview of my latest cookbook for Williams-Sonoma and Weldon Owen Publishing, available in January (and in some Williams-Sonoma stores already). The recipes are amazing, thanks to the lovely Kate McMillan. The gorgeous food styling is by Robyn Valarik. I always love working with the Weldon Owen team, and my favorite photo assistant, David Bornfriend. Thanks everyone!

A point of view for Anthology magazine

2011-11-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

Check out the latest Anthology magazine for a little glimpse into how I became a photographer, which is rooted in the time I spent living in Europe 12 years ago. If you're not familiar with it, Anthology is a gorgeously designed, really inspiring shelter/lifestyle magazine. I look forward to collaborating with them again soon! Many thanks to the very talented creative director, Meg Mateo Ilasco, for inviting me to contribute.

summer for design* sponge

2011-09-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

I had a great time working with the lovely people at design* sponge for their first ever newspaper (download it here). I shot the cover, and a bunch of other stories, including the beachside house that my husband, Danny Hess, and I have been working away on for the past few years. It was super fun to also shoot Danny's shop and my good friend Serena Mitnik-Miller.

The latest collaboration with Sunset magazine

2011-08-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

Boonville, California.... One of my favorite places ever. Apples, oysters, Norwegian ponies, swimming in the Navarro river! A perfect getaway from San Francisco.

I had the best time shooting at Bar Tartine in San Francisco, and Gaumenkitzel, over in Berkeley for a feature on the latest crop of Central European restaurants. Amazing food, lovely people.

Represented by 1 Notion!

2011-07-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy to announce that's I've joined the roster at 1 Notion, and I'm proud to be in such great company- Lou Mora, Collin Erie, Adam Hendershott and Woods Wheatcroft are all fantastic photographers. Likewise, I'm very happy to be collaborating with Adam Renfree, who is at the helm of 1 Notion. Woohoo! Looking forward to upcoming projects.

Check out my latest cookbook for Williams-Sonoma

2011-07-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

I always enjoy working with the great people at Weldon Owen Publishing, and the very talented Erin Quon, food stylist extraordinaire. Several more cookbooks on the way...

Summer is on the horizon...

2011-05-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here is some recent work for Carve Designs- they are are super talented and fun people to work with, and I'm looking forward to shooting with them again in June and July, in between a travel shoot in Jamaica and a new cookbook for Williams-Sonoma.

location, location, location! i ♥ san francisco.

2011-05-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

I've been location scouting in San Francisco for an upcoming shoot, and I'm once again reminded of how photogenic and great this city is. Once the summer fog rolls in, I will likely change my tune and hit the road. I'm headed to Colorado, British Columbia, Chile and Argentina in the next few months. Give me a call about assignments near or afar.

a glimpse of portugal

2011-04-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

After a crazy and wonderful few months of non-stop assignments, I'm here in Portugal, shooting up a storm, but also relaxing and reminiscing about living here 10 years ago. At that time, I was mostly working on organic farms and was just starting to move away from painting towards photography. I shot slide film with a really simple camera and had it developed along the way....back in the days when even small towns processed E-6 film...Portugal is incredibly beautiful and interesting- here are a handful of Iphone pics..."real" images to come soon. I do love the looseness and unpredictability of Iphone pictures- and that I'm not thinking much about the pictures I take, nor am I attached to their outcome. More than anything, they serve as a sketchbook of ideas, and a good reminder to be a bit more free in my approach.

Interview with POP:Photo

2011-02-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

Alison McCreery at POP (Photographers on Photography) recently interviewed me and featured my work- you can check it out here. I really appreciate her insight and kind words about my work: "Kunkel has a painter’s eye for color, light and composition and a beauty that comes from presence and deep observation matched with a seemingly effortless technical sophistication that give her images an authenticity much in demand by both editorial and advertising clients. Infused with a sense of possibility and adventure both in the faraway and the everyday, her photos make one want to inhabit the life she captures and definitely tag along on some of her journeys."

Check out her blog to read the interview and see all the images. Thanks again Alison!

Winning "Travel Portraits" image from PDN's 2011 World in Focus awards....

2011-02-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm honored to have my work chosen by Photo District News....I shot this last spring on the Pacific Coast of Colombia- it's a really remote, amazing, wonderful place.

big sur is the cure...

2011-01-21T11:21:00.000-08:00

I've been on the road for the last month in British Columbia and Colorado, two of my favorite places in the world. But, these sunny, warm January days back in California are hard to beat. Here is a recent outtake from Big Sur, the lovely Treebones Resort. A few days in Big Sur was the perfect getaway before I head into the studio for the next month to work on a new cookbook for Williams-Sonoma, and to shoot the summer line for Carve Designs.

happy winter!

2010-12-21T17:30:00.000-08:00

Winter solstice is here, and I'm buried in deadlines, post-production, estimates and lining things up for shoots in January and February. Somehow I imagined that I'd have wrapped things up for the year by now, and I'd spend my days taking my dog to the beach, making fig jam, organizing my office and updating my portfolio. I can't wait to head to Colorado and then British Columbia in a few days to play in the snow, relax a bit and shoot some personal work. 2010 was fantastic- full of great assignments, inspiring travels around the world and close to home, and collaborations with lots of really talented, lovely people. Over the last few years, the unpredictability of being a photographer and the stress that goes along with never knowing what is on the horizon has slowly transformed into a lifestyle that works really well for me and makes me grateful to be a photographer. I love telling stories- capturing a sense of place and the essence of a moment, and I am really fulfilled by the glimpses my camera affords me of people and places I would never know otherwise. Here's to a great 2011!

ahhh, baja....

2010-08-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a little glimpse of last week's shoot in Baja. Mmm... Ceviche, churros, chile dusted mangos, micheladas and cafe con leche popsicles. Nothing like trading in fog and deadlines for warm water, amazing food, and spending everyday outside.

drinking on the job

2010-08-07T01:31:00.000-07:00

I've been on the road a ton lately, so it's nice to do some local shoots. Plus, my assignments for 7x7 often involve eating and drinking well. Here is the latest feature on some of San Francisco's best watering holes- Comstock Saloon was my favorite.

The Lost Coast

2010-07-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

A few months back, I headed north to shoot one of my favorite spots in the world, the Lost Coast (a really remote, undeveloped part of Northern California). Since then, I've been on the road most of the time, for assignments near (Big Sur and lots of projects in San Francisco and the Wine Country) and far (Colombia, Seattle, New York). I fall in love easily with the places I go, and have dueling plans to move to New York and buy a farm on the California coast, but more than anywhere, I can't wait to go back to the Lost Coast. I'll be posting some outtakes soon. In the meantime, I'm gearing up for trips to British Columbia, Baja and Colorado. This has been an especially arctic summer in San Francisco, and I've been thankful for all the opportunities to get out of dodge and leave the fog behind.

at last- my new website is up!

2010-03-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

So much for updating my blog all the time and launching my revamped website in January....Happily, these delays are mostly due to being busy shooting, globetrotting and setting up my new studio in Potrero Hill- I've got a lot of great projects going, including new cookbooks, and lots of food and travel work. Up next is a trip Cartagena and the Pacific Coast of Colombia. In the meantime, here is a taste of some new images on my site:

New Work on Viisual

2009-10-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Check out some new work on Viisual.

I Heart Japan

2009-08-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

I recently spent a few weeks shooting and exploring Japan- the trip was full of amazing food, lovely people, crazy adventures, and some perfect little islands with great surf. I shot 2 assignments while I was there- those are still under wraps, but here are some outtakes.

Costa Rica

2009-04-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

I'm headed to Costa Rica in a few days, to shoot and meet up with my sister who lives in Colombia. Here are some outtakes from my last trip there, where I was shooting aerials for LightHawk, in partnership with some conservation groups who are looking at the impact of development on the ecosystem there. I love working with LightHawk, and it doesn't hurt that their work occurs in some of my favorite places.

Chronicle Books Project

2009-03-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

Last year I shot a design book for Chronicle with my good friends Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith of The Curiosity Shoppe (a fantastic gallery and store here in SF). The book is finally out and it looks great (if I do say so myself). Derek and Lauren are incredibly creative, inspiring DIY masters with amazing taste and lots of know how. We're throwing around some more book ideas and my fingers are crossed that I'll have the good fortune to collaborate with them again soon.

Big In Japan

2009-03-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a new spread I have in Blue magazine, which is a really beautifully designed surf/lifestyle mag from Japan. I hooked up with them a few years back when I was shooting surf pics in Australia. Last year I shot a 30 page spread for them on the surf/art scene in California. I'll buy you a beer if you can translate the article for me.

Represented by Wonderful Machine

2009-03-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

I recently signed on with Wonderful Machine - I love their approach, and they have a great production team. Yay!

Mike Shine's Shack

2009-03-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

I photographed Mike Shine a few months back for ReadyMade. Aside from being an ad man at an agency I love- Butler, Shine and Stern- Mike is a really talented artist who has created the dream getaway at his surf/art shack in Western Marin, full of what he calls "creepy driftwood art" inspired by Norse mythology, surf/skate culture and the 60's and 70's. He has a show opening this Thursday at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in SF, featuring an installation recreating Mike's place in Bolinas. Check it out.

ReadyMade

2009-02-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

ReadyMade's headquarters in Berkeley have closed up and operations are now based out of Des Moine. Hmm, its hard to imagine the magazine retaining its character without all the super talented, creative crew I've come to know. They were easily one of my favorite clients to work with.

Here are some pics for a story I shot for ReadyMade in this month's issue about living large by staying in. Cocktail masters Paul Clotier and Alana Jackson have a dreamy house, know how to make a mean drink, and they throw great parties. Which is good, because when I think about the state of the magazine industry these days, I need a few strong cocktails.

Argentina Outtakes

2009-01-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

Sky Magazine Cover Feature on Buenos Aires

2009-01-06T15:53:00.000-08:00

I'll be posting some of my favorite outtakes soon...

recent adventures

2008-12-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to create this blog forever. Luckily, the things that have kept me so busy have been worthwhile. I recently had a great adventure in remote British Columbia, where I was shooting for an environmental organization and then took some time for a surf/fishing trip. Next up, I headed to Argentina for a cover story I shot for Delta Airlines (Sky magazine), which will be out in January. Buenos Aires is the best! Then I spent some time in Colombia, in Bogota and on the Caribbean coast. Kudos to my sister who does human rights work there. I'll post some more photos soon- Colombia is a fantastic place- don't be scared!