
News


Behind the scenes with Hyatt Place and Hyatt House
The studio was full of activity during the 4 day shoot of the new menu items at Hyatt Place and Hyatt House. Check out the video below for some behind the scenes action from the shoot!
HYATT Shoot from Chris Litwin on Vimeo.
Chicago Restaurant Photography : Next
Chris recently shot at Grant Achatz's restaurant Next. The current menu replicates el Bulli recipes from the 80's and 90's. Here is a shot of the 1989 carpaccio de ceps confitados #52.

Chicago Beverage Photography: Liquid Launcher
The studio needed another hydraulic pump for a shot so we thought we'd share how one is made. Once built, the bucket is filled and the power is adjusted by the dimmer extension cord allowing control of the projected liquid.
Pump from Chris Litwin on Vimeo.
COSI
Each summer Chris spends a week volunteering at One Step at a Time camp for children with cancer. Beyond cooking out, playing sports and having a typical camp experience he also teaches photography and helps the kids compile a book that is printed by Apple. If you would like to become involved or donate to Children's Oncology Services, Inc. please click here.
APhotoFolio Facebook App

Food Photography: Sushi
Chris' wife Haruka stopped by to prepare a delicious sushi lunch.
Sushi from Chris Litwin on Vimeo.

Traffic
The studio may be located at the busiest intersection in Chicago. Here's one hour of Friday afternoon traffic in 30 seconds.
Traffic from Chris Litwin on Vimeo.

Motion
I have finally added video to my website. The subject is based on an earlier still image that I did that I decided would be fun to revisit with motion. Please feel free to take a look and leave any comments that you might have.
Izze from Chris Litwin on Vimeo.
Spotted in L.A.

Studio Remodel
We are in the process of remodeling the studio... The front shooting area has been opened up by removing the kitchen wall to add an island/styling station. We’ve also removed the walls in the back of the studio creating a new large client area with plenty of room for meetings and relaxing during shoots. The challenge will be finishing before our next shoot.
Studio Demolition from Chris Litwin on Vimeo.
Lights, Color, Action.
Here's a new ad I shot for an upcoming issue of Luerzer's Archive. The ad will be placed next to a fellow Friend and Johnson photographer's (Ted Sabarese) shot which is abstract, colorful and dynamic. The goal of the shot was to capture something very dynamic and colorful in my own style that would pair nicely. I had to think a bit outside the box of my normal repertoire as my splash shots are not usually as colorful as this but found the exercise to be one that was both challenging and fun. The shot was achieved by flipping glasses of various colorful alcohol through the air (i.e. Blue Curacao, Cherry Pucker) in "Buzz" 18 oz glasses. The colors were beautifully vibrant and saturated; so much so that they did not require manipulation in post. Another pleasant surprise of the process was that when flipped just so, the liquid appeared to be coming out at the viewer (esp. in the blue splash) despite the fact that it's actually just the side view of the bulk of the liquid spilling out.
Smoke & Mirrors

Chicago Beverage Photography: Tanqueray Bottle
I've been adding to my portfolio of work and here is a new shot that I did including a short vid of the set that I used to achieve it. The softness of the shadows and highlights coming through the bottle were achieved by airbrushing dulling spray onto the bottle.
Workbook Ad
I just finished up my next ad for Workbook 33. I'd love to post it here but unfortunately that would ruin the surprise.
Chicago Beverage Photography: New Work
I've been loving shooting with my new camera and have posted some new work on my site that I've been capturing with it. I'm also very excited to show recent work that I've done for Milk and Jack Daniel's via Draftfcb. Pours and splashes are a real passion of mine, and its always an honor to be shooting but particularly so when you have a team that lets you run with an idea as they did on both projects.
Up & Running
The new site is up and running. I will be uploading new images of recent work and samples over the next couple of days. I'm very excited to have such a well integrated site now that shows larger images and works seamlessly across multiplatforms. It is flash rather than my last css site but with a fully embedded css sister site I was comfortable making the shift back (not to get too technical). Also, with an awesomely flexible and easy to use backend I have to show my gratitude to A Photo Folio for the site. Please feel free to leave me comments or suggestions for the site.
Upgrades
Got all my new equipment in last week... Phase One w/ P65 back and two new iPads. The P65 is a place holder until the IQ180 I purchased ships but if its as much of an upgrade as expected from the already very impressive P65 I can't wait to see the full production quality images. The iPads are all part of the new Phase workflow. I can now have images relayed to the pads in real time so clients can view and rate the images without having to move from their seats. At first it seemed a bit gimmicky but has proven to be very useful in various ways, including giving the food stylists a monitor on set to see the exact postion of adjustments discussed. All in all, my clients have been just as pleased as I have with the new upgrades.
New Site
I've added a blog to my new site to keep people in touch with what's going on at the studio. Feel free to post comments and check out my work.