Deconstructed Old FashionedA classic Old Fashioned reimagined — the finished cocktail sits surrounded by its essential components: keg and wheat grass for whiskey, sugar cubes, cherries, and a hint of orange bitters. A playful study in mixology photography and creative beverage styling.📸 Every element tells part of the story behind the perfect cocktail.

Many of my images are found rather than planned—moments stumbled upon as I move through daily life. This photograph marks a shift from that approach. It’s the beginning of a more intentional series of still lifes centered around my interpretation of deconstructed cocktails.

This work isn’t about documenting a recipe or faithfully recreating a drink. Instead, it’s about translating what a cocktail means to me visually. The goal is interpretation rather than instruction—using objects, textures, and light to suggest flavor, ritual, and mood.

Because I hadn’t spent much time working in still life before, this series also became a way to stretch creatively and take on something new. I always envisioned it as a set of images, and starting with the Old Fashioned felt natural. It’s my go-to cocktail—simple on the surface, but with an undeniable craft behind it.

The Old Fashioned doesn’t rely on many ingredients, which made the deconstruction feel focused. For me, the essentials were clear: bourbon, sugar (sugar cubes—no simple syrup for this guy), bitters, and a cherry. From there, the challenge became figuring out how to represent those elements photographically without turning the image into a literal record of a mixed drink.

I wanted to include both the idea of the cocktail and the finished result. To do that, I brought in tall grasses and a small wooden keg to suggest the bourbon, alongside sugar cubes, cherries, and a small bottle of bitters. A solid, classic tumbler was essential—it anchors the image and grounds the composition in the familiar ritual of the drink itself.

The setting mattered just as much as the ingredients. I placed everything on aged wood and introduced dark, textured cloth napkins to break up the browns and wood tones, adding subtle contrast without pulling attention away from the subject. The lighting and composition were kept restrained, allowing texture and color to do the heavy lifting.

I chose to shoot this with a very narrow depth of field, keeping the drink and its primary elements in sharp focus while letting the supporting details fall softly out of focus around them. That separation reinforces the idea of deconstruction—the essentials remain clear, while everything else recedes.

This image is less about what’s in the glass and more about how it feels. It’s a starting point for a series that explores familiar cocktails through a photographic lens, breaking them down and rebuilding them visually in a way that reflects how I see them.

This image is available as a fine art print—click on the photograph to view print options.

Robyn and I have always loved cruising. There’s something magical about waking up in a new country without ever packing a bag, and the whole “floating all-inclusive resort” thing doesn’t hurt either. So when our 20th wedding anniversary rolled around, we figured: why choose one European destination when we could sample a whole bunch? We booked a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Barcelona and set sail across the Mediterranean—our kind of celebration.

One of the stops on the itinerary was a place neither of us had been before: Croatia, and specifically the walled city of Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage site perched right on the Adriatic. I knew almost nothing about the city beyond the postcard reputation—beautiful, historic, and unmistakably coastal. Naturally, we booked a boat tour to see it all from the water.

Except… the weather had other plans.

We pulled into port under rain and choppy seas, and our excursion was cancelled. No big deal. Dubrovnik isn’t the type of place you pout about. We decided to wander instead, and as we stepped through the gates into the Old Town, we saw a sign for a self-guided walk along the city walls. Ten or twelve euros for a birds-eye view of the entire town? Sold.

The rain cleared, the sky opened up, and we climbed. And honestly? I think we spent the majority of the day up there. The wall itself is massive—like walking on the spine of the city—and every turn reveals another view that feels pulled right out of a painting. We learned bits of history as we went, stopped at a tiny cliffside café carved straight into the rock for a drink, and took our time exploring every overlook and parapet.

What really struck me was learning how much Dubrovnik endured during the siege of 1991. The city took significant damage, but today it’s thriving—nicknamed the Queen of the Adriatic and beloved by travelers and filmmakers alike. Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and a handful of other productions have all used this place as a backdrop, and standing on those walls, it’s easy to see why.

Which brings me to the image below—my favorite from that day. Taken from atop the wall, it shows the patchwork of rooftops that make Dubrovnik instantly recognizable. The darker brown tiles are original; the brighter orange ones mark repairs made after the siege. Side by side, they tell a story of loss, resilience, and renewal.

And as a photographer who adores repetitive patterns, this scene was irresistible. Each roof has its own checkerboard of tiles, but together they form a massive mosaic stretching across the city.

Funny thing is: if our boat tour hadn’t been cancelled, we never would’ve ended up on the wall. We wouldn’t have learned as much, seen as much, or captured this view. Sometimes the detour ends up being the highlight.

This was one of those moments.

Click on the featured image to view it larger or purchase a print.

Rooftops of HistoryWalking along the fortified city walls of Dubrovnik, the bright orange roofs of new buildings contrast sharply with the muted brown roofs that survived the war. A European travel moment where history, resilience, and color meet.📸 Every rooftop tells a story, and every street whispers its past.

Vireo in GreenA Red-Eyed Vireo perches on a thin branch, its soft yellow-green feathers echoing the rich greenery in the background bokeh. A quiet bird photography moment that blends detail, color, and simplicity in nature.📸 Sometimes a single perch reveals the perfect harmony of bird and environment.

Welcome to the very first entry in a new series I’m calling Nature Stories. Much like Travel Stories, these posts give me a chance to share the moments I’ve captured with my camera—but this time closer to home. Nature Stories is about finding inspiration in local wildlife and everyday encounters, proving that you don’t always need to travel far to discover something remarkable.

During COVID, while we were all self-quarantining, I wasn’t able to get out much and spent most of my time at home. Since my wife and I knew we’d be home for a while, we decided it was the perfect time to build a new, larger back deck. Once it was finished, we found ourselves spending nearly all our free time outdoors.

One evening, while having dinner outside, I heard a bird song I didn’t recognize. With the help of the Merlin Bird ID app, I matched the sound to a Red-Eyed Vireo. I hadn’t actually seen the bird yet, so I played its call on my phone. To my surprise, the vireo responded—and each time I played it back, he came a little closer. Finally, he perched on a branch not far from the deck, giving me just enough time to grab my camera.

I managed to find a clear angle with no distractions in the background. Using a wide aperture for shallow depth of field, I isolated the bird beautifully from the foliage. Later, I cropped in slightly to enlarge him in the frame and adjusted a green color cast caused by reflections off the leaves. Otherwise, the image is nearly straight out of camera.

What I love most are the colors—the soft green-yellow wash around his neck blending into the green wing and tail feathers, all harmonizing with the background. A fleeting backyard moment became something special, captured forever in this photograph.

✨ Love this image? Add it to your wall. Click the photograph to explore print options.