I. Love. The Common Man.
That should be the entire blog right there, because thats pretty much all I’m going to say for the length of this post. I’ve enjoyed The Common Man for years, ever since the came to Merrimack and saved the old Hannah Jack Tavern, which was a love of mine during my high school years. When they came to Merrimack, I sat on the board of directors for the Merrimack Chamber of Commerce, and we were lucky to be invited to a pre-opening V.I.P event at the new Common Man in town. I just remember being blown away by the space and the interior, and thinking to myself as I walked through the upstairs bar lounge, how perfect this would be to relax with a cocktail and write some of my film scripts.
I’ve gone back for lunch and dinner many times since then, and as my food photography career took off, I would bring my camera to lunch with me, take photos of my meal, and post them on facebook, hoping that the wonderful people at The Common Man would see them, love them, and whisk me away to be their food photographer. Yes, for years I’ve been trying in a not so subtle way to get noticed by The Common Man as a food photographer. So when I started as the videographer/producer for hit smash tv show The Chefs Plate (Saturdays at 3pm on WBIN), I got the opportunity to put my smiling bearded face in front of the vice president of THE entire Common Man family,…no pressure or anything.
This past week we had our second visit to The Common Man, this time in Merrimack. This is the one I normally go to for lunch, so I know it well, and this time I was determined to take the extra time and get some outstanding food photos for them, and combine this with my witty charm and dashing good looks, I knew for sure they would have to see what a great food photographer I was. Ok, well, all kidding aside, I did want to make time this week to capture some photos, because they are putting out their best dishes, styled and presented for national broadcast, so you know they are going to be perfect, and its a perfect opportunity to get some amazing food photos for The Common Man. Now, this is not an easy task mind you, food photography is not like sports photography, where you put it on aperture priority and just hold down the shutter hoping to get some good shots. On location natural light food photography needs to be very precise and methodical. I have a system in place for how I do it, utilizing compasses, nautical measurements, multiple levels of diffusion material, and just a hint of duct tape. (No, I’m not going to tell you how I did it, I subscribe to the “horde all your knowledge until your dead” method of photography).
So why, you ask, and I so tenacious and passionate about wanting to be the food photographer for The Common Man restaurants? Its pretty simple actually, I admire them. The Common Man restaurants are run, staffed, and called home by good and true “New Englanders”, they give back to the community, they take ownership of their neighborhoods, and they are a pillar in the house of good New Hampshire businesses. They serve as a model to the fabric of what I hope this company of mine will one day be. They do not build, they restore, they take what is good and historic to this amazing state of ours, and they build it back up and make it stronger, and that is both rare and admirable. And yes, the food its pretty incredible too.
