Chava

Oropesa

New photography for Blue Star Donuts! Had the joy of shooting 10 of their delicious donuts for their e-commerce site.
The goal: elevate the ingredients and show the flavor in a fun and elegant way.
Pictured here is the Raspberry Rosemary Old Fashioned donut. Check my website for the rest of the images in this collection.

Grilled Pampano
From my ongoing project "Con Mucho Cariño" a collection of my mom's recipes.
This Fish is coated with a salsa made of Achiote and grilled wrapped in fresh banana leaf.
I wanted to use the banana leaf as the complete backdrop for this image, it has such a rich vibrant color!
Food styling: Lorena Masso

Salsa Borracha "Drunken Salsa" from my mom's family recipe.
It's a traditional salsa in Mexican cuisine, usually served with queso fresco or sliced avocado.
Made with roasted Pasilla Chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic and the addition of some alcohol, some recipes call for pulque, tequila or beer. The alcohol is cooked off and gives it a delicious flavor.
The image was created to illustrate the recipe from my mom's book.
Food Styling: Lorena Masso

I decided to create this blue fantasy to frame another one of my mom's recipes, her Rum Bread.
The concept was mainly to play with contrast and harmony, make the yellow/orange of the bread stand out against the blues on the whole set.
This Bread is soaked in rum after it's baked, we just decided to pour a little bit more.
Food Styling: Lorena Masso

Image created for the launch campaign for a new cake flavor for Noe Valley Bakery.
This Pink Lemonade cake inspired the bright yellow set with red and green accents, creating the color gradient in the background is all done in camera with gels. Hope you enjoy!

Menyul, a Mexican coastal cocktail
The Menyul is originated in the town where my dad is from, Cordoba. The story tells of a French man in the XXVII century who was visiting the town and asked a bartender for a Mint Julep. The bartender was not familiar with the drink so he followed the visitor’s instructions. He replaced the Bourbon for Rum, since Bourbon was not imported at that time, and gave it his own twist. Since then it became the beverage of choice in many bars in Veracruz and a “must” if you are visiting.

Do you have a flavor that every time you taste it, it immediately transports you to a different time in your life?

For me, it’s these Pecan cookies, they are crumbly and moist at the same time. Remember when you tried cookie dough for the first time? Whether you sneak in a taste when your parent was not looking or they gave you a chance to try it… that flavor will always take you back to those moments. When I make this dough, the experience just takes me back to my childhood.

I know you’ve experienced something similar!

It’s the season that pumpkin takes over!

It seems that everyone waits on pins and needles at the beginning of the Fall season for when the Pumpkin Spice Latte drops across most coffee brands and bakery shops.

In preparation for this seasonal classic, I put together a shoot creating hero images featuring coffee drinks. Color backgrounds and warm wooden textures help convey the message. I also wanted to use prop elements that brought a different color palette to the classic orange and brown Fall colors. Introducing the purple props makes the image more contrast and adds visual interest.

This year in celebration of Negroni week I decided to create this image with the elements that help create the cocktail.
I have a special love for this cocktail. I decided to use the bottles and the colors in the background to contrast and also harmonize with the other elements. The light creates new color hues playing with the liquid transparency giving the image a luminous quality.

Not sure what started my love for Negronis, but I think I had a predestined attraction.

You see, Campari has been a liquor that has been a staple of my family’s household since I can remember. My mom was a woman of very specific likes and dislikes, and Campari on the rocks was her drink.
I have this memory of my dad asking her what she would like to drink and she would always reply “Just a little Campari on ice” (if you have a Mexican friend, you know everything is referred as "little” in a term of endearment: tamalito, sopita, vasito…)
The deep red color was always mesmerizing, but when I was of drinking age and tried it for the first time I could not understand why she would drink that!

I guess it’s true that with age comes wisdom, because now I absolutely love it. I’m still not as hardcore as my mom to drink it just on the rocks, but in good company of Gin and Vermouth to make what many have called the “perfect cocktail”: The Negroni.

About the image

I had been thinking about playing with light painting for a while and how it would look integrated with some food element, I decided to use the Campari bottle because I imagined the glass would give great reflections and highlights in color, and because red is my favorite color.

Batard style loaf of bread, flavored with potatoes, bacon, chives, sour cream, and cheddar cheese.
I decided to play with the shadows and shapes of the napkin against the backdrop to give the overhead image depth.

The Lucille Bluth breakfast. I took this photo as one last cheers to comedy icon Jessica Walter after her passing away. I loved every second she was on screen and enjoyed every perfectly timed line she delivered. She was the best part of Arrested Development.

The image was inspired by this scene:
Lucille: “Get me a vodka rocks.”
Michael: “Mom, it’s breakfast.”
Lucille: “And a piece of toast.”