A few years ago, a really nice guy and foodie I know through my Aikido dojo, George, told me of his desire and dream to open his own Italian restaurant here in Atlanta.

At that point, he’d already had a very successful career as an engineer and raised his kids. My first thought in regards to this was, “Are you sure you want to put that kind of stress on yourself at this point?”

His enthusiasm and passion for the huge endeavor were undeniable, though. And that’s always good to see out of people. It’s inspiring even.

So, when I’d see him I’d ask him how things were going with it and heard about things like him finding a location to buy or renovate for it. To finding a chef and developing the menu. To getting an alcohol license. To things like traveling around to local breweries and deciding what local beer to serve on tap there at, a mano, Which is the name of it, and means “by  hand.”

During all of this George reached out to me back in March of 2016 to do some portraits of him that he could use for business purposes, but also wanted to time it where while I was there doing those, I could also get a family photo shoot while he had family in town to celebrate his father’s birthday.

I really like the shot of him with the smile cutting up food that I posted above because it’s so – him. He’s definitely passionate about food and cooking – and is an excellent cook. But, this one too me really stands out because it says more about him being a businessman – a restauranteur that loves food that’s getting ready to open a business to me. Him not smiling doesn’t bother me at all due to him still having a very approachable and friendly look, but still serious and business-like.  Just as I’d think any restaurant owner would need to be.

This was printed as a 20″x30″ and given as a gift to his dad as a birthday present.

He also asked me about doing one of his son and daughter who both recently graduated from college and might need a business headshot too. I can knock some business headshots, corporate portraits, and occupational portraits out of the park. But, I do not at all consider myself to be a family portrait photographer – especially when the family happens to be twelve people – two of which were young kids – plus a dog.  I approached the project with caution as a result. But, we worked it out, and these shots are how they all turned out.

This is his son, who is also an engineer – a mechanical engineer as I remember.

…and his daughter is a graphic designer. She something more creative than just a standard business headshot. So, with a limited amount of time to come up with an idea and limited lighting gear with me, I put her in a large sliding glass door which is lighting her from the front, and the blown-out high-key look behind was created by pointing a single strobe with a large softbox right at the camera. I was going for more of a beauty type shot, between the high-key look and converting it to B&W. I was really happy with how it turned out and think she looks beautiful in it. But, as I understand, she didn’t care for it. Not sure why. Guess I can’t win them all when it comes to getting photos of people that they love.

And George wanted some of just the three of them together. They all seemed to be pretty close and have fun with each other, so, I told them to get themselves a drink and just have fun while I shot. This is one of my favorites I got of them in the process. 

At that point, the restaurant was just shell, with much work needing to be done before he could open the doors. Well, it’s not just a shell anymore, and was recently named one of the hottest restaurants in Atlanta.

George is as nice a person as they come, so, I’m happy to see his hard work and dream come to fruition. If you like Italian food, go in and check A Mono out if you live in or near Atlanta. And tell him I sent you, as he is the type person that certainly will be walking around checking with his guest while they’re eating to make certain they’re having the best possible experience while there.