Off the Hook: a day at Santa Monica’s seafood festival

Off the Hook is Santa Monica's annual seafood festival on the Pier, and I spent the day shooting it — restaurant tastings, beer and wine vendors, live music, the oyster-shucking and eating competitions, and the crowd working its way down the waterfront.

Festival food coverage is a specific job. The plates have to look as good as they taste, because that close-up is the frame vendors and sponsors actually reuse; then the crowd, the music, and the ocean have to carry the atmosphere for the recap. You shoot it fast, hungry, and with the next year's marketing in mind.

Everything was delivered press- and social-ready for the organizer and vendors. Producing a festival, food event, or activation in Los Angeles? Tell me about your event, or explore festival and event coverage.