Just got the fall issue of Biztech Magazine in the mail, which contains a portrait of Paul Valentino I took earlier this summer.

Paul runs vCommunity Trust, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help people complete IT certifications who wouldn’t be able to afford the training otherwise. Great guy, addressing a real need in the tech world.

One of the great things about studio food photography is the chance to collaborate with people across disciplines: food as art, image as art. A couple months ago I had another opportunity to play with Rachel Sherwood on some personal work.

My colleague Nate Ryan was nice enough to swing by and film a little behind the scenes of the day, and I think he did a good job of conveying how a food shot comes together: the experimentation with composition, ingredients, and propping, then the careful preparation of the ‘hero’ dish and capture of the final shot.

Behind the Scenes: Chicken with Rachel from Chris Bohnhoff on Vimeo.

Thanks to Rachel and Nate for the chance to create together.

A couple months back I shot a portrait that appears in the Spring edition of Ed Tech Magazine. The IT folks in the Edina public school district are doing some fun things incorporating ‘Bring Your Own Device’ technology in to the curriculum. Can’t wait to see how teaching methods and technology evolve as my 10-month old son makes his way through the system.

I’ve been shooting for Uponor’s employee magazine for several years, and this year they picked up some images from recent editorial assignments to use in their 2012 Yearbook.

When I arrive at a location shoot and I’m greeted with cookies and coffee, I can pretty much guarantee it’s gonna be a good day. Same story with donuts, come to think of it…

I arrived at the home of Pat and David Barker last week for the Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation and immediately felt like family. We talked (over cookies) for a good 20 minutes before the topic of our shoot even came up, swapping stories of the babies in our lives (their two week old great granddaughter, my seven month old son), and about their passion for helping homeless youth, which grew out of Pat’s tenure as a high school science teacher, when she discovered how prevalent teenage homelessness is.

I saw this picture as I was packing up after the bulk of our shoot, and had to unpack and take another minute to capture it. I’m so glad I did.

The work I do with nonprofits is so important to my professional life. Not only do I get to meet people who do amazing, selfless work, and help tell compelling stories that the public desperately needs to hear, but also I invariably leave nonprofit projects reinvigorated, both in terms of my photography and my faith in the basic goodness of humanity. I’m in the very lucky position of meeting amazing people like the Barkers on a regular basis. It’s the number one reason I’m a photographer.