SF Editorial Photographer — Draft Magazine, Smokestack

Editorial Photography for Draft Magazine

Draft Magazine is a national publication dedicated to craft beer - covering the breweries, the bars, the culture, and the people behind the American craft beer movement. When they needed a San Francisco editorial photographer to shoot a feature at one of the city's most interesting food and beer destinations, they commissioned Marc Olivier Le Blanc.

The location was Smokestack, the restaurant inside Magnolia Brewing's Dogpatch location - a space that has already appeared in Marc's personal commercial photography work, and that lends itself naturally to the kind of editorial shoot Draft needed: industrial atmosphere, serious food, and a craft beer program that matches the ambition of the kitchen.

The brief combined food and beverage photography with editorial portrait work - images of the chefs and bar staff in their environment, alongside product shots of the food and beer designed for print use in the magazine. As a San Francisco editorial photographer working regularly for food and beverage publications, Marc brings a dual sensibility to these assignments: the environmental portrait instincts that come from years of editorial portrait work, and the technical precision that commercial food photography demands.

Shooting Smokestack - Food, Craft Beer, and Portrait

Working inside a kitchen for an editorial shoot requires adaptability. The light shifts constantly, the staff are doing their jobs regardless of whether a photographer is there, and the best images come from the margin between the crew's work and the camera's presence - not from a directed setup. Marc shot across multiple positions in the space, building a set of images that communicated both the food and the people behind it.

The portraits from this session were shot using the available light in the restaurant, supplemented with a single portable source where the ambient light required fill. The food and beverage images were shot on the pass and at the bar.

San Francisco Editorial Photographer for Publications

Marc Olivier Le Blanc is an editorial photographer and commercial photographer based in San Francisco, available for food and beverage editorial commissions, restaurant photography, and on-location editorial shoots throughout the Bay Area. For editorial photography in San Francisco, contact Marc through the website.