The Sunday Series is published weekly by 5th Street East to share inspiring stories about our creative partners
This week we travel (virtually) to Portland, Oregon to chat with Lifestyle & Adventure Photographer Boone Rodriguez, one of the most joyful and talented artists we’ve had the pleasure of working with on productions across the country.
A world explorer for work and in play, Boone shares how he’s embraced staying put with books, homemade Kombucha and some adorable foster pups.
Photographer Boone Rodriguez and The Art of being
Photographer Boone Rodriguez is embracing the art of being, while staying put at his home in Portland, Oregon.
It’s rare and he’s going for it.
An avid traveler with commercial shooting gigs all over the world, the lifestyle and adventure photographer has added Kombucha-making to his bread baking and gardening passion during this time of quarantining.
(He also recently fostered some pups upon returning from a trip to Belize and Europe before the mandatory shut-in. See cute pic below.)
Photographer Boone Rodriguez at his home in Portland, Oregon with ridiculously cute foster pup.
And his reading list is off the charts
Boone’s booklist: He’s currently diving into The World As I See It, Einstein’s collection of essays about the meaning of life; A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit; Hemmingway’s A Moveable Feast, and August by Callan Wink, a model Boone worked with on a shoot, also a writing phenom recently reviewed by The New York Times.
Hemmingway’s memoir set in Paris 1920s is particularly spot-on
“He pretty much sums up my approach to enjoying myself in this time of solitude…When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.”
Photographer Boone Rodriguez 3rd from Left on set in in Belize.
Photographer Boone Rodriguez comparing paws.
Photographer Boone Rodriguez on set.
From Campaigns with BMW to XBOX, Boone Rodriguez came to the camera young
Boone’s grandpa let him use his Nikkormat camera as a kid. No manual. No instructions. No judgement. His grandfather never questioned his grandson’s eye, whether he was snapping pics of kids on skateboards or a collection of Guatemalan doors.
Boone’s Nikkormat camera from his Grandpa Don
(Note: impressive book collection)
“In junior high, my grandpa took me on a trip to Guatemala to help build water wells for the Guatemalan people. I became completely enamored with doors. They’re all shapes and sizes. Completely unique. I shot a series with his camera.”
Boone’s early subjects: a bunch of kids on skateboards drinking slurpees
Boone’s Grandpa Don – “The summer after 5th Grade, we flew that plane from Washington to Arizona over the span of a week. I would pop my head out the window and take photos of cathedral rock formations as we circled around them.” – Boone Rodriguez
After graduating with a degree in business from Trinity Western University in British Columbia, Canada, Boone worked in Seattle’s banking world – “trying to figure it out”. He also worked as a phlebotomist before throwing in both the suit and white coat for a career behind the lens.
His big break came when an art director found his work from a test shoot on Facebook
“An urban lifestyle shoot for a local store with six models and super fun energy.”
Boone’s approach to photography mirrors his life philosophy
“observational joyfulness”
The son of a retired Free Methodist pastor, Boone is comfortable mulling over abstract and universal ideals such as goodness, truth and beauty, especially with some time on his hands. These three tenets guide his photography.
Add in generosity and more joy for good measure.
Boone being Boone – behind-the-scenes.
Photographer Boone Rodriguez in Sequoia National Park for Cliff Bar
Photography is an act of sharing
“My grandfather taught me a lot about being generous when he let me use that camera. If I broke it, it wasn’t going to break our relationship.”
He adds, “Letting me photograph kids on skateboards was an act of trust.”
Kombucha by Boone
My friend Isaac Koval (also a photographer https://www.isaaclanekoval.com/) gave me a Kombucha starter known as a Scoby. You’ll need one a Scoby to make kombucha so ask around, you can make your own (https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/homemade-scoby), or order one.
I followed this video on how to make it. (Recipe taken from his video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Axb37lMWI
INSTRUCTIONS for Gallon of Kombucha (My Updated Favorite Recipe)
INGREDIENTS:
1 Scoby
16 cups filtered water
12 grams black tea (12 tea bags)
1 cups white sugar
1 cup natural kombucha
- In your tea maker boil 8 cups of water.
- When it begins to boil add your tea and let it sit off the boil for about 20 minutes.
- Once your tea is brewed , transfer strained tea into a large glass container.
- Add your sugar to the tea and stir until dissolved
- Add in the rest of your water and let the temp settle to below 90 degrees
- Add Scoby to your tea along with 1 cup of Kombucha or Starter Liquid
- Cover your container with clear kitchen towel and secure with a rubber-band.
- Place your container somewhere dark with a temperature of 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit if possible. I would suggest using a heat pad under the the container to get this temperature because the end results will be optimal!
- Let it ferment for 7-10 days. Liquid should be a light golden brown color after it ferments
You can now enjoy a glass of your kombucha but a second fermentation is recommended for a better flavor.
Second Fermentation (bottling)
INGREDIENTS:
Ginger
Fresh mango juice
Booch!
- Find a few glass bottles with airtight seals. (I reuse store bought Kombucha bottles.)
- Drop in a small chunk of peeled ginger into each bottle.
- Add about ½ a cup of fresh mango juice into each bottle.
- Remove the scoby from your kombucha. Reserve 1 cup of kombucha along with scoby for future fermentation.
- Fill bottle with kombucha.
- Let it sit for 2-3 days to allow carbonation. Make sure to carefully pop the tops of the bottle every night so it does not over carbonate.
- Serve over some ice and enjoy!
Boone Rodriguez and his home-made Kombucha, lovingly named after his recent foster dog, “Big Mama Velvet” – Portland, Oregon 2020
Boone Rodriguez is a commercial lifestyle and adventure photographer based in Portland, Oregon
Click here to see more of his work
Photographer Boone Rodriguez Honduras shooting for the World Food Program (UN) 2019
The Estate, Napa Valley. Photography Boone Rodriguez. Production 5th Street East.
The Duniway Hotel. Photography Boone Rodriguez. Production 5th Street East.