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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020 • B1
Playing with light
Photographer captures beauty of
North Coast restaurants, businesses
Melissa Righero
Food from Good to Go.
By NATALIE SKOWLUND
O
n her website, a photograph of a
light and spacious dining room with
a simple wooden table sits beside a
close-up shot of a layer cake with white
icing, fl oral orange decorations and small
pine twigs.
Astoria
photographer
Melissa
Righero seeks out the freedom to play
with still life shots for North Coast restau-
rants and businesses, including Frite &
Scoop, Good to Go, Chariot , Street 14
Café and North Coast Food Web.
She has also shot for North Fork 53
in Nehalem and Adrift Hospitality hotels
across the river in Long Beach, Wash-
ington. Her photography of Adrift’s his-
toric Shelburne Hotel was featured in the
design-focused Gray Magazine.
Since the coronavirus pandemic hit
the North Coast, Righero has found ways
to give back. She’s offered free photog-
raphy to both returning and new clients.
She also shot some female-owned busi-
nesses around Portland.
“I just wanted to do something this
summer because I think people are stuck
at home, not able to do much,” she said.
Righero plans to offer her fi rst-ever
natural light photography class via Zoom
Fawn DeViney
Melissa Righero is a photographer in Astoria.
in August.
Her work spans food, product, inte-
rior and travel photography, but her
favorite photographic style is still life,
especially of food and small objects.
“(It provides me) a canvas I can play
with. I start with a blank table and I paint
it with product and different tablecloths,
fl owers, whatever. I have fun,” Righero
said. “It gets my creative juices fl owing
too, making something beautiful.”
Letting nature set the stage
Righero’s photography is striking in
its use of natural light. Unlike photog-
raphers who set the scene with staged
lighting, Righero prefers working
with nature. Using natural light means
Righero only photographs during the
day and has to work with weather pat-
terns and lighting .
“In the Pacifi c Northwest, natural
light photography can be tricky, but I
kind of like the overcast lighting here.
It’s a natural catch-all light to me, rather
than direct sunlight,” Righero said.
Righero approaches her photography
as a form of play.
“I kind of have tunnel vision during
the process. I like playing with organic
materials: crystals, feathers, fl owers.
Food, especially,” she said. “There are
a lot of chefs here that like to play with
fl owers in their food. I’ll try to pop it
with a tablecloth color to bring it out a lit-
tle more, depending on the vibe that the
chef wants: dark and moody, light and
bright. It could be vivid, even.”
From spa to still life
Righero has always been interested
in photography but her original love was
painting and illustration. She studied art
in college and dreamed of becoming a
children’s book illustrator.
See Righero, Page B4