Wednesday morning in Houston, I went with a dear friend to her citizenship oath ceremony.
It was beautiful — not just for what it meant to her, but for what I saw outside afterward.

As the new citizens came down a long ramp under the trees, the morning light was perfect — bright, dappled, and bouncing all around. Light that, to me, was inspiring in more ways than just photographic — light full of hope. The crowd waiting below was cheering, waving flags, holding signs, searching for the faces they loved.

I began to take photos — hundreds of them — of strangers stepping into their new chapter. Faces of every color, age, and story. Some smiling, some crying, some still scanning the crowd for someone who mattered.

Watching them, I thought about my own story. I came to this country from Cuba with my parents and my sister. Years later, we too raised our hands and became American citizens. It was one of the proudest moments of our lives.

Standing there again, I was reminded that becoming American is not just a legal act — it’s a leap of faith. A belief in freedom, in opportunity, in starting over.

At a time when the word “immigrant” often sparks debate, I wish more people could see what I saw that morning: the hope, the gratitude, the quiet pride. That’s why I want to share this with you. I can only hope you feel what I saw.

I ended up with 350 photos and have chosen 77 to share in this sort of short video — a small tribute to all who come here seeking a better life, and to the country that makes it possible.

This wasn’t a job or an assignment — just a moment that reminded me why I became a photographer in the first place: to notice, to feel, to remember.

You don’t say no to Neiman Marcus. You say: how about something deliciously unexpected? 

Tableware gets the spotlight, with a twist. 

Art Directed by Tim Flannery.

Styled by David De Quevedo.

Duro Hospitality does it again—this time, with the Worth-The-Drive to Fort Worth, The Chumley House!

The moment I stepped into Chumley’s, I felt like I had landed in London—somewhere in the heart of Kensington or Chelsea. Like all of Duro’s restaurants, it’s an aesthetic feat!

We captured over 300 images, narrowing them down to just over 60 selects. Every detail of this beautifully styled restaurant—designed by the talented Sees Design team—made for an incredible visual story, only elevated further by the masterful dishes crafted by their chefs.

I hope you enjoy my fotos—and even more, I hope they inspire you to experience The Chumley House for yourself. Worth the drive!

This September marked my fourth year photographing the Pie Hole Project, and it’s always an honor, and a blast! Featuring over 40 Dallas/Fort Worth chefs and their one-of-a-kind pies. A generous, fun, and very photogenic group! Click on the image below and enlarge for a quick view.

The Pie Hole Project in Dallas is a charity-driven initiative where chefs and bakers create unique, gourmet pies. These pies are auctioned off, with proceeds supporting local causes. The event happens annually, bringing the culinary community together for a good cause with limited edition pies available for purchase.

Handsome and clean perfectly describe this new series of images I created for Clean Juice. Personally handling the lighting, composition, and styling, I wanted to showcase the high-quality ingredients that go into their recipes. My hands-on role in the styling gave the project a personal touch, ensuring the visuals captured the organic and pure essence of Clean Juice while conveying freshness, deliciousness, and fun. To be used in-store as large prints and wall art.

One hour at Central Market, one camera, one lens, one light, one simple background, one 10-hour day, and one straightforward photo session—resulting in one very happy client, and one very artful Clean Juice store.

Having fun with our Friends at Brix! Under the fearless leadership of Yasaman Stewart and Roberto DeAngelis, the creative input of my food stylists extraordinaire, Claire Messerall and Paige Fletcher, and my faithful photography associate, Luis Govea, fun and happy images are created!

Photographed for Brix Holdings. 

Brands: Friendly’s, Orange Leaf, Red Mango, Smoothie Factory…

Photography Life Is Good!

4th of January 2024

Starting the year with a splash!  Photographed for D Magazine.  With Creative Director Extraordinaire, Lesley Busby, who tactfully suggested, “Let’s try another option, Manny.  This shot is too pretty!”  🤣 

Yes, believe it, I have never eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I simply don’t like peanut butter. Never developed a taste for peanuts. And it is rare for a Cuban not to like warm roasted peanuts.  ”El Manisero” the peanut vendor, always came down your street almost on a daily basis calling out to the neighbors, selling “un cucurucho de maní”!  We even have a song in his honor!  Check out here my favorite interpretation by Willy Chirino.

My mom made the best peanut milk shakes in the world, so they would tell me,  I never had one. 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

But I have to admit peanut butter is very photogenic.  So, to face my PB fears, here are a few new and old peanut butter shots, just for fun.

Over 30 original photos and approximately 200+ captures of variations and GIFs. 

Shot on location in three days, with Food Stylist Paige Fletcher and Set and Prop Stylist, MikeThompson 

They don’t call me “The Top Banana From Habana” for nothing!  Yes, I love bananas! They are delicious, sweet, starchy, potassium-rich, and healthy.  

When you’re born in Habana, Cuba, raised in Miami’s Little Havana, you get to eat lots of bananas. From platanos fritos, tostones, frozen banana shakes (made with sweetened condensed milk) to just plain bananas in almost every meal. 

And I mean every meal: black beans and rice, ropa vieja… and my favorite, in bean soups. Oh! — also sliced into chicken soup, love it!  I used to make “banana dogs” when I was a child. I will photograph these soon, so you can see what I mean. 

In the meantime, even if you haven’t “gone bananas” like I have, you can at least enjoy my banana portfolio!  ;-)

Food stylists in this portfolio are Erin Quon, and Paige Fletcher.

As I take pictures for the Gordon Ramsay marketing team here at my studio, I have this fantasy of Mr Gordon Ramsay himself busting through my studio door, look at the images on the big studio screen and start yelling at me: “You call yourself a photographer? My gran can take a better picture of that, and she’s dead!”“Not even Photoshop can save that photo!” “You should just give up photography and go back to cutting sugar cane in Cuba!” “You keep this shit up I’m going to have to take away your work visa!” Will it ever happen? I doubt it. Meanwhile I will enjoy the company of his amazing and talented marketing team and do my best to create images that they find yummy.
To my team, Taylor Gervais, Wendy Hughes, Mike Thompson, and El Gallego, 
Thank You for making me look good!
Below are some of our favs and the ones we can publish for now.

Soon to come, Hell’s Kitchen! 

¡Correcto! No me gusta la cerveza. I should!  My dad use to let me try it all the time as a young child, along with his cigars.  I never developed a taste for it though. 

“For a guy that doesn’t like beer, you can sure photograph them well!” Says Mike Thompson, my prop/beer stylist. He also makes the beer, and me, look great! I don’t drink beer however with these hot temperatures here in Dallas this July, I could definitely use one of those ice cold cans on my neck. Photographed for D Magazine, an article about the beer scene in Dallas, Texas, check it out here.

Zaguan.

Zaguan Latin Bakery and Cafe opened its doors on May 9th of 2002. Owner Carlos Branguer has been feeding my family since then. My sons will visit from out of town and the first place they want to go is Zaguan!  Arepas venezolanas, cachitos de jamon y queso, sweet corn cachapas, cheese tequeños, well, if you have no idea what I am talking about, then you owe yourself a trip to this place! Eventually Carlos and I got together to help out the menu with new images. Below are some of them. If they make you want to go and try an arepa, then I have done my job, however be prepared for deliciousness that surpasses the lust of the eye.

Buen provecho!

It is already the 9th of March, but never too late to express gratitude.  Gratitude for 2021!  It was definitely better than 2020!  Thanks to my fearless Agent H, we were able to add new clients to our list and create some memorable images for our portfolios. Chili’s, Virgin Hotels, Cafe Zupas, Svedka Vodka, Main Event, Pizza Hut, Capital One, Gordon Ramsay, and more!  2022 will be even better! 

Here are just a few from 2021.  

I remember in the late 90s receiving direct mail from Capital One, aggressively pushing their credit card.  I always thought, how do you compete with the big ones? I can’t even imagine going up against the Master Cards, the Visa, and Amex! But here we are 25+ years later and Capital One is a giant among them, and here to stay. Truly impressive. I don’t know anything about their founders but my kudos to them. Look at them now! 

Last year I had the privilege to shoot their brand new lounge at the DFW Airport. A stunningly beautiful, modern and comfortable oasis for travelers seeking a respite in between flights. Check out some of my images below and check out the Capital One website. 

Thanks to the amazing production team of @JNProductionglobal who had three different  camera crews at the airport location, and everything thing went smooth and without a hitch! And to my Agent Heather at The Food Photo Agency for securing the client and producing our part of the job! AND to my fearless photo assistants Melissa Hennings and Augustin Teisseire.

Two long days.  Over 4500 captures. “Must feature the product!”  “Product is the hero!”  Very challenging low light conditions.  And almost no time to shoot the stills!  This was probably one of the most challenging photo shoots I’ve had in years.  I was the still life photographer on set and they had budgeted zero time for me to do the shots.  The video production crew was already maxed out on schedule and had little time to even cover all of their shots.  Very large crews and a very large talent pool. Two days of fast shooting, get in there in between video setup and shoot away! Get what you can! I had to shoot with what ever lighting was “left behind”, zero time to adjust anything.  My amazing assistant, Brandon Borges, running back and forth from camera to computer, downloading images from memory cards as I was yelling for more…! It was crazy FUN!  The cowboy  images shot at the country saloon, and the photos at the Indian wedding were very low light situations and my ISO setting on camera was between 16,000 and 25,000!  So that you may have an idea, normal or average settings for the daylight shoot at the pool was approx 200 ISO.  With the cooperation of the video crew, models, and talent, that witnessed our sweat, and the help of my Nikon D5 and Lightroom, I was able to pull it off, with what I feel were amazing results.  Hope you agree.

Chefs + Pies + Camera + Fun = The PieHole Project!

For the last couple of years I’ve had the pleasure of shooting The PieHole Project. Over 30 local chefs and their favorite pies. A deliciously fun assignment! Yes, I tried each of the pies! And I do have a couple of favorites!   ;-)

The Piehole Project raises funds for the Chefs of Tomorrow Scholarship created by FestEvents Foundation, an organization dedicated to workforce sustainability and development in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Hope you enjoy the fotos!

The Year Of The Mask.

A lot of us played with masks when we were little. Our TV and comic book heroes wore masks. The Lone Ranger, Batman and Batgirl, Zorro, and countless others. Not the same masks we are wearing these days though. The masks we are being asked to wear this season are the ones bank robbers used. Now you walk into a bank and we all look like bank robbers! 

In my case I wear a mask while I take pictures. It is a necessity and a duty. Enough of that for an intro.

During this Year Of The Mask we have continued to take pictures. Thank God,and science,  through of the magic of electronics and digital everything, we can continue to capture and deliver images to you without you having to be there at the studio right next to us. Thanks to platforms like Zoom, and Google Hangouts, Webex, Adobe Connect, and many others, we can show you what we are doing with your product, or food, share the images immediately with you, and poof! Boom! Approved! 

Unfortunately you have also witnessed your photographer, perhaps picking their noses or scratching themselves, or saying something they shouldn’t, (not I) but it has happened…. nevertheless the technology has worked its magic and allowed us to continue to work throughout the pandemic. And for this I am very grateful!

By the way, this was all possible before the pandemic, and we had already been using it to get approval of images while clients stayed in their offices working on other projects. Screen share, video conferencing, Skype, text messaging, (still my favorite), and emailing the image! 

Here are some of the images that were done this Year Of The Mask at our studio while you were away, and while some of you were here, but over at the client desks, about 30 feet from our camera, where you can see what is happening on set on the studio 85 inch screen tv!

To be continued…..    :-(

Indulging Cuban thoroughly enjoys capturing images of the new Bar Charles in Dallas!

Designed by Sees Design and William Baker, the space is packed with indulgent Italian influenced-pieces, including plush velvet seating, bubble lamps designed by George Nelson, and a sophisticated antique fireplace.  Lots of visual fun, as owner Chas Martin calls it, a “testament to maximalism”.  Enjoy the pictures here and then plan a visit soon!

Divine Pizzas!  Divine Pasta!  Divine place, for a relaxing meal, and great wines!

Within walking distance from the studio we have Cibo Divino! Which we order for lunch almost every week. Great pizza, pasta, and Italian specialties. And the owner Chef Daniele Puleo knows our studio well enough to always suggests the best Italian wines available. We captured these images for the new Cibo Divino Market Centro, in downtown Dallas. Check out there website here.  

Dallas advertising agency, The Richards Group, commissioned Manny to photograph varying sizes of peppers to illustrate with photographs the size comparison of Sub-Zero’s new refrigerator models. Manny’s love and passion for the still life image is perfectly exemplified in these photographs. 

If you are from Texas you know that the State Fair is a big deal.  If you live here, it is one of those things you must experience, at least once. However, rest assured you will be suspending what ever eating regimen you might be entertaining that week.  Well, maybe you can keep your keto diet with a turkey leg or two. But, you will be tempted, or maybe not. Every imaginable food, fried!  Fried butter, fried Coke, fried Jello, and fried Twinkies, will beckon your attention.  Oh and food on a stick! Like fried Doritos bacon mozzarella sticks, and the most famous, Corny Dogs on a stick!  My arteries are tightening as I write this.  

Below is an editorial we shot a few years ago for D Magazine, in collaboration with art director Todd Johnson and food stylist Brooke Leonard, giving it a fun surgical look.

Brooke was one of the great Dallas food stylists who’s passion for food and life inspired many in our industry. 

In her memory.

Making it look like it was photographed in a dark romantic setting.  Making it look appetizing, and desirous.  Mouthwatering, and sensuous.  Making them drop their plans to stay in tonight, and head out to your sexy restaurant.  That is what Manny does, day in and day out, and sometimes in the dark of the night as well!  

They don’t call him BatManny for nothing! ;-)

This photograph, for Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House.  Agency of record, Swoon, The Studio.  Food stylist, Stephanie Greenwood.  Contact Manny’s Agent H, here.

Congratulations to William Bradley,  Regina Charboneau, and Bridget Green, and thank you, for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful experience.  It was an honor to collaborate with this passionate group of Natchesians.  

We shot 27 home interiors, and exteriors, in 12 days, from dawn till dusk.  Plus a few dozen food dishes, prepared and styled by Chef Regina Charboneau, for each home.  Wore out 3 very hard working assistants, Melissa Hennings, Brielle Parker, and Elliot Kern!  But we all came back with images, friendships, and memories, to last us a lifetime! 

Blessed beyond all means!

Check out the images below, and if you feel compelled to help with the preservation of these historical homes in Natchez, the oldest city on the Mississippi, please purchase a book here.  

Photography © MANNY RODRIGUEZ.  All Rights Reserved.

I Wanna Tropicana with the Top Banana From Habana!
Shot on spec, with food stylist Taylor Gervais.

Props stylist, Scott Morris. 

Asistente Excelente, Elliot Kern.

Lighting and composition by TBFH!