I’ve always enjoyed food photography and lately I’ve had more opportunity to do a lot more of it for the new blog. Up to now I’ve been happy with the results I’m getting, but the more I do it, the more I want to work harder to take things to that next level.

Hit more for the books link on amazon.com and first impressions…

After a small amount of research I decided I should purchase - Food Styling for Photographers: A Guide to Creating Your Own Appetizing Art. The book isn’t a photo lighting recipe book or camera positioning book. It’s a full on styling book that goes into detail on styling different types of food. It covers everything from cold drinks to meats to desserts. There’s even a recipe for making fake-for-the-camera ice cream

I don’t plan on getting into food styling at all. I do appreciate knowing the process teams go through when shooting the big national ads though. Also I can see myself using some of the techniques in moderation to elevate my images slightly.

The book does a good job of giving you a feel for what a shoot would be like - from shopping for the ingredients, selecting items, styling the table, and getting the finished shot. The writers are obviously not full time novelists, but they clearly communicate the info they’ve gathered in years of experience running high end commercial food shoots. Having never done food photography at that level, I feel like I have an idea of what goes on from what they layout in the book. To me that makes the book pretty valuable apart from any bonus tips gained about glycerin or corn syrup used for various effects on glasses

Personally I feel that if you have to do too much to the food it’s not really that appealing to begin with. I know sometimes you just don’t have the luxury to shoot on a set on a perfect day, but in my perfect world you should be able to chow down on the steak you just shot (not just char the outside to make it appear done). That was always a perk of shooting food in Bangkok… after a quick run through of the menu I could cherry pick the most appetizing menu items for a post-shoot meal . We’ll see if my opinions change as I get more into food photography.

Paul

Hey all,

Started posting some food pictures on photograzing.com and had a few turn up on the site and then on the main site from a New York Times contributor’s new project seriouseats.com . Pretty cool. Hope it drives more traffic to accidentalepicurean and gets me more food photography work.
Paul

I had just returned from a shoot yesterday and had my camera out to take the card out to put the pics on my hard drive. I looked over at the couch and saw my cat napping away. The pose was funny so I started taking some pictures. I realized I could pull back just a bit and get the TV in the frame as well.

I work with the TV on in the background. Normally at 5:30 it’s Simpsons, then again at 6:00… on Wednesdays and Thursdays I’m subjected to American Idol…normally I’m lost in editing/writing/whatever and don’t really take much notice. But the time this guy sang the horrible version of Ring of Fire I took notice. Decided to make a little commentary picture and upload it to ICanHasCheezeburger.

Please go Vote for My LOL Cat

Paul

Hey all,

I know lately it’s been a lot of tech posts and gear stuff. There’s a reason. I’ve started working for some magazine in Singapore. Unfortunately I can’t post anything from the shoots till the stories run. So be patient and hopefully I get a release or can post some links to the magazine once my work starts appearing. Until then tide yourselves over with my co-founded new project: Accidental Epicurean.

I’m not much of a pen fan, but loads of photographers are. Wacom Intuos are the standard pen tablet for the majority of working graphics professionals… and for a reason. They’re really well made and will last you a long time. This is also a great time to buy into the series as I imagine you’ll start seeing a liquidation of still perfectly great Intuos 3’s go on clearance.

I’m thinking about picking one of these up once they become available, not because I want to draw on screen very much (though that will be nice for applying masks to pictures in PS), but because these are supposed to stave off carpal tunnel better than even the most ergonomic mouse. I spend more than a fair amount of time on a computer and any little bit will help. Plus the quick keys can be mapped to specific actions and other commands in PS speeding up your entire workflow… this coupled with my iPhone and Logitech MX1100 mouse will put pretty much every command I normally use off the keyboard and just a button push away.

Wacom Intuos 4 - Anyone needing a gift idea for me?

Paul

To be honest I hate these little things. To me they just feel so junky in the hands. But these entry level Canon’s are great for people with tiny hands/budgets. At this price point the sensor and video options make it a great deal…even more so when they fall to under 500 on the used market. I forsee a lot of extreme videos getting shot with them then - skateboarding, biking, etc…things that might normally break a camera, but at a low price like that who’d care?

Canon EOS T1i via Gizmodo

Paul

In case you feel overwhelmed with Twitter… here’s something to overwhelm you more

Smashing Magazine’s 99 Twitter Apps

These will cover just about anything you would ever need to fully implement Twitter into your life, website, whatever.

Paul

New update out (I’m a couple days off sorry) for TweeDeck. TweetDeck is what I use to annoy the world with my “tweets” from the desktop. I’ve previously mentioned Tweetie for use on the road with my iPhone. To be completely honest, I’m not sure why Twitter is so huge… but I do like it with integration with Facebook so I can brag keep people informed while out on the town or on vacation.

Before this update I had to sort of hack my system to have Twitter work with Facebook. Now for the rest of you this is a built in feature. Check out TweetDeck if you use Twitter and would like a full-featured interface for your desktop.

Paul

The recipe for these cookies comes from Joanna’s mom and are a traditional family recipe. I’m grateful to them for sharing them. Recipe and discussion after the jump.

I’ve been enjoying working more in food photography lately. Most of it’s personal and for our Accidental Epicurean blog - but it’s a nice change of pace and gives me a chance to use equipment I’ve forgotten/overlooked in my wedding photography.

Plus I like eating the things I’m photographing

Obviously I enjoyed these cookies. Couldn’t even finish the shoot without sneaking a bite - which is a bit of a surprise even to me as I don’t normally enjoy Molasses cookies. I’m much more of a cookie-with-nuts kind of guy, but these are great. Rolling them in granulated sugar gives the outside of the cookie a nice crunch. As an added bonus the cookies fill the house with a great smell that lingers for a couple days.

Molasses Cookies

¾ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 egg

2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
1 tsp cloves
½ tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt

Melt shortening over low heat and cool. Add sugar, eggs and molasses. Beat well. Sift together rest of ingredients. Mix well and chill. Roll into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Bake on greased cookie sheet 2 “ apart for 8 to 10 minutes at 375.

Paul