Backyard Grilling

These are some really fun pics I shot for Wasatch Woman Magazine’s July/August issue.  The issue has gone to print so I can FINALLY share them!!!  Yay!!!

The gist of the article was that you could cook your whole meal on the grill…

…and then finish up with some homemade ice cream sandwiches… FINGER-LICKIN’ SCRUM-DIDDLY-UMPTIOUS!!!

I took these pics of the chef’s daughter eating her ice cream sandwich.  I am in love with the contrast of her bright coral/red dress & dark hair against her fair skin.  It was so lovely to shoot.

All in all, this was THE MOST DIFFICULT lighting I’ve ever experienced on a shoot.  Truly, it was madness.  We did it outside in the afternoon (not the best time for an outdoor food shoot anyways, but had to make it work).  When we started, it was overcast so I was using my gold reflector to warm things up a bit.  Then, it quickly turned to full sun, so we turned the direction of the grill & moved the picnic table to the shade & I had to pull out the diffuser to try to soften the lighting.  Then, it got overcast again & started raining so we moved everything under the patio.  Then, it cleared up and was full sun, but rained again in the full sun.  All of this transpired over an hour or two of shooting.  I was ready to pull out my hair, LOL.  Luckily, we still got some fun shots from the shoot.  I’ve requested that next time’s shoot must be in morning or twilight to at least help with one lighting problem.

Glassware

Spark Restaurant Lounge

Last week my husband & I had the exclusive opportunity to attend a “Blogger” dinner at a new local restaurant called Spark Restaurant Lounge.  We were served an eight course meal of: 1. Shrimp Rolls, 2. Assorted Cheeses & Meats, 3. BLT Salad, 4. Pan-Roasted Filet Mignon, 5. Basil Crusted Wild Alaskan Halibut, 6. Passion Fruit Sorbet, 7. Banana Strudel & 8. Panna Cotta.  The food was amazing!

One of my favorite parts of the evening was the drinks.  Spark specializes in beautiful, fun and delicious non-alcoholic drinks.  Since I don’t drink alcohol, I really appreciated that I could have a night on the town with a fancy drink – normally I have to stick with water or soda (boring!).  Most virgin drinks sacrifice flavor, but these were scrumptious!  I loved the Bellini the most, while the Shirley Temple, adorned with a stick of cotton candy, was too sweet for my tastes (loved how it looked & photographed, though).

We were able to meet with Chef Lauro Romero afterwards.  He was surprisingly down to earth & very interested in what we thought of everything we had tasted that night.

My only complaint about the whole night is that the lighting in the bathrooms is HORRIBLE & could make a super-model look like trash.  I was grateful I’m past my teenage years where one look in those mirrors would have ruined my night & devastated me for week.

p.s. Sadly, I didn’t bring my external head flash that evening, so some of the whites in my pics are more blown out than if I had it. Oh well; live and learn, right? 😉

Evia’s Time in the Limelight

Things have been VERY busy & I have neglected my poor little blog!  Also, I’ve been having issues with a redesign for my portfolio site (the program keeps unnaturally stretching my photos, regardless of how support has told me how to fix it – at a semi-standstill).  However, I wanted to get some pics up from this latest shoot of My Dough Girl’s cookie of the month, Evia.  It’s a vanilla bean dough with pear slices, a marzipan center & pinenuts on top.  All in all, one gorgeous cookie.  I love how little vanilla bean flecks showed up in the dough pic.

There is some argument about the perfection of the food for food photography.  My personal take is that food isn’t perfect in real life & it’s the sweet little imperfections that give it character.  I once heard of a food stylist who spent a few hours tucking spaghetti noodles in so there would be no loose ends hanging out for a photo – bleh!  When we eat spaghetti, there are plenty of loose ends & that makes it interesting.  While I do think that good food styling can make or break a shot, I think excess styling can detract & make it look unnatural.  The little flaws humanize the food & make it more appealing.

I’m also not a fan of having tons of stuff in the shot either (i.e. lots of props).  Every dish has it’s own character, with or without needing to add a lot of props.  I like the simple beauty of a white background in most situations.  This dough & cookie are so light in color that the tendency would be to put some color in the photo somehow, like putting it on a colored plate or cloth napkin.  However, I think the simple elegance of this cookie really shone by not having anything but the cookie in the shots.  What do you think?  What do you like/dislike in food photography?

Two Peas and Pod Shoot

Things have been really busy for me lately (yay!), so I’m catching up on blog posts.  These photos are from a shoot I did for a local food blogger, Maria Lichty, of Two Peas and Pod.  I took these pics at her home & … she & her hubby even let me taste the food!!!  You’d be surprised – probably – to know that when I photograph it, I rarely am invited to eat it.  That’s totally okay, though.  I know I’m not there to taste, but this was a really nice treat.  Maria’s food was yum, yum, yummy!!!  (and she’s adorable, to boot).

p.s. I’m having issues with my portfolio website (limelightfoodphotography.com) so please don’t judge… it’s yucky & not working out & I’m getting gray hairs.  For my most recent photos, check out my Flickr photostream (& say a quick prayer that my portfolio issues can be resolved soon… xoxo).

The Sun & Moon Cafe

Here are some photos I took recently for The Sun & Moon Cafe.  They were taken on-location, which was really fun because I love getting to see the food in it’s setting.  The chef styled the food beautifully.  Each dish he brought out looked completely amazing.  I had a lot of fun capturing these shots & will definitely be going back to the Sun & Moon Cafe for a night out.  They are this cute little restaurant up in the canyon that has live jazz & bluegrass music.  I’d really like to go sometime when it’s warmer.  They were telling me how fun it is out on the patio in the summer.  There’s a river running nearby, so the ambiance is incredible.

A New Favorite

I literally squealed with delight capturing this shot on Saturday.  Tami, owner/”director of appetites” of My Dough Girl, was nervous about shots being taken of Blythe, her green pistachio cookies, after they were baked.  She thought they just weren’t as pretty as in the frozen dough-ball form.  However, I have come to adore little Blythe & really think we made her shine & look her best.  Isn’t she a knock-out?  And, to boot, she’s completely delicious.

Thank you to all of you who participated in my little business card quest.  Your input has been very valuable.  I’ve made my decision & will unveil it to you in the next day or so… I’m really excited & think you’ll love it!

Business Card Designs

I’m trying to finalize a business card design to then take to print & thought I’d post my top 3 favorites here for anyone’s contributing input.  Which design do you like the best?  Which design looks the most professional?  Should there be more food photography on the card?  Thanks for your perspective!

Martini Shoot

Tuesday I had the privilege of shooting these martini shots for Utah Business Magazine.  It was a really exciting shoot for me, largely in part because it was pretty technical to get things just right. Because it was in a bar, it was a very low-light situation.  I loved getting creative & getting to use some geometry to really make the light fold over the martinis how I wanted it to.  I think we got some really beautiful effects from directing my flash at my silver reflector & bouncing the light onto the martinis.

I was really glad that the Art Director, Spencer Henderson, was right there with me at the shoot.  We were able to pinpoint exactly what they wanted for the magazine & execute it immediately.  These three were the favorites & I’m not sure what ones they’ll use, or if they’ll use all three.  What’s your favorite shot?

One Hot Cookie: Meet Alexandra

Now that you’ve been properly introduced, I’m sure you’d like to get to know this hot dough girl, Alexandra, even better!  These cookie shots were done for My Dough Girl, a gourmet cookie dough company.  Each cookie is named & has a starlet “dough girl” photo icon attached to them.  This is one sexy cookie place.  Tami, the owner & “director of appetites” (as she likes to call herself), dreams up these fantastic cookie creations & sells them in dough form.  Then, you can take them home & throw them in the freezer to pull out & cook as desired.  Baking up these beauties really does make you the hero of your family.

Alexandra is made from a chocolate hazelnut dough all decked out with dried cherries & hazelnuts.  Mmm, mmm scrumptious!  We’re working on getting Tami’s shots done so she can open up her shopping cart online so everyone can order her decadant dough to be delivered to their door.  Seriously, does life get better than that?