Tasty Soil Granules, Acrylic, and Glue

We intuitively know the power of images- one picture is worth a thousand words. Poets know the power of images - they create visual impressions with language. Advertisers know the power of images - they invoke desire for products through pictures.

Food images can actually make us salivate.  Interesting, then, that what we salivate over and crave is often not real food, but effective stand-ins that look better on camera than the real thing and stand up to the hot lights.

Images can make us desire food, and it's humbling to know that what creates that desire is not only often unpalatable, but also often dangerously inedible.

How cooling does that image of a glass of iced tea look on a hot summer's day or that icy, slushy margarita? Mmmm. How about a glass sprayed with dulling spray, some tasty acrylic ice cubes, and corn syrup droplets on the outside? The iced tea is probably not really iced tea because brewed coffee diluted with water photographs better. That beautiful, green slushy margarita may well be an inviting glass of Soil Granules and colouring.

Ice cream is difficult for photographers to work with - hot lights don't mix well with anything that melts. No problem. A nice mixture based on instant mashed potatoes or shortening with food colouring works well. Maybe some purchased icing with lots of confectioner's sugar added. Well, that doesn't sound so bad, but then they go and spoil it with Elmer's Glue-All to simulate those nice melty drops!

Dying for a piece of that mile-high cake with fluffy, thick icing? The icing may be icing, but the cake may be mile-high Styrofoam. Maybe the cake is actually cake, but watch out for the cardboard separating the layers; it's not so tasty.

Not all food in photographs is fake; in fact, in advertising, the actual product must be shown. The fake food is food in a supporting role in the ad or in editorials and other food shots.

So the ice cream featured for sale is ice cream, but the ice cream underneath the topping (the actual item for sale) is most likely fake. The fast food hamburger is really the item, although it may well be browner from a combination of hoisin sauce and Angostura Bitters.

Spritzed with oil, dribbled with glue, food in photographs looks yummy, refreshing, satisfying, tasty. But it's no wonder that the real fast food burger never looks as good as the one in the ad. The ad is all about the image, and that poor old burger is just a burger.




My source is a book by Linda Bellingham - Food Styling for Photographers

Food photos are for interest and not to demonstrate fake food.
(iced tea photo - Arbor Teas)
(cake photo - Epicurious)

Ode to the Lemon

The poem is "Ode to the Lemon" by Pablo Neruda (trans. Margaret Sayers Peden).  The photos are mine - making preserved lemons.

From blossoms

released

by the moonlight,

from an

                     aroma of exasperated                       

love,

steeped in fragrance,

yellowness

drifted from the lemon tree,

and from its plantarium

lemons descended to the earth.

Tender yield!

The coasts,

the markets glowed

with light, with

unrefined gold;

we opened

two halves
of a miracle,
congealed acid
trickled
from the hemispheres
of a star,
the most intense liqueur
of nature,
unique, vivid,
concentrated,
born of the cool, fresh
lemon,
of its fragrant house,
its acid, secret symmetry.

Knives                                                                      

sliced a small 

cathedral

in the lemon,

the concealed apse, opened, 

revealed acid stained glass,
drops
oozed topaz,
altars,
cool architecture.

So, when you hold

the hemisphere

of a cut lemon

above your plate,

you spill

a universe of gold,

a

yellow goblet

of miracles,
a fragrant nipple

of the earth's breast,

a ray of light that was made fruit,

the minute fire of a planet.

Soiree's Past Week

At My Soiree Jan 11 - 17

In case you missed one. Enjoy!

10 Things I Know About Losing Weight -January 11

Archaeology for English Majors - January 12

My Short Unsuccessful Acting Career - January 13

Help Haiti! - January 14

Fighting the Grammar Police - January 15

Weird, Wild, Wonderful 4 -Jan 10-16 - January 16

Weird, Wild, Wonderful 4 - Jan 10 - 16

The blog Appetite (discovering the world of food one photograph at a time) is absolutely stunning. The food photos are some of the best I have ever seen, and there are recipes, travels (showcasing food), and chitchat about food.

The blog and the photos (like the one at left) are the work of Penny De Los Santos.

This is one of the best blogs I have seen for food, photography, recipes - some of my favourite things, all brought together in one place.

Tastespotting.com calls itself a "community-driven visual potluck" and showcases recipes and photos that members submit. The images are wonderful and clicking on one takes you to the submitter's site/blog for the recipe.

The bonus is that it links to so many other awesome food sites. The Curried Wild Rice and Chicken Chowder (photo from blog, above, left) sounds excellent, so I've linked directly to the submitter's blog. The second bonus is that you can join and submit something of your own.


I wonder how many food blogs there are? Millions, probably - so not hard to find good ones. The editor of Tastespotting has her own great blog - Chocolate Shavings. This blog has professional and stunning food photos and recipes that you can access by category as well as by just randomly browsing through the posts.
 

Finally for this week, The Ballerina Gallery, a website entirely of photos of ballerinas. The home page has an alphabetical list of dozens of great dancers with a link to a photo gallery for each one. Quite fascinating. There were far more names on the list that I didn't know, than there were ones that I did, but just randomly clicking on any one yields some great photos.

(The photo is of Margot Fonteyn, by Baron.)

Food, Glorious Digital Food

Food and photography. Two of my favourite things. What's not to love when they are combined?

A little research reveals some of the many things to consider when photographing food - that same research  reveals just how many resources there are to help.

Photographing food is an art, and the book Still Life and Special Effects Photography by Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz, according to reviews, contains high-end, magazine-quality photos and techniques. Food as photographic still life.
Some of the important considerations for food photography involve the food itself. Food wilts, fades, melts oxidizes, and  gels. How long a shoot will take is dictated by the food itself and the tricks in the photographer's and stylist's bag.

Lou Manna's book Digital Food Photography covers many tips, techniques, and problems. Manna is a commercial food photographer in New York. His photos are truly awesome.

Lighting is a complicated aspect of food photography. Lights are hot; food melts. Shiny dishes and glassware require fancy handling. Food we want to photograph is usually highly coloured - lots of reds and greens. It needs colour balance in order not to look odd.

 Lighting for Food and Drink Photography by Steve Bavister offers techniques for lighting issues.

Food styling involves all the elements of presentation - dishes, linens, silver- and glassware, foods and garnish to accompany the star food. All of the things that make the food appealing are in the realm of the stylist. You might say that styling is the hair and make-up for food.


Food Styling for Photographers by Linda Bellingham and Jean Ann Bybee covers the styling bases.

The result of all the food-handling, lighting, colour balancing, and styling is photos that make food look, well, good enough to eat!

Now, after all the work of writing this post, I want dessert.

Chinese Veggies Photo
Wine Glasses Photo
Cake Photo