For the Love of Food

While I was putting together my post for the first Foodbuzz hosted Project Food Blog Challenge, I came across some really old posts that I wanted to share with you.

Around the end of 2006 – when I was in the late stage of pregnancy with my older son – I had A LOT of time on my hands and spent most of it in front of my computer doing research. I had been blogging for almost 2 years at that point, had practically 0 followers, and was generally unhappy with the way the food looked. Don’t get me wrong – my food tasted great, but presentation is key when you want people to read about what you cook.

One gloomy winter evening I stumbled upon La Tartine Gourmande and my blogging life has never been the same. She was just learning about food styling back then, and reading her posts and seeing how she styled her food opened a whole new world for me. I had never heard of food styling until then!

Thanks to Google and great food bloggers (like you guys) out there who are happy to post a tutorial or two on their blogs, it is easy to get access to the right information and learn how to style food and take good pictures.

So, today I’d like to share with you what a little inspiration and research can do if you set your mind to it: Continue Reading »

I thought I’d share some nice summer-time eye candy with you while I spend a few days processing the tons of photos I took while on my vacation.

I had a really great time, but I am happy to be back home where the temperature is mild and the fruit tastes like, well, fruit!

And, that’s the story I want to tell you… Continue Reading »

Recently I received a comment on one of my posts where a fellow blogger expressed her frustration with her food photography – all her pictures look the same – was her complaint.

Upon checking out her blog, I noticed that she has only been blogging for a few months and that her pictures look just like mine did 4 years ago: very one-sided.  I remember back when I first started blogging and taking pictures of my food that I was always so frustrated that my pictures never ever came out the way I had seen them with my eye.  The “simple” explanation is that my eyes are much better lenses than the one on my point-and-shoot camera and that the brain compensates quite a lot – much like the brain of a digital camera.  Except, that, well, a human brain can do much much more…so far.

So, for those of your who are just starting out, planning on starting out, or wishing to advance to the next level, this post will help you. Continue Reading »

Happy 2009 everyone!

I decided to analyze my blog from January 2008 – December 2008 to see what you like.

Why?
I want to see more of you around my blog more often. And, that means finding out what you like.

How?
I looked at all my posts and saw what you commented most on and I learned quite a lot.

What? Continue Reading »

I just wanted to go ahead share a nice breakfast I made the other day. Nothing “special” recipe wise – just your basic scrambled eggs, hash brown, and bacon.

What you may not realize, though, is that I completely styled this meal from beginning to end – AND it was still edible afterwards! Continue Reading »

I know I rarely post twice in a day, but I am so excited about this find that I had to share it with you!

So, one this I never mentioned is that for my birthday my mom gave me this awesome book: Food Styling For Photographers (if you buy it through my amazon store, a small percentage is donated to my blog!). I had been wishing for this book for quite some time now, and I ready through it quickly once I got my hands on it. It’s like a great novel for foodies…without being a novel at all. It is not just a book on food styling, but rather a book written for photographers who are not food stylists but need to food style for some reason or another.  There are lots of pictures, step by step explanations, and great lighting and camera tips.

That being said, there are exact instructions on how to style just about anything. However, while I learned a lot from this book, I don’t think I will be making margaritas out of Soil Moist granules anytime soon – even if they look fantastic. I like to stick to the edible type of styling, and there are plenty of ways to achieve that.

One food styling technique that caught my eye was how to style bacon (page 210-211 in book). It never dawned on me that most bacon is curly when styled and it always comes out flat when I cook it.

I am going to share with you just how easy it is to make this, and then share with you my recipe for baked potato chowder bellow! Continue Reading »