Food Photo Friday: Feb. 24th

This Food Photo Friday is for my mom.  She is a dedicated reader and avid supporter of my blog.  When I started doing Food Photo Friday, she saw a picture in Reader's Digest that she wanted me to feature.  So, when in looking for this Friday's picture on Pinterest I found the same watermelon picture, it seemed time to fitting.

In doing some research, I found that this photo was taken by Sarah Illenberger, a German photographer.  Her work tends to play stark backgrounds to offset imaginative and playfully assembled objects.  There is one photo, "See/Say Chew Before You Swallow," of pretzel dough made into tendrils.  It almost looks like an octopus but with twice as many legs.  The photo I'm featuring, "Meloncholie," is both whimsical and sad and makes you look at watermelon in quite a different way.   

 

Food Photo Friday: Feb. 9th

As I mentioned last week, I am serving as a judge in a "Be My Valentines" recipe contest for Very Good Recipes.  So for this Food Photo Friday, I wanted to feature a picture from one of the contest participants to help get some interest in the contest as well as show off a really fantastic food photo. 

The photo comes from the blog, The Way to His Heart, written by Maeghan.  In asking Maeghan about her blog, she talked about how the tagline, "recipes to fall in love with," has two means.  It has the literal meaning as well as her commitment to recipes that she can cook for everyday life to bring happiness and joy to her husband, daughter, and friends.  What a great statement to the potential for food.  

Maeghan also wrote to me that she doesn't differentiate between "fancy" and "comforting" when it comes to recipes, because "Good food is comforting, point blank."  I couldn't agree more!  

The photo is from her "Be My Valentine" submission for "Heart Shaped Thin Mints."  With Valentine's Day coming up, it is beautiful photo to reminds us of the sweet seduction that comes with Valentine's Day.  I thought her picture nicely balances the dark chocolate and white background with the little hint of red in the middle.  It makes for such a lush and sexy looking picture. 

 

Thanks for sharing your picture, Maeghan! And please check out the "Be My Valentine" contest.   

Food Photo Friday: Jan. 27th

To find a nominee for this week's Food Photo Friday, I asked some friends on Twitter if they had any suggestions.  The nomination I got was from kimmunro.  Kim nominated a picture from her blog, Strawberry Ginger, a blog that is one part cooking, one part memoir.  

The picture comes from a post on Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Cookies and the final products look fluffy and decadent.  Kim does something really fun with her step-by-step pictures; she puts then a slideshow.  When I first started writing my blog, I debated a long time about how to incorporate the recipe pictures in a way that wasn't cumbersome or that made the post too long.  I went with YouTube videos, but I really like Kim's solution.  You can click along at your own pace and see the story of the food unfold picture by picture.

The picture below was my favorite from the Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Cookies series.  I liked the play of the rack lines and round cookies as well as the soft background against the dark cookies.   

 

Thanks, Kim, for nominating and sharing your picture with me.  

Food Photo Friday: Jan. 12th

For the first Food Photo Friday of the new year, I'm featuring a picture from the blog Life with Mel. Mel, supported by her very cute dog Pippy, has a great food blog that tracks her "pilgrimage toward Cooking Perfection."  Not only a great tagline, but her blog reflects her adventures through learning how to be a better cook, and I think that is a quest that many readers can relate to.

The picture I chose from Mel's blog is a picture that she posted on Food Frenzy.   The picture struck me because it combined two of my favorite things--pancakes and bacon.  Not only is it a great combination of ingredients, but the photo itself is really noteworthy.  The nice juxtaposition of circles and lines as well as the contrast of warm and cool colors makes this a very yummy picture to look at. 
  Thanks to Mel for allowing me to feature her picture.  Please check out her post on making "Bacon Pancake Sticks."  Such a marvelous idea.

Also, if you have any pictures you'd like to nominate for the next Food Photo Friday, please send me an email (downhomefoodie@gmail.com) or leave a link in the comment area.

Food Photo Friday: Dec. 2

Today, I'm featuring a photo from the blog, The Ravenous Couple, by Hong and Kim.  As I've mentioned before, my best friend is Vietnamese and her mom spoils me with tasty meals every time I got to visit her.  When I move from Virginia to Nebraska in January, one of the many things I'm going to miss is Kathy's mom's cooking.  Luckily, there is a large Vietnamese population in Lincoln, NE, but I'm still going to have to learn a little more about doing it myself. 

Luckily, I found The Ravenous Couple to help me.  Not only do they have a recipe for my second favorite Vietnamese dish, Xoi Bap Sticky Rice, they also have really impressive photography.  The photo of theirs that I picked was from a post on "Vietnamese Blood Sausage."  I picked it because there are several times that with certain foods, I just am unable to figure out how to photograph them and make them look appetizing.  For my stuffing post, one of the pictures I took was of raw sausage meat and it took a while to make it not look like gross raw meat.  In Hong and Kim's post, they took something I imagine would be hard to photograph and made it look tasty and sheik.  I've had Korean blood sausage and rather liked it, so I may have to give this version a try sometime, too. 

 

Thank you to Hong and Kim for letting me feature their picture.  If you would like to nominate one for Dec. 16th's Food Photo Friday, please email me the link at downhomefoodie@gmail.com.  

Food Photo Friday: Nov. 18th

For this Food Photo Friday, I'm featuring a picture from the blog Fannetastic Food, written by Anne P.  Anne is working to become a Registered Dietitian and created a blog that reminds readers that being a foodie can be healthy.  Sometimes, in watching things like Top Chef and seeing so much dolloping of butter, cream, etc, it seem like the life of a foodie is antithetical to a healthy lifestyle.  Anne's "fannetastic" recipes and colorful pictures do a lot to remind me that good for you and good tasting aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

The picture I wanted to feature is one from her post called, "Friend Thanksgiving," a post about having a potluck with her graduate school friends.  Although there is a very tantalizing picture of roasting birds, the picture I chose features my favorite vegetable, Brussels sprouts.  What struck me about the picture, in addition to the rows of little green heads, was the use of focus and pattern.  In a lot of food photos, the pattern comes so much from the table and the fabrics brought in the table decoration.  In this picture, I liked how a sense of pattern and texture just comes from having so many little Brussels sprouts laid out on the pan.  Plus, the focus gives such a interesting sense of detail and scope to make those little vegetables with the bad reputation look a little more epic.

As always, if there is s a food photo you would like to nominate, leave a note in the comment section or send me an email (downhomefoodie@gmail.com) with a link.

Thanks to Anne for letting me feature her picture!

Food Photo Friday: Nov. 4

I was watching CBS's Sunday Morning when I was home visiting my parents this weekend.  They were doing a special on Carl Warner whose has literally turned food into art.  He has gone beyond food in still life and transformed both the way you look at what you eat and how you think about landscapes.  Although normally I don't feature large artists for my food photos, these food photos are too amazing not to pass along to you. 

Use of red cabbage and asparagus.

Broccoli, peas, and sugar for the water.

Notice the use of fish for the shimmery water. 

The mountain in the back is made of steaks and an ox-tail. 

 If you want to see more Warner foodscapes, then click here to see the rest: http://www.carlwarner.com/warner_small.html

Food Photo Friday: Oct. 21

Last Friday, I asked for nominations for this week's Food Photo Friday.  One photo submitted came from the blog, Made in Melissa's Kitchen, which is written by Melissa.  Her blog has lots of very creative cakes, recipes, and baked goods. One of my favorite things about her blog is the story she tells about how her mixer inspired her love of cooking.  

I really enjoyed looking through Melissa's photos.  Her pictures tend to be vibrant and playful. The picture that was nominated is from a post on making a "Kit Kat Cake."  I really like this one because of the sheer visual appeal of glistening pieces of M&M's sitting atop a cake surrounded by Kit Kat bars.  The picture does a great job of conveying the joy of coming to a party and being presented with such a treat.   

Thanks to the person who nominated Melissa's picture.  If you would like to nominate a picture for the next Food Photo Friday on Nov 4th, just leave a link in the comment section. 

Sunday in Charlottesville: Whole Food

The last of the Sunday visit to Charlottesville included visiting the new Whole Foods.  Originally, I had thought about talking about what the new building has to offer. But, since most foodies know what a Whole Foods is, doing a write-up of the visit seemed a little pointless.  So instead, I'm using Food Photo Friday to finish this series of posts with a collection of photographs of my visit to Whole Foods.  

Food Photo Friday: Sept. 30

This week, I am featuring a picture from the food blog of Chef Julie Yoon, who states simply that "life is de-li-cious."  Julie's site is dedicated to an idea I fully support which is that gourmet cooking can be easy, affordable, and approachable. As part of her website, she includes sharp video demonstrations that have very sassy cinematography.  Julie shared with me that the theme of these videos is "using fresh ingredients for simple cooking, with a hint of gourmet, and a relaxed attitude."  I think that reads clearly in the presentation, editing, and feel of the videos and I recommend checking a couple out.   

I chose the picture below from a post, "Good Cooks Have Good Friends." On Tastespotting and FoodGawker, I see a lot of really great food pictures that are well-scaped and arranged.  I liked that this picture has qualities you usually see in scaped food photography, but it also embraces being an "action" moment that reminds us of food being part of a shared moment with others.  Food photography is often about food, but rarely about eating.  To say that sentiment in another way, food photography shows off the food, highlights its tastiness and appeal, but isn't about the moment of eating and enjoying.  The pictures I featured from Spoon Fork Bacon and A Cozy Kitchen also had a wonderful quality of being part of a meal, but I liked how well this picture embraced food as part of a dinner party, part of a shared experience. 

It also doesn't hurt that this meal look amazing and not to be missed.  I am little envious of not being there. 

Food Photo Friday: Sept. 23

For this week's Food Photo Friday, I asked my last guest photographer, Teri from Spoon Fork Bacon, to nominate a picture.  She nominated Adrianna whose blog, A Cozy Kitchen, has a beautiful collection of photographs of food she refers to as "cozy type comfort food," or adult versions of her favorite foods from her childhood. 

The picture that Teri picked comes from a post on "Homemade Almond Butter."  I really liked that this a well-composed photograph that is casual at the same time.  The appearance of crumbs, the inclusion of the tea still seeping, and the smear of almond butter on the paper and knife give the photo a great feel of comfort and casualness.  Yet, to balance its simplicity, are still very careful thoughts about tonality, texture, line, and color, which make it quite elegant, too. 

Food Photo Friday: Sept. 16

This week I am using one of my own pictures.  I had nominations ready, but I took a picture this weekend that I really liked.  Unfortunately, I have no reason to use it for anything, which is why it ended up the "Food Photo Friday" pic.  

I was trying to take pictures of ginger ale in a measuring cup and ended up playing around with some dramatic angles.  The one I ended up using was this one. . 

However, I had taken another that I thought was more interesting, except that it didn't really read clearly as being ginger ale in a measuring class.

I liked it because it reminded me of a Vegas picture I took of a light installment: 

It probably is not really considered a success when you take a picture of food and you end up making food look not like food.  Yet, it is still a little intriguing anyway. 

Food Photo Friday: Sept. 2

This "Photo Friday" picture comes from a website, Molecule-R. Molecule-R Flavors is a Montreal-based company dedicated to helping both amateur and professional chefs learn about molecular gastronomy and mixology. 

I found Molecule-R's Flickr photo album through Pininterest when I was looking up pictures of molecular cooking.  As a foodie, I'm still not sure how I feel about Molecular Gastronomy, but these pictures made me rethink things.  All of the photos made molecular cooking look so appetizing, elegant, and tasty that I had to wonder a little bit about what I missing.  Although they have a really chic pic entitled "Molecular Mojito," "Whiskey Shots" was the one I liked the most and is part of the pictures from Molecule-R's instructional DVD for their Cocktail R-EVOLUTION kit.  "Whiskey Shots" is my favorite partly because I do love whisky, but mainly because I like how the picture plays with focus , reflection, and texture.  The contrast of the smooth spherical whiskey, shiny metal spoons, and texture wood gives the shot a complex tactile quality. 

Whiskey Shots by Molecule-R

Sept. 2, 2011

Food Photo Friday, Aug. 26

For my second "Food Photo Friday," I picked a picture from a fellow blogger, Kelly, who writes "Eat Yourself Skinny," a blog dedicated to making healthy eating fun.  I thought the play of the different textures and vibrant colors made the tacos look particularly fresh and appetizing.  I also enjoyed how the composition played the roundness of the limes and tortilla off the linearity of the diagonal compositions, lines on the placemat, and lines of the plate. 

Sauteed Tilapia Tacos with Grilled Peppers and Onions

by Kelly

Launching Food Photo Friday

The more I go down the rabbit hole that is food blogging, the more I discover how many wonderful, budding food photographers are out there in cyberworld.  Websites like Tastespotting, Foodgawker, and Food Frenzy (to name a few) are spilling over with pictures meant to tantalize our sense of taste by appealing to our sense of sight. 

Recently, while watching a cooking show on a busted television, I was further reminded of how important well-taken food pictures are to enjoying food.  The hotel I was staying at was struck by lighting, blowing Internet, TVs, phones, and, sadly, my laptop (may it rest in peace).  The TV in my room was spared complete death and instead just crippled the contrast on the images, making people's faces green and water bright magenta.  It made watching Shaun of the Dead particularly intriguing because all the blood was turned a vivid neon green. 

Although watching a food show normally leaves me salivating and frantic for something tasty, seeing the food in unnatural colors left something to be desired.  For instance, take this picture of a tasty cheese plate.

Now, look at it with distorted color palette . . . 

See what a little color distortion can do to how appetizing a picture can be? 

To celebrate the many beautiful food pictures out there on the Internet, I've decided to add a new feature to my blog called "Food Photo Friday."  Every Friday, I'll post a favorite food picture from the week.  If you have one you would like considered, then send me a link to your blog post (limit one submission per week). If I select yours, I'll post a copy of your picture with a built in hyperlink back to your blog.  If you want to be considered, you will need to email me (downhomefoodie@gmail.com) by Wednesday.  That way, I have time to get the link embedded and then you can tell your blog audience all about it. 

To kick of the first "Food Photo Friday," here is a picture by a friend of mine who writes the blog, Lamenting Icarus.  She has lots of great photos that she has taken as well as some gathered from Pinterest.  I asked her to pick one from her collection and this is the one she chose.