A few weeks ago, I was blessed to attend The International Food Bloggers Conference in Seattle. Sponsored by Foodista and Zephyr Adventures, IFBC 2013 was three jam-packed days of food, workshops, more food, writing, new friends, even more food, technology and of course, the opportunity to be in one of my favorite cities!
Saturday morning at IFBC, we had a Food Photography and Cooking Demo with the famous Chef John Mitzewich of Food Wishes and the equally famous New York Times food photographer, Andrew Scrivani.
Chef John began the demo doing a cooking segment with two local chefs, on how to filet a whole salmon. It was very entertaining (and educational, of course!) Andrew provided color commentary. Chef John and Andrew are obviously very good friends as their cheerful banter went back and forth and they kept us all laughing. Since it was a cooking and photography demo, Andrew had to sneak in a snapshot or two.
Chef John created four different salmon dishes and plated each under Andrews helpful supervision…?
When Chef John was done, Andrew took the stage and shared his expertise on how to take incredible food pictures. I learned more from Andrew in an hour, than I’ve learned on my own over the last two years.
I feel like such a newbie when it comes to my food pictures. Even though this is an IM-perfect kitchen, I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to my food pictures. If it’s not pretty, I don’t want to share it. Now I know how to make my pictures better! Hopefully you’ll be able to see the improvement in my next few recipe posts.
Andrews style is to get up-close and personal with his food. This made me happy, as I tend to take pictures the same way! I shove my iPhone as close to the food as possible and snap away! We were told to “fill the frame with delicious food,” to “capture the moment of anticipation in a photo.” A “culinary foreplay” as it were…hubba hubba!
We talked a lot about technical stuff too. Shooting with tripods, timers and tethers. Light boxes, orientation, fill cards, shooting with a macro lens, props, table settings, dpi for pictures, building rigs to hold things (totally doing this!!!) storytelling and invoking emotions in your pictures. The end result, of course, being pictures that make people connect with the photo and want to sink their teeth into whatever it is we’re sharing!
Here are some pictures of Chef’s Johns food, after Andrews photo discussion! This is how we ALL looked practicing taking pictures at the right angle, in the right light!
A salmon rose… delicious AND pretty!
Beautiful salmon slices with blackberries and mushrooms!
A gorgeous salmon ceviche with shrimp, cherry tomatoes, garlic and crispy slices of a sourdough baguette!
Salmon tartare, wrapped with leeks and bagel slices!
After I took pictures, I nervously waited in line to meet Andrew. He gave me a hug! Apparently that’s what you do when you’re from New York and you’re Italian! See! Don’t say you never learn things from me. How many of you knew New Yorker’s were huggers? Next time you’re there, hug every Italian you see! You’re welcome! :-)
Another wonderful and wistful thing, Andrew looks quite a bit like my Dad… They have the same sense of humor too. I miss my Dad, but I was so honored to meet Andrew!
Here is a picture of Andrew and I, (ignore how tired I look, please!) then a side by side of my Dad and Andrew.
Kinda freaky, right? Maybe we’re related! Wouldn’t that be funny!
Either way, it was a great workshop and I’m very excited to put what I learned into practice! Thanks to Chef John and to Andrew for a great morning at IFBC 2013!
Oh my gosh, I want to pick your brain about what you learned! Uncanny resemblance to your father. I’ve been so looking forward to this post and hearing about the experience. Will you share more in another post??? Pretty please?
Hi Maria!
You can pick my brain ANY time, my friend! Yes, I’ll be sharing in another post (or two or three) over the next few weeks. There is so much to tell everyone!! Stay tuned for more!