pics of food

Earlier in the week, we talked styling hair, but now we’re talking food styling.
Having the privilege of visiting a few commercial test kitchens, I am more and more amazed at the art of food styling and food styling for photography.
Many of you have already read about my BLT (squared), the Hillshire Farm Coupons, and my quest to win the Hillshire Farm’s Most Wanted Sandwich Contest, (I ended up winning this – yay!),  but you may not realize that now I have been certified as an official “food stylist” with a fancy certificate and everything. 😉
(Why do I feel like it may have been “every one gets a certificate if they participate” kind of thing that our children always receive? haha)

food photography tips

We dialogued for a few hours on the different ways to present food items for eating and consumption vs. food photography. Take the sandwich above. Look how beautifully the meat is presented. As I page through magazines and see ads, I now notice that all sandwiches have meat that’s beautifully folded, and it makes it appear as if there’s so much more meat on the sandwich than just laying it on there.

It’s sounds corny, but this was the most interesting food trick I have learned in a long time, and I can’t believe I haven’t done it before. I’ll do a little video to show you how to fold the meat. It’s so simple, but if you’re a visual learner like I am, the live process will be helpful.

food styling toolsI cracked up when I saw the food photographer’s little makeup bag. He mentioned that he travels with this everywhere. Of course, we all use tweezer for plucking…food particles, of course, and brushes for clearing crumbs (not eye shadow)

food photographyDon’t we all wish we had the precision and time to serve beautiful food like that all day long. Somehow, I don’t think I’d hear the food stylist say, “Just slap the meat on yourself.” 😉 (But, if I had my preference,  I think I might just take that unbelievable camera over the great sandwich any day.)
I’ll be sharing some more photos from my visit in another post, but in honor of my official “food stylist” honor, would you go vote for that beautifully styled sandwich at Gomeat.com. (Don’t worry, contest has ended.) Scroll until you see the BLT, and click. If you haven’t heard about the contest, or are curious about what our family will do with the large grand prize amount, see my Most Wanted Sandwich Contest Post. It’s truly a dream to open the eyes of our children through this opportunity.

TastyTuesday200pix Whats the First Recipe You Learned to Cook?

Simple Rules for Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods – If you’re joining in with a recipe link, two simple requests. As always,  Please link directly to your recipe post and not your blog URL, so that everyone can find the recipe months from now.
Also, link back here so that everyone can join in the fun. MANY of you are not linking back, and it’s just common courtesy of blog carnivals.