Here is a question for you…

What do food bloggers all have in common other than their love for food?

Their love for taking pictures of their food!

That being said, when Kerstin organized a photography session with a professional culinary photographer and asked if I would be interested in attending, I jumped for joy and screamed, ‘YES’!  Ever since I started my blog, my appreciation for cameras, photography and capturing the moment (and food) has certainly gone up.  I’ve actually read some of my camera’s manual to understand the features and functions on my camera.  Can you imagine?! I’m not quite sure if I was able to process all of it, but I’m proud that I at least made the try.  For that reason, I knew a few tips and tricks from a professional was definitely up my alley and definitely something from which I could benefit.

Image Credit – mediabistro.com

We (meaning 14 food bloggers and 1 husband) arrived at Gary Tardiff’s photography studio promptly at 2pm to begin our photography lesson.  I think everyone (including Healthy Chow) was excited to meet Gary and to begin taking in some of his knowledge.  We all listened closely as Gary introduced himself, talked about his work and informed us that he wanted the afternoon to be more of a discussion rather than a lecture.  Sounds good to me, Gary!

We’re like little sponges…

Our personable, experienced and knowledgeable photog friend went over some of the basics of photography.  He showed us some of the cameras he works with, the different types of lighting and lenses he uses and the purposes behind them.  Gary mentioned that he had the chance to take a peek at our blogs before we arrived to get a sense of our picture taking abilities.  He said we made some nice efforts and that with a few tweaks and some guidance, we’d be well on our way to taking some great photos.  Again, sounds good to me, Gary! But one of the common issues he noticed about our pictures was the fact that our average white balance was not set properly.  Because of this, our pictures tend to come out ‘discolored’ or with tints of color that may not be intended.  Gary went on to talk about shutter speed, aperture, depth-to-feel, the difference between low and high ISO and how the fundamentals of exposure is key.  I really enjoyed listening to Gary and I learned quite a bit.  However, most of the things he mentioned pertained to using a DSLR camera, something which I do not own (not yet, anyways…).  I’ll have to admit that many of the terms Gary used were foreign to me and I couldn’t fully grasp what he was saying being that I have never used a DSLR camera.  But, being that I was in the minority (most of the other bloggers were fully equipped with DSLR’s), I just went with the flow.  I was at Gary’s studio listening to Gary’s words because I wanted to learn.  Once I do get my very own DSLR, I know I’ll be good to go.

After our discussion on photography basics, Gary gave us a tour of his place of business.  It was so interesting!  I think all of the bloggers’ jaws dropped when we saw his collection of plates.  Holy crap on a cracker! If only I could have access to all those plates when I’m taking pictures of my food…I’d be in heaven!  Gary also mentioned that the props he has he finds just about everywhere and anywhere.  They aren’t anything fancy, they’re just items he found that he made work for him.  For example, Gary showed us this beautiful door he found discarded from a building.  To the people tearing down the building, the door was trash.  But to Gary, it was found treasure.

A food blogger’s dream!

One person’s trash is another person’s treasure!

Wall of photography equipment

An example of Gary’s talent

The next part of our lesson was my favorite part.  Gary demonstrated how he would set-up the staging for a client.  Being that we were the ‘clients’ for the afternoon, Gary asked us what we wanted to have photographed.  Adrienne was the first to volunteer her home baked bread.  It looked delicious in person, but once Gary finished photographing, it looked like the most extraordinary loaf of bread I had ever laid my eyes on!  He showed us how to play around with lighting in order for it to appear ‘natural’ and with a few inexpensive tools (ex: vellum attached to wooden frames), pictures can come out priceless.

Gary’s simply constructed lighting box

Gary reviewing the shot on his computer

Kelly’s granola-in-a-jar was the next model for the day.  Because the jar was something that Kelly was having trouble photographing on her blog, she decided to ask Gary for advice.  Gary demonstrated with the the use of mirrors, lighting, a white backdrop and black paper for shadowing, the glass of the jar can be made to be as visible or hidden as needed.  The concepts that Gary was showing to us were so simple and yet, I would have never guessed to utilize them.  I guess that’s why he’s the teacher and I was the student!

Can you see the granola in the mirror?

What the granola looked like after Gary worked his magic…

The final models for the day were M&M cookies made by Jen and eggplant crostini made by Cara.  Both looked absolutely delectable in person; we were all drooling as Gary was taking pictures and showing us how he reviews and edits them on his computer.  I’m actually surprised we weren’t reaching in to grab cookies and pieces of crostini as bloggers took turns practicing their newly acquired tips and tricks.  Lucky for us, we did get to sample the goods after we were done photographing them.  Thanks ladies!

M&M cookies

Eggplant crostini

I had such a wonderful time with my fellow bloggers and of course, Gary.  Gary, you are an amazing photographer and a wonderful teacher.  To be able to have such great talent, and then to be able to pass along that knowledge to others in a form that makes them want to learn more, is truly a gift .  I thank you for your time, your patience and your wisdom.  Some of the most important lessons I learned were:

• To focus on the front portion (or the first 1/3) of the food you are photographing, since the rest after that is pretty much a repetition – For example, focus on the front part of a bowl of pasta, not the entire bowl.
• To look with your eyes, and not with your head – We often times get so happy and excited to take a picture that we just snap it as soon as we see it.  However, we then notice that there are things in the picture that don’t belong, and then it might be to late to take the picture again.  If we take the time to make sure things like the lighting, the composition and the angle are correct, we will be able to take a much better picture.  We need to see and pay attention to the details as we are shooting, and not assume that the shot we have is perfect.
• To make the person who is looking at your picture want to eat what is in the picture – When photographing, we should think about what the person who is looking at the picture would want to see.  We should consider how to make that person want to believe in what we are shooting.  For example, if we’re taking a picture of a cookie, adding a cup of coffee with a few crumbs next to the cup might make the photo seem more realistic and add to the allure of the cookie.

All in all, no matter what kind of camera you have, no matter how expensive or inexpensive, whether you’re in a professional studio or at your home, whether you have a special lense or a homemade lightbox (I made one out of cardboard and tissue paper) or whether you’re a professional or a complete novice, the most important thing is to have fun.  The perfect shot is not going to come with the first try and it’s not going to come instananeously.  By playing around with things like lighting, props, exposure, etc, we can attain a good photo.  By sticking with it, practicing and having a light-hearted attitude, the shots we take can come out picture perfect.

The Graduating Class of Gary Tardiff’s February 6, 2010 Photography Session

(Starting from the back row, left to right)
Shannon, Jen, Sophie, Kerstin, Chels,
Lauren, Adrienne, Elina, Mary Kate,
Healthy Chow, Cara, Kelly, Jen, Sues

Thank you again, Gary and Kerstin! And thank you, Lauren, for driving and navigating!

Do you have any special photography tips and/or tricks?  How much time do you spend taking pictures of one dish?  Do you like to take a few photos?  Or are you like me and take 100’s?

Namasté,
Nicole

Life as a food blogger is so hard…

Yeah right!  When Shannon invited me to her cookie swap, I was so excited that I practically yelled at my computer screen.  I had never been to a cookie swap before and the thought of attending one with local food bloggers was enough to make me jump for joy.  I immediately replied yes to Shannon’s email (after all, she can’t hear me yelling through my computer) and began my search for the ultimate cookie recipe.

Image Credit – newenglandcoaching.com

But finding the ultimate cookie just wasn’t as easy as I had anticipated.  Do you know how many recipes there are out there?  Holy moly!  And because my blog is called ‘healthychow’, I wasn’t sure if I should make a recipe that was ‘guilt-free-esque’ or if I should just throw that idea out the window and make a cookie that was fully indulgent, fully fattening and chock full of calories.  I didn’t want to stress over this little matter, but I also wanted my first cookie swap recipe to be pretty darn good.  But then I realized, cookies are cookies and the whole point of a cookie swap is to be able to taste a vast array of these baked goods and to see and appreciate all kinds of recipes.  So, I just went with my gut (lame pun intended) and baked the cookie that sounded the best to me.

Finally, the day had arrived!  I was so happy all day Sunday before the swap.  I’m not sure if it was because I just love a good party or if it was in anticipation of all the yummy treats I was going to be consuming.  Whichever the case was, I was psyched by the time I reached Shannon’s door.  Shannon’s home was cute and cozy and so inviting.  Because Shannon literally lives down the street from me, I was able to burn off a few calories while taking my brisk walk over to her house.  I felt that if I could burn a few calories before consuming a few thousand, it was better than nothing.  Right?

Image Credit – foundation.wchob.org

I can’t believe the amount of cookies!  There were a total of 10 guests at the party, meaning there were going to be 10 different kinds of cookies and each guests was going to be taking home about 3 – 4 cookies of each.  Ummm, that meant we were all going to be taking home a shiz-nit load of cookies!  Oh.em.gee!  Among the guests were Shannon (obvi), Adrienne, Mary-Kate, Elina, Tina, Kerstin, Kelly, Rebecca (Shannon’s friend who was also present at my apple picking adventure), Bridget and me (another obvi).  I was so impressed!  Each of the cookies present were so unique and had their own individual flare, much like the guests and their respective blogs.  I was in blogger and cookie heaven!

Cookies galore!

And so we wouldn’t go into an immediate cookie coma, Shannon, being the wonderful host that she is, provided us with some delicious snacks.  After all, it wouldn’t be appropriate to just eat cookies all afternoon…or would it ?  We all slowly nibbled on the savory finger foods in order to prep our bellies for the main event.  Everything was so tasty and I wanted so much to eat more of the snacks, but I knew I had to save room.  It’s a good thing I wasn’t wearing a baggy pair of stretchy sweat pants!

Salmon mousse with crackers and cucumber slices

Coconut-chai almonds (made by Shannon – so good!), smokey bacon potato chips (brought by Elina), mini pear, walnut and Gorgonzola quiches (made by Shannon – loved the sweet and savory combo!)

The guests of honor:

Cookie Dough Truffles by Kelly and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies by Elina

Lime Meltaways by Adrienne

Maple Toffee Bacon Cookies by Shannon

Break-up Bars (Chocolate Caramel Bars) by Rebecca

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Bars by Tina

Black and White cookies by Mary-Kate

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars by Kerstin

Lemon Almond Cranberry Crescents by Me

After we devoured sampled all the various types of cookies and packed up the rest to take home, we let our sugar highs slowly come down by playing a round of Foodie Fight.  This was a Trivial Pursuit type of game that only involved questions about food.  How perfect!  We took turns reading off questions and answering them until we were able to fill all the ‘pies’ (hahaha!).  I couldn’t believe how tough some of the questions were, but even more so, I couldn’t believe the party guests actually knew the right answers.  Needless to say, we laughed a lot and learned a bunch and fortunately, we didn’t eat anymore cookies!

Mary-Kate and Kerstin

Shannon reading some trivia questions

Bridget, Tina and Kelly

Kerstin, Adrienne and Elina

If you couldn’t already tell, I had a blast at my first cookie swap.  Shannon gave a great get-together (that’s a lot of ‘G’s’!) and was a gracious host (one more ‘G’).  I had so much chatting it up with the ladies and of course, tasting all of their heavenly creations.  Even though this was a cookie swap, we also traded laughs, smiles and stories that I’ll be sure to remember for quite some time.  And while I may have eaten more cookies than any normal person should on one given day, I would never swap this good time for anything else.

My loot

I’m having a serious sugar overload at the moment (oh yes, I had more cookies today!).  Do you have any tips to help me snap out of this? I think I am going to drink some hot water with lemon…

Namasté,
Nicole

This past Sunday I felt like a little kid.  I know I have my moments where I like to be more ‘immature’ than ‘mature’, but on Sunday, I honestly felt as if I was having a flashback.  My age was in the single digits and I didn’t have a care in the world.  Along with some fellow bloggers and blog readers, I went to Smolak Farms to go apple picking.  It’s been over a quarter of a century since I’ve last picked my own apples.  Holy smokes!  When I actually see that on paper (or screen), it makes me feel ancient.  Sheesh! But no matter if I’m young or old, apple picking is something I need to do more than once every 25 years!

By signing-up with BuyWithMe.com, we were able to secure a sweet discount at Smolak Farms.  All we had to do was get enough people to pay in advance online to go to Smolak Farms using the BuyWithMe.com site and we were able to receive the discount.  It was that easy! And being that it is fall and we food bloggers love to cook and bake with apples, this was no difficult feat.  To put it mildly, I don’t think I was the only person anxious for the excitement Smolak Farms had in store for us.

Lauren was kind enough to volunteer to drive to the farm and I was more than happy to get carpooled.  I’m not sure if you know this about Healthy Chow, but driving and following directions isn’t one of Healthy Chow’s strong points.  So, to know I wasn’t going to get lost driving to North Andover was a true blessing.  Thanks again, Lauren!  You’re the best!

Driving to Smolak Farms the weather was still a bit gloomy, but at least it was not raining.  However, the mood was nothing but bright and upbeat in our car.  In our car, were Lauren, Elina, Elina’s friend Katy, and myself.  With Lauren’s good driving and trusty GPS (man, do I need to get myself one of those!) we were able to arrive at the farm in about 40 minutes.  When we arrived, we met up with Shannon, the event organizer (thanks Shannon!), Shannon’s friend Rebecca, Kerstin, Kerstin’s husband, Kelly and Kelly’s boyfriend. And while the farm was a tad more than a hop, skip and a jump away from Boston, it was definitely worth it.  As soon as we entered, it was as if we had been transported onto another world.  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking!

It was such a nice feeling to see so many families spending the day with each other and enjoying what the season has given us.  I’m not sure who was more excited to be at the farm, the children or the adults.  Everyone seemed to be in the fall spirit and just wanting to take advantage of the fact that it was no longer raining (it rained all day long the day before).

Once we trudged up the hill into the orchards, we were able to have at any apples we wanted.  There were so many different kinds available: McIntosh, Empire, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Cortland/Red Cortland, Macoun, Paula Red, Northern Spy, Gravenstein, Granny Smith, Red Max, Rogers Red Mac and Macspur.  However, we mostly saw and picked the McIntosh, Macoun, Granny Smith and Cortland.  While the trees seemed shorter and smaller than when I last went apple picking, they were still pretty tall for the 5 foot 1 inch (OK, I’m rounding up) Healthy Chow.  Fortunately, Katy recognized this and was smart enough to borrow an apple stick from the front desk.  This definitely came in handy! Especially for me

Katy is ready to take on the apple tree…

I’m on the hunt for red October…

So close, yet so far away…

Come to Mama!

Elina getting her apple picking on!

Anyone up for a game of lacrosse?

How beautiful!

That was a close one, Kelly!

Hello Granny!

After about an hour and a half of filling our bags with fresh and heavenly apples, we were done picking and ready to get some goodies at the bakery.  Boy, was there some serious stimulation for the eyes!  The bakery sold cookies, breads, whoopie pies, muffins, apple cider donuts (which actually weren’t hot and thus, not recommended), apple cider, tea and coffee.  In addition there was a gift shop that sold everything Halloween and fall inspired that you could imagine.  Just think gourds galore, gingerbread houses, candles, toys and even more sweet treats! And strategically, Smolak Farms placed their registers at the end of the trail of goodies.  So, you had no choice but to see (and possibly buy) EVERYTHING!  Amazingly, I just stuck with the apples.

A wall of Stonewall…

Hmmm, baked goods…

Freshly baked pies…

Makin’ whoopie…

Now I wish you came home with me…

BOO!

Trick or treat!

Who knew there was such a thing?

Are these supposed to be scary?

Ornamental indeed!

I can feel my teeth getting stuck already!

What a spectacular way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  I had the chance to reminisce about my childhood, pick some delicious apples and meet and spend time with some great people.  Plus, I had the chance to do something I hadn’t done in over two decades (goodness, that makes sound so old)!

When I was up in the orchards and walking from tree-to-tree selecting which apple I wanted to take home with me, I realized something.  I noticed that I was constantly looking up.  While there were tons of discarded apples lying on the ground, it seemed like the apple I was always trying hardest to get was unreachable.  I either had to borrow Katy’s stick or I had to walk away and find some lower hanging fruit (literally) on another tree.  And then I thought to myself, “Why are you constantly trying to pick the piece of fruit that is out of your reach?  Why is the apple that is at the top of the tree the apple you want?  Is it sweeter or somehow better than the apple you can reach?”

After pondering that for a bit, I finally decided to take a bite of an apple I picked from the lower branches.  It was delicious!  The apple was cold, crisp and sweeter than any apple I had had from the grocery store.  Not only did it taste good, but it looked good, too.  There was absolutely nothing wrong with this apple; I just somehow thought the apples sitting at the top of the tree were better.  Just like we tend to assume that bigger or taller or higher or more is always better, I thought the apples at the peak of the treetops were somehow more delicious.  I know I often think that I’m going to be happier or feel more accomplished if I can just make it to the top.  I tend to think that I have to push myself harder in order to get to where I want to be and that where I want to be is always way over my head.  And in reality, where I am and what I have at this very moment is more than enough.

I’m not trying to say that we shouldn’t have goals or things to aim/reach for.  We certainly do need to challenge ourselves and strive to be the best that we can be.  But sometimes we just need to find comfort in what we have right now.  We need to find peace within ourselves in our current state.  We need to be able to be happy with the present, instead of thinking we’ll be happier in the future.  And recognizing this may just be the sweetest bite of life.

What’s your favorite kind of apple? When was the last time you went apple picking?

Namasté,
Nicole