Great Food Photos: Michael A. Muller

I really admire those people that are able to see mundane things and turn it into something more. It's really fresh and inspiring. That's how I felt when I saw Michael Muller's photoblog, Threading In The Choirs. I can't help but feel calm every time I look at his photos and that it is also whispering to me "hey don't just look at the big picture but also pay attention to the small details." Funny that just made me remember a quote that I've read from a manga about a samurai on a quest to be the best swordsman. A monk had told him that if you pay too much attention to the forest, you will have missed the individual leaves and branches. Try this. While looking through Michael's photos go and listen to his music on his band's myspace page. Really add a whole new dimension to his photos. Oh and make sure to buy their CDs!

Q. Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food or non-food photos? A. Usually I like trying to see the photo my eye/mind interprets and then try to reinterpret that with the camera. The first thing I play off of is the existing light. Beyond that, the composition of the photo is next important. I always like to frame the subject with a certain degree of negative space surrounding it. Sometimes the stars align and things look pretty close to how my eye initially perceived it, but most times not.

Q. I get a very calm feeling every time I look at your photos. How do you see your photos? A. Diffused and/or refracted light always tends to cast such a slowness over the frontier of a photo. On cloud-covered days when the light is as such, I take more photos than usual. But essentially, each photo represents a sliver of memory from that time for me. It's a really nice feeling to look back on a photo and feel the details of a room or a meal slowly crisp into focus.

Q. This photo is a great example of why I love your photos. What made you stop and think ah I’m going to take a photo of a bag? To a lot of people taking photos of someone’s bag isn’t very interesting but somehow your photo makes it very interesting and beautiful. A. This image is a photo of my girlfriend I snapped (unbeknownst to her) while we were visiting the Brooklyn Flea Market. I loved the contrast in color from her shirt to her bag and the light was sort of flickering through some tall trees at the edge of the park.

Q. Do you find any similarities when writing songs and taking photos like do you use the same creative process or maybe trying to achieve the same end results? A. I feel like music comes more from the subconscious and photographs are more of a documenting process or something you happen upon. Granted, a lot of times the photographs become art and sometimes I take a photo purely for artistic merit, but music has the uncanny ability to form itself from mystery and shadow like nothing else.

Q. What inspires your work (photos…music..)? A. My surrounding landscape is a constant inspiration. Seasons and weather patterns therein also play a continuous role. Moreover, certain imagery and emotions unfurl themselves in dark, wintery days, whereas the inverse can be true on stark-bright beaches in August. Overall, I feel it is impossible to truly source the gamut of reactive creation we make as humans. Everything goes in and what we make come out is where the unique artistry appears. No one is truly making anything new; only a reinterpretation and a manipulation in the angles of approach.

Q. Any food photography heroes? If not any photography heroes? A. I don't really have any specific food photo heroes, but I always love the candid warmth and softness to Brian Ferry's shots of table settings or remnants of meals eaten. In general photography, some of my favorites range from architectural to niche portraiture. Chris Strong and Nicholas McElroy are favorites, as well as some of my friends Megan Carney, Travis Klunick and Nathan Williams, who are also highly inspirational.

Q. Best meal so far in 2010? A. Maiya's in Marfa, TX: Tartlettes (Free-form flaky pastry with caramelized fennel and onions, field greens & vinaigrette), Arugula Salad (Fresh figs, goat cheese, toasted pine nuts, fig balsamic vinaigrette) and North Atlantic Salmon (Beurre blanc, lentils, grilled Portabella mushrooms).

& a close second:

Justine's in Austin, TX: Soupe des Ardines (Potato leek soup with endives and homemade croutons), Endive Poire Roquefort Salade (Belgian endive salad with pear, roquefort and walnuts) and Coquilles St. Jaques Grille (Scallops grilled with lardon served on frisee).

All photos courtesy of Michael A. Muller from Treading In The Choirs. Also check out his band's, Balmorhea, website.

Great Food Photos: Jennifer Causey

I quickly became a fan of Jennifer Causey's breakfast photos from her blog, Simply Breakfast, when I accidentally found her through Twitter. Her photos are simple and delicious looking. What's also awesome is that she has a photo blog, Simply Photo, with more beautiful food photos. It's also great to see people shooting with film.

Q. Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos? A. I am trying to capture the beauty of real food in natural lighting. I am also trying to show the emotion you feel when eating or gathering around food with friends and the memories it can evoke.

Q. Can you explain your thought process when you take photos? Do you think differently when you take your breakfast photos or weddings or photos for your photo blog? A. Although they are all different situations, I think I approach the photos in the same way. I am always trying to capture a beautiful moment.

Q. You’ve been documenting your breakfast since March 2007, that’s a lot of breakfast photos! What made you start this project and I’m guessing breakfast is your favorite meal? A. Yes, breakfast is my favorite meal. When I started the blog, I was new to cooking exploration and I think breakfast was the easiest way for me to try new recipes. I started the blog as a way to start off with a bit of creativity every day.

Q. I noticed from your Simply Photos blog that you’ve been shooting film, how does it feel to shoot film? A. Shooting film feels amazing. To me, I am able to express emotions through film that do not come across with digital. When I take a photo, looking at the light, I feel a certain something. I love getting back my film photos and experiencing that feeling all over again. It is nice in our world of instant gratification, to take a step back and wait and be surprised.

Q. Do you have any food photography heroes? A. Gentl and Hyers, Mikkel Vang, and Laura Letinsky.

All photos courtesy of Jennifer Causey from Simply Breakfast. Make sure to also check out her Simply Photo blog!

Great Food Photos: Meeta Khurana Wolff

Q. What are you trying to capture when you take your food photos? A. I want to capture more than the food. Of course food is the real star in my images but I want to highlight the mood and atmosphere around the food too. Give the viewer the feeling he/she were actually a part of the image and experiencing the food with some of their senses. The tagline for my blog is "experience your sense" and I try to achieve that partly with the images I present. Therefore it is important that I capture texture, color, style, mood and atmosphere so the viewer can really experience their senses.

Q. Can you explain a little about your thought process when you’re getting ready to shoot? A. I begin thinking about the shot while I am cooking or baking the dish. I look at the color and texture of the food or ingredients and think about the atmosphere and mood I would like to translate to my shot. This helps me think about the styling, props and background. While taking the actual shot I always look through the "eye" of the camera to see that what I had envisaged for my shot is really being realized.

Q. You’ve been blogging on “What’s for lunch, Honey?” since 2006! How has it been for you these past 4.5 years? A. What started out as a basic way to digitalized a few family recipes has turned into a passionate hobby. I am freelancing as a writer, photographer and stylist, something I would never have imagined 4 years ago. I am also presenting at conferences and universities on the subject of photography now and really am enjoying this channel immensely. I've learnt so much in the past 4.5 years and the way to where I am today has been the most precious experience. I know my HTML from my CSS, I know about props, styling and backgrounds, I know how to write and develop recipes, I am bolder and more daring in my baking. My blog has evolved me so much and I've seriously enjoyed most of it.

Q. Anything in the past 4.5 years stood out for you as the BEST thing that happened to you because of your blog? A. Many of the things I described above. Of course while I've been doing this thing I love so much I've also been recognized by various media and awards. There have been a lot of great job opportunities that have also come around due to the blog. I cannot say there has been ONE best thing but certainly several over the past 4.5 years. Q. I read the interview you did for Learn Food Photography and Food Styling. In the interview you said that your “styling is unconventional and sometimes break the conventional rules to capture the perfect shot.” Have you always been unconventional or did it evolve over the years? A. I think it's basically due to the fact I've taught myself everything I know about photography and styling that I "dare" to break the rule. I've always think outside of the box and so why not with my styling and photography? I go out of my comfort zone because it's fun to experiment and try new things. I like varying my style and working with different methods and never get stuck in one box. It's not me!

All photos courtesy of Meeta Khurana Wolff from What's For Lunch, Honey?

Great Food Photos: Mallory Elise

You know how hard it is to find cream in Brazil and that mint is blue (I still don't get it haha)? All the little things about another country that I have no idea about. That's why one of my dream, someday some time maybe in a different life, I would like to spend few years living in another country. But in the mean time I'll just have to resort to reading other people's experience in living in another country like Mallory Elise of The Salted Cod. Reading through her blog, I really got the sense of her who she really is. It's just FUN to read her adventures in Brazil and the little things she has to overcome. And hey, she takes awesome food and landscape photos, what a bonus!

Q. What are you trying to capture when you take your food photos? A. I try to capture more than it actually is, make it look better than it does in reality because after all it is food, and we come in contact with food every day of our lives since birth, so it has to become more than food. As a blogger, most of the items I photograph are things that I make myself, and they don't always look like they just came out of Eric Ripert's kitchen if you know what I mean. The challenge is making an ugly good-for-nothing muffin look like something extraordinary, and that's what I thrive on. I'm young, not the richest individual and am living in a third world country. I can't rely on the myriad props that most pastry studio photographers rely on, so my number one props are the food itself and the light.

Q. So you've been blogging for over 3years now, have you seen any changes to your style of writing or photographing food? Is the 2007 you the same as the 2010 you? A. Completely. If you go back in my blog to 2007 and even 2008 while I lived in Europe you'll notice that the photography is horrifying. Dark, out of focused, ill-composed, weak color and off-balanced whites. I tell my friends and family all the time that if there is any proof of the concept that you can only get better at something with time and repetition then it is definitely a photography blog. It's a time capsule, I can go back to June 2007 and see one of my first “posed” food photographs I set up in my parents' kitchen and remember how proud I was of it at the time. Now I scrunch my face when I see it and wonder what could have been in my mind at the time to think it was good enough for publishing on a blog. But it's a reminder that I'm the one who made myself better. It's a visible progression like a pencil-mark height chart scribbled on the wall in your parents' closet. I was a horrible photographer when I started, but at the time all I knew was that I loved it.

Q. Also 3 years of blogging is pretty long. In internet years 3 years is like a decade. How has it been for you these 3 years? A. That's for damn sure. Both my blog life and real life have seemed more than a decade during these past three years. I started my blog just before moving to Europe in 2007. Europe gave me the perfect topic spread; there is a never ending amount of things to see, hear, do smell and eat when you're outside of your familiarities and living alone. I stated traveling to other European countries specifically with blog stories in mind, I got such a thrill pressing “publish post” button on the blogger template that I would start writing the script in my head as I photographed. I had to slow down a little when I went back the the U.S. in order to graduate college which was extremely difficult because I felt I had returned to my own home as a stranger, and I was. So in three years: France and Europe, graduated from college and moved to Brazil. Oh I forgot to tell you, during the three years I met a Brazilian, married him, moved to Brazil and am trying to learn Portuguese and start a photography career. Three years!

Q. Does a place influence your writing/photography style because you went from Seattle to France and back to Seattle and now Brazil? A. I don't think my style changes because of the location but rather is forced to adapt. The daylight differences between Seattle and Brazil let me tell you...but I think it's also a matter of mood, maturity and progress. Each location in progression I became a better photographer in. I'm a better photographer now in Brazil because for one I have three years more experience than I did while I was living in France, and two I have my blog editor living as close to me as possible. I met my husband about three months after I started the blog. He was honestly one of my first constant readers and for some unknown reason loved everything I put up there. After a while he became known on the blog as the “editor” because as a Brazilian who speaks English better than most Americans speak it, he was never shy to point out every single little tiny grammar mistake I made. He was my number one encouragement and helped me realize that if this is really what I love to do then there is no shame in it and that I didn't have to prove anything about myself to the world. He made me realize that plans change with a finger snap. Anything is possible, even for someone with the most planned out life.

Q. During these 3 years of blogging, any surprises happened in your life because of your blog? A. Wanting to photograph, write and publish is the biggest surprise in my life. I thought I would be an academic. My blog put the love for publishing in my fingers; after I got back to Seattle I started photographing for my university's newspaper, became an editor of a campus academic journal, and the most surprising of all called a food and wine magazine asking for a job begging them to look at my blog. They did, and I was hired as an editorial assistant. Go blog. Another surprise is the fact that I'm actually still doing it and that I have no intention to stop. I've been through a lot of phases and I know most of my friends and family didn't expect this one to last. Guess it's not a phase then.

Q. What is your plan for the rest of the year and how do you think it will feel to celebrate Christmas in summer time? A. The plan is to learn Portuguese, I'm really quite slow at it for the moment. In the meantime I continue freelance writing with American publications to help pay our bills, and eventually plan on working with photography and publishing here in Brazil. For now I'm working on building up my contacts. But who knows. Anything can change in a moment.

Christmas in the summer, well, it will be odd as I am from Seattle and come from a family with very strong Christmas traditions. December is one of the hottest months in Brazil, so what I hear is that we'll probably go to the beach with my now 100+ Brazilian family, have a barbecue and drink lots of caipirinhas. Sounds like a good Christmas to me. But I think I'll decorate a little tree nonetheless.

All photos courtesy of Mallory Elise of The Salty Cod