Great Food Photos: Connie Thadewaldt

A little over a year ago Connie Thadewaldt started her blog, COOK, a oui chef journal, as a way to keep herself busy after being laid off from her job. I came upon her blog while searching for ramps and was quickly drawn in by her wonderful photos and writing. And when a chef offers a step-by-step on how to clean a soft shell crab or write about what equipment she uses, you better pay attention! I asked Connie about her photos, process and being a blogger. Thanks again for letting me feature your work Connie!

When I photograph, I try to capture something intangible, something that explains why I get so excited about food and cooking. To not just see a French fry for example, but rather to see and taste "hot, crispy, salty" in one's mind. If possible, I also like to throw in the element of "what is that/how was it made?" to my photos by playing around with different angles and plate-ups. Its definitely a challenge to reflect something like taste and smell through a photograph (it never ceases to amaze me how differently food looks to the naked eye versus through a lens). I'm definitely not where I want to be yet, but its fun learning.

My process all depends on what is being photographed, where I am and what time of day it is. Shooting colorful produce at farmer's markets in midday requires the least effort, and never needs extra equipment or processing beyond cropping. When I'm at home, I either shoot early in the morning when I have the best sunlight (doesn't happen that often,) or in the late evening I set up a white board on my white table, counter or butcher's block with a light. Sometimes I have to use a step stool to get the right height, and there's a lot of running back and forth to the computer to load up pictures and see what I've done. The indoor shots generally need some processing. I usually just adjust the levels with photoshop elements.

First off, I never thought I'd still be blogging after a year, to be honest. Its a lot more work than I would have ever imagined. I wouldn't really say that its changed my life, but it has definitely taught me a greater appreciation for writers, photographers, food stylists, recipe-writers and web designers. I've cooked for years, but always used my eyes and hands for measuring (with the exception of baking, of course.) I think I took for granted what it meant to actually create and test a recipe and get it written down. Not to mention take pictures, then write about it and post it on a website. But I love doing it, and there's an amazing community of people out there which is always refreshing. I never actually read food blogs before I started mine, but now I read a number of them everyday.

- Connie Thadewaldt

Process A Photo Project

While in grad school we were taught that the process was as important and sometimes more important than the end result. It is during the process that you learn what works and what doesn't. I have always been fascinated with how things were made, the behind-the-scene sort of thing. But it wasn't until the amazing work of Liza de Guia of Food Curated and my friends all thinking about making their own things ie; roasting their own coffee, brewing their own beer, and growing their own food that I actually really thought about the process. What actually goes into the process of brewing your own beer or the process of a painter turning his/her idea into a tangible painting?Most of the time the process is hidden from everybody except for the artist. I want to document that process. I want to be there when the chef, artist, craftsman, musician, or anybody that uses their own 2 hands to create something extraordinary and capture it with my camera. If anybody is interested in letting me photography them as they work, please email me donny@donnytsang.com or just leave a comment. Oh and its only NYC for now.

Thank you!

When I Need A Jump Start

I go for the Reese's Peanut Cup at the vending machine.

Great Food Photos: Melissa Camero Ainslie

I have known Mel since 2003, we met in graduate school. I've been lucky enough to try some of her cooking, Thanksgiving 2004 bacon wrapped turkey with apricot jam and homemade apple pie YUM. Yes I still remember and yes she gave me the recipe. But now that she's far far away in Florida all I can do is look at her food photos. *Sigh Recently she was nominated for Best Food Photography by Saveur.

Here's what she said about her food photos and her process. Thanks Mel!!

I'm trying to make people's mouths water. If I'm photographing a brownie, I want to capture the crumbs, the chocolate and the fudginess. If it's soup, it should look warm and inviting and homey, preferably with a little steam rising up.

Usually, I cook in the morning. It's when I get the best natural light from the balcony. I have an older Canon Rebel with a cheapo 50mm lens on it - I just use that and whatever pretty plate I have around. Take lots of pictures from lots of different angles. After that, I pick the best 1 or 2, edit them a little in Lightroom (usually just some color correcting and cropping) and post. I try not to think too hard about the setting since I prefer when the pictures don't look so "posed".

- Melissa Camero Ainslie