Great Food Photos: Nik Sharma

Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos?I want to convey emotion when I photograph my subject/s. With food, it always comes down to textures, colors and flavors and since I can’t have people eat what I shoot, I do my best to (hopefully) share those emotions that are running through my mind when I taste something for the first time and when I’m cooking.

How did you get started in photography and how has your relationship with photography evolved from then to now? My dad’s a professional photographer and though I got to watch him shoot in and out of studios, I honestly never fell in love with photography till I became an adult. My food blog, A Brown Table, was what made me realize how much I love to photograph. In many ways, it’s also become a platform for me to practice and learn and a medium for me to express what is going on inside my head when I see a subject be it food, people or places. My sense of food styling has also evolved over time, I initially started out photographing ingredients and the final dish but over time, I realized that I missed an essential component of what I wanted to convey in my work, emotion! And as a cook, I knew I felt several different emotions when I prepared food in the kitchen. From excitement, to anxiety, to joy, to frustration, I go through a series of emotions when I’m cooking a dish, so why not share how I feel through my photographs. My work today is a much more mature expression of the food I love and in a way representative of me, as an individual.

I love your style. I love the use of empty space and shadows in your photos. How did you come about photographing food in this style? Thanks, Donny! I’m fascinated with light and shadows, they constantly play with each other and depending on the combination, the two can create visually interesting textures and perspectives. When I first started to shoot food, I followed the general norm of using white backgrounds and bright light but I’ll be honest, my heart was never in it and I could feel that vibe stare at me in my work. It lacked what I wanted to convey as a photographer and what I wanted to do. After some serious thinking, I decided to follow my heart that I need to style and shoot the way I wanted to, it’s not that I have anything against white backgrounds and bright light (I still shoot with those mediums) but I think low lit or brightly lit, I need to create and share an interesting perspective or story to the people that view my photographs.

Any food photography heroes? If not any photography heroes?Beth Kirby, Steve McCurry, Lyndon Wade, and Diane Arbus.

Best meal you had in 2015 so far? By far the best meal I’ve tried this year was the one I ate at Al’s Place in San Francisco. Every plate is a visual delight but there is careful thought put into the pairing of flavors and ingredients in each dish that’s brought to the table. They have a knack of making their fresh vegetables stand out without giving that overstepping the dish appear affected.

All photos courtesy from Nik Sharma of A Brown Table

Behind-The-Scenes At Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits

Thank you to Michael and the entire crew at Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits for letting me into their kitchen. It's such a magical place, I'm totally in love. Awesome biscuits! Awesome bacon! Awesome fancy grits and awesome pies! People of Chicago, you're pretty darn lucky.

Panko Crusted Brioche French Toast Grilled Cheese

A grilled cheese and French toast (well more Hong Kong style French toast), yes yes. So this is what happens when you go and buy a bag of panko and would like to finish it by panko crusting everything.

This is a pretty easy thing to make. I bought a loaf of brioche from Caputo's Bake Shop in Carroll Gardens. They supply bread to a lot of the restaurants in the neighborhood. Super old school bakery. If Trader Joe wasn't so crazy on a Saturday, would've gone there and gotten their Texas toast. I love thick toast. But look at this loaf of bread. It's so beautiful. Smells amazing too.

Things you'll need: Bread (Any thick toast) Cheese (Any cheese you like for grilled cheese) 2 eggs Avocado Prosciutto (Or any cured meats) Butter Hot honey (Or any spicy condiment) Panko Salt + pepper

Steps: Use whatever bread you like but something thick and sturdy enough that will not break apart while being soaked in the egg.

Scramble 2 eggs and pour it onto a plate or anything flat. Lay the 2 pieces of bread on the egg and let it absorb the egg (just one side though). While the slices of bread are soaking, cut open an avocado, remove pit, and cut into slices.

Sprinkle a tray with panko and grate some parmesan cheese onto it. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Then lay the slices of bread (egg soaked side) onto the panko, press down gently.

On one slice, drizzle hot honey (I used Mike's Hot Honey) or sriracha or sambal or whatever spicy thing you like.

On the other slice, grate copious amount of parmesan cheese (or use Kraft singles or whatever cheese you like) then lay slices of avocado (season with salt + pepper) and prosciutto. Top with more parmesan cheese.

Get a pan hot and add a lot of butter (or oil). Hong Kong style French toast is basically bread soak in egg and fried. Lets say 2 tablespoon of butter. Once the butter melts, place the slice of bread with the avocado and prosciutto into the pan. Then place the other slice of bread (with the panko side facing up) on top of the other slice.

Get another pan or a spatula and put it on top of the sandwich. Press down.

Flip the sandwich once the bottom is golden brown. Then with the pan or spatula, press the sandwich down again. It's ready to consume once the other side is golden brown.

Great Food Photos: Elizabeth Cecil

Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos?I strive to capture both authenticity and beauty.

Have you always been interested in photography? Yes, for as long as I can remember. My dad photographs trains so I chased trains with him when I was little. It was really fun and exciting and that always stayed with me. My brother-in-law, Livio, also loved photography and gave me my first camera when I was seven. He just recently gave it to back to me. How he kept it all these years, I have no idea. It is in mint condition and I am just shooting my first roll of 110 film since 1984.

When and what made you decide to become a full-time photographer? I studied photography for my undergraduate degree and then floated around a bit after college, working and traveling. I decided to go to a photo workshop in Maine to get some creative inspiration. I attended a lecture by Cig Harvey who is an amazing photographer and incredible speaker. She really motivated me to go back to school and pursue photography full-time.

I like to know how has your idea of photography, your relationship with the camera changed from studying it in college to having it as your career now. My idea of and relationship with photography is always evolving as I learn and grow with every experience and every job. Coming from more of a fine art track and transitioning to photography for work was a little challenging at first. Bringing artistic intention to the work is something that I am always striving for and the thing that keeps me going. Pushing myself to create personal projects while working to maintain a career can be demanding but also very rewarding. Overall, I feel lucky that I am able to do what I love for a living and that this interest and creative outlet has been with me for most of my life.

Favorite subject to photograph? Food and the landscape.

Any food and/or photography heroes?Sally Mann has been a photography hero to me since I was very young. I have seen her speak many times and her passion and dedication to her craft always inspires me. I also love the work of Uta Barth, Ditte Isager, Wijnanda Deroo and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Best meal you had so far in 2015? I recently got married and all of our best friends who are amazing chefs and home cooks made food for the wedding. We had a taco bar with pork, salsa, cabbage slaw and all the fixings. Everyone put their own special touch into each dish. The food was incredible and the love that was put into it made it even better.

All photos courtesy of Elizabeth Cecil