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What’s For Breakfast?
CHAPTER SEVEN
What’s For Breakfast?
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PANCAKES
The focus for this breakfast project is pancakes. If you haven’t styled pancakes previously or attempted them and experienced problems, you will find some helpful technique information in this chapter. Our project involved a rather high stack of pancakes topped with butter. The goal for food styling and photography in the hero image was to catch syrup in the action of dripping down the stack. Selecting elements for the pancake set was an interesting process. We decided to share this process with our readers. During the set design endeavor for our project, the steps taken to reach the final atmosphere or mood of the set were recorded with a few images. Those images are included in this chapter, as well as text of the process. It is a process that is well worth mentioning in case you are interested in learning more about set design techniques and applying the theories behind the decisions. (Please refer to Chapter 2 in Food Styling for Photographers for more detailed information about creating atmospheres in sets for photography.)
Choosing Design Elements for the Set The first step in designing a set when the food subject is already known is to identify the mood of the shot. Once a general mood or atmosphere for the image is 146
identified, selecting props and the setting for the food can take place. As a general rule, breakfast shots have an element of morning light. The mood of the image can vary from bright and high key to warm and homey. The mood we wanted for this pancake image was warm and homey. Selecting props that make up the setting for our warm and homey pancake image is the next step. The hero image for this project is a stack of blueberry pancakes. Choosing fabrics and dishware that would accentuate the blueberries as well as make the stack of pancakes pop in the image was our goal. If you are fortunate to be in a studio with a selection of plates, surfaces, and flatware, you will want to pull out all the elements that you feel are appropriate for the mood of your shot. We looked at a lot of fabrics and plates before settling on our set elements. We chose a tight blue-and-white weave fabric for the base of the set, and it was topped with a print fabric with similar blues. Using fabric-on-fabric is a method for incorporating color and texture in an image as well as visual interest. The base fabric in our image has an obvious woven texture, whereas the print fabric is tightly woven linen. The print fabric seems to anchor or ground our plate and creates a homey nest for the plate where the pancakes will be featured. Without the print fabric, the
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NOTE If you have to shop for props, be sure you have a good understanding of the prop needs for the set, including colors, textures, number of dishes, flatware, and any other props your planning has pinpointed. It would be helpful to take tear sheets and perhaps a color swatch with you when you shop. If you have an image of pancakes that is similar in color to the pancakes you want for your hero image, take it with you. By placing the tear sheet image of pancakes next to the plates, you can determine the best plate colors for your specific image.
environment is less warm and homey. A pale-blue plate that picks up blues in the print fabric was selected. These choices were made to create good separation for the stack of pancakes, to accentuate the blueberries, and to create a background that complemented the butter and syrup colors.
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Once the surfaces, type of lighting, and props have been selected, you will need to “hero” the set. When using a fabric surface covering the set or additional fabrics like napkins, the first step is to iron the fabrics. And it is very important to first cover the set with a sheet of heavy felt before spreading the hero surface fabric. (As discussed at greater length in the section “Working Fabric on the Set” in Chapter 2 of Food Styling for Photographers, the felt adds a softer appearance to fabric covering the set and allows you to iron directly on the set.)
Styling Pancakes When the food styling process begins, as always, prep the least perishable items first. For a pancake shot, one of the first things I do is cut “butter” pats.
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NOTE I cut 1⁄8” or slightly thicker slices of margarine straight from the refrigerator. If the margarine is frozen, it tends to break when cutting. However, frozen margarine can be cut with a specialized long razor blade (sold in crafting stores) or with a warm knife. The margarine pats are laid out on a metal baking sheet and placed into the freezer. The maple syrup, selected specifically for its color, is also placed in the freezer. Real maple syrup can remain in the freezer most of the day without becoming too thick to pour.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE Most food stylists choose to use
Pancake Batter Prep Techniques I have used a few different packaged pancake mixes for photo pancakes that produced the desired results. My favorite and most reliable pancake mixture is made-from-scratch batter. However, if you are styling pancakes for the first time, you can successfully use a packaged mix as long as you are aware of a few tricks. If the project calls for thicker rather than thin pancakes, there are two different approaches that can be
margarine in place of butter when styling butter pats since most margarine manufacturers add yellow coloring to their product. When compared to real butter, margarine has more color and tends to give better photographic results.
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taken. First, you can add more leavening ingredients to the batter. But you can also whip egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter to produce the desired results. Be sure to make notes as you alter the batter so you will be able to recreate the exact formula when you are ready to make hero pancakes. It’s important to do a test run of the batter, cooking one batch on the griddle, to make certain the proper thickness of pancakes is achieved. The original recipe can be altered to yield a different result with the
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addition or subtraction of leavening agents. Baking soda and baking powder in addition to buttermilk can make a big difference in pancake thickness. During this process, you will also determine the exact amount of batter required to create the diameter of pancake desired for your hero shot. For example, 1⁄4 cup pour of batter yields about a 40 round pancake. Having this information will help in creating a number of hero pancakes of approximately the same size. Otherwise, making hero pancakes is a hit-or-miss proposition.
Positioning Fruit in Photo Pancakes Once the batter is perfected and the size of the pour is determined, you can add blueberries or other fruits to the pancakes if you choose. The project we are showing has blueberries as an element in the pancakes. The blueberries are positioned in the external edges of the pancakes as soon as the batter is poured onto the griddle. I find a more realistic appearance is achieved when the blueberries are first coated in batter and then positioned in the edges of the pancake batter once on the griddle. To do this, I have a small bowl of pancake batter with several blueberries in it sitting next to the griddle. With my fingers, I roll the blueberries around to coat them in the batter and then select one at a time to position at the edge of a freshly poured pancake. For this shot, most of the pancakes I style have four or five blueberries spaced at different places along the outside edges. Only the top pancake in the hero stack will have blueberries positioned within the batter. After you have ample pancakes to use for the interior of the stack, you can make contenders for the top pancake. As a general rule, I make twice the number of pancakes that will be in the final hero stack. Since the size has been predetermined, this number usually gives a stylist enough pancakes to select from when building the hero stack.
Building a Stable Tower of Pancakes Photographing a stack of pancakes that will have a syrup pour often involves numerous captures from the
camera. The stylist will need to reapply syrup many times. During this process the top pancake can become discolored and saturated with syrup. Therefore, it is often necessary to replace the top pancake during multiple exposures. The stack of pancakes will need to have stability during this process to avoid movement within the stack. If any of the pancakes move, it will take time to reposition the errant pancakes. Taking time with heroes on set is not a comfortable option.
TIP To avoid movement in the pancakes, I have learned to add a Styrofoam core to the bottom of the stack. I cut either a small square or circle of Styrofoam. Approximately the same size/shape is removed from the center of the bottom two or three pancakes to allow room for the Styrofoam.
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Building the first few pancakes in the stack around the Styrofoam is a little challenging when fruit, like blueberries, is visible to camera. If this is your first attempt styling pancakes, you may want to use a circular shape of Styrofoam to make this task a little easier. However, once the height of the pancakes covers the Styrofoam, placement of the pancakes is much easier. When stacking numerous pancakes on top of each other, it often happens that the center of the stack will be the highest with the sides appearing to droop, yielding a mounded appearance. A good way to control the pancakes from appearing to droop is to add card stock or lightweight cardboard spacers between the pancakes, especially on the back side of the stack. To create an even appearance, use small spacers between all the pancakes rather than one larger spacer near the top of the stack. A little droop (but not a lot) in the front of the stack actually helps to show off the syrup and butter. It is helpful to view the stack from the camera, or take a quick capture between each pancake addition to determine the need for spacers.
The Top Pancake Gets Special Treatment Once the stack is complete, minus the top pancake, I normally add three wood skewers through the entire stack. The skewers are placed in a tight arrangement 154
through the center of the stack so they will anchor in the Styrofoam at the base of the stack. As mentioned earlier, this technique adds stability to the stack and prevents movement in case the top pancake is replaced during the syrup pour. Once in place, the skewers are cut close to the surface of the pancake and the top hero pancake is positioned. Remember, the top hero pancake is different than the pancakes within the stack. To create contenders for the top pancake, the stylist will need to press a few randomly spaced blueberries within the interior of the batter pour, as well as position blueberries on the perimeter of the batter. I usually make a minimum of three hero top pancakes, just in case more than one is needed.
Finishing the Stack When the top pancake is positioned as desired from the camera view and the stack gets final approval, it’s time for the butter pats to come out of the freezer. Using a tapered spatula, each butter pat can be carefully positioned on top of the pancake stack. I prefer two overlapping butter pats because the added elevation creates more visual interest. The pats will need to be slightly melted for a realistic appearance. I use a chef ’s torch for this task.
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The Syrup Pour OK … it’s called the syrup “pour,” but my technique is more of a dropper stream than a pour. I start out by using a large medicine dropper to create channels of syrup on the top pancake. These channels and areas of syrup will give me information about placement of syrup when we start shooting. Viewing the top pancake from the camera will allow the stylist and photographer to see places where a drip or stream of syrup will be most advantageous for lighting and viewing. Using the dropper allows precise placement of the syrup in these areas. I put the syrup, right out of the freezer, into a cup, and using the medicine dropper quickly place the syrup in the predetermined areas. After you have completed a few exposures, if the top pancake becomes discolored or saturated with syrup, it can be replaced easily without disturbing the stack. However, you will need to replace butter pats and torch them slightly before resuming the syrup application. This would also be the time to assess the captures taken thus far to determine if changes in syrup position are needed.
Supplies used to create the pancake image:
The image presented here is the same image as the one at the beginning of this chapter but with a tighter crop. Cropping a shot is a very important step. When you work with your hero image, try several different crops before you determine the final choice for presentation in your portfolio. Go for punch! We are representing this image here to show how crop can greatly change the impact of a shot.
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Wilton 90 tapered spatula
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BonJour professional culinary torch
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Oliso smart iron pro Architec Gripper Barboard and 600° silicone spatula Messermeister Meredian elité paring knife and nylon jumbo slotted turner OXO Good Grips angled measuring cup Hamilton Beach Soft Scrape handmixer, Commercial 7-quart stand mixer, and electric griddle
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Studiopatró T-towel
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Le Creuset chef ’s apron
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Zak Designs Gemini bowl, Colorways 2-quart batter bowl, and meeme tray Eco Scrub scrubbing cloth Anchor Hocking 8-ounce triple-pour measuring cup, prep bowl, and syrup server
Tweezers, hero plate and fork, pastry brush, wood skewers, Styrofoam, medicine dispenser dropper, card stock, margarine, syrup, pancake ingredients, eggs, and blueberries
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PHOTOGRAPHER’S COMMENTS—The Pancake Set
bright reflection on my plate that caused the loss of color and created
Vertical food shots can be difficult for the stylist and the photographer.
a white hot spot. I placed a large black card at the back of the set
It is a very time-consuming setup situation and one shot can take many
to block the hot light. Be sure to always check your set for unwanted
hours. As always, you have to be prepared for anything. On the morning
reflections.
of the shoot we had beautiful sunshine streaming through the window.
As we built each layer of the pancakes it was important to take
Perfect lighting for a shot of blueberry pancakes. As the day went on clouds gathered and a huge Texas storm blew in. No sunlight!
many images of the build to decide the placement of the blueberries and the angle of the pancakes to the camera. Once we were set and the butter was placed we began the syrup pours.
What do you do? Panic? Nope, you fake it.
I was not looking through the camera but sitting at the exact level of
I placed my Chimera Lantern behind the pancake plate to create a
the lens, and from that vantage point I was able to direct where we
backlight effect that would mimic the sunlight I lost. I then positioned
needed the syrup to pour and drip. Many images were captured to get
a Chimera Pancake lightbox (yes, it is really called a pancake) directly
the perfect one. Tethered to my Lenovo laptop, I shot from the computer.
overhead. The overhead lighting using the pancake covered the entire
My strobe packs were set to fire rapidly and my camera settings using a
stack and lit the front face of the pancakes. When you are using a
Canon 90 mm TSE lens with no tilt or shifts are ISO 100 at f11 at 1/125
backlighting effect reflections can be a good or a bad result. I had a
shutter speed and a PocketWizard to sync my strobe packs.
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CEREAL
Creating a bowl of cereal for photography is a task that I have done several times for clients when they needed new images for packaging. If you are considering going after a variety of new clients, this would be a good project to add to your portfolio. And it’s always a good idea to have serving suggestion and packaging type shots in your portfolio. I’ll give you step-by-step directions to build a bowl of cereal. This is a project that could easily be low cost, especially if you have appropriate props in your studio. (See Chapter 10 for building a spoonful of cereal.)
Styling a Bowl of Cereal If you are working on a portfolio image, the first task is to decide what cereal you’re using. My recommendation would be to build a shot using a flake-type cereal. Although the building process may seem more complex for flake cereal as opposed to round or oval cereals, it is actually easier to control the styling outcome of flake cereal when styled with the techniques presented in this chapter. To begin: Pour a portion of the box of cereal onto a large tray and sort through the flakes to find hero flakes. A hero flake will be uniform in shape, even colored, and a good representation of the product. I like
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to find different sizes in case some smaller flakes are needed near the spoon and larger ones are needed near the back of the bowl. I also like to find some flakes with bends because they add interest to the build. It will take more heroes than you think, but you should be able to find enough flakes for one hero bowl within one box of cereal. Next, build a base of mashed potatoes into the bowl. Use instant mashed potatoes. Rather than following directions on the box, mix the flakes with warm water until a thick, nonwatery mixture is achieved. Mix the instant potato flakes thoroughly until all the flakes are moistened. Press the potato mixture into the hero bowl to achieve a level layer. The layer will need to be the right height so that when flakes are added, the flakes will gently break the back line of the bowl when viewed from the camera. The mashed potato layer will also provide a surface for the “milk” to sit, so it’s important that the layer is level and smooth. I use the back of a large spoon or flexible spatula when first pressing the potato mixture into the bowl. Once the mixture is near the right height in the bowl, I use an offset metal spatula to flatten and level the potato mixture. Each cereal flake is placed individually by gently pressing it down into the potato mixture. Press the flakes 161
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far enough into the potatoes so they will stand upright. I normally begin cereal placement at the back of the bowl to establish a visually interesting back line. Some flakes are placed so that when viewed from camera, they break the line of the bowl, and other flakes are placed to allow the camera to see a little of the bowl interior. This type of build creates an interesting line
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with slight variances of height at the back of the bowl. Finish placing the cereal in the bowl leaving some negative space (areas that are without flakes) where milk will be seen from the camera angle. Create short winding channels of negative space as you place cereal flakes. This technique creates interest and leads the viewer’s eyes on an adventure through the cereal.
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At this point the set needs to be finalized, replacing all stand-in items with heroes. Replace the stand-in bowl with the hero bowl with cereal built into it. We chose to include a glass of orange juice in our cereal shot. But rather than use orange juice, I used tangerine juice because of the intensity of color and because tangerine juice is close to the color of the hero bowl holding the cereal in our shot. This technique of using similar colors on the set leads the eyes of the viewer through the
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shot. Right before shooting, a few bubbles are added to float in the tangerine juice for a realistic presentation of freshly squeezed juice. (For more detailed information about placing bubbles in beverages refer to the section “Making and Placing Bubbles” in Chapter 3 of Food Styling for Photographers.) When the set is finalized and everything is approved, the milk (white glue) is added to the cereal build using a medicine dropper or pipette. In this case, 163
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I prefer using full-strength, not watered-down, glue to replicate milk because it will not quickly soak into the cereal or mashed potatoes. It will take longer for the full-strength glue to affect the cereal than it would if water is added to the glue. Using watered-down glue increases the risk of making the cereal soggy before you are ready to capture the hero image. Because the cereal flakes are anchored by the potato mixture, they should not float or dislodge when the glue is applied.
PHOTOGRAPHER’S COMMENTS—Bowl of Cereal Shot You may want to eat this beautiful bowl of cereal, but think again. You know by now that what you see is probably fake. This is truly one of those images. We wanted a beautiful morning shot of cereal. I assembled our set in front of a west-facing window in my studio. I wanted a mix of sunlight and strobe to make this shot look very fresh. The window light creates a beautiful backlight effect over the set. Backlighting food is another way to get great texture on the
NOTE Take care not to touch the cereal with the dropper as you apply the glue. The glue tends to have static tension, which will pull it toward the cereal flakes. If the glue gets on the front (camera side) of a cereal flake and shows above the milk line, you will need to replace that cereal flake.
Once you have reached the hero level of milk in the entire bowl, use either a slender pipette or wooden skewer to nudge the glue toward each flake so that it touches the flakes at the milk line where viewed from the camera. It is most realistic to see milk along the sides of the bowl as well as throughout the cereal build.
product. The window light also produces a soft white reflection on top of the orange juice. I have positioned my 200 Chimera Lantern directly overhead in this shot to cover the bowl in a soft light. I wanted a shallow depth of field on the cereal and my focus is in the middle of the bowl. My ISO is set at 100 and I am shooting at a shutter speed of 1⁄8 at f8. I have a slight tilt on my TSE 90 mm Canon lens to change the plane of focus and create a greater softness in the foreground and background. I will shoot from the Lonovo laptop computer to prevent any movement because of the longer shutter speed. The angle of your camera is very important in this shot. The camera should not be too overhead and not too straight on. If camera is set too low you will see out your window, and if the angle is too high you miss the shape of the bowl. I used a small white card to reflect white into the bowl of the spoon on the set. We used a brushed stainless spoon to prevent any
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reflections we would have to deal with later. Make it easy on yourself.
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NOTE Laws apply to food advertising. It is mandatory the food stylist is aware of current rulings
Supplies used to make the bowl of cereal image:
regarding food and food substitution. Generally, if you
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are advertising or representing a cereal, you must use
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the exact cereal. Glue can be substituted for milk since it is not the subject of the image nor is it the product being advertised.
Zak meeme tray, Gemini mixing bowl, duo mini bowl
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Architec silicone spatula, Preps bowl
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Oneida Stiletto flatware
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Anchor Hocking Stozle Glencairn glass, 8-ounce triple-pour measuring glass
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Studiopatró tea towel (surface)
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Bounty paper towels
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Cuisinart juice extractor
Tangerines, instant mashed potatoes, bulb dropper, white glue, cereal flakes, funnel, tweezers, wood skewer
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BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE
Keeping up with current trends in diet and nutrition is always a good choice for a food stylist and photographer. Having an image of a breakfast smoothie or protein drink in your portfolio might be a good decision. Regardless of the type of smoothie or breakfast drink you choose to photograph, this diet choice is quickly becoming a normal breakfast or meal replacement for many people. And remember, there are many kinds of breakfast and protein drinks on the market, making manufacturers of these drinks potential clients. This is another project that can be accomplished if you are on a tight budget. Designing a simple set and featuring only one or two hero glasses of smoothie or protein drink will help keep your costs down. Using a beverage with interesting color will allow you to make the star of your image pop on a simple set. If you use a garnish, make sure the garnish doesn’t draw too much attention away from the beverage. This project involves a smoothie made from scratch. Blending and juicing fruits and vegetables to create beverages is a method many people use to increase their nutritional intake. This project is a two-layered breakfast smoothie made from an assortment of fruits with the addition of almond milk to thin the mixture to a pourable/drinkable consistency. 168
NOTE You will notice background changes in the next series of images. During the build of the hero, we were experimenting with different backgrounds to determine the one we wanted to use with the final hero. This method of selecting a background will work well if the backgrounds can be quickly and easily changed.
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Once the mixture of fruits is blended, half of the mixture is removed from the blender and placed in a glass pitcher or pouring device. This mixture will serve as the first layer in the two-layer smoothie. The hero glass is half-filled with the first-layer mixture. Using a funnel for this task will protect the interior of the hero glass from splashes. Frozen blueberries are then added to the original mixture remaining in the blender. The berries
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are mixed into the fruit until the color, consistency, and appearance are approved for the hero. Because of the density of the fruit mixture, the two layers of liquid are easy to control for the stylist, keeping a smooth line of demarcation between the mixtures. Using a funnel and adding the mixture slowly is all that is required for this method. 169
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When the mixture is within a 1⁄20 of the preselected fill line, it’s a good idea to stop and look for any abnormalities or undesirable elements that have developed within the glass. In this case, I noticed a ring of small bubbles had developed around the edge of the glass on top of the smoothie. Using a pipette or small medicine dropper, these bubbles can be easily removed. If there had been a liquid or watery build-up instead, the pipette method for removal would have been appropriate also. This maneuver is completed at this time rather than after the hero level of the beverage is reached to avoid smearing on the glass and potential clean-up at the edge of the smoothie. Addition of the final 1⁄20 of liquid will cover any smears that might have resulted from using the pipette inside the glass.
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Supplies used to create the breakfast smoothie image: l
Hamilton Beach commercial Summit blender
Anchor Hocking 8-ounce triple-pour measuring glasses
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bambu coconut bowls, deep-dish lacquerware bowl
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Eco Bamboo compostable cloths
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Zyliss kitchen scissors
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Totally Bamboo the Big Kahuna cutting board
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Studiopatró tea towel
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Inhabit wall flats, Architect and See Saw patterns
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Anchor Hocking 17-ounce Linden glass
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Funnel, medicine dropper, spritz bottle, pineapple, mango, banana, blueberries, almond milk, mint
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PHOTOGRAPHER’S COMMENTS—Breakfast Smoothie Shot
background panel from top to bottom, giving it soft shadows that
This is a perfect shot to demonstrate overhead lighting. We wanted
will define the curves and lines.
drama and a contemporary feel to this simple drink shot. When you don’t have exciting or complicated food shots it’s great to be able to create the excitement with your lighting and your set.
In the front of the set near the camera and off to the left side I have positioned another strobe head with a 10 percent grid spot directed at the front of the glass. This will give brightness to the front of
We used a 160 160 wall panel for our background and a tea
the glass and create a little “pop” of crisp light. By positioning
towel for our surface, making this a small set. The focus is on the
your strobe head to the side of the camera you will eliminate any
glass but it’s what’s around it that makes this shot so interesting
shadows that might be caused by the strobe on your background,
and beautiful.
and the reflections on the glass are not distracting.
I used my medium Chimera Pancake lightbox positioned directly
On this set you have a horizon line behind the glass so you must be
overhead on the set. The side curtains are down to control the
sure your camera and set are completely level. I position my camera
amount of light and to focus the light to the center of the set.
directly in front of the glass on a sturdy Gitzo tripod. My camera is
The back curtain is up so the light will partially spill onto our
set at ISO100 at a shutter speed of 125 at f14.
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What’s For Breakfast?
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PANCAKES
The focus for this breakfast project is pancakes. If you haven’t styled pancakes previously or attempted them and experienced problems, you will find some helpful technique information in this chapter. Our project involved a rather high stack of pancakes topped with butter. The goal for food styling and photography in the hero image was to catch syrup in the action of dripping down the stack. Selecting elements for the pancake set was an interesting process. We decided to share this process with our readers. During the set design endeavor for our project, the steps taken to reach the final atmosphere or mood of the set were recorded with a few images. Those images are included in this chapter, as well as text of the process. It is a process that is well worth mentioning in case you are interested in learning more about set design techniques and applying the theories behind the decisions. (Please refer to Chapter 2 in Food Styling for Photographers for more detailed information about creating atmospheres in sets for photography.)
Choosing Design Elements for the Set The first step in designing a set when the food subject is already known is to identify the mood of the shot. Once a general mood or atmosphere for the image is 146
identified, selecting props and the setting for the food can take place. As a general rule, breakfast shots have an element of morning light. The mood of the image can vary from bright and high key to warm and homey. The mood we wanted for this pancake image was warm and homey. Selecting props that make up the setting for our warm and homey pancake image is the next step. The hero image for this project is a stack of blueberry pancakes. Choosing fabrics and dishware that would accentuate the blueberries as well as make the stack of pancakes pop in the image was our goal. If you are fortunate to be in a studio with a selection of plates, surfaces, and flatware, you will want to pull out all the elements that you feel are appropriate for the mood of your shot. We looked at a lot of fabrics and plates before settling on our set elements. We chose a tight blue-and-white weave fabric for the base of the set, and it was topped with a print fabric with similar blues. Using fabric-on-fabric is a method for incorporating color and texture in an image as well as visual interest. The base fabric in our image has an obvious woven texture, whereas the print fabric is tightly woven linen. The print fabric seems to anchor or ground our plate and creates a homey nest for the plate where the pancakes will be featured. Without the print fabric, the
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NOTE If you have to shop for props, be sure you have a good understanding of the prop needs for the set, including colors, textures, number of dishes, flatware, and any other props your planning has pinpointed. It would be helpful to take tear sheets and perhaps a color swatch with you when you shop. If you have an image of pancakes that is similar in color to the pancakes you want for your hero image, take it with you. By placing the tear sheet image of pancakes next to the plates, you can determine the best plate colors for your specific image.
environment is less warm and homey. A pale-blue plate that picks up blues in the print fabric was selected. These choices were made to create good separation for the stack of pancakes, to accentuate the blueberries, and to create a background that complemented the butter and syrup colors.
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Once the surfaces, type of lighting, and props have been selected, you will need to “hero” the set. When using a fabric surface covering the set or additional fabrics like napkins, the first step is to iron the fabrics. And it is very important to first cover the set with a sheet of heavy felt before spreading the hero surface fabric. (As discussed at greater length in the section “Working Fabric on the Set” in Chapter 2 of Food Styling for Photographers, the felt adds a softer appearance to fabric covering the set and allows you to iron directly on the set.)
Styling Pancakes When the food styling process begins, as always, prep the least perishable items first. For a pancake shot, one of the first things I do is cut “butter” pats.
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NOTE I cut 1⁄8” or slightly thicker slices of margarine straight from the refrigerator. If the margarine is frozen, it tends to break when cutting. However, frozen margarine can be cut with a specialized long razor blade (sold in crafting stores) or with a warm knife. The margarine pats are laid out on a metal baking sheet and placed into the freezer. The maple syrup, selected specifically for its color, is also placed in the freezer. Real maple syrup can remain in the freezer most of the day without becoming too thick to pour.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE Most food stylists choose to use
Pancake Batter Prep Techniques I have used a few different packaged pancake mixes for photo pancakes that produced the desired results. My favorite and most reliable pancake mixture is made-from-scratch batter. However, if you are styling pancakes for the first time, you can successfully use a packaged mix as long as you are aware of a few tricks. If the project calls for thicker rather than thin pancakes, there are two different approaches that can be
margarine in place of butter when styling butter pats since most margarine manufacturers add yellow coloring to their product. When compared to real butter, margarine has more color and tends to give better photographic results.
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taken. First, you can add more leavening ingredients to the batter. But you can also whip egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter to produce the desired results. Be sure to make notes as you alter the batter so you will be able to recreate the exact formula when you are ready to make hero pancakes. It’s important to do a test run of the batter, cooking one batch on the griddle, to make certain the proper thickness of pancakes is achieved. The original recipe can be altered to yield a different result with the
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addition or subtraction of leavening agents. Baking soda and baking powder in addition to buttermilk can make a big difference in pancake thickness. During this process, you will also determine the exact amount of batter required to create the diameter of pancake desired for your hero shot. For example, 1⁄4 cup pour of batter yields about a 40 round pancake. Having this information will help in creating a number of hero pancakes of approximately the same size. Otherwise, making hero pancakes is a hit-or-miss proposition.
Positioning Fruit in Photo Pancakes Once the batter is perfected and the size of the pour is determined, you can add blueberries or other fruits to the pancakes if you choose. The project we are showing has blueberries as an element in the pancakes. The blueberries are positioned in the external edges of the pancakes as soon as the batter is poured onto the griddle. I find a more realistic appearance is achieved when the blueberries are first coated in batter and then positioned in the edges of the pancake batter once on the griddle. To do this, I have a small bowl of pancake batter with several blueberries in it sitting next to the griddle. With my fingers, I roll the blueberries around to coat them in the batter and then select one at a time to position at the edge of a freshly poured pancake. For this shot, most of the pancakes I style have four or five blueberries spaced at different places along the outside edges. Only the top pancake in the hero stack will have blueberries positioned within the batter. After you have ample pancakes to use for the interior of the stack, you can make contenders for the top pancake. As a general rule, I make twice the number of pancakes that will be in the final hero stack. Since the size has been predetermined, this number usually gives a stylist enough pancakes to select from when building the hero stack.
Building a Stable Tower of Pancakes Photographing a stack of pancakes that will have a syrup pour often involves numerous captures from the
camera. The stylist will need to reapply syrup many times. During this process the top pancake can become discolored and saturated with syrup. Therefore, it is often necessary to replace the top pancake during multiple exposures. The stack of pancakes will need to have stability during this process to avoid movement within the stack. If any of the pancakes move, it will take time to reposition the errant pancakes. Taking time with heroes on set is not a comfortable option.
TIP To avoid movement in the pancakes, I have learned to add a Styrofoam core to the bottom of the stack. I cut either a small square or circle of Styrofoam. Approximately the same size/shape is removed from the center of the bottom two or three pancakes to allow room for the Styrofoam.
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Building the first few pancakes in the stack around the Styrofoam is a little challenging when fruit, like blueberries, is visible to camera. If this is your first attempt styling pancakes, you may want to use a circular shape of Styrofoam to make this task a little easier. However, once the height of the pancakes covers the Styrofoam, placement of the pancakes is much easier. When stacking numerous pancakes on top of each other, it often happens that the center of the stack will be the highest with the sides appearing to droop, yielding a mounded appearance. A good way to control the pancakes from appearing to droop is to add card stock or lightweight cardboard spacers between the pancakes, especially on the back side of the stack. To create an even appearance, use small spacers between all the pancakes rather than one larger spacer near the top of the stack. A little droop (but not a lot) in the front of the stack actually helps to show off the syrup and butter. It is helpful to view the stack from the camera, or take a quick capture between each pancake addition to determine the need for spacers.
The Top Pancake Gets Special Treatment Once the stack is complete, minus the top pancake, I normally add three wood skewers through the entire stack. The skewers are placed in a tight arrangement 154
through the center of the stack so they will anchor in the Styrofoam at the base of the stack. As mentioned earlier, this technique adds stability to the stack and prevents movement in case the top pancake is replaced during the syrup pour. Once in place, the skewers are cut close to the surface of the pancake and the top hero pancake is positioned. Remember, the top hero pancake is different than the pancakes within the stack. To create contenders for the top pancake, the stylist will need to press a few randomly spaced blueberries within the interior of the batter pour, as well as position blueberries on the perimeter of the batter. I usually make a minimum of three hero top pancakes, just in case more than one is needed.
Finishing the Stack When the top pancake is positioned as desired from the camera view and the stack gets final approval, it’s time for the butter pats to come out of the freezer. Using a tapered spatula, each butter pat can be carefully positioned on top of the pancake stack. I prefer two overlapping butter pats because the added elevation creates more visual interest. The pats will need to be slightly melted for a realistic appearance. I use a chef ’s torch for this task.
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The Syrup Pour OK … it’s called the syrup “pour,” but my technique is more of a dropper stream than a pour. I start out by using a large medicine dropper to create channels of syrup on the top pancake. These channels and areas of syrup will give me information about placement of syrup when we start shooting. Viewing the top pancake from the camera will allow the stylist and photographer to see places where a drip or stream of syrup will be most advantageous for lighting and viewing. Using the dropper allows precise placement of the syrup in these areas. I put the syrup, right out of the freezer, into a cup, and using the medicine dropper quickly place the syrup in the predetermined areas. After you have completed a few exposures, if the top pancake becomes discolored or saturated with syrup, it can be replaced easily without disturbing the stack. However, you will need to replace butter pats and torch them slightly before resuming the syrup application. This would also be the time to assess the captures taken thus far to determine if changes in syrup position are needed.
Supplies used to create the pancake image:
The image presented here is the same image as the one at the beginning of this chapter but with a tighter crop. Cropping a shot is a very important step. When you work with your hero image, try several different crops before you determine the final choice for presentation in your portfolio. Go for punch! We are representing this image here to show how crop can greatly change the impact of a shot.
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Wilton 90 tapered spatula
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BonJour professional culinary torch
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Oliso smart iron pro Architec Gripper Barboard and 600° silicone spatula Messermeister Meredian elité paring knife and nylon jumbo slotted turner OXO Good Grips angled measuring cup Hamilton Beach Soft Scrape handmixer, Commercial 7-quart stand mixer, and electric griddle
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Studiopatró T-towel
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Le Creuset chef ’s apron
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Zak Designs Gemini bowl, Colorways 2-quart batter bowl, and meeme tray Eco Scrub scrubbing cloth Anchor Hocking 8-ounce triple-pour measuring cup, prep bowl, and syrup server
Tweezers, hero plate and fork, pastry brush, wood skewers, Styrofoam, medicine dispenser dropper, card stock, margarine, syrup, pancake ingredients, eggs, and blueberries
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PHOTOGRAPHER’S COMMENTS—The Pancake Set
bright reflection on my plate that caused the loss of color and created
Vertical food shots can be difficult for the stylist and the photographer.
a white hot spot. I placed a large black card at the back of the set
It is a very time-consuming setup situation and one shot can take many
to block the hot light. Be sure to always check your set for unwanted
hours. As always, you have to be prepared for anything. On the morning
reflections.
of the shoot we had beautiful sunshine streaming through the window.
As we built each layer of the pancakes it was important to take
Perfect lighting for a shot of blueberry pancakes. As the day went on clouds gathered and a huge Texas storm blew in. No sunlight!
many images of the build to decide the placement of the blueberries and the angle of the pancakes to the camera. Once we were set and the butter was placed we began the syrup pours.
What do you do? Panic? Nope, you fake it.
I was not looking through the camera but sitting at the exact level of
I placed my Chimera Lantern behind the pancake plate to create a
the lens, and from that vantage point I was able to direct where we
backlight effect that would mimic the sunlight I lost. I then positioned
needed the syrup to pour and drip. Many images were captured to get
a Chimera Pancake lightbox (yes, it is really called a pancake) directly
the perfect one. Tethered to my Lenovo laptop, I shot from the computer.
overhead. The overhead lighting using the pancake covered the entire
My strobe packs were set to fire rapidly and my camera settings using a
stack and lit the front face of the pancakes. When you are using a
Canon 90 mm TSE lens with no tilt or shifts are ISO 100 at f11 at 1/125
backlighting effect reflections can be a good or a bad result. I had a
shutter speed and a PocketWizard to sync my strobe packs.
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CEREAL
Creating a bowl of cereal for photography is a task that I have done several times for clients when they needed new images for packaging. If you are considering going after a variety of new clients, this would be a good project to add to your portfolio. And it’s always a good idea to have serving suggestion and packaging type shots in your portfolio. I’ll give you step-by-step directions to build a bowl of cereal. This is a project that could easily be low cost, especially if you have appropriate props in your studio. (See Chapter 10 for building a spoonful of cereal.)
Styling a Bowl of Cereal If you are working on a portfolio image, the first task is to decide what cereal you’re using. My recommendation would be to build a shot using a flake-type cereal. Although the building process may seem more complex for flake cereal as opposed to round or oval cereals, it is actually easier to control the styling outcome of flake cereal when styled with the techniques presented in this chapter. To begin: Pour a portion of the box of cereal onto a large tray and sort through the flakes to find hero flakes. A hero flake will be uniform in shape, even colored, and a good representation of the product. I like
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to find different sizes in case some smaller flakes are needed near the spoon and larger ones are needed near the back of the bowl. I also like to find some flakes with bends because they add interest to the build. It will take more heroes than you think, but you should be able to find enough flakes for one hero bowl within one box of cereal. Next, build a base of mashed potatoes into the bowl. Use instant mashed potatoes. Rather than following directions on the box, mix the flakes with warm water until a thick, nonwatery mixture is achieved. Mix the instant potato flakes thoroughly until all the flakes are moistened. Press the potato mixture into the hero bowl to achieve a level layer. The layer will need to be the right height so that when flakes are added, the flakes will gently break the back line of the bowl when viewed from the camera. The mashed potato layer will also provide a surface for the “milk” to sit, so it’s important that the layer is level and smooth. I use the back of a large spoon or flexible spatula when first pressing the potato mixture into the bowl. Once the mixture is near the right height in the bowl, I use an offset metal spatula to flatten and level the potato mixture. Each cereal flake is placed individually by gently pressing it down into the potato mixture. Press the flakes 161
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far enough into the potatoes so they will stand upright. I normally begin cereal placement at the back of the bowl to establish a visually interesting back line. Some flakes are placed so that when viewed from camera, they break the line of the bowl, and other flakes are placed to allow the camera to see a little of the bowl interior. This type of build creates an interesting line
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with slight variances of height at the back of the bowl. Finish placing the cereal in the bowl leaving some negative space (areas that are without flakes) where milk will be seen from the camera angle. Create short winding channels of negative space as you place cereal flakes. This technique creates interest and leads the viewer’s eyes on an adventure through the cereal.
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At this point the set needs to be finalized, replacing all stand-in items with heroes. Replace the stand-in bowl with the hero bowl with cereal built into it. We chose to include a glass of orange juice in our cereal shot. But rather than use orange juice, I used tangerine juice because of the intensity of color and because tangerine juice is close to the color of the hero bowl holding the cereal in our shot. This technique of using similar colors on the set leads the eyes of the viewer through the
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shot. Right before shooting, a few bubbles are added to float in the tangerine juice for a realistic presentation of freshly squeezed juice. (For more detailed information about placing bubbles in beverages refer to the section “Making and Placing Bubbles” in Chapter 3 of Food Styling for Photographers.) When the set is finalized and everything is approved, the milk (white glue) is added to the cereal build using a medicine dropper or pipette. In this case, 163
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I prefer using full-strength, not watered-down, glue to replicate milk because it will not quickly soak into the cereal or mashed potatoes. It will take longer for the full-strength glue to affect the cereal than it would if water is added to the glue. Using watered-down glue increases the risk of making the cereal soggy before you are ready to capture the hero image. Because the cereal flakes are anchored by the potato mixture, they should not float or dislodge when the glue is applied.
PHOTOGRAPHER’S COMMENTS—Bowl of Cereal Shot You may want to eat this beautiful bowl of cereal, but think again. You know by now that what you see is probably fake. This is truly one of those images. We wanted a beautiful morning shot of cereal. I assembled our set in front of a west-facing window in my studio. I wanted a mix of sunlight and strobe to make this shot look very fresh. The window light creates a beautiful backlight effect over the set. Backlighting food is another way to get great texture on the
NOTE Take care not to touch the cereal with the dropper as you apply the glue. The glue tends to have static tension, which will pull it toward the cereal flakes. If the glue gets on the front (camera side) of a cereal flake and shows above the milk line, you will need to replace that cereal flake.
Once you have reached the hero level of milk in the entire bowl, use either a slender pipette or wooden skewer to nudge the glue toward each flake so that it touches the flakes at the milk line where viewed from the camera. It is most realistic to see milk along the sides of the bowl as well as throughout the cereal build.
product. The window light also produces a soft white reflection on top of the orange juice. I have positioned my 200 Chimera Lantern directly overhead in this shot to cover the bowl in a soft light. I wanted a shallow depth of field on the cereal and my focus is in the middle of the bowl. My ISO is set at 100 and I am shooting at a shutter speed of 1⁄8 at f8. I have a slight tilt on my TSE 90 mm Canon lens to change the plane of focus and create a greater softness in the foreground and background. I will shoot from the Lonovo laptop computer to prevent any movement because of the longer shutter speed. The angle of your camera is very important in this shot. The camera should not be too overhead and not too straight on. If camera is set too low you will see out your window, and if the angle is too high you miss the shape of the bowl. I used a small white card to reflect white into the bowl of the spoon on the set. We used a brushed stainless spoon to prevent any
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reflections we would have to deal with later. Make it easy on yourself.
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NOTE Laws apply to food advertising. It is mandatory the food stylist is aware of current rulings
Supplies used to make the bowl of cereal image:
regarding food and food substitution. Generally, if you
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are advertising or representing a cereal, you must use
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the exact cereal. Glue can be substituted for milk since it is not the subject of the image nor is it the product being advertised.
Zak meeme tray, Gemini mixing bowl, duo mini bowl
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Architec silicone spatula, Preps bowl
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Oneida Stiletto flatware
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Anchor Hocking Stozle Glencairn glass, 8-ounce triple-pour measuring glass
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Studiopatró tea towel (surface)
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Bounty paper towels
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Cuisinart juice extractor
Tangerines, instant mashed potatoes, bulb dropper, white glue, cereal flakes, funnel, tweezers, wood skewer
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BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE
Keeping up with current trends in diet and nutrition is always a good choice for a food stylist and photographer. Having an image of a breakfast smoothie or protein drink in your portfolio might be a good decision. Regardless of the type of smoothie or breakfast drink you choose to photograph, this diet choice is quickly becoming a normal breakfast or meal replacement for many people. And remember, there are many kinds of breakfast and protein drinks on the market, making manufacturers of these drinks potential clients. This is another project that can be accomplished if you are on a tight budget. Designing a simple set and featuring only one or two hero glasses of smoothie or protein drink will help keep your costs down. Using a beverage with interesting color will allow you to make the star of your image pop on a simple set. If you use a garnish, make sure the garnish doesn’t draw too much attention away from the beverage. This project involves a smoothie made from scratch. Blending and juicing fruits and vegetables to create beverages is a method many people use to increase their nutritional intake. This project is a two-layered breakfast smoothie made from an assortment of fruits with the addition of almond milk to thin the mixture to a pourable/drinkable consistency. 168
NOTE You will notice background changes in the next series of images. During the build of the hero, we were experimenting with different backgrounds to determine the one we wanted to use with the final hero. This method of selecting a background will work well if the backgrounds can be quickly and easily changed.
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Once the mixture of fruits is blended, half of the mixture is removed from the blender and placed in a glass pitcher or pouring device. This mixture will serve as the first layer in the two-layer smoothie. The hero glass is half-filled with the first-layer mixture. Using a funnel for this task will protect the interior of the hero glass from splashes. Frozen blueberries are then added to the original mixture remaining in the blender. The berries
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are mixed into the fruit until the color, consistency, and appearance are approved for the hero. Because of the density of the fruit mixture, the two layers of liquid are easy to control for the stylist, keeping a smooth line of demarcation between the mixtures. Using a funnel and adding the mixture slowly is all that is required for this method. 169
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When the mixture is within a 1⁄20 of the preselected fill line, it’s a good idea to stop and look for any abnormalities or undesirable elements that have developed within the glass. In this case, I noticed a ring of small bubbles had developed around the edge of the glass on top of the smoothie. Using a pipette or small medicine dropper, these bubbles can be easily removed. If there had been a liquid or watery build-up instead, the pipette method for removal would have been appropriate also. This maneuver is completed at this time rather than after the hero level of the beverage is reached to avoid smearing on the glass and potential clean-up at the edge of the smoothie. Addition of the final 1⁄20 of liquid will cover any smears that might have resulted from using the pipette inside the glass.
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Hamilton Beach commercial Summit blender
Anchor Hocking 8-ounce triple-pour measuring glasses
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bambu coconut bowls, deep-dish lacquerware bowl
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Eco Bamboo compostable cloths
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Zyliss kitchen scissors
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Totally Bamboo the Big Kahuna cutting board
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Studiopatró tea towel
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Inhabit wall flats, Architect and See Saw patterns
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Anchor Hocking 17-ounce Linden glass
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Funnel, medicine dropper, spritz bottle, pineapple, mango, banana, blueberries, almond milk, mint
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PHOTOGRAPHER’S COMMENTS—Breakfast Smoothie Shot
background panel from top to bottom, giving it soft shadows that
This is a perfect shot to demonstrate overhead lighting. We wanted
will define the curves and lines.
drama and a contemporary feel to this simple drink shot. When you don’t have exciting or complicated food shots it’s great to be able to create the excitement with your lighting and your set.
In the front of the set near the camera and off to the left side I have positioned another strobe head with a 10 percent grid spot directed at the front of the glass. This will give brightness to the front of
We used a 160 160 wall panel for our background and a tea
the glass and create a little “pop” of crisp light. By positioning
towel for our surface, making this a small set. The focus is on the
your strobe head to the side of the camera you will eliminate any
glass but it’s what’s around it that makes this shot so interesting
shadows that might be caused by the strobe on your background,
and beautiful.
and the reflections on the glass are not distracting.
I used my medium Chimera Pancake lightbox positioned directly
On this set you have a horizon line behind the glass so you must be
overhead on the set. The side curtains are down to control the
sure your camera and set are completely level. I position my camera
amount of light and to focus the light to the center of the set.
directly in front of the glass on a sturdy Gitzo tripod. My camera is
The back curtain is up so the light will partially spill onto our
set at ISO100 at a shutter speed of 125 at f14.
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