Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A very long engagement...


I've been trying to find a new look for my food photography, partly because I am bored with what I do currently and partly because as an artist you have to try new things, experiment, get out of the comfort zone. Sometimes that's good, others not so good. While looking at several art books, watching a bunch of movies and leafing through countless magazines I kept experimenting with both lighting and post production, mixing and matching, adding and erasing, coloring and desaturating. Eventually I started to like what I was getting. Following are a few examples.














Monday, December 14, 2009

For my brother...



Brother,
Last Saturday I had a last minute shoot in Orange County for a Catering Company. Julia Swenson, the chef/owner of the company made a few dishes which looked very good and took a couple of hours to photograph. Although I wanted to, I hesitated to taste them because you know how I am, if I start I can't stop, and I didn't want to make the wrong impression. Except towards the end, when she made an appetiser which, the moment I saw it, I knew I was going to break down and try it. Baked Panceta with goat cheese and baked pears!!!!!!!!! I think she made 6-8 of them for me to photograph, and once I was done shooting, I eat ALL of them. I talked to Julia the following Monday and I asked her how she prepared it, and she was nice enough to give me the recipe. Very easy and very tasty. I thought you and Megan would enjoy making it for one of your parties. Today I made the pears just to see how they come out and tomorrow I am going to Whole Foods to stock up on panceta and goat cheese. So, here is the recipe:
1. Panceta, sliced on the thick side and then cut lengthwise 2-3"
2. Goat cheese
3. One pear, pealed and sliced pretty thin
4. Olive oil
5. Salt

A. Bake the panceta at 400 degrees for 20-30 min or until nice and crisp. Julia used a cookie cooling rack so the fat dropped onto the pan.
B. In a small bowl, coat the pears with a little bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt
C. Place the pear slices on a parchment paper or a flat baking dish and bake for 30min at 400 degrees, or until the slices become translucent and edges start to brown.
D. Assemble: panceta, some goat cheese, a slice of pear.

Enjoy! Love, your brother.