Before I start to talk about the International Conference on Food Styling & Photography’s Monday “Master” workshop with Francine Zaslow & Deborah Jones, let me first put this thought in your head. What kind of a saint would you be to let 30 people with cameras in tow crowd around you and watch you work all day? And on top of that, be willing to talk through, step-by-step, what you are doing?

These two women (as well as their fantastic assistants and stylists) are some kind of angels for not only sharing their time and knowledge but doing it in such an elegant, patient and down right entertaining way. The folks that were able to attend this session were incredibly lucky to be hosted by such a wonderful team (and I’m pretty sure everyone felt that way).

Secondly, Francine & Deborah were throwing out so many ideas and tips and tricks during the day that it’s impossible to remember them all. This post will probably be more photos than anything because I had a camera clicking away in my hands “taking notes” rather than pen & paper. The ideas will probably come to me now and then over the next month or so, and I’ll post them as they come. Just realize that any tips listed here are really the tip of the iceberg and that next time, get yourself to the conference so you don’t miss them!

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Nathan, my neighbor asked yesterday if I could shoot The Kooks last night- what a killer show! The guitarist, Hugh, uses his guitars so we got full access- cool guys for sure. I also wasn't too familiar with their music before the show- I am now:)


Nathan said not to bring a long lens... glad I didn't...

Let’s ring in the new year with a challenges on drinks, shall we? Styling and shooting beverages is often even more tricky than shooting food… there is less going on with the subject, and when something does happen, it doesn’t usually happen for very long! Not to mention, we are trained to expect a glass to have a perfect layer of condensation or a cup to have spiraling swirls of steam.

This month, please post your drink shots… they can be cocktails, wine, milk, pop, coffee, tea or water… just make sure the beverage is the main subject, and not just hanging out in the background. In addition, please use the description to explain what you did with the shots, particularly for lighting or styling, so we can all learn.

I’ll also start up a discussion for tips and tricks for styling beverages… things like canned air is great at reviving the head on a beer.

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person and the last day will be around January 31st give or take a few days.

I had two different ideas for this month’s challenge. But an article on plating in today’s Seattle Times pre-empted them both, and inspired me to create this month’s Plate it Up! theme. The article is about transforming a boring plating into something that has more appeal. Despite the title of the piece, which implies that it will be mainly about garnishing, the tips include do’s and don’ts about how to layout the food, how to think about color, and (a little) on saucing. It’s a short read, but a good one to kick off the challenge. Go read it now, so the rest of this post makes sense.

Back so soon? Did you read it? Good.

First off, I’m curious as to what you thought of the example photo. Did the after photo look better to you? And if so, how much better?

Secondly, here’s where you really come in… what would you do to the plate to make it even more appealing? Show us with this month’s post. No, you don’t have to plate the same dishes… but do try to combine different dishes onto one plate, and make the most of them. This is something I tend to avoid doing… and one of the things I’ve noticed about most cooking magazines and cookbooks… the photo shows just one cooked item, not an item, plated, as you probably would if you were actually serving at home or in a restaurant.

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Leaving Boston on Monday evening, I felt like I had just spent 4 days pouring over my favorite foodie magazines… I was awe-struck, overly full of ideas, and antsy to start getting back into the kitchen and putting even just a little of what I had learned to use. My head still feels a bit like an over-stuffed sausage, but it seems time to start to give you a taste of what went on at the conference.

My personal adventure started a bit earlier than the conference because I am a spaz, and apparently can’t read a schedule. The conference started on Friday, and I knew that I really was not capable of sitting through an afternoon of talks after taking a red-eye flight, so I booked myself on the Wednesday night redeye instead, expecting to have the Thursday to recover before the workshops began. Silly me… the only thing happening on Friday was registration, something that I could have done half asleep. Thankfully, Bea and P were incredibly kind with my extra imposition, and I got to hang with Bea as she whipped up some of her famous tarts. All I can say is that as great as they look on her blog, they even taste better. Bea and I also got to go do some prop shopping, starting at a fabric store, where we both picked out several new and fabulous textures and colors

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I’m quite a bit late getting started on this month’s challenge, but I’m also incredibly inspired. I’ve just returned from Boston, from the International Food Styling & Photography conference, three jam-packed days of inspiration, education and socialization. My head is still so incredibly full, that I need to digest everything for a while before the post to figure out how to convey even a little bit back to you. But, I will be there soon!

In the meantime, one of the things that we spent time doing is thinking about what makes a great photo, which got me to thinking about this month’s theme. The whole point of this group is for feedback, sometimes positive and sometimes critical… but always feedback to help us improve, getting from photos that “aren’t terrible” to “pretty good” to “OMG. WOW. THAT IS AMAZING!!!!! GET IN MY TUMMY!”

So, this month, it’s up to you to pick photos you think are really representative of your work… something that when you see it, really captures who you are as a stylist or a photographer. A shot that you’d place in your portfolio, not because it’s perfect, but because it is so you. THEN, lead the way with a self critique in the description of the photo. Once you’ve done that, over the course of the challenge, pick at LEAST one other photo (not yours) to give a full critique for every photo you post. Don’t be shy, but

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I’m a bit irked with Food & Wine.com right now. They replaced their little blogwatch thing that used to do a nice job of showcasing some of the cool stuff out there, and made it all internal links to their own stuff. So, the one draw the website always had for me, no longer brings me there. Oh, well. Their loss.

I do subscribe to the print magazine though, and I just noticed that they’ve just announced a new food photo contest. The last one was pretty cool, not only for the winner, who received a Canon Digital Rebel, but also for a bunch of folks who got to have their photos featured in a gallery on the Food & Wine website. This time, the focus is on travel food photography, and you can win a Samsung Smart Phone. It’s a great theme, and one that is often overlooked when food photography contests are run. I can’t wait to see what the results are!

Photos must be entered by the end of May, and you can find out more on the Food & Wine website.

Technorati Tags: Food, food magazine, Food Styling, Photography

It’s been a while since I did much searching for these, but there are several classes coming up in the next 6 months that you might be interested in checking out:

Denise Vivaldo and Cindie Flannigan are hosting several upcoming classes in the LA area: May 12 -13th is the next Master Food Styling class, a hands-on, coached weekend in the kitchen. If you can’t make that, look for the Food Styling Workshop, a 3-day intensive class, October 26-28th. For more information, plus what looks like some upcoming International classes, see the Culinary Entrepreneurship Program website.

If you are in the Kansas City area, you might be interested in the Styling Workshop at David Morris Photography. This 2-3 day workshop (April 26-28, 2007) is focused on jumpstarting novice stylists and boosting experienced stylists’ value in the workplace. For more details, send see the Foodesigns website.

And, if you were interested in the upcoming food styling and photography conference at Boston University, there is more information up on their site now. Looks to be an exceptionally valuable few days, June 1st - 4th.

If you don’t have time for travel, there are online food styling courses at PhotoStylingWorkshops.com. The next round of Lisa Golden Schroeder’s online class, Food Styling 101, starts on April 17th.

The French Culinary Institute in New York is offering a 2 session course in Plating and Styling in late July/early August. It’s quite pricey at $695, but looks like it offers

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