STW Challenge for June: Market to Table

Thanks everyone for your patience and help in May, and I hope you enjoyed the little “holiday” from the rules. Somehow, despite the break, June crept up on me all unaware. Maybe it’s because in Seattle, the weather still feels concerningly like March full of weeping grey skies. Still, the farmer’s markets have even opened up here despite the winter-like weather, and if you look, you can find one almost any day of the week with fresh seasonal goodies to be had. Since so many of you proposed Market-to-Table diptychs as a theme, and given the seasonal transition, I can’t think of a better challenge for this month!

The goal this month will be to show your ingredients, as they come from the market and then the dish you made with them. Sort of a before and after. Extra bonus points if you tell us something about the ingredients producer or at least where you found the ingredient. Gold stars for those who can find them in their own backyard!

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 June 30th give or take a few days.

Written by L on June 4th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Showing and All and composition and Announcements and Memes and Themes and Camera Review and Inspiration and Food Photo Groups and Tips ans Tricks.

STW Challenge for May: Food Free For All

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Clearly, you guys love to post to the Flickr Group. And I love to see your work! But, I am quite behind given the number of photos posted in the last 2 months and a bit of a freak amount of work in my day job in April.

This month, your challenge is… well, no challenge! For May, it’s a free for all! Post up to 3 photos of food shots you want to show. Anything you want!

However, I’m going to skip commenting this month. If you really want me to comment, please tag the photo “STWFeedbackPlease” and I’ll be sure to take a look and give you some feedback.

I’m also asking for help in future months. If you have an idea for a challenge, shoot me a piece of email and let me hear your suggestions! Or post ideas on the Future Theme Ideas thread. If you think you have time to help give feedback, let me know too. Of course everyone is welcome and encouraged to leave feedback on the photos in the group. The more we all get involved, the better.

Written by L on May 8th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Announcements and Showing and All and Memes and Themes and Food Photo Groups and Camera Review and Inspiration and Tips ans Tricks.

Food Styling for Photographers

If you’ve ever done any research into food photography and styling, then you know how few and far between the guides are. There are a couple of books that focus on lighting and some of the basics of photography when it comes to food… almost a laughable number given the overall quantities of books on general photography and photography software. For food styling, there has been even less. However, I just received my copy of Food Styling for Photographers by Linda Bellingham and Jean Ann Bybee and I’m thrilled to see this kind of information more readily available to photographers and people considering food styling.

“Food Styling for Photographers: A Guide to Creating Your Own Appetizing Art”
(Linda Bellingham, Jean Ann Bybee)

A quick look through, and it’s easy to see that this book is aimed at professional photographers who are starting out in the world of food photography, and bidding on jobs that don’t have the budget for a food stylist. This is quite common in the industry. I know that many of my clients certainly don’t. There are all kinds of issues that go along with photographers being their own stylists. As one who does handle both sides of the camera, I know that the time it takes to get through a shoot can be dramatically different than a photographer working with a whole team, or even a single stylist. Everything has to be serialized… shopping, prep, cooking, lighting, etc. But,

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Click to continue reading "Food Styling for Photographers"

Written by L on May 5th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Styling and All and lighting and Announcements and Plating and Camera Review and Inspiration and Tips ans Tricks.

Cooking with JPG Magazine

Alanna, of A Veggie Venture, was nice enough to forward me this link to JPG magazine’s recent Get Cooking challenge. This photo challenge will be open for one week and will close on April 16th. And one lucky photo challenge will be featured on the back page of the next issue of JPG Magazine.

Written by L on April 10th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Announcements and Showing and Memes and Themes and Inspiration and Camera Review and Tips ans Tricks.

Hot or Not For Web Design?

Commandshift3.com/ is like hot or not for web design. A guilty pleasure and big time killer. Stay away if you've got deadlines!

Written by Jon Gos on April 7th, 2008 with no comments.
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http://www.carbonmade.com

Great new portfolio site! Check it out over at Carbon Made

Written by Jon Gos on April 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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More Behind the Scenes

Well, since I seem to be so behind these days getting blog posts up (not to mention commenting on all of the absolutely incredible egg photos that came in this month), I thought I’d just pop in to give some link love to Kathy Casey’s blog. Kathy Casey is a Northwest chef who has more than a few cookbooks under her belt. Her latest, Sips & Apps, is currently being shot right here in Seattle. Kathy has given a little peak(and hopefully more to come) at the shoot.

Written by L on March 31st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Studio Gear and Inspiration and Camera Review and Tips ans Tricks.

10 Illustrators for Inspiration

Here's a list of 10 up and coming mixed-media illustrators, painters and artists revolutionizing the industry in a big way. More than that, their work inspires me to be a better designer. Click the pictures to read more about each or visit their respective websites.

Jeff Soto
jeffsoto.com
Jeff Soto creates large format mixed-media illustrations sometimes up to to twelve feet long.

Ashley Wood
ashleywoodartist.com
Famous for his work on Metal Gear solid, Ashley is well known among gamers and comic enthusiasts.

James Jean
jamesjean.com
Illustrator to the stars, James Jean's work has often been featured in Spin and Rolling Stone Magazine.

Dony Permedi
donysanimation.com
Dony recently received much praise for completing an entire 3D animated short by himself!

Bengal
cafesale.net
France based artist Bengal is well known in the comics industry for his work at DC and Image.

LeSean Thomas
leseanthomas.com
Most know LeSean from his work as lead animator for Adult Swim's animated BOONDOCKS TV series but he's also an accomplished comic artist.