back in june, i attended a food styling workshop hosted by the nashville food bloggers. it was not only a fun way to spend a saturday morning, it was very informative. we learned how to style a salad. sounds easy doesn't it? well, while it isn't rocket science, it is complicated in that you have to arrange things just right or it doesn't look appetizing and won't photograph well.
the class was led by teresa blackburn and she showed us two techniques. first, how to plate an actual salad and all of the components in it and then how to tell the same story with just a forkful of food. my photos below will tell my story.
when we go out to japanese restaurants, my favorite dish always ends up being the salad served while waiting for sushi to arrive. more than once, our daughters, and sometimes my husband too, have passed their bowls to me. weird, isn't it? what could be so wonderful about iceberg lettuce covered in pureed carrots? well, for me, it's the dressing. there has always been something about that dressing for me. it must be the combination of fresh, raw carrots with ginger and soy sauce, some of my favorite flavors. recently, i found a recipe for carrot-ginger dressing from saveur magazine. after making a few subtle changes, our own honey for the sugar and a little sesame oil, i had more than a pint of dressing to keep me fed for the next week! then i realized it was a chance to try and photograph a salad using my newly acquired skills.
for the actual bowl of salad, i attempted to use props with an asian flair to them. i carefully arranged the salad but left it undressed. next i staged the shot, set up the bounce card on a tripod, put the camera on another tripod and began taking test shots. finally, i dressed the salad and took some shots. meh...so disappointing. i fussed and futzed and so on and so forth. nothing. no matter what, it just looked blah. the lighting was not very interesting either. it was late afternoon heading to early evening and the light was bordering on harsh. i almost gave up completely but then had a thought; what if i broke it down and told the story of the salad with just a forkful of food?
it was if the stars suddenly aligned. the lighting changed and it made the tomatoes and the dressing glow. the shot isn't perfect, but i didn't expect perfection-just a chance to practice the skill. and of course, to eat a small boatload of salad with carrot-ginger dressing.
saveur carrot-ginger dressing
makes about 4 cups dressing
1 cup vegetable oil-i poured 2 tablespoons sesame oil into the measuring cup and then filled it with canola oil
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoons sugar-i used wildflower honey from our bees
1 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
8 ounces carrots, raw-peeled and chopped into pieces
6 ounces onions, diced
the directions call for processing all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. i did this but my food processor left it too chunky for me, i dumped it in the blender and blended it until smooth. season with salt and pepper if desired. serve over wedges of iceberg lettuce.
the class was led by teresa blackburn and she showed us two techniques. first, how to plate an actual salad and all of the components in it and then how to tell the same story with just a forkful of food. my photos below will tell my story.
when we go out to japanese restaurants, my favorite dish always ends up being the salad served while waiting for sushi to arrive. more than once, our daughters, and sometimes my husband too, have passed their bowls to me. weird, isn't it? what could be so wonderful about iceberg lettuce covered in pureed carrots? well, for me, it's the dressing. there has always been something about that dressing for me. it must be the combination of fresh, raw carrots with ginger and soy sauce, some of my favorite flavors. recently, i found a recipe for carrot-ginger dressing from saveur magazine. after making a few subtle changes, our own honey for the sugar and a little sesame oil, i had more than a pint of dressing to keep me fed for the next week! then i realized it was a chance to try and photograph a salad using my newly acquired skills.
saveur carrot-ginger dressing
makes about 4 cups dressing
1 cup vegetable oil-i poured 2 tablespoons sesame oil into the measuring cup and then filled it with canola oil
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoons sugar-i used wildflower honey from our bees
1 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
8 ounces carrots, raw-peeled and chopped into pieces
6 ounces onions, diced
the directions call for processing all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. i did this but my food processor left it too chunky for me, i dumped it in the blender and blended it until smooth. season with salt and pepper if desired. serve over wedges of iceberg lettuce.
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