Haymaker

This response indicates you have probably considered it, but I was going to suggest that you include images of yourselves as well as the food. What a great idea. I have dabbled in food styling and it is pretty time consuming, especially if you also have made the food item. It will be a treasure for your family.

CanonTom Loc: Birmingham

[quote=AndyH]My wife and I are both enthusiastic amateur chefs, and, if I do say so, we produce some pretty tasty dishes that we've perfected over many years of tweaking. We often get requests from friends and family (especially the latter, as they eat it more frequently) for our recipes for Potato Leek Soup, Balsamic Potato Salad, my Secret Shepherd's Pie, Teriyaki Mushrooms, Grammy's Corn Chowdah, and other somewhat unusual dishes.

So we're beginning a photo project featuring recipes and process photos, which I hope to publish in PDF format as a family legacy that can be passed on from Grammy and Grampa as something that will live forever, or at least until our family line dies out (not for a number of generations - together we have five living children, a dozen grands, and quite a few that we've "virtually" adopted over our years together!). I don't know exactly how many family recipes we have in total, but I think it's enough to fill a good size book, judging from the ones we post on FacBook and the responses we get.

On The Book of Face, I've mostly shared just camera phone photos, rarely a well composed and shot DSLR or even Point and Shoot / Bridge Camera image. So we're beginning to go through our repertoire taking better quality photos to export into an album or online book. I'm posting this for two reasons:


1) I'll bet we're not the only ones whose families and friends would like something like this, and I wanted to share the idea.

2) I have rarely taken food photos in the past, and I'm sure there are many here who have some great ideas on methods, tips, and techniques for lighting, angles, "food styling" etc.

Welcoming any of the latter especially. I'm cooking something special tmorrow (we are primarily weekend cooks...) and I'd like to try to document the process and the results. Until they invent the "taste sample" software, I think some images will be the best way to do it.

Looking forward to hearing some ideas!

Andy, a wonderful idea! First, a great project for you and your wife together, which alone makes it worth it. Additionally, wonderful family heirloom pictures of grandpa and grandma happily together cooking food the youngsters remember eating with gusto, complete with instructions for cooking it themselves! A terrific idea!

My wife is a retired chef of 25 years and I, well I will take a picture of about anything, lol. I think I may suggest such a project for us.

My one suggestion...........do the best you can with the photos of course, but don't get hung up on them having to compete with "Southern Living Magazine", etc.......the family history aspect will make them a family favorite!

dbfalconer Loc: Salida CO

I love your idea of a legacy cookbook. May I suggest you personalize it with some anecdotes and reminisces related to family -togethers and food. (I.e., the Thanksgiving Aunt Bee burned her famous pie so passed off a bakery one as hers. The year you tried homemade popcorn balls in lieu of Halloween candy and ended up with an inedible brown mess. The first birthday cake you ever made. What not to do with XYZ. Shortcuts that really worked. Your favorite unusual can’t live without cooking utensil. The time little Billy ate the whole plate of cookies before anyone noticed. .....you get the idea!). And include photos of you two cooking and showing off your dishes, and of family and friends enjoying same. Your recipes are unique and special, but future generations will be even more interested in the people and stories than in the secret spaghetti sauce.

For photo ideas, browse some of the gorgeous cookbooks out now. Many include a few process shots. Bon appetit!

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Thanks Gene,

Somehow I knew you wouldn't disappoint, and would have some resource ideas. I'm not going to go nuts, and I'm not going to style what we cook beyond edibility, but I'm the kind of person who wants to read all about what the pros do in order to make my work as good as it can be for the purpose intended. At work, I shoot dozens of "documentary" JPEGs of construction in progress, and they are not my most artistic work. But I still try to expose, focus, and frame as well as I can. If you're going to attempt something, do it as well as you can.


On the food front, we have over 150 cookbooks, and subscribe to the usual suspects, so I have some ideas of what the pros like to attempt. Now I'm going to go out and buy Delores Custer's book. Thanks for the suggestion!


Andy

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Andy

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Glad you liked it. And I certainly agree with your point. Perfection is the antonym of completion, eh?

Andy

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Thanks! I hope others give it a try. I wish I had photos of many such occasions from the past.

I will tell the story of the "Punk Turkey" I produced many years ago, at the first Thanksgiving with both my mom and my (now) ex-wife's family. In those pre-brining days, no less a figure than Pierre Franey advised cooking it breast down on a rack, but my oven ran rather hot, and when we removed it, little strips of skin adhered to the rack, giving the bird a perfect mohawk. I also learned why you can't make mashed potatoes in your brand new Cuisinart food processor. Now that was a photo worthy occasion, and one that my boys will always remember!


Andy

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Great suggestion SS. My thinking was along the same lines. Sometimes, even often, the KISS principal is still the best method. Most people are interested in only the final product when it comes to preparing food.

Dennis

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Of course I'm not going to go nuts, but the process is important to get the results you want. Grammy and Grampa are famous in family circles for teaching the young'uns to cook, and the fun we have preparing meals. When the kids think of us, it's fairly often in the context of food and family meals.

That's what I'm aiming at here. A combination memory book and cookbook that will outlive us, trigger memories for the kids and grands, and be something to pass along to future generations who never had the chance to cook and eat with us.

Now we just need to find the time to put it together!

Andy

tripsy76 Loc: Northshore, MA

When I’ve photographed food, the food itself goes thru such a process that it’s essentially inedible. Unprepared food tends to not photograph nicely.

What if you set up a tripod, basic lights, and a remote trigger. That way instead of shooting unprepared food, you can shoot the two of you along the process. Take a second shot from above so you can see what each step looks like, and then use that as a picture in picture. This way your family won’t just have great family recipies they can also have a great family moment captured (and you could still eat the food).
Just a thought!

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

That's exactly what I'm going for.

I've got flashes, reflectors, umbrellas, stands, and triggers, so I was thinking we'd just take a few candids of each other as we cook, some of the traditional overhead shots, and a shot of the final product.

I don't think I'll do much styling of the finished goods, so it will only look as good as possible while remaining tasty. I'm thinking that natural light is best, but that's not always possible in our rather dark kitchen. I'll do fine with the candids and process shots, I think, but I'd like to figure out flash placement, whether to use one diffused and one catchlight source, what focal length and distance look best, etc.

I'm going to check out some more of the excellent resources I've already been given in this thread. Thanks to all!

Andy

tripsy76 Loc: Northshore, MA

Also, I apologize if this was mentioned already and I just missed it, but “Tasty” really took the overhead food prep look to a new level. I believe most people have seen their videos by now, but they do a great job!

aellman Loc: Boston MA

Google "food photography" or search same on YouTube for video tutorials. Food shooting is a specialized form of photography, which in addition to camera technique, involves lighting and arrangement of food. On commercial shoots they usually have a "food stylist" just to make the food look good.
Try searching "food styling for photography" also. I tried it and found a bunch of resources. Good luck! >Alan

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Thanks. I've been googling, searching YouTube, and looking for some of the very good resources provided by others above. As I've said, we have lots of cookbooks and subscribe to several foodie magazines, so I've got no shortage of ideas.

Andy

chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

Andy - Sounds like you have a great idea and should get started on it soon. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned our fellow UHH member AP, who has had professional experience in food photography and often submits some of his tasty receipes here along with a photo or two of the final product. I would suggest that you take a look at some of his post here. Cheers, chase