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4 Inexpensive Ways To Improve Food Photography

Written on July 16, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Photography

Ever since I got a Canon Rebel as my Christmas present last year, I’ve been trying and trying to take better photos. While a fancy camera is nice, it doesn’t do all the work for you. And better lenses can cost anywhere from $100 into the thousands. Being a student 9 months out of the year and having an awesome but unpaid internship over the Summer, I’m on the lookout for anything cheap that enhances photo. Since I’ve started using these(all under $20!), I’ve had a few photos accepted onto Foodgawker and Tastespotting—proof that you don’t need all the bells and whistles for your photos to get noticed.

1. Close-Up Macro Filter Lenses: $10.49

These are perfect for the person who has just bought the fancy $500 camera and doesn’t want to pay anymore for specialty lenses. I first learned about these from Caroline who takes amazing food photos and hoped that buying them would help me take pictures half as good as hers.

Each lens magnifies a certain amount: x1, x2, x4, and x10. They can also be stacked on one another for even more magnification, so for instance you could make a x15 by stacking the x1, x4, and x10 lenses. It can be hard to focus the camera with them on, but if you’re patient they’re good for close-up shots of food. And for the price they’re really quite a bargain.

2. Dollar Store Placemats: $1

I’ve been trying to get better about adding props to my photos and the easiest one so far to master has been the placemat. Picking a background in contrast with the food will make it stand out more. Since I didn’t want to break the bank, I went to the dollar store. I didn’t keep track of how much I spent, but I see 5 placemats, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say I paid $5. That certainly sounds like a reasonable deal to me.

3. White/Grey Posterboard: $.10-.99

Another easy and cheap background is posterboard, which you can find at any CVS in the crafts aisle. White is a favorite color for food bloggers because it draws no attention, putting the spotlight solely on the food. You can use it as a background or, like the placemats, underneath as a surface.

Another tip the photo editor at a newspaper I take pictures for told me is to use a slightly grey-toned paper to set a camera’s white balance under natural light to get truer colors. Jessica does a great job at making colors pop with a grey background.

4. Natural Lighting: Free

We all know lighting is important. Last December I made a light-box specifically for it. But there’s NO reason to pay a penny for it, especially during the Summer when the sun’s out until 8pm anyway. Natural lighting provides for the best food photos, which is why anything you can buy at a hardware store tries to replicate it.

Take advantage of it whenever and wherever possible. And I truly mean “wherever”; if the best lighting in your house is in the spare bedroom, take the plate of food and camera there. You might feel silly at the time, but with a close-up no one will be able to tell the location anyway. And you can always crop the bed out of the background; I’ve done that.

What are your cheap photography tips and tricks?

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Dark Chocolate Almond Meal Cake w/ Peanut Butter Glaze

Written on June 29, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Sunday we went to Maine to celebrate Father’s Day with relatives. I didn’t need any more of an excuse to start baking. I’d already had this cake recipe in my head and couldn’t wait to try it out.

The body of the cake is made with just almond flour, making it gluten and grain-free and lending a slightly nutty flavor. Because almond flour isn’t all that absorbent, the cake comes out slightly dense and fudgy. I don’t know about you, but those are two adjectives I like to describe my cakes. The cake isn’t all that sweet, though, so the glaze adds that final punch of flavor that makes it a show stopper. This cake recipe will become my standard for frosted and layer cakes.

Dark Chocolate Almond Meal Cake

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups finely ground almond meal
3/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3oz unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup neutral oil
4 eggs
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the almond meal, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Whisk in the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and egg whites completely.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler and fold that into the cake batter until it’s completely emulsified. Pour the cake into a cake pan and bake for about 25 minutes or until the center has set. Remove from the oven and let cool.

This is a great gluten-free cake on its own, but it’s not incredibly sweet nor does it have much else going for it. This cake really begs for a frosting or a glaze of some sort, and what goes better with chocolate than peanut butter?

Peanut Butter Glaze

Ingredients:

1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
Water to thin

Scoop the peanut butter into a large bowl. Slowly sift in the powdered sugar, mixing it in little by little. When the sugar is completely incorporated, pour in the maple syrup and stir. Slowly incorporate water until the frosting reaches a glaze-like consistency. Pour the glaze over the cake and level out.

I decorated mine with Trader Joe’s miniature peanut butter cups and cut it up into 14 slices. I couldn’t believe how well this turned out on the first try. The cake is somewhere between cakey and fudgy, which isn’t and easy balance to strike with gluten-free flours. And the peanut butter glaze doesn’t over power the rich chocolate in the cake.

I’ve set a goal to only have one slice a day. So far that’s not going so well.

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Plant-Based Diet: An Update

Written on May 14, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Running

We’ll get to that in a minute.

Back in April I posted about a plant-based diet to get back into shape after a rough 4 months or so.

And then I fell off the wagon that weekend. I had some excellent chicken dishes at the Elephant Walk and later the best raw dessert from Wildflour Bakery and other stuff I don’t really remember. But I didn’t want to stop trying then so I put on my big boy pants and made a salad.

Lots of them, actually. A typical meal has become vegetables, roasted or sautéed, with some beans or a few eggs. If I cooked an egg any way other than frying it I’m sure that’d be healthier but fried is perfection. Who can argue with that?

Oh an I drink a lot of these, too, “for my health”. They just taste so good.

Anyone, if you asked me I wouldn’t say I feel or look any different. Everyone says “Start a plant-based diet and you’ll suddenly have so much energy.” I’ve never been a bounce-off-the-wall person before and I’m still not.

But then something funny happened this week. Tuesday I casually ran 10 miles in just under 1 hour 24 minutes. That same course took me over 5 minutes longer a month before. Then, 2 days later, I ran it again in 1 hour 25 minutes, like I do this every day. I don’t. Or I didn’t, but now I do? And I’ve been increasing the weights I lift, too, so I must be doing something right.

That’s not to say I eat perfectly by any means. I eat chocolate all too often. I have honey by the spoonful when I’m bored or stressed. And I eat giant slices of vegan/gluten-free pound cake from Wildflour when I’m done with exams. It’s vegan so there must be plants in there somewhere. But progress is progress, and this is an update, not an end.

And now I’m off to run. I hope I don’t run too fast and taste cake. Or maybe I do.

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Scenes From Easter Weekend

Written on April 25, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Highlights, Holiday, Photography

‘Tis the season…

…Now let me at that discounted candy.

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The Providence Plate Lickers Club’s First Outing

Written on April 22, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Restaurant Review

My favorite thing about Rhode Island is that it’s small. Like, super small. And the people are terrific, too. Setting up a local blogger’s dinner was a no brainer and after talking the talk for a while Erin, Becky, Lauren and I finally all got together at Garden Grille. I met Erin the week before my marathon for coffee, and Becky at the Healthy Living Summit and in DC for the National Marathon. Lauren and I had never met despite running the same half marathon and full marathon and living 2 miles from each other. Crazy, huh? Like I said, super small.

I ordered the cauliflower steak mostly because I wanted to see what the heck it was. This actually turned out to be really good! I was sure that that garlic white bean puree was actual potatoes. Even after eating it I wasn’t sure exactly everything in there, which I like because if I knew exactly how to make it I wouldn’t want to order it again.

After dinner we went right next door to Wildflour to have dessert and talk more. Fact: It’s impossible to say no to a trip to Wildflour.

This time I tried the vegan/gluten-free pound cake that was staring me down. Normally I’m not a huge fan of cakey desserts but this one was just moist enough; the chocolate frosting didn’t even seem necessary(though it definitely didn’t hurt). Plus, ordering THE dessert twice in one week would have felt like overkill.

It’s always nice meeting other bloggers, especially when it’s to eat and not run. Can’t wait to do it again!

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Happy Birthday To Me

Written on March 29, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert, Holiday

I used the cake from this recipe…

…and then improvised a raspberry fudge sauce….

Next year I’m adding booze.

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Coconut Blondies

Written on March 3, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

These are about as rich and decadent as a cup of coconut milk can make anything to be. When these first came out of the oven, I weren’t sure if they were technically a cake or a blondie. It turns out the difference(very unscientifically) lies in the ratio of fat and sugar to flour. Since these are full of fat and sugar(and taste delicious in case that’s not a clue), I feel pretty comfortable calling them blondies. Also, a cake needs frosting I feel and these just melt in your mouth all their own.

Coconut Blondies

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup safflower/canola oil
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour(I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour)
1/2 coconut shreds
1/3 cup white chocolate chips(optional)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 pan.

Mix together the coconut milk, oil, eggs, sugar, and extract until the eggs are just beaten in.

Sift in the flour and baking soda and mix until it has just come together. The batter should be pretty loose.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the center of the cake has cooked through.

I would definitely make this again in a heartbeat, except I might have to double the recipe next time and add toasted hazelnuts. The coconut flavor is just strong enough to notice but the vanilla keeps it from taking over.

Did I mention I really love them? I think I’ll have another.

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What Would Your Last Meal Be?

Written on January 23, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Recipe Round-Up

On Wednesday when I was ~~wasting my time on~~ perusing Twitter, I came across this article on the real last suppers death row inmates chose. I thought it was a fascinating look inside the inmates mind. I was surprised with some(like the smoker. What kind of meal is that?) and sympathized with others(I mean, who doesn’t want to sit down to a burger, fries, and a milkshake?). And then I started asking myself the very same question: What would my last meal be?

My initial reaction was that I’d eat all the things with gluten I can’t but crave—Dunkin’ Donuts lemon filled powder donuts, Boston Market mac n’ cheese, and a big chewy chocolate chip cookie. But after thinking about it I realized I don’t want to go out of this world gassy and bloated; I’ll take my vanity to the grave.

So then I thought I’d eat a really good Holiday meal with food like the best quinoa dressing, whole roasted chicken, and fingerling potatoes.

Who am I kidding? That’d be a great healthy meal to eat before a race, but it’s no last meal. I don’t have a sweet tooth; I have 26. So I’d more likely have to order a dessert platter.

Oh Baby bars so that I could die fat an happy.

Taza chocolate. Like I said, I can’t resist it.

Godiva’s flourless chocolate cake. I’m still in awe of how good this was, even better than my version. Those little bastards.

And a pan of these brownies, which are sinfully good(recipe coming later this week!).

That’s more like it. Can you see a theme?

What would you want for your last meal? Feel free to share recipes!

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Sunday Confessional 4

Written on January 9, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Sunday Confessional

A week after I made a chocolate flourless cake, our guests brought over Godiva’s chocolate flourless cake. It was better than mine, and now I’m determined to bake a better one even if I clog all my arteries doing it.

I’ve never seen any of the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies. I don’t think this is a big deal but when I told my friends you’d have thought I told them I eat babies.

I did not realize peppermint patties were my mother’s favorite candies when I made them. To be fair, I’m pretty sure she’s said the same about peanut M&M’s, Reeses, Whoppers, and Junior Mints. And I have, too.

I’ve started running again. I’m convinced I look excellent in my runner’s tights and want to wear them around even when I’m not running.

I burnt this pan during my 2 hours of cooking these dumplings. But wait, I burnt it boiling water. I even own the cookbook How To Boil Water. Apparently, I need to go back and reread it.

I really wish my high school friends would join Twitter because Facebook stalking is so 2010.

Past Sunday Confessionals:

Sunday Confessional 1

Sunday Confessional 2

Sunday Confessional 3

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What’s Not On My New Year’s Resolution List(And Why)

Written on January 1, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Holiday

Every time this year millions of people make plans about what they’re going to change in their life. But not me. I’ve always hated New Year’s Resolutions. Part of it is that I’ll set unachievable goals for myself; part of it is that, if I want to change my life in September, I’m not going to wait until January to do it. Here are the things that you won’t find on my list:

1. Dieting, because that’s no fun. I’m a healthy eater. I eat my greens, just sometimes that’s in the form of mint chip ice cream. I can deal with it.

2. Running a marathon. Yes, I’m signed up for one, and yes, I intend to train as best I can for the big day. But no one should push their body through 26.2 miles if it’s not ready for that. Instead of making your fitness resolution about the end point, make it about the journey.

3. Eating less chocolate, for the same reason as number 1.

4. Watching less TV. I admire Heather for her own goal but that’d be a lonely extra 12 hours each day.

5. Tweet less. I’m a bird and I’m going to chirp, chirp, chirp.

6. Going to bed earlier, because if I went to bed any earlier I’d miss my primetime television(see number 4).

7. Giving up coffee for green tea. It’s not the same; don’t let anyone tell you differently.

8. Being on The Today Show, because I don’t want to start getting desperate around next November and start sending kids through the air in silver balloons.

What does that leave? I’m not quite sure. I’ll leave it until 2012 to figure that out.

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