How to make stewed/ braised food look good??
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 15:11
Hey everyone,
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make braised, stewed, or other long-cooked foods look appealing in a photo?? I just made this stewed chicken dish that was delish, and I want to do a post on it, but I can't for the life of me make it look attractive in a pic! I've had this issue with other long-cooked foods, especially those whose sauces are not a "pretty" color. They taste amazing, but look so blah and drab on camera. Ideas?
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cheers,
mlle noëlle
simmer down! (a food lover's blog)
hi noelle,
i also have a problem with braised/stewed/dark colour food.
what i find is you need to perk/ brighten up the colour of the food. add some red colour vegs like carrot or diced capsicum or tomato as garnish and with some green leaves to heighten it up. or use bright colourful props to accentuate.
remember always use macro shot with small aperture and remember basic rules of third (which is something i am not quite successful yet because i kept getting rejected by damn foodgawker, but then again, i have a p&s camera)
good luck!
infant blogger with major writer's block.
http://msmflo.wordpress.com/
Braised/stewed food tends to be monochromatic, which does not look very appetizing when photographed. So the key is to bring in some fresh, bright colors for contrast. For example, this is my beef stroganoff:
This is not a very attractive food by itself, so I sprinkled a nice bright garnish of parsley, plated it on a vibrant blue plate, and added fresh salad greens and radish slices in the background. The difference that these small details make to the end result are amazing.
I try to keep the rule of contrasts in mind for all of my photos. Monochromatic pictures are not appetizing at all, so you need to bring in some contrasting colors with garnish, sides, or even props.
Hope this helps!
Karen
I've had the same issues with foods that I make, such as "curried chickpeas" *lol*...
Thanks Karen for that advice, you made that dish look beautiful!!!
I love to cook & bake, and I love to write about it!
http://cookwithnikki.wordpress.com