Over the Holiday, I was having trouble coming up with a photo for Christmas. Then Kate suggested I do twelve Christmas posts. This was, of course, a much better idea. I was trying to create one photo that encompassed the whole Christmas experience, which is nearly impossible. But a series could focus on the different aspects of the Holiday. Much easier. I hope you had a fantastic holiday season.
Author: Kevin
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House Beautiful
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Way back at the beginning of July, House Beautiful contacted me to shoot a house for one of their upcoming issues. It was an RV that they converted into a cute tiny home in Southwest Missouri.
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Autumn Pie – Apple
To celebrate the first day of Autumn, I decided to make my(and my family’s) favorite pie; apple. I love making the crust almost as much as making the pie. I also get to use my favorite kitchen gadget, the pie bird. It’s supposed to keep the filling from boiling over and keep the bottom crust from becoming soggy. It also supports the top crust from caving in when the filling shrinks. I’m not sure if it works, but I love the way it looks
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Bucktown — Chicago
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Last month I had the pleasure of shooting a beautiful home in Bucktown, Chicago.
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Hanging Food
Food is pretty incredible. Not just because it fuels us but how it looks. Recently I photographed an avocado. The purpose of the photo was the demonstrate rim lighting. The avocado was against a black background, and the texture stood out much more than if it was shot in an environment. It looked more like an alien egg than a fruit.
That got me thinking about foods and how I could explore their looks. As I thought, I knew I wanted the food to be the hero so no propping or environment. I didn’t want to do a lot of retouching; I wanted them to be themselves. And while I do examine the food, I didn’t want them to be perfect like we normally shoot in food photography— think regular people, not supermodels.I decided to shoot them in front of a white background. The white would help the colors stand out. I decided to suspend them in the air, but I didn’t want them to be magically floating. They needed to look natural. I settled on hanging them from a piece of twine. Next was the lighting. Again I didn’t want any elaborate lighting set up, just a simple sidelight to help the texture stand out.
I’m really happy with how these images are coming out. It’s fun to go to the farmer’s markets to search for something that strikes my interest and shoots them later that same day.
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Eggs, Eggs, Eggs
Recently my family traveled back to my hometown to see my nephew’s graduation. My mom lives on a long dirt road outside of town. While there, her neighbor across the road brought her two dozen eggs. It turns out this is a fairly regular event since she still had some eggs left from his previous visit. So we ended up with the eggs. And what happens when a food photographer has way too many eggs? He shoots them, of course.
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To dress or not to dress.
People have different opinions about how they like their beer. But I’m not talking about the taste; I’m talking about the way it looks.
I know people who prefer to have a soft, gradient highlight on their bottles. A few others prefer a nice hard highlight. Then there are the beer bottles that are fully dressed with ice and water droplets. It gives the beer that ice-cold look. Me? I think there are good things about all of them. I used to like a softer highlight, but lately, I love that sharp highlight. It looks so crisp and clean. And there is nothing quite as nice as a beer bottle dressed with ice and water droplets. But my favorite is when the shoot is over, and I can pop one open. Santé!
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Granny’s Cornbread
Another one of my favorites is cornbread. I remember Granny would dip one into a tall glass of buttermilk. I personally never tried it but she loved it.
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Flour
- Cornmeal (not self-rising)
- 2 level teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Pinch of salt
Mix all ingredients together and add enough cornmeal to thicken. Put grease in an iron skillet and get hot; pour cornbread mixture into skillet. Bake at 500 degrees until golden brown on top.
Granny gave this recipe to Freda Wilkerson so that everyone could make cornbread like hers.
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Granny’s Fried Pies
Before my Granny passed away, she wanted to leave all her recipes behind so the next generations of kids could cook them for their kids. My Aunt helped type them up, photocopied them, and bound them with two little rings. They then wrapped them up for everyone at Christmas. As a little personal project, I’ve decided to cook up a few of my favorites and photography. Here is the first of them, fried pies.
- 1 1/2 cups Buttermilk
- 3 cups Self-Rising Flour
- 3 cups dried fruit (peaches, apricots, and apples are best)
- Lard or Shortening
- Water
Mix the buttermilk and flour to get a dry dough. Cook the dried fruit in a little water until tender. Sweeten to taste. Drain and mash them. Squeeze out a ball of dough “a little bigger than a hen egg”, or about the size of a golfball. Roll it with a rolling pin on a floured surface until a bit thicker than an average pie crust, (about 1/16th inch thick). For faster results use two canned biscuits per pie. Dab a tablespoonful of fruit filling on the dough. Dampen the dough edges and fold over, using a fork to press the seam closed. In a large, iron skillet, melt the lard or shortening on medium heat until you get an inch to an inch and a half of bubbling liquid. Place two or three pies in the skillet only for a few seconds before turning with a spatula. Handle gently so as not to break the dough. After a few more seconds remove and drain on a paper towel. Makes 12 to 15 pies.
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Thanksgiving Pies
I’ve always believed that people who cook can be separated into two different groups, chefs or bakers. I enjoy cooking and grilling but when it comes down to it, I’m a baker and I think that is something that runs on my Mom’s side of the family. Most years we go to my hometown for Thanksgiving and my mom makes two to four pies. But this 2020 and nothing is normal. It was the year of staying at home, so we had Thanksgiving at our house which meant I was making the pies this year.
There are a few things I enjoy about baking. I enjoy following recipes and making sure I use the exact amounts that are called for in the recipe. I hate the phrase “a pinch of salt.” I also enjoy making my own crust. When I make crusts from scratch, I feel like I have a connection to my grandmothers. There wasn’t remade crust back then. I can remember sitting in my Granny’s kitchen while she was baking. She would make take the leftover crust and make little mini pies for us.
The recipe I used for my crust came from the Food Network. It makes a wonderful crust but the real reason I like it is you make it in the food processor. Just because I’m making it from scratch doesn’t mean I like to do it the hard way. I tried that, cutting in the butter with that weird knife thing, no thank you.
