I am a total slave to the light right now. Everything I do these days is planned around the weather forecast. Sunny days are spent at home shooting book photos, and if it’s dreary or rainy out I go run errands. It’s not fun to spend the pretty days indoors doing work and the gloomy ones out slogging around in the elements.
One perk of writing a cookbook though…you get to eat your props!
I shot some biscuits with miso shiitake gravy yesterday morning and had them for lunch as soon as I was sure I got the shot I needed, along with some green tea that was also in the photo. This isn’t the shot I’ve chosen for the book, but you can see how delicious all this hard work can be!
Yeah, it can’t all be bad when there’s biscuits and gravy afterwards. 😉
It is hard to get any work done when there are nosy cats around though. Liam loves to sniff at my recipes, like this green tea and pistachio frozen yogurt before I put it in the freezer to set up.
He likes to swarm me while I’m setting up shots too, knocking things over with his tail and just generally being in the way.
Almost all of the book shots are being taken at this little table next to a window, with my light box being used as a light bounce and various props used to change the look of the table surface and with different colored backdrops taped up behind it all. I am so proud of the photos I’ve been taking and I can’t wait for you all to see them. You’d never know they were taken on a tiny Ikea table propped up with some old mail on an uneven floor.
Today is a gloomy-ish day so I’m out of the house shopping for ingredients for more book photos to take as soon as the sun comes out. It seems like a never ending cycle, I seriously won’t know what to do with myself when this book is done. In fact, I’m already planning another one!
It will be nice when I can spend a sunny day outdoors again though, so that’s what I’m working towards. Gotta get it done in time for spring!
I’m so jealous of anyone who gets natural light. My house is so shady. My method, as of late, has just been to take a dark picture and fix it in photoshop. But I don’t think it looks as nice.
Lee recently posted..A Pancake PR?
Our last apartment was a basement, so I know all about fixing shadows and exposure after shooting. Natural light was one of our biggest requirements in finding a new place to live, for sure.
Miso shiitake gravy?! I’m going to be first in line for this book.
It is GOOD, and vegetarian this time. No lamb drippings, though that was incredible.
I have to do all my baking and photographing on the weekend at my parents’ place, because I get no good lighting at my place, ever
LOVE the American-Japanese fusion of biscuits and gravy! Though I’ve never even had the traditional biscuits and gravy. Also, you won me (again) with pistachio and green tea together…
You know, the whole biscuits and gravy thing is totally Southern American, and yet I haven’t had it either until the last several years. I get what all the fuss is about now though.
That pistachio and green tea frozen yogurt rocks my world. I had to restrain myself from putting way more green tea in it because I just love the grassy flavor, I think most people prefer a more subtle green tea flavor though. If I make it again for myself rather than the book I’m jacking up the matcha until it tastes like lawn clippings.
Dang! Those biscuits and that frozen yogurt look incredible!!! Amazing.
Kristy @ KristyRuns recently posted..Out With The Old
I cannot WAIT to see your photos!!! I think its really awesome you made homemade fro yo. I’d love to try that!
Carol @ Lucky Zucca recently posted..No More Meat
It was surprisingly easy to make. I see myself making many more homemade froyo flavors this summer.
Like Lee, my house is shady. No light for me!
The pic looks great, and I really really really want to try out that gravy recipe!
Tiff @ Love Sweat & Beers recently posted..Learning the Hard Way
It’s awesome, I ate the leftovers two days in a row!
My boyfriend’s (vegetarian) family introduced me to miso gravy last Thanksgiving. I can’t say I was convinced, but I was definitely intrigued, and am for sure willing to give it another go this coming November.
Man, your cat’s eyebrows are cute:)
Emma recently posted..cupid has struck: black dinah chocolatiers and b.t. mcelrath
Yeah he’s kind of strange. He has no fuzzy underlayer of fur, so wherever his fur parts you can see straight down to his naked skin. Hence naked eyebrows.
You amaze me with your photos! I wish I had the eye…and the patience. My tummy rumbles usually deter that. 😉
Those biscuits look PERFECT!
Tina @ Best Body Fitness recently posted..From Baked Potato Bars to Banana Baby Videos
I average about a half hour to get the book shots I need. It’s usually about 3+ hours to cook the food, style it, take and load shots, choose ones that might work, and edit them. I totally have a new respect for the recipe bloggers that do this every day.
Whoa things are looking delicious! Biscuits and miso gravy sound phenomenal. Can’t wait to see how all the pictures (and recipes, of course) turn out.
Stacy @ Stacy Eats recently posted..Our Favorite Type of Night