My cookbook editor, Holly, is flying down to Florida and spending the entire day/eve with me tomorrow! I”m really looking forward to meeting her in person, since we’ve been working closely together for the past few months.
We’ll be spending the day cooking, testing, photographing, editing (ugh) and feasting!
As you know, I’ve been spending a lot of time honing my food photography skills, and I just learnd from David Lebovtiz that professional food photographers can make about $1,000 per shot! Of course, that fee includes a professionally equipped photo studio with expensive lights, a gazillion props and backgrounds, photographer’s assistants, catered lunch and food stylists.
Sadly, I do not have Food Fluffers.
And my studio is pretty ghetto:
no catered lunch either…I just eat the set.
If you’re curious, the reason my ottoman is scarred…it’s because one day I was too lazy to lug out the ironing board. And I only had to iron in big-ass wrinkle out of my dress. So I used the ottoman.
Let’s just say that the extra $100 spent having all furniture sprayed with Scotch-Guard stain resistant spray burns quite easily. (yes, i know. grammer sux. my subject-modifier thingy is all wrong. Too busy to fix)
and another shot…
Since I’m getting wonderful natural light, I don’t use my 
spare bedroom studio unless I’m shooting at night.
(if you have a Flickr account, you can click above photo for larger shot)
I think I need some basketweaving lessons:
But I very much want a Food Fluffer!!! 🙂 This is a Steamy Kitchen, after all!
hee hee – I said “fluffer!!!”
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Show me yours!
So now that I’ve shown you mine, I want to see yours! Some of you already have shown me yours in a previous post (just add to the links below) Take a photo of where all your food photography magic happens whether it’s fancy-professional, ghetto like mine or just the kitchen table and link to it here. Or, just comment below and tell me about it!
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A note to my recipe testers
We’re almost ready to start…look for an email from me in the next couple of days!
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
Stay in touch with me in our 
Talk about ghetto…mine is ghetto. Your setup is a five star setup compared to my one star. check it out.
5 Forks Light Box
I like your studio, much better than mine!!! What kind of tripod do you use? Thanks for sharing your tips, very funny 🙂
http://mattikaarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/img-1430.jpg
That is my ghetto setup! There is normally a bunch more kids toys around.
http://mattikaarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/img-1430.jpg
That is mine. Usualy a whole bunch of kids toys back there too.
I have posted a pic of my “studio” on location
Apparently, i miss-typed my url earlier. Oops. We have posted some pics from our latest foodfight.
I came looking for a fried rice and found one! Then I saw this post and had to take a look. Your ‘studio’ is way better than what I have. I have to go where ever the light is best (which is about 4 different areas). Here are 2:
http://ldylvbgr.blogspot.com/2008/01/miscellaneous-chit-chat.html
I wish I had my own room to keep set up, but I don’t, I have 3 kids. lol
Hi, I was looking at your fried rice recipe…then wanted to come look at your “studio”. Yours is a lot better than mine, lol. I wish I had an area to block off from the kids 😉 but I don’t so I find where ever has the best lighting
http://ldylvbgr.blogspot.com/2008/01/miscellaneous-chit-chat.html
Will be glad to share my “new” food porn room with you when I get back home from my 3 week vacation in the States. BTW – you have sucha beautifully decorated home! When did your little guys stop destroying everyting?? My little guy is almost 15 months, and I just keep giving away my stuff…soon there’ll just be a mattress and a refrigerator 🙂
in my family, we find the hardest part about food photography is waiting to eat! We have food competitions with my mom, my daughter and myself. We pick a theme, a course and then off to the store to purchase all the ingredients.
Once back at home, the three of us fight over utensils, pans, kitchen space and plates. until finally, it all comes together and then we rush to plate and photograph the food for our blog.
It’s a fun family day, and we all enjoy our labors of love.
check out my crappy numbing and back ache inducing photo studio…
WARNING!!
to enter, you need the flexibility of a yoga master…
don’t say i didnt warn ya!
Mine’s pretty ghetto as well…a small push table against the living area window 🙂
beautiful! I love your home decor sooo much. Looks like something fresh out of a home decor mag. I always look forward to reading about your photography adventures n props!
Your living room is so pretty! The wood floors are beautiful! Love the furniture too!
Anyways, back to the studio talk…We just shoot our food on the kitchen table and get as much natural light as we can from our windows. For night time, we have a little Nikon ($80) speedlight flash we use.
We’ll get a post together and show you with pics!
Your studio is professional compared to my tools. My mediocre food photography is taken with my barely-still-a-camera camera with the shattered LCD. I’m getting a new one soon, but in the meantime I’m stuck with this baby… LOL!
http://www.alwaysorderdessert.com/2008/05/tools-of-trade.html
Jaden, my “studio” is more ghetto than yours. I’ll do a feature on my blog one day, but basically it’s pressed up against my window to get natural light and I just crop really close. But I recently purchased those lights you recommended and they’re great now for taking shots at night. But I have to say, it was a bitch assembling it! The inside was kind of weird to push down the plastic thingy and it felt really unstable. But after several tries, I got it to work and now I have natural light via the lamp. 🙂
My “studio” is the kitchen table with natural light in the day time and CF light at night. I bought the cheap $3 foam board but I keep forgetting to bring it out. I have a little P&S POS…I could use a camera upgrade…
Can I be your food fluffer?
OMG, you said FLUFFER!!!!!! Can’t wait to tell my hubby! You are one naughty kitten, my dear Jaden – which is why I keep coming back, of course.
I usually take my pics in my kitchen nook – hopefully w/ afternoon light, but it’s completely ad-hoc, ghetto – like most of us here. LOL. Great post.
Hmmmm – Why can’t I view your filckr photo? Was it that thing with the spatula? I swear I thought it was room temperature.
Really, it says private.
I’ll photo my non-studio this evening.
OK… I’m absolutely loving the foam-board idea! Why in the world hadn’t I thought of that!?! And considering I’m just about to move ito a new house that has room dedicated to be a studio, I forsee some very colorful photos coming out of my kitchen very soon!
Sadly, I have no studio and shoot most of my food in the kitchen sans tripod or anything. We have no space in the apartment and since we are showing it to be rented out, we have to keep everything super sleek and minimalist. In an ideal world, I’d create something like your little studio with some reflective lighting, pieces of fabric and a few new plates to showcase the food. Ah, the life of NYC resident – cramped 🙂 Besides, usually the boyfriend is sulking in the corner accusing me of starving him to death while i angle my shots to be just right.
Wow! Do you eat hot food?! 🙂 I make food in the kitchen, take it 10 steps to the dining room, put it on the table, say, “Ok, just wait, I have to get the camera”, and snap a picture or two. Then later, I crop off little hands, the butter dish, a stray spoon, etc.
So, in other words, I didn’t get to the part yet where I have a separate studio for my food. But I’m very intrigued with yours!
Well, ours is more ghetto than yours! After cooking a fantastic meal in our 20sq. ft. kitchen we propped it up either on the dining room table – using the word “dining room” loosely there … or we prop it up on the kitchen counter on a sweep with some lights and we shoot away. We really need to get the lighting thing down … urrr! Steamy you are an inspiration!
On another note …………… if you have some tasters that decide to NO SHOW on you, we would LOVE to be tasters!!!!! I had tried to sign up way back when but never heard back! Keep us in the loop is so!!
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear there were no survivors of that helicopter crash – and they got so close to your specially woven landing pad and a last meal. Such sad, sad tragedy. 😉
*sigh*
I am soooo envious of your natural light! I would kill-killl-pussycat-kill to have such great light!
Until I can build my next house, with proper lighting, I’m just going to go crazy with mirrors, white boards and, uh, more mirrors. Probably filled with kitty prints. 🙂
hmm well it didn’t post the two pictures so here are the links to them :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78238227@N00/2457613037/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78238227@N00/2458443888/
Awesome! I LOVE the natural light you have! We have this awesome light here in Florida, however our house has no good windows 🙁 so I use the back porch often (http://flickr.com/photos/fotocuisine/2413368367)
This page (http://fotocuisine.com/about-us/) I have our kitchen and my final plating shot area, except the kitchen has changed, where you see the umbrella is now a big ol soft box and the final plating area is in our dining room.
Here are two pictures I JUST took of the final plating area. Notice the curtains hung with plumping pipes that i concocted in an attempt to hide my computer and studio area when we have people over 🙂 haha! I just moved everything up from downstairs cause it was impossible to get anything done with it all downstairs.
Anyhow I hide all the lights from the kitchen shooting behind there, but I lately have been doing all my final plating on the dining room table instead of my ‘studio’ area, so yeah, it’s all good. and it is ALL block off by an 8 ft baby gate from my 17 mth old and my 7 mth old 🙂 (and occasionally from my 11 yr old and my 7 yr old 😉 )
your studio is 10x better than what I use 🙂
studio! are you serious! not so much in my place… if i showed you i’d have to ill you! 🙂 LOL
how’s it going, chica??
Hehehe, I personally love your studio 😀 I especially love the laptop on the pillow desk!
I think your studio looks great! I would like to use the kitchen table more often because that room has the best light, but it’s always covered with whatever the boys have thrown all over it. Seriously, we have to scrub it down before and after e v e r y meal. If I were a rich woman, I could probably hire someone just to clean that table and the floor around it and that would be a full time job.
So I am stuck with the crappy light in the kitchen and the dining room.
Giiirrrrlllllfrieeeend!
You crack me up.
Your studio is grand, and I’m so impressed that your editor is making a trip out to see you!
Rock on.
You don’t even realize how high class your studio is compared to mine. I have to edit out the bars on my windows…
my “portrait studio” is my kitchen. D:
i need better lighting but i tend to cook at night when there is nothing but the yellow light in the apt. one of these days i’ll get act together and try to get some “fancy” supplies.
Oh, boy! My photo setup is still the same as I said earlier. heheheh The table dinner and not-so-fancy fabric. But what really kills me I don’t have a nice background and a spotlight (cheap one), heheheh.
I was shocked when David said about the price! =O Soooo expensive, geez!
Hum… testers! =O
Jaden it is a good thing u said food fluffer because in the porn industry a fluffer is something completely different and this fascinating knowledge comes from watching Nip/Tuck on television…..bad girl that I am, and i kmow all ur readers are dying to know…think keeping the men ready and prepared for their turn in front of the camera all propped up and ready to go!!
…can’t stop giggling at Food Fluffer.
You are not only a great cook, writer,but photographer! My studio hasn’t eveloved from my kitchen island.Even a windowsill at times. Talk about Ghetto. Have to be careful so the security bars dont enter the shot. Hey I live in the city! I will be using the back porch more this summer.
Food Fluffer. Nice!
My photo setup consists of just the EGO lights and a tripod. I’ve got to put more effort into the extra scenery like you do (i.e. basket weaving and fabrics and such).
I wonder how it feels to use the phrase, “my cookbook editor, Holly”? Hmmm? I thought you tossed it in with aplomb! .
Yes, Jaden, explain “food fluffer.” Because I want a good laugh. (Do you yell “We’ve got wood!” when you pull out a bamboo tray?)
No studio here at all. Just kitchen counter, dining room table or window sill. Wherever the light’s good.
He he…you are so ahead of me on the “studio” 🙂
I use our guest bathroom, which is all white and has a huge mirror…so a lot of light is reflected around. In the daytime it gets good natural light and at night I use some cheap paper shaded lamps from Ikea to direct more light where I want it. Actually, it works pretty well but I have to be careful not to dump my subject in the sink 😉
o.k., what is a food fluffer? 😀 i am so excited for the testing to start! i don’t have a studio for photographing things, and i ususally i say a little prayer to the camera gods, and hope for the best! it’s not too bad on sunny days, (the few that we do get) but on the rainy, dreary ones, the photos are really hard to get to come out, for me.
My studio looks much like yours. Same lights, same tripod, same reflector thingies. I can shoot from my dining room table during the afternoon hours with natural light. I shoot from my upstairs office/studio with awesome morning natural light . Or I shoot wherever with the studio lights, but mostly from a table set up in the office/studio. I’ve collected quite a few dishes and placemats from some discount places that find their way to photographs. While I don’t have helicopters littering the floor anymore (my kids are 13 and 17) I do have to worry about after school and after football practice starving teenage boys eating up the food before I have photographed it.
Yes, a food fluffer would be nice.
I’m so jealous of your cookbook!
you are truly ghetto fabulous while my set-up is just plain the dumps.
the studio dump
because i’m on the garden floor of a brownstone i have terrific light in my garden, but not so much in my apartment! and especially at 10pm when i’m usually baking or cooking. so my coffee table works wonders.
maybe i can get hubby to be the fluffer. wow. did i even go there? well it’s not like i mentioned it first, dirrty grrl!
Your photos are absolutely goregous and I would definitely pay you $100 per shot (if only I had money…’sigh’) What’s more, you made me laugh, not an easy thing to get a frazzled mother of five to do who is food blogging late at night for the peace of it all!! You officially hit my blogroll!
I’d have to say my studio is more ghetto fabulous than yours 🙂 I usually just stick to the dining room table. Sometimes I accidentally get books, mail, junk, in the shots and forget that not everyone wants to see that 🙂
Jaden, I’ll be your food fluffer! In fact, one of my nicknames in high school was Fluffy…mostly because my last name then was Fulford and sometimes because I over-washed my waist-length hair in Prell. When I was a commercial photographer (decades ago) one of my clients was a porcelain doll manufacturer. Lots of fluffing was required to show the dolls at their best. Dolls, dumplings…what’s the diff?!
i got no studio and I don’t take nay good pictures ( I should I know).
I don’t know which I love the most about your picture, the hand painted table or the normalcy of the room with a toy helicopter near the door 🙂
Jaden OMG, I haven’t been by in a while …. me bad, don’t know why because you’re such a talent and absolutely hilarious!!!!
I didn’t realize food photography could be so lucrative!!!
Good luck on your cookbook … how awesome is that!
Ghetto or not, your ‘studio’ has the most important thing…plenty of gorgeous natural light! I’m jealous because I’ve really been struggling with lack of light since we moved into our new place. Who’d have ever thought I’d have problems finding light in San Diego! Thanks for sharing!
hmm.. let’s see.. mine consist of a white table against a white wall… and beside it is a pile of linen and wrapping papper! That’s about it…
I don’t have a picture of my ghetto studio yet. I have my first food picture though! It’s here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25676296@N04/2450890290/
ohh, i am jealous. i have no “studio” to speak of — just photograph my dishes on my kitchen table with a pretty placemat usually! my apt gets lots of light so they generally turn out pretty well.
We did this a couple months ago, but that’s alright … I’m curious as to others shootting rooms!