Well hello there my friends! This week I’ve started a new cookbook project and thought it’d be fun to share a bit of it.  Called Good Bite’s Weeknight Meals: Delicious Made Easy, this cookbook will be published by Wiley & Sons in 2011. My friends at Good Bite and Wiley were cool with me posting some behind-the-scenes images from the shoot — thank you! Of course you’ll have to wait for the book which features some deliciously simple recipes from the Good Bite roster which includes Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, my pals White On Rice Couple and Elise of Simply Recipes. In the meantime I can tell you that it was a great day photographing some great dishes thanks to the team.

Wanna meet them?

This is the amazing Emily Henson. She is the prop stylist on this book and brings a wonderful aesthetic to the images. Formerly a display coordinator for Anthropologie, her creativity knows no bounds. I love working with Emily because it’s definitely a collaborative effort and she’s adept at patterns and mixing styles. Plus I admire her approach to creativity and style and believe that all tabletop and prop stylists should have British accents. In fact I think I just made it a new rule at my studio, justthisverysecond. It just makes sense. But don’t take my word for it, you should definitely check out her feature on Design*Sponge as well as her portfolio.

Asking Emily to describe her style and what inspires her, she says “I suppose it’s Modern Ecelectic. And I’m always inspired by fabric. Often it’s a really good starting point. I look at it, pull colors from it and take it from there.”  You’ll see this in action when the book is out next year. The images are gorgeous.

Consider this a shameless plug. No, there are no kickbacks coming my way from Rowenta but I’d do very bad things for them if they asked. I am head over heels with the DG5030 and love it so much that we had to buy one for home. Iron once with it and your life is forever changed. Remind me to tell you about the time I ran through the house looking for things to press. It’s that good.

I can’t stress how important it is to enjoy the people you are working with on a cookbook shoot. When everyone gets along it flows smoothly and makes for better images. When attitudes show up on set (and trust me, they do) it ruins the vibe and makes things harder. And why would anyone want that? Producing cookbook shoots can be stressful enough without added drama. Here Adam and Emily discuss the next shot and don’t they just look adorable? Emily has pulled some set-ups and they discuss the plating and size of food. She’ll give Adam a few options and once they decide on propping it’s off to the kitchen to work on the food. Behind Adam you can see a bit of the cabinet that houses our Mud Australia ceramics. I’m surprised I don’t lug it home every night and keep it next to my bed. I love it so very much.

This is Adam and Jenny.  They really are the heart and soul of the entire operation. As food stylists they create every bit of food seen inside the book. They take the recipes and craft them for camera, balancing what the home cook will do with what will make the best photograph. I’m happy to report that the food in Good Bite’s Weeknight Meals: Delicious Made Easy is completely real. Adam believes that real food looks best and doesn’t need all the tricks you may have read about. He says “I like organic, natural, messy styling. I call it organized chaos.” Adam says the best part of his job is working with food as well as with his assistant Jenny Park. (what, I don’t get a shout-out? damn. –matt)

I have two words for you: Jenny Rocks. I asked Jenny why she enjoys food styling and she said “It’s something different every day. It stays exciting because it changes. And I love food, the different cultures behind the food and I love cooking.” And we love Jenny.

Some plates and bowls ready for their close up.

Beautiful patterns and colors.

Adam puts some finishing touches on skewers with a torch and makes a pizza.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to eat the pizza!

Here’s a set-up of a shot from the book. I must wait for the book’s release before I can share any of the beautiful food that Adam and Jenny created hence the pink square.  I shoot with natural light which means nice, soft diffused coverage but sometimes I need to create shape and shadow. By simply placing a black flag above the food I’m able to remove some light and create the shadow that I want. Scrims and flags are essential!

More to come later!

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This weekend I’ll be teaching a Food Styling and Photography Workshop at my studio in Long Beach where I’ll be showing you some tips and tricks like above.  To kick off all things styling I’ll also be posting food styling book reviews from Kristina this Friday so keep an eye out for them!

(and Sepi, don’t think you are quite off the hook just yet…)

Back in late summer last year I had the pleasure of working with Mariel Hemingway on her book, Mariel’s Kitchen, which just came out last month. I wasn’t the photographer on the book–– those duties were assigned to the talented Jeff Katz.  For this project I was the prop stylist, a job that is as fun and challenging as you think it’d be. When we weren’t battling killer wasps or on-set shenanigans (and not from Mariel, thankyouverymuch) it was one of the most fun projects I’ve worked on in some time.

So what exactly does a prop stylist do? Anything and everything. Prop stylists are in charge of well, props! Every plate, every fork, every napkin has usually been touched by the stylist who works very closely with the food stylists in creating the proper tone and story for the specific project. When budgets allow they are a food photographer’s best friend; when budgets are tight I certainly don’t mind stepping in and doing it myself for my own work. Luckily I’m able to bring many years of art direction and photography experience to the set when I’m propping which is an added bonus. Plus I love tableware and have amassed quite a collection so it was pure pleasure getting this gig with a group of people I absolutely adore. Even Jeff. When he wasn’t yelling at me and calling me his Oaxacan Warrior. Even though I’m not from Oaxaca. But whatever. He had a crush on me, I know it*.

After a few meetings to identify the “story” I went to work. Because we were shooting on location at Mariel’s house it was my duty to safely pack all the plates and dishes I pulled for the job and transport them. We wanted this book to be a personal story about Mariel’s philosophy about food which translated into a warm color palette with eclectic yet unfussy props. All the materials I brought were then supplemented by personal items from Mariel’s home which really makes this a personal endeavor.

Color is usually my starting point when creating a story. After a visit to her home and seeing how it was nestled in the canyons and surrounded by trees I knew I wanted to create a contrast to her surroundings. Immediately any drab greens and browns were crossed off my list and I gravitated towards cheery yellows, lemons, limes and blues. When it came to shapes and styles I went with a healthy mix of Mediterranean, Asian and Modern. Clean lines, simple shapes with a few accented pieces of glassware thrown in for good measure.

So what’s it like spending a week shooting in a celebrity’s house? In Mariel’s case it was pure joy. I was secretly hoping for some diva moments, some fits thrown in here and there, but nope, it was nothing like that. Mariel Hemingway is as real and gracious as they come. She exudes warmth and you kinda wanna give her a hug every twelve minutes. Plus she had the cutest dogs and as a dog person I was seriously distracted. I wanted to play!

Setting up a shot is a group effort. We begin with a list of shots and what chapter they’ll appear in the book. Because Mariel’s Kitchen is broken down into seasons it was very important to know what time of the year we were striving for. I’d have a conversation with the photo team about which location on the property would make the most sense, they’d look at me like I was an idiot, we’d fight about shooting tethered vs. hand-held, I’d storm off like a prima donna and return with the appropriate table setting and we’d proceed. I’ll usually pull multiple props so that the food stylists can create a stand-in with a duplicate plate and the photographer can set up his framing while I work my magic on the set. Once that was done I’d run off to play with the dogs, fight with someone again and then pack up any previously used plates so that we wouldn’t create duplicate settings.

The real magic happened when Mariel suggested we incorporate many of the things in her home into the images. You don’t have to ask me twice to riffle through your china cabinet, I’m down! Mariel was gracious enough to share family stories of Julia Child, her parents, the family heirlooms we were blessed enough to be holding, and a particular set of monogrammed spoons that belonged to her grandfather.

Yes, as in Ernest Hemingway. My heart practically went through my chest and then I started thinking about me + breakables. Friends? Not so much. Thank god this book production had insurance and I was so glad to carry my own insurance waver, too.

As a prop stylist it’s important to take notes and remember what you used and where you used it. You don’t want to repeat the same thing over and over again which is something I’ve seen happen. Grrrrr.

Working with Mariel and this team was one of the most satisfying experiences. It was great to step away from the camera for a week and focus on creating a story through color, shape and texture without concerning myself with f stops and losing my light. It was also a lot of work and I’m thankful to work with some of the best people in the bizz.

I’m on a list roll, bear with me.

1. Start with a Hollywood legend. But only one that is concerned with health, good food, a well-balanced life and armed with the knowledge about all those things. If it’s fake it doesn’t work.

2. Hire a big-time famous Celebrity Photographer — I MEAN BIG TIME — who wears black everyday and screams at you at the top of his lungs and who can’t possibly make the time to learn your first name.  What an ass. I’m kidding, he knows my name alright. but I have absolutely fallen in love with his crass brilliance and colorful vocabulary.

3. Hire amazing food stylists.

4. Hire an amazing book designer with a heavenly creative vision.

5. Hire a short lil Mexican man to art direct and style the whole thing and fight with the man in item #2. Oh, and make sure this person is gay so you can tap into the genetic code that allows them to get along so well with beautiful women.

6. Leave a plate of extra food out for flesh-eating yellowjackets. They’ll thank you.

7. Hire nothing but the best assistants.

8. Have the thickest skin known to man.

9.  Prepare for the brutality of the elements while shooting at the talent’s home in the Canyon. Heat, wind, mud, insects and decreased reception on my iphone. That last part was the absolute worst I’m telling you.

10. Absolutely love everything you do and offer thanks to the man upstairs for making everything happen.

Special note: As soon as Harper Collins says it’s ok I’ll blog about the whole experience and interview the author and include links to all the wonderful people involved. It’s just, well, I’m so excited to have worked on this project and I had to blog something about it, ya know what I’m saying? I promise to start writing about food again very soon, I swear!