Recent Work: Shang Palace
A few weeks ago, Shang Palace reached out wanting to create some new images for their upcoming menu change and to elevate the visuals. With classic Cantonese cuisine, we wanted to be mindful of tradition while giving a modern take on the visuals. Dim Sum especially brought back memories of countless Sunday mornings heading out with friends and having mornings turn into afternoons - often needing my stretchy pants after eating way too much. So we pitched the idea of creating that sense of morning light coming through the window and a communal atmosphere. We opted to shoot from overhead to lean into the graphic nature of all the individual dishes and condiments that make dim sum so much fun. Not to forget the back of house, we had to show some behind the scenes action with the process of creating all these tasty treats. Shooting in kitchens is one of my favourite things ever - fire, steam, the craft of making things… I love it. All the hard work that it takes to create something beautiful on the plate isn’t celebrated enough in visuals and I’m so happy the team at Shang Palace agreed. They’re some of my favourite frames from the project.
A few weeks ago, Shang Palace reached out wanting to create some new images for their upcoming menu change and to elevate the visuals. With classic Cantonese cuisine, we wanted to be mindful of tradition while giving a modern take on the visuals. Dim Sum especially brought back memories of countless Sunday mornings heading out with friends and having mornings turn into afternoons - often needing my stretchy pants after eating way too much. So we pitched the idea of creating that sense of morning light coming through the window and a communal atmosphere. We opted to shoot from overhead to lean into the graphic nature of all the individual dishes and condiments that make dim sum so much fun. Not to forget the back of house, we had to show some behind the scenes action with the process of creating all these tasty treats. Shooting in kitchens is one of my favourite things ever - fire, steam, the craft of making things… I love it. All the hard work that it takes to create something beautiful on the plate isn’t celebrated enough in visuals and I’m so happy the team at Shang Palace agreed. They’re some of my favourite frames from the project.
Recent Work: Kashew Cheese
A few weeks ago we got a call from the folks over at Kashew Cheese requesting a meeting to discuss shooting their new dishes and specifically their new pizzas. For those of you in Saigon, Kashew Cheese makes plant based alternatives to lots of your favourite dairy products and oh man I wish they were around when I was Vegan in the early 00’s. Atlanta was super vegan friendly, but even as a pretty adventurous omnivore, I happily eat Kashew Cheese’s offerings on a regular basis. The little kid in me destroys their chocolate cashew milk. Anyway, the conversation about the project quickly evolved into a chat about art, life and design. My type of meeting and I knew this was going to be a fun one.
A few weeks ago we got a call from the folks over at Kashew Cheese requesting a meeting to discuss shooting their new dishes and specifically their new pizzas. For those of you in Saigon, Kashew Cheese makes plant based alternatives to lots of your favourite dairy products and oh man I wish they were around when I was Vegan in the early 00’s. Atlanta was super vegan friendly, but even as a pretty adventurous omnivore, I happily eat Kashew Cheese’s offerings on a regular basis. The little kid in me destroys their chocolate cashew milk. Anyway, the conversation about the project quickly evolved into a chat about art, life and design. My type of meeting and I knew this was going to be a fun one. Aesthetically, they loved the way the sun peaked through the trees at one of their locations and wanted to showcase that light in the work. While I love natural light, I don’t like waiting around for it and then it disappearing minutes later. In travel photography, I don’t mind it because its the journey not the destination…. or something like that. But when there’s work to be done and a limited timeframe to get it done, the need for consistency and controlling variables are super important. So, naturally I responded, “Oh we’ll just make our own sunlight and play God.” With a chuckle and a raised eyebrow, they gave us some leeway and off we went creating some really fun images. All of these were lit using my studio strobes and we had such a good time making some interesting lighting setups. We wanted an inviting casual feel and opted for pretty minimalist styling to let these dishes sing without any distractions.
We’ve opened up the books for more food projects in July, so reach out and let’s tell some stories!
Natural Light: The Best Option? And Can You Really Tell?
As photographers, we’re always looking at different things to tell a compelling story in a single frame. In food photography, light and composition are massively important in creating mood and feeling so we’re constantly looking at ways to control light to tell different stories. That said, many times client briefs call for “natural light” and sometimes that can be quite ambiguous. In the images above, one is indeed natural light. Care to hazard a guess? Let’s have a look at each of these images and break down the lighting setups.
As photographers, we’re always looking at different things to tell a compelling story in a single frame. In food photography, light and composition are massively important in creating mood and feeling so we’re constantly looking at ways to control light to tell different stories. That said, many times client briefs call for “natural light” and sometimes that can be quite ambiguous. In the images above, one is indeed natural light. Care to hazard a guess? Let’s have a look at each of these images and break down the lighting setups.
Image 1
Horizontal Gridded Stripbank
Positioned low to avoid the reflection on the top, the grid focuses the light and lights the liquid making it the star of the show.
Image 2
Bare bulb
Bare bulb from camera left, behind and up high. I wanted to mimic harsh sunlight to give a summery bright mood. Plus that shadow and light on the plate is gold!
Image 3
Diffused Softbox
Lit from behind through a diffused softbox up above subject to give a reflection off the top of the cocktail. Can give a feel of morning light coming through a window.
Image 4
Undiffused Softbox
An undiffused medium softbox from above and camera left casts specular highlights and a hard shadow beneath the plate. Could be mistaken for mid-afternoon light?
Image 5
Natural light
Big window with morning light from behind. Nice even light. What story does it tell?
Image 6
Vertical Gridded Stripbank
The gridded strip bank from behind and above not only focuses the light through the middle of the frame, but also breaks the reflection on the top of the cocktail, mimicking the slats in a window frame.
So, were you right in your predictions? More importantly, did the naturally lit image produce the most compelling frame? Natural light is beautiful, but relying on it will only get you so far. Controlling and shaping the light puts the control back into the photographers’ hands and allows us to really get creative in our storytelling. Which was your favorite and what other lighting would you like to discuss? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!
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Keeping Creative in Uncertain Times - Quarantine Cuisine: Part 2
As we’ve settled into this new “normal”, we’ve been confronted with some stark realizations - some of us need to learn to cook and restaurants will have to adapt in order to survive these tumultuous times. That said, my kitchen has become familiar again, my love for cooking has had a resurgence, and restaurants have adapted with new delivery concepts popping up and a higher focus on hospitality. While the current situation is a million miles from good, silver linings are what we have and staying positive and supporting each other is always good. This push to give better value, service and support from restaurants and patrons alike is a wonderful thing to witness, and I hope this bolsters the industry not only here in Saigon, but throughout the global F&B industry.
As we’ve settled into this new “normal”, we’ve been confronted with some stark realizations - some of us need to learn to cook and restaurants will have to adapt in order to survive these tumultuous times. That said, my kitchen has become familiar again, my love for cooking has had a resurgence, and restaurants have adapted with new delivery concepts popping up and a higher focus on hospitality. While the current situation is a million miles from good, silver linings are what we have and staying positive and supporting each other is always good. This push to give better value, service and support from restaurants and patrons alike is a wonderful thing to witness, and I hope this bolsters the industry not only here in Saigon, but throughout the global F&B industry. I hope this communal focus rather than a transactional relationship sticks around and really gives us, both as hospitalitarians and guests, the time to reflect on what makes dining out and food so amazing. I want to use this post to give shine to some of the restaurants (alongside some of my own home-cooked food) here in Saigon that have stepped up and done some thoughtful moves into this brave new world. At the bottom of this post, look out for links to some of these fine establishments featured in this post as well as the last post. This is the time we all lean on each other. If you haven’t had the chance, go check out Part 1 here.
Restaurants and businesses featured in this post:
Full Transparency: I’ve not been paid or received anything in return for any of this.
Featured In Part 1
New Work: American Comfort Food at The Wagon Wheel.
The guys at The Wagon Wheel recently tapped us to shoot their menu, and were we excited to create something awesome. As a southern boy at heart, this felt like a warm hug and a welcome homecoming. I recently had to cancel my trip back to the States given the Covid-19 situation, so this couldn’t have come at a better time! All this hits showed up - chicken fried steak, chicken and waffles, deviled eggs, and even a funnel cake to cap it off. We tried to keep it playful by shooting images before and after the first bite (or three). It took immense willpower not to devour everything on the plate before we got the shot! These guys are doing it right, and it’s exactly what we needed.
The guys at The Wagon Wheel recently tapped us to shoot their menu, and were we excited to create something awesome. As a southern boy at heart, this felt like a warm hug and a welcome homecoming. I recently had to cancel my trip back to the States given the Covid-19 situation, so this couldn’t have come at a better time! All this hits showed up - chicken fried steak, chicken and waffles, deviled eggs, and even a funnel cake to cap it off. We tried to keep it playful by shooting images before and after the first bite (or three). It took immense willpower not to devour everything on the plate before we got the shot! These guys are doing it right, and it’s exactly what we needed.
If you live in Saigon, you can definitely get involved while social distancing. They’re offering delivery here.
Recent Work: TNT Barbecue Food Photography
Recently, the fine folks over at TNT Barbecue tapped us to update their image library. Being from the southern part of the States, I jumped at this opportunity with a quickness. We decided to lean into the messy fun nature of barbecue and show off the saucy goodness. Below are some of my favorites from the shoot. We’re always looking for fun new projects and this ticked all of my nostalgic and homesick boxes.
Recently, the fine folks over at TNT Barbecue tapped us to update their image library. Being from the southern part of the States, I jumped at this opportunity with a quickness. We decided to lean into the messy fun nature of barbecue and show off the saucy goodness. Below are some of my favorites from the shoot. We’re always looking for fun new projects and this ticked all of my nostalgic and homesick boxes.
For my photographers, this was lit with an octabank using various white and black cards to create depth and little pockets of light and shadow. Zeiss 55mm and Sony 90mm, Sony A7III, Godox AD200
Recent Work: Octo Tapas Food Photography
I just realized while we’ve been doing lots of food photography lately, there hasn’t been a post here about it. We’ll remedy that moving forward with some more interesting stories including some BTS shots and technical breakdowns for the photographers out there.
I just realized while we’ve been doing lots of food photography lately, there hasn’t been a post here about it. We’ll remedy that moving forward with some more interesting stories including some BTS shots and technical breakdowns for the photographers out there.
I also want this to be a place to say thank you to some of the great people we get to work with on a daily basis. We were recently tapped to shoot some lifestyle and editorial food photography for the fine folks at Octo Tapas here in Saigon. Already one of my favorite places to expand my waistline, I was excited to create some new visuals for their newly launched menu. We truly appreciate the trust to do justice to their food. Here a few of my favorites from our first round of shooting.
For the photographers, I’m sorry I didn’t shoot any BTS for this, but these were all shot with a Godox ad200 through a gridded softbox (sometimes through only the inner diffusion layer) flagged off here and there with a couple of bounce cards for fill.
