The beloved Boyfriend Chronicles is back after quite a long hiatus. For anyone new around here, Will is my boyfriend... err... fiance. Let's call him my Boyfonce, almost like Beyonce. Back in 2015, Will hosted a monthly series on the blog where he chatted about what it's like to be a dude dating (now engaged to) a blogger. Check out some past posts or dive right in to his latest installment. Hello again my fit and focused friends! It's been a while since my last post but I'm baaacccckkkk. Looks like my last post was back in October of 2015 where we talked about how much I love maxi dresses. Not too much has changed since the last time I wrote - except that Nicole and I got engaged, we moved to Texas, we both got new jobs and we adopted a monster puppy. Now that we're all caught up, it's time to get back to business. In this edition of the Boyfriend Chronicles, we're talking about the science of food photography.
Now, when I say "science," what I really mean is the seemingly random selection of surfaces that photograph well. When we were in Brooklyn, I was always on the lookout for cool doors and backgrounds that we could take pictures in front of for fit and fashionable Fridays. To a non-right-brained engineer like me (or is it left brained? Whichever the creative side is, that's the part I'm missing), the instructions of finding colorful or old doors was simple to execute. Literally, I would look out the window on my way to work, and take note of doors that were either partially decrepit or some bright color and report home to Nicole so we could go and check them out.
Let me tell you though, finding surfaces that look good in food pictures is NOT that simple. Take our kitchen table for instance. This table was handed down from one of our good friend's grandmother to him, then sold to another friend of ours and then found its way to our home after they moved away. I'm fairly certain this table was purchased new in 1817 for the modern equivalent of $6. Since that time, the legs have clearly been painted about 150 times - most recently (not that recently) in a chocolateish (likely lead based) paint. The top, on the other hand, has no paint at all as somebody with a belt sander clearly had a DIY moment and decided to unevenly remove it all. To say this table has character would be an understatement. For us, the table is a reminder of our great friends in Brooklyn and made it into our home because it fit the rustic modern decor we were going for at the time. There is no way this table was ever meant to be photographed, but seriously, it looks AMAZING in photos.
Have you ever met somebody who looks great in pictures and then you meet them in person and you're like, "Wait, seriously? That's you in the picture? How do you hide that buck tooth?" Well, that's this table. In person, it's totally busted and quite literally could be built from the remains of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, but looks great in pictures.
Leading up to this post, I decided to take some wider action shots of the other surfaces that Nicole has found for her food photography. Like this one, which is a few pieces of slate from an abandoned stone depot in Pennsylvania (yes, we paid to move rocks from Brooklyn to Texas - don't get me started on that one), stacked on top of a slate cheese plate, sitting on our bar from Bobs Discount Furniture. You may have seen it in Nicole's post about Gingerbread Sunflower Seed Butter.
Or here's another for Unicorn Chex Mix, where the background was the concrete floor of our new apartment and the accent was sprinkles that were thrown on the ground. You literally could not walk barefoot in our apartment for a week without stepping on a sprinkle - but the pictures look great.
As a natural born innovator (HA!), I think Nicole needs to start pushing the envelope a little with her food photography. Dilapidated table from 1817? Lame. Slate from and abandoned building in Pennsylvania? Overused. What will really knock people's socks off is food photography on water. Picture this, artificial blue background of a pool liner, reflections in the water, floating plate and a focal point of some sunflower butter covered apples. I'm telling you, it's genius - and it would be so hard to do that nobody could ever copy it, so it's proprietary as well.
Nicole, here. Before you go off and contemplate weird backgrounds I should try to use in my food photography, be sure to join the Fit & Fashionable Friday Link Up. New around here? Check out the rules here.
Let's Chat:
What do you think Nicole should try as a food photography backdrop?
