Food Photography And Cookbooks

I’ve been pretty scarce from this little blog of mine.  I’ve missed the rhythm of planning meals, photographing them and posting them here.  I must say, however, that my life has still been completely immersed in food, which I’m grateful for.

The last few weeks have been totally dominated by getting this book completely photographed and sent into the publisher for an August 2012 release.

I’ve had loads of fun doing it, and it gave me the opportunity to go to Pennsylvania to visit Anni Daulter, the writer of this book and several others. She is a long time and collaborator on another huge project I’ll be sharing about soon.

Her latest book, The Organic Family Cookbook has just been released and its simply awesome!  She has an amazing gift for recipe creations, that are both flavorful and healthy.  Go. Buy. It. Now!

 

The cookbook creation process is a long arduous one and its been a wonderful experience to get to see it from a photographers point of view.  Its not just about the recipe writing and the words, but the styling, the imagery, what you want to convey deeply.

I’m a visual person and so understand that because food is so deeply sensual the photography needs to be able to give the viewer a visceral experience as well.

This can be a bit challenging, but when coupled with long hours in the kitchen cooking, plating, lighting and then adding children eating the food to the mix?  It was a magical, chaotic, and delicious adventure.

I got to visit farms, gorgeously creative studios, work with beautiful children raised with organic foods, delivered by CSAs… I mean, I was in food heaven!

 

But more then all that, I’m really sinking into to this reality that I have created for myself.  Food, from the source, direct to the table… this is a lifestyle choice.  Where its true that its not an easy one for all to make because of locality, its a choice I have made, and the more committed I am to it, the more my life reflects that choice in the people I meet, the places I go, and the work I create in the world.

I spent a week on the complete other side of the country, and the climate was different, the vegetation was different, the land mass was even different!  But what was so incredibly similar and wonderful was the commitment to organic farming, cooking fresh organic foods for the family and sharing – sharing the earths lush bounty.

This isn’t a fad, its a community rising up all over the world that is seeking to come back to the simple truth that natural unprocessed real food is what our bodies need, and that sharing in this relationship with the planet strengthens the bonds between friends and family.

It was a wonderfully affirming work trip and it didn’t feel like work at all.  I can’t wait for the book to come out!