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Food Photography and Styling with Robin and Sue.

February 12, 2018 By Beth Nydick

Hi there! We’re Robin & Sue, food photographer and styling team based in Maplewood, NJ.

While we love to shoot ALL food, we especially love it when we are able to work together with

people who are promoting healthy eating, which is why we are so excited to be jumping in on

Beth’s blog! (Thanks, Beth!) Today we thought it would be fun to give you a little sneak peak

into a shooting day with us so you can learn a little bit about our process and how we make our

images.

 

For today’s shoot, we made my favorite smoothie. I love making smoothies for breakfast

because at least then I know I’ve started the day off right. To photograph it though, It’s more

than just pointing the camera and shooting! So here’s what we do to make food look it’s best.

Our first step is to gather some inspiration images to get ideas on the look and feel we are

going for with the day’s shoot. From there we can plan what backdrops and surfaces we’ll use,

how we plan to light it, and what props to bring out. Usually, pineapple kale coconut smoothie

Sue decides on the recipe and how to style the food and I decide how it is going to be shot and

lit- will it be shot overhead? Straight-on from the side? A three-quarter angle? And where will

the lighting be coming in from? Is this mimicking early morning? Mid-day? Early evening? Once

those decisions are made, we’re ready to shoot.

For this smoothie, we knew wanted to make it look bright and cheerful- so the idea was a light

and bright photo shoot (as opposed to a dark and moody one, which might be more suitable for

a winter soup, but eh hem, I’ve had one too many of those this January and we want some

sunshine!) Because of this, we chose to shoot on a white marble surface to make the color of

the smoothie really pop. We also wanted to highlight some of the great healthy ingredients in

the smoothie, since once they are blended you will not be able to see what’s inside. So we

decided to surround it with big chunks of the pineapple and kale.

A word of advice when shooting food- don’t just run to the store and choose the first kale bunch

you see! Food stylists take their time really looking at which ones look the freshest and buy

those. You may get some weird looks from the produce department, but no worries, I think

secretly they love that you are showing the care those vegetables deserve!

We now have to set up our set. We get our backgrounds and surfaces in place, our props and

glassware ready, but, we don’t put the food in yet! We use a stand-in (maybe it’s a rolled up

towel or something like that to hold its place) because here’s the thing: food starts to wilt,

discolor, and settle while onset. I happen to have LED lights so they are not hot, but even

still, you’ve seen food after it sits awhile- it turns color, develops a crust, loses its

effervescence, etc.

So, once all these things are in place, we do some test shots to set up our lighting the way we

want it. We then make sure the props are in a pleasing composition and our colors are showing

appropriately on camera, and that I have a good white balance since those whites need to be

actually white!

NOW it’s time to add the food! We pour the smoothie into a glass that’s already exactly where

we want it to be in the frame. We shoot and Sue starts to make the little micro-adjustments to

make it look perfect- moving the kale around, the pineapple chunks, checking for condensation,

etc. It’s definitely a job for people who are patient because it sometimes takes 30 minutes to

an hour to perfect a shot! This definitely surprises people, but it’s true! Sometimes we luck

out and nail it right away, but being the perfectionists that we are, it usually takes that

long:)

Hope you enjoyed hearing about our process. If you are curious to know more, we’d love to

hear from you! Come check out our website at www.robinandsue.com and drop us an

email. We welcome any conversations about food, and if we can help you make your food

shine, let us know!

 

Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie

Serves†one

1 cup coconut milk (the kind in the dairy aisle in the carton)

1 T almond butter

½ t chia seeds

1 t flaxseeds

½ frozen banana

½ cup frozen pineapple

Handful of kale, sliced off the stem

In a high-speed blender, add ingredients in order. Blend until smooth. Add small amounts of

water, if necessary. Enjoy!

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« “Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.” Michael Pollan
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Hi! I'm Beth! Blue Barn Kitchen is a health focused lifestyle brand with simple and creative recipes, meal planning and lifestyle programs, making living healthy effortless. Read More

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🔅Eat whole foods, nothing processed!
🌱For the Health Conscious Mixologist
🥃Drink Clean in a Dirty World
Clean Cocktails @oprah @dr_oz @inc @forbes

Beth Nydick✨Blue Barn Kitchen
Do you love peas? Yes peas!! Cocktails can be heal Do you love peas? Yes peas!! Cocktails can be healthy and made out of almost any fruit or veggie. Today I show a few segments for @thelistshowtv for St. Patrick’s Day. Stay tuned for the segment! Xo Beth #cocktails #cleancocktails #heathylifestyle #healthyfood #cocktailrecipes
Sweet basil gimlet - one of the amazing clean cock Sweet basil gimlet - one of the amazing clean cocktails from my new cookbook “Clean Cocktails, Righteous Recipes for the Modern Mixologist”. Link in bio. .⠀
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1. Pull all the veggies you have in the house that you can cook. Pick 3 to 4.
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8. Enjoy! ⁣
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Stop by my house on your travels and I'll fill up your glass.⠀. 
Meyer Lemons are a cross between a regular lemon and a mandarin orange.  The sweet flavors make this pitcher drink go down easy.⠀
Serves: 6-8⠀
Recommended Barware: Pitcher⠀
 5 Meyer lemons, zested⠀
 1 cup Meyer lemon juice⠀
 1 cup honey syrup⠀
 3 cups vodka⠀
1. In a pitcher add lemon juice, zest, syrup, and vodka or gin, stirring until combined.  #Cocktails #cocktailsofinstagram #cocktailparty #cocktails🍹 #cocktailgram #cocktailculture #cocktailrecipes #cocktailmaking #cocktailathome #cocktailrecipe #cocktails🍸 #cocktailsforyou #cocktailinspiration #cocktailspecial #cocktailgarnish #cocktaillove #cocktailgown #cocktailblogger #cocktailstyle #cocktaillife #cocktailshaker #cocktailoftheweek #cocktailsathome #cocktailtime #cocktailtime
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