The Real Stuff

I had to get one ice cream shot in before the summer ended. Well, maybe I'm a little late. This was mostly a logistical/setup problem that I wanted to tackle rather than actually cooking something and photographing it.
Usually photographers/food stylist will use colored mash potatoes in "ice cream" shots. Because of the hot lights and short attention span of firm real ice cream. I wanted to use the real stuff.
So I used a rolled up pair of pink socks in the bowl to adjust my lighting and place my background. I probably had about a minute before the ice cream started to melt. As you can see, it started to do just that. At least it looks real. The hero stuff is store bought strawberry ice cream, sliced strawberries, a single ginger cookie, and some shaved chocolate.
Shot with the Nikon D70, 50mm 1.4 lens set at f.1.4, ISO was 400, shutter speed 1/400th. Lighting was natural sunlight through diffusion on the window. Light was bounced back into the shot using reflectors.

The ice cream just might be consumed at lunch.....
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Cinnamon Thins and Tea

Now generally I'm a coffee kinda guy. I'll alternate between the French Press and the Bialetti. Favoring the FP 4 to 1. But this morning I just felt like some tea. Something aromatic...sweet. So what we have here is Twinings Herbal Revive Cherry and Madagascan Cinnamon tea with Chocolate Cinnamon Thins. I must have felt a need for cinnamon too. Several wedges of lemon floating in the tea. A lovely way to start the day...and the chocolate didn't hurt either.

Tech specs: Nikon D70 handheld w/50mm set at f1.4. ISO 200 shot mostly with reflectors using window light. 1/8 CTO gel on window and an LTM Fresnel with 1/2 CTB camera right just adding a little light to the right side of the teacup. 

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Side Dish of Sweet Peppers

Here is a side dish that my mom used to make all the time. This dish goes with just about anything, red meat, chicken, or fish. Sometimes I just shovel a bushel of it on some thick Italian bread perhaps a sliced Cibatta and away I go. Generally called a peperonata - add some cubed eggplant and you can call it a ratatouillie.
This particular dish is just sweet red and green peppers with sliced garlic and onions stir fried in some extra virgin olive oil. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. I threw in some extra basil. You can also add yellow peppers to make it more colorful but the red, green, and white are the "tricolore" of the Italian flag so I made it for "per la patria!"  
Grazie for the look-see.

Tunafish and Chips

One of my favorite sandwiches (I will probably used that phrase a lot as I have many "favorite" sandwiches) is a tunafish sandwich on toast. There are probably thousands of tunafish sandwich recipes out there. The basics are good quality tuna, mayonaisse, chopped onion, chopped celery - that's about the core of it. Then you add any of the following ingredients to your pleasure; pickle relish, halved grapes, raisins, chopped boiled eggs, halved cherry tomatoes, and on and on......
This one pictured here is the basic core stuff plus several chopped olives with pimentos. I was looking for something to add color and texture and thought the olives fit the bill. As an added kicker I sometimes splash in a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. Oh...the combinations are endless.
Anyway, add some nice crispy chips, some lemonade or iced tea...and badda bing badda bang...yummy lunch!

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Pasta per l'estate

"Pasta per l'estate" means "Pasta for the summer". And this is a very nice dish for a summer lunch or dinner. I usually serve it lukewarm or even at room temperature.
At our house we call it "Antonella's Pasta". A dear friend of mine, Pierpaolo, visited us from Italy a couple of years ago. I asked him to show me one of his favorite pasta dishes and he whipped this up. He said his wife, Antonella, made it for him on warm summer evenings in Soave.   And believe me, there's nothing better than to sit outside on a warm summer's evening in Soave eating this dish with some wonderful cool Soave white wine made from the grapes that are about arm's length from where you're sitting.
I feel lucky that I've shared this experience with Pierpaolo and Antonella.
The dish is very simple.
Your favorite pasta, penne or farfalle work best. Cooked as normal  "al dente".
In a large bowl, add sliced cherry tomatoes, sliced kalamata olives, slivers of garlic, some feta cheese, a few capers ,pour some extra virgin olive oil over everything, toss and then garnish with some fresh basil. As we used to say in my day "boy oh boy!!_
This is my second post on my new blog dedicated to food and food photography. Hope you enjoy your visit.
For technical info pls visit my other blog: andydebruynfotos.blogspot.com
Ciao.

A Cool Summer Drink

The last two month have been blazing hot...more than 70 days of over 100 degree heat with a couple of days that hit 112!!
I thought that a cool summer drink would be most appropriate as my first shot on my new blog.
So here is a glass of lemon soda with slices of lime and a spring of mint. Shot using only window light at ISO 200, handheld at 1/100th, f8.

I am very excited about my new blog and hope inspiration comes my way in order to make some scrumptious images of food and drink.

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