FOOD'O'GRAPHY - The food styling and food photography blog

Basic Food Pothography and Food Styling Workshop

2012-02-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

Alhamdulillah, mission accomplished. It totally a great pleasure conducting this workshop for Food Enthusiast. I should thanks Faridatul Azna of The Dessert Table, Mutiara Damansara for giving me the opportunity to share some little knowledge that I have. Really enjoyed the session with all the 'good and well behave students" - what a lovely bunch of peoples you are............So remember the steps.......let the 'P' guide you through and 'Cut n Paste' to 'M'. Then 'Plus 2' and 'Minus 2' and with that you will never fail in your journey to a better food photography, Insyaallah.

Tantalizing your 'eyes'

2012-02-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

Panfried Barramundi / Seabass

Canon 50D, Focal Length 150mm, Aparture 5.6, S/Speed 1/10, ISO400, available lighting, located close to a window

Grilled Lamb Rack

Canon 50D, Focal Length 60mm, Aparture 5.6, S/Speed 1/10, ISO400, available lighting, located close to a window

Roasted Spicy Quail with Pasta

Canon 50D, Focal Length 80mm, Aparture 5.6, S/Speed 1/10, ISO400, available lighting, located close to a window

Panfried Hot & Spicy Squid and Prawn Bowl

Canon 50D, Focal Length 100mm, Aparture 5.6, S/Speed 1/10, ISO400, available lighting, located close to a window

Spaghetti with Prawn Aioli

Canon 50D, Focal Length 100mm, Aparture 5.6, S/Speed 1/10, ISO400, available lighting, located close to a window

Baked Supreme of Chicken

Canon 50D, Focal Length 120mm, Aparture 5.6, S/Speed 1/10, ISO400, available lighting, located close to a window

Grilled Tenderloin Steak

Canon 50D, Focal Length 145mm, Aparture 5.6, S/Speed 1/10, ISO400, available lighting, located close to a window

Basic Food Photography Workshop at The Dessert Table Mutiara Damansara - 17th December 2011

2012-01-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

Photo - Faridah Azna

Composition, color, texture, shape..................and bla, bla, bla...................................

Roasted Honey Quail

2011-12-14T22:33:00.000-08:00

Canon 60D with 18-55mm lens: F7.1, 1/125, ISO 1500, 45mm - available light

Canon 60D with 18-55mm lens: F4.5, 1/40. ISO 400, 35mm - available light

Roasted Honey Quail

Basic Food Styling and Food Photography Workshop

2011-12-13T18:08:00.000-08:00

This coming saturday will be conducting Basic Food Styling and Food Photography Workshop at The Dessert Table, Mutiara Damansara for food enthusiast. Host for this event is the owner of The Dessert Table - Farida Azna
http://planetcakes.blogspot.com/2011/11/basic-food-styling-food-photography.html?spref=fb

Food Styling - Competition n Exhibition

2011-12-08T06:28:00.000-08:00

Everyone are invited to this event.

Event includes:
Vegetables Carving
Food Styling Workshop
Food Styling Display
Photo Shooting
and etc

Cakes, dessert n cookies

2011-11-13T02:48:00.000-08:00

THE DESSERT TABLE: BASIC FOOD STYLING & FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

2011-11-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

THE DESSERT TABLE: BASIC FOOD STYLING & FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

Recipes sharing - Spicy Lamb Shank Stew - Masak Berempah Daging Betis Kambing

2011-11-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

Someone called me up and suggested to me about sharing some recipes in my blog. I guess they may be tempted to see at the photos that I posted. I think there is no offence in sharing recipes with them, all of you are most welcome to try some of the recipes your own at home. Here for my first recipe posting is on lamb - Spicy Lamb Shank Stew - Masak Berempah Daging Betis Kambing. It will be good for this festive occasion - Eid Mubarak. For the benefit of all viewer I will write the recipes in bilingual "English and Malay"

Spicy Lamb Shank Stew - Masak Berempah Daging Betis Kambing

4 nos. Lamb Shank
4 ketul Daging betis kambing

5 nos Ripe Tomatoes – diced
5 biji Tomato masak – didadu

3 nos Onion – diced
3 biji Bawang besar – didadu

5 pips Garlic – chopped
5 ulas Bawang putih – dicincang

3 cm Ginger – chopped
3 sm Halia – dicincang

4 tablespoon Tomato paste
4 sudu makan Tomato pes

4 tablespoon Curry powder mixture for meat – dilute with ½ cup of plain water
4 sudu makan Serbuk kari daging – bancuh dengan ½ cawan air

1 stalk Coriander leaves – roughly cut
1 tangkai Daun ketumbear – dipotong kasar

2 nos Dried apricot – small diced
2 biji Buah aprikot kering – didadu kecil

3 nos Dried prune – small diced
3 biji Buah prun kering – didadu kecil

2 nos Red chilli – seeded and small diced
2 biji Chili merah – dibuang biji dan didadu kecil

1 liter Stock
1 liter Kaldu / air rebusan daging

4 tablespoon Cooking oil
4 sudu makan Minyak Masak

Salt, sugar and pepper to taste
Garam, Gula dan Lada sulah secukupnya

METHOD / CARA
1. Clean the lamb shank and trim off the connective tissue and strain.
Bersihkan betis kambing, buangkan tisu-tisu liat dan toskan.

2. Heat a pan with a bit of cooking oil and shear the lamb shank until the outer surface turn brown.
Panaskan kuali, masukkan sedikit minyak kemudian masukkan betis kambing, masak sehingga seseluruhan luarannya menjadi perang.

3. In a thick pot, heat up 4 tablespoon of cooking oil when hot put in chopped garlic,ginger and diced onion, sauté until slightly fragrant.
Dalam periuk yang tebal panaskan 4 sudu makan minyak masak, apabila minyak panas masukkan bawang putih, halia dan bawang besar yang didadu dan tumis sehingga wangi.

4. Put in tomato paste together with curry powder mixture, sauté until slightly brown then put in diced tomato continue sautéing until sweat.
Masukkan pes tomato bersama dengan bancuh serbuk rempah, tumis sehingga sedikit garing dan kemudian masukkan tomato yang didadu tumis seketika.

5. Pour in the stock let it simmer to boil. Once boiling low down the heat and put in the lamb shank and let it simmer with low heat, covered the pot for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Occasionally check the liquid level and add in more stock if necessary.
Tuangkan kaldu/air rebusan daging biarkan mendidi dengan api sederhana. Apabila mendidih kecilkan api dan masukkan betis kambing, tutup periuk dan renehlah dengan api yang kecil untuk 45 minit hingga 1 jam. Sekali sekala buka tutup dan periksa paras cecair, tambah kaldu jika perlu.

6. Once the meat turn tender, put in the rest of the ingredients – apricot, prune, chilli and coriander leaves, continue simmering for about 20 minutes before season the stew with salt, sugar and pepper.
Apabila daging menjadi empuk, masukkan keseluruhan bahan yang lain – aprikot, prun, chili dan daun ketumbar, teruskan mereneh untuk lebih kurang 20 minit. Persakan dengan garam gula dan lada sulah.

7. Serve hot with Briyani Rice or Nan Bread.
Hidangkan panas bersama dengan Nasi Briyani atau Roti Nan.

Here's something for your Eid Mubarak

2011-11-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Chef at Work

2011-10-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

With final semester students......... 'painting a roast chicken'

Roasted Spring Chicken.............make-over

Razali Hassan............basic food photography

Razak Aziz and Razali Hassan and the food styling's students

.............for the camera

Sandwiches

2011-10-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

Is the Styling of Food Necessary?

2011-09-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

The need for food styling is a question that is often raised. The photographing or filming of food is very involved, and many techniques are employed to stabilize, sustain, and, if necessary, enhance the food to be photographed. Most important is that the food look as fresh and appetizing as possible until the image is captured, but this process can take hours. During that time, the food needs to be kept "alive," or replaced as often as needed, sometimes very often. It should be remembered that foods are like ‘children’ it ‘misbehave’ especially in-front a camera. For example, it is difficult to take a photograph of a barbecue grill with flames lapping up through an arrangement of a piece of king prawn, because the flames will char the food within minutes. The food might need to be replaced a several times and look identical each time so as not to affect the lighting or camera framing. Or to shoot a commercial that features a slice of pizza with a piece being bitten off, twenty takes with twenty perfect slices might be needed before the director gets the shot in which the dough or pastry looks identical enough. Even a bowlful of salad demands a unique knowledge and set of skills to keep it looking crisp and moist. This knowledge and these skills are essential to successful food styling, and ensure that the process of capturing the needed image on film is efficient and cost-effective.

While there is a trend toward a more documentary style of photographing food that seem to be turn away from the arts of food styling , however this seemingly straightforward approach might need to involve many of the same considerations that go into typical food photography such as props, lighting, camera angle. Although food photographed straight out of the kitchen might have a natural honesty about it, the end result is not always attractive. Most consumers, and more importantly the clients, still expect to see images of appealing food.

Food Styling for Blog

2011-09-07T18:26:00.000-07:00

Nowadays food blog have become popular among us. Food bloggers come from various background.............housewife, home economist, chef and even food enthusiast. But do you know that as food bloggers you need to take on a multi-tasking role, a chef, writer, food photographer, food stylist and on top of that kitchen helper / cleaner and dish / pot washer. It a multi-tasking and hard job, do you agree with me?

As mentioned earlier in my previous writing, food styling is a form of artwork in its own right. The job of a food stylist is just not to arrange and using various technique in order to make food look perfectly beautiful, delicious and tempting before the camera, it need a creative and imaginary minds too.. This requires an artistic in you and the ability to transform all the 'unseen' quality of a good food such as aromas and tastes into photograph.

To be an effective food stylists one need to be able to use appropriate equipment in a process to create the perfect piece of food art. Access to a decent studio or workshop will be helpful apart from knowledge of basic or even advance photography such as lighting, backgrounds. And, a long with that the ability to identify appropriate and suitable props that might compliment and enhance the food image would be useful. However not all food bloggers have the liberty to own a studios, lighting equipment or even knowledge and skill as food stylist. So, this left them to whatever resources they have. But that does not means it is the end of the road.

Here are four tips for a start, that you may find useful on how you can style your food effectively without having that so called 'professional equipment", just use whatever equipment available.

1. Proir to that, please bare in mind that a succesful food photograph should start with an exceptional quality - it has to show up in the final product. Quality is the word....so whenever you are taking the task do not compromise when quality is concern, thrive for perfection. And, please also remember that it may not takes a real cooking for that purpose.

2. Using of white plate and a white background will make and complement food that particularly vibrant in color. You will find that most food product will be easily matched with white plate and background.

3. Understand the shape and form of the food. To break the monotonous, avoid using same texture for the backgroud compare to your food. For example if your food is smooth use a texture background or if your food is rich in texture use a smooth background. This will ensure the food (focal point) is enhanced in appearance not overshadowed by the background.

4. Balance and harmonized the colours – two or three colors are often better than one but avoid too many color. For example using black and white in highlighting one photographic element can create an interesting mood but it all depend on what you would like ti emphasize.

..........................more tips to be shared...................

New semester begins...............

2011-09-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to all students that will be taking the Food Styling course - HTC640 this September'11 - January'12 session. Hope you all have enjoyed your long holiday fruitfully. I guess it is still not too late to wish all of you Eid Mubarak - May Allah bless us all in this "Month of Victory".

Insyaallah for this coming semester I'll try my very best to record all the class activities in a video form and upload it here. It will be useful as a source of references for all of you. May Allah give me strength and ability to fulfill this project. And, off course I will also need you help for this task.............and here are some photo for you to enjoy..........................................

Photo: Razali Hassan - Fotomomo

Sharing is Caring

2011-08-02T21:31:00.000-07:00

Noodle Vs Pasta

2011-03-30T04:34:00.000-07:00

What they says.............

2011-03-29T16:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some comments from those who have attended the Food Styling course:

Firstly, many thanks to En. Ali,

For me, this course is really fun and leisure, before this I always puzzle why the picture that use in commercial purpose is always look great. But the real dishes look very different in term of their size, look and appearance.

After a few classes, I have learned some of the tips and tricks on how to make the picture look fantastically great. Nevertheless, I also have learned about the role of the food stylist, to make the food look attractive in the finished photograph. Moreover, the main difference between how a home cook or chef may present food and what a stylist does is the time and effort a stylist takes to carefully and artfully arrange the food.

ANIS ASHIKIN BINTI MD. KAMAL

There are so much knowledge and information that I've learned throughout this learning session of this subject. Beside the technical part of this subject in which related to the understanding the camera function, it also giving us chance to know the essence/basic requirement to become a food stylist. This subject also thought us the skills to portray the best image of the food by using the correct props, camera angle, substitutes products, and also the lighting factor.

For me, it is something that every one involve in food industry should know and feel proud of it - the ability to transform a simple food items into an artistic image. It also show that there are so much career opportunity in food industry beside the traditional career in Kitchen Brigade as long you have the passion.

MOHD NIZAM NORDIN

What I have gathered and learned from this course that there are ways and tricks that can be used to produce food image which can make a simple food dish to become mouth watering, create hungry feeling just by looking at the image. By using inedible food product such as motor oil can create distinct color and texture of a food product which it will reflect at the final food image.

Shooting picture at the right angle also can simply gives the image that makes it interesting, appetizing and enticing thus make people wanted to buy the product.

SUHAILA ABDUL RASHID

Personally I have learnt something very genuine and interesting. I might use it for my future career like making my own cookery books such as books on fruits carving, and ice carving. For that I might use the tips and techniques of styling and shooting photos. My 15 yrs experience in the industry as chef and entrepreuner and 23 yrs teaching seems just not enough. Thats why Allah ask us to learn until we die.

SYED REDZWAN BIN SYED MOHAMMAD

So interesting...I really enjoy this course because I learn lots of new things that I never expect before such as use a fake item to make the food look appetizingly real.

AFIZAH BINTI ABDUL JALIL

Ice Cream

2011-03-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

Preparing Roasted Chicken.

2011-03-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

Introduction

A good, fresh looking chicken will always be the most vital aspect of this task. As mentioned earlier the first styling tasks are to look for the best ingredients available you can find. If it have to take you to wake in the early hour of the day to find this ‘actor’ by all means you have to do it. It is not impossible here in Malaysia for us to look for freshly slaughtered and carefully dressed chicken. So what you need for this task:

1. Fresh and carefully dressed, proportionate chicken.

2. Aluminum foil.

3. Panting brushes.

4. Thread – strong and thin (fine)

5. Pins / needles.

6. For coloring – caramel. Thick and thin soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar syrup and oil.

7. Roasting pan.

8. Freshly selected vegetables

9. Sauce (optional)

10. Props and tools - crockery, utensils etc

Steps one:

Clean and dressed chicken carefully. Make sure there are no tiny hairs or any bruises. Stuff the chicken with aluminum foil and push up the breast upward. Use fine and strong sewing thread for trussing. If thick or butcher twine are used it with create a roasting mark onto the chicken. Position the chicken as how you want it to be. Pin both wings to it body using needles. Be careful with the wings if it turns dark during the roasting process cover it with aluminum foil.

Thick and thin soy sauce, oyster sauce and honey is used to paint the chicken for a roasting effect,

Preparing the vegetables for the roasted chicken.

The chicken is stuffed with aluminum foil this allow to better shaped the chicken.

A pin or needles are used to secure the opening to make the roasted chicken more presentable.

Trussing the chicken using a strong but thin sewing thread.

Before applying a paint on the chicken, baste it with hot boiling water.

When the chicken is ready, baste it with hot boiling water. This is to make the skin to be slightly cooked. This will allow it to be painted if not the color may not stick to the skin.Using the combination of the color that are available in the kitchen such as caramel, thick and thin soya sauce and oyster sauce, you may paint the chicken to resemble a fully cooked roasted chicken. A fully cooked roasted chicken may not look appetizing in a photograph – it may shrink in the process of roasting. The process of painting the chicken may take a few steps. You have to apply the color layer by layer, alternately by putting the chicken in a pre-heat oven of 200 degree C, 2 – 3 minutes at each time.

Once you feel that you get the right color that you want, untied the chicken, and paint it where the thread may leave a visible mark. Prepare a plate or casserole depending on how you want to present your roast chicken. Arrange it and visualize on how you want it to appear in a photograph. Be careful of the chicken jus and dripping it may wet you plate so you need to be fast. Before that you got to prepare the accompaniment – vegetables, starches and sauce where appropriate.

Types of Food Styling

2011-03-20T00:59:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Food is styled to be photographed for different purposes. The food that is styled probably is to be photograph for recipe books or for a poster. A bowl of salad can be photographed for a poster or an advertisement in a newspaper of a restaurant or even used for a menu card. As mentioned , the purpose of each type of food photography in general is to make food look good and fresh or tempting and irresistible. However, it is all depend on how the photograph is going to be used. For that matter of fact Food Stylist need to understand the purpose of each assignment.

It is said that good looking photograph of food could enhance the sales of a cookbook. Food stylist must understand that cookbook are displayed and purchases from a shelf in a bookstores, far away from a real kitchen that are full of aromas and flavors. And as for the recipes its only contain the list of ingredients and method of cooking mainly written in black and white, the purchaser must to a great length have to use his / her imagination to visualize this information into aromas, flavors and tastes. This is where, the combination of good food styling and great photo taking will transformed all the good food elements into a photograph – that look tempting and irresistible. In another instant, when customers open the menu at a restaurant – what will they see? Some restaurants have pictures of their menu items to make customer mouth to wet and drool. In a Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) picture of food are decorated on the walls or hang from the ceiling for promotional purposes. These pictures need not be too detail or exaggerating but most of them should be as real close as possible and realistic. It is all with purposes apart been used as a promotional tool, it allow people with disabilities to place their order by only pointing to the picture that they want to order.

As a matter of fact, a good food photograph is just not only a visual aspect, it conveyed more sensory information – it communicates, it stimulates the senses of tastes and smells. Generally there are basically two types of still food photography: editorial photos for a book or magazines and commercial purposes photos such as advertising, packaging and labeling. For a commercial purpose photos, most of the time advertisers want their product prominently featured and in full focus. While in editorial works it allows greater creativity on both the part of the photographer and food stylist compared to advertisements. To create superb creation, the food stylist and photographer most of the time will be working together.

Editorial

For this purpose of assignment photograph is to be used in an editorial works – such as recipe books. Others include magazines and food articles such as in a newspaper. Generally these are considered as editorial food styling. This type of food styling and photographing can be considered as the most popular and, it is the most exciting assignment compared to the other types of food styling. This type of styling and photographing for editorial has broadly saying of ‘no limit to creativity’.

While ad photos are restricted by the concept developed and required by ad agencies. Editorial food styling and photographing has only one purpose – make food look beautiful. All creative lighting in the world can be used and all props available can be placed to achieve beauty. Editorial food styling and photographing allows a lot more freedom. The quality of images needs to be good enough to be published in magazine or a recipe book. The camera need not be as expensive as for advertising food photography and the photo shoot itself can be cheaper than ad photo shoots.

Illustration of food styling work for editorial purpose – a front page of a magazine.

……….and example of food styling for editorial work – recipe book

Advertising

Styling and photographing product for advertisement sometime lead to using of fake food as well as some secret and techniques to make food look tempting. This type of styling and photographing of food product is used for advertising purposes such as for newspaper advertising. However it is also used for menus, brochures, flyers and billboards. Props and other supporting tools can be used to create an harmony and tempting outcomes. Food Stylist and Photographer need to work closely with the advertising agency to visualize the idea and concept that have been decided by the agency. The thing that needs to be remembered by Photographer for this assignment is about the quality of the photograph, since these photos can be used for billboard or a large advertisement such as poster, thus, the quality need to be very high.

Illustration of food styling work for advertising purpose..

Packaging and Labeling

Almost daily we are been expose to the food packaging. It has been too familiar sometime we are not even notice the effort that it took to styled the food and photograph it on that particular packaging. The breakfast cereal, the milk pack, the frozen process food that usually we buy on our visit to the supermarket (to name a few), all of them come together with a nice looking food photos. It is some of the few example food photography for packaging. There are several differences between food photography for packaging and the other types are amount of effort and technical know how about styling and photography. There are a lot of efforts and technical knowledge on the product and meticulous detail that it may take in preparing or styling the food before being photographed. Cautions should be taken in using props so it does not overshadow the main product.

One should remember that for this type of photography is that the food should be presented as clear and as detail as possible. Since, the photo is to be used on a package of a product, the idea is to show as exactly as possible what is in the package. Food stylist has to put effort to ensure that numbers or pieces of the product in the package, color and ingredients if possible should be shown as realistic as possible. At the same time food stylist need to be careful on law and legal issues – overdoing or exaggerating may lead to legal complication.

TV or Film

This type of food styling takes a different approach compare to the above. Food stylist need to work closely with prop master / director who work on the set. For this purpose food need to look as natural as possible and most important it should be edible. If the shoot is for commercial, food stylist usually works directly with the director and he / she need to work directly at the set. Prior to that Food Stylist need to understand the idea and concept of that particular assignment. One of the most challenging aspects of the motion food styling is the need to be ready to prepare as much food ‘actor’ and as identically as possible. This is all depends on how many ‘takes’ are taken for that particular scene.

Setting up and present it...................

Flicking through the pages of a glossy food magazine, one could not miss to spot the work of a food stylist. Most people could not imagine the length to which food stylist has to go in order to make food look perfect. One might just think that “if you want a photo of a bowl of noodle, you just take a bowl of noodle and photograph it” – so what the big deal? The problem with food, it is just could not behave the way you want it to be. It may dried-up, shrunk, discolored and sag. Creating a harmony ambiance and tied-up with the idea and concept is another aspect that food stylist need to looked into. So, setting up is just not a matter of putting all together into one plate – it is far more than that.

There are two ways of setting that are normally applied in food styling and photography which are the type and style:

i. Types of food styling

a. Single serving.

- In a single serving shot effort should be put to show the texture and portion.

b. ‘How to’ or instructional shot.

- A step by step instructional mode of food styling.

c. Finished whole dish

- Normally a whole dish is presented together with a accompanying props that enhance the presentation of the food. Example a whole picture of a 1.5 kgs of cake.

d. Combination of ‘How to’ and finished whole dish.

- Combination of the step by step instructional and it finished product are presented.

e. Finished whole dish and setting.

- Setting up of the whole dish complete with it props and tools. For instance if the dish is presented on a table, consideration to be taken on setting up the table or even a room in case of a banquet or buffet spread.

f. Combination of finished whole dish and still life ingredients

- Normally used in a recipe complete with the picture of it ingredients

g. Finish whole dish and serving.

- Comprise of two elements, the whole dish as well as the portion serving – plating.

h. Abstract.

- Some call it as out of this world – beyond ordinary

i. Ingredients

- Showing all the ingredient for a particular recipe – used for editorial purposes

ii. Style of food styling and photography

a. Outdoor

b. Old fashioned / homey

c. Modern / contemporary

d. Elegant

e. Sophisticated

f. Eclectic – diverse, assorted etc

g. Ethnic

h. Seasonal

i. Holiday / occasion

j. Barbeque / outdoor

k. Special event

l. In the kitchen – in action

As a Food Stylist one should be prepared to visualize the type and style to fit the concept of each of the particular task as well as understand the purpose of it photograph taken.

Food Styling for Menu

2011-03-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

Below are some example of food photos for menu e.g menu card, stand card, light box, flyer, brochure and etc (photographed by razali hassan and styled by ali mohamad noor)

A cross-over concept of Western Cafe and Coffee Tiam menu development. Lesser props were used in this concept in order to emphasize more on the main item. In the styling aspect focus were made to portray the texture of the dish. While for photography it simulated the clean and decent image - honesty of the dish itself.

Project

2011-03-08T04:13:00.000-08:00

Canon Pro Talk - Basic Food Styling for Photography

2011-01-24T04:54:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, 23rd January 2011, I was invited by Mr Wong of Canon Pro Center at Times Square to share my experience on Food Styling. About 20 participants attended the talk. Basically the talk is about introduction to food styling for food photography. Participants were exposed to the basic tips and techniques of food styling. The core of the talks were about handling of food ingredients for photography. It was almost two hours talk that end-up with a Q&A. Most of the participants were eager and requested for a more advance workshop on similar topic (food styling and food photography) to be held in a near future. God Willing - INSYAALLAH, I have no problem with that, will be ever willing to share with everyone, this little knowledge that I have.

Hari Ahad yang lalu, pada 23hb January 2011, Encik Wong daripada Canon Pro Center, Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur telah menjemput saya untuk berkongsi pengelaman bagi memberikan ceramah mengenai Seni Rias Makanan. Ceramah adalah mengenai Asas Seni Rias Makanan untuk Fotografi. Seramai lebih kurang 20 orang peserta menghadiri ceramah tersebut. Peserta didedahkan mengenai tips dan teknik-teknik asas Seni Rias Makanan. Ceramah menekankan kepada bagaimana mengendalikan bahan-bahan makanan untuk fotografi. Ceramah yg berlangsung selama dua jam tersebut berakhir dengan sesi soal jawab. Kebanyakan peserta menunjukkan minat dan meminta agar satu lagi bengkel yang lebih advance diberikan dalam masa yang terdekat. INSYAALLAH saya tiada halangan untuk itu dan bersedia untuk berkongsi pengetahuan dengan semua.

Basic Food Styling for Photography - Asas Seni Rias Makanan untuk Fotografi

2011-01-20T04:22:00.000-08:00

As mentioned earlier in my posting, food styling is the arts or an act of preparing and presenting food for the camera. The purpose of the act is to make food look attractive, enticing, and appetizing to a viewer. It is also known as an act of feeding the eyes and the imagination. While as a Food Stylist, culinary knowledge and skills is considered an essential aspect. These than added with the artistic ability that will made a person a better Food Stylist.

Sepertimana yang dinyatakan sebelum ini, seni rias makanan merupakan satu cabang seni atau satu perlakuan dalam penyedian dan persembahan makanan untuk diramkam oleh kamera. Tujuan perlakuan itu adalah bagi memastikan makanan kelihatan menarik, menawan dan menyelerakan dimata mereka yang melihatnya. Ianya juga bolehlah dikatakan satu perlakuan bagi menjamu mata dan imiginasi. Sebagai seorang Jururias Makanan, pengetahuan dan kemahiran kulinari merupakan aspek penting.Seseorang itu akan menjadi Jururias Makanan yang berjaya sekiranya ditamabahkan dengan kemampuan untuk berkarya dan mempunyai jiwa seni

The role of Food Stylist begin well before the actual preparation starts. Understanding the uses and purpose of the photograph to be taken is the first step. Get all the necessary information from related sources such as clients, art director and photographer will give a Food Stylist a good start in planning and preparing his/her work. These information may includes concept, mood, style, color scheme, texture, angle of shoots and as well budget. All these information is vital since it will give the Food Stylist the basic and fundamental ideas of the task that need to be undertaken.

Peranan seorang Jururias Makanan bermula lebih awal daripada permulaan penyediaan tugasan. Memahami kegunaan dan tujuan sesuatu gambar yang akan diambil merupakan langkah pertama di dalam tugasan. Dapatkan seberapa banyak maklumat yang penting mengenai tugasan daripada pelanggan, pengurus seni dan jurugambar, ini akan memberikan Jururias Makanan permulaan yang baik dari segi erancangan dan persediaan tugasannya. Maklumat-maklumat ini termasuklah konsep, mod, stail, skim warna, tekstur, sudut gambar dan juga bajet sesuatu tugasan. Kesemua maklumat ini amat penting kerana ianya kan memberikan Jururias Makanan idea asas tentang tugasan yang akan dilaksanakan.

The most common angle of shoot in food photography are:

Eyes level,
45 degree, and
90 degree

As Food Stylist one need to be sure at which angle and how the food will be shoot. So, this will give them ideas what need to be emphasizes, especially at the particular angle that need to be presented.Food Stylist and photographers need also to know that it has been said that food photography is one of the most difficult discipline in the field of professional photography. Indeed it is considered one of the most difficult because in a normal scenario; after a dish has been prepared by the chef / food stylist and placed on the table for the photographer to shoot, it's only a matter of minutes before the glorious, mouth-watering creation starts to oxidize, change colors, melt, dehydrate, etc...and eventually becomes less appealing for the camera and start looking like garbage.

Sudut gambar yang biasa bagi fotografi makanan adalah:
1. Sudut tahap pandangan mata
2. Sudut 45 darjah, dan
3. Sudut 90 darjah

Senagai seorang Jururias Makanan perlulah memastikan mengenai sudut serta bagaimana makanan tersebut akan dirakamkan. Ini akan memberikan idea kepada Jururias Makanan mengenai apa yang hendak ditonjokan dan dari sudut mana ianya hendak dipersembahkan. Jururias makan dan Jurugambar harus faham bahawa fotografi makanan dikatakan sebagai paling sukar dalam disiplin fotografi. Sememangnya ianya agak sukar disebabkan dalam keadaan biasa, hidangan yang siap sedia dimasak oleh Chef / Jururias Makanan yang diletakkan di atas meja bagi tujuan dirakamkan gambarnya oleh Jurugambar dalam beberapa ketika akan hilang pandangan yang menyelerakan itu kerana melalui proses oksidasi - serti berubah warna, cair, kekeringan, dsbnya,.........makanan tersebut akhirnya akan hilag tarikannya dan tidak berubah menjadi bagaikan 'sampah'.

The most common and challenging issues in food styling and photography is the fact that food will always misbehave. Food are just like kids – it doesn't like to behave infront of company.

Misbehaving of food includes:
Perkara yang lazim dan isu yang mencabar dalam sini rias dan fotografi makanan adalah disebabkan oleh makanan yang sukar mengikut kehendak kita. Makanan seolah-olah bagaikan seorang budak kecil - yang selalunya membuat perangai dihadapan orang ramai. Tabiat-tabiat makanan ini adalah:

Cooked red meat may turn dry and it color turn darker .
Daging yang dimasak akan menjadi kering dan berubah warna menjadi lebih gelap.
Fat congeal.
Lemak membeku.
Cold cut turn gray and dry up.
Hirisan daging nipis berubah warna dan mengering.
Bread – dried, curl, crack and shrink when toasted or exposed too long to heat.
Roti - kering, melengkong dan mengecut apabila dibakar atau didedahkan kepada haba terlalu lama.
Ice cream and ice – melted.
Ais kerim dan air batu - cair
Cheese – congeal, dried, discolor, oily and melt.
Keju - mmengeras, mengering, berubah warna, berminyak dan cair.
Cereal – turn soggy when milk is added.
Bijirin - mengembang apabila dituang dengan susu.
Cold coffee and tea– form oil on surface.
Kopi dan teh sejuk - permukaan menjadi berminyak.
Lettuces and fresh herbs and greens – wilt.
Daun salad, herba dan sayur hijau - mengecut dan layu.
Whip cream – collapse and weeps.
Krim putar - meleper dan mencair.
Fully cooked chicken or birds – shrink, shrivel, and skins pull from bone and flesh.
Ayam atau burung yang dimasak sepenuhnya - mengecut, kulitnya akan tertarik daripada tulang dan isinya.
Jelly – melt.
Jeli - cair
Souffle – collapse
Souffle - mengecut
Fruit and vegetable – discolor, oxides and turn brown.
Buah-buahan dan sayuran - berubah warna dan menjadi perang.

All the above are some example of the misbehaving of food, there many more problems of foods that Food Stylist / Photography may encounter. Food Styling and Photographer alike need to understand the characteristic of food in order to get better result. Fundamental knowledge such as theory of food, for instance, the effect of heat on food component might helps. While experience through trial and error sometimes do help too, however a sound culinary knowledge and skills will ensure better food presentation for photography.

Perkara di atas adalah merubahkan tabiat-tabiat makanan yang sukar dikawal, terdapat berbagai lagi masalah tabiat makan yang dihadapi oleh seorang Jururias Makan / Jurugambar. Jururias Makanan dan Jurugambar perlu memahami tabiat-tabiat makanan ini bagi mendapatkan hasil yang baik dalam tugasan mereka. Pengetahuan asas mengenai teori makanan, seperti kesan haba terhadap makanan akan banyak menolong. Sementara itu pengalaman seseorang melalui proses cuba buat kadang kala banyak juga membantu. Walaubagaimanapun pengetahuan mengenai ilmu kulinari dan kemahiran akan memastikan persembahan makanan yang menarik untuk fotografi makanan.