Q. Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos?
When I’m taking picture of food, I want to re-create the vibe of the scenario around me, and also how appealing and attractive the dish is. Not every food is presented well, but I believe each has their own unique charm that makes people just want snatch and eat it right away. I want to bring that out by my photos.

Q. What is it about food that makes you want to photograph it?
Food photography is not the same as portrait which you can capture the emotions/actions of people and able to make other to feel sympathize. Yet, at least, those photos help to bring back my little moments. It can be a story of an ordinary dinner back home embraced by family’s love or is able to remind me of an old café that I always visited whenever I was a teenager.

Q. What is photography to you?
It is a rough sketch of my life and also an outlet for my emotions. I unexpectedly came to photography when I was 15 years old, not having any specific hobbies but eating street food. While browsing randomly I stumbled to a great food photographer’s page on Flickr that really captivated my attention. His photos are so vividly beautiful that make me also want to take such photos myself. And the more photos that I took, the greater my love for photography, especially food. Nowadays, whenever I struggle or have an uneasy mood, searching up for a new food spot, taking the food photos, and even processing them afterwards made me completely forget about that downturn. Last but not least, as I am living away from my family, every photo recalls me of my family, friends, people that I have met during my life, or a special event. It heals my homesickness, I’d like to call it a ticket to the past” as inspired from my favourite book.

Q. What inspires you?
The story behind the dish, a secretive traditional recipe passed through generations or the chef’s attempt to create a new taste blending dimensions of two different cultures. As a lover of travelling, whenever I go to a place, I want to try out their local food, which I believe could tell me not only the cuisine but also the people and other characteristics of the place I am going to. For example, before moving to Toronto to study, I never believed that Canadians have any special culinary culture at all, as compared to Vietnam, my home country. But somehow as I live here longer, my perception was changed, Toronto and the variety of special fusion dishes surely exhibits its unique multi-cultural side.

Q. Any food photography heroes? If not any photography heroes?
First, Rick Poon – my most influential photographer that brings me to this field. His photos are amazing. I also visit Kate Quinn Davies, Bonnie Tsang, Hugh Forte and his wife’s cook blog to satisfy my food-photo’s obsession.

Q. Best meal so far in 2013?
A small birthday dinner with my close friends, a cozy meal is all I want for this long winter.

All photos courtesy of Khue Ly.

Q. Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos?
A. I like to create a moment in time with my photos. One that might take you back to sharing a meal with friends/family, or one that might stir a nostalgia in your tummy to experience that moment. I like them to be imperfect and cozy, natural and dark.

Q. What inspires you?
A. I love the natural shapes of food. The dimpled curves of an orange, the way a perfectly-round, salt-flecked egg yolk gives way when you poke it, the way light tangles in the crinkled leaves of curly kale. Even if I’m not cooking something spectacular, I’m always moved and inspired to take a few photos in the company of good ingredients.

Q. What is photography to you and how has it evolved from 2009 (when you first started your Tumblr) till now?
A. I wasn’t at all interested in photography at all until I became involved with food. I started shooting with an old point and shoot camera and had no experience with it at all. From then to now, I’ve discovered a passion for it that I never knew existed. Despite my lack of camera and photography knowledge, I’ve managed to learn how to shoot and produce photos that speak to me, if no one else, and with these photos, I feel like I get to show people what food looks like through my eyes, how I see meals and ingredients. That’s extremely important to me and I wouldn’t be able to share that without photography.

Q. Any food photography heroes? If not any photography heroes?
A. Right now, I’m really smitten with Naomi Robinson, Chantelle Grady, Beth Kirby, Keiko Oikawa and Clare Barboza. All have a unique style and provide endless inspiration when I’m feeling a bit lost in my head.

All photos courtesy of Kelly Brisson of The Gouda Life

Q. Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos?
A. We’re going for an authentic look. We want to capture the food the way it is and how it’s presented when someone goes to eat that food. Messy is ok. But we of course love to make people feel hungry and want to jump in a car and go eat that food right away.

Q. Do you approach a food photo differently than non-food photo?
A. When we started taking food photos professionally, we consciously talked about approaching it the same way we approach, say our portraits. The same technical concepts as if we were shooting a head shot with good natural light, the right amount of bokeh, and the right background choice are all there. It can be a lot easier sometimes since the subject can’t move.

Q. What inspires you?
A. Good food and travel. We’ve chosen travel destinations simply because we wanted to eat food there. It’s been a fun year of travel and food for us. We went to Japan and got to eat at Jiro and then went to Spain a couple of months ago to eat the most amazing tapas ever. We also got to eat food carts around India. A lot of our life revolves around food. Food is one of those things in life that you have to do everyday so you might as well enjoy the heck out of it.

Q. What is one of the best things about photographing food carts and trucks?
A. It’s the opportunity to show people how amazing the food can be coming from a cart. A lot of the time it is high end food at a great value. It’s a much more intimate experience since it’s usually 1 chef and his cart. They’re so accessible. The kitchen is right there and it’s usually out in the open which means lots of natural light!

Q. Both of you are from Southern California (LA?) and currently living in the Bay Area. So why did you start a blog featuring Portland food carts and trucks?
A. We’re actually about to move back to California in the new year and heading to the Bay Area this time. We’ve been in Portland for almost 4 years now and have loved documenting the amazing food cart scene out here. We hope to continue our blog down in the Bay Area and worldwide as we travel more. There have been talks of maybe a road trip food cart tour around the US.

Q. Any food photography heroes? If not any photography heroes?
A. We’ve always been inspired by Saveur magazine and their food photography. Their food stories are always great and focus not just on the food itself, but the people that make the food and their stories as well. I think that’s what has fueled our Behind the Food Carts blog. We wanted to also capture portraits of the people that make the beautiful food and get a sense of how they came to be.

Q. Best meal in 2012?
A. Hands down Beast. It’s such an amazing experience eating there. We told ourselves we would only eat there once a year since it’s a hefty sum, but we’ve had it 3 times this year already. And we don’t regret it one bit. Their charcuterie plate is something we would eat everyday if we could. The steak tartare with quail egg and foie gras bon bon are out of this world.

All photos courtesy of Kim+Phil from Behind the Food Carts.

Q. Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos?
A. I’m trying to demystify food. Some people get so intimidated by the idea of cooking that they don’t even bother to try. I take photographic breakdowns of each dish by ingredients and method, and then photograph the finished product in its simplest state with minimal props. I’m trying to show that plain white plates and pieces of parchment paper can look just as good as fancy Chinas, providing that you’ve prepared the food with effort and give it dignity. And I’m not going to apologize for burnt edges, uneven frosting or cracked surfaces. What you see is what you get. It’s all part of the learning process.

Q. What is photography to you and has that idea changed ever since you started your Tumblr?
A. When I first got into food photography I was an impressionable 15 year-old, so it was all about going mainstream. I remember that studio-lit, shadowless, clean-styled photos were all the rage at one point and I wanted to jump on the bandwagon. There was just one little problem – I didn’t have any of the tools or equipments required. You wouldn’t believe the lengths I went through in attempt to achieve the same look. It was all very exhausting that at one point I decided to call it quits.

That was then. Photography to me now means coming to terms and accepting the circumstances that are presented. After that’s done, then it’s just a matter of understanding your work area and learning to work with limitations and achieving the best possible results.

Q. Have you always been interested in cooking?
A. Always. I was about 7 when I saw this movie that got me into the world of gastronomy. It was a scene where a guy came inside a diner looking for a job. The owner then asked him, “Do you know how to cook an omelette?”. He then started to chop up green peppers and onion, and then beat an egg with a fork inside a metal cup. He proceeded to make a fluffly omelette in a whirl of movements, which the owner took a bite of. Of course, as it would in all movies, he got the job. I never did find out the title of that movie.

I couldn’t sleep after watching it. The next morning while my mom was out, I turned on the gas stove (after much restless thought, I was scared I might burn the house down). I wanted to imitate his swift movements so I took two eggs and slapped them on the side of the pan, watching the shells break and the eggs sliding into the hot oil. Some of the shells fell in too, of course. It wasn’t much. It wasn’t even an omelette; more like a cross between scrambled eggs and messed up sunny side-ups, but I ate the finished product happily with my then 5 year old sister, occasionally picking away the shells. From then on I’ve continually raised the bar for myself in terms of techniques and the varieties of ingredients used.

Q. Any food photography heroes? If not any photography heroes?
A. Some of them you have right here, so this is a very humbling experience for me. I remember being mesmerized by the works of Aran Goyoaga and being over the moon when Melina Hammer commented on one of my works. But the photographer that I look up to the most is Katie Quinn Davies; her entire body work is simply magnificent.

Here’s a list of other outstanding photographers that she thinks you should check out!
- Jeanine Donofrio of Love & Lemons
- Linda of Call Me Cupcake
- Caitlin Van Horn of Roost Blog
- Kelsey Brown of Happyolks
- Kwestias Maku with her namesake blog
- Phi of Princess Tofu
and fellow Tumblogger William Valle of French Cuisse

Q. Best meal in 2012?
A. I don’t eat out often so I’m tempted to name something that I’ve cooked. But my parents were here recently and we went out to eat at a nearby seafood restaurant and had all the fixings. We ended the evening with cold durian pancakes and the combination of the atmosphere, the company and the relatively good food overall made it one of the best meals I’ve had this year.

All photos courtesy of Pigamitha Dimar of Notions & Notations of Novice Cook

Q. Can you tell me what you’re trying to capture when you take your food photos?
A. When I am photographing food I am trying to capture something that is beautiful, evocative and tasty. Sometimes that comes through in the smallest of details… a drip or a crumb, a bit of spilled salt or a ghostly wafting steam.

In a larger sense I am always keeping light and composition in mind. I am drawn to the light of the Dutch Masters and have spent a lot of time looking at light and paintings from that time period. I am also very influenced by memory and personal experience. I draw a lot of inspiration from the experiences of my childhood in Western Mass. I was a bit of a free-range child, running wild in the woods and on a small family farm. I lived in very old houses all my life. My father is an antique dealer, so objects and interiors and have always had a certain reverence for me. The idea of beauty in the normal or mundane has always appealed to me. I spent a lot of time as a kid really looking at things. I was kind of shy and in my head a lot. The things that informed my thoughts then, still appeal to me now, a tangled bramble of berries, a loaf of bread on the counter, a spill or a stain, these bits of everyday un-styled life have always caught me eye and support and sustain my work today. They are where I find my inspiration.

Q. How did you get started with photography?
A. My dad gave me an old Nikormat when I was 13 and it was pretty much love at first sight. I then went on to study sculpture and photography at UMass Amherst and then later transferred to Parsons in New York where I moved onto larger formats both 4×5 and 8×10. I was married at 24 and not really getting to spend much time with my husband, Martin Hyers because we were both assisting other people and he was traveling quite a bit. I was assisting an amazing stylist (Suzanne Shaker) and he was assisting a photographer (William Abranowicz) who was always on the road. The photographer he was working with (who also happened to be one of our past Parsons professors) suggested that we try to shoot together. It seemed like a good way to spend time together so we gave it a try. There were very few teams at that time. We decided to shoot food and travel as we thought that was sort of “neutral turf”. At the time I was shooting 8×10 portraits and he was shooting musicians. So we chose something new where there would be no conflicts to our “personal style”. This of course proved to be a bit ridiculous because if you love what you do you put your all into it, no matter what. We put a portfolio together and there was really no looking back. Our styles meshed and informed one another then as they do today. The photographer and stylist we worked with at the time were very supportive. They really mentored us and ushered us into the working world. We are forever grateful to them. We try to maintain that same approach with our own assistants.

Q. Why did you pick it as your career?
A. I loved photography so instantly from the first moment I saw a photograph come alive before my eyes in developer. I really feel it chose me. I never thought about another career.

Q. What is photography to you and how has it evolved through the years?
A. Photography has evolved as far as gear and pixels go, but the core of it remains the same. Light and composition are the two essential elements that will hold strong no matter the gear or technological advance. Being able to see light is one of the most important aspects to being a good photographer.

The move to digital for us was relatively seamless. We did have to work out our own system for archiving and storage and that is ever evolving. Storage is the biggest issue we face as we cart around our “herds” of drives. I am pretty excited by new gear and technology but I do love to return to my 8×10 Deardorff, which is about as archaic as it gets these days. I have been working on a long-term series of friends and family in 8×10.

Photography has evolved as well in a sense that there are more photographers now than ever. Digital has been the great leveler. Anyone can afford a relatively decent camera these days and the number of images being uploaded to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram per second is mind blowing. We are living in an all-exposing age. We see and have access real time to anything and everything that we all do. This is one of the most significant changes in the world of photography. When we first started we had no idea what other photographers were doing or what their portfolios might be like. Editorial line-ups were a total secret. Now they are splashed all over the place in a sneak peek behind the scenes kind of way. We need only click to see what the world is doing in real time. I think this makes people produce work faster and in a more disposable way. I try to stay level headed in the face of all this imagery. I try to make pictures that come from my own vision and inspiration. It is not always easy, but I believe if you stay true to yourself and do not chase others you will be happier for it. You will find that you have an endless well of inspiration that comes from within.

Q. What inspires you?
A. Everything inspires me! I am inspired by; my family, my children, my friends, travel, nature, wild foods, the seasonal and the local, music, film and everyday life. Making my personal work really inspires me and as I said before it informs my commercial work. I love to shoot these days for my blog. It is a place where I can try things out and exercise new ideas. I love to pull out my Deardorff and shoot my friends and their babes. I love the looking back at the evolution of images over time. Someone once told me the first photo you make will be similar to your last. I think this is true. I have taken the same photo many times over the years. There are recurring themes that spring up time and time again and threads that wind their way through personal work into commercial. It is difficult to make a distinction between personal and commercial because when you love what you do you give your all to it no matter what. I always bring bits of my personal work into my commercial jobs it is impossible to keep them separate. There is also whole bevy of young bloggers I find immensely inspiring. They are constantly amazing me with their solid work, writing tenacity and drive!

Q. Any food photography heroes? If not any photography heroes?
A. I adore Irving Penn for his brilliant simplicity and timeless photographs. His work informs many a photographer and art director. I love Sally Mann for her dark, cerebral, intimate portraits and landscapes. I look to Emmet Gowin’s early work for emotional inspiration and to Morandi the Italian painter for composition. I look more at fine art photographers than contemporary ones these days but from my many talented peers, if I had to pick a few I admire, I would say Frederic Legrange for his gorgeous travel, Henrik Knudsen for is stark Nordic light, Ditte Isager for her unwavering style, Marcus Nilsson for his gritty and real approach to food and Anna Williams for her impeccable Voracity project.

Q. Best meal in 2012?
A. This is a hard one, because last year I had such good food while on the road for work. We had amazing meal at Faviken Magasinet in Northern Sweden from Chef Magnus Nillson, while on assignment for Conde Nast Traveler. I also ate the best ceviche I have ever had in Lima Peru last year!

This year, I have been a little closer to home. Meals have been with family and friends. We did have a pretty brilliant impromptu suckling pig roast at out loft one evening this past spring. All the stars aligned along with the juniper-pickled onions and it was a super mellow memorable evening with friends old and new. I did just take my dad and his 78-year-old cousin to Maison Premiere in Williamsburg for oyster and ceviche. It was memorable afternoons watching this older generation of New Yorkers eat oysters amidst the hipsters and mustached waiters. When we left they told me how much they loved that “that clam bar” so Maison will forever be the clam bar to me. Sometimes it is just about the people you are with.

All photos courtesy of Andrea Gentl from Hungry Ghost.