food photography tips

I have been getting a lot of emails from readers lately, and the email I receive most often sounds similar to this: "I love your photos! What kind of camera do you use?" While I love getting notes from readers, I want to clear something up: it's not just the camera that makes a photo great- it's the photographer! It's true that most of my posts use photos taken on my DSLR [Canon XSi] but a few use images shot with my small point-and-shoot, and lately I've even been posting from my iPhone.

My point is this: you can take great photos with any camera.

Last year, I wrote a post for my friend's blog sharing some basic tips on how to improve your food photography. These photo tips can be used with any camera- even the one on your phone.  I thought it would be fun to share that post here [below] to give a little insight to what happens in my kitchen and answer some of your questions.

Read on, and happy shooting : )

for coffee and camera lovers

I came across these in my DPS newsletter today and had to share...

Travel coffee mugs disguised as camera lenses! 

(or maybe they are camera lenses disguised as coffee mugs?)

raspberry-lemon summer spritzer

I don't know about where you live, but the weather on the East Coast has been nothing but 

boiling hot lately. We've been in the "feels like" high 90's and low 100's for the past 3 weeks. 

And it doesn't look like it's cooling down anytime soon.

So I decided that instead of sweating over the oven, I would make something easy and breezy. 

Enter the raspberry-lemon summer spritzer.

Fresh summer berries. Tart lemon. A little fizz, a little kick, and a lot of refreshing.

zucchini muffins (or bread)

I'm back from the wedding madness and in the kitchen again! Everything was wonderful... the ceremony was beautiful, the reception was so much fun, and the honeymoon was amazing. I had an awesome time, but I'm ready to come back to blogging and start trying out all our new kitchen gadgets. Hopefully, you will be seeing a lot more posts here in the near future!

Jamie

One of the best parts of summer is all the fresh produce. 

And one of my favorite vegetables...

lemon scones

I love scones, but they always seemed like a pain to make.

Then I tried making Pioneer Woman's vanilla bean scones...

which didn't work out, but it led to a pretty awesome buttermilk biscuit recipe.

(and of course, I learned you can't substitute buttermilk for cream)

And finally... finally... I came up with a lemon version based off PW's recipe.

pineapple-coconut-almond-rum cookies

The other weekend, I had a few friends over to watch the season finale of Lost. Even if 

you've never seen the show, you probably know that the majority of it takes place on an island. 

So I thought I would make something a little tropical. 

What's more tropical than pineapple and coconut (and a little almond for good measure)?

german chocolate cake

A few months ago, my fiancee and I were watching Bobby Flay's "Throwdown" on Food Network, 

and he made this cake. The theme was german chocolate cake. Bobby's creation looked amazing, 

and we knew we had to make it. My fiancee decided that my birthday celebration 

(this past weekend) was the perfect occasion.

buttermilk biscuits

I can't think of many foods more comforting than a warm biscuit, right out of the oven.

Smothered in butter at the dinner table? Delightful.

Drenched in in my Uncle's secret gravy recipe? Even better.

filled cupcakes

 

This post is not so much a recipe as a technique: how to make filled cupcakes.

Filling your cupcakes is a great way to add a little something extra. 

This technique works well with fillings like jam or jelly, peanut butter, or even pudding. 

(For frosting fillings, you will want to fill the cupcakes after baking.)

strawberry jello pie

This strawberry jello pie recipe came into my hands a few weeks ago. 

As part of my wedding shower, my mother-in-law requested that all the guests bring 

a recipe with them (since both my fiancee and I love cooking). 

You'll be seeing a lot of these recipes show up here.

the jellybean blunder

Well. I was too late to post a recipe for a cute Easter treat, 

so I thought I would come up with a way to use all that leftover candy.  

Jellybeans happen to be my favorite.

chocolate-dipped peanut butter cake pops

Peanut Butter and Chocolate: One of the world's most perfect combinations.

Ever since I made the Peanut Butter Cupcakes a few weeks ago, I've been thinking of

turning them into cake pops. My friend Lisa has been dying to try cake pops

ever since I discovered them on Bakerella and started making them-

so her birthday was the perfect occasion to try these out!

the perfect sunday dinner, PW style

If you know me, you probably know that I love The Pioneer Woman. Her website is an

entertaining blog that covers a variety of topics: witty commentary about life on the ranch, homeschooling
her 4 "punks", gorgeous photography and tips for beginners, and delicious recipes
with step by step instructions. My friend Jessica (who actually sent me the link to PW's site)
and I have been plotting for months to get together and cook some of the recipes from her site.
She came down to visit this weekend and we made the most delicious Sunday dinner:
Pot Roast and Potatoes Au Gratin.

mint chocolate chip cookies

This week's recipe is a simple variation on my chocolate chip cookie post. 

I love mint and chocolate together, so this seemed like a no-brainer. 

And of course, I had to add some green food coloring for St Patrick's Day! 

They might look a little funny, but they taste great!

irish car bomb brownie bites

I wanted to make something with an Irish kick for St. Patrick's Day. 

I understand that Irish Car Bombs are not really Irish...
but in my limited Americanized experience of the holiday,
the Irish Car Bomb is an essential element in the celebration of
St. Patrick's Day. (for those of legal drinking age, of course)

peanut butter cupcakes

EDIT: this recipe was featured on the Tasty Kitchen website on 3/2/10

This recipe actually comes from my fiancee's family, so I'm going to let him introduce it...

"When Jamie first decided to start this blog, I told her she had to make my Great-Aunt Bug's 

peanut butter cupcakes. Bug was a classy lady. As the story goes, she spent a number of years 

living on her own in New York City in an era when that sort of thing just wasn't done by 

single women. She amassed a rather large collection of antiques, big city culture and 

a wealth of scratch recipes. When she returned to the family farm in Blue Rapids Kansas, 

she took to setting up her home and swapping recipes with her friends and family.

These peanut butter cupcakes have been baked for generations with love and butter, 

by fiercely independent and classy ladies."

red velvet whoopie cream pies

I have a small confession to make: these are not from scratch. I cheated.

But they were still delicious.

My fiancee bought me a special pan from Williams Sonoma for Valentine's Day...

buttermilk banana-nut bread

 

I love banana bread. I could eat an entire loaf by myself. One warm butter-slathered slice at a time.

This version of the recipe was actually a happy accident- I had everything on hand to make banana bread except for milk. So I substituted in buttermilk. The bread came out dense and rich and oh so moist. I'm never going back to using real milk again.

cheddar jalapeno cornbread muffins

These cornbread muffins are unbelievably easy to make, and incredibly delicious. I got the recipe out of the Cupcakes! from the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook which my future sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. (Along with a very cute apron, I might add!) If you've never heard of the Cake Mix Doctor, she takes box mixes and adds simple ingredientsto make something that is as easy as a box mix but tastes a little more homemade. 
Trust me. These muffins are seriously easy, and seriously delicious.

football cake pops

Let me introduce you to... cake pops. Adorable bite-sized portions of cake
on a stick. They can be shaped and decorated like just about anything. But since
it's SuperBowl weekend and I have a party to host tomorrow, we are
making footballs. The original cake pop recipe comes from one of my favorite
baking sites, Bakerella. Check out all of her awesome cake pop designs,
and other adorable baked goods.