Raisin-Almond Cake

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

Some cakes I bake frequently. This one belongs to it. Actually it is a bundt cake with raisins and sliced almonds, but not baked in the typical bundt cake (Gugelhupf) form. The recipe I have posted ealier here on my blog in the post Bundt Cake with Raisins and Almonds

For the photo I have chosen to place the cake on cook and baking books. There are some books which I often go back to, because the recipes in are typical or foolproof. Some recipes are know for many many years, some from my childhood. If you are German take a closer look at the books and I'm pretty sure, that one you will know: the top one. It is a baking book originally published in 1960 (this is a reprint of the original, the original book belongs to my mother) called "Backen macht Freude". It has been translated into English and is available as "German Baking Today" (published by Dr. Oetker). Unfortunately they have redo it and changed the photographs to meet todays readers expectations. If you have the chance to take at vinatge book, you will see how dramatic food photography has changed. You will get an idea, when you browse the photos of the Vintage Cookbooks group on Flickr.

For the photo I wanted to achive that we all rely on a set of cookbooks, we like or which we are familiar with. The books are arranged in a way, that you can't see which orginal title it is. In the top one I have made a little dog-ear to indicate, that it has been used. With the crumbs I gone a bit messy to empohasize the feeling that it is an every day cake, you grab a slice and you don't take care about crumbs you produce. The background I have over exposed intentionally. I wanted the background just for the brightness and the vague idea of plates and glasses. For the styling I have had to cut off several slices to get the distribution of raisins, almonds and the typical little holes in the cake I wanted, but at the end of the day the cake was done and because I did this cake just for me, it didn't matter that the slices were not that perfect.

For the lighting I have used natural light coming from upper left (window about 2 metres away), smoothed by a curtain. I have used two bonces on front left and right to get light reflected on the cake front. So the brightness gradient was reduced and I could get a nice brightness on the cake without over exposing the background too much. An additional bounce was place on right side to get some more light on the siide of the cake too. I have used 70mm macro lens with a shallow Depth of Field (aperture: f3.5) to get a blurry background and to just have the sharpness on the front part of the cake. I did some minimal adjustment with Photoshop (tonal values adjustment, high pass filter), that's all.

Easter Eggs

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

Every year I color eggs for easter like many others do it too. It is not only tradition but also fun to do. This year I was trying 'natural' colors. My own experiment with natural colors like parsley or red onions weren't successful. The colors were very pale and I have to cook the eggs for too long to get them colored at all. So I was going with 'natural' egg colors I get from a local market for organic products.

The first color I tried was red/purple (cochenille, carmine, natural red) which originally is produced by scaled insects. I like the well saturated purple you can get as you can see it in the above photo. To emphasize on that beautiful color I used a very simple top down angle with just the basket and hay for structural contrast to the purple of the eggs. I kept the colors of the background as dark as possible so that the color of the eggs stand out well.



© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

I tried yellow (curcumin) and green (chlorophyll) too. Both colors were well saturated but still have that earthern touch to it. Again I used the basket with hay, because the structural contrast is really nice. I kept the background in upper right very dark to get a brightness contrast. Especially on the yellow egg I tried to get a soft brighter highlight to create the feeling of sun light falling onto the basket with the eggs. The gradient into the dark gives a kind of homey feeling to this one.



© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010


I took up an idea from the former years in this one: a breakfast with easter eggs. I used pastel colored eggs here in a yellow basket to have all primary colors in the composition. The colors of 1st order can give a sunny and happy feeling. Pastel colors are not as active as the pure colors would have been, but they still create a nice sunny sunday feeling. The background is almost white with some repetition of the colors of the eggs in the napkins. The main viewing line is the ascending diagonal line from upper left to lower right which is also the direction of the main light sourec (window in upper left, soft lighting). I kept the upper right a bit darker to emphasize the 'beam' of light on the eggs. I added some little feathers for a natural touch here.



© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

This was the breakfast idea from 2008. Again based on 1st order colors red, blue and yellow. And alos the ascending diagonal was used here which ended on the yellow egg.



© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

'Coloring' eggs is an idea from 2009. Again with the primary colors represented in the eggs shown. No obvious viwieng line in this composition, because I wanted to keep a very casual feeling with no obvious order to be seen. This is a photo out of a series of three.




© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

Also from last year: close ups on eggs with flowers in the back. I did that not only for yellow, but also for blue and red. The more monochromatic setting is emphasizing on the color and it seems to intensify the colors even more. The flowers add a structural contrast using the same color of the eggs.



© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

There is no easter in our family without the traditional easter egg hunt. You never will get too old for this fun on easter sunday. I've entiteld the above photo "I found the last of the easter eggs". The hay and the basket in the far back should represent in this photo the natural touch of egg hunting in the garden. The milk can on the left as a reference to childhood when you have had milk for breakfast. The photo has intentionally more shadows and lights to get the idea of an early morning when beams of light hit the breakfast table. The shadows also emphasize on the sunny side with the green egg in front in the sun light. Actually it was cloudy and the main light coming from the left is from a window. I used it without smoothing it, but I used black flagis in upper left and behind the wooden board to get more shadows in the back. There was just a very slight bounce used from front to lighthen the shadows on the green egg a bit. I used the can as a flag too to avoid to harsh hightlights on the yellow eggs.
...hope you have found your easter eggs.


If you like to see more colored easter eggs, I would like to invite you to visit my Flickr set on Eggs.


I would like to whish you all a Happy Easter and many colored eggs.

Broccoli Soup with Croutons

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

Broccoli, some love it, others hate it. This broccoli soup is flavorful and you can make it as thin or thick as you like it. By adding more creme you can make the soup more smooth.


Broccoli Soup with Croutons
(serves 4)

For the soup:
1000g Broccoli
300mL milk
400ml vegetable broth
2 tablespoons Creme (Creme fraîche)
Nutmeg, salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Creme for serving

For the croutons:
4-6 slices toats bread (without crust)
1 clove garlic (halved)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Clean and divide the broccoli into single florets. Cook the broccoli in salted water for 15 minutes. Decant the water and rinse broccoli under cold water. Set some nice florets aside for garnish. Put the other broccoli back into pot and add milk, broth and 2 tablespoons of creme. Puree the broccoli to make a creamy soup. If you like the soup thin you can add some more milk (or water). Add salt, nutmeg and cayenne pepper to taste. Keep soup warm.

Meanwhile cut toast bread into cubes. Preheat oil in a pan and add the garlic to flavor the oil. When oil ist hot enough add the bread and sear until goldden brown. Remove garlic. remove croutons from pan and dry on paper towels. You xcan add some salt to taste.

Serving: put the soup into bowls, add some broccoli florets and serve with croutons and the some of creme on the side (so everyone can thicken the soup)

About the photo
The photo is based on a green (broccoli) and blue (towels) contrast in an otherwise brownish setting. The focus is set on the broccoli and croutons in the soup. The two glasses in the back should refer to a table setting with more than just one serving. The main viewing line is from lower left to upper right with the towels as starting and end point. A 2nd line is build by the two bowl. Both lines meet in the bowl in front. The towel in the back is also making a reference to another bowl with soup. I have used a bright setting with amore shallow depth of field so that the green of the broccoli florets are standing out more. Eveything behind the bowl is more or less out of the focus to reduce the meaning of these elements. The main light source is coming from upper right (window). A sheer curtain was used to smooth the light. A bounce was used on left side in the back to make the back brighter. Another bounce was used in lower right to reduce the shadows on the towel a bit. A third bounth is coming from upper front to give some fill ligth on the florest in the soup.

Swiss Chard Quiche

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

Quiche sounds like a fancy french recipe, but when it comes to the cooking and baking they are easy to make, can easily be made for a large number of guests in advance, you can reheat them and they are fantastic for having them in the freezer when you are mucht too lazy for any type of cooking. The making of the shortcrust is not time consuming and again you could sore the dough in the freezer to have it at hand. For this one I have used swiss chard.


Swiss Chard Quiche
(for one large quiche form 26cm diameter or for some smaller ones)

Dough:
200g all-purpose flour
130g butter (right from the fridge, cut into pieces)
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon vinegar
1-2 tablespoons water
butter for greasing the form
flour for working with

Filling:
1 bush swiss chard
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
grated peel of 1/2 lemon
200g whipping cream
100ml milk
4 eggs
75g Gruyère cheese (grated)
salt and pepper to taste
nutmeg to taste


Making the dough: Put flour, butter, salt and eggs into your food processor and mix until the butter and flour are mixed (about one minute). While machine is running add the vinegar first and then 1-2 tablespoons water and mix until dough is formed. The dough will be crumbly still. Knead with hands a few times to form the dough. Then wrap into clinch film and let rest for at least one hour in the fridge. You can prepare the dough the day before you will bake the quiche.

Making the filling: Divide the swiss chard into single leaves and rinse under water. Cut the white stem part of the leaves. Cut the leaves into stripes. Cut the stems into small pieces. Cut onions into rings and garlic cloves into small pieces. Preheat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. Add onions, garlic and the stem parts and cook for about 43 minutes. Then add the leaves and let cook on low heat for five minutes or until the leaves are soft. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat oven (200°c) and greas the form with butter. Get dough out of the fridge and roll out thinly (to avoid sticking use some flour). Line out the form with dough and form a rim. Prick the dough several times with a fork. Arrange the swiss chard mixture on dough.

Mix whipping cream, milk, eggs and 60 grams of the cheese until well blended. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Pour this mixture over the swiss chard. Sprinle with the rest of cheese. Bake quiche in the oven for 35-40 minutes until quiche is done and golden.

Note: if you don't like shortcrust you can use store bough puff pastry too.


About the photo
This is a very basic recipe, easy to make and rustic. I wanted a very basic setting and so I used just the quiche (still in the form) on a towel with a fork on the side. The colors are subdued and earthern to reflect the rustic impression. An old-fashioned looking fork and the wooden board do the same. The quiche is almost centered on the vertical line to get a more quite image. The lighting is coming from upper right from a window (the fork is in the line of light). A bounce on lower left is giving a slight fill light to brighten the front part of the towel a bit. In upper left I have used a flag (black cardboard) to get shadows here. This is enhancing the direction of light coming from upper left.

Potato Bread Spread

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

The Original title of this recipe is "Waldviertler Erdäpfelkas". Waldviertel is a region in northwestern of Austria. Poatatoes are often called Erdäpfel (apples grown in soil) in Austria. Kas is a shorting for Käse (cheese), but it doesn't mean that there is cheese in it, but the consistency is like that of cheese or reminds one of cheese. I found this recipe in a book for bread spreads. This one is rustic and easy to make. You can easily make it in advance.


Waldviertler Erdäpfelkas (potato bread spread)
(no idea how many this will serve)

200g potatoes (flour type)
1 egg (hardboiled)
50g butter (softened)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 onion
2 anchovy filets
1-2 pickled gherkins
1 teaspoon paprika powder
1/2 teaspoon caraway (grounded)
1-3 tablespoons yogurt
salt to taste
chives
dark rye bread (or any other kind of rustic bread)

Peel potatoes and cook until soft. Let cool. Then mash the potatoes. Divide hardboiled egg into egg white and yolk.

Chop anchovy filets, onion, gherkins and egg white. If you like you can leave some bigger pieces. If you want a smooth spread chop to small pieces.

Mix softend butter, mustard, hardboiled egg yolk, grounded caraway and paprika powder until smooth. Add the mashed potatoes and mix until well blended. If the mixture is not smooth enough for you, add yogurt until desired consistency.

Then add the ochopped anchovy filets, onion, gherkin and egg white. Mix carefully but do not mash. Add salt to taste.

Serve this spread with your favorite bread. Sprinkle chopped chives over the spread.


About the photo
The idea was quite easy. Because it is a very simple and rustic bread spread I used a rustic and easy looking seeting, which could represent the idea of a quick and easy snack. I used the top down angle with the food not taking much area. So there was more room for the rustic setting. I kept the background mainly in grey tones with the wooden board as main element. I have several of these wooden boards. I buy cheap ones and paint them the colors I like or find appropriate. The main compositional element are lines. There are thre from lower left to upper right (1st by the little board with the bread on it, 2nd made by glass and little plate, 3rd towel). These thre lines are counterparted by the line of the knife. The wooden board is bringing in the vertical line which is also used by the spread (on bread and on plate). The brown plate is taking the lead here, the eye seem to rest on it longer. This was intentionally done, because it gives some tension to the food on the bread. I tried to give the spread on the plate more attention, because one could see the texture of the spread here better than on the bread.
Lighting was easy. Natural hard light from a window on left. A fill light from lower side and another fill light from rigth side to brighten the shadows.

How close to the food should one get in food photos

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

... a personal view on close up shots in Food Photography.

The question is how close should I get in my shooting to the food and not how close can I get in food photography. A close up in food photography is not a question of the technical limitations but a question of composition and content. Sometimes it seems that photographers like to get as close as possible (technically) to the food and not even thinking about a wider setting (what is the best way to make the food look appealing).

Maybe I should explain first what I mean with close up. For me a close up is a setting where only small part of the whole food/dish is shown OR where the food take most of the area in the photo, so that there is almost no background or empty space to be seen. An extreme close up would be a macro, where only details of the food are shown.



A look into food magazines
I read (monthly) food magazines for quite some time. And most of the photos presenting the food are not close ups. Most shots are done with a wider setting, presenting not only the food, but also plates, tableware, proppings and other stuff. And in my opinion there is a reason for it: the background is important for the mood of a photo. A table setting can be stylish, casual, formal, rustic, sunny or related to other impressions. And often it is that feeling the setting is creating which makes us want to make the recipe or what is more important (for them) to buy the magazine.
Close ups are used when the food is very stylish or the styling is important, but in many of these closer settings you still have "space" around the food/dish. Close ups are also used for ingredients, when they are presented alone (often against a sheer white background).



What is the difference between close up and wide setting?
No, I don't mean the distance to the food. What I mean is the difference in the compositional idea. With getting closer to the food you do two things: (1) you reduce background information, so that the space around the food is getting smaller and (2) you concentrate more and more on the food and its details.

(1)The space around the food, the background or whatevery you would like to call it has an important role in food photography. It is making the environment with all the different aspects of tableware, proppings, background and backdrop styling, or colors used. In a wide setting the food is the major element in the composition BUT not the only one. And with the other elements you can create atmosphere and mood which is influencing our perception of the food.



© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010
In this photo for "English Breakfast Muffins" two elements explain what the food on its own couldn't do. The newspaper stands for breakfast, because it is that time of day, when many of us read the news. And the tableware withits ornaments are standing for typical (or what we think is typical) English tableware. The orange marmelade does the rest. In a close up on the muffins you would have had a hard time to transport this message. As closer you get as more you loose this compositional idea.

(2) As closer you get as more and more you are relying on the food's own fascination. And every little detail of the food is getting more and more important. When in a wider setting a "spot" on the food can easily be overseen, it will jump into your eye when you get close. And as closer you will get as more the shown detail has to speak for the whole food/dish and has to represent it in an appealing way. In one word, it has to be PERFECT.



Perfection
Perfection is what makes a close up really difficult. You have to capture that one thing that makes your food look beautiful, the thing that makes other say wow. In a wide setting every element is "small" and so the small spot might not even get noticed, but in a close up every element is "big" and so the small spot will turn into a big one, a distracting one.


The photo at the beginning of this post is a good example. I think it is a good close up, not perfect maybe, but in my opinion I came as close as possible to what I have in mind. There is no obvious distracting spot to be seen and this single cookie is a good "summary" for the whole food. The sauce on top has a nice texture and the white chocolate makes a nice curl. There are no distracting crumbs on the cut through. But what is most important: although this photo is old (it was taken in 2006) I still like it. Yes, that's a main point: I still like it.




© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010
It is completely different for this close up. This is one of my close up shots which is NOT good. But a good example to explain why. It was made for an "Anchovy and Caper Vinaigrette" that's why there are some lettuce leaves. The lower left corner with the leaf is too dark, it would have neede an additional fill light. And in this close up you don't get what the food is all about. The surface of the vinaigrtee is nit very attractive in this close up and the bits of anchovy and caper are hard to recognize. With that angle the color of the vinaigrette is not well defined. OK, one could say a vinaigrette is hard to photograph. But I would say, if you can't do it right, why do it at all. Think of a different way to do it. When I would do it now, I would go most likely with a wider setting to include what this vinaigrette is for. Salad stands for freshnes, for a light dish (I would try to include that). This vinaigrette seems typical for mediterranean food. I would try to include that. It would be a different approach: this close up tries to focus on the food/recipe no matter what. Now I would try a different approach: do not focus completely on the food but try to transport the idea of a mediterranean salad with a wonderful vinaigrette on a sunny day. I'm not sure how wide in my setting I would get here, but the next example could present a first idea for this one too:



© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010
This setting is much wider as the one before, but this could also stand for the vinaigrette.



A suggestion
I know close ups are fascinating, especially when they are professional. But they have to be well done to reach the viewer. A small mistake can turn into a big one and the food sin't appealing any more. Before you get closer and closer to the food think about, if that is the way to show the food from its best side.



Examples
Two examples from my older shots (both were taken in 2006).

Close up

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010
Although this is close to the food (the spoon with the pudding on it), the leveled angle gave me the chance to include the dish in the background which let it appear not as close as it was. According to my own explanation above, this one wouldn't be a close up. But from the perspective here it seems very close (and technically it was very close, because it was very close to the minimal distannce of the lens used here). I still like this one for its color and the texture of the pudding on the spoon: it has a nice texture, smooth but not runny. This photo is an example for what I said above: perfection. The spoon was the first element I brought in, mounted and fixed in this position. Then I did the lighting so that the reflections on the spoon were just right for me. I placed the glass with the pudding in the back so that it is behind the handle of the spoon. After all these arrangements were done I dripped on the pudding very carefully, so that it looked "nice" in my opinion. I did this not once, I did it several times. As soon as the pudding was on I did an exposure series.

Wide setting

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010
A close up of the fruit soup couldn't shown the all the different fruit which are in the soup. The wide setting was perfect to disply them on the side of the soup and it gave me the chance to play around with the different elements in this composition.


The next two examples are using the same object (brussel sprouts) and again one close up setting and one wide setting.

Close up

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010
This close up is working on two details which are not only representing the food, but also make this recipe for me. (1) The popping green color of the brussel sprouts which stand for freshness and the crispyness of the sprouts. The shimmer on them let appear them juicy. (2) The crispy browned onions rings. The taste of the brussel sprouts is so enhanced by browned onion rings. In a wider setting I couldn't have focus more on these two details. I would have lost the onions rings, because they would appear too small.

Wide setting

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010
I choose a wide setting here. Getting closer here would have mean that I would focus more on details, but there are no details which are important to get the "idea" of this recipe. I include it in this post after the comment made by Wizzy about propping in wide setting. A wide setting doesn't need automatically more proppings. Beside the bowl the food is presented in, there is just a spoon and a place mat. The grey backdrop is a paper board. Such proppings like spoon, napkins, place mats, glasses, bowls are at hand. Even if you don't have many different ones, you can combine them in different ways.


If you like this post, you might also like:

• The Breakfast Shot
  
• Christmas Fun Project
  
• An apple a day
  

High and Low Key Food Photography

Food Photography is about creating a certain "mood". A food photo, which doesn't create a mood for the viewer will not be effective as a photo with immediate responses like happiness, a cozy feeling, a friendly impression, a stylish look or any other response.

High and low key approaches could create suchfeelings, moods and impression by using this idea which is often used in fashion photography or b/w photography. A high key photo could be described in using bright colors, a soft lighting and reduced contrasts. A low key photo can be described by using dark colors, a harder lighting and stronger contrasts. I low key you often find large areas which appear almost black.


High Key
With the bright colors, the soft lighting and the reduced contrasts you can create a friendly mood. Impressions like sunny, soft, friendly, cozy, smiling, bright, airy, light come to mind.

(1)

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

In this one I have used a very simple composition: apples in a bowl against (cropped on right side) and a light green background. The light is coming from left through a window and was smoothed by a sheer curtain. So, I could get a soft light without to harsh highlights. When you take a look at the highlights on the apples they are bright but the borders of the highlights are soft. To get the image brighter I have overexposed the image. I tried different setings of getting the image as bright as possible without creating blow outs in the highlights. Although blow outs are used in high key shots, I think that in food photography one should use blow outs carefully. Here I wanted definition in the highlights too.
The colors have almost the same brightness and saturation so that the contrast are reduced. I was using the color triangle of a broken red, blue and green. This can create a happy impression and is not as active and dominant as the primary triangle of red, blue and yellow.
I cropped the bowl on right side. One could say I cropped the shadow side of the bowl and so I cropped out some of the contrasts which would have occured in the shaded area. For the apple on left side I used a fill light from upper right to reduce the shadows on the right side of this apple.
To make a softer appearance I used a more shallow Depth of Field.

Why I used a high key setting here? The color of the apples (variety 'Fuji') are of a lovely bright red to pink with some yellow notes. They are not overly sweet and have a 'light' taste with fresh fruit notes. So color and taste were the reason to go with a very bright setting, which creates a sunny, light and friendly feeling.


Low Key
With the dark(er) colors, a hard lighting and the higher contrasts you can create a more subdued mood. In stills you can even create the mood of old paintings. Impressions like evening, rustic, subdued, homey, earthern, heavy come to mind.

(2)

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

As soon as I saw this apple (variety 'Red Delicious') I knew that I would use a low key approach here. The texture and coloring of the apple is very picturesque and reminded me a bit of apples you can see in still life paintings. The surface of the apple is very unique, indvidual. So I just wanted some light on the apple to highlight this structure but want to leave the empty space more or less in darkness. Because a plain black or dark background would give an artificial look, I used a dark wooden board for some structures. And the wooden backdrop is emphasizing the rustic character in this photo.
In contrast to the high key photo above I used flags to exclude light and to direct it. The light is coming from upper left side from a window. I didn't smooth it here. You can see that the hightlights are strong and have much sharper borders than in the high key photo. A black board (flag) was placed on the right side of the apple so that no light could be reflected to the right side of the apple. I wanted tto keep it in the darkness. There is also a flag on upper side of the photo to keep the back more in the dark. To direct light and to create a smaller, more visible, beam of light I use two flags on left side (black boards) to narrow down the light as much as needed. A bounce from upper front is giving a soft fill light on the apple to highlight a bit the structures of the apple surface.


High & Low Key
In the two examples above the food gave me the idea to use a high key or low key approach. But you can use the same food to create completely different food photos.

(3)

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

(4)

© All rights reserved, Thorsten Kraska, 2010

In these two photos for rose tea (dried rose buds)I created a complete different mood in the high key shot (3) and the low key shot (4). Although you can compare the settings, which are very similar, the mood and impression of both is very different.

I like both photos for different reasons. The high key one for its very airy feeling and the brightness, which is creating a very clean impression. The low key one is highlighting the wonderful color of the rose buds. Against the dark background the color is standing out well. To break the plain black of the background I have placed a cup in the back. This is adding orientation and dimensionality. Without the cup in the back it would have been to artificial. I could have placed some buds on right side of the plate for that reason too but I wanted to keep the photo as simple as possible. In the high key shot (3) I have some rose buds on right side of plate to structure the white a bit more. Otherwise I would just have an area of color against a white background.


High and Low Key Photos are maybe more "extreme" concerning lighting and contrasts, but they give you the chance to play around with mood in your food photos. And they give you the chance to train yourself in lighting and how to use light. In photography it is very important to know the basics of lighting and to train your skills.