Cook, Shoot, Eat. Cold soup for hot days.

[Loose Canon]

Though that's always a possibility, ideally I like to go for the very best composition and to adjust the lighting setup to make that composition work.

A strategically placed flag may have also been an option.

[Mike Buckley]

But what if you took some of the veggies (carrots, potatoes, celery, whatever is in there) and colorful items in the soup and blanched them

Timing is amazing. I just now received my copy of Food Photography by Nicole Young, which I think I learned about in one of Louise's threads. I opened the book randomly to whatever page happened to appear. Sure enough, it fell open to a two-page photo spread that contains the following note: "The asparagus was blanched in boiling water to bring out its bright-green qualities and add color to the photograph."

Now I have only one question: Why waste my time and money on the book when I have already learned the same thing from Terry?

[wlou]

Mike I don't know why you are wasting your time. I have been busy cooking. Picnic anyone? Coincidence I think not.

[Mike Buckley]

I really like the subject but not as much the background or the vignette. Perhaps a napkin on the left side and part of a glass of white wine (out of focus) behind the fork would help.

[wlou]

Terry you are so right about the need to keep the colours fresh and crisp. Yes I do know about blanching, a good method of keeping everything fresh looking. Your comments are very encouraging. Thank you.

[Mike Buckley]

Hey, Louise! I just now got a fabulous idea. If you send me the recipes for all of the food that you photograph, I'll suggest wine pairings.


Scroll down.



Way down.



Even farther.



Nah. I didn't think that trick would work.

[wlou]

Mike wine pairing sounds just great. So we have here a light tasting pasta (gluten free), in a lemony cream sauce(lactose free), a generous amount of black pepper and paprika, with fresh tender Quebec asparagus(they are in season), and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Sooo, what do you recommend?

[Mike Buckley]

Any time you use a sauce with citrus flavors, Sauvignon Blanc (also called Fumé Blanc) would be a strong candidate because it has noticeable citrus flavors even for people like me who typically can't detect individual flavors in the wine.

In the U.S., you can buy used paperback copies of The Wine Lover's Cookbook very cheaply. If you can get a copy in Canada, it is a veritable clinic in wine pairing; I learned more about wine pairing from that cookbook than everything else combined that I have come upon. The photos and recipes are great too, not that you (unlike me) need recipes created by others.

Even so, I'm always happy to suggest wine pairings that you can try for yourself.

P.S. In fact, tonight's dinner was the very first recipe I tried from that cookbook years ago. The recipe has always been a favorite.

[wlou]

Mike, it should be easy to find book reviews on wine and it is a great starting point. I do like Oyster Bay so I will take a bottle to the dinner party to go with the Pasta. What was your favourite recipe from the book?

[Mike Buckley]

What was your favourite recipe from the book?

There are so many recipes of such different varieties that it's impossible for me to pick a favorite. They include a salad, a soup, a paella, several pasta dishes, shrimp, cornish hen, duck breast, beef steak, lamb, moussaka, salmon and probably others that aren't immediately coming to mind off the top of my head.

To put that in perspective, though I generally find 4 or 5 recipes that I like from a cookbook that is four times the size of this cookbook, I like 22 recipes (so far) from this one.

[wlou]

Mike now I am the one getting hungry just reading this list of mouth watering recipes.

There are so many recipes of such different varieties that it's impossible for me to pick a favorite. They include a salad, a soup, a paella, several pasta dishes, shrimp, cornish hen, duck breast, beef steak, lamb, moussaka, salmon and probably others that aren't immediately coming to mind off the top of my head.

To put that in perspective, though I generally find 4 or 5 recipes that I like from a cookbook that is four times the size of this cookbook, I like 22 recipes (so far) from this one.

[wlou]

Hey Mike, I went to my public library and actually found a book that suggest to create a meal centred around a wine.It was all about wines I have never heard of except the gewürztraminer from Alsace(now thaw a mouthful) aired with chicken curry. I may just try it. Do you choose the wine in function of the meal or vice versa?

Any time you use a sauce with citrus flavors, Sauvignon Blanc (also called Fumé Blanc) would be a strong candidate because it has noticeable citrus flavors even for people like me who typically can't detect individual flavors in the wine.

In the U.S., you can buy used paperback copies of The Wine Lover's Cookbook very cheaply. If you can get a copy in Canada, it is a veritable clinic in wine pairing; I learned more about wine pairing from that cookbook than everything else combined that I have come upon. The photos and recipes are great too, not that you (unlike me) need recipes created by others.

Even so, I'm always happy to suggest wine pairings that you can try for yourself.

P.S. In fact, tonight's dinner was the very first recipe I tried from that cookbook years ago. The recipe has always been a favorite.

[Mike Buckley]

Do you choose the wine in function of the meal or vice versa?

Interesting that you should ask. Years ago I went to a restaurant for the first time for a special occasion because its marketing explains that it chooses the wine first and then chooses everything to go with it. I thought that was marketing foo foo until I started doing the same thing.

For at least a decade now, I have often been choosing the wine first even for everyday meals. For special meals, I almost always choose the wine first because I really enjoy showcasing this or that wine.

I never ever choose a food for which I have no good wine pairing at the time. In that sense, I always take the wine into consideration first even though I might not make the actual wine selection until I have chosen the food.

A good example of how this works is that I made a photo last week that required opening seven bottles of white wine. (What better reason could there be to open a bottle of wine, much less seven of them? ) Two nights ago I decided that I wanted to drink the opened reisling, which is dry but particularly fruity. So, I chose a fish dish that includes a delicious artichoke caponata that pairs so well with that wine. That was partly reliable because I make wine-pairing notes on my recipes for pairings that are either especially good or difficult to determine.

By the way, Chateauneuf-du-Pape is even more of a tongue-twister for me than gewurztraminer.

[Mike Buckley]

Another thought about choosing the wine first just occurred to me: When I'm serving two or more wines (it's not unusual to serve four) and am then choosing the food to go with them, it can get tricky determining everything. That's because I want the wines to go with each other, the foods to go with each other, and of course the food to go with the wine and vice versa.

One of my best dinners is a 9-course meal that includes five wines. Determining all of that was really tricky.

[wlou]

Take #2. Reworked in Perfect Effects 8. Just baby steps in P.P. I am learning this software, not very fast I am afraid.
Mike what do you think? All comments welcome.

[Mike Buckley]

The left side of the bowl, which is the most difficult part to master, looks terrific! I prefer the overall brightness of your first version. Compare the two histograms, as they graphically display the difference.

Similarly, I'd like to see the histogram data being displayed all the way over to the right side. Your first version, unlike your second version, includes luminosity values of 253 - 255 in the orange vegetables, helping to make the soup seem fresh and appealing.

[wlou]

Take #3. I don't know if its any better. I may be on overload from looking at it too much. I will let it rest for a while.

[Mike Buckley]

I don't know if its any better.

Of course you do; it's much better! Unless someone can make another suggestion of how to tweak it, I recommend that you move on to the next recipe.

[Bobobird]

You just made my hungry... Great shot.

[wlou]

Thanks Bobo, a great compliment coming from you. More soup?

You just made my hungry... Great shot.